Joe's 2010 NFL Opening Drive: Week 15

Quarterback drama is afoot in week 15 of the NFL season! One Heisman winner gets his first start while a former Super Bowl QB gets the nod ahead of a supposedly $78 million dollar man. Here’s the Opening Drive!

Yep. Rex Grossman’s starting instead of Donovan McNabb today. Don’t ask me what Mike Shanahan is thinking. I find it hard to believe he legitimately thinks Grossman could be his starting quarterback next season. Likely he’s auditioning Rex to be the back-up again. Whatever the case, its clear McNabb won’t be back next season.

The division title is on the line between these AFC South squads. The Jaguars are looking for the season sweep of the Colts and expect to run it all day against that weak defense. Maurice Jones-Drew could go off in a big way. While they Jaguars are poised for the win, Manning may have a win in his back pocket somewhere… saving it for a rainy day, of course.

In their prior meeting, the Giants front four did a solid job of containing Mike Vick for most of the night. This time around the Eagles need to hand the ball to LeSean McCoy as much as possible to pull the pressure off Vick. Eli Manning can’t throw idiotic interceptions today if the Giants are going to get the win.

The Saints should just be looking the game-tape of the Texans’ comeback against the Ravens last week. Drew Brees needs to spread the Raven secondary out and take his shots on the outside. The Raven offense is showing signs of inconsistency, so matching the Saints point-for-point isn’t likely. They need to establish the run with Ray Rice and play possession ball with those receivers if they want to keep up in the playoff hunt.

I wouldn’t be talking about this game normally… but Tim Tebow is starting. There, I talked about it. Don’t watch it. It could be ugly.

For a team with “Super Bowl or Bust” on their proverbial bumper sticker, the Jets are slowly slipping out of the picture in the AFC. Mark Sanchez gets a break with Troy Polamalu out, but he’ll easily be good for two interceptions today against the Steeler defense. If the Jets can muster 12 points, they should feel good about themselves.

If Aaron Rodgers was starting, then this would be a marquee match-up. Instead Matt Flynn gets the nod, since Rodgers is sitting out with a concussion. Now he gets to match wits with Bill Belichick and try to keep up with Tom Brady. Not gonna happen.