It was the Colts’ offense, not their defense, that was the team’s weak point yesterday.

Having lived in Indiana for some length of time, I know that criticizing Peyton Manning is somewhat blasphemous but someone has to. Make no mistake, it was Manning and the Colts offense’s inability to convert points in the red zone in the first quarter of the mega-game against New England that led to their ultimate demise. Word to the wise for future Patriot opponents: If you get within scoring distance three times in the first quarter, put the ball in the end zone.

And then there’s Manning inability to perform under pressure — again. The fumble-turned-interception that put the nail in the Colts’ coffin was evidence of my belief that the eldest Manning quarterback is one of the league’s worst performers under pressure and almost always shrinks when it counts and when the game is on the line. The last quarterback in the world I want to see trotting onto the field with two minutes to go and my team down four is Peyton Manning because in his career, which has been great, he has never delivered in those moments. For the record, you may be wondering who the first quarterback I would want to see in the huddle on that final drive? That would be the quarterback who stood on the opposite sideline Sunday, Tom Brady. Manning has never had a marquee, Elway-Montana or even Brady-like moment that you point to and go, “Wow, that was really clutch.” He’s a fairweather quarterback and simply, a fairweather leader. Remember when Mike Vanderjagt, who is an absolute dope, criticized Manning and Dungy for lacking fire? I didn’t think then and still don’t think that was an invalid criticism, in spite of the ridiculous source of said criticism. Did you see Manning bouncing his helmet-clad skull into those of his lineman yesterday in the huddle? I rest my case.

All of that being said, I will be happy to never heard the phrase “Super Bowl 41 1/2″ uttered again ever and the importance of the outcome of this game is wildly overstated by the media and fans but I think the players and coaches have put the final score in its proper perspective. Tom Brady said the game “didn’t matter,” appropriately noting that it was in January when the winners and losers of a game is of any significant import. If the Colts won the game and got homefield advantage, it wouldn’t exclude them from potentially losing to the Patriots in the playoffs and vice versa for the Pats. It was an entertaining game that showed us, if nothing else, that the Patriots offense is as diverse as advertised and the Colts defense has come an incredibly long way in a year and may, in the future, be one of the league’s best.

The league’s best two running backs are Joseph Addai and Adrian Peterson

And I’m not just basing that on yesterday’s performance, where Adrian Peterson ran for a jaw-dropping 296 yards on his way to slicing, dicing and downright humiliating the Chargers defense, I’m basing that on facts. Peterson is a shoe-in to win Offensive Rookie of the Year and had it not been for Tom Brady’s soon-to-be-record-breaking-season, he would be a realistic candidate for MVP. Never have I seen a player’s college game translate so literally into an NFL career but Peterson is running and playing exactly the way he did at Oklahoma. Of course, Peterson has a penchant for big debuts, if you’ll remember his rookie year at Oklahoma where he was a Heisman finalist. If he can stay healthy, Peterson may be one for the ages.

And then there’s Addai, who is one of the most consistent and steady running backs in the league. I’m not sure there is a player who sees the field better and makes sharper cuts than the second year man out of LSU. He catches balls out of the back field and he’s a threat to break it everytime he gets his hands on the ball. While his greatness may be lost in an offense that includes Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark, don’t get it twisted, getting Addai 20-30 touches a game is integral to this offense being effective.

Ohio State is really good.. no, seriously…

I’ve been down this road before with Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes and I’m hesitant to believe in this team after last year’s stomping at Florida, a stomping that I boldly predicted in our paper wouldn’t happen. In the words of the epic 80s hair metal band Great White I’m “once bitten, twice shy.” But this team is apparently for real after routing a pretty good Wisconsin team this weekend. I’m not convinced that this effective but underwhelming team has the metal to take it into the Big House and pull out a win against archrival Michigan but they’re really good. Quarterback Todd Boeckman is the second-coming of Craig Krenzel and Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline are becoming two viable big-time scoring threats and Beanie Wells is one of the most punishing and quick running backs in the country. After seeing them pound Wisconsin in convincing fashion, I think I’m ready to believe.

