Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 977 of 1503)

      Report: Rex Ryan becomes Jets’ next head coach

      January 19, 2009 /

      ESPN is reporting that Rex Ryan will become the next head coach of the Jets.

      Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has agreed to a four-year contract to become coach of the New York Jets, according to multiple sources.

      Lawyers are reviewing contract language before an official announcement is made. A news conference introducing Ryan is scheduled for Wednesday.

      The Jets made a formal offer to Ryan “about an hour” after the Ravens lost 23-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, the sources said.

      Ryan’s four-year contract is in line with other first-year head coaches that have been recently hired, but a Jets source said it was almost identical to the $11.5 million deal that the Rams gave New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on Saturday.

      “Any coach who believes in himself wants the opportunity, and it’s a great franchise,” Ryan told ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols on Sunday night.

      Ryan was hired by the Ravens in 1999 as a defensive assistant and took on the coordinator’s role in 2005. The title of assistant head coach was added before this season.

      I’ve been dying to see what this guy can do as a head coach. Hopefully he hires a sound offensive coordinator and someone he’s already worked with to coach defense so that his system and schemes stay in tact. It’ll also be interesting to see what Ryan can do with former top 10 pick Vernon Gholston, who Eric Mangini sat for most of 2008 because he wanted the former Buckeye to become a complete linebacker. Maybe Ryan will make him the next Terrell Suggs and just allow him to get after the passer and use his physical talents above all else.

      Other than him not having any head coaching experience, I think Ryan was a sound hire.

      NFL

      Boldin being labeled as selfish for sideline rant with Haley

      January 19, 2009 /

      During the second half of the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, cameras caught Cardinals’ wide receiver Anquan Boldin in a heated debate with offensive coordinator Todd Haley on the sidelines. According to CBSSports.com writer Mike Freeman, Boldin abruptly left the field and locker room after the game without celebrating with his teammates.

      Anquan BoldinHe tried to ruin the Super Bowl celebration with his childishness.

      In the game, Boldin got into a heated argument with offensive coordinator Todd Haley. After the game, instead of celebrating with his team, Boldin abruptly left the field, then abruptly left the locker room.

      It was awful behavior.

      Quarterback Kurt Warner also got into an argument with Haley during the game but you didn’t see Warner acting like a petulant child afterwards. He celebrated with his teammates and enjoyed the moment.

      I have to say in nearly 20 years of doing this, I’ve never seen a player more concerned about his arguing with a coach over making a Super Bowl.

      What Boldin did almost never happens.

      Congratulations on making history, Anquan.

      According to Haley, Boldin was upset because Steve Breaston replaced him in one of the offensive formations.

      Boldin declined comment about it after the game, and Haley called it “a heat of the moment” situation.

      “We changed personnel groups out there and I put Steve Breaston in for (Boldin),” Haley said, “and he was upset about it.”

      One would have thought the Cards lost the game with how bad Haley was chewed out. (He also got into a smaller debate with Kurt Warner in the first half.)

      Boldin’s never been a me-first player so he deserves a break from the national media on this one. But no matter how upset he was, there was no excuse not to celebrate with his teammates. Reaching the Super Bowl should be a momentous occasion in a player’s career. Instead, Boldin has voiced his displeasure several times this year, mainly because of his contract situation and now because he was pulled from a game.

      Settle down, Anquan. Your team just made the Super Bowl and will need you. Your contract situation will get worked out after the season. Play ball until then.

      NFL

      Six Pack of Observations: Steelers to play Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII

      January 18, 2009 /

      Here are six quick-hit observations on the Steelers’ 23-13 win over the Ravens in the AFC Championship.

      1. My thoughts go out to Willis McGahee.
      McGahee took a hell of a pop from Steelers’ defensive back Ryan Clark and appeared to be knocked out before he even hit the ground. It looked like Clark was trying to turn his body to level a shoulder hit on McGahee, but clearly caught him with his helmet first. Not that it was intentional, but Clark should have been flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit. Regardless, McGahee was carted off the field on a stretcher and my thoughts go out to him. Word is he was talking and moving his legs, which is a positive sign. This is just one of the many examples of how nasty the game of football is. Hopefully both McGahee and Clark (who was also shaken up on the play) return to full health and no permanent damage was suffered by the collision.

      2. Joe Flacco’s inexperience was bound to catch up with him.
      Flacco was perfect the last two weeks because he didn’t turn the ball over and allowed his running game and defense to win games. But all rookies (even good ones like Flacco) are bound to make mistakes and the young signal caller certainly did tonight. He threw three interceptions, with the one to Troy Polomalu in the fourth quarter being the most damaging. It looked like offensive coordinator Cam Cameron didn’t want to handcuff Flacco and allowed him to throw down field, which wasn’t the problem. At some point, you’re going to have to take cracks down field in order to get the Steelers’ defense on their heels. But clearly Flacco rushed some of his throws and tried to force the action when it wasn’t there. His performance Sunday reminded me a lot of Ben Roethlisberger’s play in the 2005 AFC Championship Game against the Patriots. Big Ben (who was a rookie at the time) tried to make plays happen by throwing down field and New England ate him alive. The next season Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory and just like Big Ben did, Flacco will learn from this performance and continue to develop. He’s got a bright future.

