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Alex Smith takes a shot at Cam Newton, Vince Vaughn gives his take on the NFC North, and the 32 crew debates what the Chargers' record will be this season.

The Kansas City Chiefs were interested in Alabama safety Mark Barron, who went four picks before they made their choice in the first round.

In the end, though, the Chiefs may have still gotten a safety from Alabama. The Chiefs took DeQuan Menzie in the fifth round.

He played cornerback at Alabama and did a nice job. But he doesn’t have great speed and may project to safety. He is a smart player who knows how to make plays. I think this could be a player to watch develop in the next couple of years and it is another SEC pickup by Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli, who craves players from that conference.

In other AFC West news:

• The Raiders picked up an extra seventh-round pick when they traded a fifth-round pick (148th overall) to Detroit for the 158th and 230th overall picks. The Lions took small-school cornerback Chris Greenwood at No. 148. Oakland was studying him. Yet, it seems the Raiders want another late pick to add to the bottom of the roster.
• For all new season tickets purchased and paid for in full from May 1 to June 30, the Raiders will donate ten percent of the gross ticket purchase price to the Oakland Unified School District.
• At No. 158, the Raiders drafted Penn State defensive end Jack Crawford. He projects to be a rotational pass-rusher. He fits into both the 4-3 and 3-4 so he will fit the Raiders’ versatile group of front seven players.

Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen discusses the best offseason signing so far; Tim Hasselbeck talks about the Buffalo Bills' chances after reeling in Mario Williams; and in "Did You Hear That?" the Dallas Cowboys are a dream come true for cornerback Brandon Carr.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Denver Broncos lost two games by a score of 45-10 this season. They were two lopsided bookends in an unpredictable journey that ended Saturday night.

In between not looking anything like a playoff team during an Oct. 30 home loss to Detroit and a season-ending thumping at the hands of the much better New England Patriots, the Broncos reinvented themselves and became a team with hope for the future.

“It may be hard to see it now after an embarrassing loss,” Denver tight end Daniel Fells said in a quiet Denver locker room Saturday night, “but there is something there. … We did something this year that was unexpected and there is something good to look forward to in the future.”

That future very likely will include Tim Tebow.

In a season in which Tebow became a household name in non sports-centric households and in which he became a sport's lightning rod like we’ve rarely seen before, the Broncos’ season ended with Tebow not being the story.

While Tebow, who was just 9-of-26 passing for 136 yards, didn’t do much to help his team, Saturday night’s game was not a Tebow-type of game. The Denver Broncos became an unlikely playoff team this season because it played smart, hard football in all three phases of the game in their victories. It became evident early Saturday that the allure of Tebow would be quickly overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of Patriots QB Tom Brady and the stunning dominance of second-year New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Tebowing became a national craze and a phrase used daily. Saturday, though, the Broncos were sent packing because they were Bradyed and Gronked.

Brady tied an NFL postseason record with six touchdown passes and his 363 passing yards were a team playoff record. Gronkowski had 10 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. TebowMania may be cute and it may be legitimate in the fourth quarter (and overtime) of close games. But it wasn’t that type of party Saturday night.

Brady and company were bent on letting the rest of the NFL playoff field know they are tired of being considered a postseason antique. They’re hunting for their first Super Bowl victory in seven years, TebowMania be damned.

While Denver’s season ended in a fashion that would usually sting an organization, there wasn’t a sense of despair in the locker room. It seemed the players knew this was a season of progress and it was a success, everything considered.

When Denver introduced John Fox as its coach a year ago Friday, there is no way anyone could have imagined the Broncos would advance to the final eight and beat the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. This was a team that had the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft. The rebuilding project seemed like it would take years.

That assessment didn’t change when Denver started the season 1-4 before inserting Tebow at quarterback.

“People wanted to close the book on the Broncos,” receiver Matthew Willis said. “But we kept fighting.”

It all changed after the home loss to Detroit when Fox adjusted his offense to Tebow’s skill set and used the option offense. The Broncos’ offense transformed through the year and adjusted on the fly.

Now, the ride is over and the Broncos must look toward the future.

Tebow said Saturday night he must become more accurate and consistent and he plans to soon start working on what will be his first full offseason as an NFL player. Legendary Denver quarterback John Elway, who is now the Broncos’ football leader, has said he plans to personally work with Tebow in the offseason, focusing on improving the youngster’s footwork.

Elway was in Denver’s locker room after the game and appeared satisfied with the season. He wasn’t ready to chat about the future and has yet to confirm the Broncos will ride with Tebow as their quarterback in 2012. Don’t be surprised, however, if the Broncos commit to Tebow soon.

