USA TODAY Sports Weekly 2010.11.24 English)

$2.00QIJFAF-00007u(O)m

SportsCWeeklywww.usatoday.comON SALE NOV. 24-30, 2010

LADAINIANTOMLINSON

THOMASJONES Defying

hitsDefying

hitsRBs stillproductive

after yearsof wearand tear

the

http://hotnpapers.blogspot.com

2 · NOVEMBER 24–30, 2010 · USA TODAY SPORTS WEEKLY

Live scores and statson your cellphoneSend text message to 4INFO (44636) with:§TEAM NAME (YANKEES) or§PLAYER NAME (DEREK JETER)

30 MLB reportExploring potentialtrades of Zack Greinkeand Justin Upton; plus,awards surprises andpossible playoff changes.

32 Seattle slumpOrganizational report:The 2010 Mariners wentfrom darlings to door-mats, shifting focus backto player development.By Paul White

35 Patience, D.C.Organizational report:Despite improvement,Nationals general man-ager Mike Rizzo cautionsorganization is in infancy.By Seth Livingstone

Baseball

By Jamie Squire, Getty Images

Looking back: Zack Greinke wonthe AL Cy Young Award in 2009.

Volume IX, No. 12 (ISSN 1541-5228)

David Hunke, PublisherJohn Hillkirk, Editor

Monte Lorell, Managing editorA USA TODAY publication, Gannett Co. Inc.

Published weekly every Wednesday. Periodicals Postage Paidat McLean, VA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMAS-TER: Send address changes to USA TODAY Sports Weekly, P.O.BOX 10444, McLean, VA 22102-8444. Printed in the USA.USA TODAY SPORTS WEEKLY, its logo and associated graph-ics, are the trademarks of Gannett Co. Inc. or its affiliates. Allrights reserved. Copyright 2010, USA TODAY SPORTSWEEKLY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Basic subscription rate: Mail delivery 52 issues for $44.95(continental USA and Hawaii). For delivery or service in thecontinental USA, call 800-USA-1415 between 6:30 a.m.-10p.m. ET Monday-Friday. To subscribe outside the USA, call703-854-3527. Canada Post International Publications Mail(Canadian Distribution) sales agreement number 40010861.Canadian GST number 125153254.Subscriptions and change of address correspondence shouldbe sent to: Mike Chisari, Director National Customer Service,Sports Weekly 7950 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, VA 22108.

Editorial and publication headquarters are at 7950 JonesBranch Dr., McLean, VA 22108, 703-854-3400. Sports Week-ly’s editorial department can be reached on the Internet [email protected]. Our address on the World WideWeb is www.mysportsweekly.com.

Sports WeeklyCorrections & ClarificationsUSA TODAY is committed to accuracy.To reach us, contact Reader EditorBrent Jones at 800-872-7073 ore-mail [email protected].

4 Running against timeThe lifespan of an NFL running back is typical-ly short and painful. But this trio of NFL starskeeps on churning out the yards even as theirodometers keep rolling:uLaDainian Tomlinson, Page 5uThomas Jones, Page 6uRicky Williams, Page 7By Tom Pedulla

8 NFL reportBill Belichick and Andy Reid have successfullyreloaded their rosters without reeling in thestandings.By Jim CorbettuPower rankings, Page 9uRookie focus: Alterraun Verner, Page 9

More NFLFANTASY .......................................................................................... 10VALUE METER ................................................................................ 12WEEK 12 PREVIEWS, TEAM NOTES ................................. 14-29

NFL

Cover creditsThomas Jones by Denny Medley, US Presswire;LaDainian Tomlinson by Rick Stewart, Getty Images

1989 photo by Rusty Kennedy, AP

The Bengals’ Ickey Woods was a punishing ballcarrier whosecareer was cut short by injuries after four seasons.

After the shuffle,Woods’ raw deal

c

Advertising rep firmCraig [email protected]

Name ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________

City _____________________________________________________ State ____________ Zip ________________

Daytime phone ___________________________ E-mail ________________________________________________

Check term: � 13 weeks for $26* � 26 weeks for $52 � 1 year (52 issues) for $104(Credit card required)

Payment method: � Check enclosed (Payable to Sports Weekly)

Charge my: � VISA � MC � AMEX � Discover

Credit card # ________________________________________________________ Exp. date __________________

Signature (If paying by credit card) ______________________________________________________________________

*The 13-week term requires EZ-PAY sign up. EZ-PAY is a convenient paymentoption for subscribers. Every 13 weeks, your credit card will be charged auto-matically to continue the subscription at the published rate unless you notifyus otherwise. Local sales tax, when applicable, will be added to your order.Subscription lengthwill be adjusted accordingly.Delivery bymail only.Offer voidoutsideUSA.For foreign rates,call703-854-3340.Savingsbasedonnewsstandrates. Introductory offer for new subscribers only.Offer expires 4/30/11.

Call:

1-800-872-1415ask for offer 236

mysportsweekly.com/sw236

Mail orders to:USA TODAY Sports Weekly

7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22108

Subscribe Now& Save!Order the most complete guide to baseball and football

$44.95!$12.95!* $24.95!

56%OFF


USA TODAY SPORTS WEEKLY · NOVEMBER 24–30, 2010 · 3

Managerial merry-go-roundWhen baseball’s regular season ended, nine

managerial jobs were available, and as Terry Col-lins’ hiring by the New York Mets fills the lastavailable slot, an old theme has been revisited:Retreads are in.

Of the nine managers hired or retained sincethe end of the season, four are in at least theirsecond go-round as managers: Eric Wedge (Se-attle Mariners), Fredi Gonzalez (Atlanta Braves),Clint Hurdle (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Collins.

Three were interim managers retained by theirclubs: Kirk Gibson (Arizona Diamondbacks),Mike Quade (Chicago Cubs) and Edwin Rodri-guez (Florida Marlins).

— Gabe Lacques

Get MLB news at dailypitch.usatoday.com

Johnson: Worthy of Hall?In The Huddle blog’s ongoing series, USA

TODAY’s Nate Davis examines the Hall ofFame credentials of current NFL players. Thisweek: the Houston Texans’ Andre Johnson.

It’s been a frustrating season for Johnson,a trend that continued Sunday when thewide receiver was limited to four catchesfor 32 yards against the New York Jets.

Johnson, a Pro Bowler in four of the lastsix years, has been nursing an ankle injurythat has cost him one game, and he’ll needa strong finish to become the first man topost three consecutive 1,500-yard receivingseasons while trying to drive the suddenlyflagging Texans to their first playoff birth.

Still, coming into Week 11 the two-timefirst-team all-pro ranked No. 1 in NFL histo-ry with 79.4 receiving yards a game, has astrong claim as the game’s top wideout andhas quickly built an impressive case to bethe first member of the Texans worthy of aticket to Canton, Ohio.

In seven-plus seasons, Johnson has 643

catches for 8,761 yards, leaving him 10thamong current players in both categories.uIs Andre Johnson a Hall of Famer?

O Still has to improve credentials ............51%O No way........................................................25%O Absolutely ..................................................24%

Votes: 1,475 at thehuddle.usatoday.com

By Stephen Morton, AP

Held in check: Texans wide receiver AndreJohnson has had a tough go of it lately.

By Koji Watanabe, Getty Images

Back in business: Terry Collins previ-ously managed the Angels and Astros.

As CBS celebrates its 5,000th NFL gamebroadcast with Miami Dolphins-OaklandRaiders on Sunday (4 p.m. ET), the weekalso offers two modern NFL TV twists:uThe Thanksgiving Day triplehead-

er. Some good teams will be on display.The problem is they won’t be playingeach other.

CBS kicks off with the 8-2 New EnglandPatriots at the 2-8 Detroit Lions(12:30 p.m. ET) in the annual Lions homegame that the NFL should rotate betweenvarious teams, rather than upsetting the

nation’s digestion withits annual spotlight onthe Lions.

Then Fox offers aflawed second course inthe 7-3 New OrleansSaints at 3-7 Dallas. The

Cowboys are usually the NFL’s biggest TVstar, and Fox’s Terry Bradshaw on Sun-day suggested Dallas could make theplayoffs. But a game that seemed tastywhen the NFL’s TV menu first came outlooks a little bland.

With the arrival of the NFL Network(NFLN) having turned Turkey Day into athree-course TV sit-down, it’s worth sav-ing room for its 2-8 Cincinnati Bengals at8-2 New York Jets dessert (8:20 p.m. ET),if only because the Jets have been consis-tently entertaining since appearing onHBO’s preseason Hard Knocks.

As NBC’s Bob Costas put it: “A smartman once said, ‘It’s better to be luckythan good.’ Better yet to be both. Exhib-it A for 2010: the New York Jets.”

Oddly, the NFL TV carrier without anyTurkey Day action might have the biggestrooting interest. If the Patriots and Jetswin, ESPN will inherit a monster big-mar-ket showdown when the teams play thenext week on Monday Night Football.uAnnouncer-less game coverage

with lots of talking. Given NFLN’s gameanalysts — loquacious Joe Theismannand Matt Millen — there’ll be plenty oftalk for its live Bengals-Jets coverage. Butthere’ll probably be even more when itre-airs the game Saturday night (8:30ET). NFLN will not use announcers butwill instead draw from about 15 playersand coaches miked during the game —with any expletives scrubbed.

MLB note: With ESPN having droppedannouncers Joe Morgan and Jon Millerfrom the 21-year perch calling Sundaynight MLB games, Miller says he’s mullingan offer to keep calling those marqueegames for ESPN Radio. But while he plansto listen to the offer, Miller tells the SanFrancisco Chronicle, he’s not likely to ac-cept it. Miller also calls San Francisco Gi-ants games.

Holiday broadcastsserve up some turkeys

ricig by Mike Ricigliano

Thursday

NoonFantasy football chat: USA TO-DAY’s Matt Pitzer answers your

Week 12 lineup questionsClick here: fantasyfootball.usatoday.com

NFL picks: USA TODAY’s panel picks theWeek 12 winnersClick here: nfl.usatoday.com

FridayBell Tolls: USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell pre-views Week 12Click here: nfl.usatoday.com

Sunday

NoonFantasy football chat: USATODAY’s Matt Pitzer helps set

your Week 12 lineupClick here: fantasyfootball.usatoday.com

Monday10 Questions: USA TODAY’s Sean Leahyspins around the NFL with 10 questionsfrom Sunday’s Week 12 gamesClick here: thehuddle.usatoday.com

TuesdayNFL replay: USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell’sbest and worst from Week 12Click here: nfl.usatoday.com

All times Eastern

.

Webline

By Sam Riche, The Indianapolis Star

Super sub: The Colts’ Blair White, right, hasbeen filling in for injured Austin Collie.

I thought they were going to saythat (Brett) Favre was going tocoach from the backfield.

— Lefty.Greene, on the Minne-sota Vikings firing coach Brad Chil-dress

Overheard atusatoday.com

Your connectionto sports coverageonline and TV

Onlineand on TV

MichaelHiestand

WWW.SPORTS-WATCH.COM - NFL 2010 - W - L - Units------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Sports Asylum #1 25 17 +6.3Alleghenies Analysis #2 16 9 +6.1



CINCINNATI

ICKEY WOODS OFFERS HIS mid-dle-aged version of the “IckeyShuffle,” the end-zone dance hemade popular when his bruising

running ability helped the fun-lovingCincinnati Bengals reach SuperBowl XXIII to close the 1988 season.

Woods barely has a perceptiblebounce to his step as he extends hisright leg three times and repeatsthat motion rather stiffly to the left.

There is nothing pleasant aboutwatching this “Ickey Shuffle” andcertainly nothing to celebrate. His in-ability to do much of a shuffle at allprovides a grim reminder of theenormous toll the NFL can take onrunning backs.

“I have problems with my kneesevery day,” says amiable Woods,speaking before he appeared at a re-cent ESPN Monday Night FootballChalk Talk luncheon at CincinnatiMusic Hall. “I can’t even really bendthem.

“It’s a process getting up in themorning. It’s half an hour, 45 min-utes before I’m walking good. Andon really cold days, they ache some-thing fierce.”

He is due to have both knees re-placed in February. Doctors urgedhim to have surgery earlier, but hewanted to wait until after the SuperBowl. That’s how much footballmeans to him.

Woods’ chest all but swells withpride when he reflects on a careershortened to four years by devastat-ing injuries to both knees. As he de-scribes his straight-ahead style, herefers to himself as a bulldozer.

“It was fun to actually run some-body over,” he says, “being in thefilm room and talking about it andlaughing about it.”

Woods’ rookie season was memo-rable as he played a key role in help-ing Cincinnati reach the Super Bowlby rushing for 1,066 yards and 15touchdowns. He bulled ahead for an-other 228 yards and three touch-downs during the postseason.

His second year became forgetta-ble when he tore the anterior cruci-ate ligament in his left knee in the

second game.He would not step on the field

again for 13 months.The freak injury to his right knee

that forced retirement after four sea-sons underscores how quickly it canall end for a running back.

According to the NFL Players Asso-ciation, the average career of a run-ning back is 2.57 years.

Woods was going through a non-tackling drill during training campwith Cincinnati when a rookie, ap-parently thinking he was impressingcoaches with his toughness, grabbedthe veteran by the face mask.Woods’ neck and body twisted,causing his right leg to land at an im-possible angle.

“Needless to say, he was senthome the very next day,” Woodssays. “But the damage was done.”

Maladies all too common

Jerome Bettis, known as “The Bus”during a 13-year career, can identifywith the discomfort Woods experi-ences when he awakens.

“I think there’ll come a time whenI need to get my knees replaced,” hesays, “just because of the poundingof the sport I was involved in.”

Thickly-built Bettis was initiallyknown as “The Battering Ram” whenhe broke in with the Los AngelesRams. He pounded out 1,429 yardson the ground as the 1993 offensiverookie of the year.

He soon found he was neither abulldozer nor a battering ram.

“Early on in my career kind of pre-pared me for the end of my career,”says Bettis, another participant inthe Chalk Talk program. “My firstyear in the NFL I had a litany of inju-ries. I had a bruised sternum. I had abaseball-sized contusion on my hip. Ihad sore ribs, a sore knee. Every-thing was sore.”

Bettis had relished contact as afullback at Notre Dame. He soonfound he was playing not only a dif-ferent position but a more punishinggame in the pros.

“I realized if I wanted to play run-ning back,” he says, “I couldn’t sus-tain this type of punishment and stillbe effective. I came to the quick real-

ization that I had to make peoplemiss, and I had to avoid contact.”

Woods never changed his bulldoz-er mentality. Bettis did.

“If there were two or three guysmaking the tackle and there was noway out,” he says, “you have to besmart about it and go down insteadof fighting for another yard and put-ting yourself in a bad position.

“I was always physical. Whenthere was an opportunity, I took it.When there was zero opportunity, Iwas smart enough to pull back.”

The Kansas City Chiefs’ ThomasJones, in his 11th NFL season, echoes

many of Bettis’ sentiments. “I don’ttake too many hits. I can make guysmiss,” he says. “If you’re a smartrunner, you can play a long time.”

Fans envision running backsstraining with everything they havefor extra yardage even as tacklerstear at their arms and legs. That isthe stuff of Hollywood, not reality.

“Sometimes you have to knowwhen to go down,” Jones says. “Youhave to pick your battles because thewhole point is being durable andplaying the whole season.”

More and more, teams are gettingthat point by resorting to the two-

back system. It can extend careers ofquality runners and help keep themfresh and productive for critical late-season games and the playoffs.

“There are a limited number ofhits a guy can take, plain and sim-ple,” says NFL Network analyst andformer Baltimore Ravens coach BrianBillick. “Nobody, in my opinion, takesmore of a beating than the runningback. He is being hit more than anyplayer on the field.”

With defensive players bigger,stronger and faster, those hits seemto be increasingly difficult for oneback to continue to get up from.

1996 photo by Keith Srakocic, AP

Steelers great: “I realized if I wanted to play running back,” Jerome Bettis says, “I couldn’t sustain this type of punish-ment and still be effective. I came to the quick realization that I had to make people miss, and I had to avoid contact.”

A senior circuit of running backsPosition can cut careers short,but 30-somethings Tomlinson,Jones, Williams are new breedBy Tom Pedulla

National Football League



The Atlanta Falcons and MichaelTurner learned a lesson about thenature of the position in 2008. Theteam was eager to showcase Turnerafter signing him as a free agent. Tur-ner was equally enthusiastic aboutstrutting his stuff after being stuckbehind LaDainian Tomlinson withthe San Diego Chargers.

