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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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.
AP
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Colts achieved everything they wanted Sunday.
Peyton Manning reached 4,000 yards. Marvin Harrison became the NFL’s No. 2 all-time receiver. Dallas Clark broke a 42-year-old franchise record. And the Colts won their 12th game for a sixth straight season, extending their own NFL record.
Indy followed Tony Dungy’s season-ending script to perfection, knocking out the individual milestones quickly enough for the starters to rest, and the backups put away AFC South champion Tennessee 23-0.
“We wanted to play well and get off to a fast start with our first unit, and we did that,” coach Tony Dungy said. “I’m proud of our guys and the way they played. I like where we are, and I think we’ll be ready next week.”
Now the Colts head West to San Diego for a first-round playoff game next week against the AFC West champs. Indy is seeded fifth and could not improve its playoff position Sunday.
But the Colts (12-4) still played well enough to win their ninth straight. They have beaten the Chargers and the AFC North and South champs during the streak and enter the playoffs with their first shutout since Dec. 14, 1997.
They even did it despite deactivating eight key players including Bob Sanders, last season’s defensive player of the year. Tennessee (13-3) managed only 125 yards of offense and had just one first down in the first half.
Part of the reason was that the Titans followed a similarly cautious strategy. Coach Jeff Fisher put eight starters on the inactive list and yanked quarterback Kerry Collins after only three plays.
With nothing to gain after locking up the AFC’s top seed last week, Fisher simply tried to avoid showing too much.
“They’re playing very, very well, but there’s a chance we may play them again, so we just lined up and played today,” he said.
The disparity between the teams, though, was stark.
Manning was 7-of-7 for 95 yards with one touchdown and a perfect rating of 158.3, extending his NFL record of 4,000-yard seasons to nine before leaving after one series. Dan Marino is second all-time with six 4,000-yard seasons.
Clark broke the franchise season record for yards receiving by a tight end, catching six passes for 59 yards. He finished with 848 yards, surpassing Hall-of-Famer John Mackey’s 829 in 1966.
Harrison caught seven passes for 31 yards, passing Cris Carter (1,101) for second all-time, and now has 1,102.
Indy’s backups were productive, too.
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The Titans watched Manning move the Colts 90 yards on the opening possession, ending it with a nifty 55-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Addai, who lined up as a receiver. That made it 7-0 with 9:12 to go in the first quarter.
Things only got worse for Tennessee.
The Titans nearly lost a fumble on their first play and Indy fans wanted intentional grounding called on the second. After punting, Tennessee didn’t touch the ball again for more than 13 minutes.
Adam Vinatieri connected on two short field goals to make it 13-0 and his third, a 38-yarder late in the first half, gave Indy a 16-0 lead and sealed Tennessee’s fate.
Tennessee had only one real scoring chance, but Rob Bironas pushed a 48-yard field goal try to the right.
And the Colts wrote a perfect ending to a perfect second-half comeback.
“They’re all special,” said Dungy, who was photographed with his family at game’s end. “But we really wanted to get that 12th win. It was a great way to end this season at home.”
Notes: Dungy said not to read anything into the photo op although he still intends to ponder retirement when this season ends. ... For the first time since 2003, the Colts had more punts in a season than touchdowns. ... Bironas’ miss ended a stretch of 12 straight field goals, dating to Nov. 9. ... The Colts allowed only six touchdowns through the air this season, the fewest ever in a 16-game NFL season. ... Titans linebacker Josh Stamer hurt his groin. ... Titans third-string quarterback Chris Simms played for the first time in 26 months in the fourth quarter.
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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.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
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.
