...Congratulations to the Denver Broncos, who won Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara with a dominant defensive performance against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.
...The Peyton Manning saga couldn't have gotten any heavier in drama, could it? Put the Sheriff in during the second half of the last game of the season to save the top seed, leave him in for the playoffs, where he does just enough to get the Broncos past the Steelers and his old nemesis the Patriots, and then rides on the back of his legendary defense to a second title and the perfect way to go out a winner.
...Speaking of retirements, why are the Detroit Lions so poisonous that the great players retire? First Barry Sanders, and now Calvin Johnson? Megatron, like the great Barry, is a quiet man who didn't need the money or the accolades; when he was ready to stop, he simply stopped. But I just can't help but think that if he'd been with a team that had, say, hope, he'd stay another year or two.
...Free agency? Kind of strange, as always. At Following Football, we don't really care much about things like free agency, the draft, or fantasy football - basically anything that glorifies the individual over the team. But there were some interesting moves over the last several weeks since SB50: the Giants' work in signing most of a new defense; positive movement for teams like Tampa, Oakland, Houston, and maybe Chicago. Bad news for Denver and Cleveland, although getting rid of Johnny Manziel is going to be a huge plus.
...Martavis Bryant and Joseph Randle proved they're both idiots and addicts. Never mind the suspensions - in order to reach that level of suspension, this was the sixth failed drug test for Bryant in four years, and the fourth in barely over a year for Randle. And they KNEW they were going to be tested!! Hope those drugs were worth flushing your career down the toilet, careers that will pay you far more than anything else you're qualified to do in your life.
...Quarterback shuffles: Brock Osweiler to Houston, which means Denver's desperate for a quarterback. San Francisco wants to deal Colin Kaepernick, but that will leave them without a quarterback on the roster worth their salt. The Jets are similarly desperate to keep Ryan Fitzpatrick, because if they don't, they're also screwed. In the NFL, you have to have a great QB, or at least a solid one. Even with a defense like Denver won with this year, they still had the Brain of Manning, and a good semi-rookie in Osweiler going 5-2 in between. (Manning went 10-2, by the way, even counting when he was injured.) You're not going to win with Tyrod Taylor. Sorry, but you're just NOT. There are probably eight WINNING quarterbacks in the NFL - Rodgers, Brady, etc. - and another 8-12 who you can WIN WITH - Flacco, Luck, Ryan, Manning this year - if the other pieces are exemplary. The rest CANNOT win. Period.
Get that quarterback. If Carson Wentz or Jarrod Goff are that good, sell the farm to get them.
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