Turner carried 376 times for 1,699yards that season and set a franchiserecord with 17 rushing touchdowns.But there was a price to pay. He wasnot nearly the same player last year,missing five games with an ankle in-jury. He was limited to one carry af-ter Nov. 29.

“I do think we have to manage hisexposure to the number of times heis being hit,” says Falcons third-yearcoach Mike Smith of Turner, 28. “I’mnot going to set a number becausethat would be an artificial number,but we know he can’t have 376touches in a season and be produc-tive year in and year out.”

There are only so many miles onthe tires, leading teams to be keenlyaware of age.

“With any player, when he turns30, you say, ‘OK, let’s evaluate where

we are because the curve is trendingdownward,’ ” Billick says. “That’srunning backs, especially, because ofthe hits they take.”

Jones, 32, calls it annoying thatsome observers believe even thebest runners outlive their usefulnessand inevitably slow down at 30.

“It sounds good. It sounds asthough it might be logical,” he says.“But you have to take into consider-ation the player and his personality.It’s all about the person and his char-acter and his production.”

The Miami Dolphins’ Ricky Wil-liams, 33, says of his longevity, “Peo-ple say running backs last a certainnumber of years. I guess I never real-ly believed it, so I’m not surprised.”

Like Jones, Williams does not ap-preciate it when he hears commen-tators attach timelines to running ca-reers.

“It’s frustrating in the sense thatpeople are putting their limitationson us,” he says.

USA TODAY Sports Weekly looksat the New York Jets’ Tomlinson,Jones and Williams, three 30-some-thing backs who do not appear to berunning on empty:

By Richard Mackson, US Presswire

Ex-Charger recharged: The Jets’ LaDainian Tomlinson, 31, found strength he did not know existed in his workouts.

Tomlinson’sresurrection

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — “How doyou feel?” strength and conditioningexpert Joe Carini asked Tomlinsonsoon after the running back signedwith the Jets following his releasefrom the Chargers.

“I’ve got a lot left in me,” Tomlin-son replied. “I’ve got to get stronger.If I get stronger, I can get back towhere I was.”

Carini, who owns the House ofIron in Pine Brook, N.J., emphasizedthe need for dedication if his pro-gram was to make a difference for aonetime superstar coming off a ca-reer-low 730 rushing yards. He hadpiled up more than 1,000 yards onthe ground every year before that.

“I’m committed,” LT assured him.Then Carini watched Tomlinson

work and understood why he ranksamong the finest backs of all time.

“To be honest, commitment wentbeyond committing,” he says. “Theman would train, between runningand lifting, 41⁄2 hours straight.”

Tomlinson, 31, found strength he

did not know existed.“When he was all those years in

San Diego, (lifting) 225 pounds was alot. To me, we’re warming up at 400pounds,” Carini says. “After the firsthour, he was like, ‘This is no joke, butthis is what I need to be doing.’ ”

This season, Tomlinson has carriedthe ball 153 times for 692 yards, 38shy of his total of last season. He hasscored five of the Jets’ eight rushingTDs. He also leads the club with 43catches for 315 yards.

“This is how I expected things togo,” Tomlinson says contentedly.

The same holds true for Jets coachRex Ryan. He envisioned the one-time franchise back as an ideal run-ning mate for hard-charging second-year man Shonn Greene.

“When people said, ‘Well, his playis going down,’ I was like, ‘Well, I stillsee a great pass protector, a great re-ceiver and still a great runner,’ ” Ryansays. “He’s been everything we ex-pected, and more.”

Tomlinson heard boos from SanDiego fans who cheered him for somany years when the Jets held himto 24 yards on 12 carries in the Char-gers’ 17-14 playoff loss in January. Helooked very much like a worn-outback that afternoon.

But Tomlinson, 5-10 and 221pounds, says many factors explainhis revival. The biggest is a return tohealth after what he describes astwo years of nagging physical issues,including toe and groin injuries in2008 and a sprained ankle in 2009.

“I think everybody at one point intime gets injured because it’s a vio-lent game. I’ve had my share of that,”Tomlinson says. “If I hadn’t had thatthe last couple of years, nobodywould be talking about 30 and get-ting old and this kind of stuff.”

He finds the change in teams andcoasts invigorating. “You get to thepoint where . . . mentally you startto get drained,” he says. “In cominghere, I feel great.”

Ryan’s “Ground and Pound” phi-losophy evokes memories of “Marty-ball,” the smashmouth style he rel-ished under former San Diego coachMarty Schottenheimer. His run un-der Schottenheimer, the Chargers’coach from 2002-06, culminated in1,815 rushing yards and an NFL sin-gle-season record 28 rushing TDswhen he was league MVP in 2006.

“It is a better fit for me,” Tomlin-son says of Ryan’s run-first mental-ity. “(The Jets) use me the right way.”

Norv Turner, in his fourth year asSan Diego’s coach, emphasizes apassing attack that capitalizes on thePro Bowl talents of quarterback Phil-ip Rivers. The Chargers went to theair 519 times last season vs. 427 run-ning plays.

“Norv has his own philosophy,”Tomlinson says. “I tried to do thethings they wanted me to do, but itjust didn’t work out.”

Jets cornerback Antonio Cromar-tie, acquired from San Diego in atrade, credits New York’s offensiveline for Tomlinson’s revival.

“He’s the same guy he was in2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009,” Cro-martie says. “But he has an offensiveline that can block.”

The Jets led the NFL by averaging172.3 rushing yards last season. Theyreached the AFC ChampionshipGame for the first time since 1998.

The running game remains an es-sential element in New York’s suc-cess. The 8-2 Jets, tied with the NewEngland Patriots for the AFC Eastlead, rank fourth in rushing with145.9 yards.

“They run the football as good asanybody in the game,” Houston Tex-ans coach Gary Kubiak says.

According to Jets veteran righttackle Damien Woody, success onthe ground is a mind-set.

“Our basis is going to be ground-and-pound. That’s where everythingstarts,” Woody says. “We want to getoff the bus running.”

Ryan and general manager MikeTannenbaum were intrigued bymore than what Tomlinson can dowith a handoff.

“When you talk about thirddowns in particular, you not onlyhave a great receiver out of the back-field . . . but you’d better be able toprotect the quarterback. That’s whathe does,” Ryan says. “Oh, by the way,he’s a great runner with it.”

Second-year quarterback MarkSanchez calls Tomlinson “that securi-ty blanket underneath who can runfor 20-plus yards on a 3-yard pass.”

The Jets saw Tomlinson, 10th all-time with 17,452 all-purpose yards,and Greene as an ideal tandem.

“LT is such a threat out of thebackfield, and he can get to the pe-rimeter,” says offensive coordinatorBrian Schottenheimer, Marty’s son,“and Shonn’s such a bruiser. . . . It’sawfully nice to have a change-of-pace back where Shonn’s poundingyou between the tackles and, nextthing you know, LT’s on the edge.”

For a team so confident it canreach the Super Bowl that Ryanwrote, “Soon to be champs” whenasked to sign an ESPN tour bus dur-ing training camp, one of the keys iskeeping Tomlinson fresh and there-fore productive.

Ryan started allowing him to missone midweek practice, giving himmore time to study the game planwhile allowing a body that has takenso many hits extra time to heal.

As Tomlinson pursues an elusiveSuper Bowl ring, the Jets value theway he carries himself at all times.

“It starts with being selfless,” saysMarty Schottenheimer, an analyst forSirius Radio. “It’s never been aboutLT. It’s always been about the team.”

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)



The best rushing seasons by NFL running backs who were at least 30 years old:

Player Season Age Team Yards Following seasonTiki Barber 2005 30 Giants 1,860 1,662*Curtis Martin 2004 31 Jets 1,697 735*Walter Payton 1984 30 Bears 1,684 1,551Tiki Barber 2006 31 Giants 1,662* —Corey Dillon 2004 30 Patriots 1,635 733Walter Payton 1985 31 Bears 1,551 1,333

*Final season; bold indicates league leader

Thirtysomethings with legs

New breedof back isthrivinginto 30s(FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

Chiefs’ Jones isCharles’ mentor

When the Jets released ThomasJones on March 5, the Chiefs did notallow his age or wear and tear dimin-ish their interest.

“From the first day he walked inhere,” coach Todd Haley says, “whenhe was on our list of potential freeagents and he came and visited . . .and he spent time with everybodyinvolved in the process, when wetalked about it and started to gothrough the discussions, it was,‘Wow, this guy is something.’ ”

Jones signed with Kansas City fourdays after New York released him. Heis proving to be a perfect comple-ment to dazzling young runningmate Jamaal Charles and an ideal fitoverall for a developing team in thethick of the AFC West fight.

“I was excited when I signed here.When I visited, I felt the energy ofthe place,” Jones says. “It’s a perfectfit for me. Guys love playing football.They love playing together. It’s a fam-ily atmosphere.”

Charles and Jones have formed adynamic tandem, spearheading a po-tent ground game that leads the NFLwith 164.7 yards a game for the sur-prising AFC West leaders.

Kansas City has not won a divisiontitle since finishing 13-3 under DickVermeil in 2003. The Chiefs’ lastplayoff win came against the oldHouston Oilers 28-20 at the Astro-dome on Jan. 16, 1994.

Jones is the kind of player andleader who can help the franchiseend that drought. Former Jets team-mates raved about his leadership, asthe Chiefs do now.

“I do whatever comes naturally,”he says. “I’m not a rah-rah guy. I leadby example. I watch more film. Iwork out extra. If I see a guy slack-ing, I’ll pick his energy up.”

His guidance is playing a huge rolein the development of Charles, oneof the league’s brightest young tal-ents who only needs more team suc-cess to gain more national attention.

Charles, a third-round draft choiceout of Texas in 2008, is averaging 6.0yards a carry with 139 attempts for848 yards and two touchdowns. Heis a major factor in the passing game,too making 30 catches for 356 yards

and one TD.Charles raves about what Jones

means to him.“We have a captain in the running

backs room, and we never had that,”he says. “He stays after work, work-ing out and watching film, and I dothe same thing. I feel like a littlebrother, and he’s the big brother.”

Jones’ production suggests he im-proved with age and experience.Helped by a powerful and savvy of-fensive line in New York, he eruptedfor a career-high 1,402 rushing yardsto help the wild-card Jets reach theAFC Championship Game in 2009.

He entered this season with fiveconsecutive 1,000-yard efforts, join-ing the St. Louis Rams’ Steven Jack-son as the only players to accomplishthat. With 1,541 attempts, no backwas asked to do more than Jonesduring that span.

At 5-10, 212 pounds, the formerUniversity of Virginia star facedquestions about how well he wouldhandle the rigors of the league from

the time the Arizona Cardinals se-lected him with the seventh overallpick in the 2000 draft. Those doubtsintensified when he failed to meetexpectations in the desert and wastraded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneersfor his only season there in 2003.

He finally found his stride during athree-year stint with the ChicagoBears and was a major factor in help-ing that team reach Super Bowl XLIto close the 2006 season, only to bedealt from the Bears to the Jets.

“The odds were always stackedagainst me,” Jones says. “I’ve alwayshad a chip on my shoulder. I don’tthink that chip ever left.”

That determination to prove skep-tics wrong fuels the mental tough-ness that he cites as a key to his lon-gevity. “You continue to pushforward,” he says, “despite whatsomeone may say.”

Jones also feeds off his passion forthe game. Haley recalls walkingthrough the aisle on the flight homefrom a painful loss to the Houston

Texans in mid-October. The veteranhad his headphones on and waswatching a DVD.

The coach could not help but takea peek at the screen. To his surprise,Jones was enjoying some of the runshis younger brother Julius made as ahigh school football player.

Haley will not soon forget thatmoment.

“Of all the options to keep yourmind active after a difficult loss, hesaid, ‘This is what gets me in a good

mood when I’m down,’ and it’s hisbrother from the ’90s playing highschool football, and he’s got DVD af-ter DVD, and he’s rewinding itwatching runs. Amazing,” Haleysays.

Charles, meanwhile, is driven ev-ery day by the desire to emulate theteammate he so admires.

“I see how many years he stayedin the league, and I want to stay in itas well,” he says. “I think I can seemyself in this league for a long time.”

Ed Zurga, AP

Rule to live by: “I don’t take too many hits. I can make guys miss,” says the Chiefs’ Thomas Jones, 32. “If you’re a smart runner, you can play a long time.”


K USA TODAY SPORTS WEEKLY · NOVEMBER 24–30, 2010 · 7

By Scott Cunningham, Getty Images

Finding his legs: “If I want to play this game comfortably, it’s a priority that I take care of my body not only on Sun-days but on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,” says the Dolphins’ Ricky Williams, 33, who is in his 11th season.

Dolphins’ Williamsis rejuvenated

DAVIE, Fla. — Chad Pennington,making his first start in place of dis-appointing Chad Henne for the Dol-phins, had suffered a shoulder injuryon the first play from scrimmage in aNov. 14 game against the visitingTennessee Titans to end his season, ifnot his career.

Henne hurt his knee in the finalminute of the third quarter as Miamistruggled to fend off Tennessee andprotect a tenuous 20-17 edge.

Just when it seemed as if the Dol-phins were running out of answers,their running backs came through.

They resorted to the Wildcat for-mation that served them well thepast few seasons. Ronnie Brown tooka direct snap from center and, onconsecutive plays, Williams showedwhat he can still do.

He took the handoff from Brownand dashed around left end for 14yards. They repeated that scenariofor another 23 yards to the Titans’28-yard line. It was as much fun towatch as it was to execute it.

“We talk about it with a smile,”Williams says of the formation.

Williams’ two strong Wildcat runswere part of an eight-play, 41-yarddrive in which Miami did not com-plete a pass but positioned Dan Car-penter for a 42-yard field goal.

Emergency quarterback TylerThigpen entered in the opening min-ute of the fourth quarter to engineera touchdown drive that helped seal a29-17 victory. But those consecutivebursts by Williams said so muchabout where the 10th-year veteranis at this stage of his career — andwhat he can still do on his best day.

The game was clearly no longerfun for him when he abruptly retiredbefore the start of training camp in2004. It is now. “Emotionally andmentally, I want to keep doing this,”he says. “Having Ronnie here makesit fun. It keeps me engaged.”

It helps that Williams, who has6,164 yards to trail only Larry Cson-ka (6,737 yards) as the franchise’sall-time leading rusher, is not ex-pected to bear nearly the punishingworkload he did in 2002. He carried383 times during that season for1,853 yards. He gained a club-record2,216 yards from scrimmage.

The toll that year took was reflect-ed in his 2003 production, when 392rushes yielded 1,372 yards. His aver-age plunged from 4.8 yards in 2002to 3.5. While some Miami fans andeven some Dolphins players mightnever forgive him for leaving histeammates on such short notice in2004, it is somewhat understandablethat a world tour seemed more ap-pealing than crashing into the line ofscrimmage almost 400 times.

Williams essentially had no one to

lighten his load when Miami ac-quired him from the New OrleansSaints before the start of the 2002season. It is a different deal now thathe and Brown, drafted second overallin 2005, feed off each other.

“We’re both first-round picks, andwe’ve both had success in thisleague,” Williams says. “We do agood job up front, and I think wereally believe in our running game.As a running back group, we like tobe the strength of the team, so wereally want the ball in our hands.”

Says Brown, “I think Ricky andmyself look at it the same way. We’reout here to win football games and,no matter who’s in there, we’re con-fident in both of us.”

When Brown suffered a foot injuryin 2009, Williams showed howmuch good football he had left. Hecarried 241 times for 1,121 yardsand 11 touchdowns to go with 35catches for 264 yards and two morescores and was honored as theteam’s Most Valuable Player. Withfour 100-yard rushing efforts, he be-came the oldest player in Dolphinshistory to surpass the century mark.

Listen to fullback Lousaka Politediscuss Williams, and it is clear howmuch he has changed from theyoung man who ran afoul of theleague’s substance-abuse policy andwas essentially forced into exile withthe Canadian Football League in2006.

“He’s always looking for new chal-lenges,” Polite says. “He challengeshimself in practice. With condition-ing, he’s always in the front of thepack. He’s always pushing himself.”

Such enthusiasm is one reason thefront office wanted to keep him.

“He’s done a tremendous job withoffseason programs and any of thosethings that are necessary to help himplay longer,” coach Tony Sparanosays. “He’s certainly running aroundlike a young guy out there.”

Although he once appeared to be ashooting star, Williams is proud ofhis staying power.

