Do you think Peyton Manning has the consistent nightmare of being awakened on a January morning by an alarm clock blaring the song "I Got You Babe?" He then procedes to go into Foxboro Stadium, slush is thrown all over him and he fails to suceed time after time. I swear Manning must look at Belichek and see the Coach as his own personal Ned Ryerson.

Last year there were excuses to be made, but this year the Patriots were dominant and possibly the greatest statistical offense in NFL history, looked confused and played with little spark or emotion. If you took away the Patriots and the Florida Gators, Manning might be discussed as one of the Top 5 QB's of all-time, but the NFL is not like MLB, because greatness is determined much more on team success. There is a reason that Otto Graham, Bart Starr, and Terry Bradshaw are considered with the greats of all-time and it's not based on career statistics.

It appears once again that the only way a dome team can win the Super Bowl is by playing in a dome to get there. The Colts are very similar to some of the great Vikings and Oilers teams of the past, who also couldn't survive when facing the elements.

Watching the Rams/Falcons game, the thing that jumped out at me even more than the incredible ability of Michael Vick, was the awful special teams coverage of the Rams. I truly believe the one place that most NFL teams severely underrate is special teams. The Patriots have been ahead of the curve, as they have put some of their best players on kick coverages, knowing that field position and game momentum are often determined by what happens during special teams.

Oh and if you don't believe me about the importance of special teams, ask the New York Jets. It would be hard to argue that the two best kickers in the league aren't the Pats' Vinateri and the Eagles' Akers, since they are incredibly consistent, despite kicking in stadiums where weather is often a factor. (*See comment sections) Many teams in the league see kickers as something they can just pull off the waiver wire and don't allocate enough of their salary cap to obtain and keep on the roster. This is my armchair GM thought of the day.

I like Mike Tice's honesty and personality, but his player and game management is really poor. The Vikings the whole second half of the year have looked disorganized. I believe that Tice was the lowest paid coach in the league and since this is the case, I'm guessing his assistants followed suit, so this has to be a big reason why the team has performed this way. I can't see that changing, as long as PETA hater (see fur coat) Red McCombs is the owner. The guy seems like the biggest bumpkin to own a major sports franchise since Marge Schott.