End of Season and of Arguments

Issues, the NFL had issues during its 2002 season. And with only a few final quarters left to be played, some of them have even been resolved ...

Bledsoe or Brady?

New England Patriot fans grappled with this one for months, opting for the status quo through Tom Brady’s 3-0 start, glancing enviously at departed Drew Bledsoe as Brady lost his next four starts, rallying behind Brady after he beat Bledsoe in Buffalo, and standing firmly behind their man as Bledsoe struggled down the stretch ... until Brady lost successive starts to the Titans and the Jets.

Statistical breakdown: Brady has the edge in completion percentage (62.5 to 60.8), passer rating (87.1 to 84.9), touchdown passes (27 to 23) and interceptions (13 to 15). Bledsoe has the edge in yards (4,128 to 3,543).

Head to head: Brady won both meetings by a cumulative 65-24 margin.

Bottom line: Brady can still win the AFC East title if things fall right today. Bledsoe made the Pro Bowl, but he has one touchdown pass and six interceptions in his last three games. In the process, Buffalo dropped to 7-8 and out of contention.

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Ricky or Deuce?

The biggest trade of the off-season gave Miami the AFC’s leading rusher and left New Orleans with the NFC’s top rusher and two extra first-round draft choices. Ricky Williams broke the Dolphin single-season rushing record weeks ago and has 1,668 yards before today’s regular-season finale against the Patriots. Deuce McAllister stayed behind in New Orleans to rush for 1,271 yards. Williams has 14 rushing touchdowns, McAllister 13.

So, it was the fabled trade-that-helps-both-teams?

Not quite. Both Williams’ Dolphins and McAllister’s Saints are 9-6. For New Orleans, that’s an upgrade -- the Saints went 7-9 in 2001. But Miami was 11-5 in both of the two seasons preceding Williams’ arrival.

If the Dolphins lose and Atlanta defeats Cleveland today, the NFL’s biggest trade of 2002 will leave Williams and McAllister, with 3,000 yards rushing between them, on the sidelines as the playoffs begin.

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Emmitt or Hambrick?

The thumbnail on Emmitt Smith’s clawing, scratching pursuit of Walter Payton’s rushing record used to be: The old Cowboy is putting his interests ahead of the team, which would be better off handing the ball to Troy Hambrick and building for the future instead of celebrating the past.

Then Smith got the record right before Halloween. Before the confetti could be swept up, Hambrick was popping off about time-to-get-me-mine. Cowboy Coach Dave Campo, who already had too much on his plate, tried to placate Hambrick, which caused Smith to gripe about not getting his due respect. Then Campo tried to placate Smith, which resulted in successive victories before San Francisco’s fourth-quarter rally on Dec. 8 knocked the wind out of the Cowboys, who lost their next two games by a combined 64-10.

Smith needs 38 yards today for his 12th consecutive 1,000-yard season. Hambrick, reassigned to the background, has 311 yards in 78 carries. Per-carry averages are virtually the same -- 4.1 for Smith, 4.0 for Hambrick.

The Cowboys are one loss away from their third consecutive 5-11 season. More Smith or more Hambrick wouldn’t have made much of a difference for Dallas, which needed much more out of its quarterbacks and coaches.

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Spurrier or Schottenheimer?

Redskin owner Daniel Snyder knew what he’d be getting if he stayed with Marty Schottenheimer: discipline, defense, off-tackle runs, 8-8.

If he is half as smart as he thinks he is, Snyder also should have known what he’d be getting with Steve Spurrier: lively news conferences, never-ending controversy, three very dizzy occasionally starting quarterbacks.

There have been no surprises anywhere, including in San Diego, where Schottenheimer landed and is one defeat today from bringing the Chargers in at 8-8. Spurrier is 6-9, averaging two wins per quarterback used, and along the way he probably figured out what the league had been trying to tell him: You won’t win in this league with Shane Matthews and/or Danny Wuerffel leading your offense.

Patrick Ramsey? Spurrier says he’d like to build around the kid in 2003. But there are many college bowl games and scouting combines to cross before then.

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Gruden or Dungy?

Tony Dungy couldn’t win a playoff game in Philadelphia while he was coaching in Tampa, so his move to Indianapolis seemed the perfect arrangement for everyone concerned.

The Colts hadn’t won a playoff game since 1995, and missed them altogether in 2001, so Dungy represented an upgrade there.

With Indianapolis, Dungy would not be required to win a playoff game in Philadelphia, Philadelphia being in the other conference.

And Jon Gruden, the man replacing Dungy at Tampa Bay, would surely improve the offense and find a way to beat the Eagles.

Is everybody happy?

Not quite. Gruden’s Buccaneers look strikingly similar to Dungy’s Buccaneers -- they rank first in defense, 22nd in offense, and if Brad Johnson doesn’t play, Tampa Bay’s playoff run will be a short one.

Dungy turned the Colts’ longtime sieve of a defense into an asset, has won nine games and returned Indianapolis to the playoffs. He also finally won a game in Philadelphia this season, 35-13. Gruden lost his visit to the Vet, 20-10.

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Gruden or Callahan?

The Buccaneers went 9-7 before making the Gruden trade. With a victory over the Bears today, they will finish 12-4 with him.

The Raiders went 10-6 in their last season with Gruden. His replacement, Bill Callahan, finished 11-5, winning the AFC West with a team older than the one Gruden left behind. The Raiders stand to get younger in 2003, holding the Buccaneers’ first- and second-round picks in the next NFL draft.

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Warner or Bulger?

Right, right, Kurt Warner went 0-6, Marc Bulger went 6-0, ring in the new era immediately and ship Warner back to the Arena League.

We’ve heard it all from the panicked masses in St. Louis, who need to catch their breath and take another look at the teams Bulger defeated: Oakland -- a nice one, granted -- followed by Seattle, Arizona, San Diego, Chicago and Arizona again.

And for all the talk about Warner’s fragility, Bulger has been no less brittle.

Monday’s game will be the fourth start Bulger will have to miss because of injury.

The Rams might want to hold off on mothballing Warner’s jersey and remember the league MVP trophy he won ... last January.

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Alignment or Realignment?

Despite much sky-is-falling hysteria over an 11-5 team possibly getting left off the playoff express, the league, and the republic, survived realignment.

One reason: heading into Week 17, only three teams were assured of 11 victories.

In the first season of realignment, 11-5 teams don’t get jobbed out of the playoffs -- they get carried to their postseason appointments on royal litters amid burning incense and fanning palms.

Had the NFL used the old alignment -- three divisions and three wild cards per conference -- the results heading into the final Sunday wouldn’t be much different:

NFC divisional champions: Philadelphia (East), Green Bay (Central), San Francisco (West).

NFC wild cards: Tampa Bay and the New York Giants, with Atlanta and New Orleans scrambling for the third.

AFC divisional champions: Tennessee (Central) and Oakland (West) would have clinched, with Indianapolis leading the East.

AFC wild cards: Pittsburgh. With 9-6 Miami and six other teams scrambling for the other two.

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Favre or Gannon?

They are the favorites for the MVP award, and it will be tough to vote against Rich Gannon, who broke the single-season record for completions, chased Dan Marino’s yardage record until the final week and prodded an old Raider team to another division title.

But where would the Packers be without Brett Favre? Certainly not 12-3, undefeated at home, with a chance to win home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. No other quarterback could have stepped into that situation -- his top three receivers from 2001 gone, his offensive line a shambles -- and produced the same results.

And if the Packers do get home-field advantage, Favre will probably be spending late January in San Diego, prepping for his third Super Bowl, with not a patch of tundra in sight.