Joe Flacco vs The Patriots

One of most discussed topics in the week leading up to the conferences championship games is how well Joe Flacco will play in the AFC Championship game.

Flacco has often been discounted, if not maligned for not being the dynamic passing threat that most top quarterbacks are. All in spite of the fact that Flacco has made and won playoff games every single year since being drafted. However, the last time the Ravens and the Patriots met in the playoffs, the Ravens trounced them. His less than stellar performance during that game has also been beat into the dirt.

Who would be most helped in going to the Hall of Fame with a Super Bowl Ring?

On some level it seems incredibly appropriate that the Pro Football Hall of Fame elected their new class each year the day before the Super Bowl. Given how much Super Bowl titles seem to affect Hall of Fame cases, it just feels appropriate.

Super Bowl wins have often been the difference between a player being inducted into the Hall of Fame or being left out. The 70s Steelers have eight members of their four-time Super Bowl teams in the Hall of Fame. Eleven of the 60s Packers teams that won five combined NFL championships are there as well. As time goes by, more and more of the 49ers from the 80s and the Cowboys of 90s will be inducted.

Given this relationship, it’s worth examining which players participating in this weekend’s conference championship games will have their Hall of Fame cases boosted should they be on the team that wins the Super Bowl. Now of course, there are the obvious Hall of Famers, Ed Reed, Tom Brady and Ray Lewis, but none of them need the ring to make it. It’ll certainly enhance their cases among the legends of NFL history, but it’s hardly needed for them to be accepted among the elite of all time. The players in this list, at least at this time, will need the ring to help their case if they ever wish to make it.

Thoughts from the First Two rounds of the Playoffs.

The divisional round of the playoffs has wrapped, leaving only the 49ers, Giants, Ravens and Patriots still standing. While those games are going to be good, let’s quickly look back at the teams no longer in the playoffs and see what they can take away from this post-season.

Cincinnati Bengals

Top 10 Big-Money Free Agents

        As the divisional rounds of the playoffs are in full swing, 24 teams around the NFL are considering how to build their team. They’re scouting potential draft picks, evaluating tape of their own players as well as looking at the tape of potential free agents, free agent like Ray Rice, Sione Pouha, Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson and Arian Foster.

        With names like that populating the free agent market, there is going to be a fair bit of money thrown about, like there is every year. But the question isn’t just who is going to move, but how much they’re going to make. Depending on how much they make, they set the pace for the free agency market going forward.

         So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the payers who are going to get the biggest paychecks this offseason. Just remember, these guys aren’t necessarily going to move from their current teams, but they are definitely the ones that are going to be paid the most this offseason. Also, the list is in the order of players I’m most confident will get a huge contract, not necessarily who will get paid the most. Also, the franchise tag will pay approximately the average salary of the top 5 at the position, which are the same numbers that I’m looking at when forming these contract numbers.

The Thousand Yard Rusher

             It seems almost cliché to say that the NFL is becoming more of passing league in recent years. Actually, it is a cliché and an irrelevant one at that. Yes, three of the last four Super Bowl participants (New Orleans, Indianapolis and Green Bay) and the last two winners (NO, GB) have been far more noted for their passing games than their running games. However, much like their defenses, their running games were often overlooked in favor of focusing on the passing game. While their running games were excellent, they were often at their best when it most needed to be, like when they were killing the clock at the end of games. Regardless of how you look at it, the running game is still important to the winning in the NFL.

Trade Deadline Analysis

                        Yesterday has quickly become the most talked about trading deadlines in recent memory. Between the mammoth Carson Palmer trade and the Brandon Lloyd and Derrick Mason trades, there was a, lot to discuss. While I don’t think that these trades are going to have a big impact on the playoff chase, they are still interesting. So let’s look at them one by one.

        Derrick Mason from Jets to the Texans for a conditional draft pick (Exact round was not found)