With the playoff races coming to a head, so is the race for the coveted NFL MVP award. Here's how we see it:

Peyton Manning, QB, Colts. After getting off to a slow start after two knee surgeries in the offseason, Manning has rallied the team from a 3-4 start to win eight straight and qualify for the playoffs.

Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Steelers. His stats aren't dominant, but this guy has done whatever he's had to in leading the Steelers to the AFC North title. And he's done it behind a brutally inconsistent offensive line and with injuries at running back.

James Harrison, LB, Steelers. He is the MVP of a defense that might wind up being considered one of the best in league history.

Matt Cassel, QB, Patriots. To get the Patriots in reach of the postseason after taking over for Tom Brady has been an incredible story. That he was never a college starter makes it all the more intriguing.

Chad Pennington, QB, Dolphins. From 1-15 to the playoffs? It happens only because Pennington provided stability for the rebuilding Dolphins.

Eli Manning, QB, Giants. Two straight losses have hurt his cause, but he remains the single most indispensable player on the Giants.

Brett Favre, QB, Jets. After back-to-back wins over New England and Tennessee, he was in better shape to win the award. Late-season wobble has hurt him.

Is replay system flawed?

There was plenty of controversy about instant replay last weekend, when referee Walt Coleman reversed a call in the Steelers-Ravens game that resulted in the eventual game-winning touchdown for Pittsburgh.

Plenty of commentators suggested that the replay system has gotten too nitpicky, but we beg to differ. Bottom line: Replay is supposed to correct the big play - the game-deciding kind of play, if you will. In this case, there was a booth review because the play occurred in the final two minutes. Coleman then reviewed the play and felt there was clear evidence that the ball had crossed the plane of the goal line when Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes caught Ben Roethlisberger's pass. He overturned the call.

Sure, the replays to television viewers didn't seem as conclusive. But if the referee sees his set of replays and sees that there is clear evidence to overturn the call, we really don't have a problem with it.

Home-field advantage overrated?

The Giants and Panthers meet tonight in a game that will decide who earns home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. But is it really all that urgent for either team?

Not so much, former Giants quarterback Phil Simms thinks.

"Nothing these two teams do in this game should be based on the fact that you must have home-field advantage, providing that you get to the championship game," said Simms, the CBS and Showtime analyst. "The last 36 championship games have seen the visitors win 18 and the home team win 18. In this day and age, athletes don't care where the stage is. And there is a little something about being on the road that rallies you together. Sometimes that evens out the playing field."

We'll see. At the very least, the Giants need to secure the No. 2 seed and ensure a bye week. If they have to do it the hard way like last year - playing four straight playoff games - it might be asking too much.

Warner's pen pal

Cardinals receiver Kurt Warner sent a letter to Bill Belichick several months ago congratulating the Patriots' coach on becoming the first to lead a team to a 16-0 regular season. Warner also sent Belichick a letter after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI over Warner's Rams. It was the first of Belichick's three Super Bowl victories with the Patriots.

"I love to watch great people do whatever they do great, and Football is one of them," Warner explained to reporters in advance of today's Cardinals-Patriots game in Foxborough. "I love to see people accomplish things that people say they can't accomplish, or people don't expect them to accomplish."

Message for Mangini?

Titans center Kevin Mawae was selected to the Pro Bowl for the seventh time this season, but it was his first selection since 2004, when he was with the Jets.

"It is a little bit of vindication, where somebody might have written me off as an old guy who didn't have anything left," said Mawae, who is in his 15th NFL season. "I think I've proved everybody wrong."

Take a guess to whom Mawae might be referring as "somebody" who might have written him off. It's Jets coach Eric Mangini, who released Mawae after the 2005 season.

Welker tops in YAC

Quarterbacks get a lot of credit for passing yards, but often it comes down to how well their receivers do after the catch that determines those numbers. Look no further than Patriots receiver Wes Welker, who made the Pro Bowl this year in large part because of his YAC (yards after catch).

Welker leads the NFL with 689 yards after the catch, ahead of Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin.

Welker's receiving teammates are proficient in this category, too. According to STATS Inc., 1,845 of the Patriots' 3,369 passing yards have come after the catch. That .548 percentage is tops in the league, ahead of the Titans (.516), Jets (.514), Redskins (.512) and Raiders (.510).