“I’m just doing a better job of tak-ing care of my body. If I want to playthis game comfortably, it’s a prioritythat I take care of my body not onlyon Sundays but on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday.”

He stresses the mental aspect aswell. “I just try to stay even keel. Idon’t ride the roller coaster,” he says.“It’s easy to get burned out.”

Williams is unclear about whetherhe’ll retire for good after this season.

“I feel good,” he says. “I feel if I hadto, I could still play a couple of moreyears and still be productive.”

He has pondered life after football.It is not always a pleasant thought.

“I enjoy coming to work, and I en-joy the guys on the team,” he says.“Once you leave this job, it’s going tobe hard to find anything with thismany people on the same page.”



PITTSBURGH — When it comes to the NFL’s crackdown onpotentially dangerous hits, the Pittsburgh Steelers locker roomhas been the home office for timeouts.

Linebacker James Harrison hasbeen fined a total of $100,000 thisseason for three hits, includingones against quarterbacks DrewBrees and Vince Young.

Fellow linebacker LaMarr Woo-dley was docked $12,500 for aroughing call against New EnglandPatriots quarterback Tom Bradyduring a 39-26 loss in Week 10.

The Steelers were penalized afranchise-record 163 yards in their35-3 rout of the Oakland Raiderson Sunday.

But it was a Raiders defenderwho gained the spotlight for whatSteelers guard Chris Kemoeatucalled a cheap shot on Pittsburghquarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

After Roethlisberger threw atouchdown pass in the second quarter, defensive tackle RichardSeymour hit Roethlisberger in the jaw.

The team’s medical staff examined Roethlisberger’s jaw onthe sideline. He finished the game.

Seymour was fined $25,000 by the NFL on Monday but wasnot suspended, and the issue figures to be the hot-button ques-tion this week.

Harrison is definitely the guy to ask about whether Seymourdeserved to be suspended for his punch that leveled the Steel-ers quarterback after the whistle.

Should Seymour’s actions have warranted a suspension?“I don’t see why not,” Harrison said as he pointed out that

suspensions have been handed down for hits before the whistle.“Tell me what the next step is for a guy who blatantly outside

of the play, a guy’s celebrating with his teammates and youpunch a guy in his face.”

Woodley straddled a fine line when asked if the league wastargeting the Steelers’ punishing, high-profile defense with itscrackdown.

“If you look across the board and what’s been happening thisyear, I’ll let you answer that one,” he said.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Seymour’s shot was unprecedented.“I haven’t seen a quarterback get punched since I’ve been in

this league after a play like that,” Tomlin said.Kemoeatu scuffled with Seymour on the field. “He took a

cheap shot at my quarterback,” the left guard said.The Steelers enjoyed finishing what Seymour started.“It is fun when it gets physical like that,” Kemoeatu said. “But

it’s not fun when you get the FedEx package (containing noti-fication from the league of a fine).

“I’m hoping I won’t get one. But that’s not in my control.”

NFLreport

By Jim Corbett.

News from around the league

Steelers take a punch

By Bob Donaldson, AP

Harrison: Has been fined$100,000 this season.

Andy Reid and Bill Belichick. The Phila-delphia Eagles (7-3) and New England Pa-triots (8-2) were supposed to be on thedownside, too young to win now.

Remember the preseason perceptions?Yet, instead of a season of rebuilding,

Reid and Belichick have gotten younger,faster and, arguably, better on the fly.

So much for underestimating the vi-sion of two of the league’s most consis-tent team builders.

Reid and Belichick maximized whatmany called the deepest draft in years.They’re right back contending for SuperBowl berths without missing a beat.

Reid and Belichick were also the coach-es who struck the most interesting tradesover the last seven months. Reid tradedsix-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb tothe Washington Redskins on Easter Sun-day after 11 seasons, five trips to the NFCtitle game and one Super Bowl appear-ance.

On Oct. 6, Belichick traded RandyMoss, the deep threat receiver with 50touchdown receptions in 52 games as aPatriot, to the Minnesota Vikings.

Reid and offensive coordinator MartyMornhinweg reinvented “The MichaelVick Experience, 2.0.”

“Andy’s done a great job,” says ESPNMonday Night Football analyst Jon Gru-den. “It all starts with the way he’s man-aged the quarterback position. He tradesDonovan McNabb, and if you listened toanybody two months ago, they thoughthe was out of his mind for trading himwithin the NFC East division.

“Now Eagles fans want to carry AndyReid down Broad Street.”

Reid is lauded more in Philadelphia forgiving Vick the second chance the formerAtlanta Falcons star has run with afterserving 18 months in federal prison forhis role in a dogfighting ring. Reid, whosetwo sons served jail time on drug-relatedissues, signed Vick in 2009, after he con-sulted with Vick’s adviser, former Indian-apolis Colts coach Tony Dungy.

The Eagles are 5-0 in games Vick hasstarted and finished. Vick has theleague’s top passer rating (108.7) with 11touchdowns and no interceptions and iscompleting 62.8% of his passes after aprevious high of 56.4% with the Falcons.

He is reading progressions, extendingplays and resetting his feet before usinghis strong left arm to hit receivers instride. When they’re covered, he’s aver-aged 6.8 rushing yards with five TDs.

“Andy’s got two outstanding quarter-backs in Vick and Kevin Kolb he’s broughtalong,” Gruden said. “Michael Vick is un-believable. His preparation is off thecharts compared to what it used to be.

“He understands the fundamentals ofthe position now.”

Vick has combined with receiver De-

Sean Jackson, the 49th pick in 2008, forfour of the 11 touchdown passes, includ-ing that 88-yard, Week 10 streak pastWashington Redskins safety LaRon Lan-dry on the opening play.

“A lot of people don’t realize how wellAndy’s drafted,” Gruden said. “But theyalso don’t realize the key free agents andtrades he made. Their weakside lineback-er, Ernie Sims, is playing well.

“Jerome Harrison has learned the of-fense as a complementary back to LeSeanMcCoy. Jason Peters is a Pro Bowl lefttackle Andy got in a trade with Buffalo.

“They hit the lottery on Jackson and agreat job drafting Jeremy Maclin. And fora (2007) fifth-round pick, Brent Celek isan emerging tight end.’’

Belichick drafted a league-high 12players in April, most notably multidi-mensional tight ends Aaron Hernandezand Rob Gronkowski, cornerback DevinMcCourty and linebacker Jermaine Cun-ningham. Belichick passed legendaryPaul Brown with his 171st career win (in-cluding playoffs) Sunday against the Pey-ton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts tomove into 11th place all time.

“This guy (Belichick) has a vision thatnot many of us have,” Gruden said. “He’sable to adjust because of his tremendousexperience as an assistant and head

coach. He knows personnel better thanall of us.’’

Belichick traded Moss to Minnesota fora third-round pick. Then he reacquiredformer Patriots Super Bowl MVP DeionBranch from the Seattle Seahawks to re-unite with quarterback Tom Brady, whohas thrown 10 touchdowns with two in-terceptions since the Moss trade.

“Bill Belichick has a sure sure-fire Hallof Fame quarterback taking every snap,”Gruden said. “Tom Brady takes the torchfrom Belichick, and those two collaborateon kicking your ass.

“Their cars are always in their parkingspot at the facility. They’re always lookingat film and are both arguably the best inthe world at what they do. You combine agreat quarterback with a great Hall ofFame coach — good luck.”

Especially with the way Belichickmixes and matches tight end transform-ers Hernandez, Gronkowski and veteranAlge Crumpler. With their multiplicity,they create and exploit mismatches.

Gronkowski is a tall red-zone targetwith six touchdowns. Hernandez has 35receptions and three touchdowns.

“And if you make one little mistake,even an innocent mistake, Tom Bradysaws your face off,” Gruden said.

“And he likes doing it.”

Eagles, Patriots exceed expectations

Reid, Belichick defy their critics

By Jae S. Lee, The (Nashville) Tennessean

Who’s laughing now? Eagles fans have learned not to question the resourcefulness ofcoach Andy Reid, who has his team atop the NFC East.



Voting is on a 32-31-30-etc., basis by a panel of USATODAY football writers and editors.

LastTeam week

1. Atlanta Falcons 1Face stiff test when Packers arrive Sunday.

2. New England Patriots T2Have beaten back Steelers and Colts in consecutive weeks.

3. Baltimore Ravens T2Ed Reed has four interceptions in four games since return.

4. New York Jets 4Three wins in row have come down to final minute.

5. Green Bay Packers 5Have outscored opponents 76-10 in last two wins.

6. New Orleans Saints 6After three wins in row, midseason troubles are long gone.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers 7No 100-yard rushers since Ben Roethlisberger returned.

8. Philadelphia Eagles 10Michael Vick hasn’t thrown pick in 191 passes this year.

9. Indianapolis Colts 8Trouble spot: Have won two of their six road games.

10. New York Giants 9Two losses in row have them on outside of playoff field.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13Next two against Ravens, Falcons will prove worth.

12. San Diego Chargers 11In usual charge, one game back in AFC West.

13. Chicago Bears 17They get next crack at trying to contain Michael Vick.

14. Kansas City Chiefs 14Regained first place in AFC West with win vs. Cardinals.

15. Jacksonville Jaguars 18Who would have guessed they’d have share of first place?

16. Oakland Raiders 12Loss in Pittsburgh showed they’re not ready for prime time.

17. Cleveland Browns 19Five of seven losses have been by seven points or fewer.

18. Miami Dolphins 15As injuries mount, they’ve fallen 3 games back in AFC East.

19. Washington Redskins 22In up-and-down season, their playoff hopes are still alive.

T20. Tennessee Titans 15With Vince Young on IR, distractions probably will dwindle.

T20. Dallas Cowboys 27Consecutive wins could reignite their faint playoff hopes.

22. St. Louis Rams 24Two-game skid hard way to begin three-game road trip.

23. Seattle Seahawks 25Matt Hasselbeck now rounding into his best form of season.

24. Houston Texans 20Porous pass defense doomed them two weeks in row.

25. Denver Broncos 26All of Kyle Orton’s passing yards can’t buy them wins.

26. Minnesota Vikings 21Now it’s Leslie Frazier’s opportunity to rescue this team.

27. San Francisco 49ers 23Troy Smith was exposed in 21-0 loss to Buccaneers.

28. Buffalo Bills 31Steve Johnson tied for third in NFL with nine TD catches.

29. Detroit Lions 29Their NFL-record streak of road losses has hit 26.

30. Cincinnati Bengals 28After seven losses in row, T.O. says maybe he’s bad luck.

31. Arizona Cardinals 30Two games out in NFC West despite five consecutive losses.

32. Carolina Panthers 32They are last team yet to win two games.

NFL report.

Power rankingsSubtle moves that go largely unnoticed of-

ten pay significant dividends.The Tennessee Titans made such a maneu-

ver when they traded up in the fourth roundin April to draft Alterraun Verner, a cornerbackmany teams did not list prominently.

Verner, who was included among USATODAY’s Draft Gems before the player selec-tion process began, has emerged as a solidcontributor for Tennessee. He ranks amongthe team’s leading tacklers with 49 stops, 45unassisted, to go with two interceptions. Hehas appeared in all of the Titans’ 10 gameswith six starts.

The playerHeight: 5-10. Weight: 181.Hometown: Carson, Calif.College highlights: Set a UCLA record by

returning four interceptions for scores, settingthe mark with a 68-yard return vs. Washing-ton in 2009. Started all 13 games for the Bru-ins last year and finished with 72 tackles, in-cluding five for loss. Led the nation in passesdefended in 2008. Also saw limited action as akick- and punt-return man.

Scouting report: Lacks exceptional size orathleticism but still finds a way to get the jobdone. Time spent studying and asking ques-tions leads to an excellent understanding ofdefensive schemes and his role. Reacts well towhat he sees. Works hard to support against

the run. Does not shy away from contact.Quotable: “The one thing about that spot is

you need to know where your help is, andhe’s very much aware of where his help his.And he’s doing the little things well.” — Titanscoach Jeff Fisher

The personBiggest adjustment: “I’d say the aspect

that this game is a job. You’re basically work-ing 8-5, 9-5. Your days can get pretty tiring. It’sa matter of time management and getting ev-erything you want done.”

Best advice: “I can’t really remember whotold me this, but they gave me this quote: ‘Ifbetter is possible, then good is not enough.’ ”

Greatest strength: “Being a competitor.I’ve always wanted to win at whatever I did.”

Greatest weakness: “Always saying ‘yes’ tothings. People can take advantage of that.”

UCLA career: “Growing up, it was mydream school. My college experience wasamazing, and being part of the team theremade it even better. I miss it already, beingwith the guys and the people I met.”

Fisher: “He’s a great coach. He really takescare of his players. He makes sure you arefresh and ready to go. You can talk to him, andhe’s not intimidating at all.”

Life after football: “I’d like to teach mathand coach in high school. I was a math major,and it’s a subject I always liked. I know a lot ofpeople don’t like math. I’d like to help peopleovercome that and enjoy it.”

NFL dream: “If I can be blessed to playeight to 10 years in the NFL and contribute ev-ery year in some way, shape or form and win aSuper Bowl and one of those years be able tomake the Pro Bowl, that would be a dream.”

— Tom Pedulla

.

Rookie focus: Alterraun Verner

Titans’ fourth-round pick pays big dividends

By Tim Heitman, US Presswire

Titan move: Alterraun Verner is doing the lit-tle things well, coach Jeff Fisher says.

In 1987, Christian Okoye rumbled out ofAzusa Pacific University and into the NFL as a26-year-old rookie running back with theKansas City Chiefs. The two-time Pro Bowler’sfinest season was in 1989, when he poundedaway for a league-high 1,480 yards rushing.More recently, he founded the CaliforniaSports Hall of Fame in 2006 and has his ownfoundation which supports underprivilegedchildren. Okoye, 49, who lives in Alta Loma,Calif., chatted with USA TODAY’s Jon Saraceno.

At 6-2, 260 pounds, your running stylewas punishing. How are you feeling now?

I had spine surgery in July. It was extensive.I’m getting along, trying to rehab, but it’s go-ing to take awhile.

Was that from an accumulation ofblows?

In 1989, I jammed my neck and hurt myspinal cord. . . . The past few years, I startedfeeling numbness in my arms. They found myspinal cord was badly compressed. The sur-gery took five hours. So, I had a nice, deepfive-hour nap (laughs).

Are you sorry you played pro football?Football, as they say, has been very good to

me. But I wasn’t a fan; it was my job. I didn’teven fully understand it. I preferred othersports — soccer, track and field, basketball. I

would watch the Lakers before I watched theSuper Bowl. (But) I was blessed to play thegame. It gave me the opportunity to help myfamily. I’m glad I played it, but I am also glad Ileft the game when I did.

You played soccer in your native Africaand participated in track and field in col-lege. How did football find you?

I started playing my junior year because Ni-geria wouldn’t take me to the ’84 Olympics. I

was so disappointed. I wanted to play anothersport, and people had been bugging me toplay football. I kept saying, “No, I hate thegame.” But I gave it a try. Making the Pro Bowlwas a major accomplishment for a kid whogrew up in Nigeria.

Who gave you the nickname “NigerianNightmare”?

(Former Chiefs tackle) Irv Eatman. He start-ed calling me “The Nightmare,” and ESPNpicked it up.

Is it true that a knee injury promptedyou to retire in 1992 after starting only 65games?

I didn’t quit because of that. I already wasfading away from the game. I had given myselffive years. I had a new contract, but after sixyears I told myself, “This is it. I gotta go.”

Biggest hitter?(Former Denver Broncos safety) Dennis

Smith.Do you see yourself when you watch the

New York Giants’ Brandon Jacobs?He had that one big year, but his career al-

ready is winding down. Once you carry theball a lot in one season, and you’re a big back,the next year you’re physically worn down.Funny thing is you don’t feel any different. Butyour body knows the difference.

Former Chief pays price for punishing style

File photo by Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

‘Nigerian Nightmare’: Christian Okoye sayshe wasn’t a football fan: “It was my job.”

.

Whatever happened to . . . Christian Okoye?



The NFL world is in full throat again aboutBrett Favre’s future now that Brad Childresshas been fired. What does the rest of his sea-son hold? How will the Minnesota Vikings fin-ish the season? What do all of those injuriesmean for Favre’s starting streak?

All of that hot air leads to an important ques-tion as we hit Thanksgiving: What should wedo with some of the NFL’s worst teams? Canwe continue to count on them to provide reg-ular statistical production, or will their perfor-mance be a total crapshoot?

