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.
EPA fileNew York Jets coach Eric Mangini was an assistant coach for the Patriots in Brady's first six seasons.
"Tom was impressive from the day he got in the building," Mangini said a few days before losing to the Patriots 20-10 on Dec. 16. "As he's gotten more successful and more and more accolades, he hasn't changed his work ethic, his intensity, his selflessness."
This season Brady's Patriots have posted mind-boggling numbers.
In the seventh game, he threw a franchise record six TD passes and had a perfect passer rating. The Patriots won their first eight games by at least 17 points each. By that time, just halfway through the season, he had thrown 30 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
In three of the next six games, he showed he hadn't lost his knack for pulling out narrow victories by coming from behind in the fourth quarter.
So, what is it that sets Brady apart from other quarterbacks?
"Poise, patience," Moss said, "and going out there determined to kill you at any given time. They can give you a fourth-and-24, and Tom's still ready to kill you."
The pretty-boy looks hide a fierce competitiveness. After throwing for the first touchdown in a 34-13 win Dec. 9, he confronted Pittsburgh cornerback Anthony Smith, who guaranteed a Steelers win, and started jawing.
"I don't care to repeat it, especially if my mother reads it," Brady said. "She wouldn't be very happy with what I said."
If you're an opponent, you don't want him mad at you. If you're a teammate, you couldn't have a better one.
"He is a legitimate superstar in every sense of the word and yet you talk to people within that locker room and they love the guy," said television commentator and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. "They love playing for him, they think the world of him, he takes care of those guys, the organization likes him."
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Brady does a better job deflecting praise than opponents do deflecting his passes.
"The great thing about playing quarterback here is that you've just got to do your job. You don't have to worry about a whole lot of other things, because you have great confidence that all the other guys are going to do what they're asked to do," he said. "I've just got to drop back and try to throw it to the guys in blue."
Right now Brady is doing that as well as anyone ever has.
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.
