Why I’m Done With Mike Shanahan
whatever the quarterback’s faults, I believe he’s committed to winning. Whatever the coach’s strengths, I believe he’s at a point in his career where other priorities are in the way.
J.P. Flynn
About J.P. Flynn
Posts by J.P. Flynn:
NFL Week 14 Closing Thoughts: Eagles & Bears Move Forward
NFL Week 14 was fraught with dramatic finishes and bad weather games. Once the dust had settled last night in Chicago, it was clear the most significant developments in the playoff race had taken place in the NFC East and NFC North. On a week where the divisions had their best two teams playing crisscross matchups with each other, the teams that needed it the most–the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears–got a leg up.
The Symphony That Is The College Bowl Schedule Is Set
Bowl season is like a great symphony, with its gradual buildup, alternating between a rapid pace and slower movement, and finally building to its championship crescendo. What we’re going to do here today is break down the schedule by those movements. TheSportsNotebook’s bowl coverage will be structured around this schedule layout, with previews and wrap-ups as each movement begins and ends.
Monday Night Football: Dallas & Chicago Each Need To Keep Pace
The second half of what amounts to the NFC East-NFC North Challenge goes on Monday Night Football. The Dallas Cowboys go on the road to meet the Chicago Bears (8:30 PM ET, NBC). The Cowboys have to keep pace in the East with the Philadelphia Eagles, who knocked off the Detroit Lions on Sunday. That same result opens the door for the Bears to pull back even with the Lions in the North.
Final BCS Bowl Projections: Sparty Saves The System
There will be no controversy over the national championship game participants in this final year of the BCS. We’ll get a true championship game, one that requires the SEC champion to be beaten on the field by someone outside their conference, and with a clear alternative having emerged as the challenger. Florida State will play Auburn for the national title on January 6 in Pasadena and we have the Michigan State Spartans to thank for bringing us the clarity.
NFL Week 14: NFC Showdowns Ahead Sunday
NFL Week 14 Sunday’s slate is expected to be marked by some inclimate weather in the East and Midwest, but that won’t affect the two showcase games of the day. There’s big divisional battles on hand in the NFC as teams continue their push for home playoff games and first round byes, and no game is bigger than the one down in the Bayou on prime-time
College Football Championship Saturday: Six Crowns On The Line
It’s time for the best day of the year on the college football calendar, and one of the best days to be a sports fan. College Football Championship Saturday, the first Saturday of December has taken the place of New Year’s Day in the culture of college football.
Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Oregon State Falls Hard At The End
Oregon played its way first out of the national title race, then out of the conference championship. Stanford missed a chance to be in the discussion for the national title. But no team fell harder down the stretch than the Oregon State Beavers.
ACC Bowl Projections: A Glut Of Riches
The ACC has a higher percentage of its teams bowl-eligible than any BCS conference.
Eleven of the fourteen ACC schools won at least six games and made themselves eligible for a bowl invitation. That’s 78.5 percent, which stands narrowly ahead of the Pac-12 (9/12, for 75 percent) and SEC (10/14, for 71 percent).
Big 12 Bowl Projections: Two Big Games Ahead On Saturday
The Big 12 is the one major conference without a championship game on the first Saturday in December, but the conference does have two big games coming up that will settle its automatic BCS bid, with three teams still in the mix, and determine if the league might get an at-large spot in the major bowls.
Thursday Night TV Sports: College Football & NBA Cover For Hideous NFL Game
I’m not going to enable the NFL obsession of our national sports media by giving this game any more attention than it deserves, other than to make a pick of Jacksonville (+155) on the moneyline for an outright win.
The Biggest MAC Football Championship Game Goes Friday Night
The MAC football championship will be settled on Friday night in Detroit, when Northern Illinois meets Bowling Green at Ford Field (8 PM ET, ESPN2). It’ s not too much to say this might be the most significant game in the history of this conference, and might not be even too much to call it the best matchup of all the championship games that college football fans have to choose from in this greatest weekend of the year.