That’s the direction the players want the team to take. Several Denver players said Saturday night that they believe Tebow will continue to make strides and he is the answer at quarterback.

“He’s our guy,” Denver rookie safety Rahim Moore said. “Our team jells around him. He is only going to get better.”

That could be said of the entire Denver roster. This is a work in progress. Brady and New England’s offense showed there is still much work to be done in Denver defensively. The Patriots compiled 509 yards of offense and they took their foot off the gas in the second half after leading 35-7 at halftime.

Denver needs help on both sides of the ball. But there is no denying this is a well-coached team that tasted unexpected success in a season that may just be scratching the surface of TebowMania, if that’s even possible.

NEW ORLEANS -- Just a quick note here before heading back to NFC North blog headquarters.

To make sure everyone's clear, Saturday night's result at the Superdome means the Green Bay Packers will host the winner of Sunday afternoon's game between the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants in their Jan. 15 divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field. When that game is over, I'll post a Quick Take of my initial thoughts on the Packers' opponent.

I'll also have a Free Head Exam on the Detroit Lions coming in a few hours. Back with you Sunday afternoon.

Suzy and Mort discuss their matchup to watch, Marcellus wonders if anyone can pull off a big upset, and in Did You Hear That?, The Caveman talks about which quarterbacks could struggle during wild-card weekend.

Suzy, Mort, and Tedy debate if the Pats can overcome defensive woes, why the 49ers aren’t considered contenders, and in Did You Hear That?, Nate Burleson says the Lions are relaxed and ready to take on the Saints.

Three things to know about next weekend's New Orleans Saints-Detroit Lions wild-card game.

1. Saints need to ride their momentum. New Orleans has not lost since an Oct. 30 game at St. Louis, and the Saints have looked dominant in that time. Their offense has been unstoppable and quarterback Drew Brees has taken his game to another level. Coach Sean Payton played his starters into the fourth quarter against Carolina on Sunday because he wanted to continue to build momentum. Mission accomplished. The Saints are playing as well as anyone in the league. Although they didn’t get a first-round bye, their mindset is that they can beat anyone.

2. Pressure Matthew Stafford. When the two teams met earlier in the season in New Orleans, the Saints won 31-17, but that game did not feature a stellar performance by the defense. Stafford threw for 408 yards, but only one touchdown. The Saints are a bend-but-don’t-break defense, but they’d be pushing their luck if they allowed Stafford to have another 400-yard game. The New Orleans pass rush hasn’t been a big factor this season. But the Saints did get decent pressure on Stafford in the previous meeting. They recorded three sacks in that game and only one of them came from a defensive lineman. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams needs to use the blitz often and try to force Stafford into a mistake or two in what should be a very loud and hostile Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints also should get a lift because middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma sat out Sunday's game to rest his knee, and should return at somewhere close to full strength.

3. Slow down Calvin Johnson. In the previous meeting, the Saints held Johnson to six catches for 69 yards, zero touchdowns and he didn’t have a catch go for more than 22 yards. Although the Saints don’t have a reputation for being a great defense, their secondary does have some big-time talent. Cornerback Jabari Greer and free safety Malcolm Jenkins are two of the league’s most underrated players at their positions. If they get a little help from the pass rush, they can control Johnson again.

The San Diego Chargers will have star receiver Vincent Jackson available as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive Saturday at Detroit.

Jackson is active after not practicing all week with a groin injury. There was concern he wasn’t going to be able to play. Jackson is paramount to San Diego’s offense, which has been surging for the past three games, in which it has outscored opponents by a combined score of 109-38.

San Diego’s offense has dealt with many injuries this season, but it has been clicking in recent weeks with players like Jackson, receiver Malcom Floyd and tight end Antonio Gates healthy. After struggling for the first 10 games, Philip Rivers has flourished for the past month with a healthy receiver crew.

Jackson has 56 catches for 1,036 yards and eight touchdowns. He is 13 catches, 132 yards and two touchdowns from establishing new career highs.

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 16:

Will the Denver Broncos' playoff hopes get buffaloed again? Good thing there aren’t many players from the 2008 Broncos team still in a Denver uniform. The situation is eerily similar. The Broncos are playing the Buffalo Bills in Week 16, just as they did three years ago. Like that game, Denver can clinch a playoff berth this week against a Buffalo team that has lost seven of eight. In '08, the Bills entered the Denver game having lost seven in a row. What happened in that Week 16 meeting in 2008? The Bills came back and won a close game, preventing the Broncos from being able to clinch a playoff berth. The Broncos couldn’t get the job done and the 14-season run of former head coach Mike Shanahan era was suddenly over. Will the Bills’ mess with another Denver playoff push this year?

