San Diego Chargers
Key vs. Colts was…
Winning the chess match on defense. As brilliant as Darren Sproles was – by the way, have you heard that he’s small and special? – the Chargers won their Wild Card matchup by limiting Peyton Manning and the Colts offense to just 17 points. Not many teams match wits with the league MVP. But, under the [...]
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| AFC divisional round matchups, AFC wild card analysis, Ravens vs. Titans, Steelers vs. Chargers
Arizona Cardinals
Key vs. Atlanta was…
The play of the Arizona front four. Rightfully maligned as an inconsistent and lethargic unit late in the season, Clancy Pendergast’s defensive line exploded against a somewhat undersized Falcons front five. Matt Ryan was pressured all day and sacked three times, and the league’s second leading rusher, [...]
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| Cardinals vs. Panthers, Eagles vs. Giants, NFC Wild Card analysis
Oakland Raiders 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
They’re not the Dallas Cowboys, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially have a finishing problem. Going 0-4 in the final quarter of this season kept the Bucs out of the playoffs. Last year, they were bounced out of the Wild Card round after locking up the division too soon, resting their guys and finishing the year 1-3.
Can [...]
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| commentary, NFL Week 17 quick hits, playoff analysis
San Diego Chargers 52, Denver Broncos 21
The Chargers are obviously that “hot team that nobody wants to face” right now, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be in the playoffs. San Diego is three games behind New England in the standings, making them the beneficiaries of a flawed playoff system.
The reason Denver is not in the postseason is that six members of their [...]
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| Dallas Cowboys, NFL Week 17, playoff outlook, quick-hit commentary
New York Giants 34, Carolina Panthers 28 OT
Great game. It is very apparent we watched the two best teams in the NFC square off. But it wasn’t a flawless outing, especially for the Panthers. After all, their front seven was thoroughly worn down by New York’s offensive line and running backs, and the receivers at times had trouble getting open against a stingy secondary.
Crazy [...]
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| NFL playoffs analysis, NFL Week 16 recaps
Tennessee Titans 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
If you want to get a clear perspective of the Tennessee Titans, don’t listen to me. I have been wrong about this team all season. I thought they were a premature product after their surprising playoff run last season, and because of the perceived strength of the rest of the AFC South, I picked them to finish dead last in the division. Once the season got underway, I thought that Kerry Collins and the offense wouldn’t be able to maintain any consistency late in the [...]
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| NFL playoff analysis, NFL Week 16 recaps, Week 16 commentary
Philadelphia Eagles 20, New York Giants 14
Okay, so this Giants team is not immune to distractions. Hey, can you blame them on this one? Considering it shouldn’t ultimately hurt them in the standings, this may actually prove to be good for New York.
Brandon Jacobs has gotten knocked out of the last couple of games. Resilient as the Giants are, there are two players they [...]
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| Atlanta Falcons, Giants-Eagles, NFL Week 14 recaps, Plaxico Burress
Baltimore Ravens 24, Washington Redskins 10
For the record, I’m ready to jump on the Ravens bandwagon now. I have been skeptical of this team all season and now find myself thoroughly embarrassed to be flip-flopping so blatantly. What sold me is a.) this defense b.) Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh (they’re for real) and c.) the running game.
What’s remarkable about the running [...]
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| Cowboys-Steelers, Jets, NFL Week 14 recaps, Patriots, Redskins-Ravens
New York Giants 23, Washington Redskins 7
The important thing to remember here is that the Giants are just plain better than the Redskins. Washington came into this game wanting to stop Brandon Jacobs and the New York rushing attack. They did exactly that. Jacobs was bottled up early on and finished with 71 yards on 21 attempts. Derrick Ward gained 30 yards on 10 carries. But with the ground game limited, all that meant was Eli Manning could make more plays through the air. And that’s what he did, completing [...]
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| Green Bay Packers, NFL Week 13 early game recaps, Plaxico Burress, Washington Redskins
Minnesota Vikings 34, Chicago Bears 14
I never stick around to see who NBC puts on the horse trailer afterwards, but I can tell you who deserved to be on it Sunday night: Kevin Williams, Pat Williams and Jared Allen. This is what the Vikings are built on – dominance up front.
Adrian Peterson’s output was better on paper than on turf Sunday night. Peterson ran hard for four [...]
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| adrian peterson, Jay Cutler, NFL Week 13 recaps, Pittsburgh Steelers defense