Oregon is the second best team in America

One of the nation’s three remaining unbeaten teams solidified their place in the National Championship this weekend — for now. After beating USC soundly last weekend, the Ducks got ready and beat a previously unbeaten —and head-scratching fourth-ranked — Arizona State team. Dennis Dixon is the Heisman trophy frontrunner, Jonathan Stewart is one heck of a running back and their defense isn’t too bad either. Sorry LSU but you can’t be ranked higher than an unbeaten team who plays in a conference that is equally as tough as your own. I would love to see an Oregon/Ohio State national championship game. James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman and Malcolm Jenkins against Dennis Dixon, Jonathan Stewart and the explosive Oregon offense. That’s a game I would love to watch.

Darren McFadden isn’t out of the Heisman race just yet

Just when pre-season Heisman shoe-in Darren McFadden had become a distant memory, the Razorback junior goes out and rushes for 323 yards. For my money, I still think Knowshon Moreno is the best running back in the SEC but McFadden is almost a lock to be taken in the top 5 in next year’s NFL draft and for good reason — he’s simply filthy.

The Hoosiers are bowl eligibile

Finally. Six wins. It’s tough not to get emotional when I think about my alma mater finally going to a bowl game after all these years but it seems a fitting accomplishment for this team, this year. Make no mistake, this is a tribute to Coach Hep, who lost his battle with brain cancer this summer and made a fanbase and a team of underachievers believe that we could go where we hadn’t gone in more than a decade. While their win Saturday doesn’t guarantee a trip to Tampa or Orlando or San Antonio or Tempe, it gets the Hoosiers one step closer to Hep’s dream of playing 13.

Having seen the girlfriend off to college, the weekend was a pretty eventful one that had me tethered to the couch for a majority of it. Having watched some football and a ton of TV. I have a number of things to rant about this morning. Let’s start chronologically.

I TiVo’d Friday nights Minnesota/Jets preseason game knowing full well that I was really only interested in the first quarter to see how rookie Adrian Peterson would do along with first year starter Tavaris Jackson for the Vikes. What I saw was Chad Pennington put in the worst preseason performance by a starter that I’ve seen in a long time. On the flip side, Adrian Peterson looked fantastic. He is a strong, quick runner that will be giving tacklers fits all season long. I am not sure that is a more dangerous runner in the open field than AD. The jury is still out on Jackson. Because of Pennington’s slip-ups, Jackson only saw 2 or 3 series of work and spent a great deal of time handing the ball off to Chester Taylor and Peterson. The Vikings could be a very interesting team to watch this year.

Saturday, I watched an absolute ton of Survivorman as it was apparently the wrong weekend to sign up for a season pass of the show. I think at last count, I watched 5 episodes of the program and 7 still remain unwatched on my DVR. It’s pretty incredible stuff. I’ve also become addicted to the travel/food show No Reservations with Top Chef guest judge and blogger Anthony Bourdain. A really fun watch.

Last night, I caught the first bit of the Giants/Ravens preseason game and shook my head at how ineffective Eli Manning is as a quarterback. The Peyton comparisons are warranted and inevitable but ultimately pointless. Eli is and never will be half the quarterback and leader his brother is. But forget Peyton for a second. Where does Eli list on the greater list of NFL quarterbacks? Top 10? Absolutely not. He’s probably one of the top 15 quarterbacks in the league. One could argue that he may be the 15th-20th best quarterback in the league given that he has not exhibited, so far, anything closely resembling leadership qualities. If the Giants are going to be successful this year, they will need Eli Manning to take control of the reins and make this his team. I just don’t see that happening.

__________

No, seriously…

The mayor of Cincinnati might be a little too sensitive.

Brazil to offer free sex changes.

A plastic cut-out cop shooting a radar gun is slowing drivers down in Tennessee (insert Tennesee joke here.)

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ESPN’s Mark Schlabach makes five predictions for the SEC this year/the power in the conference is moving east.

Nets forward Richard Jefferson gives $3.5 million to his alma mater.

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan expected to end holdout by this weekend.

SI’s Peter King is reporting that Falcons owner Arthur Blank feels deeply betrayed by Michael Vick.

The U.S. Open holds tryouts for “ball people.”

THE DAILY BIRD 

• Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ashley Fox: Team has questions to answer.
• Les Bowen has something similar.
• Inquirer’s Phil Sheridan: All is right with Eagles, McNabb

New York Daily News writer dubs Virginia Tech “America’s Team.”

Brady Quinn a “knockout” in Browns debut.

Alabama corner Simeon Castille arrested for disorderly conduct.

Former USC tailback Emmanuel Moody not blaming USC for this transfer.

