Before we settle in for another night of eggnog and pondering Pro Bowl snubs, two heartwarming holiday stories from the NFL. First, London Fletcher of the Washington Redskins. He’s a fine linebacker, and maybe if the Redskins hadn’t tanked the last few weeks, he’d have gotten the nod. But he wasn’t selected, and he’s angry about it. He’s so peeved that he went and dropped what might be the first soap opera actress reference uttered by an NFL player, ever. It is an epic rant that takes swipes as all the league’s criminals and of course, Terrell Owens:

“I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t a first-round draft pick, I don’t do some kind of dance when I make a 10-yard tackle, I don’t go out and get arrested. I believe in playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played. You line up each and every week, each and every play and you go out and get the job done. You look at my body of work and I’ve done that for 11 years. But because I’m not going out causing a lot of controversy, holding a private meeting with the coordinator saying this, this and this, causing a lot of strife on my team, I don’t garner a lot of attention. But when you turn the film on each and every week, each and every play, I’m gonna show up. That’s what I do. My career has been Hall of Fame worthy. But some coaches and some players get caught up in the hype readin the newspapers or listening to some national TV game as opposed to watching the game with no sound. It’s some BS. I put myself up against anybody playing the position, anybody.

“To have it happen, year after year after year after year, you can’t tell me … an 8-time alternate, c’mon man. That’s a trivia question. I’m the Susan Lucci of the NFL. And look at the injury situation, I played with a sprained foot [the past three weeks]. There’s a lot of guys that play injured in the National Football League, but there’s a lot of guys who would cancel Christmas, so to speak, when they got hurt, meaning they would throw in the towel, ‘I’m done. I’m not going to play until I’m completely healthy.’”

For those of you scratching your head wondering who Susan Lucci is, here you go. In less angry Pro Bowl news, punchy Titans CB Cortland Finnegan has a fear of flying, so he’s contemplating a tranquilizer for the trip across the Pacific. If he’s really bringing 30 friends and family to Hawaii, we suspect Kurt Warner’s going to be picking on him come gametime. Frequently.

And now, the snub. Chad Pennington, Philip Rivers or Matt Cassel? Who deserves Brett Favre’s spot most? Obviously it’s all opinion, and you’ll find sentiment on the web for each candidate – maybe less for Cassel, considering that his (somewhat) insane progression from obscure backup who never started a college game to 3,200-yard passer sort of tags him with a “system QB” label.

Why we’d go Pennington over Rivers:

* The Dolphins improved from 1-15 to 9-5, and the cusp of a playoff berth. Pennington’s by far the main reason, and that’s why he’s an MVP candidate.
* Rivers was a primary reason the Chargers played for the AFC title game last season; this season, with largely the identical offensive cast, they’re 6-8.
* Statistically, Rivers has a big edge. Tied for first in the NFL in TD passes, and he tops Pennington in QB rating and yards. Pennington edges him barely in completion percentage.
* Mistakes: Big edge to Pennington. Pennington only has thrown six interceptions, and Rivers has thrown 11 (Rivers has only thrown 15 more passes). Pennington, certainly not fleet a foot, has not lost a fumble this season. Rivers has lost four.
* Fourth quarter failure: Two losses stick out on SD’s ledger – the visit to Buffalo when Rivers turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter and the Chargers lost; and the game in London against the Saints when Rivers threw a late pick that sealed the loss. Neither Buffalo or New Orleans will be in the playoffs this season. Pennington has two failures, as well: in the season opener he threw a late pick on the final drive to seal a loss to the Jets; in a crucial game against the Patriots, Pennington threw a pick during a back-and-forth affair that helped New England to victory. As of now, the Jets and Pats remain in the playoff mix.
* Even though the Dolphins have five games in which Pennington led crucial drives in the fourth that contributed to victory, we’ll leave that out because of how badly SD’s defense let Rivers down against Carolina, Denver, and Indy. It’s a wash.

Rivers is a franchise QB, he’s the better pure passer than Pennington, has superior arm strength, and by virtually every other measure, he’s the better QB than Pennington. If you’re picking a Pro Bowl backup for this season based on stats, Rivers is probably your guy. If you’re picking for body of work this season, we go Pennington.