Barry Wilner

Peyton Manning is a free man. Drew Brees is not.

A week after a record 21 players were given franchise tags -- only Saints star quarterback Brees got an exclusive tag and can't even talk to other teams -- the NFL's free agency free-for-all begins. And it will be crazy.

For teams willing to part with two first-round dra

INDIANAPOLIS -- MVP quarterbacks on marquee franchises. A rematch of a nail-biter from four years ago, featuring many of the same key characters. Madonna and plenty of Manning -- Eli, and Peyton, too.

This Super Bowl certainly has all the makings of another thriller, the perfect finish to a season that began in turmoil and wound up the most successful in league history.

The NFL couldn't have planned it any better.

Get ready for the rematch. The Super Bowl rematch, not the Harbaugh coaching family reunion.

For a Super Bowl redux to happen, the New York Giants will need another huge road win, this time at San Francisco. And when they get it Sunday, will they face the Baltimore Ravens, who routed them in the 2001 Super Bowl? Or New England, which had its perfect record shattered by the Giants in the big game four years ago?

The official NFL awards will be handed out during Super Bowl week. The offbeat ones are being handed out now.

MOST MEMORABLE GAME

The season began with some sensational, down-to-the-wire matchups, including the overall opener, Green Bay's 42-34 win over New Orleans. It's also hard to forget Buffalo's wild 34-31 victory against New England in Week 3, or Detroit's stunning rally for a 34-30 win at Dallas in Week 4.

But for sheer impact, we have to go with two Tebow moments: Denver's 18-15 win at Miami in its sixth game and, seven weeks later, the 13-10 win over Chicago -- both in overtime.

Against the Dolphins in his first start of 2011, Tebow was awful until it mattered. He sparked the Broncos by throwing two TD passes in the final 2:44, though, and ran in a 2-point conversion with 17 seconds to go, forcing OT. Denver won on Matt Prater's 52-yard field goal.

It doesn't take a Mangenius to decipher the NFL standings one month into the wildest NFL season in recent memory. The winners and losers certainly have separated themselves.

Shockingly, occupying the higher reaches of the league are the Lions, Bills and 49ers. Buried with the dregs are the Vikings, Colts and much-hyped Eagles.

NEW YORK -- Lockout.

There, we said it. Now forget that word for about a decade.

Well, not quite. While the NFL and its players spent the offseason ensuring labor peace at the cost of just one exhibition game, the work stoppage could have a profound effect on the upcoming season, which kicks off Thursday when the last two Super Bowl champions, New Orleans and Green Bay, meet at Lambeau Field.

NFL players voted to OK a final deal Monday, days after the owners approved a tentative agreement, and the sides finally managed to put an end to the 4 1/2-month lockout, the longest work stoppage in league history.

"This is a long time coming, and football's back," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "and that's the great news for everybody."