NFL Report

Tony Dungy's tenure in Indianapolis is over and now the critiquing begins. The Colts have won 12+ games in the regular season for six-plus seasons and won the Super Bowl in 2007. However, their playoff record outside of that season was 3-6 during his watch. Well liked by his players, his calm leadership was appreciated during some tough times. Indy has lived and died with the arm of QB Peyton Manning and he has been a Top 2 QB in the league for several years. The defense hasn't been nearly as proficient as the team shelled out big bucks to keep their offensive stars and let several defensive players (Bertrand Berry, David Thornton, Cato June, Marcus Washington, Mike Peterson etc.) depart. GM Bill Polian has done a great job with the draft and has signed several rookie FAs that made an impact. The all-important defensive tackle position hasn't been addressed and undrafted DT Ed Johnson has been the best DT the team has had in the last few seasons but was cut this year for off-field indiscretions.

The hallmark of Dungy's teams in Indy was that they peaked in the regular season and faltered in the playoffs. Should this team have won more Super Bowls or at least have reached the big game more often? That's a good question. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were convinced they had a Super Bowl team but couldn't win with Dungy as HC (The Bucs lost their last 3 playoff games under Dungy by a combined 63-18 score). They hired Jon Gruden as head coach and voila, they won the Super Bowl in his first season.

Dungy will probably make the Hall of Fame and is immensely popular. A great coach? No, but he certainly has a great regular-season record.

The Giants went quietly in the playoffs and lost four of their last five games. Many people are contending the loss of WR Plaxico Burress was the main culprit for the offense's lack of competence, especially in their no-TD game vs. Philadelphia. Did anyone watch that game? The WRs on the Giants were open on several plays but QB Eli Manning kept missing the target. He missed wideout Steve Smith for an easy TD and don't blame the weather. Eagles QB Donovan McNabb played very well and the weather didn't seem to bother his performance. Manning just had a very poor game at the wrong time. The Giants sat 11-1 earlier in the year but like the Colts in past seasons, peaked too early. New York is still a very good team but will have a tough offseason ahead of them. They are expected to release Burress and their two 1,000 yard rushers, RBs Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward are free agents. They'd love to keep both but GM Jerry Reese knows that won't be easy. The team really likes Ward and he should be less expensive to keep. They also have RB Ahmad Bradshaw and he's easily one of the best No.3 RBs in the league maybe the best. On the flip side, they get DE Osi Umenyiora back next year and Reese has another draft to spin his magic (he's coming off two very strong drafts). The Giants don't appear to be on the downside and look for them to come back strong next season.