These downtrodden teams include impor-tant players such as Buffalo Bills wide receiverSteve Johnson and the Vikings’ Adrian Peter-son. Whether their teams continue to show up

and how well they compete will be vital. Let’slook at some of those clubs.uArizona Cardinals: The best thing the

Cardinals have going for them is their schedule;they do not have a game left against a teamwith a winning record.

But the Cardinals have done nothing to in-spire any confidence and do not have any con-sistent performers. Larry Fitzgerald is havingone of the worst seasons of his career. Quarter-back Derek Anderson is not reliable, regardlessof matchup. Plus, the running game has been awreck between Chris “Beanie” Wells and TimHightower.

This team has talent and could stitch togeth-er scores against bad defenses. But if you leaveyourself in the position of having to rely on theCardinals, you’ll likely be disappointed.uBuffalo Bills: The Bills have been one of

the most exciting fantasy teams, thanks to theemergence of Johnson and quarterback RyanFitzpatrick. And the Bills provide a perfectbrew because they have an awful defense,which frequently forces the offense into speed-up mode, and they continue to play hard evenas their losses pile up.

Still, Buffalo is difficult to trust against betterdefensive teams, including this week againstthe Pittsburgh Steelers.

But Johnson is tough to keep out of the line-up, considering he has nine touchdown recep-tions (tied for third in the league) and hasscored in six of the Bills’ 10 games. And theSteelers have been vulnerable to pass-heavyoffenses, having given up at least 248 yardsseven times.

Still, if you have another good quarterbackthis week, sit Fitzpatrick, knowing he andJohnson will have big games down the stretch.

Another concern is how the weather affectsthe passing game during home games in

Week 14 against the Cleveland Browns andWeek 16 against the New England Patriots. Beready to sit Fitzpatrick and Johnson should ablizzard roll into Buffalo.

Running back Fred Jackson has picked up thepace with back-to-back 100-yard, two-TDgames. But Jackson has a history of steady butnot stellar games. He likely will go back to thatlevel, especially when C.J. Spiller is healthy.uCarolina Panthers: There’s not much

hope for the Panthers, who have broken 18points once. Running back Mike Goodson doeshave two 100-yard games. But when JonathanStewart returns, Goodson goes back to secondstring.

Stewart might yet have a couple of decentgames. But he is quite a risk. The passing gameis worthless.uCincinnati Bengals: Carson Palmer has

had multiple TD passes seven games in a row,but the Bengals are 0-7 in that stretch and areon the brink of further collapse. The schedule isnot friendly. The Bengals do not look much likea team that will fight hard through the finish,and they are losing guys to injuries.uDallas Cowboys: The Cowboys have

stopped the bleeding for the moment, andquarterback Jon Kitna is turning into a strongplay with seven total TDs over the last twoweeks. The Cowboys have all but given up onthe run, so almost all of the offense funnelsthrough Kitna.

But Dallas’ schedule is not especially kind.The next three games are against winningteams, and the Cowboys play the PhiladelphiaEagles twice and the Washington Redskinsonce. So they should at least be interested inplaying despite the record. The big, juicy gameleft is in Week 16 at the Arizona Cardinals,

where the Cowboys could determine manyfantasy titles.uDetroit Lions: The Lions do not have a re-

liable running game, which has resulted inquarterback Shaun Hill throwing 97 passes thelast two weeks.

Despite just three TDs to show for all ofthose throws, he has the potential for goodnumbers throwing to wide receivers CalvinJohnson and Nate Burleson.

Detroit has not shown any signs of quitting,though you have to consider that possibility ifthe team does not get another win.uMinnesota Vikings: Let’s face facts on

Favre: He has two multiple-TD games andthree games with more than 225 passingyards. If you have been getting by with Favre asyour quarterback, the rest of your club must bestacked. But interim head coach Leslie Fraziersays Favre will remain the starter.

The true worry is what will happen withwide receiver Percy Harvin and possibly SidneyRice. Harvin tied his Week 1 season-low with12 yards last week. Is that a one-week fluke ora bad game because of either the team’s poorplay or Rice’s return?

Leave Harvin in your lineup going into whatshould be good matchups against Washingtonand Buffalo. If you are desperate for receivers,give Rice a shot; otherwise, wait until he doessomething to play him.

As for running back Adrian Peterson, keepyour fingers crossed.

If Favre does not finish the season, Peter-son’s role could increase. Regardless of who isquarterback, Peterson can dominate any gameand should not come out of your lineup. Justhope the Vikings don’t decide to lessen Peter-son’s load.

uSan Francisco 49ers: The 49ers had abrief flicker of hope after two good games fromnew quarterback Troy Smith before the TampaBay Buccaneers shut them out last week. Thatreminds us that the 49ers are a bad team thatwill have unpredictable results.

There has not been any quit in the team yet,suggesting that you should get some goodgames out of running back Frank Gore. Wide-out Michael Crabtree and tight end Vernon Da-vis remain frustratingly inconsistent. If youcontinue to count on the latter two, the rest ofyour lineup needs to be rock solid to avoid anearly departure.

Will bad teams bring good players down?

By Tom Pennington, Getty Images

Getting job done: Jon Kitna has revived the Cowboys for now, but a tough schedule looms.

Should I give up on the IndianapolisColts’ Pierre Garcon and pick up eitherSt. Louis Rams wideout Danny Amendolaor the Oakland Raiders’ Jacoby Ford?

BHSPitzer: A week ago, I would have said

to let go of Garcon. But with Austin Collieleaving his second game in a row becauseof concussions, Garcon has value. Howmuch value is another question. Garcon isa great talent, but he has not had a greatseason. He appears to have had frequentcommunication problems with quarter-back Peyton Manning, resulting in inter-ceptions and incompletions. But the Coltshave no choice but to continue giving Gar-con time. Besides, your two alternativesare fairly weak.

I lost Dallas Cowboys quarterback TonyRomo and have been using Kyle Orton.Will Romo be back, and should I pick himback up?

MattPitzer: It probably is not worth your

while to grab Romo again unless you haveseveral roster spaces to burn. Yes, hemight return for the final few weeks ofthe season. But there is no telling whatcondition the Cowboys will be in at thatpoint, or if they will even bother riskingRomo for a couple of meaningless games.You would be better off finding anotherquarterback who could step in immedi-ately for Orton if needed.

Orton has been great, and four of hisnext five games are against pass defensesthat rank 20th or worse.

For news and analysis, visit Fantasy Joe atfantasyjoe.usatoday.com. Send questionsand comments to [email protected].

Mailbag

Better stick with Garcon, Orton

NFLfantasy

By Matt Pitzer

Live scores and statson your cellphoneSend text message to 4INFO (44636) with:§TEAM NAME (STEELERS) or§PLAYER NAME (BEN ROETHLISBERGER)





Quarterbacks1. Drew Brees, N.O. at Dal.2. Philip Rivers, S.D. at Ind.3. Michael Vick, Phi. at Chi.4. Aaron Rodgers, G.B. at Atl.5. Peyton Manning, Ind. vs. S.D.6. Tom Brady, N.E. at Det.7. Matt Ryan, Atl. vs. G.B.8. Joe Flacco, Bal. vs. T.B.9. Ben Roethlisberger, Pit. at Buf.

10. Kyle Orton, Den. vs. St.L.11. Eli Manning, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.12. Matt Cassel, K.C. at Sea.13. Jon Kitna, Dal. vs. N.O.14. Jay Cutler, Chi. vs. Phi.15. Shaun Hill, Det. vs. N.E.16. Josh Freeman, T.B. at Bal.17. Mark Sanchez, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.18. Sam Bradford, St.L. at Den.19. Carson Palmer, Cin. at N.Y.-J20. David Garrard, Jac. at N.Y.-G21. Matt Schaub, Hou. vs. Ten.22. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buf. vs. Pit.23. Matt Hasselbeck, Sea. vs. K.C.24. *Troy Smith, S.F. at Ari.25. Jason Campbell, Oak. vs. Mia.

Running backs1. Chris Johnson, Ten. at Hou.2. Frank Gore, S.F. at Ari.3. Ahmad Bradshaw, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.4. Adrian Peterson, Min. at Was.5. Rashard Mendenhall, Pit. at Buf.6. Ray Rice, Bal. vs. T.B.7. Peyton Hillis, Cle. vs. Car.8. Steven Jackson, St.L. at Den.9. Darren McFadden, Oak. vs. Mia.

10. Michael Turner, Atl. vs. G.B.11. LeSean McCoy, Phi. at Chi.12. Arian Foster, Hou. vs. Ten.13. Jamaal Charles, K.C. at Sea.14. Shonn Greene, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.15. Knowshon Moreno, Den. vs. St.L.16. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac. at N.Y.-G17. Matt Forte, Chi. vs. Phi.18. *Jonathan Stewart, Car. at Cle.19. Brandon Jackson, G.B. at Atl.20. *Reggie Bush, N.O. at Dal.21. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, N.E. at Det.22. Mike Tolbert, S.D. at Ind.23. LeGarrette Blount, T.B. at Bal.24. Ronnie Brown, Mia. at Oak.25. LaDainian Tomlinson, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.26. Fred Jackson, Buf. vs. Pit.27. *Joseph Addai, Ind. vs. S.D.28. Tim Hightower, Ari. vs. S.F.29. Cedric Benson, Cin. at N.Y.-J30. Thomas Jones, K.C. at Sea.31. *Chris Ivory, N.O. at Dal.32. Felix Jones, Dal. vs. N.O.33. Brandon Jacobs, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.

34. Danny Woodhead, N.E. at Det.35. Carnell Williams, T.B. at Bal.36. Keiland Williams, Was. vs. Min.37. Mike Goodson, Car. at Cle.38. Jahvid Best, Det. vs. N.E.39. Marshawn Lynch, Sea. vs. K.C.40. Willis McGahee, Bal. vs. T.B.41. Chris Wells, Ari. vs. S.F.42. Ricky Williams, Mia. at Oak.43. *Ryan Mathews, S.D. at Ind.44. Justin Forsett, Sea. vs. K.C.45. Michael Bush, Oak. vs. Mia.46. Derrick Ward, Hou. vs. Ten.47. Chester Taylor, Chi. vs. Phi.48. *Donald Brown, Ind. vs. S.D.49. Jason Snelling, Atl. vs. G.B.50. Maurice Morris, Det. vs. N.E.

Wide receivers1. Roddy White, Atl. vs. G.B.2. DeSean Jackson, Phi. at Chi.3. Brandon Lloyd, Den. vs. St.L.4. Marques Colston, N.O. at Dal.5. Calvin Johnson, Det. vs. N.E.6. Greg Jennings, G.B. at Atl.7. Andre Johnson, Hou. vs. Ten.8. Reggie Wayne, Ind. vs. S.D.9. Dwayne Bowe, K.C. at Sea.

10. Terrell Owens, Cin. at N.Y.-J11. Mike Wallace, Pit. at Buf.12. Anquan Boldin, Bal. vs. T.B.13. Dez Bryant, Dal. vs. N.O.14. Steve Johnson, Buf. vs. Pit.15. Jeremy Maclin, Phi. at Chi.16. Mario Manningham, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.17. Santonio Holmes, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.18. Vincent Jackson, S.D. at Ind.19. Mike Williams, T.B. at Bal.20. Miles Austin, Dal. vs. N.O.21. Percy Harvin, Min. at Was.22. Mike Williams, Sea. vs. K.C.23. Johnny Knox, Chi. vs. Phi.24. Sidney Rice, Min. at Was.25. Santana Moss, Was. vs. Min.26. Larry Fitzgerald, Ari. vs. S.F.27. Wes Welker, N.E. at Det.28. Randy Moss, Ten. at Hou.29. Hines Ward, Pit. at Buf.30. Malcom Floyd, S.D. at Ind.31. Chad Ochocinco, Cin. at N.Y.-J32. Braylon Edwards, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.33. Nate Washington, Ten. at Hou.34. *Brandon Marshall, Mia. at Oak.35. Mike Thomas, Jac. at N.Y.-G36. Michael Crabtree, S.F. at Ari.37. Jabar Gaffney, Den. vs. St.L.38. Pierre Garcon, Ind. vs. S.D.39. James Jones, G.B. at Atl.40. Derrick Mason, Bal. vs. T.B.41. Lee Evans, Buf. vs. Pit.42. Eddie Royal, Den. vs. St.L.

43. Davone Bess, Mia. at Oak.44. *Mike Sims-Walker, Jac. at N.Y.-G45. Blair White, Ind. vs. S.D.46. Lance Moore, N.O. at Dal.47. Steve Smith, Car. at Cle.48. Nate Burleson, Det. vs. N.E.49. Deion Branch, N.E. at Det.50. Derek Hagan, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.

Tight ends1. *Antonio Gates, S.D. at Ind.2. Jacob Tamme, Ind. vs. S.D.3. Jason Witten, Dal. vs. N.O.4. Chris Cooley, Was. vs. Min.5. *Zach Miller, Oak. vs. Mia.6. *Vernon Davis, S.F. at Ari.7. Kellen Winslow II, T.B. at Bal.8. Aaron Hernandez, N.E. at Det.9. Tony Gonzalez, Atl. vs. G.B.

10. Brandon Pettigrew, Det. vs. N.E.11. Todd Heap, Bal. vs. T.B.12. Dustin Keller, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.13. Marcedes Lewis, Jac. at N.Y.-G14. Greg Olsen, Chi. vs. Phi.15. Visanthe Shiancoe, Min. at Was.16. Rob Gronkowski, N.E. at Det.17. Evan Moore, Cle. vs. Car.18. *Jeremy Shockey, N.O. at Dal.19. Anthony Fasano, Mia. at Oak.20. *Tony Moeaki, K.C. at Sea.

21. Jermaine Gresham, Cin. at N.Y.-J22. Kevin Boss, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.23. Heath Miller, Pit. at Buf.24. Brent Celek, Phi. at Chi.25. Tony Scheffler, Det. vs. N.E.

Kickers1. Sebastian Janikowski, Oak. vs. Mia.2. Rob Bironas, Ten. at Hou.3. Matt Bryant, Atl. vs. G.B.4. Dan Carpenter, Mia. at Oak.5. Billy Cundiff, Bal. vs. T.B.6. Adam Vinatieri, Ind. vs. S.D.7. David Akers, Phi. at Chi.8. Nick Folk, N.Y.-J vs. Cin.9. Robbie Gould, Chi. vs. Phi.

10. Neil Rackers, Hou. vs. Ten.11. Mason Crosby, G.B. at Atl.12. Nate Kaeding, S.D. at Ind.13. Ryan Succop, K.C. at Sea.14. Garrett Hartley, N.O. at Dal.15. Josh Brown, St.L. at Den.16. Josh Scobee, Jac. at N.Y.-G17. Matt Prater, Den. vs. St.L.18. Olindo Mare, Sea. vs. K.C.19. Phil Dawson, Cle. vs. Car.20. Lawrence Tynes, N.Y.-G vs. Jac.21. Graham Gano, Was. vs. Min.22. Shayne Graham, N.E. at Det.23. Connor Barth, T.B. at Bal.

24. Ryan Longwell, Min. at Was.25. Shaun Suisham, Pit. at Buf.

Defenses1. Cleveland vs. Car.2. Pittsburgh at Buf.3. New York Jets vs. Cin.4. Tennessee at Hou.5. Green Bay at Atl.6. Oakland vs. Mia.7. New England at Det.8. Arizona vs. S.F.9. New York Giants vs. Jac.

10. Kansas City at Sea.11. Baltimore vs. T.B.12. Philadelphia at Chi.13. Seattle vs. K.C.14. San Francisco at Ari.15. New Orleans at Dal.16. Tampa Bay at Bal.17. San Diego at Ind.18. Chicago vs. Phi.19. Cincinnati at N.Y.-J20. Washington vs. Min.21. St. Louis at Den.22. Atlanta vs. G.B.23. Minnesota at Was.24. Detroit vs. N.E.25. Miami at Oak.

