Valentine's View: Will Chip Kelly's power play backfire?

Good morning, New York Giants fans! A few random thoughts for your Sunday on everything from Chip Kelly to what we saw Saturday during the first two games of Wild Card Weekend.

Chip Kelly's power play

So, it turned out that Chip Kelly didn't want to leave the Philadelphia Eagles. He wanted to rule everything when it came to personnel matters with the Eagles, and now he does. We'll see how that goes. Kelly -- technically -- isn't the general manager, but that's just semantics. He will have final say on every personnel move, including who the personnel people are, so he really is the GM without the title. Unless you are Bill Belichick, giving one person in an NFL organization so much power has generally not been a good idea. It will be fascinating to see how this works out.

Doug Marrone mania

Who knew that Doug Marrone would become the most controversial figure in the off-season NFL coaching carousel. Marrone bailed on the Buffalo Bills, using his opt-out clause to turn himself into a free agent after leading the Bills to a 9-7 season, their first winning record since 2004.

Folks in Buffalo can't wait to trash him. The New York Jets seemingly couldn't wait to talk to Marrone about their vacant head-coaching job, and might end up hiring him. Get a general manager first? These are the Jets.

All of this nonsense over Doug Marrone? Then again, these are the Bills and the Jets.

Playoff thoughts

You have to feel badly for coach Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals, watching a promising season implode because they were down to Ryan Lindley at quarterback. And I know I'm not the first one to express this, but how terrible must Logan Thomas be if Arians chose to keep him on the bench while Lindley threw away the Cardinals' season Saturday, throwing two interceptions and passing for a grand total of 82 yards in a 27-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Arizona set a record for fewest total yards in an NFL playoff game with 77.

Speaking of awful, how is Arizona punter Drew Butler in the NFL? He averaged 34.8 yards on nine punts Saturday. He had punts of 20 and 28 yards and three other punts of 33 yards or less. I'm 54 years old, haven't punted in a game since eight grade and I'm reasonably sure I can hit 30-yard punts.

Can somebody please put a timer on Ed Hochuli's microphone?

By the way, remember Tom Coughlin saying after the Jacksonville debacle that the Giants could have kneeled down on offense and won that game in the second half? Well, Carolina could have done that against Arizona. So, why were the Panthers chucking the ball down the field, and letting quarterback Cam Newton run around and take a pounding. Carolina mistakes were the only thing giving the Cardinals a chance.

That Antonio Brown guy who plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers is pretty good.

By the way, Giants fans who wonder why the Giants continue to make an effort to run the ball at least some even when it isn't working should take note of the beating that Ben Roethlisberger took while throwing 45 times on Sunday. He was sacked five times, hit five other times and harassed a lot more often than that by the Ravens defense.

Odds 'n Ends

The declaration this week by Bill Cowher that he won't coach in 2015 is sure to fire up the 'he's waiting for the Giants job to open up' speculation.

Good luck to former Giant Kenny Phillips, who signed a reserve/futures contract with the New Orleans Saints this week. Phillips has been out of the league since the Eagles cut him prior to the 2013 season. The 2008 first-round pick has never been the same since micro-fracture surgery in 2009.