Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 237 of 1503)

      2010 NFL Week 13 Power Rankings

      November 30, 2010 /
      CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 28: Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears rolls out to look for a receiver against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field on November 28, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Eagles 31-26. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

      Another week, another top team in one of the conferences goes down.

      Check out Week 12’s Rankings

      1. New England Patriots
      Previous Week: 1
      The game was close at halftime but Tom Brady took over in the second half as the Pats destroyed the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. The win was significant because it showed that New England didn’t overlook a bad team with the Jets on deck.

      2. Atlanta Falcons
      Previous Week: 5
      The 2009 Saints are the reason why people are still reluctant to call the Falcons the best team in the NFC. New Orleans steamrolled over everyone last year, but Atlanta wears teams down until they can win it in the fourth quarter (sometimes late in the fourth quarter). They’re not the most talented team (at least defensively), but they’re consistent and with their win over the Packers last Sunday, the Falcons have now beaten four straight playoff contenders (Bucs, Ravens, Rams and Packers). Argue with that.

      3. Pittsburgh Steelers
      Previous Week: 2
      The Steelers beat the Falcons without Big Ben in Week 1, but the only reason they’re still ranked this high is because Steve Johnson dropped that touchdown pass in overtime. Every team is allowed a mulligan or two throughout the year and that was the Steelers’ last week. They got caught looking ahead to Baltimore a week early.

      4. New York Jets
      Previous Week: 4
      If the Jets want the No. 1 spot in these rankings, I’ll give it to them if they can beat the Patriots on Monday night next week. They’ve already beaten the Pats once this year but to do it in Foxboro is another story.

      5. New Orleans Saints
      Previous Week: 8
      What should scare every team in the NFC is that nobody is talking about the Saints right now. Sure, they could have easily lost to the Cowboys had Malcolm Jenkins not run down Roy Williams in the final minutes on Thanksgiving. But let’s not overlook the fact that the Saints are getting healthy and could head into the playoffs with a full head of steam. Who would want to play this team in January?

      6. Baltimore Ravens
      Previous Week: 9
      Their win over the Bucs last Sunday was highly unimpressive from an offensive standpoint. But with the Steelers coming up this week, it was good to that Baltimore wasn’t caught looking ahead.

      7. Chicago Bears
      Previous Week: 13
      This isn’t the same team that took the field in the first six or so weeks of the season. The offensive line has greatly improved over the last three weeks and Jay Cutler is starting to put some quality games together. If Mike Martz can stop taking unnecessary chances and rely more on his running game, then the Bears are going to be tough to beat down the stretch. That said, they have a tough schedule coming up, which includes a date with the Packers in Green Bay.

      8. Philadelphia Eagles
      Previous Week: 3
      I think the Eagles started to read their own press clippings after beating the Giants. That was when everyone started to talk about how this team was the best in the NFC and then smack! They met a determined Bears team in Chicago. This may not be the team to beat in the NFC, but they’re still the team to beat in the NFC East.

      9. Green Bay Packers
      Previous Week: 6
      It would be a shame if a 7-9 or 8-8 team in the NFC West makes the playoffs and the Packers (who know doubt will have a better record) don’t. This is a good team led by an elite quarterback. Now they just have to figure out ways to win close games so they’re not nipped come playoff time.

      10. San Diego Chargers
      Previous Week: 11
      I wonder if the Raider fan who left a comment on my rankings two weeks ago that Oakland should be ahead of San Diego will come back to eat crow. Doubtful.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, NFL

      Josh McDaniels has five weeks to prove himself?

      November 30, 2010 /
      DENVER - SEPTEMBER 19: Head coach Josh McDaniels of the Denver Broncos looks on against the Seattle Seahawks during NFL action at INVESCO Field at Mile High on September 19, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

      In a recent interview with AOL Fanhouse’s Thomas George, Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen said that head coach Josh McDaniels will be back in 2011. But quickly after that report was published, the team issued a statement that contradicts Bowlen’s comments.

      When asked if McDaniels would be back in 2011, Bowlen told George, “Yes he will. I am not interested in making a coaching change.” He even went on to say that he was “very happy with Josh” and that McDaniels was doing a “good job.”

      But after news started to spread about Bowlen’s comments, the Broncos issued a written statement that stated the following:

      “This has been a very trying and disappointing season for all of us,” Bowlen said in a written statement. “We haven’t had the success we had hoped to achieve. Josh McDaniels is the head coach of the Broncos, and you always strive for stability at that position. However, with five games left in the 2010 season, we will continue to monitor the progress of the team and evaluate what’s in the best interest of this franchise.”

      Read between the lines and Bowlen is essentially saying that McDaniels has five weeks to campaign to keep his job. But given the talent level of the Broncos’ roster, is it fair for Bowlen to expect anything than more inconsistency from this team? Even after blowing out the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago, it was evident in a recent MNF game that Denver can’t hang with the likes of San Diego or other playoff teams in the AFC. So is Bowlen creating a situation where he knows McDaniels will fail?

      Of course, the current state of the Broncos is do in large part because of McDaniels’ shoddy decision making. He pissed off Jay Cutler to the point where he had no choice but to trade him, then he sent Brandon Marshall packing last offseason. He also traded Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn, which could go down as one of the worst deals in NFL history if Hillis continues to play as well as he has, and traded multiple picks in order to draft Tim Tebow (a major project at quarterback) in the first round last April. (Oh, and there was also that little issue of McDaniels getting fined because a member of his video staff was caught video tapping one of the 49ers’ walk-through practices.)

