The Sunday Evening Post: Week 10

All of my whining and moaning from this afternoon? Yeah, you can disregard that now.Every single game so far this Sunday was a one-possession affair at some point in its fourth quarter. The double-digit wins -- Minnesota over Detroit, Green Bay over Dallas, Arizona over Seattle, and Tennessee over Buffalo -- were more about teams pulling away late than dominating all day. The paths to victory varied: Jacksonville won on a game-ending field goal, Miami got one with ten seconds left to go ahead, and Cincinnati won with four of them and no offensive touchdowns.

And, as usual, some of the scores deceive: Tennessee inflated its margin of victory with two fourth-quarter scores on interceptions, and only in the last four minutes; Dallas reduced its deficit only with a garbage time score that did nothing to jeopardize Green Bay’s lead, and was awful on offense all game.

Tightness isn’t totally about points, or yardage, or records, though, and these games were all “close” by one definition or another and worth the time invested. Just when you think the NFL has lost its ability to luck into or engineer -- the choice is yours -- the sort of games that stay dramatic down to the wire, a superb Sunday like this comes along.

That puts pressure on the heavyweight showdown tonight to live up to the pitched battles of the peons earlier.

New England and Indianapolis are the titans of this decade, and mostly because of the stature of their quarterbacks. (Sorry, Big Ben: You haven’t been around quite as long.) I don’t buy the Manning/Brady to Bird/Magic comparison -- it’s a team game, and these two are less individually significant to their teams than those hardwood rivals were -- but I will certainly concede that their more visible brilliance is what draws eyeballs. As always, it’s easier to appreciate a perfect spiral than a perfect block, and these two also have the requisite regal trappings and charisma to fulfill the role of the glamorous-yet-gritty field general.

They both have good teams this year: New England has reloaded on defense with young playmakers, and Indianapolis’ pass rush is fierce as ever. They’re also both the keys to their teams’ success, more so than they have been: Brady has had to be good with the Patriots losing runners left and right, while Manning is taking his “coach on the field” reputation to new heights with a stellar run of late-game heroics.

And yet, they could still combine for a blowout, an enormous egg laid in prime time. Or they could play a classic.

All the talk before an NFL game means nothing once it starts. Today taught me that again.

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