American Football Thread (NFL, NCAA)

It's almost game time! The Ravens have to win today, this cannot be #52's last game. It can't be.

Go Ravens!

 

AP Sources: Syracuse's Marrone to take over Bills
By JOHN WAWROW (AP Sports Writer) | The Associated Press – 8 minutes ago

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report...RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuZmwEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- The Buffalo Bills have reached an agreement to hire Syracuse's Doug Marrone as their next coach, two people familiar with talks told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Marrone will replace Chan Gailey, who was fired last Monday, a day after the Bills closed their second consecutive season with a 6-10 record. The 48-year-old Marrone went 25-25 in four seasons at Syracuse.
One person told the AP that the deal is done. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there has not been an official announcement. A second person confirmed that the Bills were set on hiring Marrone, who was identified as the team's leading candidate Saturday night.
ESPN.com, citing league sources, first reported early Sunday that Marrone would be the Bills' next coach. Messages left with Syracuse officials and Marrone's agent, Jimmy Sexton, have not been returned.
Syracuse was 26-57 over a seven-year period before Marrone took over at his alma mater. The Orange finished this season 8-5, winning six of their last seven games, including a 38-14 win over West Virginia in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Now, he's set for another challenge two hours down the New York State Thruway.
Marrone takes over a Bills team that has not had a winning record since 2004, when it finished 9-7, and has missed the playoffs for 13 straight seasons. That's the NFL's longest active streak.
The Syracuse job was Marrone's first as a head coach. He has seven years of NFL experience. Marrone spent 2006-08 as the New Orleans Saints' offensive coordinator and was the New York Jets' offensive line coach from 2002-05.
The Bills' decision to go with Marrone came on a day they were scheduled to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. The meeting, however, was postponed by McCoy, according to a person familiar with the coach's plans. The person said McCoy asked that the Bills reschedule the meeting because he was already interviewing for several other coaching vacancies this weekend.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Bills and McCoy have not revealed their plans.
As the AFC's top seed, the Broncos are off until opening the playoffs Jan. 12. They allotted time for interested teams to interview McCoy in Denver this weekend. McCoy is a candidate for jobs in Philadelphia, Arizona and Chicago.
The Bills opened their coaching search Tuesday, when newly promoted President Russ Brandon and several executives traveled to Arizona, where they interviewed candidates. They met with former Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt and current Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton. The Bills also interviewed Oregon coach Chip Kelly and former Bears coach Lovie Smith.
On Friday, the Bills confirmed they had interviewed Marrone, but they did not reveal when or where that meeting took place.
Marrone had also interviewed with the Cleveland Browns for their vacancy.

 

Bruce Arians has been hospitalised and won't be on the Colts sideline today. Emotions are really gonna be running high in this game!

 

just saw that lets hope it's nothing serious!

 

This game is done

 

Thanks, nice of you to say.

And I don't think Webb bottled it. He looked great on their first drive (which I feared), but the Packers quickly adjusted and his lack of playing time hurt their efforts.

 

Definitely all over now!

 

Luck played well from what I seen there. His receivers just couldnt make the catches. A bit like Brady in the last Superbowl

 

First half of this Redskins v Seahawks game is already better than the other three games were.

 

RG3 should be taken out.

 

Hope RG3 is ok.

Should have taken him out ages ago though.

 

He started hobbling very early on. Could've easily put Cousins on, when 14-0 up and in hindsight you see they hardly made any progress after those two early scores.

 

Brilliant to see Ray Lewis' career extended for another week at least. It was quite emotional seeing him going around M&T for the last time after the game. He is the greatest Raven of them all. Total legend.

It was a shame to see 2 of the play-off games this week ruined by injuries to QB's. The Vikings game was ruined before it started when Christian Ponder had to sit out and the Redskins lost a game they probably would have won if RGIII had been 100% healthy.

All of the 8 teams left are good teams so next week's games should be good to watch. I'm looking forward to them already...........

 

y\Yeah, this week's wildcard games were probably the worse I've seen collectively in a while. Not one of the games was all that interesting.

 

Redskins lost a game they probably should have won if Shanahan hadn't jeopardized the future of his franchise quarterback. Absolutely criminal, especially in the wake of their doctor coming out and saying that he was never consulted during the Baltimore game unlike Shanahan had lied about. He's put players in with concussions before as well, I only wish somebody could be as reckless with his career as he has been for these young guys over the years.

 

I tuned in afterwards to see the ESPN pundits wax lyrical in Shanahan's defence, the montage of Griffin clearly struggling made it comical.

