NFL Storylines: The Patriots Are Really Good, Peyton Manning's Slump and Favre

The best images of the NFL season might just be the collapsing roof in Minnesota. With the way the Vikings season has imploded on them, the symbolism was rather apropos.

Who would have thought a 40-year old quarterback would need training camp? Brett Favre spent the first few weeks of the season getting back into game shape but unlike last year, the Vikings were not winning. Favre has seen it all in his career and now that his amazing starting streak is over it really is sad how poorly he has handled himself these last few years.

Brad Childress lost his job, Randy Moss lost his desire to play and the Metrodome lost its head. Adrian Peterson has not fumbled this year and I have always thought that Tarvaris Jackson could be a starting quarterback in this league.

We should finally see what Jackson is made of next year. Favre looks to be done this year, but the Vikings are playing out the string as shown by their epic three point performance in Detroit on Monday against the New York Giants.

If the fans in Minnesota do not get the funds for a new stadium then this will not be the last time they see their Vikings playing at another field. The next field might be in LA and they might not be coming back.

Could you imagine if we were all watching the game on FOX and that happened?

The New England Patriots have the runaway MVP winner in Tom Brady. We might as well start calling him future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, as he is on a whole other level. After a rare bad performance against Cleveland, the Patriots have not lost and the teams they have played have not been competitive.

That includes a beating they gave to the Jets that lingered through the next week as New York scored six whole points in a loss to the Miami Dolphins. Those six points are double of what they scored the previous week, so look out for a robust 12 point effort their next time out.

When things are going good, Rex Ryan is one of the better sound bites in the league. Now, he is openly saying that he considered benching Mark Sanchez. It is all about the film room and making adjustments. NFL defenses have found a way to stop Sanchez so it is time for him to find out how he can again have success.

The recent slump of Peyton Manning was eye-opening. We have simply not seen this guy have two bad games in a row since his rookie year and then he went and had a third bad game. It is astonishing to even have Manning and slump in the same sentence,  but we can all tell our grandkids now that we saw it.

His slump had to do with bad choices and also his play calling. Manning is a true field general as he leads the team as well as calls the plays. The running game of the Colts has been in a prolonged hibernation and it is easy to get away from that part of the game if it is struggling.

As great as Manning is, his offense still needs to have balance. We all saw him have a three game slump and we will not see that ever again.

The AFC and NFC West divisions have been a fun story all year. The AFC West was upside down for a bit there but the Raiders lost a thriller to Jacksonville and they are once again looking up at the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are actually looking up at the Kansas City Chiefs but it is hard to imagine that the Chargers, now a game back of KC, will not once again win the AFC West.

Now the NFC West, minus defending champ Arizona, is still up for grabs. As inconsistent as the San Francisco 49ers have been, they might still finish 7-9 and win this awful division. The Seahawks have looked good at times and bad at times. The play of Sam Bradford has been a very nice surprise. I thought he would be injury-prone and struggle, but he has shown that he will one day be a legit NFL stud.

The Atlanta Falcons have the best record in the NFC, the Saints are right on their heels and the Eagles have been fueled by the great play of Mike Vick. When Andy Reid unloaded Donovan McNabb to Washington, I was one of the guys that said it was a huge mistake. That, as it turned out, was the mistake as McNabb has been up and down for the up and down Redskins, while Vick was an MVP favorite for a few weeks there until Tom Brady went all Cam Newton on everyone.

There is a real possibility of Philly going to Atlanta for a playoff game and that would be an event. Vick was an immature guy when he was the face of the Falcons. The Falcons remedied that with the pick of Matt Ryan. For Vick to take his Eagles into Atlanta is something that the NFL would love to see happen.

The collective bargaining agreement is still not taken care of and that has to make all of us NFL fans just a little nervous. The parity in this league is at a high level, the games are great and the business side should be resolved sooner than later so that we can keep on watching.