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.
AP“It didn’t look good at 5-5-1, but I was so sure we were better than 5-5-1 team,” he said. “What I never doubted was the quality of our coaching and the character of our players. There were a lot of close games we lost and you have to win those. But the fact they could come back from so many heartbreaking losses early in the season is remarkable.”
McNabb, who’s going to his fifth NFC Championship in 10 NFL seasons, is the touchstone for that resilience.
“He’s such a good leader,” said Lurie. “(Success) takes coming back from tough losses. It’s what every team is faced with.”
When asked about the change in his game since being benched against Baltimore, McNabb keeps saying he’s not playing any differently. Then he says he is, at least in terms of attitude.
“(It changed) after the Baltimore game (November 23) believe it or not,” he said. “We talked as a team. After the Cincinnati game (a 13-13 tie on November 16) we realized guys were pressing too much and that included myself. As a team we need to get back to guys flying around, supporting each other. We just fed each week off of that. We’re a much better team when we’re loose.”
It seems that, in order for a team to get loose, it has to play with blinders on, shutting out the negativity it brought upon itself. Some teams rally together when things are going bad. Others splinter.
“We stick together,” said Eagles linebacker Trent Cole. “We didn’t give up, we didn’t get bent out of shape and we kept fighting until something broke.”
What broke was the rest of the NFC. While the Eagles and the Cardinals got themselves fixed. And now these once-broken toys are meeting to see which one gets to the Super Bowl.
Bizarre.
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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