      The Broncos are what they are because of McDaniels. Now it’s up to Bowlen to decide whether or not to allow McDaniels to finish what he started or send him packing after only two years. If he fires him, then he just creates a new set of problems. Will the new coach want to work with Tebow? Because if not, then what do you do with him? The Broncos can’t afford to have that pick wasted on a backup or an H-back (assuming the new coaching staff would move him to another position).

      Bowlen has a tough dilemma on his hands.

      External Sports, NFL

      Derek Anderson goes off on a reporter in press conference

      November 30, 2010 /

      It wouldn’t be a Cardinals’ prime time television event without one of their coaches or players going off on the media following the game.

      During the closing minutes of Arizona’s embarrassing 27-6 loss to the 49ers on Monday Night Football, television cameras showed quarterback Derek Anderson (who was atrocious…again) and guard Deuce Lutui sharing a laugh on the sidelines. When confronted about the moment in his post-game press conference, Anderson went off.

      In some respects I feel for Anderson. We’ve all been there; things aren’t going your way so a friend tosses out a, “Hey, things could be worse – you could be Jake Delhomme” comments to make you laugh. It’s not that you feel any better about the situation, but you share a laugh and it helps breaks up the tension for that moment.

      But I don’t blame fans for being upset. The prices of NFL tickets these days are absurd and to watch your team look as pathetic as the Cardinals did on Monday night is bad enough. You don’t want to see/hear that your quarterback was on the sidelines yucking it up with another teammate on top of having to endure the on-field product. It’s not fair, and in defense of the reporter, he gave Anderson the opportunity to explain himself and Anderson instead got defensive.

      Either way, this situation won’t matter soon enough. Anderson isn’t a part of Arizona’s future and given how bad he looked last night, he may not be a part of their present either.

      External Sports, NFL

      Frank Gore suffers fractured hip, is done for the season

      November 30, 2010 /
      San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore (C) finds the hole and runs for a first down in the first quarter of the 49ers game against the Arizona Cardinals San Francisco 49ers at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ November 29,2010. UPI/Art Foxall Photo via Newscom

      The 49ers better hope that Brian Westbrook has found the fountain of youth because their chances of making the playoffs just took a major hit.

      NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora reports that Frank Gore will miss the remainder of the season with a fractured right hip. He suffered the injury in the first half of the Niners’ 27-6 victory over the Cardinals on Monday night, although what’s interesting is that he returned to the game after initially heading to the locker room for treatment. He did not receive X-rays during that time, however, and he eventually carried the ball once more before leaving the game for good.

      While the team has yet to make an official announcement on his timetable to return, it’s probably safe to assume that his season is over. Westbrook and rookie Anthony Dixon will now split carries in the Niners’ backfield.

      It came against the Cardinals’ shoddy front seven, but Westbrook looked great on Monday night. He rushed for a season-high 136 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown and showed some of the cutting ability that made him popular in Philadelphia. Considering how well he ran, it makes you wonder why Mike Singletary and his coaching staff didn’t get him more involved until now. (He had just five carries coming into the game.)

      With the win, the 49ers find themselves back in contention in the worst division in football. And seeing as how they play the Rams and Seahawks (two teams with one more win than San Fran) in December, it’s not unrealistic to think that Troy Smith and Co. can win the NFC West. But losing Gore was a major blow and it puts even more emphasis on Smith getting up to speed with the offense so that the Niners can open things up in the passing game.

      External Sports, NFL

      Bill Cowher: Broncos’ video taper didn’t act independently

      November 29, 2010 /
      LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 29: Head coach of the Denver Broncos Josh McDaniels speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the start of a team training session at The Brit Oval on October 29, 2010 in London, England. The Denver Broncos will play the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley Stadium on October 31. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

      Bill Cowher isn’t buying that Broncos’ video director Steve Scarnecchia acted alone in taping one of the 49ers’ walk-through practices when the two teams played in London a couple of weeks ago.

      From USA Today:

      “I know they say he acted independently. I don’t agree with that,” Cowher said on “The NFL Today”, “because I think in every room, in every building, the dynamics, you always have to answer to a superior. I have a hard time believing this was done independently.”

      Fellow CBS analyst Boomer Esiason added that the illegal recording — the latest problem in the Broncos’ 11-15 start of the McDaniels era — threw the coach’s future into doubt.

      “You put that on the fact they’re 5-15 the last 20, the fact Josh McDaniels got rid of (Jay) Cutler, (Brandon) Marshall, (Tony) Sheffler and (Peyton) Hillis, also got blown out at home by the Oakland Raiders, and on top of that drafted Tim Tebow in the first round, you really have to question the decision making of one Josh McDaniels.”

      I wrote this when this story first broke:

      What are the chances that the Broncos blame Scarnecchia for the entire thing? “Oh, we didn’t know he was doing that. He acted on his own. Dude has always been crazy. We almost had to fire him for stealing printers, so yeah, it figures that he would do something like this.”

      I’m not surprised that the Broncos said Scarnecchia acted alone and I highly doubt that McDaniels and the rest of that coaching staff didn’t know exactly what was going on. Why would Scarnecchia video tape another team’s practice if it wasn’t intended to cheat for his team? Unless the man has some weird obsession about video tapping other teams as a personal hobby, everyone knows exactly what Scarnecchia was doing – including McDaniels.

      Esiason brings up a great point, too. When you look at his entire body of work up to this point, McDaniels doesn’t have a very impressive track record in Denver in terms of making good decisions. That Hillis trade will go down as the worst of the offseason – if not the worst of the past couple of offseasons.

      The only thing that will save McDaniels’ job now and in the future is to win. And he better start doing that soon.

      External Sports, NFL

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