Category: External Sports (Page 464 of 821)

      NFL Week 6 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

      October 24, 2010 /

      Every week we have different candidates here, because the 2010 NFL season has been wacky. And that’s okay, as it makes ranking MVP, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year candidates more fun. Anyway, here we go….

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Okay, so Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton have more yards per game, but they play for 2-4 teams. Manning’s Colts are 4-2, and check out these numbers through six games—1916 yards, 67.3 completion percentage, 319.3 yards per game, 13 touchdowns (leads NFL) and just 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 103.4. As usual, Manning sort of defines what the term MVP is all about.

      2. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—I heard someone on NFL Network the other day call Matthews the “best defensive player in the NFL.” Not bad for a linebacker in his second year, who was selected after 25 other players in the 2009 draft. Anyway, Matthews has 9 sacks to lead the NFL, and 21 tackles through five games…and the Packers sorely missed him last Sunday in a loss to Miami when Matthews sat out with a hamstring injury.

      3. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers—We’re leaving Antonio on here this week because he left the game against the Rams last Sunday with an ankle injury, leaving Philip Rivers without his favorite target. And then the Chargers lost the game. To the Rams. Gates only had 2 catches for 12 yards in that one, but on the season he still has 31 receptions for 490 yards and 7 TDs (which leads all tight ends and receivers).

      Honorable mention: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles (thanks to Kevin Kolb’s performance last Sunday, Vick got bumped off the list); LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—If you start the season without your star quarterback for four games, and have the likes of Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Byron Leftwich at the helm, coming out of that 2-2 would be a huge moral victory. Well, Tomlin came out of that stretch 3-1 and it could have been 4-0 if not for that last-gasp drive by Joe Flacco and the Ravens a few weeks ago. Of course, the D led by a healthy Troy Polamalu and hard-hitting-to-a-fault James Harrison, has helped, but let’s give Tomlin some huge and well-deserved props here.

      2. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Has anyone noticed that the Rams are 3-3, having already equaled their win total from 2008 and 2009 combined. And they’re giving up less than 19 points per game after allowing 27 per game last year—something that has much to do with the Rams’ defensive whiz of a coach.

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—How do you go from the scorching hot hot seat to a coach of the year nomination? Ask Tom Coughlin, who the New York media had being replaced by Bill Cowher a few weeks ago when they lost badly to the Colts, and then beat themselves badly in a loss the Titans at home. The Giants rallied around Coughlin and squashed the previously unbeaten Bears, then crushed the upstart Texans in Houston 34-10, before not allowing the dreaded trap game against Detroit ruin his team’s winning streak. So from 1-2 to 4-2, and tied with the Eagles for the division lead. That’s why Tom Coughlin is on here.

      Honorable mention: Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs; Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Suh leads all NFL defensive tackles with 5 sacks, and he also has 21 tackles through six games, plus an interception—a pretty rare feat for a DT. Is there any doubt that this young big man is the real deal?

      2. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions—Injury may have slowed Best down, but how about the fact that to go along with 249 rushing yards, Best has 31 catches for a league-high 285 receiving yards among running backs. That’s 534 all-purpose yards through six games.

      3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—He’s way down the list of quarterbacks stat-wise, but Bradford is averaging 226 yards per game and has 7 TD passes. We’ll let the 8 picks slide for now, because let’s face it—the kid is helping to lead the Rams to respectability.

      Honorable mention: Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

      External Sports, NFL

      Michigan State survives, Texas suffers massive letdown

      October 23, 2010 /
      MADISON, WI - SEPTEMBER 26: B.J. Cunningham #3 and Mark Dell #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate on te field against the Wisconsin Badgers on September 26, 2009 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

      For once this season, the noon slate of games gave us something to follow.

      Notre Dame was whooped by Navy, Texas lost to Iowa State and Michigan State survived a close matchup with Northwestern.

      Let’s start with the Spartans, who for the second time this season, were aided by a fake kick in a big situation. This time, however, it was a fake that I, you and everybody watching the game except for Northwestern, apparently, saw coming. The Spartans pulled off a nice fake punt in the fourth quarter, and one play later, scored a touchdown to pull within a score. After a Northwestern field goal, the Spartans drove down the field again to score the go-ahead touchdown.

      People around me here in Michigan think the Spartans are in the middle of a special season, and stuff like that — which had gone against them for years — is now starting to go their way. It’s tough to argue that, considering the way MSU has won a couple of its game. But at the same time, they soundly beat Wisconsin and Michigan, meaning they could just be good. Next week’s the biggest test of the season, of course, as they travel to Kinnick to play Iowa. If you asked me to put money on it, I’d put quite a bit on Iowa right now. But I’m nowhere perfect on “putting money on it” games.

