Category: External Sports (Page 364 of 821)

      The Broncos need to start Tebow the final two games

      December 20, 2010 /
      Denver Broncos rookie QB Tim Tebow watches the defense play against the Oakland Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California on December 19, 2010. Tebow ran for 78 yards and a TD in the Broncos 39-23 loss to the Raiders. UPI/Terry Schmitt Photo via Newscom

      If the Denver Post is correct in saying that the Broncos will stick with Tim Tebow as their starting quarterback for their final two games, it’s the right decision.

      Kyle Orton may be healthy enough to play out the rest of the season but seeing as how the two games are meaningless, the Broncos need to get Tebow on film in live action. Orton is signed through next year and they already know what they have in him. They don’t with Tebow and the team needs to know where he’s at in his development so that their next head coach can put a game plan together.

      Of course, the Broncos also need to take off the training wheels, too. They only allowed Tebow to attempt 16 passes against the Raiders on Sunday and while it’s understandable that they want to take things slow, they have to mix it up a little. I don’t have hard facts, but then ran the ball so many times on first down against Oakland that one point the Raiders had seven defensive linemen and six linebackers on the field. (I’m kidding, but you get the point.)

      The designer (Josh McDaniels) of the Broncos’ offense is currently at home right now on his couch, so the Broncos couldn’t open things up too much with Tebow even if they wanted to. But they can call a freaking play-action pass once in a while. They can allow the kid to throw on first down. He has a long way to go as a passer, but there are things they can do to stop being so predictable and conservative.

      Either way, they’re making the right decision starting him for the final two games. They have to see where he’s spent most of the year learning from the sidelines.

      External Sports, NFL

      Tyler Brayton’s sideline antics worse than Sal Alosi’s

      December 20, 2010 /

      This is way worse than what Sal Alosi did:

      Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports summed up this incident perfectly in relation to the Alosi “Tripegate” scandal:

      The fine was issued on Friday but was not made public.

      It wasn’t made public? Are the league offices turning into the Nixon White House? If there was every any doubt that the league is more interested in the perception of caring about player safety rather than the practice of it, this is it. The NFL made a big to-do about Sal Alosi and issued him a harsh punishment befitting that outrage. Brayton does something that’s much worse and much more dirty (he ran over to play and threw an elbow) and the league tries a Friday news dump and issues a nominal fine?

      Brayton was forced to pay $15,000 from his $2.2 million salary, while Alosi earned a suspension for the rest of the season and a $25,000 fine. And he makes a normal salary as a strength and conditioning coach, not the millions Brayton does. That’s pure and utter hypocrisy. (Throw in the fact that Brayton has a past history of dirty play and it’s even worse. In 2006 he was fined $25,000 for kneeing another player in the groin.)

      While the league is cracking down on helmet-to-helmet hits, it might want to look into the safety of gunners because apparently the sidelines are being treated like a damn MMA octagon. Furthermore, the league should look into it’s fine structure because it’s a travesty that Ndamukong Suh was fined $15,000 for his shove of Jay Cutler and Brayton was fined the same amount for purposely laying a forearm shiver to Chris Owens on the sidelines. What a joke.

      External Sports, NFL

      Will the Seahawks bench Hasselbeck for Whitehurst?

      December 20, 2010 /
      Nov 14, 2010; Glendale, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (8) takes the snap during the game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The Seahawks defeated the Cardinals 36-18. Photo via Newscom Photo via Newscom

      Normally when a team is 6-8 at this point in the season, who they play at quarterback isn’t a newsworthy item (unless a rookie is about to make his debut, of course). But thanks to the ongoing suck that is the NFC West, the Seahawks’ QB situation is still worth following.

      After throwing two interceptions and also losing a fumble in the end zone that resulted in a touchdown on Sunday against the Falcons, Matt Hasselbeck was benched for Charlie Whitehurst in the fourth quarter. Hasselbeck has been dealing with a hand injury for the past couple of weeks and his play the past two games has been horrendous. Whitehurst came in and moved the ball decently against Atlanta, but he was filthy bad earlier in the year when he started against the Giants so he doesn’t offer the Hawks an easy solution.

      Pete Carroll has a tough decision on his hands and he was noncommittal on his Week 16 starter following the loss to the Falcons. He said he would “evaluate where we are and what we need to do and all of that,” but there has been no decision made about who will start next Sunday at the Bucs.

      It’s feasible that the Seahawks and Rams could both lose next week and the NFC West crown will come down to Week 17 when the two teams meet in Seattle. One would think that making a change at quarterback now would be a bad idea but then one would have not seen how bad Hasselbeck has played the past two weeks. Again, Carroll has one tough decision to make.

      External Sports, NFL

      Best Idea Ever: NFL Instant Replay

      December 20, 2010 /
      GREEN BAY, WI - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach John Fox of the Carolina Panthers throws a red challenge flag against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on November 30, 2008 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

      This series is sponsored by Captain Morgan. Make your Holiday legendary with Captain and Cola. Join the party on Facebook.

      The folks over at Captain Morgan asked us to write a post about the Best Idea Ever, or at least the best idea of the last decade or two, and NFL Instant Replay immediately jumped to mind.

