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.
PITTSBURGH - The Super Bowl champion Steelers are losing their confidence as fast as they’re losing leads and losing games. The Oakland Raiders? Suddenly, they’re winning like they did in the old days, with remarkable comebacks and surprise finishes.
Louis Murphy caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski with nine seconds remaining, his second score in the final 5½ minutes, and the Raiders scored three late touchdowns to stun Pittsburgh 27-24 on Sunday and deal the Steelers their fourth consecutive loss.
The Steelers (6-6), in danger of missing the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl for a second time in four seasons, went ahead 24-20 on Ben Roethlisberger’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward with 1:56 remaining, only to have the Raiders (4-8) rally and win it.
For the two-touchdown underdog Raiders, it was a comeback win even better than their 20-17 upset over Cincinnati two weeks before. Then, Murphy caught a 29-yard touchdown pass and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal in the final 33 seconds.
Overmatched against his hometown Steelers last season, Gradkowski became the first Raiders quarterback to throw three touchdowns in a fourth quarter since Ken Stabler during a 42-35 win over New Orleans on Dec. 3, 1979, when Oakland trailed 35-14.
Who does Gradkowski think he is, one-time Raiders comeback king George Blanda? Until Sunday, the Raiders had thrown only five touchdown passes all season.
Gradkowski, who completed only two passes and had a 1.0 passer rating during a 31-0 loss in Pittsburgh with Cleveland last December, finished 20 of 33 for 308 yards with a passer rating of 121.8.
“Our receivers coach (Sanjay Lal) gave us a message, and he brought up the Miracle on Ice, Buster Douglas knocking out (Mike) Tyson, and things that were just unbelievable but the people that did it believed they could,” wide receiver Todd Watkins said.
Pittsburgh, 6-2 at midseason, has lost to two of the NFL’s worst teams in the last three weeks, the Chiefs (3-9) and the Raiders, to fall three games behind Cincinnati (9-3) in the AFC North.
“I can’t even describe how frustrating it is right now to be 6-6,” linebacker James Farrior said. “We thought we’d be doing a lot better at this point. But we are what our record says we are.”
It was the fifth time in six losses the Steelers couldn’t hold a lead in the fourth quarter. They led 10-6, 17-13 and 24-20.
“As a defense, you want to be dominant,” cornerback Deshea Townsend said. “The way to be dominating is when your team needs you to finish.”
After three quarters with little scoring, long stretches of inactivity and an unusually quiet crowd, the fourth quarter became a back-and-forth duel between revived offenses, with the lead changing five times in the final 8½ minutes.
“We’d score, they’d score, we’d score,” Oakland’s Jon Condo said.
It all started when Gradkowski connected with Chaz Schilens on a 17-yard scoring pass with 8:21 remaining to give Oakland its first lead at 13-10.
The Raiders, held to 49 points in their first five road games and next to last in the NFL in offense, fell behind 17-13 on Rashard Mendenhall’s 3-yard TD run one play after Roethlisberger’s 57-yard hookup with Santonio Holmes. Holmes earlier put Pittsburgh up 10-3 with a 34-yard scoring catch.
Oakland answered again when Murphy got behind Ike Taylor on a 75-yard touchdown pass that made it 20-17 with 5:28 to go, but it wasn’t nearly over.
Pittsburgh drove 80 yards in seven plays for Ward’s touchdown, but left enough time on the clock — almost three minutes — for Oakland to win it with the kind of drive it’s rarely mounted all season, much less three times in a quarter.
Gradkowski found Murphy for 19 yards to the Steelers 40 and 17 yards to the 23, and a late-hit penalty on backup safety Ryan Mundy gave Oakland a first down at the 11. Murphy then got free behind Mundy — playing only because Troy Polamalu (left knee) missed a third consecutive game — for the game-winner.
“That was so exciting, I can’t even put into words how I feel,” said Gradkowski, whose first two starts in Pittsburgh in 2006 and 2008 yielded three points, five interceptions and zero wins.
Playing 17 days shy of the 37th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers had one more chance. Roethlisberger threw into the end zone from the 50 on the final play, but Hiram Eugene knocked down a pass intended for Limas Sweed.
No miracle finish against Oakland this time.
“We played poorly at a critical time, so you lose when you do that,” coach Mike Tomlin said.
Notes: Roethlisberger, returning after sitting out a game with a concussion, was 18 of 24 for 278 yards, two TDs and an interception thrown into the end zone late in the first half. ... The Steelers have allowed seven plays of 40 yards or longer in their last four. They gave up only two such plays last season. ... Pittsburgh is 2-5 when Polamalu doesn’t start. ... Murphy made four catches for 128 yards, all in the fourth quarter.
|
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.
 | Slideshow |
 |
NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | Super Bowl XLVI shots See the best moments before, during and after the Giants' win over the Patriots more photos |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Getty Images |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.
