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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
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Rex Grossman vs. Kyle Orton. Two quarterbacks. One starter. Who ya got? I’m saying Orton.
UPDATE: Turns out the Bears agreed and announced Orton as the starter on Monday.
Saturday night, Grossman got the start against the Seahawks. He was chased around like a guy wearing a meat suit in a lion's cage.
"Tough place to try and make a good impression," said Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck when I told him I was working on a story on the Bears' QBs. "Our defense at home? They’re pretty nasty."
And Grossman didn't make a good impression. He went 9 for 15 for 74 yards with a pick and a sack. He also took a 17-yard grounding penalty to avoid another sack. And he got his schnozz bloodied by a Seahawks defense that seemed intent on making Lovie Smith's decision for him.
"I never really got comfortable," he said. "We just weren't playing real smart to start the game."
Grossman got five drives at quarterback and didn't produce a point. In two drives at the end of the half, Orton went 5 for 9 for 43 yards and led a drive for a half-ending field goal. It wasn't a level playing field. The Seahawks pinned their ears back and blitzed Grossman mercilessly and the Bears blitz pickup and simple pass-blocking wasn’t up to it. He needed more drives to get grooved but the Bears "plan" dictated that Orton come in before the half.
After the game, Orton stood in the middle of the visitor's locker room talking to a scrum of reporters while teammates brushed by on their way to the team bus. With his shaggy beard, red golf shirt and black chinos, Orton looked more like a teaching assistant in the philosophy department than a quarterback on this night. But he wasn't in a philosophical mood. The slog to decide who starts is wearing thin on all involved.
"I don't want to win the job based on somebody else not performing and I think (Grossman) has performed well," said Orton. "I want to win the job because I'm the best guy for it and I'm going to lead this team to a lot of wins. That's the approach I take. Hopefully we both play well and I just play better."
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Orton was asked if he minded playing only two series against Seattle.
"I don't mind how much I play," he insisted. "Coach Smith has his idea of what he wants to have accomplished in a game and he didn't think I need to play anymore."
Orton said he feels no urgency to go for broke and make a "flash" play to get ahead in the competition.
"My goal for every play for every game is to run the offense and put the ball in the right spot to the right receiver," he said. "If that's a 5-yard route, then I'll throw a 5-yard route. If it's a 50-yard route, then I throw a 50-yard route but I'm not going to try to do too much or too little because there's a quarterback competition."
Sitting on a bench talking to defensive end Alex Brown, Smith looked sad-eyed and tired. He looks years removed from the coach who led his team to a Super Bowl 18 months ago in Miami.
"We had a plan when we started up and we're right in the middle of that plan," said Smith. "Let one guy start. Let the next one start. And see where we are from there. I feel good about where we're at. We learn something every time we see them out there."
With the regular season opener against the Colts bearing down, does the uncertainty at the position concern him?
"No. You let them play and then they tell you everything you need to know from that," he explained. "There’s no uncertainty about it. It’s just like any other position. If you don’t say that someone's a starter right away, you let the preseason play out and then they'll tell you."
But what about the all-important game reps that quarterbacks need?
"Not after two games you don't need to (worry) about that," said the coach. "We have a plan and the plan is playing out exactly how we wanted. Later on you want to have somebody in place at least for the last preseason game which is what I said all along. Our guys are getting reps. People say that, 'They need to get reps.' That’s what they've been doing in practice all this time. They only get a couple of reps in the game. These guys have been throwing to receivers all offseason, all training camp. That's blown out of proportion."
Orton realizes what's going on in Chicago is unusual. The most important position on the field up for grabs this late in the preseason.
"It doesn't happen everywhere," he acknowledged. "But I don't think it's a negative. I think people think it’s a negative when there’s a QB competition, I don’t believe that. I think Rex and I have both improved and we’ll have a good quarterback for this football team. Both of us want to be the guy when it's all said and done. I’m sure he feels the same way, the sooner the better."
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.