      3. Let Big Ben do his thing.
      Ben Roethlisberger has to scare the beajesus out of his teammates, coaches and fans with the way he plays the game. He hangs onto the ball way too long and sometimes it costs his team dearly because he takes sacks and turns the ball over. But with the way he escapes the pocket and the grasp of would-be tacklers to find receivers that have shaken loose in the secondary, you have to let him play his game. Does he take unnecessary sacks? Without a doubt. Should he be more careful with the football? Yes. But how many times does he keep plays and drives alive by waiting those extra seconds? No coach should recommend that their quarterback play the way he does, but it clearly works for Big Ben and once again, he’s led the Steelers to another Super Bowl despite lining up behind the weakest offensive line of his career.

      4. How does Troy Polomalu do it?
      Granted, Joe Flacco threw the ball right to him, but Polomalu’s pivotal interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was yet another example of how good the safety is. How does he always seem to be in the right place at the right time? Well the fact that he never takes plays off has a lot to do with it, but he also has some of the best instincts in the game. Sure, he’ll whiff on plays at times, but even the best defenders miss tackles in the open field. Polomalu consistently is one of the best playmakers in the game and what was great about his pick tonight wasn’t the actual interception, but the return. The play never stopped for him and thanks to a bevy of blocks, he was able to find open space and reach the end zone to turn the game on its head.

      5. Way to bounce back, Limas Sweed.
      Sweed went from goat to quiet hero over the course of this game. His drop at the end of the second half was a killer because not only was it right in his bread basket, but he was also all alone and would have walked into the end zone. Granted, he should have never had the opportunity to drop the pass because the Steelers got a gift from the officials after a phantom roughing the kicker call on the Ravens, but back to the topic on hand…. Sweed’s drop (his second in as many weeks) was awful, but he made one of the better plays of the game when he turned into a defender late in the third quarter by knocking the ball loose on a pass play in the end zone when it looked like Frank Walker was going to come down with a huge interception. Thanks to Sweed’s play, the Steelers salvaged the drive with a 46-yard Jeff Reed field goal to go up 16-7 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It was a play that will go largely unnoticed (especially compared to his easy drop), but Sweed deserves credit for not disappearing after his embarrassing drop.

      6. Cardinals vs. Steelers? I like it.
      A lot of football fans consider the Cardinals one of the worst teams to ever make the postseason and will no doubt refer to Arizona as one of the worst teams to ever play in a Super Bowl. But with the way the Cardinals’ offense is clicking, an Arizona-Pittsburgh matchup is intriguing. Some will write this game off as an easy win for the Steelers because their defense will get pressure on Kurt Warner and shut the Cards’ dynamic passing game down. But if we’ve learned anything from this postseason it’s that the Cardinals come to play.

      NFL

      Six Pack of Observations: Cardinals heading to the Super Bowl

      January 18, 2009 /

      Here are six quick-hit observations from the Cardinals’ 32-25 win over the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

      1. Just keep doubting them – the Cardinals will just keep winning.
      Let’s run through everything the Cardinals weren’t supposed to do this postseason, shall we? They weren’t supposed to stop Michael Turner or beat the Falcons in the first round. They weren’t supposed to win on the road or stop the Panthers’ dynamic running game in the second round. And then even when they did accomplish those things, they weren’t supposed to beat the Eagles because Philadelphia would finally pressure Kurt Warner like he hadn’t been the previous two weeks. Yet the Cardinals did beat Philly on Sunday, and they did so even though adversity stopped by in the third quarter and smacked them square in the mouth. (More on that next.)

      2. The Cardinals did something Sunday that they hadn’t done much of all season – battle adversity.
      When the Eagles scored a go ahead touchdown with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game to take a 25-24 lead in front of a stunned Arizona crowd, the Cardinals could have easily crumpled in the final quarter. Philadelphia had just scored 19 points in a matter of nine minutes, were starting to pressure Warner with more ease and had seized all momentum. But the Cards answered with a 14-play, 72-yard drive that took 12:07 off the clock and culminated in a Tim Hightower 8-yard touchdown run. They added the 2-point conversation on a pass reception by Ben Patrick and even though there was still plenty of time left on the clock at 2:53, you got the impression that the Eagles were cooked. Granted, ‘Zona benefited from a non-pass interference call on a 4th and 10 attempt to Kevin Curtis on the final drive, but the Cards had already capitalized on the most pivotal moment in the game by taking the Eagles’ best shot and answering back.

