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NFL
National Football League

Buy or sell: Do the Packers have a new weapon to rely on?

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports
Packers RB Ryan Grant might actually get to contribute to a Super Bowl run after sitting out nearly all of Green Bay's 2010 season.
  • Let's expand the rookie of the year talk beyond the quarterbacks
  • The New York Jets? Blow them up -- entirely
  • NBC has to be happy about its regular-season finale

With one week remaining before we head toward postseason, here's a look at the NFL stock exchange, and whether we're getting in or getting out:

BUY: Janoris Jenkins as the defensive rookie of the year. With all the talk about the quarterbacks, the St. Louis Rams cornerback has flown under the radar. On Sunday, he recorded his third interception return for a touchdown, making him only the third rookie ever to do that, joining Hall of Famers Lem Barney (1967) and Ronnie Lott (1981).

SELL: The argument from those complaining the New Orleans Saints shouldn't have been able to advance a fumble 23 yards to set up the game-winning field goal in overtime, as would've been the case in the final two minutes of either half. It's overtime; the game is tied. If you want to try a "Holy Roller" play before fourth down, good luck with that.

BUY: Ryan Grant's 80-yard, two-touchdown performance for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Good to see a good guy have a good game. And he was on injured reserve the last time the Packers made the Super Bowl after the 2010 season, so you know he wants to get back.

SELL: The notion the New York Jets don't need wholesale changes. The quarterback situation is a mess, multiple coaches are leaking information they're about to leave and Tim Tebow β€” Tim Tebow! β€” isn't being a team player. There's absolutely no control over anything in Florham Park, N.J.

BUY: The Miami Dolphins' future prospects. We're not quite sure what they do best exactly, but they do enough well to feel good about the foundation first-year coach Joe Philbin is building.

SELL: The mental makeup of the New York Giants. Former Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce told USA TODAY Sports last week that team looked "mentally drained." Injured defensive end Justin Tuck agreed. Sunday's 33-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens converted any remaining doubters.

BUY: Cam Newton's apology for bumping referee Jerome Boger. You can't touch the ref. But Newton barely made contact with Boger. There was no malice there and he seemed to misjudge how much room he had.

SELL: The legend of the San Francisco 49ers' defense. That's now 76 points allowed in the past two weeks. And Sunday's performance against the Seattle Seahawks was not solely due to the absence of all-pro defensive lineman Justin Smith.

BUY: The ratings on Sunday Night Football this coming weekend. The Dallas Cowboys are involved, and that's huge for NBC's viewership. Throw in the D.C. area, and factor in that the New York or Chicago markets might be tuning in to see if their teams make the playoffs following Week 17's afternoon slate.

SELL: Chan Gailey's job security. We can't imagine the Buffalo Bills not making a coaching change at this point.

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