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Unless you live underneath a rock, you probably heard that Tim Tebow had a pretty good game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and claimed a playoff win for the division that many were calling the worst in the NFL this season. Tebow finished with more passing yards than Ben Roethlisberger while racking up a shockingly-high 31.6 yards per completed pass.
The Broncos defense did a great job stopping the Steelers' passing game overall, getting plenty of pressure (5 sacks) on Big Ben, and kept Isaac Redman from making big plays (like touchdowns) despite giving up 121 rushing yards to the second-year Running Back out of Bowie State.
As a Chargers fan, I look at the Broncos roster and see some future holes at Safety and CB due to the age of Brian Dawkins and Champ Bailey. Then I see them drop down a couple of spots in the draft by winning yesterday's game. Then I smile. Go Tebow!
Signed interim Head Coach Romeo Crennel to a 3-year contract and, thus, removing the "interim" tag from his title. You'll hear people say that he won this position when his Chiefs beat the undefeated Green Bay Packers in his first game, but they're wrong. That's simply when he became a viable candidate, maybe even the front-runner. It was the Week 17 win against the Broncos, in Denver, that won Romeo this job.
Next season, the Chiefs get back a litany of NFL stars. Jamaal Charles, Eric Berry and Tony Moeaki are just three of the guys that will be a part of the 2012 Chiefs, and Matt Cassel will return as their QB. You can make jokes about the quality of Cassel's play in the past or the quality of Crennel's tenure with the Browns, but the 2010 Chiefs that won the division will be back next year and hungry under their new coach.
Hired Reggie McKenzie, a former Raiders Linebacker and an administrator with the Green Bay Packers for the last 7 years, to be their General Manager. Supposedly, McKenzie is currently evaluating Head Coach Hue Jackson (who went 1-4 in the last 5 weeks of the season) and is considering bringing in one of "his guys" (presumably a Packers Asst. Coach) to replace him. Would it be lunacy, considering Jackson has been the most stabilizing force in Oakland in the last decade? Yes, but this is the Raiders. It wouldn't surprise anyone.
The Raiders' biggest problem is, like the Chargers, their most tiring one. The best player on their team, Darren McFadden, just cannot stay healthy. Every year they seem to jump out early as a good team, then DMC goes down for the season and takes the team's playoff hopes with him. Will they start 2012 relying on him once more?