Saturday Morning Cup O’Chiefs
No matter how the award is defined – best player or player most valuable to his team – Peyton Manning qualified in 2008.
The Indianapolis quarterback won his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award. The honor was announced on Friday by the Associated Press that conducted the voting of 50 media types from around the country.
What Manning did this year was really amazing. He missed the entire training camp and pre-season because of knee surgery and a subsequent infection of his knee that kept it from healing properly. He was able to get on the field for the regular season opener, but he was not the same player.
And, the Colts were not the same team. They struggled early. Near mid-season, they were 3-4 and already knew they were not going to catch Tennessee and win the AFC South. They had to refocus on getting a wildcard berth and that’s just what Manning and the Colts got done. They ran off nine straight victories and on Saturday face the San Diego Chargers in a wildcard game.
There were a lot of factors in pulling that off, but the biggest and most important was Manning. During the winning streak, Manning had a 109.7 passer rating with 17 TDs and three INT. In the last four games, he completed 90-of-110 passes (81.8 %) for 1,054 yards, eight TDs, no INTs and a 130.8 passer rating. Manning directed four fourth-quarter, game-winning drives during the streak and six this season
“Just the way we responded to a little bit of football adversity at the beginning of the season, I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to play with great football players and teammates,” Manning said.
Manning had 32 of the 50 votes, finishing ahead of Miami quarterback Chad Pennington and Atlanta running back Michael Turner who each had four votes.
He won the award in 2004 and shared it with Tennessee QB Steve McNair in 2003. He joins Brett Favre as a three-time winner.
Other players receiving votes were: Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson and Pittsburgh LB James Harrison, 3 each; San Diego QB Philip Rivers, 2; and Tennessee RB Chris Johnson and Arizona QB Kurt Warner, one each.
ON THE GM/HEAD COACH JOB SEARCH FRONT
BRONCOS – Will meet with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on Saturday and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Sunday. They have a meeting set up on Wednesday with Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and are looking to schedule an interview with Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
BROWNS – Met on Friday with McDaniels and Browns defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. They will meet on Saturday with Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Owner Randy Lerner has already talked with Spagnuolo and former Jets head coach Eric Mangini. As for his GM job, Lerner interviewed the Browns director of player personnel T.J. McCreight for the job on Friday.
JETS – The New York Daily News reported Friday that Mike Shanahan is out as a candidate to be the head coach with the Jets. The club interviewed in-house candidates Brian Schottenheimer and Bill Callahan on Friday.
LIONS – They will interview Schwartz on Saturday. They interviewed Spagnuolo on Thursday.
RAMS – They will interview Green Bay linebackers coach Winston Moss this weekend and they are setting up interviews with Dallas wide receivers coach Ray Sherman and Miami secondary coach Todd Bowles.
WILDCARD WEEKEND/ATLANTA, ARIZONA, INDIANAPOLIS, SAN DIEGO
Matt Ryan is preparing for his first NFL post-season appearance, coming off a tough final four games when he threw five interceptions.
Edgerrin James knows his next game with the Cardinals likely will be his last, and he will shed no tears when that happens.
The Colts have accomplished plenty over the years, but there remains a lot on the line for their big names in their trip to San Diego.
Chargers coach Norv Turner answered some questions this week.
LONG-TIME SPECIAL TEAMS COACH MIKE STOCK RETIRES
Mike Stock, who for six seasons was the special teams coach for Marty Schottenheimer and Gunther Cunningham with the Chiefs, announced his retirement from coaching on Friday. Stock had spent the past three seasons coaching on the staff of Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers.
Stock spent 44 years coaching football, with eight of those years on the N FL level with the Chiefs, Bengals, Redskins, Rams and Packers. He also coached one year in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals. The Ohio native played at Northwestern University under Ara Parseghian. That’s also where he began his coaching career. At Notre Dame and Ohio State he tutored players Tim Brown, Dave Casper, Joey Galloway and Terry Glenn.
With the Chiefs, Stock did a very good job on special teams and helped turn Tamarick Vanover into one of the top returners in franchise history; Vanover had eight return TDs, all for 80 yards or more, under Stock.
“My passion for the game was strong through the very last contest,” Stock said in a statement through the Packers. “I’ll miss the games and I’ll miss the people.”
SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO …
Born on January 3, 1949, former Chiefs safety Mike Sensibaugh was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sensibaugh played eight NFL seasons, the first five with the Chiefs (1971-75). He played in 63 games with 55 starts, contributing 20 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries. He was an eighth-round choice of the Chiefs in ’71.
Also celebrating birthdays today are the combination that had the biggest play in the league back in February: the New York Giants WR David Tyree catch of a pass thrown by QB Eli Manning on top of his helmet against New England. Today, Tyree is 28, while Manning is 27.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY
On January 3, 1971, the Baltimore Colts beat the Oakland Raiders 27-17 in the 1970 AFC Championship Game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Colts scored 17 points in the second half to win the game and set up a trip to Super Bowl V to play the Dallas Cowboys. Oakland tied the score 10-10 in the third quarter on a TD pass from QB George Blanda to WR Fred Biletnikoff. Blanda came in to replace Daryle Lamonica, who left with an injury in the second quarter. Baltimore answered with the next 10 points, including a Jim O’Brien field goal and the second short TD run of the day for RB Norm Bulaich.
WOW! The browns arent messin around! Looks like they want those positions filled NOW. I wish we were more aggressive than we are in our search for GM…id like to think we are and its just not made public.
In actual fact the Browns look like headless chickens. What exactly is the point of interviewing coaching candidates before you’ve decided on a GM? Particularly when their top GM choice has made it known he wants full authority to choose his own staff and coaches.
Here in KC we don’t need no stinking GM…for, as Clark Hunt has RE-affirmed he will make the final decisions any nee be the final arbiter as regards decisions football.
Time check: 1:09 p.m. CST Saturday, January 3, 2009…and yup, Herm’s STILL The Man!
We are looking for a GM. Not very exciting unless you are from KC. Then will herm stay or go. do not know. It does seem clark releasing carl might have been more PR than substance. Also because carl was allowed to finish the season, I doubt if clark even looked at the front office until CIN game.