Month: December 2010 (Page 11 of 52)

      NFL Week 15 COY power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      December is when coaches lose jobs or gain big contract extensions for winning big games. And it’s crunch time for coach of the year hype…..

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—Sure, the Pats were exposed against Green Bay. But like usual, the Hoodie’s teams find a way to win.

      2. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—He almost dropped five spots for not throwing that challenge flag on an obvious reversal, but he’s still here for two reasons—his teams know how to win, and he had the balls to name Mike Vick as his starting QB.

      3. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—No reason to move Mikey from the 3-spot after disposing of the Seahawks in hostile Seattle.

      4. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Now the Chargers are breathing down his neck; but hey, he probably feels good that Josh McDaniels is watching games from his couch now.

      5. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Did anyone think the Bears could score 40 points against the Vikings on a frigid December night? Lovie’s defense and Mike Martz’ offense continue to gel and look scary.

      6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Yes, they are 6-8 and might win a division. But the fact remains the Rams have equaled their win total from the past three seasons combined, and Spags told his team they can win the Super Bowl if they reach the playoffs. Ridiculous, but true.

      7. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Still hanging on to a possible playoff berth, but either way, a huge turnaround in 2010.

      8. Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars—Gambled and lost in Indy, but still tied for first in the AFC South.

      9. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—Two hard-hitting teams are two of the best teams in the NFL

      10. Rex Ryan, New York Jets—Backs up against the wall? No problem for this brash leader, whose team did what few teams do—win in Pittsburgh in December.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 15 MVP power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      Boy, this is becoming a two-man race, isn’t it? You could probably wrestle with the Brady/Vick debate for days, and the next two weeks will likely determine the outcome of that. But for now, we have to pontificate…..

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Well, his team is 12-2 and he leads in QB rating (109.9) with a modest 3561 yards, and 31 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. It’s hard to argue with that.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—That game against the Giants and that comeback against the Giants are hard for this Big Blue fan to bear (242 yards, 3 TDs, 1 pick, 130 rushing yards and one more TD), but it’s hard not to respect Vick’s season and his own personal resurgence.

      3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—First of all, dude was on the field like 8 days after having his appendix out. Not great stats (184 yards, 1 TD, one pick), but he led his team to a much-needed win and has done that all season.

      4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Imagine what Rivers could have done with a healthy Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates all season?

      5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—His numbers are still modest, but he just keeps winning and has orchestrated quite a few late-game comebacks.

      6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—His team lost to the Ravens, but still a strong body of work in 2010 despite being under the radar.

      7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Almost 1900 total yards and 15 total scores are making this guy a possible #1 fantasy pick in 2011.

      8 Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Only 8 touchdowns, but 106 catches and 1284 yards both lead the NFL in a career year for Roddy.

      9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—10 more tackles against the G-men and the leader of a defense that has a lot of heart despite a ton of injuries.

      10. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions—No TDs last week in Tampa, but 10 catches for 152 yards in an impressive win. For my money, Calvin might be the best receiver in the NFL.

      External Sports, NFL

      Shaky stud RBs, sleepers and duds

      December 24, 2010 /

      The fine folks over at FantasyPros asked me to answer a few pertinent questions heading into Week 16. My answer to the first question is below, and you can see the remaining Q&A by clicking through to the full article.

      1. Give us your quick take on a few running backs that are making their owners nervous:

      a) Adrian Peterson. If he plays this week against Philadelphia, how will he perform assuming Joe Webb gets the start at QB?
      b) Knowshon Moreno. If he recovers and plays this week against Houston, how will he perform assuming Tim Tebow gets the start at QB?
      c) Dallas Running Backs. Now that Marion Barber is possibly back in the mix, do you downgrade Tashard Choice, Felix Jones, both, or neither?

      a) His matchup with the Eagles is decent, so if AP looks good at practice, it would be really tough to bench him. I have him ranked at #14 behind Blount and the Law Firm and ahead of Torain and F. Jackson. I think I’ll leave him there if he’s a go for Sunday but still seems to be favoring the injury. I think 70-90 total yards and a TD is a reasonable expectation given the circumstances, assuming he’s a full-go. There is lots of downside here, however.

      b) Moreno is not a guy who has played well through injuries in the past, so I’m very leery. The matchup might seem great, but the Texans have been decent against opposing RBs this season. He has a chance to find the endzone, but I don’t think it will be a big yardage day, unless Denver really utilizes him in the passing game.

      c) If Barber is a go for Sunday, it s a small downgrade to both Felix Jones and Tashard Choice, but I think Choice has passed Barber on the depth chart. He’s been too productive to turn back to Barber, in my opinion. That said, the Cowboys have really struggled in the redzone, so they may give Barber a chance at the goal line, which would cut into the value of both Choice and Jones since they have been sharing those duties.