Value meterBy Matt Pitzer

Rankings are based on USA TODAY’s RapidDraft — a point-per-recep-tion, single-player game that awards three points for passing touch-downs, six points for rushing and receiving touchdowns, 0.5 points foreach 10 yards passing and 0.5 points for each 5 yards rushing and re-ceiving. To play for free against Matt Pitzer, Joe Namath and nine otherexperts, visit usatoday.rapiddraft.com.*check status (not necessarily injury-related)

Carnell Williams RB BuccaneersTampa Bay is dominating on the ground and has two backsworth considering. “Cadillac” has scored two weeks in a row.Bruce Gradkowski QB RaidersOakland needs a spark on offense, so don’t be surprised ifJason Campbell gets pulled again for Gradkowski.Evan Moore TE BrownsSecond on the team last week with 69 receiving yards, and hemight get more looks if starter Ben Watson is out.Rusty Smith QB TitansMight get shot to start this week; he showed more ability —and willingness — to get the ball downfield than Vince Young.Blair White WR ColtsShould have a chance to be the slot receiver with AustinCollie out again because of a concussion.

Clinton Portis RB RedskinsHis groin injury flared up again after five carries Sunday;it figures to be a problem for the rest of the season.Hines Ward WR SteelersOnce a lock to pile up statistics, he has not topped threereceptions or 28 yards in his last four starts.Dustin Keller TE JetsProbably has another good game left in him, but he continuedhis slide with a season-low 7 yards last week.Chris Wells RB CardinalsHis knee is healthy enough to play, but Wells is stuck behindTim Hightower and isn’t much of a fantasy threat.Devery Henderson WR SaintsOnce a decent gamble in deeper leagues, he has not been akey target since the last time he broke 33 yards, in Week 5.

By Margaret Bowles, AP

Full tank: Buccaneers running back Carnell Williamsis finding the end zone with more regularity.

By George Walker IV, The (Nashville) Tennessean

Injury bug: Redskins running back Clinton Portis hasplayed in 13 games the last two seasons.

Sizzlers . . . . . . and fizzlers



MERCHANDISE

Sports Weekly offers you a wayto reach over 2.8 million sportsfanatics at an affordable cost!

Sports Weekly’s classified sectionis where small to mid-size sports

companies come to sell theirproducts and services. Quite simply,

Sports Shop is the premier sportsclassified section in the country.

It is the perfect place for advertisingsports equipment, camps/schools,

travel, memorabilia andfantasy products.

For advertising information contact:

1-800-397-0070Email:

[email protected] place an ad:

[email protected]

Toll Free: (800) 397-0070

Local: (727) 443-7667

Fax: (727) 445-9380

Email:[email protected]

Web:www.russelljohns.com

70 YEAR FOOTBALL COLLECTIONStarted 1940 - Have all NFL Teams

1921-present. Pictures, Media Guides,Team Sets, 700-1700. Whole collection

for sale or call for info of yourfavorite team sets. 400-500 8 x 10

B&W Baseball pictures from the 1940’sand 50’s. Lots of cards. Call Jim:

920-868-3974

INTERNATIONALTRUST

FOR SALE1-800-621-2920

HAIR REPLACEMENT

BUSINESS CAPITAL

SERVICES

HURRYAuction ends November 28th at 10PM

Sports Memorabilia and CollectiblesWe specialize in Autographed

Photos, Cards, Baseballs, Bats,

Footballs, Perez-Steeles, Odd

Autographed Items, Vintage

Unautographed Items, Magazines,

Guides, Scorecards, Graded Cards

www.millerboys.com215.444.9776

AAUUCCTTIIOONN AAUUCCTTIIOONN

COLLECTIBLES

FREE WINNERSFootball • BasketballFREE Recorded Message

1-800-666-6630

HEALTH & FITNESS MERCHANDISE

SportsWeekly TM

HOLIDAYGIFT GUIDE

HOLIDAYGIFT GUIDE

®

couponcodeUSA10

$10OFFREP

$1$P

Uedoc nopuocREDROFFO001ASU

®

LOÑAPPASESOMALBAH

UedocXE

irp,rr,edrorepecnodesuebyamnopuoC

!ECIVEDELIBOMROENOHPYB,ENILNOREDRO8060.764.008moc.cidemaiv.www

01ASU0102/13/21SERIPX

.detarepOdnadenwO.S.U.etadnoitaripxeotro

iBetFootball

WWW.FOOTBALLBET.NET

• Easy to Use • Beat the Spread• Win Big $$ • 8 Years Profitable

Pro Football Betting SoftwareiPhone App Excel Spreadsheet

WANTEDVACATION RENTALS



After crushing road losses to theBuffalo Bills and the Dallas Cowboys,extending Detroit’s NFL-record roadlosing streak to 26, the Lions hadthree days to prepare for the NewEngland Patriots.

“You don’t have a choice. Youhave to move on,” defensive endKyle Vanden Bosch said.

The Lions might have to playwithout their top two runningbacks. Primary backup KevinSmith was placed on injured re-serve, and rookie starter JahvidBest was severely limited by turftoe injuries on both feet.

Maurice Morris (10 carries for31 yards) and fullback Jerome Fel-ton (four for 14) wound up carryingmost of the load. The Lions wereheld to 75 yards rushing.uTrending: Strange things con-

tinue to haunt the Lions. Last week’sloss turned on a bizarre special-teams play. Leading 12-7, the Lionsappeared to have the Dallas Cow-boys pinned inside the 5-yard linefor the fourth time in the game.John Wendling got to Nick Harris’punt at the goal line and batted itback toward the 5. But the ball wasfielded by the Cowboys’ BryanMcCann, who ran it back 97 yardsfor a touchdown.uLineup watch: The Lions

benched No. 3 receiver BryantJohnson. In the second year of athree-year, $9.3 million contract, hehad nine catches in nine games.

Lions scheduleL ................ at Chicago ................ 19-14L .............. Philadelphia .............. 35-32L ............. at Minnesota ............. 24-10L ............. at Green Bay ............. 28-26W ................. St. Louis ................. 44-6L ............. at N.Y. Giants ............. 28-20.............................. Bye ..............................W ............ Washington ............ 37-25L ............. N.Y. Jets ............. 23-20 (OT)L ................ at Buffalo ................ 14-12L .................. at Dallas .................. 35-19Nov. 25 ....... New England ....... 12:30Dec. 5 .................. Chicago .................. 1Dec. 12 .............. Green Bay .............. 1Dec. 19 ............ at Tampa Bay ............ 1Dec. 26 ................ at Miami ................ 1Jan. 2 ................ Minnesota ................ 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Short weekadds insultto injury

The challenge for the Patriots thisweek isn’t just about preparing foran opponent; they also must dealwith the difficult situation that iscreated by a Thanksgiving Day roadtrip.

The Detroit Lions (2-8) are ascrappy team. Second-year headcoach Jim Schwartz, a former BillBelichick assistant in the early1990s with the Cleveland Browns,has his team fighting, though notwinning much.

The game at Ford Field should beno cakewalk for a Patriots team thathad a heated battle with the chief ri-val Indianapolis Colts at home Sun-day. That left the Patriots with aquick turnaround, mentally andphysically, following the 31-28 vic-tory that wasn’t decided until thegame’s final possession for the Colts.

The victory pushed New Englandto 8-2 to keep pace with the NewYork Jets atop the AFC East.uLineup watch: Dan Connolly

has started nine of New England’s10 games this season. The first sev-en came in Logan Mankins’ placeat left guard; the last two have beenin the stead of injured right guardStephen Neal. The fifth-year veter-an had four career starts headinginto 2010, all in place of Neal lastseason.uBy the numbers: The Patriots

have three previous ThanksgivingDay games. They are 1-2 on the holi-day: 1-1 vs. the Lions and 0-1 vs. theDallas Cowboys.

Patriots scheduleW .............. Cincinnati .............. 38-24L ................ at N.Y. Jets ................ 28-14W ................. Buffalo ................. 38-30W ................ at Miami ................ 41-14.............................. Bye ..............................W ......... Baltimore ......... 23-20 (OT)W ............ at San Diego ............ 23-20W .............. Minnesota .............. 28-18L ............... at Cleveland ............... 34-14W ........... at Pittsburgh ........... 39-26W ............ Indianapolis ............ 31-28Nov. 25 ........... at Detroit ........... 12:30Dec. 6 ............... N.Y. Jets ............... 8:30Dec. 12 ............... at Chicago ............... 1Dec. 19 ........... Green Bay ........... 8:20Dec. 26 ................ at Buffalo ................ 1Jan. 2 .................... Miami .................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Jim Nantz, Phil SimmsuKeys to the game: The Patriots passing

game lacks big-play flair, but QB Tom Bradyhas meticulously carved up most secondaries.The Lions press outside receivers, trustingtheir revamped defensive line won’t leavethem isolated downfield for long, but open-field tackling remains an issue. Rookie safetyAmari Spievey is a solid tackler, but he’s notperfect in coverage and could be exploiteddeep. Detroit’s running game has been uselessin recent weeks. Lions coach Jim Schwartz fig-ures to encourage a quick-hitting passing of-fense early in the game to loosen the Patriots’back seven.uMatchup to watch — Lions C Dominic

Raiola vs. Patriots ILB Jerod Mayo: Teamsthat have zeroed in on sealing Mayo havefound consistent running lanes between thetackles. The Lions’ personnel is best suited fora perimeter running game. Fiery but under-sized Raiola will have his hands full with thePatriots’ wave of active defensive linemen, in-cluding Pro Bowl NT Vince Wilfork. Mayo had11 tackles last week and has totaled nine ormore in all but one game this season.uPlayer spotlight — Patriots RB Danny

Woodhead: Woodhead is an essential roleplayer for the Patriots. His awareness as ablocker and soft hands as a receiver helpedhim easily slide in to replace injured veteranKevin Faulk. Woodhead had New England’slongest run of the season with a 36-yardtouchdown Sunday.uFast facts: The Lions have committed 98

penalties and had 10 last week, the sixth timethis season they hit double digits. . . . Bradythrew his 244th touchdown pass in the sec-ond quarter last week to tie John Hadl for 15thin NFL history. Boomer Esiason (247) is 14th.

The Bodog.net line: Patriots by 7

Who will win and whyThe Patriots are hitting on all cylinders. It won’t be easy, but the Li-

ons lack the fixings to challenge the NFL’s elite, no matter the venue.

Our pick: Patriots 33-20

uThursday, 12:30 p.m. ET, at Ford Field, DetroituTV: CBS

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgBrady 329 215 2362 65.3 7.18 19 4 65t 14/96 100.6Patriots 331 215 2362 65.0 7.14 19 5 65t 14/96 98.8Opp. 395 274 3005 69.4 7.61 20 13 51 18/109 94.8

Patriots statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDGreen-Ellis 133 568 4.3 26 7Woodhead 56 312 5.6 36t 3Patriots 266 1128 4.2 36t 11Opp. 263 1088 4.1 36 7

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsGostkowski 0 0 0 0 56Green-Ellis 7 7 0 0 42Gronkowski 6 0 6 0 36Welker 4 0 4 0 25Woodhead 4 3 1 0 24Graham 0 0 0 0 16Hernandez 3 0 3 0 18Tate 3 0 1 2 18Arrington 1 0 0 1 6Brady 1 1 0 0 6Patriots 36 11 19 6 289Opponents 28 7 20 1 242

Kicking PAT FG PtsGostkowski 26/26 10/13 56Graham 7/8 3/3 16Patriots 34/35 13/16 73Opp. 24/24 14/18 66

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDWelker 57 502 8.8 27 4Branch 30 320 10.7 23 1Hernandez 35 444 12.7 46 3Woodhead 22 217 9.9 26 1Gronkowski 20 245 12.3 25t 6Tate 18 301 16.7 65t 1Moss 9 139 15.4 35t 3Patriots 215 2362 11.0 65t 19Opp. 274 3005 11.0 51 20

Int. No. Yds Avg LngMcCourty 3 37 12.3 37Chung 2 77 38.5 51tMeriweather 2 39 19.5 39Sanders 2 32 16.0 32tNinkovich 2 1 0.5 1Guyton 1 59 59.0 59tPage 1 0 0.0 0Patriots 13 245 18.8 59tOpp. 5 12 2.4 12Sacks: Wright 5.5, Banta-Cain 3, G. War-ren 2.5, Deaderick 2, Cunningham 1,Guyton 1, Mayo 1, Ninkovich 1, CrableTM 0.5, Pryor 0.5, TM 18, OPP 14 Fum/Lost: Brady 2/1, Gronkowski 1/1, Morris1/1, Tate 1/1, Welker 1/0

N.E. Opp. N.E. Opp.Possession Avg. 27:41 32:19 Total First Downs 207 235Total Net Yards 3394 3984 Rushing 70 61Avg. Per Game 339.4 398.4 Passing 123 160Total Plays 611 676 Penalty 14 14Avg. Per Play 5.6 5.9 3rd Down/Att. 52/116 68/134Net Yards Rushing 1128 1088 3rd Down Pct. 44.8 50.7Avg. Per Game 112.8 108.8 4th Down/Att. 5/8 7/9Net Yards Passing 2266 2896 4th Down Pct. 62.5 77.8Avg. Per Game 226.6 289.6 Penalties/Yards 55/499 55/440

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgSh. Hill 305 188 1921 61.6 6.30 12 9 75t 12/83 80.5Stafford 96 57 535 59.4 5.57 6 1 36 4/36 91.3Lions 438 265 2689 60.5 6.14 19 11 87t 18/130 82.1Opp. 319 195 2313 61.1 7.25 16 9 89t 27/177 88.2

Lions statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDBest 127 382 3.0 33 4K. Smith 34 133 3.9 15 0Lions 233 805 3.5 40 5Opp. 281 1306 4.6 80t 11

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsC. Johnson 10 0 10 0 62Hanson 0 0 0 0 55Best 5 4 1 0 30Burleson 4 0 4 0 24Pettigrew 3 0 3 0 18Suh 1 0 0 1 6Lions 27 5 19 3 234Opponents 30 11 16 3 237Sacks: Suh 7, Avril 4, Vanden Bosch 4,Jackson 3.5, Delmas 2, McBride 2, Sa.Hill 1.5, Peterson 1, C. Williams 1, TM27, OPP 18Fum/Lost: Sh. Hill 3/1, Stanton 3/1, Bur-leson 2/2, Logan 2/1, Stafford 2/1, Best1/1, Felton 1/1, C. Johnson 1/0, Raiola1/0, A. Smith 1/0

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDC. Johnson 55 725 13.2 87t 10Pettigrew 50 487 9.7 35 3Best 49 375 7.7 75t 1Burleson 37 433 11.7 58 4Scheffler 32 283 8.8 25 1K. Smith 11 123 11.2 27 0Morris 11 94 8.5 16 0B. Johnson 9 87 9.7 24 0Lions 265 2689 10.1 87t 19Opp. 195 2313 11.9 89t 16

Int. No. Yds Avg LngA. Smith 5 48 9.6 42tC. Williams 1 27 27.0 27Berry 1 23 23.0 23Suh 1 20 20.0 20Lions 9 118 13.1 42tOpp. 11 130 11.8 48t

Kicking PAT FG PtsHanson 19/19 12/14 55Rayner 2/2 3/4 11Suh 0/1 0/0 0Lions 21/22 15/18 66Opp. 27/27 10/11 57

Det. Opp. Det. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:02 29:58 Total First Downs 188 198Total Net Yards 3364 3442 Rushing 40 59Avg. Per Game 336.4 344.2 Passing 129 114Total Plays 689 627 Penalty 19 25Avg. Per Play 4.9 5.5 3rd Down/Att. 62/160 47/126Net Yards Rushing 805 1306 3rd Down Pct. 38.8 37.3Avg. Per Game 80.5 130.6 4th Down/Att. 7/10 2/8Net Yards Passing 2559 2136 4th Down Pct. 70.0 25.0Avg. Per Game 255.9 213.6 Penalties/Yards 98/732 73/606

Short preptime forscrappy foe

Week 12 matchup:Patriots (8-2) at Lions (2-8)

By Rick Stewart, Getty Images

Oh, look out: Lions center Dominic Raiola will face a seriouscharge of Patriots on Thanksgiving Day.



Are the Cowboys one win awayfrom being relevant again?

Time will tell, and the Thanksgiv-ing Day game against the defendingSuper Bowl champion New OrleansSaints gives them the opportunityto move a step closer to relevance.

At 3-7, there is no shaking the dis-appointment of the 1-7 start, but athree-game winning streak wouldspark optimism.

After a 35-19 victory vs. the De-troit Lions, the Cowboys were feel-ing a little better about themselvesand their chances of salvaging whathad been a lost season.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. We’relooking for crumbs, and it doesn’ttake but a little piece to smile,” own-er Jerry Jones said.

