By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Nov. 15, 1998

While browsing the remains of Sunday in the NFL, great stories continue to range from sideline to sideline and for a lot of reasons.

The

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best story is the saga of our two rookie quarterbacks -- Nos. 1 and 2 in the 1998 NFL Draft -- Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. They are headed in opposite directions, and fast, but we'll get back to that later.

Coming out of the blocks, it's tough not to get excited about the Atlanta Falcons after they thoroughly dismantled the San Francisco 49ers and now own sole possession of first place in the NFC West. They haven't won the division in 18 years. Say what you will about the anal disposition of Dan Reeves ... the Falcons have won 13 of their past 16 games.

And we still love Randall Cunningham. Knee injury and all, he quarterbacked the Minnesota Vikings to a 24-3 victory over the pathetic Cincinnati Bengals. Sure, a great defensive effort was key to the Vikings' domination, but Randall is the leader. They are 9-1, which is their best start in 23 years.

That topsy-turvy AFC East is now owned by the Miami Dolphins, even if Dan Marino can't get 20 points a game for that team. Defense is ruling the division, so it could be the difference.

And the two most talented teams drowning without anybody throwing their coaches life preservers are the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Both teams, expected to challenge not only in their divisions but for the AFC title, have their cleats stuck in the mud at .500 and a possible spot in the playoffs for either is becoming more of a mirage than a reality.

Still, Pete Carroll's job in New England seems safer than Dennis Erickson's if only because Pats owner Robert Kraft still wants to prove he's better off without Bill Parcells (which everybody knows isn't true). Meanwhile, Erickson's Seahawks, from the no-talent group he started with in 1995 to the very talented crew he has now, just can't seem to play consistently. The only thing that hasn't changed is the coach.

THAT'S ALL NOTHING MORE THAN hypothesizing, chastising and virtualizing over the future, however. What we really have right now is a pair of rookie quarterbacks who combined for a record $79.25 million in contracts in July.

For months, the debate was over the virtues of Peyton Manning vs. Ryan Leaf. It began heading into April's draft and continued even after Indianapolis took Manning first and San Diego swung a big trade with Arizona to get the rights to pick Leaf second.

Leaf's the better athlete and has more upside, they all said. Bigger, stronger and nastier ... all the requisites to excel in the NFL. Of course, those aren't necessarily better characteristics to have as a quarterback.

All the while, Manning, despite receiving quiet praise for maturity and the ability to recognize defenses, kept getting beaten down because he never could beat Florida while he was setting records at Tennessee. There was constant criticism for his failure to win the biggest games, as if he could do it all by himself.

That wasn't the biggest joke of all. Ultimately, it became the vogue to like Leaf better. Each year, Manning was put down more and more for being a good guy. For some reason, being mature and responsible and successful all became liabilities. It didn't make sense, but even sportswriters became eager to shoot down Manning.

And there lingered Leaf, leading unheralded Washington State to its first Rose Bowl since they stopped wearing leather helmets.

WELL GUESS WHAT, FOLKS? ONLY because Manning has too much class is he failing to utilize his perch as the one with the last laugh. Sunday, he led the Colts to a brilliant 24-23 upset of the New York Jets, hitting tight end Marcus Pollard with a 14-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left. He also threw for 276 yards and two other touchdown passes.

As

Peyton Manning is an object of affection in Indianapolis Sunday after beating the Jets. (AP)

for Leaf, he was benched for the game against Baltimore. His teammates reportedly hate him. Not only does he have the lowest quarterback efficiency rating of any starter seen since, well, Washington State was in its previous Rose Bowl, but he's still trying to recover from making a fool out of himself at his alma mater recently. Because of drunken buffoonery, he was thrown out of several taverns and a mini-mart in Pullman, Wash. All of this came after he returned to campus to donate $200,000 in honor of the deceased son of fellow alum Mark Rypien.

But even during the press conference to announce the scholarship, sources say Leaf was dressed in all leather and weighed down by jewelry and sunglasses on. Oh, he took his sunglasses off to answer the questions, then he'd put them back on after he was finished. It sounds like he was auditioning to be Dennis Rodman's sidekick, with two strong exceptions: Rodman has three NBA championship rings and holds the all-time NBA record with seven consecutive rebounding titles.

Meanwhile, the Chargers won Sunday with somebody named Craig Whelihan playing quarterback and nearly the entire San Diego organization ready to bail on Leaf.

Ultimately its an indictment of society in general and the media in particular when a guy like Leaf is embraced and Manning is ridiculed. That appears to be the grandest reason Charles Woodson was able to make a late-season run and whisk last season's Heisman Trophy out of Manning's grasp. So if you are disconcerted by Manning's less athletic approach, which rivals that of Johnny Unitas, as opposed to a more swashbuckling John Elway, remember, being comparable to Johnny Unitas (in a Colts uniform no less) is a good thing.

Sorry, Peyton. Good guys do deserve to win.