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 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.
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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.
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
HOUSTON - Fifteen wins in a row. And you can bet that Bill Belichick is already thinking about a 16th.
The New England coach earned his second NFL title Sunday, guiding the Patriots to a 32-29 victory that wasn’t sealed until Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left. Only then did Belichick allow himself to acknowledge the remarkable winning streak that carried the team from October to February.
“You win 15 games in a row and that culminates in a Super Bowl championship — I can’t say enough about the players,” Belichick said. “They’ve been in so many tough situations and they’ve always managed to come through and come out on top. It’s been an unbelievable team and been a real thrill for me to coach them.”
And they’re proud to have the NFL’s coach of the year on their side.
“He’s one of the best I’ve ever played for,” Patriots linebacker Roman Phifer said. “As far as preparation goes, he knows how to put people in position to make plays.”
A second Super Bowl win puts the Patriots coach among such coaching luminaries as Vince Lombardi, Don Shula and, yes, even Belichick’s longtime boss, Bill Parcells. Belichick also won two Super Bowls as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator under Parcells.
“I don’t know about legacy, but I know that two out of three years in the modern era is quite an achievement,” offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said.
Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls in Pittsburgh, Joe Gibbs won three in Washington and Bill Walsh won three in San Francisco. Belichick joined eight other coaches who have won two.
It’s hard to believe it’s the same man who was run out of Cleveland after five years coaching the Browns. But Belichick came to New England as Parcells’ assistant and went back to the Super Bowl in 1997 — his only loss in five career trips.
After following Parcells to the New York Jets, Belichick came back to the Patriots in 2000 as head coach and two years later had them in the Super Bowl again. Fourteen-point underdogs to the St. Louis Rams, they won on Vinatieri’s field goal with no time left and Belichick had earned his first championship as the man in charge.
It only gave him a taste for more.
This season, Belichick had to use all of his coaching tricks to get the Patriots back to the top. After he cut Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy five days before the season — and then lost to Milloy and his Buffalo Bills 31-0 in the opener — Belichick barely averted a locker room revolt.
The team was beset by injuries from the beginning — at one point, eight of the 22 opening day starters were out — but everyone that Belichick plugged in seemed up to the job. Once the roster was somewhat stabilized, the Patriots went on a winning streak not seen since the 1972 Miami Dolphins played a perfect 17-0 season.
“Coach said to stay focused and do what we do best,” defensive lineman Bobby Hamilton said. “Coach kept our team together through the ups and downs.”
After ending the regular season with 12 straight victories, Belichick noted that winning streaks meant nothing if they didn’t win the next game. And the next one. And the next one.
“He preached to us that one week had nothing to do with the next,” special teamer Larry Izzo said. “It all just shows why he’s the best coach with the best staff in the league.”
And they showed it on Sunday.
With the Patriots at the Carolina 1 and trailing 22-21, New England had linebacker Mike Vrabel and defensive lineman Richard Seymour enter the game as eligible receivers. Vrabel caught the second touchdown pass of his career to make it 27-22.
Then the Patriots went for 2, and they called for a direct snap to Kevin Faulk, who ran it in to make it a seven-point game. Carolina tied it on a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl — the same guy who caught the game-tying pass for the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl two years ago.
That’s when New England marched down the field to set up Vinatieri’s game-winner. Although the hero of the 2002 Super Bowl had missed twice in the game, Belichick didn’t hesitate to go back to him with the season in the balance.
“If you’ve got to have one kick with the game on the line, he’s the one I’d want kicking them,” Belichick said. “That was the game. That’s what Adam’s here for.”
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.
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.