Tag: Bill Belichick (Page 10 of 26)

      NFL Week 15 COY power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      December is when coaches lose jobs or gain big contract extensions for winning big games. And it’s crunch time for coach of the year hype…..

      1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—Sure, the Pats were exposed against Green Bay. But like usual, the Hoodie’s teams find a way to win.

      2. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—He almost dropped five spots for not throwing that challenge flag on an obvious reversal, but he’s still here for two reasons—his teams know how to win, and he had the balls to name Mike Vick as his starting QB.

      3. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—No reason to move Mikey from the 3-spot after disposing of the Seahawks in hostile Seattle.

      4. 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.

      5. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Did anyone think the Bears could score 40 points against the Vikings on a frigid December night? Lovie’s defense and Mike Martz’ offense continue to gel and look scary.

      6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Yes, they are 6-8 and might win a division. But the fact remains the Rams have equaled their win total from the past three seasons combined, and Spags told his team they can win the Super Bowl if they reach the playoffs. Ridiculous, but true.

      7. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Still hanging on to a possible playoff berth, but either way, a huge turnaround in 2010.

      8. Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville Jaguars—Gambled and lost in Indy, but still tied for first in the AFC South.

      9. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—Two hard-hitting teams are two of the best teams in the NFL

      10. Rex Ryan, New York Jets—Backs up against the wall? No problem for this brash leader, whose team did what few teams do—win in Pittsburgh in December.

      External Sports, NFL

      2010 Year-End Sports Review: What We Already Knew

      December 21, 2010 /

      Let’s be honest: Sports bloggers know everything. Just ask us. As part of our 2010 Year-End Sports Review, our list of things we already knew this year includes Brad Childress’ biggest fail, Wade Phillips’ demise in Dallas and John Calipari’s troubles. We also knew Kevin Durant was the next great superstar (who didn’t see that coming?), Roger Clemens is the ultimate windbag and that “Matty Ice” knows fourth-quarter comebacks. We should have gone to medical school…

      Contributors: Anthony Stalter, John Paulsen, Paul Costanzo, Drew Ellis and Mike Farley

      LeBron is a frontrunner.

      We all were a little surprised that LeBron left Cleveland, but the writing was on the wall. Growing up, LeBron didn’t root for the local teams. He followed the Yankees, Bulls and Cowboys, which in the 1990s constituted the Holy Triumvirate of Frontrunning. He wore his Yankee cap to an Indians game and was seen hobnobbing on the Cowboy sidelines during a Browns game. He says he’s loyal, but he’s only loyal to winners…unless they only win in the regular season, of course.

      July 08, 2010 - Greenwich, CONNECTICUT, United States - epa02241974 Handout photo from ESPN showing LaBron James (L), NBA's reigning two-time MVP, as he ends months of speculation and announces 08 July 2010 on ESPN 'The Decision' in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA, that he will go to the Miami Heat where he will play basketball next 2010-11 season. James said his decision was based on the fact that he wanted to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

      Brad Childress’ biggest flaw cost him his job in the end.

      There were many reasons why the Vikings decided to fire head coach Brad Childress roughly a year after they signed him to a contract extension. One of the reasons was because he lost with a talented roster. Another was because he never quite figured out how to best utilize Adrian Peterson, which is a sin given how talented AP is. But the main reason “Chilly” was ousted in Minnesota was because he didn’t know how to manage NFL-caliber personalities. He didn’t know how to handle Brett Favre, which led to blowups on the sidelines and multiple face-to-face confrontations. He also didn’t have a clue how to deal with Randy Moss’ crass attitude, so he released him just four weeks after the team acquired him in a trade from New England. Childress was hired in part to help clean up the mess in Minnesota after the whole “Love Boat” scandal. But the problem with a disciplinarian that hasn’t first earned respect is that his demands fall on deaf ears. In the end, Childress’ inability to command respect from his players cost him his job. You know, on top of the fact that he was losing with a talented roster, he didn’t know how to best utilize Adrian Peterson, he…

      Love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner will forever be one of baseball’s icons.

      You may have hated his brash attitude, the way he ran his team or the way he conducted his business. You may even feel that he ruined baseball. But regardless of how you may have felt about him, there’s little denying that George Steinbrenner will forever be one of Major League Baseball’s icons. Steinbrenner passed away in July of this year. He will forever be a man known for helping revolutionize the business side of baseball by being the first owner to sell TV cable rights to the MSG Network. When things eventually went south with MSG, he created the YES Network, which is currently the Yankees’ very own TV station that generates millions in revenue. During his tenure, he took the Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a $1.2 billion juggernaut. In 2005, the Yankees became the first professional sports franchise to be worth an estimated one billion dollars. While many baseball fans came to despise the way he ran his team (mainly because he purchased high priced free agents with reckless abandon due to the fact that he could and others couldn’t), don’t miss the message he often made year in and year out: The Yankees are here to win. He didn’t line his pockets with extra revenue (albeit he generated a lot of extra revenue for his club) – he dumped his money back into the on-field product. Losing wasn’t acceptable and if the Bombers came up short one year, you could bet that Steinbrenner would go after the best talent in the offseason, regardless of what others thought of the approach. How many Pirates and Royals fans wish they had an owner with the same appetite for victory?