      3. The Eagles only played 19 minutes of this game…
      …had they played the entire game, they probably would have won. Something that got overlooked by many pundits in the week leading up to the contest was that this was the third straight road game for Philadelphia. It’s hard to win on the road as it is, nevertheless three straight weeks. It’s why most sixth seeds don’t make it to the Super Bowl. That said, had the Eagles played the entire game as well as they did in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, they would have won. Granted, that’s an obvious statement since they scored 13 points and limited the Cardinals to –1 yard of total offense in that third period – but look deeper. In that third quarter, Jim Johnson finally was able to dial up the right pressure on Kurt Warner, Andy Reid was finally able to get the tired Arizona defense on their heels and Donovan McNabb finally was hitting receivers in stride and striking for big plays. (None bigger than DeSean Jackson’s wild 62-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth.) The Eagles essentially only executed their game plan for 19 minutes of this game and yes, the Cardinals had a lot to do with that. But Philadelphia also got in its own way more times than not by dropping passes, failing to execute Johnson’s blitzes and McNabb misfiring on a handful of passes. Were the Eagles tired? They didn’t necessarily show it if they were, but don’t overlook the fact that this team had to do a lot just to make the playoffs and then a lot just to get to Glendale on Sunday. And that could have factored into how they played.

      4. Larry Fitzgerald.
      What else can one say that hasn’t already been said? He’s amazing, spectacular – exceptional. With all due respect to the Texans’ Andre Johnson, Fitz is the best receiver in the NFL and the adjustment he made on Kurt Warner’s under throw on a 62-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was incredible. He’s one of the few receivers in the league that consistently goes up to get the ball at its highest point and never lets it get to his body. He’s the best.

      5. Who the hell is Brent Celek?
      Non-Eagle fans go ahead and raise your hand if you knew who Celek was before the game. I knew who he was, but I had no idea he could be a game-changer. The second-year tight end out of Cincinnati was the perfect complement to DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis in that he worked the seams and gave Donovan McNabb a solid, reliable target the entire game. He also freed Jackson and Curtis up by clearing out the Cardinal safeties, which had to adjust to him being a legitimate target as the game wore on. What a game by the youngster who has no doubt made Eagle fans forget L.J. Smith.

      6. How can you not love Adrian Wilson?
      Because the Cardinals have been bad for so long, Wilson has often been known as just an underrated playmaker on a brutal defense. But now that the Cards are heading to the Super Bowl, general football fans can start to appreciate just how good the eight-year veteran is – and how loyal. When Wilson was set to become a free agent at the end of the 2004 season, he could have signed with numerous teams dying for a playmaking safety and a natural born leader. But as Joe Buck and Troy Akiman noted during the broadcast, Wilson never contemplated signing with another team and reached a modest five-year, $21 million contract with the Cards. Now he’s being rewarded for his contributions to Arizona’s franchise by having the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. If you can’t root for a guy like that than you won’t be able to root for anybody.

      NFL

      NFC/AFC Championship Preview

      January 18, 2009 /

      Before I wrote my Divisional Preview last week, I gave a jab to all the losing teams from Wild Card Weekend. So I think it’s only fair to the Falcons, Colts, Dolphins and Vikings that I do the same to the losers from the divisional round.

      Tennessee Titans: Spend some time this offseason finding another offensive weapon besides Chris Johnson. I swear at one point during the game last week I actually saw Kerry Collins look to dump a pass to the Titan bench because he knew Johnson was sitting there nursing his injured ankle.

      Carolina Panthers: Jake, black shirts, silver helmets, bro. Does anyone else wonder if one of the Panthers went up to Delhomme in the locker room after the game, stopped at his locker, looked him dead in the eye and said, “Happy f’ing birthday, Jake. Way to cost us the game”?

      New York Giants: Eli, you’ve been playing in New York (New Jersey, actually) for four years now. You’re telling me you still haven’t figured out how to throw with that wind by now? Don’t blame yourself, though. Your coach should have deferred to the second half and put his defense (his strength) on the field first to start the game. Losing to the Eagles at home was a collective effort.

      San Diego Chargers: I read that the general feeling out of Chargers’ camp was that Santonio Holmes’ punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter set off a chain of mistakes and miscues leading to San Diego’s loss in Pittsburgh. Yeah that, and the fact that Willie Parker did whatever he wanted, the Chargers only held the ball for 17 seconds in the third quarter and they couldn’t stop the big play. But that was it.

