Page 536 of 2956

      NFL Week 14 COY power rankings

      December 18, 2010 /

      Getting down to the wire, like when talking heads on NFL Network, etc. actually start pontificating about what we’ve been writing all season…..

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—Now we’ve seen everything. Running the score up against the Bears during a Chicago blizzard, while holding them to one special teams TD? Did this team actually lose to the Browns a month ago?

      2. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—Won a critical division game in Dallas, and the Eagles can make a statement against the Giants Sunday. What happens may determine if Reid stays right here or drops a few notches, but he’s still brilliant for how he handled the whole QB situation this year.

      3. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—He’s running a well-oiled machine, but that doesn’t happen by accident.

      4. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Nobody is complaining that his Rams lost to the Saints, but they my get a rematch, in St. Louis, in the playoffs.

      5. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Now the Chargers are breathing down his neck; but hey, he probably feels good that Josh McDaniels is watching games from his couch now.

      6. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—From the hot seat to the cold seat to the warm seat and back to the cold seat. And now the Giants have shot to take over the NFC East, while at times conjuring up visions of the 2007 team that won it all.

      7. Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars—Winning the AFC South when many thought they’d finish last could turn out to be a top storyline this year. But there are still three games left, including a big one this Sunday in Indy.

      8. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—What a great season this has turned out to be for the Steelers, and look no further than the guy in charge for much of that.

      9. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—No matter how they finish, the Bucs have well exceeded expectations this season.

      10. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Big hiccup at home against New England, and now they get to play OUTDOORS on Monday night in Minneapolis. Yikes.

      Honorable mention: Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Did you know the Saints were 10-3? Neither did anyone else, but Mike Smith has reason to worry.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 14 MVP power rankings

      December 18, 2010 /

      Now, I feel like I knew what I was talking about by moving Tom Brady up to #1. The man is simply a man possessed this year to win a title. I mean, it’s been, what? Five years since his Pats did win. Yep. Those guys are in a zone. Here are the weekly power rankings…..

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—In a blizzard, Brady completed 27 of 40 passes (67.5%) for 369 yards, 2 TDs and zero picks. Against the Bears’ defense. Someone needs to check to see if Brady actually IS human.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He’s only played 10 full games, but his overall numbers are sick—averaging 251 yards per game passing, and another 48 yards per game rushing, with 17 passing TDs and 7 more rushing, with only 4 interceptions.

      3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—The fact that the Chiefs didn’t have Cassel available last Sunday and got blown out in San Diego is the pure definition of MVP.

      4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—At what point do we start paying attention to Brees and his Saints?

      5. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Here come the Chargers. Sorry, Todd Haley, they are gonna find a way to spoil your postseason aspirations.

      6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White/Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, they have the best record in the NFC, but Ryan’s numbers aren’t quite backing up MVP vote consideration, so I thought it made sense to group these three together for now.

      7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Leads in rushing yards (1330), rushing scores (13), and is right behind LeSean McCoy in receiving yards for running backs (504) with 2 more TDs. Just sick, and it’s only too bad the Texans can’t play defense.

      8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—He leaves the game, the Packers lose to the Lions. See # 3—Cassel, Matt. Same situation.

      9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—Leads all DE’s in solo tackles (46) and has 9 sacks, but for some reason he doesn’t get much love.

      10. Justin Tuck/Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants—Tuck leads all DE’s with 46 total tackles and has 9 sacks; Osi has 40 tackles and 10 sacks. No wonder these guys have been knocking quarterbacks silly.

      External Sports, NFL

      Tim Tebow to make his first start on Sunday?

      December 17, 2010 /
      Oct 24, 2010; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (15) during the game against the Oakland Raiders at Invesco Field. The Raiders defeated the Broncos 59-14. Photo via Newscom

      The Broncos aren’t confirming anything but it doesn’t take a jigsaw master to assemble the puzzle being laid out in Denver right now. (Jigsaw master? Puzzle? Horrible – my apologizes.)

      Kyle Orton was unable to throw on Friday thanks to arm and rib injuries and the Denver Post is speculating that rookie Tim Tebow will make his first career start against the Raiders on Sunday. Just because Orton didn’t throw all week doesn’t mean he won’t play, but when players don’t practice on Friday it’s usually a good indication that they won’t suit up Sunday.

      Tebow completed 25-of-39 pass attempts for 344 yards, two touchdowns and three turnovers in preseason. If he does, look for the Broncos to keep it on the ground against the Raiders’ No. 26 run defense and take the pressure off Tebow’s shoulders. That said, if Oakland jumps out to a big lead and forces Denver to throw, it would be interesting to see how Tebow responds.

      The uncertainty in Denver is at an all-time high. Josh McDaniels drafted Tebow to be the future starter but who knows whether or not the new head coach will want to work with such a big project at quarterback. Tebow’s throwing motion has been a major topic of concern and who knows where he’s at now. It would be nice to see him play well on Sunday but it wouldn’t be fair to grade his progress off of only one game – especially considering McDaniels is gone and he isn’t used to taking first-team reps in practice.

      Either way, it’ll be good to see him get some actually game action on Sunday.

      External Sports, NFL

      Will the Steelers struggle again without Troy Polamalu?

      December 17, 2010 /
      PITTSBURGH - NOVEMBER 14: Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers watches the game against the New England Patriots from the bench during the game on November 14, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

      With the way Mark Sanchez has played over the past two weeks, the Steelers could probably hold the Jets to under 10 points with only eight on defense. But they don’t want to make it a habit of not having safety Troy Polamalu around.

      Polamalu has dealt with a lower-leg injury for several weeks and will not play on Sunday against the Jets. With him in the lineup, the Steelers are allowing an average of just nine points per game over the last four weeks and he leads the team with six interceptions. There may not be a defender in the league playing better than Polamalu is right now.

      That’s why the trop from him to either Will Allen or Ryan Mundy is significant. Again, with the way Sanchez’s confidence has deteriorated over the past couple of weeks, the Steelers can win without Polamalu on Sunday. But when he was out of the lineup for most of last year, the Steelers failed to make the playoffs at 9-7 and also suffered a five-game losing streak during the season (something that most likely wouldn’t have happened had they had their defensive unit intact).

      It’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers rush Polamalu back for next Thursday’s game against the Panthers. They may hold him out until Week 17 against the Browns, or may even rest him until the playoffs. Either way, they’ll need him back for the postseason or else we could be looking at an entirely different Pittsburgh defense for the playoffs.

      External Sports, NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