There’s an arms race going on in the AFC East. With Peyton
Manning’s release from the Indianapolis Colts, teams around the league have
visions of becoming an instant competitor by signing the 14-year vet to lead
their offenses.
This is especially true of the Miami Dolphins and the New
York Jets who both seek a way to counter the AFC’s most potent weapon; New
England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady.
The Jets made it to the AFC Conference Championship game two
years in a row but fell short both times of securing a Super Bowl berth. The
Dolphins haven’t even gotten that close. The last time the Dolphins played in
the AFC Championship game was way back in 1992 and have only made it to the
playoffs three times since the 2000 season.
That year the Dolphins, led by the legendary Dan Marino,
were thwarted by Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills despite having home field
advantage. That is the closest Marino would come to a Super Bowl during his
last seven years in the league and the Dolphins haven’t advanced past the
Division round of the playoffs since that year.
But after years of trying to get it done with the likes of
Jay Fiedler, Chad Henne, Matt Moore, Chad Pennington, Cleo Lemon, Gus Frerotte,
and AJ Feeley, the Dolphins realize that they need a more dynamic figure to man
their quarterback position.
The Dolphins covet Manning’s leadership so much to the point
that they choose to pursue him over the chance to bring in a young talent like quarterback
Matt Flynn who played with the Green Bay Packers last season.
Many figure that Flynn would be a good fit to play in Miami
due to his history with the Dolphins’ new head coach Joe Philbin. Philbin was
the quarterbacks coach in Green Bay during Flynn’s time there and would be able
to tailor the offense to make him the most successful.
Also, Flynn is nine years younger than Manning, has a cannon
for an arm and most importantly, doesn’t have any issues with his neck. Still, Flynn
is not going to leave one back up position for another so there is no way he
will come to Miami if they sign Manning.
The Jets are in an even more precarious position. They have
a young quarterback who has already struggled with confidence issues in the
past in Mark Sanchez. Their heavy pursuit of Manning can’t be doing anything to
help his confidence level.
But many people both in and outside the organization feel
that Sanchez hasn’t developed in the three years he has been there. His inability
to make good decisions with the ball is one of the reasons the Jets failed to
make the playoffs last year which is why the team is pursuing Manning so
heavily.
It doesn’t hurt that
the Colts had a collapse similar to what the post-LeBron Cleveland Cavaliers
had going from first to worst in their division. Their monumental collapse only
illustrates how much of an impact Manning has on a game.
And both the Jets and the Dolphins want that after watching
how Tom Brady has almost single-handedly kept the Patriots a championship
contender during his time there.
Brady has taken the Patriots to five Super Bowls in the 12
years he’s been in the league. Even more impressive when you consider he didn’t
start as a rookie and missed a season due to a knee injury.
And while Manning has only been to two Super Bowls during
the 14 years he has been in the league most would agree that he has had a lot
less to work with than Brady. The Jets hope the fact that they were able to
beat Brady in the playoffs with Sanchez at the helm will appeal to Manning’s
desire to win and catch up to his little brother in the championship department.
The Dolphins on the other hand just hope that he will be
drawn there by the beautiful weather and all of the money they are willing to
throw his way. Either way, things are bound to get offensive in the AFC East
this year.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and is also an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.
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