Last AFC West-NFC North game is meaningful: The AFC West’s matchup against the NFC North ends Saturday when the San Diego Chargers play at the Detroit Lions. Both teams are trying to keep playoff hopes alive with a victory. That may be a bad sign for San Diego. It is 1-3 against the NFC North this season, while Detroit is 3-0 against the AFC West. Overall, the AFC West is 8-7 against the NFC North this season. Last-place Kansas City has the best record against the division at 3-1, while Denver and the Oakland Raiders both went 2-2. The AFC West plays the NFC South next season.

Hue can’t get his Haley revenge: We are missing a fun Christmas Eve storyline because the Kansas City Chiefs fired coach Todd Haley last week. Oakland coach Hue Jackson had some words for Haley after a 28-0 Kansas City win in Oakland in October. After the game, Jackson wouldn’t say what his problem with Haley was, but he did say the Raiders would get their second chance against the Chiefs. It was a chippy game the first time, with several players being fined for their actions. Expect tensions to be even higher this time around with both teams trying to keep playoff hopes alive.

WiIl Dareus get back at the Broncos? Prior to the season, Buffalo rookie defensive lineman Marcell Dareus said he had the Bills’ Christmas Eve game against Denver circled. Dareus was offended the Broncos didn’t draft him with the No. 2 pick and said he wanted to show the Broncos what they missed. Dareus was one of a handful of defensive players the Broncos considered, but they ultimately opted for Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller. Dareus was scooped up by the Bills with the next pick and has been solid. The Alabama product has 38 tackles and 5.5 sacks so far. The Broncos, however, are not second-guessing their choice. Miller has 11.5 sacks and is a major building block for the franchise going forward. He is the favorite to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

Chargers' bosses working for jobs: The Chargers have won three straight games to improve to 7-7. Their playoff hopes are still alive, but their odds are not great. Still, because the Chargers have made some noise, people are wondering if San Diego general manager A.J. Smith and coach Norv Turner will be retained even if the team’s playoff push comes up short. While a second straight season missing the playoffs would be disappointing, both Smith and Turner have done good things during their stay in San Diego and this late surge is a reminder of it. Smith has led the Chargers to division titles in five of his eight years with San Diego, and he is five wins from becoming the most successful general manager in team history. Turner has the best regular-season winning percentage (48-30, .615) in team history, ahead of the likes of Sid Gillman, Don Coryell and Marty Schottenheimer.

A look at a devastating loss for the Oakland Raiders.

What it means: This defeat was absolutely crushing for the Raiders. They were poised to pull into a first-place tie with Denver, which lost by 18 at home to New England. However, a late Detroit rally kept Oakland a game behind Denver in the division. It was also a major blow for the Raiders’ wild card chances. Oakland has now lost three straight games and is 7-7.

A man named Suh: In his first game back from a two-game NFL suspension, Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh got a hand on a 65-yard field goal attempt by Sebastian Janikowski as time expired. Welcome back, big fella.

Late disaster: We’ve seen the Raiders’ defense collapse like this before. But this was bad. Oakland had a 27-14 lead, but the Lions scored twice in the final 4:59, including a touchdown with 49 seconds to go. It culminated a 98-yard drive that started with 2:11 remaining in the game.

Palmer mostly good: The good news for the Raiders is quarterback Carson Palmer had a bounce back game. He couldn’t extend a late drive, but he had a real nice day. Palmer completed 32 of 40 passes for 367 yards. He did not throw an interception. He went into the game with 13 this season.

Big day for receivers: Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson (who caught the game-winning touchdown) had nine catches for 214 yards. Oakland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey had eight catches for 155 yards. Heyward-Bey needs to be more consistent but he is capable of good things.

Penalties a plenty: We knew this was coming. Oakland came into the game leading the NFL in penalties and Detroit was fourth. Oakland committed 10 penalties for 86 yards and Detroit was flagged nine times for 72 yards.

What’s next: Oakland plays at Kansas City on Saturday. The Chiefs beat the Raiders, 28-0, in Oakland in October.

The Raiders placed cornerback Chris Johnson on the reserve/non-football illness list Saturday. Johnson’s sister was shot to death and his mother was wounded in an attack in Texas recently; Johnson has been traveling back and forth from California.

The Raiders signed defensive end Mason Brodine to the 53-man roster to fill Johnson's spot.

In other AFC West news:

The Patriots ruled out Deion Branch, Patrick Chung, Shane Vereen, Brandon Spikes and Sebastian Vollmer for Sunday’s game at Denver.