Dan Hawkins names son starting quarterback at Colorado.

___________

Well-rounded news… 

The Federal Trade Commission is still trying to block the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger.

Dickens World will make your bratty kids grateful for what they have.

Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell will join the cast of ‘Heroes.’

Kanye samples Steely Dan on new record.

J.K. Rowling is reportedly working on a detective novel.

According to an article today in the Akron Beacon-Journal, things have gotten so bad in Cleveland that Browns GM Phil Savage has begun polling sportswriters of all people on who the Browns should take with the third pick.

A snippet from the article:

”

As he stood to go back to work, he stopped and said: `OK, (quarterback JaMarcus) Russell and (receiver Calvin) Johnson are gone. Who do you take?’

The poll of 10 or so writers was almost evenly split between Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson and Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, with Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas getting one vote.

Savage’s choice?

He wasn’t saying. He kept his straight face Tuesday as he discussed the Browns’ plans for the April 28 and 29 NFL Draft.”

He wasn’t saying or he doesn’t know.

I think it’s much more likely the latter.

Let us not forget that this was the guy who drafted Motorcycle Expert Kellen “The Soldier” Winslow, Jr. with the 6th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He picked a guy who has exactly three career touchdowns going into his fourth year in the  league in a top ten draft class that included Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Larry Fitzgerald, Sean Taylor, Roy Williams and DeAngelo Hall.

So who will the Browns take with the third overall pick on April 28? In fairness, a lot of it depends on what the Raiders and Lions do with the first two picks. You can imagine that if the Browns are sitting there and Russell and Johnson are off the board then they’re looking at Brady Quinn, Joe Thomas or Adrian Peterson. The problem with the Browns is that they’re so horrendous that they could use all three of those players.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them take Brady Quinn with this pick. It’s a pick that the fans in Cleveland would get behind because Quinn’s an Ohio kid and the prospect of seeing Quinn throw to Braylon Edwards is probably very enticing.

The smart pick but not the sexy pick would be Joe Thomas. Charlie Frye may not be the quarterback of the future in Cleveland but you’ll need someone to protect that guy whoever that guy is down the road for the Browns.

MORE ON VIRGINIA TECH

Pretty poignant cartoon yesterday by Jim McCloskey of the News Leader in Staunton, Va.

There was an article today in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that I thought I would see more of in newspapers across the country. The reporter asked University of Wisconsin football players what they thought about what happened at VaTech, given that they also go to a large public university.

A pretty good article today in the Washington Post about how the university and its athletes are trying to balance athletics and tragedy in the aftermath of the massacre.

The draft is anything but an exact science. As much as I look forward to all of the draft speculation and look at more mock drafts than anyone should (the Eagles are either taking Tim Crowder from Texas or Quentin Moses from Georgia according to the latest), none of it really matters. Sometimes there isn’t a rhyme or reason why one prospect succeeds and another fails.

And despite all the talk about JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, Joe Thomas and Calvin Johnson, there is one player in this draft that in my opinion is an absolute can’t-miss.

Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson is an absolute beast. For three years, Peterson has been the soul source of offense on an OU team that’s been pretty darn good. Quite simply put, the guy’s a freak. I don’t put much, if any, stock in combine workout numbers. Peterson ran a pretty impressive 4.4 and broad jumped 10′7″. But the best measure of just how good Peterson is has been his performance on the field. He’s rebounded from two serious injuries and any team would be nuts not to take him.

*WARNING! MEANINGLESS DRAFT SPECULATION AHEAD!*

I don’t think Peterson will go number 1 overall, especially not in light of the Raiders releasing starting QB Aaron Brooks and I don’t think they intend to start Andrew Walter. They’ll likely take a QB.  The Lions won’t take him at the 2 spot, they have Kevin Jones and I think there’s a fair chance Matt Millen will be run out of D-Town on a rail if he takes another skill position player. The first shot for Peterson to go will be Cleveland with the third pick and unless they trade down to get some picks later on in the draft, they’d be nuts not to take. They would have the nucleus for a very good, young, exciting offense team with Charlie Frye, Braylon Edwards and Adrian Peterson and maybe even Kellen Winslow, Jr.

But when you look at Peterson’s body of work (he was a legitimate Heisman trophy candidate his freshman year) , it’s hard to disagree with Mel Kiper Jr., when he says that not drafting Peterson is something teams could “live to regret.”