      Kurt WarnerPhiladelphia Eagles (9-6-1) at Arizona Cardinals (9-7)
      Sunday, January 18, 3:00PM ET
      Current Odds: Eagles –4
      Over/Under: 47
      Game Outlook:
      What the hell do we make of the Cardinals now? They stumbled into the postseason, so everyone (myself included) thought, “Well, this team won’t make it past the first round.” Then they beat the Falcons by shutting down Michael Turner, which happened to be the one thing many pundits said that they would have trouble with. But then everyone (myself included) thought, “Well, now they have to go on the road. And there’s no way they’ll win on the road.” Then they go to Carolina and absolutely crush the Panthers 33-13. Now there seems to be two schools of thought with these Cardinals from Arizona. The first being that the Falcons and Panthers made their job a hell of a lot easier by collectively turning the ball over nine times in two games. The second being that the Cards are for real and that everyone has disrespected them the past two weeks. Personally, I think ‘Zona falls somewhere in between. Do I think they were handed some golden opportunities to win over the past two weeks? Yeah. Do I think that they’re better than what everyone (one more time: myself included) thought they were? Yeah. But the Eagles are playing some damn good football right now and probably won’t make the same glaring mistakes that the Falcons and Panthers did. Philly also measures up well with Arizona given that their secondary is outstanding and that they’re playing with a ton of confidence. This game will come down to three things for both teams: 1) don’t turn the ball over, 2) convert on third downs and 3) play good defense. Whichever team is successful in those three areas of the game will win. And if you think that’s too simple then look at all of the playoff games played so far this season. The losing team turned the ball over more, couldn’t convert on third downs and couldn’t stop their opponent from making the big play.
      X-Factor: DeSean Jackson, WR, Eagles
      Jackson has breathed life into Philly’s passing attack and he’s provided a spark in the return game. If Brian Westbrook isn’t 100%, Jackson will have to make plays to give the Eagles a shot at making their second Super Bowl appearance in four years. It’ll also help if Andy Reid can line Jackson up in the “Wildcat” formation and allow him to make plays running the ball, too. Because Donovan McNabb can’t win on his own, even though he’s playing outstanding football right now.
      Prediction: Cardinals 24, Eagles 21
      Why the Cardinals? Because I think they’re destined to win. Nobody thought that they would be here right now and nothing in the NFL has made sense all year (i.e. the Eagles are probably the better overall team, so why should they win, right?). The Cards are also at home (where they play remarkably better than they do on the road) and I can already see the Kurt Warner headlines in the paper Monday morning.

      Willie ParkerBaltimore Ravens (11-5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
      Sunday, January 18, 6:30PM ET
      Current Odds: Steelers -6
      Over/Under: 34
      Game Outlook:
      Even though the divisional round essentially provided two duds (I know the Ravens-Titans game was close, but it really wasn’t that good of a game), I’m once again looking forward to what the AFC brings to the table this week. These are the two best defenses in the league (if not the NFL) and it’s going to be great to see how Rex Ryan and Dick LeBeau attack the opposing offense. The Ravens’ game plan has been simple the past two weeks in that they’ve relied on playing great defense and not turning the ball over offensively. Rookie Joe Flacco hasn’t thrown for over 200 yards in either of Baltimore’s two postseason wins, but the key is that he hasn’t turned the ball over. He has taken a couple of big shots down the field (mainly to Derrick Mason in the win last week) and converted, so that could once again play a factor this Sunday. The Ravens aren’t going to do anything different Sunday than they did the past two weeks – they’re going to play things conservative and win this game with defense. For the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger isn’t the picture of perfect health right now, so it’ll be interesting to see what Ryan does to get pressure on Big Ben and force him to make mistakes like the Titans were able to in their Week 16 win over the Steelers. Of course, if Baltimore can’t stop Willie Parker than this game will be over before it starts. Parker had a great game in Pittsburgh’s win over San Diego last week and it forced the Chargers to be less aggressive. San Diego couldn’t get any pressure on Roethlisberger and he was able to hit them for big plays in the passing game. If the Ravens can effectively blitz him, he’s always likely to hold onto the ball too long, take sacks or turn the ball over. How effective Baltimore’s defense is will be what determines whether or not they’ll be playing for a Super Bowl title in two weeks. Pittsburgh’s defense is outstanding, but it’ll be the opportunities that the Ravens force via their defense that will be the determining factor in which team comes out victorious.
      X-Factor: Terrell Suggs, LB/DE, Ravens
      The Ravens need this guy to play. His status for Sunday is still uncertain as he continues to nurse an injured shoulder, but things don’t look promising. He’s been one of the best edge rushers in the league since he came into the NFL and he’ll be needed to drum up a pass rush against Big Ben. If he doesn’t play, that’s a huge blow to the Baltimore defense.
      Prediction: Ravens 13, Steelers 10
      It’s hard to beat a team three times in one season and with Big Ben’s injury a concern, I think Baltimore wins this with defense. Either way, this is going to be an outstanding game.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