Rick Gosselin

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When running back Michael Turner became a free agent last off-season, there was no decision for the San Diego Chargers to make. Turner was expendable. The Chargers already had LaDainian Tomlinson, the best running back in the NFL. No sense overpaying to keep his backup.

The decision won't be as cut-and-dried this off-season with Darren Sproles set to enter free agency.

Turner signed with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency for $34 million and went on to outplay Tomlinson in 2008, finishing second in the NFL in rushing with 1,699 yards – almost 600 more than Tomlinson.

It was the second consecutive season Tomlinson's stats have dipped dramatically. He rushed for 1,815 yards in 2006 on his way to NFL MVP honors, then 1,474 yards in 2007 on his way to the Pro Bowl. But he won't be going anywhere in 2008 after rushing for 1,110 yards.

Tomlinson played through injuries all season. In the first half of the year, it was a toe and lately it's been a strained groin. That injury limited him to five carries in San Diego's playoff opener against Indianapolis and it may keep him out of the Pittsburgh game entirely this week.

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Darren Sproles' overtime touchdown run lifted the Chargers past the Colts.

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But there's no reason for alarm in San Diego – not with Sproles coming off a career performance filling in for Tomlinson against Indianapolis. Sproles rushed for 105 yards on 22 carries, culminating his night with a 22-yard touchdown run in overtime to sink the Colts.

Despite limited carries as the No. 3 back in the rotation behind Tomlinson and Turner in 2007, Sproles posted his first career 100-yard game (122) against Detroit.

A workhorse in college at Kansas State, Sproles converted 815 career carries into a school-record 4,979 rushing yards. He collected five 200-yard rushing games and 19 more 100-yard games, averaging 6.1 yards per carry in his career.

Sproles was big enough to play in the Big 12 – but apparently not big enough to play in the NFL. His lack of height (5-6) sank his draft stock into the fourth round, where the Chargers grabbed him. Until last weekend, Sproles was viewed as an elite kick returner and a spot back. The Chargers may have to view him differently this off-season.

There are two realities about NFL running backs – your vulnerability to injury increases as you age and your productivity decreases.

Tomlinson turns 30 next season. That's ancient by running back standards. Only 24 running backs in NFL history managed to rush for 1,000 yards once they reached their 30s. Former NFL rushing champions Jim Taylor, O.J. Simpson, Floyd Little and Eric Dickerson all rushed for 1,000 yards at 29 years of age – but never again. Add Jerome Bettis, Roger Craig and Stephen Davis to that list.

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Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson turns 30 next season.

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Tomlinson is no longer the best running back in the NFL. He's a high mileage back with 3,167 touches (rushes and receptions) before reaching the age of 30. Dickerson was another high mileage back and he had only 2,652 touches at the same point in his career. Even Walter Payton, one of the few backs to enjoy success in the NFL as a runner into his 30s, had fewer touches (2,994) than Tomlinson at the same stage of his career.

It's a young man's game and Tomlinson is no longer a young man. The salary cap won't allow teams to pay age and continue to compete.

That makes for a tough call for NFL executives, who must scrutinize a player now based on his ability, not his name. When the Cowboys cut Emmitt Smith in 2003, they didn't cut the running back who won three rushing titles in the 1990s. They cut a back who scored only five touchdowns and averaged just 3.8 yards per carry at 32 years of age.

So expect the Chargers to spend more time discussing Sproles' future this off-season than they did Turner. San Diego must start preparing for life after Tomlinson. Great players don't stay great forever. If the Chargers decide not to keep Sproles, look for them to spend a high draft pick on a running back this April.

Now let's take our weekly spin around the NFL. I spent last weekend covering the two NFC games in Phoenix and Minneapolis. This weekend I'll be attending the two AFC games in Nashville and Pittsburgh.

Over the years, I've probably spent as much time in Pittsburgh in January as I have Dallas. I've covered 10 playoff games or so in Pittsburgh since becoming the NFL columnist for The Dallas Morning News in 1992. There's no place in the NFL I'd rather be than at Heinz Field in January. This town knows football and there's always an electricity in the air on game day.

All fall I heard talk of a potential Subway Super Bowl between the Giants and Jets. Who'd have thought there'd be a better chance of seeing a Keystone Super Bowl between the Eagles and Steelers?

