Page 1981 of 2957

      Parcells, Dolphins control their own destiny

      December 21, 2008 /

      Chad PenningtonIt’s amazing how just one offseason can turn around the fortunes of an entire franchise. This time last year, the Miami Dolphins had just one win to its name. One season later, they now control their own destiny in the AFC East after beating the Kansas City Chiefs 38-31 in dramatic fashion.

      For all the Raiders, Lions, Rams and Chiefs fans out there – it can happen. Your team can turn things around in just one offseason. But they’ll have to use the Dolphins as a blueprint. They hired someone with a football background in Bill Parcells, who had turned losing teams into winners before. Then they allowed him to do what he does best – put the best people in place to succeed.

      He hired a no name in Tony Sparano, who didn’t have a great resume or wasn’t a big name, but Parcells knew he was a football coach through in through. Then the Big Tuna had a solid draft, which focused on rebuilding the offensive line after Miami selected Jake Long with their first overall pick. Then Parcells parted ways with players that no longer fit the long-term plans in Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas. Then he found a veteran quarterback that knew the offensive system and could succeed right away.

      Now the Dolphins are 10-5 and after everything mentioned in the above paragraph, can we really be that surprised? Well okay, sure we can. The players still had to execute and Parcells’ master plan still had to come together. But regardless, we shouldn’t be too surprised that Parcells changed the fortunes of a franchise as quickly as it does for him to leave it in the lurch a couple years later – because he’s a born winner.

      What was most impressive about Miami’s victory on Sunday was that they won after they received push back. Kansas City challenged them for four quarters and the Dolphins survived. Considering the Chiefs’ dud season and Miami’s desire to be a playoff team, the Dolphins should have cruised to victory. But winning isn’t easy in the NFL and Miami won a game they were supposed to. Case closed.

      The Dolphins have just one more victory to earn if they want to put the icing on the cake. A win over the Jets next week in the Meadowlands would allow them to clinch the AFC East crown, which is amazing considering they were the doormats of the division just one season ago. Their magical ride isn’t over, but they’ve certainly put themselves in position to succeed – just like Parcells did in the offseason.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      The Cardinals will be one and done come postseason

      December 21, 2008 /

      Ken WhisenhuntThere are three things in life that we can all count on right now: Death, taxes and the Arizona Cardinals not making a Super Bowl appearance this season.

      How could anyone outside of their fan base truly believe that the Cardinals are anything more than a team that will quietly exit in the first or second round of the postseason? They might win Wild Card week because they’ll play at home, but forget this team beating any opponent on the road. They won’t win in Carolina, New York, Minnesota or Timbuktu. They don’t have a chance – forgetaboutit.

      The past two weeks have been an absolute embarrassment for Arizona. Two weeks ago they made Tarvaris Jackson look like Joe Namath and then on Sunday they made the New England Patriots look like the 1972 Miami Dolphins. They could have made a statement on Sunday in Foxboro. Instead, they got off the bus, saw how bad the conditions were and decided to mentally check out for four quarters.

      I realize the Patriots have had a tad more experience playing in a snowstorm than Arizona has. But New England’s 47-7 smack down was less about weather experience and more about a Cardinals team that has given up since they clinched the NFC West three weeks ago. They dropped passes, they missed tackles and they flat out gave up after the Patriots took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

      Cardinal fans have suffered enough throughout the years, so they deserve to finally see a winner. But the fact of the matter is that this team received no challenge in the NFC West this season and that has left them unprepared heading into the postseason. Explosive passing game or not, the Cards’ confidence is shattered right now and whichever team draws them in the first round is getting a great matchup.

      As of right now, Arizona simply is a team that is just satisfied to say it made the playoffs.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Galloway: Jerry Jones should fire himself

      December 21, 2008 /

      Following their 33-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night in Dallas, Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway writes that Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones should fire himself.

      Wade PhillipsThen again, Jerry Jones is the dumbest general manager in the history of football, and there he was, postgame on Saturday, proclaiming he has no plans, no matter what, to fire Wade. See, it’s real hard to find good puppets these days.

      But please remember that much has changed in the 11 barren postseason years, including five head coaches.

      The one and only survivor of this Titanic?

      Our captain of the ship, general manager Jones. Why won’t this failure fire himself? No other GM in the league could survive this kind of ineptness, unless, of course, the team owner was in a coma. Now there’s a thought.

      Not once, but twice, when Romo had cut the Ravens lead to two points in the last four minutes, the defense caved like a sand tunnel at high tide. Pathetic.

      Any defensive coordinator should be fired on the spot. That’s you, right Wade?

      Phillips had a run blitz called when Willis McGahee burst up the middle, untouched, for a 77-yard touchdown.

      Phillips had a run blitz called when lumbering Le’Ron McClain started outside, broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, broke two more five yards later, and then just kept running. He stopped in the end zone, 82 yards later.

      The comeback was over. The season is all but over. And Wade should be over and out. But Jerry is, as always, football stupid. Nothing can ever change that.

      I realize Phillips will take the heat because it was him who made the defensive play calls in the fourth quarter that eventually sunk the Cowboys. But it’s not Wade’s fault that multiple players missed multiple tackles on those two plays. All coaches can do is put their players in position to succeed and then it’s up to the players to execute.

      That said, it’s hard to argue with Galloway that something has to be done with Phillips and/or Jones. This Dallas team is on the verge of missing the postseason despite having some of the best talent in the NFC. Somebody has to be held accountable.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Ouch!

      December 21, 2008 /

      Bill Simmons on Ladainian Tomlinson:

      There are five open secrets in the NFL right now. The first is that LaDainian Tomlinson, for whatever reason, is washed up. (Running backs are like NBA big men, porn stars, singers, wrestlers and female sideline reporters in HD: When it goes, it goes. You can’t stop it.)

      NFL

      CBS misses a golden opportunity

      December 20, 2008 /

      There were five Top 25 matchups in college hoops today:

      2 PM: #22 Michigan State 67, @ #5 Texas 62 – CBS
      2 PM: #7 Xavier 64, vs. #6 Duke 82 – CBS
      4 PM: #2 UConn 88, @ #7 Gonzaga 83 – CBS
      4 PM: #20 Davidson 58, @ #18 Purdue 76 – CBS
      6 PM: #11 Syracuse 72, @ #21 Memphis 65 – ESPN

      If I were in charge over at CBS Sports, I’d have set this up a little differently. Why not start one of the 2 PM games an hour earlier and one of the 4 PM games an hour later? Then market the day as “March Madness in December” and treat it like a day at the NCAA tournament. Everyone would start with the Duke/Xavier game and then if things get out of hand (which they did), we’d switch over to the Texas/MSU game. Regardless of what happened with the Duke game, we’d get most of the second half of the Texas game. Then everyone would get at least the first half of Davidson/Purdue before going out west to UConn/Gonzaga.

      For those of us in Southern California, CBS did bail on the Duke blowout to catch the last 10 minutes of the Texas/MSU game. Got to give them props when they do get it right.

      College Basketball, Television

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