Archive for November 10th, 2009

A look back at the 10 times Brady’s Patriots have faced Manning’s Colts.A look back at the 10 times Brady’s Patriots have faced Manning’s Colts.

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Pompei: Tim Tebow is a “physical freak” who has dominated college football, but will that success translate to the NFL? The Florida QB doesn’t fit the mold of any other player, so any team that drafts him will be taking a gamble. But it might just pay off.

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NFL mock draft: Evan Silva projects 2010’s first round

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Yahoo’s Jason Cole reports that Raiders owner Al Davis is hoping to fire head coach Tom Cable at season’s end.

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Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson



Larry Johnson is a free agent.



ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported Johnson was not claimed on the waiver wire Tuesday. Kansas City cut the controversial running back on Monday.



Johnson not being claimed was expected. Teams would have had to taken on the estimated remaining salary of $2.1 million if he was claimed. The Chiefs are now on the hook for the rest of the contract.



It was unlikely any team would take on the contract of a player who has had off-field issues and whose production has slipped. Johnson, who turns 30 this month, was cut after he made a gay slur and questioned the credentials of Chiefs coach Todd Haley. He was averaging just 2.71 yards per carry.



Johnson is now free to sign anywhere. Among the teams that have been mentioned as possible landing spots are New England, Houston, Washington and Chicago.



Meanwhile, Johnson went on a radio show Tuesday and explained that he is still supportive of the Chiefs’ brass that cut him.

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Posted by ESPN.com’s Paul Kuharsky


The suggestion from Raysrock070: [Clint] Session’s pick on [Matt] Schaub when [Gary] Brackett blitzed him. That killed their drive, and any momentum that they had going.

The situation: Houston ball, second-and-10 at the Indianapolis 42-yard line with 2:20 remaining in the game and the Colts ahead 20-17.

 
  AP Photo/AJ Mast
  Clint Session’s interception helped put the Colts in position to remain undefeated.




The Texans line up with Steve Slaton to the right of Matt Schaub in shotgun with four wide receivers, two to each side, all inside the numbers — left to right, Andre Johnson, David Anderson, Jacoby Jones and Kevin Walter.



Indy counters with a nickel package, with Jerraud Powers shifted to the inside near Anderson before the snap and Tim Jennings wide on the same side. Jacob Lacey is on the Jones/Walter side of the formation. Both safeties are deep.



Both linebackers are near the line of scrimmage, with Gary Brackett between Dwight Freeney and Antonio Johnson and Clint Session between Raheem Brock and Daniel Muir.



What I saw unfold after the snap: Powers tracks Anderson first, but when the receiver turns outside he leaves him for Jennings to deal with and goes to front Johnson who turns inside and has safety Melvin Bullitt behind him.



Right tackle Eric Winston helps right guard Chris White on Muir, before moving on to Brock, who was held up for a second by Slaton.



Left tackle Duane Brown handles a spin move by Freeney, in part because the defensive end bumps into his left tackle, Johnson, who’s ridden to his right by the double team of left guard Kasey Studdard and center Chris Myers.



Session drops to cover the middle.



Brackett loops around Johnson and Myers is slow to leave Johnson and get to the linebacker, who has a straight path to Schaub. The quarterback drops about two steps and bounces once waiting for things to develop before the blitzer is on him. Schaub appears to have room to buy a bit of time by sliding left, but does not and Brackett hits him in the upper right arm as he releases the ball — probably for Johnson who was bracketed and not open, maybe for Anderson who was not very deep.



The result is a fluttering pass that Session has no trouble collecting for an interception.



Result: The pick gives the ball to the Colts who go three-and-out but burn 27 seconds and two Houston timeouts.



Ultimate outcome: The Texans are under major time pressure for the end-of-game drive that results in a missed 42-yard field goal by Kris Brown that would force overtime. Colts win 20-17 and move to a perfect 8-8 with a 3½-game lead over the Texans in the AFC South.

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Posted by ESPN.com’s Matt Mosley



So you thought the Cowboys’ gut-check win at the Linc would improve their standing in the power rankings? Well think again!



In their infinite wisdom, our four fearless voters left the Cowboys in the No. 8 spot. The Broncos were summarily dismissed by the Steelers in Denver, but they only dropped three spots to No. 7. I think voters are still remembering the Broncos’ win over the Cowboys, although none of them have told me that. NFC West blogger Mike Sando does a wonderful job each week of breaking down our mysterious voting process. Here’s how the Beast teams finished in the power rankings this week:



8. Cowboys: Sando and AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky both rewarded the Cowboys by voting them No. 7. But budding TV star Jeff Chadiha and the Professor himself, John Clayton, kept the Cowboys eighth overall. Honestly, that’s probably about right. You could make the argument that the Cowboys are playing better than the Broncos, but the head-to-head thing holds some water.



11. Eagles: It’s impossible to know what to make of this team. The blowout win over the Giants doesn’t look quite as good now that the Giants are 5-4. They were beaten by the horrendous Raiders a few weeks ago. I think the voters are leaving them at this position based more on potential than anything else. Sando had the Eagles at No. 13 but Clayton checked him into the boards by ranking Philly No. 9, ahead of both the Falcons and Cardinals. Kuharsky dropped the Eagles four spots in the rankings — and I don’t have a huge problem with that.



15. Giants: It’s amazing that we still have this much respect for the Giants, and I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong. Even after four consecutive losses, you keep expecting Tom Coughlin to flip a switch and get this thing going again. Clayton believed in the Giants the most, putting them at No. 14. Chadiha and Sando reportedly laughed out loud as they dropped the Giants to No. 16. And here’s something I’m sure Giants fans will love seeing: Sando has the Panthers a spot ahead of you on his ballot. Ouch!



26. Redskins: Every voter had them in this exact spot. It’s almost like the voters have made a secret pact with Jim Zorn to keep him in front of Tom Cable. This is a really bad football team. You could put them at No. 26 or you could put them at No. 30. Really doesn’t matter.



The Beast has now fallen behind both the AFC North (understandable) and the AFC South (what?!). Clayton loves the NFC East (14.25) and the AFC South (14!). It basically comes down to the fact that the AFC South’s worst teams (Jags and Titans) are outperforming the NFC East’s worst team, the Redskins. Oh, and it helps that the Colts are No. 1 overall. The Beast doesn’t show up until you get to the No. 8 Cowboys.



I hope this has been as fun for you as it was for me. Please feel free to reach out to our panelists with constructive criticism.

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The Eagles-Bears matchup Nov. 22 will remain the Sunday night game even though NBC had the option of picking another contest.

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