The Scores Report - The National Sports Blog » Jim Caldwell

Freeney speaks out about ankle injury

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:00:33 +0000

Media Day for Super Bowl XLIV was today and as expected, Colts’ defensive end Dwight Freeney faced several questions about his ankle injury and his health status for Sunday.

From ESPN.com:

“Hopefully, towards the end of the week it starts to get better,” Freeney said at Tuesday’s media day. “The decision will come later on in the week. It’s kind of early now.”

“The competitor in me says they’ll never stop me from being on the field,” he said with a laugh before adding: “There’s some pain there definitely with throwing everything at it, all types of techniques to find the best thing to get this thing as good as possible. You name it, I’ve probably done it.”

“Obviously, the competitor in me says ‘nothing is going to stop me,’ but that said, it is not up to me — it is up to the coach and the staff,” he added.

Freeney admitted that he probably wouldn’t practice the rest of the week, which is a telling sign that the Colts are hoping that he’ll be healthy enough to play for three hours on Sunday and nothing more. He reportedly walked with a limp today and his ankle was noticeably swollen, according a report by NFL.com.

Caldwell expects Freeney to play in Super Bowl

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:30:27 +0000

Jim Caldwell told the media on Monday that he expects defensive end Dwight Freeney to play in Super Bowl XLIV.

From NFL.com:

Colts coach Jim Caldwell appeared on SIRIUS NFL Radio with Adam Schein and Rich Gannon on Monday and confirmed what a team spokesman said about Dwight Freeney the previous day. The All-Pro defensive end is in Miami, receiving treatment for a third-degree ankle sprain, and is considered questionable for Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Saints.

Caldwell also echoed the refrain that Freeney is a quick healer and has been in this situation before, when it looked as if he wouldn’t play.
The Colts are willing to wait until the very last second to make a decision on Freeney’s status.

“If he’s able to go and capable of going,” Caldwell said, “I mean, we’ll wait until the last hour if need be, and I think he’ll be able to do his job and do it well.”

I’m going to sound like a broken record all week, but so be it: Even if Freeney does play, he won’t be at 100% and that’s all that should matter here. He’s a speed rusher with a bad ankle – how effective does anyone actually think he’ll be?

As a football fan with no alliance to either team, I hope Freeney is able to play and play well. But the reality of the situation is that he has a tear in his ankle and I don’t six days of treatment are going to mend the injury. Again, I hope I’m wrong but this isn’t a good situation for the Colts, no matter how much Caldwell spins it.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Colts can finally put Jets’ saga behind them

Anthony Stalter — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:21:36 +0000

It’s over with – done, finished, finite. What Jim Caldwell did in the second half of the Colts’ loss to the Jets in Week 16 is now moot after Indy soundly defeated the Ravens 20-3 on Saturday night.

Given the reaction of some folks, you could have sworn that Caldwell not only killed the Colts’ quest for a perfect season when he pulled his starters in the second half against the Jets, but he unleashed the spawn of Hades as well. He took a ton of criticism for the decision to rest his starters in the final two weeks of the season, as plenty of people boastfully claimed that the Colts would lose in the first round because of it.

But they didn’t. The defense looked well rested and energized, as it forced four turnovers and held Baltimore to 270 total yards. Peyton Manning and the offense wasn’t as crisp as it has looked throughout the season, but they still racked up 275 total yards and converted in two of three trips inside the red zone.

Granted, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot all night and had they taken better care of the ball, the final score would have been closer. But give credit to Caldwell and his coaching staff for having the Colts well prepared. The Ravens could do very little offensively and when there was a big play to be made, Indianapolis made it – not Baltimore.

Had the Colts lost, the criticism that ensued following Caldwell’s decision to pull his starters against the Jets would have been just. And in some ways, the criticism is still warranted because he pulled the plug on a perfect season.

But the bottom line is that the Colts are moving on thanks in part to Caldwell’s decision to keep everyone healthy and rested during those final two weeks. Ask Bill Belichick if he would have given up part of his salary to go back and sit Wes Welker the week before the playoffs. (Not that it would have made too much of a difference with the way the Pats played that way – but you get the point.)

Photo from fOTOGLIF

NFL Divisional Playoff Preview: Saturday

Mike Farley — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:46 +0000

Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
4:30 pm ET
TV—FOX

If last week’s wild card game between Arizona and Green Bay is any indication, the Cardinals are having a difficult time stopping the opposition. And when the opposition is the New Orleans Saints, who boast the top offense in the NFL, you have to believe this game today could get ugly. Pair that with the fact that the Cardinals racked up 51 points last Sunday against the NFL’s second ranked defense, and that New Orleans is 25th overall in team defense (26th against the pass), and there is more fuel to the shootout theory here. Of course, the game plan for each team should be to try and run the ball to control the clock, and if that’s the case, the Saints have a decided edge with their sixth ranked rushing attack. Remember, though, the key word in “game plan” is “plan,” because it’s not likely the Packers or Cards expected to play an arena league game last week. In other words, you can bet Kurt Warner and Drew Brees will wind up airing it out in this one, with those speedy receivers on both sides reducing the game to a track meet. And really, that’s how this game should be. As for the outcome, we’ll give the rested home team a slight edge. THE PICK: SAINTS 52, CARDINALS 49

Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
8:15 pm ET
TV—CBS

Speaking of rested players, there is going to be a mutiny in Indianapolis tonight if the Colts lose this game. Head coach Jim Caldwell and owner Bill Polian have been adamant about their belief that resting Peyton Manning and other regulars during most of the final two games, instead of pursuing a perfect 16-0 record, was the prudent thing to do. And while playing those guys would have been a huge risk (see Welker, Wes), you have to believe it was even riskier to not play them. Meanwhile, the Ravens, who come in with a solid ground game that is ranked fifth in the league, are just the kind of team that can give the Colts and their 24th ranked run defense fits anyway. John Harbaugh wants to run Ray Rice all day long and keep it away from Mr. Manning as much as possible, and he’d love to run the ball 52 times like he did against New England. When the Colts do have the ball, they are ranked dead last in rushing offense but second in passing. So guess what they’re gonna do? But the Ravens were in Tom Brady’s face all game last week, and you can expect Ray Lewis and company to try and do the same to Manning, who also has to worry about ball-hawking safety Ed Reed, voted Safety of the Decade earlier this week by USA Today. The Colts are extremely talented and didn’t win 14 games by accident, but that resting players thing is going to bite Caldwell and Polian in the butt. THE PICK: RAVENS 23, COLTS 20

NFL Week 16 COY Power Rankings

Mike Farley — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:00:10 +0000

Upsets galore and crazy outcomes have forced us to look a bit harder at the Coach of the Year rankings, but most of our contenders are hanging tough.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The poor guy is still dodging proverbial rocks being thrown by Colts’ fans, who wanted their team to continue its pursuit of perfection instead of rolling over against the Jets. Being that the Colts were still in position to go to 15-0 when Caldwell did that, we have to cut him some slack and remember that his team is still the top seed in the AFC and would be in the NFC as well.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Payton surely did not want to back into the #1 seed in the NFC, but after losing two games in a row, his team did just that when the Vikings’ loss Monday night let the Saints snag the top position. And once again, we have to consider the entire season’s body of work.

3. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—When you consider that Turner’s Chargers always play lousy in September, only to win when it really matters, that’s far better than it being the other way around. It’s time we started to give Turner his due.

4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are another team not playing well, but they have dealt with two tragedies this season—the death of player Chris Henry, and the passing of the wife of D-coordinator Mike Zimmer. And still, the Bengals are 10-5 with an AFC North title. Raise your hand if you expected that.

5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Yes, the Vikings are floundering and in danger of losing the #2 seed to Philly or Dallas, but I’ll keep mentioning two players who Childress sought in the off-season that made this a championship caliber team—Brett Favre and Percy Harvin.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Rex Ryan, Jets; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos

NFL Week 16 MVP Power Rankings

Mike Farley — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:00:09 +0000

It’s been two weeks since we last did these rankings, and while not much has changed at the top, the teams our top two guys play for have been very shaky. In fact, Philip Rivers’ Chargers are the only one on a roll heading into the postseason.

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—If Jim Caldwell benching his starting quarterback in the third quarter against the Jets proved anything, it’s that Manning is clearly and unequivocally valuable. His numbers (4405 yards, 33 TDs) don’t suck either.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—There is no question that Brees hasn’t been the same since DeMarcus Ware terrorized him two weeks ago in the Superdome. But the MVP race is not based on a few games and Brees still has a league-high 109.6 QB rating, and leads the NFL with 34 touchdown passes.

3. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans—This guy was racking up yards even before the Titans started winning games this season. And he’s so far ahead of the pack right now, with his sights on 2000 yards and even Eric Dickerson’s record of 2105 yards for a single season. That’s saying something.

4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Yes, he has numbers — 4155 yards, 27 TDs to 9 picks, second to Brees in QB rating with 104.5. But here is why Rivers belongs on here—because all he does is win games.

5. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Favre brought his Vikings back from a 17-point deficit in chilly Chicago before losing in OT. His season has been and continues to be bordering on magical.

Honorable Mention— DeSean Jackson, Eagles; Aaron Rodgers, Packers; Cedric Benson, Bengals; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Jared Allen, Vikings; Vince Young, Titans; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Darren Sharper, Saints; Wes Welker, Patriots; Darrelle Revis, Jets; Andre Johnson, Texans; Dallas Clark, Colts; DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys

NFL Week 14 COY Power Rankings

Mike Farley — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:00:43 +0000

As we seem to repeat week after week lately, you can’t put anyone other than Jim Caldwell and Sean Payton atop this list as their teams remain undefeated. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other contenders for coach of the year, however.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The Colts have clinched their division, their conference, a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs, and threatening the 1972 Dolphins, all with a rookie head coach. That just doesn’t happen, but here we are.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Like Caldwell, Payton’s Saints have encountered a few road bumps recently, but are still 13-0. One more win and they will have ensured that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC goes through the Superdome…and that’s just daunting for anyone.

3. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—The Vikings beat up a very good Bengals team last weekend, and are close to wrapping up the #2 NFC seed. Despite the Saints’ undefeated mark, nobody should be taking Childress’ team lightly.

4. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—Funny, we’ve been ignoring this guy the whole time, and all his team does is win, especially late in the season. This season, Turner’s Bolts might be Super.

5. tie Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals & Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Despite losses to the Vikings and Colts, respectively, last weekend, the fact remains that both of these playoff bound teams have very much exceeded expectations, especially defensively, this season.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Tony Sparano, Dolphins