 

Sources: Chip Kelly staying at Oregon

By ANNE M. PETERSON (AP Sports Writer) | The Associated Press – 50 minutes ago

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/source...RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

Chip Kelly is staying at Oregon.
Two people with knowledge of the decision confirmed Sunday night that Kelly is passing up a chance to coach in the NFL to remain with the Ducks. One person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Oregon and Kelly haven't formally announced the decision, while the other person wasn't authorized to reveal Kelly's plans. The decision was first reported by ESPN.
Kelly had lengthy interviews this weekend with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, and also talked to the Buffalo Bills. Last year, he had talks with Tampa Bay.
The 49-year-old coach earned a base salary of $2.8 million this past season last at Oregon and has five years left on his contract. The No. 5 Ducks, known for the innovative offense that Kelly devised, beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night to finish the season 12-1.
Kelly is 46-7 in four years at Oregon and the Ducks have been to four straight BCS bowl games - including a bid for the national championship against Auburn two seasons ago - and won three Pac-12 championships. He originally came to the Ducks in 2007 as offensive coordinator under Mike Bellotti. Before that, he was offensive coordinator at New Hampshire.
Earlier Sunday, a person familiar with Cleveland's coaching search said the team passed on Kelly after he was indecisive about making the leap to the NFL. The Browns nearly had a deal with Kelly two days ago, but they've moved on to other candidates, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the search.
The buyout for Kelly's contract with Oregon is $3.5 million.
Kelly's decision to stay at Oregon came as a surprise after months of speculation that this season was his last with the Ducks. It appeared that offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was the leading candidate to replace him.
Ducks fans at the Fiesta Bowl made their feelings clear by chanting ''We want Chip!'' during the victory celebration. Nike co-founder and Oregon mega-booster Phil Knight proclaimed to a reporter following the game: ''I was one of 'em.''
Kelly himself said about the NFL interest: ''I'll listen and we'll see.''
But at the same time, he acknowledged a love for Oregon.
''It's a special place with special people. They accepted me six years ago when I was at New Hampshire. Not many people knew about me,'' Kelly said. ''Gave me an opportunity to come here. It really means a lot.''
In staying at Oregon, Kelly will have to deal with fallout from an NCAA investigation into the school's use of recruiting services.
The inquiry is the result of reports that surfaced in 2011 concerning payments Oregon made to two such services, including a $25,000 check sent to Willie Lyles and Houston-based Complete Scouting Services in 2010. Lyles had a relationship with a player who committed to Oregon.
Last month, Yahoo Sports reported that Oregon is headed toward a hearing with the NCAA committee on infractions because the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on appropriate sanctions. Yahoo cited two unidentified sources.
Earlier this year, Oregon requested a summary disposition in the case. The school presented a report to the infractions committee outlining violations the school believed occurred and appropriate sanctions. But that request was apparently turned down.
The NCAA does not comment on ongoing investigations.
''We've cooperated fully with them. If they want to talk to us again, we'll continue to cooperate fully,'' Kelly said following the Fiesta Bowl. ''I feel confident in the situation.''
Kelly explained that he stayed at Oregon following the interest from Tampa Back because he had ''unfinished business'' with the Ducks. The team was ranked No. 1 and appeared headed for another shot at the national championship until a 17-14 loss to Stanford on Nov. 17.

he did the same thing to Tampa last year! Ohh well full disclosure I am glad he is not coming here. The defenses in the division would eat him alive!

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbZSSLA3QMg"]FIGHT! Seahawks' Trent Williams hits Redskins' Richard Sherman in the face postgame. - YouTube[/ame]

This made me happy.

 

The whole Robert Griffin debate. I haven`t seen much of Cousins but Griffin was a totally different version of what we`ve seen all season. He became effectively a pocket passer and even though he did scramble a few times; his scrambling ability was a shadow of its previous form. Before he eventually left the game in the 4th when his knee gave way, Griffin on at least 2 occasions that were shown his knee hyper-extended (even with the support). I notice a bit of hoo-ha has been kicked up by the doctor today claiming he was "worried"about Griffin playing.

Why when it was obvious to many did he not say or if he did say not be more vocal about it at the time???

Now Ok, he might not have the clout to influence. Then I would question the other coaching staff and in particular the Head Coach for allowing Griffin to play on. Griffin may have felt he was good enough but it was clear he wasn`t. Redskins played a dangerous game with their QB yesterday and hopefully the injury isn`t serious.

On another note, it was a shame we never got to see both Wilson and Griffin go full pelt in that environment.

 

Predictions for this week?

Last week I went for Green Bay, Houston, Baltimore and Washington.

This week; Green Bay, Atlanta, New England and Denver.

Hope I'm wrong on the last one though.