Tag: New England Patriots (Page 20 of 72)

      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

      NFL Week 15 MVP power rankings

      December 25, 2010 /

      Boy, this is becoming a two-man race, isn’t it? You could probably wrestle with the Brady/Vick debate for days, and the next two weeks will likely determine the outcome of that. But for now, we have to pontificate…..

      1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Well, his team is 12-2 and he leads in QB rating (109.9) with a modest 3561 yards, and 31 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. It’s hard to argue with that.

      2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—That game against the Giants and that comeback against the Giants are hard for this Big Blue fan to bear (242 yards, 3 TDs, 1 pick, 130 rushing yards and one more TD), but it’s hard not to respect Vick’s season and his own personal resurgence.

      3. Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs—First of all, dude was on the field like 8 days after having his appendix out. Not great stats (184 yards, 1 TD, one pick), but he led his team to a much-needed win and has done that all season.

      4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Imagine what Rivers could have done with a healthy Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates all season?

      5. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons—His numbers are still modest, but he just keeps winning and has orchestrated quite a few late-game comebacks.

      6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—His team lost to the Ravens, but still a strong body of work in 2010 despite being under the radar.

      7. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Almost 1900 total yards and 15 total scores are making this guy a possible #1 fantasy pick in 2011.

      8 Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Only 8 touchdowns, but 106 catches and 1284 yards both lead the NFL in a career year for Roddy.

      9. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles—10 more tackles against the G-men and the leader of a defense that has a lot of heart despite a ton of injuries.

      10. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions—No TDs last week in Tampa, but 10 catches for 152 yards in an impressive win. For my money, Calvin might be the best receiver in the NFL.

      External Sports, NFL

      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 ROY power rankings

      December 18, 2010 /

      Since they vote for offensive and defensive rookies, lets’ change it up this week…

      Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

      1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—We’ll let the New Orleans game slide. For now.

      2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—You shut one out, and the other will burn you. Or, of course, will Deion Branch and Wes Welker.

      3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Was almost shut out by Redskins, but like Bradford, we’ll let it slide because he’s had such as great season on a promising young team.

      4. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—He will get the start Sunday against Cincinnati after missing a few games with an ankle injury. Let’s see if it makes a difference, because McCoy has sparked the Browns before.

      5. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—The Cowboys sure missed him against the Eagles.

      Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

      1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Is anyone really surprised at the ease the big fella transitioned into the NFL?

      2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—6 picks leads all rookies.

      3. Earl Thomas, Seattle Seahawks—Quiet the last few weeks, but who wants to throw in his direction?

      4. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—Berry’s interception against the Chargers was the only good play of the game for his team, and it was a thing of beauty.

      5. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—His five picks is right behind Thomas, and his overall play has been stellar.

      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

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