Denver signed safety Kyle McCarthy and cut fullback Quinn Johnson. McCarthy was cut earlier in the week. The Broncos are banged up at safety — starter Brian Dawkins is questionable with a neck injury that knocked him out of the Chicago game and held him out of two days of practice.

Detroit safety Louis Delmas has been downgraded to out for Sunday’s game at Oakland.

Offensive coordinator Bill Muir is back to the press box to call the game as the Chiefs shift from the Todd Haley regime to the Romeo Crennel regime.

Gunther Cunningham, who spent many years in the AFC West before landing in his current gig as Detroit defensive coordinator, is looking forward to going back to the Black Hole on Sunday with the Lions.

Major kudos to Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell for continuing to be a stalwart in the community after being injured. It’s been a tough season for Campbell, but he’s handled the situation with immense class.

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge about Week 15:

Tebow in the fourth quarter: The most compelling storyline of the Denver Broncos' 7-1 journey with Tim Tebow as their quarterback has been the team’s ability to overcome deficits in the fourth quarter. The Broncos have trailed in the fourth quarter in all of their past four games and won them all. They are the second team in NFL history to accomplish that feat. There’s no doubt, Tebow is a special player at the end of the game and it will be the New England Patriots' job Sunday to keep him from starring late. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Tebow is second in passing yards in the fourth quarter and overtime with 691 yards. He is tied for fourth with five fourth-quarter touchdown passes and he is fourth in yards per pass attempt at 8.6 yards. He is also tied for second in passing first downs with 32 after the final quarter starts. Tebow is completing a league-worst 37.5 percent of his passes from inside the pocket in the first three quarters. His pocket completion percentage in the fourth quarter, you ask? A strong 64.4 percent. There is no denying Tebow is a much different, much better quarterback when it most counts.

An epic penalty battle? Ndamukong Suh’s first game back from a two-game NFL suspension highlights a battle between two of the NFL’s most penalized teams when the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders play Sunday. The Raiders are the most penalized team in the NFL and the Lions are fourth. Oakland has been penalized 130 times for 1,116 yards, Detroit 105 for 894 yards. Oakland is on pace to set records for the most penalties and most penalty yards in NFL history. The 1998 Kansas City Chiefs were penalized 158 times for 1,304 yards. Oakland is on pace for 160 penalties for 1,373 yards. Thanks to ESPN Stats & Information for these numbers.

Rivers is starting to click against stacked defensive backfields: San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has improved immensely the past three weeks. One area in which he has made big strides is against a stacked secondary. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Rivers has thrown five touchdowns and no interceptions against defensive sets featuring at least five defensive backs in the past three games. In his first 10 games, Rivers had a minus-6 TD-interception differential in such defenses. Rivers has thrown 17 interceptions this season, all in the first 10 games.

Wiegmann about to hit remarkable milestone: Kansas City center Casey Wiegmann is on pace to play his 11,000th consecutive snap Sunday against Green Bay. He has played 10,966 snaps in a row dating to 2001. Think about that. For Wiegmann to play that many consecutive snaps at a position where there is in significant physical engagement on every play is stunning. Wiegmann, who is undersized at about 280 pounds, has started 172 straight games dating to September 2001. The streak could be coming to an end soon. There is a chance Wiegmann, 38, will retire after the season. He has considered retirement the past couple of years.

Stopping the Gronk: While so much attention has been given to Tebow, one of the main reasons Denver has won six straight games is it defensive success. If the Denver defense is going to contribute to a win over the Patriots on Sunday, it must keep star tight end Rob Gronkowski from taking over. That won’t be easy. Gronkowski has 71 catches for 1,088 yards and a whopping 15 touchdowns. According to ESPN Stats and Information, Denver hasn’t had to deal with intense tight-end receiving play this season. Denver has faced the second-fewest tight end targets in the NFL. It has allowed 46 completions to tight ends on 67 attempts -- a completion percentage of 68.7 that is ranked 23rd in the NFL. It has allowed five touchdowns to the tight end, which is tied for 12th in the league. Stopping the tight end must be a priority Sunday.

NEW ORLEANS -- We’ve known for quite some time that the New Orleans Saints’ offense could probably score enough to stay with an NBA team if it needed to. Defense, though, hasn’t exactly been a strong point during the Sean Payton era.

Heck, you get the idea the coach only uses a defense because it’s required. You can’t fault him, because running an offense the way a smart kid would play a video game has brought New Orleans far more wins than losses through the years.

But it was the defense that was largely responsible for Sunday night’s 31-17 victory against the Detroit Lions at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Sure, Drew Brees (342 passing yards and three touchdowns) worked his usual magic and the offense put up the usual big numbers (tight end Jimmy Graham became the first tight end in franchise history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season). But the defense, which has been known to give up some yardage and points, played perhaps its best game of the season.

