Manning or Flynn?

Let’s pretend for a minute that the Dolphins are in a perfect can’t lose scenario.  Let’s pretend that the Dolphins are an attractive franchise to play for.  In this perfect scenario, the Dolphins can choose either Matt Flynn or Peyton Manning.  Who do they choose?  The pick to some might be obvious.  Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.  His numbers are staggering.  He has over 54,000 passing yards and almost 400 TD’s.  His completion percentage is excellent at  65% for his career.  He has a Super Bowl ring and played in another one.  He is a tremendous athlete and a fantastic quarterback.  However, how many years does he have left?  The last thing I want to go through as a Dolphins fan would be a two year stint of moderate success of possibly making the playoffs and having a winning record to him retiring and they Dolphins are back to where they were before Manning.   It is possible if this unfolded as described that the Dolphins could be in a worse state as their players will now be two years older and the salary Manning would require might have made a few relocate to other teams. 

Is Flynn the answer?  The young QB showed a lot of promise throwing for a record 6 TD’s in his only start for Green Bay this past season.  He has a tremendous upside.  He is young and will be a franchise quarterback for years to come.  He is not Peyton Manning and may never be.  Is that OK?  Does Matt Flynn have the skill set to take the Dolphins from mediocre at best to a contender and beat teams like New England, Denver and Pittsburgh?  Peyton Manning does because he’s already done it.  It is a difficult decision however, one I feel Dolphins fans would love to actually have.  Matt Flynn is unproven and Peyton Manning is near the end. 

It comes down to the choice of giving Matt Flynn a shot and investing your entire franchise in a quarterback with many question marks or invest a tremendous amount of money in a guy who might be finished after one solid shot.  Hopefully for Dolphin fans this scenario comes to fruition.  Either way the Dolphins should be better off with either one of these quality athletes.  Good luck Dolphins, the only thing definite is the fact that you will be spending some serious money.

Rich Kolka is a blog contributor for Gold Star Games, a leader in tailgate gear.

Chad Pennington set to retire

Chad Pennington is set to send in his retirement papers soon. Pennington is 35 and has had 4 surgeries on his throwing shoulder. Pennington has been a classy person and it's great that he now ends his career as one of the top in terms of completion percentage in NFL history. I wish him the best of luck and I know he will make a great coach at whatever level he chooses. He has the smarts and love of the game to really connect with his players.

Pennington also commented on the Dolphins QB situation and he believes that the Dolphins best option would be to pursue Matt Flynn, so that Matt Moore and Flynn could battle it out for the starting spot. Its funny how last year 2 Chads were battling for the starting spot and now next season we could have 2 Matts competing.

Breaking down where Manning will end up

We all know that Manning will be released during the offseason and will be searching for a new home. Lets get right to it and go through where he will end up based on what we are being told by sources.

Some sources are saying that Peyton wants to remain in the AFC because he knows the competition and does not want to switch to another division at this stage in his career and may not want to go to the same conference as his brother. So that eliminates 16 teams right off the bat. We can also eliminate the Colts, Texans, Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, Patriots, and Chargers because they already have their QB.

Next we are told that he wants to play in either a dome or a warm weather area. That eliminates the Browns, Denver (they have Tebow anyways and Manning wouldn't want to get in the middle of it), Chiefs, Bills, Jets (he probably wouldn't want to go to the same city as his brother anyways), and the Titans (who already have Locker who played well when given the opportunity).

That leaves the Jaguars, Raiders, and the Dolphins. Next he wants a good Defense, which eliminates the Jags. Leaving the Raiders and Dolphins. The Raiders have already traded 2 first round picks for Palmer. Plus I believe the Dolphins are in a better position to win now.

Let's just say however that the conference doesn't matter to him and the sources are wrong. We eliminate the cold weather teams and those who have a QB, Packers, Lions, Bears, Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, Saints, Panthers, Falcons, Seattle, Rams (or at least Fisher thinks so).

Leaving the Dolphins, Vikings, Redskins, Buccaneers, 49ers, and Arizona. I do not think that the 49ers will give up on Smith to take the risk on Manning since Smith did play really well and Jim loves him. The Vikings are in a tough division and i don't think they have a team that can win now. Same could be said about the Redskins who will also be eyeing the #2 spot for RG3. The Buccaneers are also rebuilding and they have Freeman.

That leaves the Dolphins and Arizona. Both warm area places so neither advantage there. The Dolphins have a better O line and skill receivers, but the Cardinals have Fitz, so lets call this a tie. The Dolphins have a better Defense so advantage Miami. The Cardinals have a proven head coach, nothing on Philbin but he doesn't experience so advantage Arizona. There is a tie based on the overall team. I think however Miami is a more attractive place to live and Manning having a condo and his wife liking the area and Ross willing to spend whatever it takes could give Miami the advantage.

Could this be how Madden 13 looks like?

Hall of Fame

Dateline Canton-

The NFL announced its "class" of 2012, and not among the list was Bill Parcells.  According to the fictitious spokesman for the Hall, Parcells would have certainly been inducted based on his merits as coach of the New York Giants in the 1980s, and for his building of the Patriots in the 1990s. 

"But the way he left the Patriots was troubling, and how he handled his tenure with the New York Jets showed a lack of class.  And then how he screwed the Dolphins - well, we just couldn't ignore that.  What he did was kind of douchey.."

Parcells released a statement that simply said "You guys don't know what you're talking about your a bunch of jerks.: At least I never released a player on the eve of the Superbowl."

And Dolphins fans everywhere laughed.