Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty ImagesThis year’s new role player is Welker, whom Belichick spotted on Oct. 10, 2004, after he signed with Miami following his release by San Diego. A pregame injury to kicker Olindo Mare forced Welker into service against the Patriots in Foxborough and he ended up kicking a 29-yard field goal and an extra point in a 21-10 loss.
He also returned five kickoffs in that game, exhibiting the kind of versatility Belichick likes. After Welker caught 67 passes to lead the Dolphins last season, Belichick signed him as a restricted free agent and ended up giving up second- and seventh-round draft picks after Miami hinted it would match the offer.
Green, Sanders, Gay, Neal and other Patriots are the products of a personnel policy that ranks prospects less on raw talent and more on how they fit New England. The team also gets rid of disappointments as soon as they demonstrate they can’t play. Most other teams keep draft picks, especially high ones, because they don’t want to acknowledge publicly that they made a mistake.
All of this has been obscured by the $500,000 fine on Belichick and the $250,000 on the team for using a videocamera to tape the New York Jets’ signals from the field during the season-opening game at the Meadowlands.
That’s set off rumbling from teams the Patriots beat in Super Bowls and championship games that somehow New England got its rings from cheating — a bunch of players suggesting that somehow the Patriots knew their offensive plays and defensive schemes.
Hey, every coach looks for any advantage he can get. Jimmy Johnson recounted during the Fox pregame show last week how he used to have interns go through the garbage in the press box booths used by opposing coaches. His assumption: tossed-out game plans and scouting notes could prove useful at some point.
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The truth: Belichick’s team is good enough that he doesn’t need to spy.
At the current pace, that could mean 16 wins. All 38-14.
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
