Faceoff: Will Jets be second-best? Vikings sans Favre? Coryell in Hall?
CBSSports.com pro football writers Pete Prisco and Clark Judge face off weekly throughout the season.
Are the New York Jets now the team to beat in the AFC East?
PRISCO: No. They had a nice run in the playoffs, winning two road games, but the Patriots are still the team to beat in the division. Why? Tom Brady. He's still the best passer in the division, and we know passing wins in the NFL. If the Jets or the Dolphins are to have a real chance to unseat the Patriots, they have to turn their quarterbacks loose. They can't play the old-style offense and hope the running game and defense can win a title. It can't anymore. Look at the Super Bowl teams this season. It's about the passing game. It's time for Mark Sanchez and Chad Henne to play looser. Take the restrictions away. They have talent. Brady has more. That's why the Patriots are still the team to beat. Brady will be a year removed from his knee injury, which means he should be even better than this season. It took him a while to get going in 2009. The Patriots have holes to fill, but they also have young talent that is ready to play now. The Jets were a nice story in the playoffs, but the Patriots are still better.
JUDGE: No. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if gravity takes over and the Jets decline next season. It happened the last time they went to the playoffs, and it could happen again. Star running back Thomas Jones turns 32 in August, and 32-year-old running backs don't produce much. Yeah, so Jones had a big season. So did Curtis Martin at 31. In fact, he led the league in rushing. Two years later he was out of football. The defense is solid -- and should be more secure with the return of Kris Jenkins -- but I worry a little about the quarterback. Mark Sanchez showed me plenty in the conference championship game, but he'll be on his own more next season, which means he'll have to make the plays he didn't this year. The biggest problem, of course, is that the Jets are in the same division as New England, and that's always a problem as long as Tom Brady is around. Plus, I expect Miami to be stronger. The Jets are a threat, but they're not the top dog in the AFC East. Not yet. New England is.
What is the future of the Vikings if Brett Favre retires?
PRISCO: They'll have a little transition time, but they only went one game further this season with Favre than they did in 2008 with Tarvaris Jackson. So Jackson will take over if Favre leaves -- or he should. A year watching and learning from Favre might have done him a lot of good. The kid has skills. He has a big arm and can move around. The one thing he lacked was a full understanding of the passing game. But if he absorbed all he could from Favre, it had to help. Can the Vikings win a Super Bowl with the Jackson we saw in 2008? No. Can they win if he improves? Yes. Hey, they tried it with Favre and they still didn't win. So if Favre goes, they'll be OK. There is a lot of talent on that team. They have Adrian Peterson, and they have emerging stars in the passing game. And we know the defense will be good. If there is improvement by Jackson, they could still get to a Super Bowl. Don't cry, Minnesota. If Favre retires, your team will be OK. Of course you won't know if he is retiring until August. Or will that be when he un-retires?
JUDGE: Not good. Or not as good as it was when he was playing. Without Favre, the Vikings are back to where they were early last summer, which means playing with Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback. The good news is that both should have learned something sitting behind Favre this season. The bad news is that neither is a franchise quarterback. OK, so Jackson led the Vikings to a division title in 2008, but that was only after he was benched for 11 games and only after the New York Giants, who had clinched home-field advantage, mailed in the season finale. Favre wins big games; Rosenfels and Jackson don't. And that is a problem. But here's the bigger concern: Green Bay. The Packers are a bona fide playoff team with a bona fide franchise quarterback, and they play in the same division as Minnesota. The only reason they didn't win the NFC North this season was Favre. Without him, Minnesota cedes control of the division and starts playing catch-up with the Packers.
Final voting for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 is coming up. Which finalist who probably won't make it this time should be elected?
PRISCO: Former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell. It will be tough for him this year, but I think he gets in down the road. And he should. The guy was an innovative coach who wasn't afraid to throw the football. His offense, Air Coryell, was way ahead of its time and a precursor to what we see in the NFL today. I know he didn't win a Super Bowl, but he was a successful coach who brought a lot of important, forward-thinking ways to the NFL. Look at the 4,000-yard passers; a lot of that comes from Coryell's influence. When most teams were playing stodgy offensive football, he was turning Dan Fouts loose, unafraid of the consequences of throwing the football. Coryell went to the playoffs in nine of his 14 seasons. I know his teams had some playoff failures, but he's getting in on his impact on the game. And believe me, it it's there. Just ask all the coaches today. Coryell is a first-time finalist and it can be tough to get in the first go around. Plus, he's in a class where Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice are locks. Spots are limited. I would think Coryell won't make it this time, but he eventually gets into the Hall.
JUDGE: San Diego coach Don Coryell. He didn't make it to a Super Bowl. Big deal. He changed the game with his complex and innovative offenses, and those complex and innovative offenses forced defenses to adapt. Remember how dominant the Washington Redskins were in the 1980s? They ran Coryell's offense under former San Diego assistant Joe Gibbs, who did make it to a Super Bowl. In fact, he made it to four, winning three of them. Former San Diego offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese made it there, too, winning the 1995 Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys. Furthermore, Zampese mentored Norv Turner, who had such an impact on quarterback Troy Aikman that Aikman had Turner present him at the Hall of Fame. Oh, yeah, Aikman won three Super Bowls, too. My point is that even though Coryell didn't make it to a Super Bowl, his offenses did -- winning six between 1982-95. And his players? Well, I count three -- Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow -- who made it to Canton without stopping at a Super Bowl. If it was good enough for them, it should be good enough for the man who put them in there.
