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      Can the Vikings slow down the Cowboys’ pass rush?

      January 12, 2010 /

      If Brett Favre watched how the Cowboys’ defense dismantled Donovan McNabb and the Eagles’ offense last Saturday, then he probably didn’t get much sleep that night.

      For as good as the Vikings’ offense has been this season, the offensive line hasn’t played well in weeks. That doesn’t bode well for Minnesota given that its O-line has the unenviable task of trying to slow down a Dallas pass-rush that has emerged as a dangerous unit over the last month of the season.

      In the Cowboys’ 34-14 trouncing of the Eagles last Saturday, DeMarcus Ware sacked McNabb twice and harassed him on several other occasions. It was Ware’s fourth multi-sack game of the season and it no doubt sent a message to Brad Childress that he better figure out a way to protect his quarterback this weekend.

      One way to slow down an aggressive pass rush is to run the ball straight at it. Fortunately for the Vikings, they have a back in Adrian Peterson that excels running between the tackles and attacking the edge of a defense. But the problem is that Childress got away from his balanced attack over the course of the season and the Vikings suffered a little down the stretch. If Minnesota believes it can beat Dallas by throwing the ball early and often, then a second-round knockout is inevitable for the Vikings.

      It’ll be interesting to see if Childress commits to running the ball with AP this weekend in order to attack the Cowboys’ excellent pass-rush. If he doesn’t, then he and Favre might be in store for a long day.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Rockets on the verge of moving T-Mac?

      January 12, 2010 /

      Via TrueHoop, Chris Broussard says that the Rockets think they can move Tracy McGrady before the trade deadline, and that the top two destinations are Washington and Chicago.

      Washington, which league executives believe is in cost-cutting mode after the Gilbert Arenas disaster, could have McGrady for a deal featuring Caron Butler and some expiring contracts, perhaps Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

      Chicago, which has definite interest in McGrady, also has the combination of young talent and expiring contracts the Rockets are looking for. There is a Bulls player Houston covets, but it’s not clear who that is. Since the Rockets surely realize that Derrick Rose won’t be traded, logic suggests it’s Joakim Noah.

      A package of Noah, Brad Miller and Jerome James (the latter two have expiring contracts) would work financially, but sources say the Bulls have no desire to part with Noah.

      I’m not sure why any team would covet McGrady at this point. He hasn’t scored double figures in a game in more than 11 months and there’s no guarantee that he’s going to get back to his old self. I certainly wouldn’t advise trading a healthy Caron Butler or Joakim Noah for him.

      The only upside is salary cap relief. If the Wizards just want to blow the team up, then this is one way to do it. McGrady’s deal is expiring, so whoever trades for him can really help their cap flexibility in the short term. But at this point, Butler is the Wizards’ best player and only has one year (at an affordable $10.5 million) left on his deal. Why trade him?

      Then again, who knows what’s going on in the mind of Ernie Grunfeld.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Should we be thanking Jose Canseco?

      January 12, 2010 /

      Mark McGwire admitted something on Monday that every sensible sports fan already knew: He took steroids. He’s sorry and in time we’ll forgive him, just like we’ve forgiven Andy Pettitte and even Alex Rodriguez for coming clean.

      What’s interesting is that we’ll forgive those that admit taking steroids, just as long as their names aren’t Jose Canseco.

      You remember Jose Canseco right? He was the guy that helped (I say “helped” because Ken Caminiti had a hand in it too) bring the steroid era to light in 2005 with his book entitled, “Juiced.” He was one of the first to come clean about taking steroids and he’s offered full disclosure on the topic since then.

      When his book was published, we called Canseco a snitch and a media whore who was only looking for his 15 minutes of fame and a wad of cash. And guess what? He was all of those things. The guy was willing to name names for a price and is so egotistical that he calls himself the godfather of the steroid era, yet also makes himself out to be a pariah for bringing the topic to light. He claims he wanted to save baseball and that’s why he wrote the book, yet he was a big reason that the game needed to be saved in the first place.

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      Barstool Debates, MLB

      Anthony Randolph out two months

      January 12, 2010 /

      The promising season of Anthony Randolph is effectively over, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

      He is projected to miss about two months with multiple left ankle injuries, the team announced before Monday’s game against Cleveland.

      An MRI exam revealed Randolph has two torn ligaments on the outside of the ankle and an avulsion fracture where an inside ligament pulled away from the bone. He’ll be in a protective boot for three weeks before starting rehabilitation, which usually takes at least four weeks for similar injuries.

      It sure looked like Randolph was ready for a breakout season after torching the summer league. He averaged 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds, but played just 23 minutes per game for a bad team. He even ended up being the subject of a lot of trade talk before the injury. The Warriors know that he has a ton of upside, but they don’t seem to want to keep him. It’s unlikely now that teams will try to acquire him, though since he’s still on his rookie contract, there isn’t much downside. Generally, when a player gets injured, the trade talk stops until he comes back and proves that he can still play. That will probably be the case with Randolph as well.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Line of the Night (1/11): Joe Johnson

      January 12, 2010 /

      The Hawks beat the shorthanded Celtics, 102-96, in Boston, and are now 3-0 against the C’s this season. Johnson hit 14 of 25 shots (including 5 of 7 threes) to score 36 points. He had a rather thin line, with just three rebounds and one assist, but the Hawks needed him to score last night, and that’s what he did.

      Another interesting thing to note about the Hawks is that Jamal Crawford is getting a ton of minutes at point guard at Mike Bibby’s expense. In six January games, Bibby is averaging just 25 minutes per game to Crawford’s 29. More importantly, in crunch time against the Celtics, the Hawks went with Crawford, not Bibby. At this point in Bibby’s career, Crawford is simply better able to get his own shot. He’s not a much of a distributor, though he’s capable of hitting the open guy when he doesn’t have a shot (which doesn’t happen very often).

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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