From Peyton to Peterson, still plenty of football for fans to enjoy

New York football fans need not go through withdrawal. The NFL playoffs beginning tomorrow will fix your addiction in no time, and here’s why and how and who:

1. PEYTON MANNING: Not bad for a rusty 36-year-old coming off four neck-fusion surgeries. Not only is he trying to tie kid brother Eli with a second Super Bowl ring, he’d like to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in his New Orleans hometown. Might not have the arm he once did, but the beautiful mind more than compensates. The NFL wasn’t the same without him. “We passed on him,” Woody Johnson said. Of course the Jets did. They had Mark Sanchez.

2. ROBERT GRIFFIN III, ANDREW LUCK and RUSSELL WILSON: Jets fans forgot how exhilarating it was when Sanchez was their rookie heartthrob in the 2009 playoffs. RG3 will be the Giants’ worst nightmare for the next decade, even after Manning is gone. He has resurrected a franchise that had been waiting an eternity for a franchise quarterback. Indianapolis sure is thankful that its Colts Sucked For Luck. If RG3 is The Natural in the NFC, Luck is The Natural in the AFC. He has gone 105 throws without an interception. The 5-foot-10 Wilson, who duels RG3 next, must be tempting Doug Flutie to make a comeback. Does anyone still think he’s too short to play in the NFL? Once he completed that Fail Mary, Wilson never looked back. The three come armed with poise, maturity and leadership beyond their years. The games won’t be too big for them.

3. ADRIAN PETERSON: He didn’t really rush for 2,097 yards so soon after December ACL surgery, did he? Isn’t that supposed to be impossible for a human being? When there are eight men in the box daring young Christian Ponder to beat them through the air? Peterson has run for 309 yards in two games against the cheeseheads this season, but Charles Woodson (collarbone) is back. What if Rex Ryan had Purple Jesus for his Ground & Pound instead of Shonn Greene?

4. CHUCK PAGANO: The Colts head coach’s battle with leukemia and the team and the town’s Chuckstrong support came to a tear-jerking climax when Pagano returned to the sidelines for the regular-season finale against the Texans. Now he heads back to Baltimore, where he coached for four years and knows the personnel intimately.

5. AARON RODGERS: He has had to make do most of the season without Greg Jennings, but should have his full complement of nuclear weapons now. Always capable of putting on a clinic with his precision throws and rampaging legs. Has a 106 QB rating in six playoff games. Another championship and he goes one up on Brett Favre. But don’t tell that to Valyncia Jennings, sister of the free-agent receiver, who tweeted: “ARod is the most overrated qb in the league! He is no where near Peyton or Brady! It sickens me. Peyton would average 5 TD with this squad!!!.” And: “he (Greg) should have more catches if this idiot (ARod) could see the coverage.” No Discount Double check for Valyncia!

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