The Eagles know how to win in December and January when it counts. Philadelphia has won 92 games this decade and qualified for seven playoff berths. Both are tops in the NFC. The Packers are second in the NFC with 84 victories and the Giants are second with six playoff berths.

There are only 12 NFL teams this decade with winning records. The Cowboys, by the way, are tied for 16th with 71 victories (against 73 losses). Here's a look at the 12 teams with winning records (also listing division titles and playoff berths:

There was a guy the Indianapolis Colts dreaded seeing last Saturday night in San Diego even more than Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers – Ron Winters.

His officiating crew led the NFL in penalties and penalty yardage for the third consecutive year. The Colts are historically a low-penalty team, ranking 14th in the NFL with just 86 penalties last season. Indianapolis drew the Winters crew twice in 17 games – and the Colts endured two of their three highest penalty games of the season.

The Winters crew penalized the Colts a season-high 12 times for a season-high 110 yards in a game against Green Bay and nine times for 74 yards last weekend against the Chargers. The Colts averaged 4.9 penalties for 33.9 yards in their 15 games not officiated by the Winters crew.

The Minnesota Vikings lost middle linebacker E.J. Henderson in the fourth game of the season when he dislocated some toes against the Tennessee Titans. That landed the team's leading tackler in both 2006 and 2007 on injured reserve. But the Vikings overcame his injury, finishing first in the NFL in run defense and sixth in overall defense in capturing the NFC North.

The Vikings weren't as fortunate trying to replace Heath Farwell. He was voted by his teammates Minnesota's special teams player of the year in both 2006 and '07. But he was done for the 2008 season before it even started, suffering a knee injury in the preseason opener against Seattle.

Without their coverage ace, the Vikings bordered on inept in special teams. They allowed a league-high seven touchdown in the kicking game and finished last in the NFL in punt coverage.

Special teams were a major part of the problem last weekend when the Vikings lost their opening playoff game at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. DeSean Jackson returned a pair of punts 62 and 30 yards to help the Eagles win the battle for field position.

Farwell set a club record with seven special teams tackles in a 2007 game against the Giants and collected 57 tackles in the kicking game in 2006 and '07. The Vikings will have a greater appreciation for Farwell's skills now that they had to spend a season without him.

The Billion Dollar Game, by Allen St. John. Interesting concept by St. John, the sports columnist for the Wall Street Journal . He looks at the Super Bowl from a non-football perspective, focusing on the television broadcast and its commercials, the party scene, halftime entertainment, game security and the stadium itself – and how money weaves through all of it in making this a billion dollar event. The book taught me a lot about things behind the scene I didn't know or spend much time thinking about at the Super Bowl. His best nugget: Former Cowboys quarterback and current Fox color commentator Troy Aikman is apparently a world-class typist.

■ It's no coincidence that the NFL's top five rushing teams all qualified for the playoffs – but only two of the top five passing teams made it. The Giants finished first in the NFL in rushing, Atlanta second, Carolina third, Baltimore fourth and Minnesota fifth. Arizona finished second in the NFL in passing and Indianapolis fifth. Left on the outside in January were NFL passing leader New Orleans, No. 3 Denver and No. 4 Houston. For all the hype that passing receives, pro football is still a game built on running the football and stopping the run.

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Plaxico Burress caught the winning touchdown pass in the Giants' Super Bowl victory last season.

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■ The Giants will miss Plaxico Burress more in January than they did in December. In the NFC title game against the Green Bay Packers last season, Burress caught 11 passes for 151 yards. In the Super Bowl against the Patriots, he caught the game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning in the final minute. Burress was a big-game performer for the Giants – and their biggest games of the season loom this month.

■ Count me among those stunned that Chad Pennington would throw four interceptions in Miami's playoff loss to Baltimore last weekend. He threw only seven interceptions in the regular season. It was his first multi-interception game since Dec. 23, 2007 against Tennessee and his first four-interception game since Dec. 20, 2003, when he threw five against the New England Patriots.

■ I saw the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino, the other day. It was filmed in Detroit. In one of the first scenes, a young boy is wearing a Lions jersey – the number 11 of Roy Williams. Now the Cowboys wideout has two movie credits. Williams had a cameo as a high school coach in Friday Night Lights and now his jersey shows up in Gran Torino …

Last week, all the home teams were underdogs in the opening round of the playoffs. They went 2-2. This week all the home teams are favorites. I wouldn't be surprised if the home teams go 2-2 again – or worse. I think Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego all have great shots at upsets.