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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
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The Cowboys' biggest problem a year ago was a defense so porous it allowed 405 points and gave up 31 touchdown passes while intercepting only 13 balls.
Bill Parcells promised to fix that, then ordered defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to prepare to shift to the 3-4 front Parcells always has favored, even though Zimmer has never coached it.
That meant out with his miniature linemen and linebackers and in with a ton of new faces, starting with former Jets' nose tackle and run stuffer Jason Ferguson. He will anchor a defensive line with solid but undersized holdovers such as La'Roi Glover and Greg Ellis as well as young Kenyon Coleman. Glover will work primarily as a pass rushing specialist and could be effective in that role because he'll be fresh. Parcells also remade the secondary, paying big money to cornerback Anthony Henry to join former No. 1 draft choice Terence Newman before adding 33-year-old ex-Pro Bowl corner Aaron Glenn, who Parcells also coached with the Jets, to be a wise force at nickel back.
Parcells didn't stop there. He used six of his eight draft picks on defense, including two No. 1s on defensive end Marcus Spears, who is a big-bodied run stuffer, and linebacker Demarcus Ware, who can rush the passer either standing up or from a three-point stance and bears a striking resemblance to Lawrence Taylor. Ware was highly coveted by Parcells but a lot of people have been sent to the bus station looking to become the next LT. Then again, if anyone knows the requirements it's Parcells, who plans to unleash Ware from all over the place to try and cause havoc and he showed flashes of what he can do in preseason at the expense of the Seattle Seahawks.
All the changes were not on on defense, however. Parcells wants to build a ball control running game, so he added a powerful guard in ex-Packer Marco Rivera to bolster his line before signing Drew Bledsoe to become Dallas' eighth starting quarterback since the retirement of Troy Aikman five years ago.
Parcells values Bledsoe's toughness and his passing arm, but he plans to base his offense on a ground game led by running back Julius Jones. Jones broke his shoulder blade early in his rookie year but he came back with a vengeance later in the season, rushing for 819 yards on 197 attempts in eight games, averaging 104.4 overall and posting three games in which he rushed for 149 or more yards. Parcells believes if he can control the ball with the running game and limit what he asks of Bledsoe, his former quarterback with the Patriots can still do serious damage to opposing defenses. Parcells has surrounded Bledsoe with better protection and four solid receivers in ex-Jet Keyshawn Johnson, ex-Patriot Terry Glenn, Quincy Morgan and the kind of pass catching tight end in Jason Witten that Bledsoe has always liked.
Just in case, Parcells also brought in running back Anthony "A-Train'' Johnson, who twice rushed for over 1,000 yards with the Bears. Johnson is insurance in case Jones has injury problems again and because Parcells' goal is to run the ball 30 to 35 times a game. He needs two good backs to do that and he believes he has them and the kind of massive line to make the holes they need to control the ball.
All and all, Parcells has brought in a lot of new faces but most of them are veterans familiar with his system and ways of coaching so he seems to have geared up for one last run for it all at the age of 62.
HOT SEAT: Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe desperately wants to prove he's not finished as an NFL starter and he knows this is his last chance to do it after losing starting jobs in New England and Buffalo. Bledsoe still has the arm to make the deep throw and led a late-season rally with the Bills, winning nine of his last 12 starts on a team that averaged 36 points a game over that stretch. But the Bills felt much of that was done because of the running of Willis McGahee and were mindful of a startling fact.
Bledsoe is 5-34 against teams with 10 wins or more during his 12-year career. That's not all his fault, but his lack of mobility got him sacked 86 times the past two seasons and forced him into some bad decisions and they felt that's not changing at his age. The change of scenery and reunion with Parcells may be enough though to allow him to recreate himself into a Phil Simms-like game manager with the arm to hurt opposing defenses after the running game has softened them up.
OVERHEARD: Parcells fell in love with a young linebacker named Bradie James three years ago, and he's going to get his chance to shine at inside linebacker. James is the prototypical 3-4 inside linebacker. He has speed and at 6-2, 245 the the kind of size Parcells prizes when looking for a run stopper. But the former LSU star has to show he can fill the right gaps regularly and react quickly enough to make big plays.
OUTLOOK: If Bledsoe is reborn in Dallas and all the familiar faces Parcells imported have enough left, the Cowboys could be back in the playoffs after a dismal 2004 season convinced him they had to make massive defensive changes and return to the running game Parcells loves.
PREDICTION: Second.
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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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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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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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