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      NFL Week 13 Top 5 Observations: Saints 33, Redskins 30

      December 6, 2009 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations from the Saints’ 33-30 overtime win over the Redskins in Week 13.

      1. Team of destiny? Uh, yeah – maybe.
      Up 30-23 with just over two minutes remaining, the Redskins could have iced the game with a 23-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham. But he missed the chip-shot and not surprisingly, the Saints took the gift 80-yards for the game-tying score. To win in the NFL, teams have to be a mixture of good and lucky. Well, New Orleans is better than good – they’re great. And after today, it appears that they have quite a bit of luck on their side as well. Sometimes, teams are just destined to win and it looks like it’s the Saints year.

      2. The Saints better get healthy.
      They may be a team of destiny, but injuries on the defensive side of the ball are starting to mount for the Saints. They were absolutely shredded for 367 passing yards by an offense that has been anemic all season and they better get healthy before they face the likes of the Vikings, Cardinals, Cowboys or whomever come January.

      3. How does any defense stop this Saints’ receiving corps?
      Marques Colston caught two passes for 46 yards and a touchdown today and he was about the third or fourth most productive receiver for the Saints. Robert Meachem (8 receptions, 142 yards, 1 TD) is finally starting to cash in on his first-round ability and Devery Henderson (6 receptions, 61 yards) turned in his best game of the season. Washington’s secondary is one of the best in the league and it still couldn’t figure out how to defense the New Orleans’ receiving crops. Defenses just have to pick their poison with this bunch.

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      NFL Week 13 Top 5 Observations: Raiders 27, Steelers 24

      December 6, 2009 /

      Here are five quick-hit thoughts on the Raiders’ shocking 27-24 upset of the Steelers in Week 13.

      1. The Steelers could be done.
      It’s easy to jump to conclusions after a loss like this, but there’s a very good chance that the defending champs won’t make the playoffs this season. They’re now one game behind the Jaguars and two games behind the Broncos in the AFC Wild Card chase with only four games remaining. That’s plenty of time to turn things around, but not with the way Pittsburgh has played over the past month.

      2. Pittsburgh’s secondary killed them today.
      The Steelers have played without Troy Polamalu before and have played quite well. But it was clear today that his absence has killed Pittsburgh’s defense. When Bruce Gradkowski can throw for 308 yards and three touchdowns on your secondary, you know something is wrong. What’s worse is that Gradkowski made it look easy, too. Joe Burnett’s missed sure-fire interception and Ryan Clark’s personal foul penalty killed the Steelers in the end.

      3. Maybe the Steelers just aren’t that good.
      Considering they’re in the middle of a playoff race and had lost three games coming into today, the Steelers can’t blame this loss on a letdown or that they played down to their opponents’ level. They just didn’t make enough plays in the end to come away with a victory and maybe the bottom line is that they just aren’t as good as some people thought. Everyone used to say that the lack of a running game would start costing them games, but the running game has been fine under Rashard Mendenhall. Injuries have certainly been a problem defensively, but the fact of the matter is that Pittsburgh just isn’t making enough plays this season to win games. It’s the exact opposite scenario of last season.

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      2010 World Cup: England’s competition is prepared

      December 6, 2009 /

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Earlier this week at the FIFA World Cup Draw, England and the United States wound up in the same pool. This British press prematurely celebrated, claiming their national team should have no trouble against the likes of Algeria, Slovenia, and their friends from across the pond.

      The competition thinks otherwise, and they want England to know about it.

      Easy. That’s what the English hacks think of the group. They see virtually no chance of an upset, no chance for the Algerians, the Slovenians or the Americans finishing atop the table.

      Alexi Lalas, who played for the U.S. when it defeated England in a friendly in 1993, is unimpressed by it all, at least according to the Sun.

      “We can play off the fact that England always thinks they are better than they are,” Lalas said.

      Former Slovenian star Zlatko Zahovic was even more scathing.

      “For me, England is not one of the favorites,” he said.

      “They are a team full of stars and egos. They cannot possibly spend a month and a half together without friction.”

      This is the kind of trash talk — bland or not — that the World Cup needs in the following months. Now Landon Donovan needs to hit the podium and lay down some slams.

      Check out FIFA’s World Cup site to view the rest of the draws.

      Soccer

      NFL Week 12 ROY Power Rankings

      December 6, 2009 /

      Percy Harvin keeps gaining momentum and votes here with every TD catch from Brett Favre. But it’s still a pretty wide-open race here for NFL rookie of the year.

      1. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—Against the Bears, Harvin had another outstanding game—6 catches for 101 yards and a TD. Brett Favre might have more weapons than he’s ever had before, but none of them are more dangerous than this rookie.

      2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—In the last three games, Moreno has averaged almost 6 yards a carry. And if you noticed the moves he was busting against the Giants, you know he deserves to be high up on this list.

      3. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—He’s now gone three games without a pick, but still has 8 of them.

      4. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—His 75 solo tackles not only rank at the top for any rookie, but that ranks Laurinaitis fourth in the NFL right behind Curtis Lofton, Jon Beason and Patrick Willis. Damn.

      5. LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles—Brian Westbrook has some mighty big shoes to fill, but so far McCoy is filling them.

      Honorable mention: Hakeem Nicks, Giants; Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Michael Oher, Ravens; Matthew Stafford, Lions; Beanie Wells, Cardinals; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles; Brian Cushing, Texans

      NFL

      NFL Week 12 COY Power Rankings

      December 6, 2009 /

      Just like Drew Brees, we have to give Saints’ coach Sean Payton love for the way his team manhandled the Patriots on Monday night. It wasn’t so much the fact that the Saints’ offense resembled an arena league team again, it was the way their defense made Tom Brady and company look terribly average—and of course, beatable.

      1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Once again the fact that Payton gave up a quarter million dollars of his own money to lure Gregg Williams to run his defense was a stroke of genius, because this defense is suddenly shutting people down. And by people, we mean guys named Brady, Moss and Welker.

      2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The bottom line is, no matter how much talent the Colts have, or how they have had to come from behind a lot lately, they still have a rookie head coach who is 11-0 and has already clinched the AFC South.

      3 Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—It’s positively mind-blowing to think that the Bengals are not only sitting in first place in the AFC North with a 2-game lead on both the Steelers and Ravens, but that they have run the table in their own very tough division at 6-0. Don’t think these guys won’t make some noise in January.

      4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—When you have guys named Favre, Peterson, Allen and Harvin making you look good, it’s easy to say anyone can be Brad Childress. But remember, he stuck his neck out to bring in half of those guys, so we prefer to use the words “borderline genius.”

      5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We like the fire this guy displayed last week when he dropped the F-bomb on national TV, but we also like the way he has won at least 3 more games to this point than we all thought he would.

      6. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans—We had to add one more name in here this week, because turning a team from 0-6 into 5-6 and a dark horse playoff contender takes more than sticking Vince Young under center.

      Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Mike McCarthy, Packers

      NFL

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