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      Flynn nearly leads Packers to shocking win over Patriots

      December 20, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations on the Patriots’ narrow 31-27 win over the Packers on Sunday night.

      1. Flynn’s outstanding effort falls short.
      In the end, Matt Flynn’s inexperience cost him as he couldn’t get his offense lined up for the team’s final play. One of the broadcasters said it perfectly when they noted that Aaron Rodgers would have had the play, gotten his team lined up and not wasted nearly 20 seconds (or what-have-you) of the clock. And because of Flynn’s inexperience, he was sacked on the final play instead of heaving one towards the end zone to give the Packers a chance to win. That said, nobody can knock the youngster’s effort. He completed 21-of-33 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns and while the one interception he threw was costly (the Patriots returned it for a touchdown to take a 21-17 lead early in the third quarter), he never seemed rattled. His performance was a stark contrast from his effort last Sunday in Detroit, when he looked befuddled and lost. He showed tonight that with a full week of preparation, he can certainly give the Packers a quality start. He was impressive to say the least.

      2. Teams will be less scared of the Patriots after this.
      If the Packers can waltz into Foxboro with their backup quarterback and nearly beat the Patriots on their home turf, opponents will have more confidence against New England heading into the postseason. Everyone was ready to crown the Pats Super Bowl champions coming into this game but their play on Sunday night (particularly on defense) reminded everyone that they have weaknesses, too. ESPN will make this out to be another dazzling fourth quarter comeback by Tom Brady but the fact is that the Patriots were on their heels for most of the game. Credit the Pats’ offense for making plays when they had to but this team was largely on cruise control because they knew they were facing a backup quarterback who stunk the week before. From the opening kickoff (a successful onsides kick by the Packers) to the final whistle, the Packers were the more inspired team. The Patriots just made more big plays.

      3. The Patriots’ defense still needs some work.
      The Patriots’ offense is incredibly scary but their defensive effort was a joke. This was a Green Bay team that couldn’t gain two yards on the ground if you spotted them one and yet they managed to rush for 143 yards. Furthermore, you’re telling me that Bill Belichick couldn’t come up with a better game plan to stop the Packers’ underneath passing game? Flynn was impressive but it must have been easy for him to wait for his receivers to clear out the secondary and dump the ball off to one of his backs or tight ends for seven yards every time he needed it. Belichick won’t enjoy watching the film from this game because he’ll see plenty of poor tackling and shoddy execution from his defense.

      4. Putting Connolly’s return into perspective.
      I thoroughly enjoyed watching New England guard Dan Connolly truck down the field right before halftime, carrying the ball like a loaf of bread on his way to the end zone. I also thoroughly enjoyed the three replays they showed following the play and I’m going to enjoy watching the 52 highlights tomorrow of it on SportsCenter. But looking back, Connolly’s 71-yard kickoff was more than just an a knee-slapper that has surely already gone viral. It was a huge play in the landscape of the game, too. Green Bay had just taken a 17-7 lead and they had stolen the momentum. Maybe Brady runs the Pats’ two-minute drill to perfection and they score anyway, or maybe the Packers’ defense continues to stifle New England and Green Bay takes a 17-7 lead into halftime. But thanks to Connolly’s return, the Pats were set up at the Green Bay 4-yard line and wound up punching it in for an easy six. That made the score 17-14 at half and all of a sudden, New England was right back into the game. It was a great play by Connolly and a brutal one by Green Bay’s kickoff team, which somehow failed to lay a hand on the offensive lineman for nearly 60 yards.

      5. The Packers are still very much alive.
      This loss hurts but the Packers are still alive in the NFC playoff hunt thanks to Tampa Bay and New York’s losses earlier in the day. Green Bay hosts the Giants and Bears over the next two weeks and if they win out, they’re in regardless of what the Bucs do. The Pack are in control of their own destiny and after a season of severe ups and downs, that’s all they could ask for at the moment.

      External Sports, NFL

      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

      Despite largely being devoid of superstar talent, the Patriots continue to dominate thanks to Belichick

      December 14, 2010 /

      The more things change, the more they stay the same.

      Take the Patriots for example. They traded Randy Moss earlier this year and everyone thought their passing game would incinerate. “Who is going to stretch the field?” people asked. “Tom Brady doesn’t have anyone to throw to!” everyone quipped.

      But as usual, Bill Belichick was 34 steps ahead of everyone and already knew how the Pats would survive without Moss. He already knew that Brady had already completed 72.2% of his passes for 367 yards and five touchdowns out of the two-tight end set and that his offense would run smoothly as long as Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski continued to develop. Sure, the approach would change but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be effective.

      Belichick also knew what kind of connection Brady had with Deion Branch, which is why he traded for his former player (how is it that the Patriots always get the player they’re targeting in trade? It’s unbelievable.) to help cope with losing Moss. And how crazy is it that Branch has emerged as a playmaker again while Moss is now trapped in NFL obscurity?

      Actually, “crazy” isn’t the right word. Crazy would indicate that Belichick was fortunate that everything played out the way it did when he duped the Vikings into taking a useless Moss off his hands. But he wasn’t fortunate at all. He had a game plan and as usual, he executed it to perfection.

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      External Sports, NFL

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