Faceoff: Beyond final-four superstars? Top assistant? Wade?

CBSSports.com pro football writers Pete Prisco and Clark Judge face off weekly throughout the season.

Beyond the superstar QBs and Adrian Peterson, who is the best offensive player left in the playoffs?

PRISCO: I pick Colts receiver Reggie Wayne. He's one of the most underrated players in the NFL. For whatever reason, he doesn't seem to get the credit he deserves. Let's put it this way: The way he's played last three seasons has some thinking he's might actually be better than Marvin Harrison in his prime. That's high praise. Wayne is a polished route runner who can get deep -- and he isn't afraid to go over the middle. Yet if you asked the majority of media members to name the top receivers in the game, his name wouldn't be high on most lists. In the past three seasons, Wayne has averaged 95 catches and almost nine touchdowns per season. His per-catch average was down to 12.6 yards this season from 14.0 in 2008, but some of that is because it took a while for Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon to get going playing opposite him. Wayne will be matched with Jets corner Darrelle Revis this week. Revis excels in man coverage, but I think Wayne will surprise a lot of people with how well he plays against him.

JUDGE: New Orleans running back Reggie Bush. When he's on, which he was last weekend, the guy is a load, difficult to stop and virtually impossible to catch in the open field. Yes, I love Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark from the Colts, but they don't scare me the way Bush does. He's capable of going the distance at any time and in virtually any situation. A run? Yep, he can beat you to the corner and to the end zone. A pass? Rewind the videotape of his 88-yard touchdown catch and run against the Bears in the 2006 conference championship game, and tell me he's not special. A punt return? Tune in to last weekend's rout of Arizona when he ran through the Cards' coverage. He's fast. He's quick. He's elusive. He's scary good. What he isn't is consistent, and that's where Wayne and Clark have it over him. I'd like to see Bush's prodigious abilities on display a little more often, and, I imagine, so would New Orleans.

If you can have one of the eight coordinators in the NFL's final four on your staff, which one do you take?

PRISCO: There are some good ones, but my choice is Indianapolis senior offensive coordinator Tom Moore. He is a master at running the Colts offense. Yes, it's easier because he has Peyton Manning, but Moore understands what it takes to win in the NFL. You have to throw it. Moore once turned Detroit's Scott Mitchell into a 4,000-yard passer. Isn't that reason enough to make him the choice? But what he's done with the Colts and Manning is special. That offense is tough to stop -- even if doesn't have a great running game -- in large part because Moore coaches loose. He coaches aggressively. When he retired for a while last year because of benefits issues, the Colts did everything they could to get him back. He's back as a paid consultant -- well paid -- and you can bet the Colts are glad he is. Moore is 71 years old, which is why he's never mentioned as a head-coach candidate, but he excels as an offensive coordinator.

JUDGE: Indianapolis senior offensive coordinator Tom Moore. There's a reason Tony Dungy insisted on keeping him when he joined the staff and that owner Jim Irsay fought to keep him when Moore was going to retire. Moore is one of the best in the business, and the numbers prove it. Indianapolis annually is one of the league's leading offenses, both in passing and overall, and, yes, it helps when you have Peyton Manning as your quarterback. But Manning developed under the tutelage of the patient Moore. I'm not sure he'd be the same quarterback under someone else's direction. Moore realized how much his quarterback had to offer and allowed him the freedom to call his plays at the line of scrimmage. He and his offensive coordinator are in perfect sync, and when that happens you're usually productive. The Colts not only are productive; they're successful, winning every game when they kept their starters on the field. Now you know why Manning was upset when it appeared Moore might not return this season. I'd be upset, too, if I lost my mentor.

Did the Cowboys do the right thing giving Wade Phillips another year?

PRISCO: I have to say yes. The Cowboys won their division. They won a playoff game. That's progress. And Phillips did a wonderful job with the defense. That earned him at least another year. There is now talk of an extension for Phillips. They are discussing it now. That's surprising to me. Phillips has earned another year with the Cowboys, but more than that? Why not make him do it again? Jerry Jones is a smart businessman. He is doing the right thing here by bringing Phillips back. Why make a change when the team made progress? Phillips might be considered too soft at times, but his team responded to him late in the season. When I went around the Dallas locker room and asked players the reason for the turnaround, they all had the same reply: "Wade." Phillips also isn't one to rock the boat, which Jones likes. Jones is the GM and he wants things done his way. So having a coach who just wants to coach is perfect for him. Jones is doing the right thing bringing Phillips back.

JUDGE: No. That's not easy for me to say because, A) I believe in continuity, and B) I like Phillips as a coach and as a guy. But I like him as a defensive coordinator. As a head coach he hasn't demonstrated he can win big games, and the evidence, please. He goes to Philadelphia for the 2008 season finale, needing only a win to make the playoffs, and not only doesn't win but gets hammered. Then his club gets embarrassed by Minnesota last weekend, pushed all over the field while Phillips made what I'd call questionable decisions along the way. So he beat Philadelphia in this year's playoffs. Big deal. He's 1-5 overall, and if producing winning seasons is what you're all about then, yes, keep him and give him an extension. But if going deep into the playoffs is your goal, you must change.