Month: January 2010 (Page 31 of 65)

      NFL Divisional Playoff Preview: Saturday

      January 16, 2010 /

      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

      Jerome Bettis chats with The Scores Report

      January 15, 2010 /

      Ask any defender that has tried to tackle Jerome Bettis and we’re sure each and every one of them has their own horrifying tale. The 250-pound running back rushed for 13,662 yards and 94 touchdowns in his successful career, while also racking up six Pro Bowl appearances and claiming the 1993 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, the 1996 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the 2001 Walter Payton Man of the Year awards. Did we mention he also won a Super Bowl?

      “The Bus” has teamed up with DiGiorno for their “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, which runs through February 12th and will award one lucky winner (along with 10 of his or her friends) a chance to win a fantasy football draft party hosted by DiGiorno and Jerome. The winner and his group will be heading to Las Vegas in August for the draft and of course, the chance to meet Jerome Bettis. All you have to do to sign up is visit Facebook.com/Digiorno for a chance to win.

      Along with providing more details on the “You Bettis Believe” sweepstakes, Jerome was more than happy to talk a little football with us. We asked him what his most memorable moment was from the Steelers’ run to the Super Bowl in 2005, what was the hardest hit he ever laid on a defender and what he thinks it’ll take for the Steelers to get back in title contention. He also filled us in on where Bill Cowher may wind up when he decides to start coaching again.

      The Scores Report: Hey Jerome, how are you this is Anthony.

      Jerome Bettis: How you doing, Anthony?

      TSR: Real good, I appreciate your joining me today.

      JB: Oh, not a problem.

      TSR: Talk to me a little bit about this DiGiorno’s sweepstakes that you’re a part of. This fantasy football draft in Vegas sounds like a great time.

      JB: The sweepstakes is called “You Bettis Believe” and all you have to do is go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno and register to win the fantasy football draft party in Las Vegas. You get the opportunity to go out to Vegas and have a fantasy football draft with me. We’ll talk football, pizza; it’s the best sweepstakes you could ever win. The 12th of February is the last day you can enter so make sure you go to Facebook.com/DiGiorno to sign up.

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      Interviews, NFL

      Barstool Debate: What’s the best way to revamp the NFL overtime system?

      January 15, 2010 /

      I was reading ESPN The Magazine today, and in their New Year, New Rules issue, Peter Keating suggests a few ways to improve the NFL’s rules for overtime.

      I thought I’d pull in our NFL guru, Anthony Stalter, and kick a few of these around. I have a personal favorite that wasn’t on Keating’s list that we’ll discuss at the end.

      John Paulsen: All right, Anthony. Keating writes that there are three rules to overtime: 1) it “should preserve the essential character of a sport while moving games toward conclusive results,” 2) it should be fair, and 3) it should be fun. The current overtime system in the NFL isn’t fair, and I’d argue that it isn’t fun either. Although my beloved Packers lost in OT after winning the coin flip, 72% of teams that won the flip last season went on to win the game. That’s not fair. And if it’s not fair, then it’s not fun, either. Keating’s first suggestion is the divide-and-choose method. The winner of the coin toss picks the yard line at which the ball would be placed (say, the 25-yard line) and the other would decide who gets the ball. The first team to score wins the game. What do you think?

      Anthony Stalter: I fail to see how this is a major improvement over the system that is currently in place. It still puts too much emphasis on a coin flip and besides, I think we’d see the ball being placed on the 20-yard line more times than not. A team wouldn’t want to start backed up to its own goal line and wouldn’t want another team to start close to midfield. So the ball would likely be placed at the 20 and thus, all you’re really doing is eliminating the kickoff. And if we were just eliminating the kickoff, teams would still want the ball first and therefore, hate winning the coin toss.

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      Barstool Debates, College Football, NFL

      Bears to hire Mike Martz as coordinator?

      January 15, 2010 /

      ESPN.com speculates that Mike Martz may have emerged as the favorite to become the Bears’ next offensive coordinator.

      As NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported on Thursday, Perry Fewell is planning to accept an offer to become the next defensive coordinator for the Giants. That’s a big loss — from a public relations standpoint — for the Bears, and Lovie Smith particularly, under whom Fewell worked in the past. In order to save some face, the Bears might pull the trigger on Martz in order to “try to add some credibility to their offseason,” according to a tweet from Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

      NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert discussed why the Bears haven’t yet hired Martz, and why they should:

      “This is far from an ideal scenario. But there’s little doubt Martz has a long history of implementing dynamic passing games. The Bears have devoted too many assets to Cutler to ignore that. Martz’s history, and his experience in quickly installing a scheme, might give the Bears their best chance at a quick fix.”

      Martz generally favors quarterbacks that he can mold into his own, which doesn’t describe Cutler. I agree with Seifert in that this would be a quick fix scenario at best, and a move that appeases some Bear fans more than it solves the team’s offensive woes. That’s not to say that Martz won’t do a good job, but is he the right fit? That’s debatable.

      NFL

      2010 NFL Divisional Round Prediction: Ravens vs. Colts

      January 15, 2010 /

      Baltimore Ravens (9-7, 3-5 away) at Indianapolis Colts (14-2, 7-1 home)
      Kickoff: 8:15PM ET
      Odds: Colts –6.5

      Prediction:
      There are a lot of people that are hopping onto the Ravens bandwagon – and for good reason. They absolutely took the Patriots behind the woodshed last week and beat them in all phases of the game. Ray Rice is a legitimate star in the making and the defense is playing quality football.

      But have we forgotten how good the Colts are? I get it – momentum can be very important in sports and the Colts don’t have any right now after dropping their final two regular season games. But this is Peyton Manning’s show and simply put, Baltimore’s secondary isn’t good enough to stop Indy’s offense for four quarters on the road.

      If Baltimore runs the ball effectively with Rice and keeps Manning on the sidelines, then I’ll be eating my words come late Saturday night. But the strength of Indy’s defense is its speed and I think they match up very well with the Ravens’ rushing attack. Plus, Flacco got away with only attempting 10 passes last week – that’s not going to be the case this Saturday. It’s going to be a much different game and I don’t see him out-gunning Manning.

      I like the Ravens, I really do. They’ve already proven that they can go into a hostile environment and win on the road. There’s also no doubt that they’re going to be well prepared thanks to John Harbaugh and they’ll be fired up to prove themselves once again. But in the end, I don’t think Baltimore has the talent in the secondary to slow Manning and the Colts’ offense down.

      Prediction: Colts 27, Ravens 17.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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