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.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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 Images1996 Divisional playoffs
Jacksonville Jaguars 30, at Denver Broncos 27: Both the Jaguars and Panthers made their respective conference championship games in their second year, a truly shocking development. The Jaguars had the tougher road of the two and made the most memorable climb. After finishing the season 9-7 and corralling the 6th and final AFC playoff spot, they went on the road and beat the Bills 30-27. An impressive feat, but surely they would get destroyed by the Broncos, who finished 13-3 and were the AFC’s best team. John Elway was licking his chops to get at the Jaguar defense, but instead it was the Jacksonville running game that dominated the action. Huge running back Natrone Means had 140 yards on 21 carries and softened up the Denver defense for quarterback Mark Brunell who pierced the secondary for 245 yards, 2 TDs and no interceptions. The loss would burn in Elway’s soul and was the impetus for the Broncos’ Super Bowl title the following year.
1998 NFC Championship game
Atlanta Falcons 30, at Minnesota Vikings 27 (OT): This was the team that was finally supposed to erase the ghosts of the past and give the Vikings their first Super Bowl title. Minnesota had the most dynamic offense and highest scoring team the NFL had ever seen. They had gone 15-1 in the regular season and scored 556 points. Led by rookie Randy Moss and veteran Cris Carter, the Vikings were unstoppable. All they had to do was defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the noisy Metrodome and they would be assured of a trip to South Florida to face the Broncos. But coach Dan Reeves, quarterback Chris Chandler and kicker Morten Andersen engineered the huge upset when Viking kicker Gary Anderson opened the door by missing his only field goal attempt of the season. The Viking lockerroom was a morgue after the game as players and coaches alike admitted they hadn’t perceived of any way they could have lost the game.
Super Bowl XXXVI (Jan., 2002)
New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17: The Rams were clearly the NFL’s dominant team, rolling to a 14-2 regular season record with an offensive juggernaut of Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt running wild. Mad genius Mike Martz was at the controls and his Rams were a huge favorite over the Patriots. New England appeared to be in way over its head with untested Tom Brady at quarterback and awkward Bill Belichick as head coach. The Pats simply did not have the weapons to compete and would be blown out before halftime. Instead, the Patriots appeared to be ready to blow out the vaunted Rams and would have had Willie McGinest’s defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter not been overturned by penalty. The Rams tied it up, but Brady led the Pats on a last-minute drive and Adam Vinatieri won the game with a 49-yard field goal at the gun that set the Patriot dynasty in motion.
2006 regular season, Week 13
Tennessee Titans 20, Indianapolis Colts 17: Rookie Vince Young vs. Peyton Manning? Forget about it. The Colts were on their way to the Super Bowl while the Titans appeared to have little to work with besides their high-priced rookie quarterback from Texas. Nevertheless, the Titans had won four of six games coming into this meeting and had some confidence. It wasn’t shaken when the Colts jumped out to a 14-0 lead. The Titans got within 14-10 by halftime on a Young 20 yard-TD pass to Drew Bennett. Young threw a 4th quarter TD pass to Brandon Jones, but the Colts came back and tied the game with 2:28 left on a field goal by Vinatieiri. It appeared that overtime was inevitable but Rod Bironas connected on a 60-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to give the Titans the upset.
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.