      Texas, meanwhile, is going through the kind of season you would expect a team to go through every few years. After four years of having Colt McCoy at the helm, the Longhorns are learning that without a dynamic run-pass threat at quarterback, they’ll need other weapons. Garrett Gilbert is a talented kid, but he’s young and he’s not getting much help.

      Even so, this is a team that just shut down Taylor Martinez and Nebraska. A team that looked like it was starting to trend up after the bye week. Now the Longhorn faithful will have to deal with a non-10-win season. God forbid.

      College Football, External Sports

      Sorry, Brian Kelly, but getting blown out by Navy is unacceptable

      October 23, 2010 /
      SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 04: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish watches as his team takes on the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium on September 4, 2010 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

      Brian Kelly is still in the first year of his contract, so he won’t be fired. That might be the only way he finds a way to get to sleep tonight.

      His Notre Dame team is getting absolutely dominated by Navy. Not just having an off day and getting beat, but getting absolutely dominated. By Navy.

      One of the reasons Charlie Weis didn’t last in South Bend, and there were many, was that he was unable to beat the teams that Notre Dame should be beating on a consistent basis. Losses like Navy (twice), Syracuse and UConn at home were the black marks on the Weis era that stung the ND faithful worse than any blowout loss at the hands of USC or Michigan.

      One thing Weis never did, however, was get blown out by Navy, and that’s what’s happening to Kelly’s first Notre Dame team. On national television, no less.

      The Midshipmen did whatever they wanted on the ground in this one, whether it was Alexander Teich on the fullback dive or Ricky Dobbs on a keeper. Navy averaged at least 113 yards a play in gashing the Irish, and if it wasn’t for a few select plays from stud linebacker Manti T’eo, it would have been 120 per play.

      But getting gashed by Navy’s offense is something that happens, even if you spend extra time preparing for it. The option — run at its best — is tough to duplicate. It’s the fact that Notre Dame’s offense has struggled as much as it has that is probably the most disturbing thing for Notre Dame fans. Dayne Crist threw two horrible interceptions at completely inopportune times, and the offensive line struggled to get a push despite averaging about 100 extra pounds per man. Or protect Crist, for that matter.

      What Notre Dame is displaying right now is a lack of heart and intensity. It’s something that plagued Weis’ teams often, and apparently Kelly hasn’t been able to get rid of that. He’ll get a pass this year, and maybe even next. But ND fans don’t put up with losing, no matter how much of it they’ve had to deal with in the past few years. And they definitely don’t put up with losing to Navy in a blowout fashion.

      College Football, External Sports

      UFC 121 Picks and Predictions

      October 23, 2010 /
      Nov 15, 2008 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - UFC's BROCK LESNAR celebrates his victory over Champion RANDY COUTURE in their title fight Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV. Lesnar won the title and the fight in 3:07 of the second round after the referee stopped the fight Photo via Newscom

      UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez takes place Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. featuring a monumental main event for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Here is my take on the card and who will win the main card bouts.

      UFC Heavyweight Championship – Brock Lesnar (5-1) vs. Cain Velasquez (8-0): This is the biggest heavyweight bout the UFC could put together right now and Velasquez has a great chance to win the belt. The key will be for him to be able to stop the takedown attempts and keep the fight standing, where he has better striking and faster hands. Lesnar showed that he can be hurt in his last fight against Shane Carwin, but I think Velasquez has the endurance to see the victory through.

      UFC Welterweight Bout – Jake Shields (25-4-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (17-3): Shields is making his UFC debut and many are penciling him in as the next to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, but I actually like Kampmann in an upset here as he has an all-around and aggressive style that can give Shields problems. Kampmann has only lost to strikers in his career, and Shields is far from an elite striker. I like Kampmann to win by decision in this one.

      UFC Welterweight Bout – Diego Sanchez (23-4) vs. Paulo Thiago (13-2): Thiago has beaten some solid contenders in the welterweight division, but he has struggled with superior grapplers, losing to Jon Fitch and Kampmann. Sanchez got dominated in his last two fights and is desperate for a win, and I think he will come out motivated and looking to control the fight from the start with his pacing and wrestling. I like Sanchez to squeak out a decision against Thiago.

      UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Tito Ortiz (16-7-1) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2): Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since 2006 and while Hamill is lacking in some key areas, I think he has a better all-around game than Ortiz, who is pretty one dimensional with wrestling as his strength. Look for Hamill to move around and work kicks before scoring some late takedowns to get a decision win over Ortiz.

      UFC Heavyweight Bout – Brendan Schaub (7-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-5): Schaub has a lot of promise and is an up-and-comer while Gonzaga is still holding on to a little bit of relevance, but has lost four of his last seven fights, with all of the losses coming by TKO. Schaub has won his last two fights by quick KO, so this fight should have plenty of fireworks. Look for Schaub to get the win as he has the quicker hands and is the better technical striker.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