The Cowboys hadn’t won consec-utive games all season, and theyhadn’t won at home. The win endeda four-game home losing streak.And they go for another streakagainst the Saints. They beat themlast year, turning their seasonaround when it looked lost last De-cember.uTrending: Bryan McCann’s

punt return for a touchdown againstthe Lions was the third punt returnscore by Dallas this season (DezBryant has two), which establishesa single-season team record.uBy the numbers: Jason Wit-

ten’s four catches against the Lionsgave him 50 for the season, his sev-enth consecutive season with atleast 50 catches.

Cowboys scheduleL ............... at Washington ............... 13-7L .................... Chicago .................... 27-20W .............. at Houston .............. 27-13................................ Bye ................................L ................. Tennessee ................. 34-27L ............... at Minnesota ............... 24-21L .................. N.Y. Giants ..................41-35L ................ Jacksonville ................ 35-17L ................ at Green Bay ................ 45-7W ............ at N.Y. Giants ............ 33-20W ................. Detroit ................. 35-19Nov. 25 ........... New Orleans ........... 4:15Dec. 5 .......... at Indianapolis .......... 4:15Dec. 12 ........... Philadelphia ........... 8:20Dec. 19 ............... Washington ............... 1Dec. 25 ............. at Arizona ............. 7:30Jan. 2 .............. at Philadelphia .............. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Win wouldbring sparkof hope

Slowly but surely, the Saints arestarting to gain momentum in a bidto make a move in the NFC Southover the final six weeks of the sea-son.

The only problem is they can’tseem to catch up with the AtlantaFalcons or even separate themselvesfrom the Tampa Bay Buccaneers inwhat has become a torrid divisionrace.

The Saints (7-3) notched theirthird consecutive win and fourthvictory in five games with a 34-19decision vs. the Seattle Seahawksbut could not make up ground onthe Falcons (8-2) or Bucs (7-3), bothof whom also won.

But at this moment, what the Fal-cons and Bucs are doing doesn’tmatter much to the Saints after theyput together their first three-gamewinning streak of the season.

Starting a stretch in which theywould play two games in five days,ending with a Thanksgiving Daymatchup with the Dallas Cowboys,the Saints took care of business withthe win vs. the Seahawks.

Drew Brees led the Saints to aseason-high 494 total yards, toppingthe 475 yards they had in a Week 6win vs. the Bucs.uLineup watch: It will be inter-

esting to see how much action roo-kie running back Chris Ivory getswhen Reggie Bush and PierreThomas get back on the field.uBy the numbers: Brees has

1,862 completions, which is a clubrecord.

Saints scheduleW ............... Minnesota ............... 14-9W ........ at San Francisco ........ 25-22L ................ Atlanta ................ 27-24 (OT)W ................ Carolina ................ 16-14L .................. at Arizona ..................30-20W ............ at Tampa Bay ............ 31-6L ................... Cleveland ................... 30-7W .............. Pittsburgh .............. 20-10W ............... at Carolina ............... 34-3................................ Bye ................................W .................. Seattle .................. 34-19Nov. 25 ............... at Dallas ............... 4:15Dec. 5 ................ at Cincinnati ................ 1Dec. 12 ............... St. Louis ............... 4:05Dec. 19 ............... at Baltimore ............... 1Dec. 27 .............. at Atlanta .............. 8:30Jan. 2 .................. Tampa Bay .................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Steady climbleaves teamin range

uTV announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman,Pam OliveruKeys to the game: The Saints are playing

as well defensively as they have since 2006,coach Sean Payton insists, but the one area inwhich the team isn’t matching last season’s ef-fort is in takeaways. The Cowboys haven’tbeen shy about giving the ball away (21 turn-overs) this season, and they’ll be in trouble ifthey give the Saints extra possessions. NewOrleans’ offense is starting to click, and that’swith RBs Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas andTE Jeremy Shockey working their way backfrom injuries. Cowboys QB Jon Kitna has sixtouchdown passes among 31 completionssince interim coach Jason Garrett took over.Garrett calls a lot of screen passes and misdi-rection, designs that should break up the manyblitzes the Saints can send.uMatchup to watch — Saints QB Drew

Brees vs. Cowboys Ss Gerald Sensabaughand Alan Ball: New Cowboys coordinator PaulPasqualoni is incorporating a zone-heavy passdefense. That places more pressure on theback end. Brees never got comfortable againstthe Cowboys last season, when he was sackedfour times. If OLB DeMarcus Ware can applysimilar pressure, the Cowboys’ secondarystands a chance.uPlayer spotlight — Cowboys NT Jay

Ratliff: Ratliff has to deal with one of the topguard combinations in the league: Jahri Evansand massive Carl Nicks. The Cowboys need hispenetration to free the back seven to range tothe ball.uFast facts: The Cowboys have three

touchdown passes in five of their past sevengames. . . . Brees had five games with 36 ormore pass attempts last season. He has 36-plus attempts in nine of 10 games this season.

The Bodog.net line: Saints by 3

Who will win and whyThe Saints offense is starting to play circa 2009, and several stars

are nearing returns. New Orleans gave up yards in big chunks lastweek but must dodge the home run ball at Dallas.

Our pick: Saints 28-24

uThursday, 4:15 p.m. ET, at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TexasuTV: Fox

Week 12 matchup:Saints (7-3) at Cowboys (3-7)

By Bill Kostroun, AP

Pressure’s on: Cowboys strong safety Gerald Sensabaughmust defend against the passing of Drew Brees.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgBrees 417 290 2969 69.5 7.12 22 14 80t 13/91 93.3Saints 417 290 2969 69.5 7.12 22 14 80t 14/101 93.3Opp. 311 189 1985 60.8 6.38 7 6 68 19/122 78.8

Saints statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDIvory 101 481 4.8 33 1J. Jones 27 126 4.7 54 0Betts 45 150 3.3 12 2P. Thomas 46 147 3.2 12 1Saints 248 955 3.9 54 4Opp. 254 1054 4.1 68 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsHartley 0 0 0 0 53Moore 5 0 5 0 30Colston 4 0 4 0 24Meachem 4 0 4 0 24Carney 0 0 0 0 18Shockey 3 0 3 0 18Greer 1 0 0 1 6Saints 27 4 22 1 235Opponents 18 6 7 5 170Sacks: Ellis 4, Smith 2.5, Vilma 2, Ayo-dele 1, A. Brown 1, Charleston 1, Dun-bar 1, Hargrove 1, Harper 1, Jenkins 1,Torrence 1, Wilkerson 1, Young 1, Prio-leau 0.5, TM 19, OPP 14Fum/Lost: Brees 6/1, Ivory 3/2, Moore2/1

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDColston 62 705 11.4 30 4Moore 38 491 12.9 80t 5Shockey 31 314 10.1 31 3D. Thomas 29 215 7.4 22 2Meachem 27 354 13.1 50 4Henderson 23 279 12.1 39 1Betts 23 141 6.1 25 0P. Thomas 17 133 7.8 23 0Graham 13 170 13.1 27 1Bush 9 63 7.0 19 1H. Evans 6 39 6.5 18 1Saints 290 2969 10.2 80t 22Opp. 189 1985 10.5 68 7

Int. No. Yds Avg LngGreer 2 50 25.0 26Torrence 1 21 21.0 21Porter 1 5 5.0 5Vilma 1 5 5.0 5Saints 6 87 14.5 26Opp. 14 283 20.2 66

Kicking PAT FG PtsHartley 23/23 10/15 53Carney 3/3 5/6 18Saints 26/26 15/21 71Opp. 15/16 15/19 60

N.O. Opp. N.O. Opp.Possession Avg. 32:27 27:33 Total First Downs 225 165Total Net Yards 3823 2917 Rushing 58 58Avg. Per Game 382.3 291.7 Passing 153 91Total Plays 679 584 Penalty 14 16Avg. Per Play 5.6 5.0 3rd Down/Att. 67/133 46/127Net Yards Rushing 955 1054 3rd Down Pct. 50.4 36.2Avg. Per Game 95.5 105.4 4th Down/Att. 5/8 8/13Net Yards Passing 2868 1863 4th Down Pct. 62.5 61.5Avg. Per Game 286.8 186.3 Penalties/Yards 51/494 55/468

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgRomo 213 148 1605 69.5 7.54 11 7 69t 7/41 94.9Kitna 158 100 1223 63.3 7.74 10 7 71t 11/60 89.7Cowboys 372 248 2828 66.7 7.60 21 14 71t 18/101 92.5Opp. 323 219 2497 67.8 7.73 22 8 59 20/146 103.2

Cowboys statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDJones 98 404 4.1 34 0Barber 92 294 3.2 24 2Kitna 14 54 3.9 29t 1Cowboys 227 839 3.7 34 3Opp. 273 1173 4.3 42 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsBuehler 0 0 0 0 59Bryant 8 0 6 2 48Austin 5 0 5 0 30R. Williams 5 0 5 0 30Witten 3 0 3 0 20Barber 2 2 0 0 12McCann 2 0 0 2 12Jones 1 0 1 0 6Cowboys 28 3 21 4 229Opponents 32 6 22 4 271

Kicking PAT FG PtsBuehler 26/27 11/15 59Cowboys 26/27 11/15 59Opp. 32/32 15/16 77

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDWitten 50 561 11.2 31 3Austin 49 732 14.9 69t 5Bryant 44 547 12.4 46 6Jones 30 277 9.2 71t 1R. Williams 27 386 14.3 63t 5Bennett 18 154 8.6 32 0Cowboys 248 2828 11.4 71t 21Opp. 219 2497 11.4 59 22

Int. No. Yds Avg LngNewman 2 30 15.0 30McCann 1 101 101.0 101tBrooking 1 41 41.0 41Ball 1 27 27.0 27Sensabaugh 1 8 8.0 8Cowboys 8 203 25.4 101tOpp. 14 175 12.5 62tSacks: Ware 8.5, Spencer 3, Bowen 1.5,Ratliff 1.5, Brooking 1, Butler 1, Hatcher1, Sensabaugh 1, Ball 0.5, Lissemore 0.5,Scandrick 0.5, TM 20, OPP 18Fum/Lost: Kitna 3/1, R. Williams 2/1,Bryant 1/1, Choice 1/1, Gurode 1/0,Jones 1/1, McCann 1/1, Witten 1/1

Dal. Opp. Dal. Opp.Possession Avg. 29:19 30:41 Total First Downs 194 199Total Net Yards 3566 3524 Rushing 51 55Avg. Per Game 356.6 352.4 Passing 130 126Total Plays 617 616 Penalty 13 18Avg. Per Play 5.8 5.7 3rd Down/Att. 50/123 55/130Net Yards Rushing 839 1173 3rd Down Pct. 40.7 42.3Avg. Per Game 83.9 117.3 4th Down/Att. 9/14 1/4Net Yards Passing 2727 2351 4th Down Pct. 64.3 25.0Avg. Per Game 272.7 235.1 Penalties/Yards 73/605 53/416



Mark Sanchez has advice for Jetsfans.

“Eat your turkey on Wednesday,”he said after the Jets’ latest heart-pounding win, “and not on Thurs-day.”

Makes sense, considering the NFLhas thoughtfully served up the profootball version of a turkey for theJets to potentially devour Thanks-giving night.

The Jets’ 30-27 comeback victoryvs. the Houston Texans was the firstof two home games for them atNew Meadowlands Stadium in fivedays. Thursday, the Jets (8-2) willhost the Cincinnati Bengals (2-8),losers of seven consecutive games,including a 49-31 defeat to the vis-iting Buffalo Bills on Sunday inwhich they blew a 28-7 first-halflead.

The Jets are tied with the NewEngland Patriots atop the AFC Eastand hold the tiebreaker because of aSeptember win vs. the Patriots.New England also will play Thurs-day, in the first game of the day atthe Detroit Lions. After that, the Jetsand Patriots will have plenty of timeto prepare for their Monday nightgame at New England.uLineup watch: Wide receiver

Jerricho Cotchery sat out with agroin injury and was replaced inthree-wide-receiver sets by BradSmith and Patrick Turner.uBy the numbers: LaDainian

Tomlinson’s yards per carry con-tinued to diminish last week as heaveraged 3.0 yards on 12 attempts.

Jets scheduleL ................... Baltimore ................... 10-9W ........... New England ........... 28-14W ................ at Miami ................ 31-23W ............... at Buffalo ............... 38-14W ............. Minnesota ............. 29-20W ............... at Denver ............... 24-20................................ Bye ................................L ................... Green Bay ................... 9-0W .......... at Detroit .......... 23-20 (OT)W ....... at Cleveland ....... 26-20 (OT)W ................ Houston ................ 30-27Nov. 25 ............. Cincinnati ............. 8:20Dec. 6 ......... at New England ......... 8:30Dec. 12 ................. Miami ................. 4:15Dec. 19 ........... at Pittsburgh ........... 4:15Dec. 26 ................ at Chicago ................ 1Jan. 2 ..................... Buffalo ..................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Turkey Dayfeast isanticipated

When the schedule was made inApril, the rematch of last season’sAFC playoff game between the Ben-gals and New York Jets was sup-posed to be one of the marqueegames of 2010.

Now it has the potential to be aThanksgiving night rout.

After blowing a 21-point second-quarter lead and losing 49-31 to theBuffalo Bills, the Bengals have lostseven in a row, are 2-8 and haveclinched their 18th non-winningseason in the last 20. A year agothey were in line to be the thirdseed in the AFC playoffs. Now theyhave the worst record in the confer-ence and could be picking in the topfive of the draft.

With three days to prepare forthe Jets, the Bengals are going tohave to put together a patchworksecondary. Four of their defensivebacks were injured Sunday: safetiesRoy Williams (concussion) andChris Crocker (knee) and corner-backs Johnathan Joseph (ankle)and Brandon Ghee (groin). TheBills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 316yards and four touchdowns.uTrending: During the seven-

game losing streak, quarterbackCarson Palmer has thrown 10passes that were intercepted, andopponents have converted thosepicks into 45 points.uBy the numbers: The Bengals

were winless in their history at theMeadowlands (0-8 vs. the Jets, 0-3vs. the New York Giants). They hopetheir luck changes at New Meadow-lands Stadium.

Bengals scheduleL ............. at New England ............. 38-24W ............... Baltimore ............... 15-10W ............... at Carolina ............... 20-7L ................ at Cleveland ................ 23-20L .................. Tampa Bay .................. 24-21................................ Bye ................................L ................... at Atlanta ................... 39-32L....................... Miami ....................... 22-14L .................. Pittsburgh .................. 27-21L .............. at Indianapolis .............. 23-17L ..................... Buffalo ..................... 49-31Nov. 25 ............. at N.Y. Jets ............. 8:20Dec. 5 ............... New Orleans ............... 1Dec. 12 .............. at Pittsburgh .............. 1Dec. 19 ................. Cleveland ................. 1Dec. 26 .............. San Diego .............. 8:20Jan. 2 ................. at Baltimore ................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Bob Papa, Matt Millen,Joe TheismannuKeys to the game: A listless Bengals

rushing attack had limited offensive coordina-tor Bob Bratkowski’s play-calling, but the first26 plays last week included 16 runs beforeCincinnati’s collapse against the Buffalo Bills.Sticking with RB Cedric Benson is necessary tokeep ailing QB Carson Palmer out of harm’sway. The Jets are doing enough in the passinggame to keep safeties from crowding the lineof scrimmage, and there’s reason to have con-fidence in QB Mark Sanchez after he producedanother game-winning drive in the final sec-onds last week. Injuries have hurt the Bengals’depth at cornerback, and they don’t match upwell against the Jets’ three-receiver sets.uMatchup to watch — Bengals CB Joh-

nathan Joseph vs. Jets WR SantonioHolmes: When the Jets need key catches, es-pecially late in the game, Holmes is Sanchez’spreferred target. Joseph has the bounce backin his step and picked off two passes Sunday,returning one for a touchdown. The press-cov-er corner is no stranger to Holmes, a former di-vision foe with the Pittsburgh Steelers, orBraylon Edwards, a former Cleveland Brown.uPlayer spotlight — Jets CB Antonio

Cromartie: The healthier Darrelle Revis gets,the more important offseason acquisition Cro-martie is to the Jets’ defensive game plan. He’samong NFL leaders in passes broken up andwill be locked up with either Terrell Owens orChad Ochocinco.uFast facts: Palmer has multiple touch-

down passes in seven consecutive games. Hehad seven multiple-touchdown performancesin his previous 20 games. . . . The Jets havefive interceptions this season. They had 17 lastyear.

The Bodog.net line: Jets by 81⁄2

Who will win and whyThe Bengals have firepower but keep inventing ways to lose. The

Jets live for this stage and will stretch the Bengals’ nose dive to eightgames on national television.