      Click here to see the full article at FantasyPros, where I identify a couple of sleepers as well as a dud for Week 16.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football

      Did Favre ask Sterger for naughty video?

      December 24, 2010 /

      The Brett Favre-Jenn Sterger saga just got a whole lot creepier. According to the New York Daily News (via TMZ.com), Favre wanted Sterger to reciprocate when he sent her the photos of his junk.

      According to TMZ.com, Favre, who allegedly sent graphic text messages to the TV personality in 2008, also requested to see a video of Sterger masturbating.

      The request, reportedly sent via text months after the X-rated photos were exchanged, may be one of the documents included in the NFL’s investigation of the football star.

      Sterger also wants the league to establish an anti-sexual harassment program to prevent incidents like the one she had with Favre, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings, from happening again.

      It’s not surprising to hear that there’s more to this story but I’m still not buying that Sterger is a victim. The league probably would benefit from an anti-sexual harassment program, just like any business would. But Sterger isn’t Susan B. Anthony. She already said that her and her friends poked fun at Favre’s advancements, so to come out and demand that the league sets up an anti-sexual harassment program sounds fake.

      That said, the thing that has been forgotten in all this is that Favre is a married man who shouldn’t have been sending inappropriate texts to anyone (uh, outside of his wife…if she’s into that stuff). And for him to ask her for a video of her masturbating is beyond inappropriate. (Whether she laughed it off or not.)

      External Sports, NFL

      McNabb’s Agent: Shanahan’s out to get Donovan

      December 24, 2010 /

      Donovan McNabb said earlier in the week that he would like to remain in D.C. in 2011. But his agent Fletcher Smith is making it hard for that to happen.


      Fletcher ripped Mike Shanahan       and his son/offensive coordinator Kyle for being “beyond disrespectful” in their decision to bench McNabb. Then he went on to essentially say that the Shanahans have it out for his client.

      From ESPN.com:

      “I believe there is tension between Donovan and Kyle that’s rooted in the fact that Donovan has suggested modifications to Kyle’s offense based on intricacies Donovan has learned in his NFL career,” Smith wrote. “For example, Donovan has asked all year that the team run more screen passes to help manage the pass rush more effectively. Ironically, Kyle decided to employ Donovan’s suggestions after he unceremoniously benched him on Sunday.”

      You have to appreciate Smith coming to defense of his client but is he honestly saying that Mike Shanahan benched McNabb and then Kyle Shanahan employed McNabb’s suggestions with Rex Grossman? As the ESPN article noted – that seems like a bit of an overstatement.

      Mike Shanahan has recently fired back at Smith.

      “As I stated earlier, when I traded for Donovan McNabb I had hoped that he would lead us to the playoffs,” said Shanahan. “No one wanted him to be more successful than me. When the team was 5-8 and mathematically out of the playoffs, I made the decision to evaluate our other two quarterbacks.

      “This was not personal, but strictly professional. The decision was made in the best interest of the Washington Redskins and I stand by my decision. I will attempt to talk to Fletcher Smith directly to clear up every one of his misconceptions.”

      If the Shanahans believe that McNabb can’t run their offense, then they did nothing wrong in benching him. If they honestly think Grossman is better than they would be wrong. But at least their reasoning behind McNabb makes sense. (If he’s not going to be here next year, why keep playing him?).

      That said, if the Shanahans want McNabb back next year and expect him to compete as a starter, then their decision to bench him for the human turnover machine looks ridiculous. Because even though the Redskins are out of it they would still benefit from McNabb taking as many reps in Shanahan’s offense as possible – especially if he’s struggling to grasp the system. You don’t bench the guy and then say, “But hey, maybe you’ll be better next year. We’ll see you then!”

      What a weird situation.

      External Sports, NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