Yeah, the Saints only allowed seven points in a win against the Colts and 10 in a victory against the Jaguars. But those were the Colts and the Jaguars. The Lions have a real offense (see Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson).

“(Johnson) can take over a game,’’ Payton said. “And the quarterback (Stafford) is playing with confidence.’’

Sure, Stafford put up 408 passing yards and it’s not often you can say a defense played a good game when it gives up 400 passing yards. However, the New Orleans defense did play well. Stafford only threw for one touchdown and Johnson was limited to six catches for 69 yards. Holding Detroit to 17 points is more than respectable.

“That was a big part of the game plan,’’ cornerback Tracy Porter said. “We created population around him and were able to minimize the damage he can do.’’

The New Orleans defense was particularly good early on. Johnson had just two catches for 19 yards in the first half, and the Lions didn’t score until there were 2 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first half. New Orleans went into halftime with a 24-7 lead. The Lions got back into the game with 10 unanswered points in the third quarter, but never scored again.

“Some of those stops on third down early in the game were pivotal and we were able to get a lead,’’ Payton said. “In that second half when that momentum swung a little bit, we got a key score and then a key stop defensively. All in all, it was a good hard-fought win. We have a ton of respect for that team we just played.’’

They should, because the Lions have a good offense and the Saints are going to see more good offenses down the line, especially if they get into the playoffs, which seems pretty much automatic at this point.

The Saints improved to 9-3 and clinched their third straight winning season. And they're going to need more games like this from their defense.

Let’s be brutally honest, the Saints are never going to have a great defense that can shut teams down all the time. That’s not the way coordinator Gregg Williams plays. His emphasis is more on being opportunistic, creating turnovers and making some big stops when needed. That’s what the Saints did against the Lions. That’s also what the Saints did in the 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl. They regressed defensively in 2010 and that’s part of the reason why they were bounced in their first playoff game.

Up until the Detroit game, the current defense has played more like the 2010 unit than the 2009 group. But this game might end up being a turning point. It was no coincidence that middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma returned after missing four games with a knee injury. Vilma led the Saints with 10 tackles.

“He’s the guy that runs the show,’’ free safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “Our other guys did a really good job filling in for him, but it’s a lot easier when he’s in their making the calls.’’

The Saints were able to pressure Stafford. He was sacked three times and hurried five others. The Saints did a good job containing the running game as well: the Lions finished with 87 net yards on the ground.

“Three and out is just as good as a turnover,’’ said Porter, who created New Orleans’ only turnover of the night with a fourth-quarter interception.

As Porter and Jenkins chatted in front of their lockers before meeting with the media, they talked about how the Saints should have had more interceptions. They started with two passes that went off Jenkins’ hands. Then, they started doing some more math.

By the time they were done, the conclusion was the Saints should have had five more interceptions.

“It wasn’t perfect,’’ Payton said. “There’s a handful of things we’ve got to get corrected to get to where we want to go to. But we’ve got time to do that.’’

Where the Saints want to go is the Super Bowl. Even with all their offense, the Saints are going to need some help from their defense down the road. Getting some stops and keeping Johnson under 100 yards and out of the end zone was very good.

Keep doing that and add some turnovers and the Saints could be really scary in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, it’s looking at the moment like the unbeaten Green Bay Packers are the team to beat in the NFC.

But don’t hand the Packers the NFC title just yet. The Saints could have something to say about it before all is said and done. They went up to Lambeau Field for the season opener and took the Packers down to the last play of the game before losing.

Like the Saints, the Packers score points in bunches. But Green Bay’s defense hasn’t been dominant. The Saints have improved on defense since the opener.

If they can keep doing the good things they have recently and improve on those handful of things Payton talked about, the Saints might be able to slow the Packers enough to win -- if they end up meeting down the road.

NEW ORLEANS -- Running back Chris Ivory is inactive for Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Ivory is healthy, but the Saints made him inactive last week as well. They’ve been using Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas and rookie Mark Ingram in a backfield rotation.

Also inactive for the Saints are receiver Adrian Arrington, cornerback Johnny Patrick, linebacker Martez Wilson, lineman Will Robinson, defensive end Turk McBride and tight end Michael Higgins.

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who had been out with a knee injury, is active and is expected to start.

The inactives for Detroit are safety Louis Delmas, defensive back Chris Houston, quarterback Drew Stanton, defensive end Lawrence Jackson, guard Leonard Davis, running back Aaron Brown and cornerback Brandon McDonald are inactive.