Our pick: Jets 27-14

uThursday, 8:20 p.m. ET, at New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.uTV: NFL Network

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgC. Palmer 394 240 2625 60.9 6.66 18 13 78t 17/127 82.1Bengals 397 243 2643 61.2 6.66 18 13 78t 19/147 82.3Opp. 340 205 2287 60.3 6.73 15 12 54 10/57 80.4

Bengals statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDBenson 200 747 3.7 26 4Scott 27 119 4.4 18 0Leonard 7 58 8.3 42 0Bengals 254 966 3.8 42 4Opp. 267 1183 4.4 61 10

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsNugent 0 0 0 0 62Owens 8 0 8 0 48Benson 5 4 1 0 32Ochocinco 4 0 4 0 24Gresham 3 0 3 0 18A. Jones 1 0 0 1 6Leonard 1 0 1 0 6Shipley 1 0 1 0 6Bengals 24 4 18 2 215Opponents 30 10 15 5 262Sacks: Crocker 2, Atkins 1, Dunlap 1,Geathers 1, Maualuga 1, Rivers 1, Ruck-er 1, B. Johnson 0.5, M. Johnson 0.5, Pe-ko 0.5, Sims 0.5, TM 10, OPP 19Fum/Lost: Benson 5/4, C. Palmer 5/2,Gresham 2/1, R. Nelson 1/1, Scott 1/1

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDOwens 62 897 14.5 78t 8Ochocinco 50 587 11.7 42 4Gresham 42 330 7.9 27 3Shipley 35 480 13.7 64t 1Benson 19 126 6.6 16 1Leonard 12 73 6.1 11 1Caldwell 10 75 7.5 19 0Scott 9 52 5.8 25 0Bengals 243 2643 10.9 78t 18Opp. 205 2287 11.2 54 15

Int. No. Yds Avg LngHall 4 19 4.8 22Joseph 3 38 12.7 21tB. Johnson 1 12 12.0 12A. Jones 1 10 10.0 10Ndukwe 1 0 0.0 0Trent 1 0 0.0 0R. Williams 1 0 0.0 0Bengals 12 79 6.6 22Opp. 13 294 22.6 59t

Kicking PAT FG PtsNugent 17/17 15/19 62Pettrey 4/4 1/2 7Bengals 21/21 16/21 69Opp. 29/29 17/21 80

Cin. Opp. Cin. Opp.Possession Avg. 31:13 28:47 Total First Downs 209 188Total Net Yards 3462 3413 Rushing 53 65Avg. Per Game 346.2 341.3 Passing 139 107Total Plays 670 617 Penalty 17 16Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.5 3rd Down/Att. 55/143 54/130Net Yards Rushing 966 1183 3rd Down Pct. 38.5 41.5Avg. Per Game 96.6 118.3 4th Down/Att. 9/10 2/6Net Yards Passing 2496 2230 4th Down Pct. 90.0 33.3Avg. Per Game 249.6 223.0 Penalties/Yards 61/471 56/448

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgSanchez 336 185 2306 55.1 6.86 15 7 74t 17/116 82.8Jets 338 187 2316 55.3 6.85 16 7 74t 17/116 83.9Opp. 349 178 2329 51.0 6.67 14 5 46 21/129 79.8

Jets statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDTomlinson 153 692 4.5 31 5Greene 122 505 4.1 23t 1B. Smith 24 161 6.7 22 0Sanchez 18 54 3.0 20 2Jets 328 1459 4.4 31 8Opp. 260 903 3.5 30 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsFolk 0 0 0 0 86Edwards 6 0 6 0 38Keller 5 0 5 0 30Tomlinson 5 5 0 0 30Holmes 3 0 3 0 18Cotchery 2 0 2 0 12Sanchez 2 2 0 0 12Greene 1 1 0 0 6Jets 25 8 16 1 238Opponents 20 6 14 0 177

Kicking PAT FG PtsFolk 23/23 21/28 86Jets 23/23 21/28 86Opp. 18/19 13/16 57

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDTomlinson 43 315 7.3 21 0Keller 35 479 13.7 41 5Edwards 33 598 18.1 74t 6Cotchery 29 315 10.9 49 2Holmes 27 447 16.6 52 3Greene 8 58 7.3 12 0Richardson 4 24 6.0 14 0B. Smith 3 21 7.0 11 0Jets 187 2316 12.4 74t 16Opp. 178 2329 13.1 46 14

Int. No. Yds Avg LngCromartie 2 66 33.0 66Lowery 1 26 26.0 26tColeman 1 0 0.0 0Pool 1 0 0.0 0Jets 5 92 18.4 66Opp. 7 52 7.4 18Sacks: J. Taylor 4, Ellis 3.5, Thomas 3,Pace 2.5, Ihedigbo 2, Lowery 2, Coleman1, Harris 1, Pouha 1, Scott 1, TM 21, OPP17Fum/Lost: Sanchez 4/0, Greene 3/2,Tomlinson 3/0, Wilson 2/0, Edwards1/1, Holmes 1/1, B. Smith 1/1

NY-J Opp. NY-J Opp.Possession Avg. 31:51 28:09 Total First Downs 199 183Total Net Yards 3659 3103 Rushing 69 41Avg. Per Game 365.9 310.3 Passing 114 116Total Plays 683 630 Penalty 16 26Avg. Per Play 5.4 4.9 3rd Down/Att. 60/146 52/141Net Yards Rushing 1459 903 3rd Down Pct. 41.1 36.9Avg. Per Game 145.9 90.3 4th Down/Att. 2/6 2/4Net Yards Passing 2200 2200 4th Down Pct. 33.3 50.0Avg. Per Game 220.0 220.0 Penalties/Yards 76/686 54/527

Team’s falldiminishesgame’s luster

Week 12 matchup:Bengals (2-8) at Jets (8-2)

By Al Bello, Getty Images

Big-play man: Jets wideout Santonio Holmes, above, willmatch up against Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph.



After starting the season with a4-2 record, the Texans have lost fourconsecutive games to drop to 4-6.They remain in the AFC South cellargoing into the game against the Ten-nessee Titans at Reliant Stadium.

The Texans have suffered threeheartbreaking losses in a row, butthe players continue to play hard forcoach Gary Kubiak.

The Texans’ most recent defeatwas even more difficult to stomach.They trailed the New York Jets 23-7early in the fourth quarter but ral-lied to take a 27-23 lead with 55seconds remaining. The Jets had togo 72 yards in 45 seconds with notimeouts remaining. And that’s ex-actly what they did.

So where do the Texans in generaland the secondary in particular gofrom here? Tennessee quarterbacksKerry Collins and Vince Young areinjured.uBy the numbers: Kubiak’s rec-

ord in November is 5-14 during hisfive seasons with the Texans.uUnder the radar: Middle line-

backer Kevin Bentley is a nine-yearveteran and the Texans’ special-teams captain. Unless a starter is in-jured, he spends all of his time onspecial teams, where he does a ter-rific job.

But he has started the last twogames at middle linebacker so Bri-an Cushing could return outside.Bentley led the Texans with eighttackles, including six unassisted, inthe loss to the Jets.

Texans scheduleW ........... Indianapolis ........... 34-24W ..... at Washington ..... 30-27 (OT)L ...................... Dallas ...................... 27-13W .............. at Oakland .............. 31-24L .................. N.Y. Giants .................. 34-10W ............. Kansas City ............. 35-31................................ Bye ................................L .............. at Indianapolis .............. 30-17L .................. San Diego .................. 29-23L ............... at Jacksonville ............... 31-24L .................. at N.Y. Jets .................. 30-27Nov. 28 ................ Tennessee ................ 1Dec. 2 .......... at Philadelphia .......... 8:20Dec. 13 .............. Baltimore .............. 8:30Dec. 19 .............. at Tennessee .............. 1Dec. 26 .............. at Denver .............. 4:05Jan. 2 ................. Jacksonville ................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Heartbreakstrikes againin loss to Jets

Is the Vince Young era over?Young tore a flexor tendon in his

right thumb against the WashingtonRedskins. But that might be the leastof his worries.

The quarterback shed his jerseyand shoulder pads and tossed theminto the stands after the game.

With all that transpired, the ques-tion becomes whether Young hasplayed his last snap as a Titan.Chances are, only owner Bud Ad-ams, who has long been a Youngbacker and championed draftinghim in the first place, can resolvethe situation.

Twice before, Adams has orderedYoung into the lineup, during hisrookie season of 2006 after a 0-3 be-ginning, and last year after a 59-0beat-down at the New England Pa-triots that finished off a 0-6 start.

Young has had issues before withhis emotions. During his rookie sea-son, he hurled his cleats into thewall in Indianapolis and refused tomeet with the news media. In 2008,he refused to go back into a game.uLineup watch: With Young out

and Kerry Collins hurt, the Titanswill have to start Rusty Smith onSunday against the host HoustonTexans. The rookie will be makinghis first NFL startuBy the numbers: Lost in the

Young soap opera is the fact that theTitans’ defense has been awful overthe past month. Last week was noexception; Washington rolled up465 yards of total offense.

Titans scheduleW ................ Oakland ................ 38-13L .................. Pittsburgh .................. 19-11W ............ at N.Y. Giants ............ 29-10L ..................... Denver ..................... 26-20W ................ at Dallas ................ 34-27W ........... at Jacksonville ........... 30-3W ............ Philadelphia ............ 37-19L ................. at San Diego................. 33-25................................ Bye ................................L .................... at Miami .................... 29-13L ............ Washington ............ 19-16 (OT)Nov. 28 ................ at Houston ................ 1Dec. 5 ................ Jacksonville ................ 1Dec. 9 ............. Indianapolis ............. 8:20Dec. 19 .................. Houston .................. 1Dec. 26 ............. at Kansas City ............. 1Jan. 2 .............. at Indianapolis .............. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

QB Young’sfuture withteam unclear

uTV announcers: Ian Eagle, Dan FoutsuKeys to the game: Houston’s pass de-

fense catches a break with sixth-round rookieQB Rusty Smith expected to start for Tennes-see. The Texans are allowing 301 passing yardsa game and have been responsible for consec-utive final-possession losses. Offensive coor-dinator Mike Heimerdinger let Smith cut itloose a few times Sunday, but the Titans willrun the offense through RB Chris Johnson andwill lean on Smith’s arm only as much asforced to. Johnson rushed 45 times in twomeetings last season, averaging 174 yards agame and 7.7 yards a carry. The Texans have toscore in bunches to make up for deficiencieson defense, especially a porous pass defensethat has given up game-winning touchdownpasses in the final possession of two consec-utive games. Texans RB Arian Foster has aleague-leading 13 touchdowns and 1,382 totalyards; he will find room to run against the Ti-tans. The play-to-play jostling between TitansCB Cortland Finnegan and Texans WR AndreJohnson will be worth watching.uMatchup to watch — Texans kick cov-

erage vs. Titans RS Marc Mariani: The Ti-tans’ latest rookie find, Mariani returned apunt 87 yards for a touchdown last week, andthe seventh-round rookie averages 17.1 yardsa punt return. He scored on a 98-yard kickoffreturn in a Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos.uPlayer spotlight — Titans LB Stephen

Tulloch: A tackle machine and the Titans’ toplinebacker in pass coverage, Tulloch earns thespotlight as the player most essential to slow-ing Foster.uFast facts: Smith is Florida Atlantic’s all-

time leader with 10,112 passing yards and 76TD passes. . . . The Texans are 4-1 at home intheir last five games against AFC opponents.

The Bodog.net line: No line

Who will win and whyTwo teams with plenty of question marks. But what the Texans can

do is put points on the board, and the Titans will be hard-pressed tokeep up with rookie QB Rusty Smith at the controls.

Our pick: Texans 23-13

uSunday, 1 p.m. ET, at Reliant Stadium, HoustonuTV: CBS, DirecTV 706

Week 12 matchup:Titans (5-5) vs. Texans (4-6)

By Jae S. Lee, The (Nashville) Tennessean

He could go all the way: The Titans’ Marc Mariani returns apunt 87 yards for a touchdown Sunday vs. the Redskins.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgYoung 156 93 1255 59.6 8.04 10 3 71t 13/80 98.6K. Collins 107 62 638 57.9 5.96 5 3 80t 5/28 79.1Titans 272 158 1955 58.1 7.19 15 7 80t 18/108 88.1Opp. 405 259 2780 64.0 6.86 12 15 69t 30/193 78.4

Titans statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDC. Johnson 216 968 4.5 76t 9Ringer 40 178 4.5 54 1Young 25 125 5.0 20 0Titans 285 1270 4.5 76t 10Opp. 268 1035 3.9 36 4

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsBironas 0 0 0 0 83C. Johnson 9 9 0 0 54Britt 7 0 7 0 44Washington 5 0 5 0 30Mariani 2 0 0 2 12Scaife 2 0 2 0 12Finnegan 1 0 0 1 6Schommer 0 0 0 0 2Titans 28 10 15 3 257Opponents 17 4 12 1 198

Kicking PAT FG PtsBironas 26/26 19/20 83Titans 26/26 19/20 83Opp. 15/15 27/33 96

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDScaife 30 281 9.4 30 2Washington 29 494 17.0 71t 5C. Johnson 25 103 4.1 17 0Britt 23 434 18.9 80t 7Gage 13 184 14.2 30 0Williams 11 146 13.3 26 0Stevens 7 83 11.9 28 1Titans 158 1955 12.4 80t 15Opp. 259 2780 10.7 69t 12

Int. No. Yds Avg LngGriffin 4 50 12.5 28Finnegan 2 41 20.5 41tVerner 2 22 11.0 12McCourty 2 11 5.5 11Hope 1 32 32.0 32Tulloch 1 18 18.0 18Titans 15 170 11.3 41tOpp. 7 51 7.3 43

Sacks: Babin 8, Ball 7, T. Brown 3.5, Ford3, Witherspoon 3, Jones 2, Morgan 1.5,Finnegan 1, Hope 1, TM 30, OPP 18Fum/Lost: Young 6/4, K. Collins 3/2, C.Johnson 3/2, Mariani 2/2, Scaife 2/1

Tenn. Opp. Tenn. Opp.Possession Avg. 26:35 33:25 Total First Downs 158 215Total Net Yards 3117 3622 Rushing 54 59Avg. Per Game 311.7 362.2 Passing 87 134Total Plays 575 703 Penalty 17 22Avg. Per Play 5.4 5.2 3rd Down/Att. 49/133 63/152Net Yards Rushing 1270 1035 3rd Down Pct. 36.8 41.4Avg. Per Game 127.0 103.5 4th Down/Att. 3/5 4/13Net Yards Passing 1847 2587 4th Down Pct. 60.0 30.8Avg. Per Game 184.7 258.7 Penalties/Yards 81/694 76/705

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgSchaub 332 211 2574 63.6 7.75 13 7 60 22/145 91.6Texans 332 211 2574 63.6 7.75 13 7 60 22/145 91.6Opp. 372 251 3139 67.5 8.44 25 6 73t 17/129 109.2

Texans statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDFoster 194 1004 5.2 74t 12Ward 29 169 5.8 38t 3Slaton 19 93 4.9 23 0Schaub 16 21 1.3 8 0Jones 1 10 10.0 10 0Texans 260 1270 4.9 74t 15Opp. 270 1078 4.0 35 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsFoster 13 12 1 0 78Rackers 0 0 0 0 76Johnson 4 0 4 0 24Walter 4 0 4 0 24Dreessen 3 0 3 0 18Ward 3 3 0 0 18Jones 1 0 1 0 6Texans 28 15 13 0 244Opponents 34 8 25 1 287Sacks: M. Williams 7.5, A. Smith 3, M.Anderson LG 2, M. Anderson TM 2,Okoye 2, Lewis 1, Ryans 1, Nading 0.5,TM 17, OPP 22Fum/Lost: Schaub 5/2, Foster 2/2, Drees-sen 1/1, Jones 1/0

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDJohnson 56 813 14.5 60 4Foster 39 378 9.7 50 1Walter 30 372 12.4 35 4Jones 25 242 9.7 23 1Dreessen 19 321 16.9 43t 3Daniels 16 200 12.5 27 0D. Anderson 7 72 10.3 35 0Casey 6 69 11.5 33 0Leach 6 63 10.5 18 0Ward 4 33 8.3 12 0Slaton 3 11 3.7 12 0Texans 211 2574 12.2 60 13Opp. 251 3139 12.5 73t 25

Int. No. Yds Avg LngNolan 2 34 17.0 20Jackson 2 23 11.5 23Bentley 1 18 18.0 18McManis 1 1 1.0 1Texans 6 76 12.7 23Opp. 7 60 8.6 25t

Kicking PAT FG PtsRackers 28/28 16/18 76Texans 28/28 16/18 76Opp. 33/33 16/21 81

Hou. Opp. Hou. Opp.Possession Avg. 27:47 32:13 Total First Downs 212 235Total Net Yards 3699 4088 Rushing 76 70Avg. Per Game 369.9 408.8 Passing 127 147Total Plays 614 659 Penalty 9 18Avg. Per Play 6.0 6.2 3rd Down/Att. 46/114 51/125Net Yards Rushing 1270 1078 3rd Down Pct. 40.4 40.8Avg. Per Game 127.0 107.8 4th Down/Att. 3/8 6/8Net Yards Passing 2429 3010 4th Down Pct. 37.5 75.0Avg. Per Game 242.9 301.0 Penalties/Yards 55/408 63/554



The Ravens revived their down-field passing game heading intotheir showdown against the TampaBay Buccaneers.