      Remember the NFL pre-replay? You’d be sitting at home, watching your favorite team, and lo and behold, your defense would give up a touchdown pass. But wait, did he get both of his feet in? It looked like it was close. All of a sudden, a replay would pop up and show everyone at home and in the stadium that he in fact did NOT get two feet in. The broadcast would cut back to a shot of the extra point going through the uprights as a chorus of boos rained down on the referees working the game, and you’d wonder why they don’t use that technology to get the call right instead of frustrating fans around the country.

      Well, thanks to instant replay (adopted in 1999), coaches can now challenge up to three calls a game. Now, when the offense knows there’s a close call, they’ll rush to the line of scrimmage and quick run a play in the hopes of getting the snap off before the other coach can decide whether or not to pull his red flag and throw it onto the field. The coach waits to hear from his assistants in the booth to tell him whether or not it’s worth a challenge, and more often than not, it isn’t. Calls are overturned at about a 44% clip, which makes sense since the official needs to see “indisputable evidence” to overturn the call on the field.

      The NFL instant replay system certainly has its flaws, however. If a coach keeps winning his challenges, why is he only allowed to make three per game? And now, with offenses more aware of how quickly they need to get up to the line of scrimmage and take the snap, it can be tough for the network broadcasting the game to get best replay up for the coaches and fans to see. Sometimes the best replay is the third or fourth shot they show, and by then it’s too late.

      Still, instant replay is the best idea ever. At least when there’s an obvious mistake on the field, there’s a process in place to fix it.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Fantasy Fallout, Week 15: Where we have heroes…and we have goats…again

      December 20, 2010 /
      EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 19: Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles rushes for a touchdown against the New York Giants at New Meadowlands Stadium on December 19, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

      Welcome to another edition of Heroes and Goats, where we highlight (and lowlight) some of the best (and worst) performances of Week 15. Needless to say, we’re in crunch time now, as most leagues are holding their semifinals this week. So now is the time for studs to play like studs. Let’s see who did, and who didn’t…

      HEROES

      Michael Vick
      Vick did next to nothing in the first half, as the Giants defense kept him contained for the first two quarters. But he had a monster second half, finishing with three pass TDs and rushing for another (along with 130 rushing yards). I had a comfortable lead in one league and Vick single-handedly erased it in the second half. Grrr.

      Ray Rice
      Big things were expected of Rice this week, but I don’t think his owners saw 233 total yards and two TDs coming. He ran over, around and through the Saints defense this week and is going to send more than a few fantasy teams to the finals next week.

      Jason Witten
      Witten owners have to be loving him right now. He caught 10 passes for 140 yards and a TD in a time where TE production has been severely lacking. He has 32 catches and four TDs in his last four games.

      Santana Moss
      Moss was a really iffy start this week with Rex Grossman under center, but he seemed to thrive with ‘Sexy Rexy,’ catching eight passes for 72 yards and two scores. I was fortunate that I plugged him in for Danny Woodhead just before kickoff.

      Austin Collie
      I doubt we’re going to see Collie again this season after he took another hard hit in the middle of the field. But boy was he good before he was knocked out. He racked up eight catches for 82 yards and two TDs.

      Jamaal Charles*
      I had Charles ranked #12 this week thanks to Matt Cassel’s iffy status, but with an 80-yard run late in the game, Charles sealed his status as an elite RB1 option. He finished with 153 total yards and a TD.

      Brandon Marshall
      Marshall has been really spotty this season and wasn’t an elite option heading into Week 15, but he caught 11 passes for 106 yards and a TD against the Bills and came up big for those fantasy owners that kept the faith.

      Mario Manningham
      Jeremy Maclin*
      Overshadowed on their own teams, both Manningham (8-113-2) and Maclin (7-59-2) came up big for their respective teams. Manningham did have a bad fumble that helped to fuel Philly’s comeback, so Vick and Maclin owners should thank him.

      Rashard Mendenhall*
      In a terrible matchup, Mendy racked up 100 yards and a score, so owners who were forced to start him should be happy. This is a case where the player’s talent overcame a tough rush defense.

      * Players who were goats last week

      NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 19: Arian Foster of the Houston Texans runs against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field on December 19, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Texans, 31-17. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

      GOATS

      Peyton Hillis
      Really? 82 yards and zero TDs against the Bengals? The yardage was okay, but Hillis owners were expecting a TD or two from their stud this week. After running roughshod over the league this season, Hillis failed to find the endzone in the last three weeks.

      Terrell Owens
      He had a great matchup, but left the game without a catch with a torn meniscus. Season over.

      Arian Foster
      He was shaken up in the second half, but wasn’t getting much done when he was playing. He finished with 61 total yards and failed to score.

      Maurice Jones-Drew
      He has been on a tear of late, gaining 100+ yards in six straight games, so of course he’d have a big game against the Colts, who always struggle against the run, right? Wrong. He posted just 68 total yards without a score. Sigh.

      LeSean McCoy
      Ahmad Bradshaw
      Given the way these two were playing recently, fantasy owners had to be expecting more than 157 total yards and zero TDs combined from this duo.

      Tim Hightower
      My deepest apologies to anyone who started Timmy on my advice this week. (I had him at #19 or #20 for most of the week.) He got a ton of carries last week and had a great matchup with the Panthers’ defense, but only saw nine touches all day.

      Knowshon Moreno
      Moreno had a great matchup and looked like he was primed for a big day, but left the game early with an injury to his side. Ugh.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

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