When the Dolphins were winning down the stretch, they were beating teams like the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Chiefs. Until they beat the Jets on the final Sunday of the regular season, they didn't beat a team with a winning record during their run to the playoffs. In fact, six of their wins came against teams that were a combined 27-69.

Meanwhile, the Ravens were going 3-1 against the NFC East. Remember, the Ravens were the team that benched Donovan McNabb. They made McNabb, a hero again in Philadelphia, look like a turnover machine. They did the same thing to Chad Pennington, who was intercepted four times. The Dolphins had committed only 13 turnovers all season — tied with the Giants for the NFL low — but against Baltimore, they turned it over five times.

I am still trying to figure out why Pennington won the Comeback Player of the Year award. What was he coming back from? Being lousy last season with the Jets? You're right. I didn't vote for him, even though I agree with my writing brethren that Pennington is one of the classiest guys in the league. He's a stand-up guy in the locker room and a big reason why the Jets are piling on Brett Favre these days. But that's no reason to give him an award.

But it was the Pennington-Favre saga that overwhelmed this season in New York and Miami. Most players apparently prefer Pennington to Favre and it's that conversation that will lead Favre to remain home in Mississippi next training camp. To this day, I remain stunned that Favre chose New York over Tampa Bay. He would have been much happier in Tampa with Jon Gruden, a coach who really wanted him. Eric Mangini didn't want Favre. Jets owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum did. The Bucs would have been playing this weekend with Favre; they still believe that. Meanwhile, the Jets can't wait for Favre to announce his retirement.

The guy who may come out of this the best is Mangini. He could be the Browns' next head coach even though his assistant coaches in New York hated working for him and his players hated playing for him. And, yes, so did Favre.

NFL teams rarely think outside the box

I am always struck by the difference between major league baseball and the NFL. In baseball, teams aren't afraid to lose their star players, often preferring to go with a minor-league sensation. Personnel people in baseball believe in their scouting departments. But in football, teams tend to cling to their veteran stars, often when they probably know better. NFL teams rarely think outside the box with a few exceptions like Pittsburgh and New England. There are probably a couple others, too.

Everybody in TV land was saying Sunday how much money Darren Sproles made on Saturday night with his game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Colts, plus his 320 yards of total offense against Indy. Sproles will be a free agent this offseason. But at 5-foot-6 he's really too small to be an every-down running back. There's no way he could sustain the punishment. He's the ideal sidekick to a monster back. I am sure the Chargers will pay Sproles to keep him off the open market, but in hindsight they should have traded LaDainian Tomlinson last year.

But NFL teams don't trade players like Tomlinson, who two years ago shared the league's Man of the Year award with Drew Brees, even if their skills are starting to diminish. He's too good a guy. But just consider the Chargers today with Michael Turner and Sproles. What a combination, right? Norv Turner loves to run the football. He did it with Emmit Smith in Dallas even when Troy Aikman was his best buddy. Chargers GM A.J. Smith surely could have squeezed a first-round pick from a team for Tomlinson, who broke down late last season, missing two playoff games. Tomlinson is probably going to need surgery and where will he be next season? Such things happen with running backs.

NFL should be more like NHL (really)

The wackiest testament to how bad or how good the league's officiating was this season was the playoff appearance of Ed Hochuli's crew in Miami on Sunday. Yes, Hochuli, who admittedly made the most noticeable blunder of the season, ruling a fumble an incompletion in the Week Two San Diego-Denver game, still graded out among the league's top officiating crews for the season.