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.
APThe Chiefs’ Damon Huard threw for just 160 yards, but he completed 21 of 28 passes and was not intercepted. He didn’t need to throw more than that because Kansas City’s great running back, Larry Johnson, finally reported in, piling up 198 yards on the ground.
The other 300-yard loser was Houston’s Matt Schaub, who finished with 307 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. And yet he lost to David Garrard, who had just one TD pass and 236 yards, but was helped by a ground game that produced 139 yards.
Before we get on to other business, let’s return to Brees and the Saints for a moment. Yes, he threw for big yardage, but he did it with just 35 pass plays that were balanced by 32 running plays that produced 104 yards. That’s the balance that every offensive coordinator aims for and so few get.
Week 4 observations
Throw-back or throw up?
Those New York Titans throw-back uniforms the Jets wore were just plain ugly. Any team with a shred of sympathy for the digestive processes of its fans would have kept those uniforms locked behind lead shields, to be inspected only by historians.
But the NFL has this thing about getting fans to buy more stuff they don’t need — and don’t even like. And it knows that if a pro team wears it, the fans will buy it. That’s what throw-back uniforms are about — selling you stuff you don’t need.
And as long as you buy it, they’ll keep inflicting them on you.
Stick a fork in ‘em
It’s just four games in the books, but that’s enough to draw a curtain on several seasons.
Start with Cincinnati, which is 0-4 after giving Cleveland its first victory of the year. Add in the Rams, who had a 14-6 lead over Buffalo before giving up 25 unanswered points in the second half. Detroit had the week off, but they were eliminated before the season began. Houston is 0-3 and hopeless, as well.
While 1-3 isn’t a totally insurmountable hole, the teams that have that record — Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland and Kansas City — aren’t good teams. I’ll be nice and won’t write them off yet, but any of those teams that lose next week are finished.
Return of the ‘Bolts?
The Chargers have it back to 2-2, but the jury’s still out on whether they’re totally back. They overcame a 15-0 halftime deficit to beat the Raiders 28-18, with 25 points coming in the fourth quarter. But they did it with a couple of big plays. LaDainian Tomlinson got 54 of his 106 rushing yards on two scoring runs; he got the other 52 on 18 other carries. And Philip Rivers had just 154 net yards passing and threw two interceptions against just one touchdown.
They’ve got to perform better than that against a team that’s got more going for it than the Raiders before anybody can feel good about them.
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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.
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.
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
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Fantasy impact |
Week 4 standouts | Click here for more |
| Passing | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TDs |
| 1. K. Warner, Cardinals | 40 | 57 | 472 | 2 |
| 2. D. Brees, Saints | 23 | 35 | 363 | 3 |
| Rushing | Att. | Yds. | Avg. | TDs |
| 1. L. Johnson, Chiefs | 28 | 198 | 7.1 | 2 |
| 2. C. Portis, Redskins | 21 | 121 | 5.8 | 0 |
| Receiving | No. | Yds. | Avg. | TDs |
| 1. M. Muhammad, Panthers | 8 | 147 | 18.4 | 1 |
| 2. S. Moss, Redskins | 8 | 145 | 18.1 | 0 |
 | Special feature |
 | NBCSports.com |
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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