Manning is the MVP

A twirl around the NFL while wondering if the college bowl season will ever end ...

. The paying customers saw it in today's kill-a-tree edition or over on the premium site, but we published my Associated Press All-Pro/Awards ballot, hereby exposing me to nasty emails and comments from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in work cubicles across America.

Peyton Manning was my MVP. And like I described, it wasn't a vote against Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers or Chris Johnson. They're all deserving, but I'm not a big fan of co-MVPs, so I went with the guy I thought is the best player and the most valuable in the NFL.

When the Colts tried to win, Manning carried an otherwise slightly-above-average team to a 14-0 record. No other player in the league can make that claim. When the Colts let up and stopped trying, they went 0-2.

When the Dolphins designed the perfect blueprint to defeat Manning -- hogging the ball for over 45 minutes earlier this season -- Manning won the game with only 14:53 of clock time. That was the lowest possession time by a winning team since 1977.

When Bill Belichick was faced with a fourth-and-two from his own 28 with 2:08 left and leading the Colts by six, he went for it instead of willingly handing Manning the ball. If the greatest coach of his generation does that, well, if that's not respect for the best player in the league, then I don't know what is. As we know, the Pats were stopped short of the first down and Manning won the game.

It didn't matter if the Colts had injuries, Manning won the game. When the Colts started two rookie corners, Manning won the game. When Marvin Harrison grew old and disappeared, Manning threw to someone else. When Anthony Gonzalez got hurt and disappeared, Mannning threw to someone else and made stars out of guys we'd never heard of before.

. The vote that was affected by the Colts' decision not to play for an undefeated season was Coach of the Year. I'm sure the decision to rest starters in the final two games was Bill Polian's, but it changed the perception of Caldwell. If he went 16-0, he overcame the perception of simply steering Tony Dungy's team into the playoffs. At 14-2, he didn't do that for me. Still a very good coach, of course.

For coach of the year, I went with Marvin Lewis. Yes, they also laid down in their finale. But when the Bengals go 10-6, sweep a division that includes Baltimore and the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, it's a big deal. This is only the second time in 19 years the Bengals have been to the playoffs.

. Some of the paying customers have asked why Manning was MVP, Brees was my All-Pro QB and Chris Johnson was my NFL Offensive Player of the Year. I don't know if the answer is right or not, or if it satisfies anyone's curiosity, but I felt each of them deserved special recognition for the seasons they had.

. The NFL Defensive Player of the Year, in my mind, was Charles Woodson. This was an amazing year for "old" guys in the secondary. Woodson is 33, and my two Pro Bowl safeties were Darren Sharper (34) and Brian Dawkins (36). With guys like this and guys like Favre (40) and Kurt Warner (38), we all need to adjust our perceptions of what is old in the NFL.

. Anybody else feeling the pressure mounting on the Cowboys? Whether they can handle it will be one of the most exciting things to watch this weekend.

Meanwhile, Larry Fitzgerald Jr. played the whole game and came out fine. Coach Ken Whisenhunt admitted that the reason Fitz played the entire game was to get his career-high 13th touchdown, which he did, and 100 catches, which he fell three short of.

Rodgers-Cromartie appears to be likely to play. Whisenhunt says he had "good range of motion" on Monday. Campbell had surgery on Monday and could play with a cast on his hand. Whiz compared it to guard Reggie Wells playing with a cast earlier this season, but it's a different animal when a d-lineman has his hand in a cast.

Boldin had MRIs on his knee and ankle Monday.