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.
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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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LANDOVER, Md. - LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Gregg Williams didn’t have to tell his players how motivated he was to show up his old team. All the former Washington Redskins assistant coach had to do was crank up his renowned intensity to get the message across.
“He didn’t say anything about it, but we kind of knew,” Jacksonville Jaguars middle linebacker Mike Peterson said. “Some hard coaching was going on, a little more coaching than normal in the last preseason game, so we kind of knew what the deal was.”
Williams got a measure of revenge against the team that let him go Thursday night, his Jaguars defense stopping cold a Redskins first-string attack that once again looked far from ready for the regular season.
The Jaguars held the Redskins’ starters to 14 total yards in three first-quarter drives, and David Garrard, Cleo Lemon and Todd Bouman all threw a touchdown pass in Jacksonville’s 24-3 victory.
“It was a preseason game,” said Peterson, who intercepted a pass on the Redskins’ first play from scrimmage, “but we wanted him coming back to get a win for him.”
Seventh-round draft pick Chauncey Washington, making a final bid for a spot on the 53-man roster instead of the practice squad, ran 11 times for 68 yards and caught four passes for 40 yards for Jacksonville in a game that mostly featured backups over the final three quarters.
The game also marked the Jaguars debut of No. 8 overall draft pick Derrick Harvey, who ended his holdout Wednesday and entered the game on the defensive line in the second half despite not having taken part in a single practice.
But the most intriguing matchup pitted the combative Williams against his old team. The Redskins’ top defensive guru for four years under Joe Gibbs, Williams was considered the favorite to get the head coaching job when Gibbs retired in January. Instead, Williams was fired by owner Dan Snyder, and Jim Zorn got the job.
On Thursday, Williams vs. Zorn was no contest.
Zorn had decided to play his first-string offense for a series — perhaps two — only because he felt the players needed to regain some momentum after last week’s 47-3 sack-filled debacle against the Carolina Panthers.
The move backfired.
While the offensive line played better, Jason Campbell’s first pass was deflected into Peterson’s arms. The Redskins’ next possession was a three-and-out, prompting Zorn to send his starters back for a third series — and another three-and-out.
Zorn finally, and mercifully, pulled the starters — but with a bit of reluctance.
“I would love to have had them play the whole game,” Zorn said, “and just grind it out and work and get into some rhythm, things like that. But that would not have been smart.”
Campbell finished 1-for-4 for 3 yards and an interception.
Garrard also played three series, going 5-of-8 for 58 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The pick was by safety Reed Doughty, one of only two Redskins defensive starters who didn’t get the night off.
Considering that the Jaguars’ first-team offense was facing mostly second-teamers, the results were spotty. Jacksonville managed two first downs in Garrard’s three possessions, and his touchdown — a 3-yard pass to Reggie Williams — came after he was given a short field following Peterson’s interception.
Afterward, Garrard was happy just to have the preseason over.
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“Ready to roll,” he said. “Everybody is excited. The guys were talking about it on the sideline. It’s time to stop just practicing and playing for fun and start playing for real.”
Notes: Jacksonville injuries: RG Maurice Williams (sprained right knee) and DT Jonathan Lewis (sprained left knee). Coach Jack Del Rio said neither injury was serious. ... Washington S Kareem Moore strained his left hamstring. ... The Redskins’ punting battle between veteran Derrick Frost and draft pick Durant Brooks went down to the wire. Both punted three times. Frost had the better average, but Brooks put two inside the Jaguars’ 20-yard line. ... The Redskins were outscored 71-6 in their last two preseason games.
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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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.
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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