NFL News & Blogs

In talking with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen about the CBA negotiations with the Players’ Association, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell struck a conciliatory tone, saying the sides need to work harder to reach an accord.

MIAMI — The NFL has released its All-Decade team and it has three of what I would call true NFC South players on it and a few other guys with some ti…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Snubbed by the Carolina Panthers since the end of the season, the agent for five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers is convinced his client will play elsewhere in 2010.

Okay, you’re hearing from all the experts this week, now let me offer an alternative opinion on all the hype and hoopla that is Super Bowl week and tell you what it’s really all about.

The Super Bowl is the NFL’s biggest stage, so it makes sense that the game’s most important performers—the quarterbacks—are measured by their success when a league championship is on the line.

For the past two regular seasons, no two quarterbacks have been more successful than Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Beyond the standout statistical years as prolific passers, they also have set the standard in two other important aspects of their job—leading and winning.

When the Colts and Saints take the field Sunday for Super Bowl 44, Manning and Brees will be the unquestioned leaders of their teams. Because both teams were so dominant most of the season—Indianapolis started 14-0 and New Orleans 13-0—the matchup is fitting.

Looking back at their consistent prosperity as QB contemporaries, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Manning and Brees would eventually meet with so much at stake.

“When you go back and look at their careers as early as high school, you see that their teams are always winning,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “It kind of follows them.”

Manning and Brees have much in common, from their exceptional credentials to their special connections to the city of New Orleans to their importance to their teams. Here’s at look at what makes each so great:

Manning: Matchless mind

Manning’s combination of preparation end execution is unrivaled—except maybe by Brees. Manning’s remarkable base of knowledge and ability to analyze situations so quickly distinguish him as arguably the most intelligent quarterback the league has ever seen.

“He just has a brilliant mind. By the time that ball is snapped from the top of his drop, he knows exactly where everyone is,” ESPN analyst and former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski said. “He sees the field with incredible clarity, and he is really smart.”

Manning is unfazed by anything he sees from a defense. As technically sound as he is, he also excels at just lining up and playing “pickup football,” reacting to complex looks by simply working the ball to the open receiver.

“He’s like a coach out there in a player’s body,” said Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, whose team gave up 360 yards passing to Manning in the AFC championship game. “He controls the game very well. He audibles four or five times to get them in the right position for them to make the good play.”

Manning was an early bloomer in the NFL, but as he continues to see and experience more, he’s also raising the play of the inexperienced players around him. This year, he has helped young receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie become top targets.

“Being in the system for so long, he has been allowed to put his own stamp on a lot of things over the years,” Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. “Now, he has an understanding. He can teach everybody else. That goes a long way.”

Brees: Point guard in pads

Brees didn’t come into the NFL with Manning’s family pedigree. At 6-0, 209, there were concerns about his lack of prototypical size for a dropback passer. But he has proved to be a nimble athlete with a quick release.

His footwork has not only made him adept at sidestepping the oncoming pass rush but at getting on his toes to throw over opponents.

“I think he’s just uncanny with his movement in the pocket, the ability to find the lanes and throw from different platforms,” Jaworski said. “He’ll move his passing slot to get to an open receiver. The accuracy is absolutely amazing.”

While Manning is the master of audibles at the line, Brees’ success is linked more closely to his coach. Much of what the Saints do offensively is set up to succeed before the snap, based on one of the several permutations of play calls, formations and personnel groupings designed by Payton.

Because of that, Brees is most dangerous when he gets into an early rhythm. He becomes a point guard, distributing the ball to a variety of playmakers in what becomes a fast-paced, efficient attack.

“Everything revolves around Drew Brees,” Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle said. “He’s the leader. He can do anything. He pretty much sets the tempo.”

This story first appeared in Feb. 1’s edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free.

Vinnie Iyer is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at viyer@sportingnews.com.

Several players with AFC West ties were named to the NFL’s All-decade team for the 2000s. The entire team was revealed Sunday. Here are the players w…

Greetings from Sun Life Stadium, site of the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV. Question: What’s the most popular bird in South Florida? Until today, the answer might have been the Pelican. But now it belongs to Rex Ryan.

Okay, seriously … The NFL announced its all-decade team tonight, and there are some Jets connections. Actually, only three: G Alan Faneca, Titans C Kevin Mawae and Broncos CB Ty Law. What, no Curtis Martin?

Obviously, Faneca made it based on his body of work with the Steelers. By the same token, Mawae received the honor based on what he did with the Jets from 1998 to 2005. Law, who played only two seasons with the Jets (2005 and 2008), will always be remembered as a Patriot.

Here’s the team in its entirety:

QB — Tom Brady, Peyton Manning.

RB — Shaun Alexander, Jamal Lewis, Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson

OT — Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, William Roaf

G — Larry Allen, Faneca, Steve Hutchinson, Will Shields

FB — Lorenzo Neal

TE — Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez

WR — Marvin Harrison, Torry Holt, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens

C — Olin Kreutz, Mawae

DE — Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor

DT — La’Roi Glover, Warren Sapp, Richard Seymour, Kevin Williams

CB — Ronde Barber, Champ Bailey, Law, Charles Woodson

S — Brian Dawkins, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Darren Sharper

LB — Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis, Joey Porter, Zach Thomas, Brian Urlacher, DeMarcus Ware

P — Shane Lechler, Brian Moorman

K — David Akers, Adam Vinatieri

PR — Dante Hhall, Devin Hester

KR — Joshua Cribbs, Dante Hall

Players the Jets could’ve drafted: Jones, Ogden, Pace, Sapp, Williams and Reed, among others.

The complete roster of the N.F.L.’s All-Decade team has been released, with not a lot of consideration given to the Jets and the Giants.