Category: NFL (Page 255 of 1282)

      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

      Waiver Wire Watch, Week 13: Where we have to talk Frank Gore owners off the ledge

      November 30, 2010 /

      It’s Week 13, which means we’re in crunch time in most fantasy leagues. If your roster is a mess, there’s not much we can do at this point, but if you need a win this week to make the postseason, there may be a player or two who can help.

      I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only guys eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance scoring system.

      Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

      Josh Freeman (56.6)
      If you’re looking for a solid QB to run out there every week the rest of the way, Freeman is your guy. He has two solid matchups (ATL, DET) and two good matchups (WAS, SEA) the rest of the way, so he should be able to give you borderline QB1 numbers over the final month of the fantasy season. His somewhat Week 12 outing against the Ravens marked only the second time all season that he didn’t throw for at least 212 yards or toss two TDs.

      Ryan Fitzpatrick (33.4)
      The Bills have that Bad News Bears feel about them. I find myself rooting for Buffalo every week. He finished with decent numbers (265 yards, TD, INT) in a terrible matchup, and would have had 300+ and 2 TDs if not for Stevie Johnson’s dropped TD in overtime. The matchup this week isn’t great (@MIN), but Fitzy is still a solid start. I love him in W14 and W16 against the Browns and Patriots, respectively.

      Jon Kitna (13.9)
      I wouldn’t want to start him this week against an angry Colts’ defense, but his W15 (WAS) and W16 (@ARI) matchups are great, and in W14 he faces an Eagles defense that just got torched by Jay Cutler.

      Matt Cassel (49.5)
      He may not be the greatest QB in the world, but he’s taking full advantage of Dwayne Bowe’s ascendancy to stud status, tossing 12 TDs in the last four games. With Denver’s lowly pass defense up next, he’s a great pickup this week, though things get tougher in W14 against the Chargers.

      Sam Bradford (30.6)
      I watched quite a bit of the STL/DEN game, and Bradford is cool, calm and collected, especially for a rookie. I’m waiting for one of those nightmare games, but it just hasn’t come. His last ‘bad’ game was in Week 5 against the Lions (215 yards, 2 INTs), but other than that, he has thrown at least one TD in every game and has tossed five TDs in the last two weeks. He has a great matchup with ARI this week and is startable the rest of the way outside of a W14 date with the Saints.

      David Garrard (47.3)
      It wasn’t pretty through the air in a terrible matchup, but Garrard had a brilliant TD run to save an otherwise forgettable fantasy day. The Titans aren’t a great matchup, so Garrard is just a mediocre start this week. He has nice matchups in W14 (OAK) and W16 (WAS), however.

      Chad Henne (47.7)
      Henne had a nice outing (307 yards, 2 TDs, INT) in a good matchup against the Raiders, and should find more success through the air this week against the Browns. In fact, the rest of his schedule is pretty nice, outside of a W14 road trip to face the Jets.

      Matt Hasselbeck (14.1)
      I don’t like his matchup this week (CAR), but otherwise, Hasselbeck has decent matchups to close the season.

      Jason Campbell (6.6)
      It looks like Bruce Gradkowski is out again, so Campbell should take over. His matchup this week is poor, but things ease up in W14 (@JAX) and W15 (DEN).

      Derek Anderson (3.7)
      Troy Smith (4.7)
      Jake Delhomme (1.2)
      Jimmy Clausen (0.9)
      If you are in a situation where you’re considering picking up any of these guys, I feel for you. I really do.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, 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

      Andre Johnson doesn’t deserve to be suspended for fight with Finnegan

      November 29, 2010 /

      It appears as though Andre Johnson won’t be suspended by the NFL for fighting Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan on Sunday. Nor should he be.

      Finnegan has a reputation for being a dirty player and has already been warned by the league that another finable offense could lead to a suspension. I would consider shoving a forearm into a receiver and instigating a fight would fall under the category of “finable.”

      Let’s be clear here: Johnson was wrong. While he has every right to defend himself, there was no reason for him to throw any punches. His emotions got the best of him and he allowed Finnegan to get under his skin. There were a lot of people who cheered his actions on Sunday, but the bottom line is that there were children in the stands and there’s just no place in the game for players taking swings at each other. Look at the video below. An adult may throw out a bunch of “oohs” and “ahs” but this isn’t boxing. Smaller children don’t need to see that at a football game.

      That said, Finnegan, for lack of a better word, is a punk. Right before he jabbed Johnson in the mouth, he reportedly looked towards the Texans’ sidelines and said, “Watch this.” If that report is true, then his actions were premeditated (look at me breaking out the lawyer speak) and therefore he should be suspended.

      But Johnson? No way. Fine him, yes. Suspend him, no. He doesn’t have a history of incidents and if the league wants to get to the root of the issue in this case, it’s Finnegan’s actions.

      Suspend him.

      External Sports, NFL

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