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When Eli Manning said he believed he was an elite quarterback, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Sure Eli had won a Super Bowl, but there was so much of his game that made Giants fans cringe at times. One of the early knocks on Eli was how he handled pressure. Heading into this year, he wasn’t exactly our most favorite QB in this area, as he completed just 44.7% of passes with nine interceptions on the 173 plays he was pressured in 2010.

So, if he was going to make those who mocked his comments eat their words, he especially needed to improve this aspect of his play. More so, with a line that was entering rapid decline mode, he had to step up his game to fit in amongst the top players in the league if the Giants’ season was to go anywhere.

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At the end of the day, all the matters is the Patriots are once again going to the Super Bowl.

It doesn’t matter that Lee Evans didn’t bring that ball in. It doesn’t matter that Billy Cundiff shanked the Ravens’ chance to take it to overtime. It doesn’t even matter that Tom Brady had some very off moments. No, all that matters is the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens, setting up a much-anticipated Super Bowl rematch with a New York Giants team who ended New England’s chance at the perfect season just a few years back. What more can you really say?

Ravens fans will dwell on opportunities missed as they made the Patriots’ offense look ordinary, and got a fine display from quarterback Joe Flacco. But, as is often the case it football, it comes down to a few plays; the penalties on interceptions, the fourth down attempts, and those plays, the plays that have already become part of Ravens lore. Obviously those plays went the way of the Patriots, a team who will likely need to step up on both sides of the ball to deal with a Giants team on a white-hot streak who also caught their share of breaks.

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Day 3 of our All-Division Teams takes us to the AFC South which is currently in a state of flux. With no Peyton Manning it was anything but the status quo as the Texans managed to dominate a division they justly won, while overcoming a plethora of injuries in the process.

But what about the best players from the AFC South? Were the Texans able to make us much noise with our team as they did in the regular season? Or were the combined efforts of the Titans, Colts, and Jaguars enough to make this more of an AFC South team, and less of a Houston Texans team?

As ever, reading on provides the answers.

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It’s a fundamental skill when it comes to being a wide receiver, yet something some guys have a big problem with; catching the ball.

It can be what prevents a dangerous receiver becoming a great one and seeing their team’s receiver drop a catchable ball in a key situation is the bane of many a fan’s existence. It happens to the best of them, but who does it happen to most frequently, and who does it happen to less?

Well we’ve tweaked our drop percentage article and it has now become a signature stat called the ‘Drop Rate’. A simple enough formula where we’re looking at how often a receiver drops a ball for every catchable ball thrown his way (with a catchable ball being defined as something that was either caught or dropped). The results, as ever, prove interesting so let’s look at them.

(It should be noted that to qualify for the study a receiver needed at least 30 catchable balls thrown their way).

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The postseason is still ongoing, and it’s too soon to really get into free agency. So how are we to amuse ourselves until we can get back to talking about ongoing games or discussing the moves to be made?

Well, in the first of eight installments to be released over the next two weeks, we’re going to be naming our All-Division Teams, and today we start with the AFC East. Now, as with all these teams, we’re being liberal in what type of personnel we use on offense or defense to create a lineup that involves the most talented players from each division where possible.

Will that disclaimer go down well? Does it matter? Here’s PFF’s All-AFC East Team for 2011:

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In a closely contested affair, you always got the feeling that whoever made fewer mistakes out of the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans would win, and so it proved with the Ravens advancing to the AFC Championship game as they held onto victory against a stubborn and resolute Texans side.

While people have been quick to come out and criticize Joe Flacco, the Ravens quarterback did exactly what was needed, against a defense that has caused plenty of teams problems and didn’t turn it over. Throw in several excellent throws and compare it with the performance of T.J. Yates, and you have the biggest reason the Texans are going home and the Ravens are preparing for the Patriots.

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One of most common questions we get on twitter is in regards to cornerbacks. Precisely how many receptions have they given up, how many yards have they allowed and how good are they.

Well if you want to know how good they are we have a rather excellent area in our premium area that gives each player a grade based on their body of work for an entire season. If you don’t believe in the power of the premium, then we have forgotten about you either. So to quench your thirst for cornerback numbers we’re going to give you some of the most relevant numbers from the 2011 regular season.

Looking for the best and worst performers when it comes to yards and receptions allowed and more? Then look no further with our glancing look at the 2011 cornerback numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

You know when you’re a kid and its Christmas–you get that new toy and you just have to play with it. You forget about the toy that had kept you going for the last few months because something shinier had come along.

Well, as we get older the more things change the more they stay the same. We’re still attracted to those new shiny things and in the case of the NFL, that means rookies. We want to know what kind of impact they’re making and whether they’re living up to what we expected out of them. It means we forget all about the guys who just a year earlier were the apples of our eyes and big hope for changing the fortunes of our team.

With my weekly Race for Rookie of the Year feature, I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to this, so to make amends I’m launching a new annual award here at Pro Football Focus: The Sophomore Superstar.

That’s right, the Top 10 players from the 2010 draft class get their credit here and, without further ado, let’s find out who tops the list.

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There are plenty of things that have impressed me this year. The Green Bay Packers’ attempt to go undefeated. The records broken by Drew Brees and others. Heck, I’ve even been impressed by how Levi Brown turned a switch on to look like a competent left tackle for six games at the end of the season.

But what impressed me the most? I think it may be the impact the 2011 draft class has made.

We’ve seen so many excellent performances that it’s hard to comprehend that these guys had a shortened off season. Either coaching just slows talent down and prevents them making an immediate impact, as it did with a lot of the 2010 class, or this year’s rookies are just that much more talented. You be the judge.

In any case it’s been a joy writing about these guys in my ‘Race for the Rookie of the Year’ weekly feature which saw Von Miller come out on top, and so now it’s time to name the Pro Football Focus, All Rookie Team of the Year. Starting with a slam dunk at the QB spot.

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Making the playoffs is good, winning in them is better.

You won’t need to tell the Houston Texans that after a victory in their playoff debut sent a rocking Reliant Stadium home happy. After a season that has seen them lose their star pass rusher and starting and backup quarterbacks, they overcame a Bengals team that had its chances. That they did owes a lot to a rushing attack that gave Arian Foster just enough space to make some big runs, and a defense that got to grips with Andy Dalton, eventually making him look every bit the rookie he is.

The Cincinnati Bengals will no doubt be disappointed this was the case after an efficient start that saw them have success moving the ball downfield. But after missing an opportunity to put up points, and then being held to just a field goal, they failed to deliver the kind of blow that could have rattled a Texans team that had lost three on the bounce. Still, there’s plenty of young talent on that roster (check out what Neil Hornsby had to say about the excellent Geno Atkins) and they took a huge step forward in what was meant to be a transitional year. Read the rest of this entry »