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      Colts hand away perfect season, lose to Jets

      December 27, 2009 /

      The Indianapolis Colts just answered the question of whether or not an undefeated season is more important than resting their starters: It’s not.

      By benching Peyton Manning early in the second half on Sunday, the Colts surrendered their chance at a perfect season and subsequently lost to the Jets, 29-15. It was Indy’s first loss since October 27 of 2008.

      After the game, head coach Jim Caldwell noted that a perfect season was never the Colts’ ultimate goal – a Super Bowl is. Some may argue that the Colts have an obligation to the fans (and to the Ravens, Broncos, Steelers, etc.) to leave Manning and the starters in, but what would have happened if Manning snapped his ACL in a meaningless (meaningless for Indy) game late in the season? What’s the point of going 16-0 or 15-1 and watching Curtis Painter lose in the Divisional Round of the playoffs?

      I felt bad watching Manning on the sidelines, I really did. He’s a warrior and a competitor and the guy wants to be in every game. That’s why he wins and that’s why the Colts have had so much success over the past couple years.

      That said, he can be mad on the sidelines all he wants because at least he’ll be healthy in three weeks when Indianapolis is playing for a chance at a Super Bowl. An undefeated season would have been great, but in one week nobody (not even Colts fans) are going to give a crap. This might be a story for the media, but it’s not to the Colts franchise. Again, in a week, nobody will care about this so hopefully the mainstream media doesn’t make an issue of it over the next week.

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      NFL

      Bengals clinch AFC North with lackluster effort

      December 27, 2009 /

      Thanks to Cedric Benson’s 133 rushing yards, the Bengals beat the Chiefs 17-10 on Sunday to clinch the AFC North. It was Benson’s sixth 100-yard rushing performance of the season, which is a new franchise record for Cincinnati.

      The Bengals defense was sound today, much like it has been all season. They surrendered only 10 points and 172 passing yards, although they did allow Jamaal Charles to rush for 102 yards on 24 carries.

      But for as good as Benson and the defense looked, this wasn’t an overly impressive performance by Cincinnati. They battled San Diego last week, but outside of that game, the Bengals haven’t looked impressive since back-to-back wins over the Ravens and Steelers in mid November. They continue to struggle trying to make plays in the passing game and they seem to play down to their competition.

      This has been a great year so far for the Bengals and I realize they’re kind of playing with house money because they weren’t supposed to be this good. But that said, this isn’t a team streaking into the playoffs with a full head of steam. Much like other teams, they have plenty of wrinkles to iron out and little time to do it. It’ll be interesting to see if they can figure things out in time for their first playoff game or if they’ll be one and done.

      NFL

      FC Barcelona and Real Madrid gearing up for the inevitable

      December 27, 2009 /

      Given today’s lack of news, I thought I’d pass along an article on La Liga, the Spanish soccer league. As the season reaches its midway point, the clear favorites are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. That’s expected, of course, considering their sizable payrolls and glamorous rosters.

      Per the Los Angeles Times:

      As far as gambles go, it was Florentino Perez who rolled the dice the hardest.

      What the 62-year-old Spanish businessman did last summer was to splash out more than $355 million to bring the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo ($132 million), Brazil’s Kaka ($90 million), Spain’s Xabi Alonso ($48 million) and France’s Karim Benzema ($48 million) to Real Madrid.

      What he wanted to do, he said, was “to create a spectacular project . . . to make Real Madrid the best club in the world once more.”

      Halfway through the 2009-10 season, his “project” still has a long way to go. Like many top European teams that last summer gambled that a few expensive new players or a high-profile new coach would change their fortunes, Real has not seen things quite work out its way. Not yet, anyway.

      So, with due deference to King Juan Carlos and family, the reign in Spain that is most closely watched as the new year approaches is that of FC Barcelona.

      What follows is a glimpse at the two Spanish powers at the season’s midpoint. Fans of Sevilla, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna, Mallorca and all other pretenders to the title need look no further.

      In Spain, there are only two teams.

      Sounds more enticing than anything offered by the MLS, doesn’t it? Both teams have plenty at stake this season and I’m excited to see how everything unravels.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Soccer

      Saints pick the wrong time to start fading

      December 27, 2009 /

      It took 13 weeks for people to think the Saints were an unbeatable juggernaut, but only two to give everyone reason to doubt them.

      Connor Barth’s field goal in overtime gave the Buccaneers a surprising 20-17 win over the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday. The Saints blew a 17-0 first half lead, allowed 439 total yards on defense and 176 rushing yards. It was the second time in two weeks that the Saints lost at home after they fell to the Cowboys in Week 15.

      Every team wants to peak heading into the playoffs, but New Orleans is fading. Their offense hasn’t been as explosive the past two weeks as it had been earlier in the season and their defense hasn’t played well in over a month. They’ve also been handcuffed by some injuries on the defensive side of the ball, but every team is banged up at this point in the year.

      But while the Saints’ play has been troubling, don’t forget that the Cardinals faded down the stretch last year and wound up in the Super Bowl. New Orleans can use the bye week to get healthy and for Sean Payton to fix what has gone wrong over the past month. They might not be the hottest team heading into the playoffs, but the Saints are arguably still the most dangerous.

      Another thing to keep in mind is that if Garrett Hartley doesn’t miss a 37-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter, then the Saints would have escaped today with just a scare. They’d still be a team with issues, but the what’s-wrong-with-the-Saints questions would be kept to a minimum.

      NFL

      Giants should be embarrassed by their effort vs. Panthers

      December 27, 2009 /

      The New York Giants owe their fans an apology after the horrendous effort they gave today in their 41-9 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

      Despite having their playoff hopes on the line and the fact that they were playing their final game at Giants Stadium, New York couldn’t have cared less. Their effort was pathetic on both sides of the ball and it was clear from the start that their players wanted nothing to do with football today.

      This is a loss where somebody losses their job. It won’t be Tom Coughlin, but I can’t see any scenario in which defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan is retained for next season. The Panthers were without DeAngelo Williams, yet the Giants allowed Jonathan Stewart to rush for 206 yards and a touchdown, and for Matt Moore to throw for three scores. I realize Stewart is a fine back and Moore is gaining confidence week to week, but there’s no excuse for a team with playoff aspirations to allow 416 total yards and 41 points at home. None.

      Sheridan has to go; New York has to hire someone that understands that the team’s best attribute defensively is its defensive line. That said, his players should be embarrassed with the way they played today. They didn’t tackle, they didn’t play disciplined and they played with zero emotion.

      The Giants didn’t deserve to go to the playoffs this year and maybe this was a fitting end to their season.

      NFL

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