Baltimore quarterback Joe Flaccocompleted five passes of more than20 yards in the Ravens’ 37-13 win atthe Carolina Panthers. The Ravenshad nine such completions in theirpast four games.

Flacco’s first pass Sunday was a56-yard touchdown strike to T.J.Houshmandzadeh, which was in-tended to send a message.

The perception is that the Ravenshave possession wide receivers inAnquan Boldin, Derrick Masonand Houshmandzadeh and thatthey lack speed to stretch the fieldagainst defenses.

“We’re going to take our shots,”Mason said.

Baltimore coach John Harbaughestimated there are eight to 10 op-portunities to throw deep in eachgame, and he stressed the impor-tance of being able to convert six orseven of those.

“We need those downfieldstrikes,” he said.uLineup watch: Offensive line-

man Tony Moll could be pressedinto action for a couple of weeks un-til Chris Chester recovers from cel-lulitis, a skin condition.uBy the numbers: The Ravens,

who have struggled to get pressureon the quarterback, had three sacksSunday. This tied a season high forBaltimore, which had been on pacefor the fewest sacks in franchise his-tory.

Ravens scheduleW ............... at N.Y. Jets ............... 10-9L ............... at Cincinnati ............... 15-10W ............... Cleveland ............... 24-17W ............ at Pittsburgh ............ 17-14W .................. Denver .................. 31-17L ....... at New England ....... 23-20 (OT)W ............ Buffalo ............ 37-34 (OT)................................ Bye ................................W .................. Miami .................. 26-10L .................. at Atlanta .................. 26-21W .............. at Carolina .............. 37-13Nov. 28 ............. Tampa Bay ............. 4:15Dec. 5 .............. Pittsburgh .............. 8:20Dec. 13 ............ at Houston ............ 8:30Dec. 19 .............. New Orleans .............. 1Dec. 26 ............... at Cleveland ............... 1Jan. 2 .................. Cincinnati .................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Flacco findssuccess withlong pass

The Buccaneers offense is givingopponents plenty for which to pre-pare.

Take last weekend’s 21-0 win atthe San Francisco 49ers.

Wide receiver Michael Spurlockthrew a pass on a fake punt at mid-field. Backup quarterback JoshJohnson ran for a first down, com-pleted a pass and lined up at wide-out. Left tackle Donald Penn had atouchdown reception. And rookieMike Williams crossed the goalline again.

“We’re impossible to ignore,”Bucs coach Raheem Morris said af-ter watching his team improve to7-3 by winning at Candlestick Parkfor the first time since 1980 and thesecond time in franchise history.“We’re an exciting brand of foot-ball.”

The Buccaneers head into a toughtwo-game stretch. Tampa Bay visitsthe Baltimore Ravens on Sunday be-fore hosting the Atlanta Falcons onDec. 1.uTrending: Defensive tackle

Gerald McCoy is starting to make abig impact. Against the CarolinaPanthers, he forced a fumble andhad a tackle for a loss. Sunday, Mc-Coy recorded two half-sacks — hisfirst of the season. “It feels good.You work hard; you keep working,”McCoy said.uBy the numbers: With his in-

terception vs. 49ers quarterbackTroy Smith, Ronde Barber becamethe first cornerback in NFL historyto record at least 40 interceptionsand 25 sacks.

Buccaneers scheduleW ............... Cleveland ............... 17-14W ............... at Carolina ............... 20-7L .................. Pittsburgh .................. 38-13................................ Bye ................................W ........... at Cincinnati ........... 24-21L ................. New Orleans ................. 31-6W ................ St. Louis ................ 18-17W .............. at Arizona .............. 38-35L ................... at Atlanta ................... 27-21W ................. Carolina ................. 31-16W ......... at San Francisco ......... 21-0Nov. 28 ............... at Baltimore ............... 1Dec. 5 ..................... Atlanta ..................... 1Dec. 12 ............. at Washington ............. 1Dec. 19 ................... Detroit ................... 1Dec. 26 .................... Seattle .................... 1Jan. 2 .............. at New Orleans .............. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan,Jaime MaggiouKeys to the game: The Bucs continue to

build a strong ground game with RB LeGar-rette Blount. The Ravens have been more vul-nerable than in recent seasons on the ground,but their real weakness has been the propen-sity to allow big plays on the right side. CB JoshWilson hasn’t been much better than oustedstarter Fabian Washington, and Bucs rookieWR Mike Williams has a 4-inch and 20-poundadvantage in the matchup. Tampa Bay’s de-fense is coming off a shutout at the San Fran-cisco 49ers. Baltimore presents a much differ-ent test with veteran receivers to go with asolid running game. RB Ray Rice should getplenty of early work to help set up the Bucssecondary.uMatchup to watch — Bucs QB Josh

Freeman vs. Ravens FS Ed Reed: Freemanhas shown growth and maturity in his secondseason, going without an interception in five ofhis past six games. But no one is better at bait-ing quarterbacks into mistakes than Reed, whohas four interceptions in as many games thisseason. Reed makes many of his plays throughsheer anticipation, so it will be up to Freemanto disguise where he is going with the ball.uPlayer spotlight — Ravens WR Donté

Stallworth: Stallworth is the team’s fourthwide receiver, but offensive coordinator CamCameron is experimenting with ways to getthe ball in his hands. Stallworth has one recep-tion, but the Ravens’ fastest receiver has threecarries on end-around plays in his first twogames of the season.uFast fact: Joe Flacco is tied with Vinny

Testaverde for the Ravens franchise recordwith 51 career touchdown passes.

The Bodog.net line: Ravens by 71⁄2

Who will win and whyThis is a trap game for the young Bucs, playing a second consec-

utive road game before hosting the Atlanta Falcons next week. Balti-more will run the ball early and set up a few big passes to pull away.

Our pick: Ravens 24-17

uSunday, 4:15 p.m. ET, at M&T Bank Stadium, BaltimoreuTV: Fox, DirecTV 711

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgFreeman 290 177 2099 61.0 7.24 14 5 58t 18/114 92.0Buccaneers 305 188 2194 61.6 7.19 14 5 58t 20/122 91.9Opp. 314 181 2083 57.6 6.63 15 15 49 14/75 73.8

Buccaneers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDBlount 101 441 4.4 48 4C. Williams 104 338 3.3 45t 2Freeman 39 236 6.1 33 0Graham 18 98 5.4 61 1Buccaneers 275 1178 4.3 61 7Opp. 285 1365 4.8 39 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsBarth 0 0 0 0 59M. Williams 6 0 6 0 36Blount 4 4 0 0 24Spurlock 3 0 2 1 18C. Williams 3 2 1 0 18Benn 2 0 2 0 12Graham 2 1 1 0 12Grimm 1 0 0 1 6Penn 1 0 1 0 6Buccaneers 25 7 14 4 209Opponents 25 8 15 2 206

Kicking PAT FG PtsBarth 23/23 12/16 59Buccaneers 23/23 12/16 59Opp. 24/24 10/12 54

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDM. Williams 43 681 15.8 58t 6Winslow 43 436 10.1 40 1C. Williams 30 226 7.5 20 1Stroughter 17 188 11.1 27 0Spurlock 14 205 14.6 43 2Benn 13 186 14.3 53 2Graham 11 100 9.1 46 1Buccaneers 188 2194 11.7 58t 14Opp. 181 2083 11.5 49 15

Int. No. Yds Avg LngTalib 5 66 13.2 45tBarber 3 98 32.7 64Grimm 2 24 12.0 13Hayes 1 41 41.0 41tBuccaneers 15 279 18.6 64Opp. 5 120 24.0 79tSacks: White 4.5, Crowder 2, Barber 1,Bennett 1, Black 1, Hayward 1, MageeLG 1, Magee TM 1, McCoy 1, Ruud 1,Woods 0.5, TM 14, OPP 20Fum/Lost: Freeman 4/1, M. Williams3/2, Benn 1/0, Blount 1/1, Faine 1/0,Graham 1/1, Mack 1/1, Spurlock 1/1,Stroughter 1/1, C. Williams 1/1, Wins-low 1/0

T.B. Opp. T.B. Opp.Possession Avg. 31:04 28:56 Total First Downs 178 191Total Net Yards 3250 3373 Rushing 62 78Avg. Per Game 325.0 337.3 Passing 103 102Total Plays 600 613 Penalty 13 11Avg. Per Play 5.4 5.5 3rd Down/Att. 59/135 58/131Net Yards Rushing 1178 1365 3rd Down Pct. 43.7 44.3Avg. Per Game 117.8 136.5 4th Down/Att. 6/10 5/13Net Yards Passing 2072 2008 4th Down Pct. 60.0 38.5Avg. Per Game 207.2 200.8 Penalties/Yards 61/502 52/454

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgFlacco 330 206 2433 62.4 7.37 16 7 58 19/124 92.1Ravens 332 208 2440 62.7 7.35 16 7 58 19/124 92.2Opp. 338 202 2231 59.8 6.60 12 10 88t 19/131 78.9

Ravens statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDRice 184 730 4.0 30 3McGahee 68 262 3.9 30t 4L. McClain 24 64 2.7 11 0Flacco 30 52 1.7 13 1Ravens 313 1166 3.7 30t 8Opp. 244 1018 4.2 48 5

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsCundiff 0 0 0 0 77Boldin 6 0 6 0 36McGahee 5 4 1 0 30Heap 4 0 4 0 24Mason 3 0 3 0 18Rice 3 3 0 0 18Houshmandz. 2 0 2 0 12Landry 1 0 0 1 6Ravens 26 8 16 2 233Opponents 17 5 12 0 178

Kicking PAT FG PtsCundiff 26/26 17/20 77Ravens 26/26 17/20 77Opp. 16/16 20/23 76

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDBoldin 48 625 13.0 38 6Rice 40 345 8.6 34 0Mason 37 489 13.2 40 3Heap 35 467 13.3 35 4Houshmandz. 15 255 17.0 56t 2L. McClain 15 105 7.0 19 0McGahee 10 34 3.4 32t 1Ravens 208 2440 11.7 58 16Opp. 202 2231 11.0 88t 12

Int. No. Yds Avg LngE. Reed 4 83 20.8 40Lewis 2 26 13.0 24tWebb 1 32 32.0 32Carr 1 12 12.0 12Hamlin 1 0 0.0 0Wilson 1 0 0.0 0Ravens 10 176 17.6 42tOpp. 7 110 15.7 66

Sacks: Suggs 7.5, Ngata 5, Lewis 2, Krug-er 1, Landry 1, J. McClain 1, Redding 1,Johnson 0.5, TM 19, OPP 19Fum/Lost: Flacco 6/3, McGahee 2/2

Balt. Opp. Balt. Opp.Possession Avg. 31:34 28:26 Total First Downs 210 167Total Net Yards 3482 3118 Rushing 66 51Avg. Per Game 348.2 311.8 Passing 124 104Total Plays 664 601 Penalty 20 12Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.2 3rd Down/Att. 53/132 51/140Net Yards Rushing 1166 1018 3rd Down Pct. 40.2 36.4Avg. Per Game 116.6 101.8 4th Down/Att. 2/6 1/4Net Yards Passing 2316 2100 4th Down Pct. 33.3 25.0Avg. Per Game 231.6 210.0 Penalties/Yards 56/457 79/657

Morris: ‘We’reimpossibleto ignore’

Week 12 matchup:Buccaneers (7-3) vs. Ravens (7-3)

By Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

Growth spurt: Improving Buccaneers quarterback JoshFreeman, above, will get a test from Ravens safety Ed Reed.



The Philadelphia Eagles haveovertaken the Giants as the leadersin the NFC East, thanks to Sunday’s27-17 win, and the Giants findthemselves on a two-game slide.

New York’s offense again failed tosustain drives as the team was out-scored 13-3 in the first half.

As for turnovers, running backAhmad Bradshaw, who in 2010has lost five of his six fumbles, wasguilty of coughing up the ball again;the Eagles converted on the ensuingdrive with a 38-yard field goal byDavid Akers.

But it was quarterback Eli Man-ning whose turnovers were mostglaring.

In addition to throwing three in-terceptions, he had a critical fourth-quarter fumble after picking up afirst down on a fourth-and-6 scram-ble, effectively ending the Giants’chances of winning.

Next, the Giants face the Jackson-ville Jaguars. New York dropped to6-4, one game behind Philadelphia.uTrending: The Giants were

held to 61 rushing yards, the firsttime this season they haven’tcracked the 100-yard mark. NewYork also found itself in third-and-long seven times, converting once.uBy the numbers: The Giants

had five turnovers, bringing theirseason total to 30. They have had atleast one turnover in each game,and opponents have converted 15 ofthose miscues into 73 points.

Giants scheduleW ................ Carolina ................ 31-18L .............. at Indianapolis .............. 38-14L .................. Tennessee .................. 29-10W .................. Chicago .................. 17-3W ............. at Houston ............. 34-10W ................. Detroit ................. 28-20W ................ at Dallas ................ 41-35................................ Bye ................................W ................. at Seattle ................. 41-7L ...................... Dallas ...................... 33-20L .............. at Philadelphia .............. 27-17Nov. 28 ............... Jacksonville ............... 1Dec. 5 ................ Washington ................ 1Dec. 12 .............. at Minnesota .............. 1Dec. 19 .............. Philadelphia .............. 1Dec. 26 ........... at Green Bay ........... 4:15Jan. 2 .............. at Washington .............. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Turnoverissue notgoing away

The Jaguars, riding a three-gamewinning streak, start a critical two-game road trip Sunday against theNew York Giants.

The Jaguars, who beat the DallasCowboys on the road and recordedhome victories vs. the Houston Tex-ans and Cleveland Browns to boosttheir record to 6-4, play the Giantsand Tennessee Titans in their nexttwo games.

The Jaguars are tied for first placewith the Indianapolis Colts with sixgames left. It is the latest they’vebeen in first place since 1999.

Four of their last six games are onthe road, including three against di-vision teams. If they split the roadgames and win their home gamesagainst the Oakland Raiders andWashington Redskins, the Jaguarswould be 10-6 and have a goodshot at making the playoffs.

The Jaguars’ four losses havecome by a total of 99 points, buttwo of their victories have come onthe final play, and they beat theBrowns with 1:30 left.

They also beat the Browns despitecommitting six turnovers.uLineup watch: Deji Karim

fumbled a kickoff late in the victoryvs. Houston. He recovered it butmight have lost the confidence ofthe coaches. He was inactive againstthe Browns as Tiquan Underwoodhandled kick-return duties.uTrending: The Jaguars, who

had 14 sacks last season, have 20this season after getting six againstthe Browns.

Jaguars scheduleW ................. Denver ................. 24-17L ................ at San Diego ................ 38-13L ................. Philadelphia ................. 28-3W ............ Indianapolis ............ 31-28W ............... at Buffalo ............... 36-26L ................... Tennessee ................... 30-3L .............. at Kansas City .............. 42-20W ................ at Dallas ................ 35-17................................ Bye ................................W ................ Houston ................ 31-24W .............. Cleveland .............. 24-20Nov. 28 .............. at N.Y. Giants .............. 1Dec. 5 ............... at Tennessee ............... 1Dec. 12 .................. Oakland .................. 1Dec. 19 ............ at Indianapolis ............ 1Dec. 26 ............... Washington ............... 1Jan. 2 .................. at Houston .................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Team’s mettlewill be testedon the road

uTV announcers: Greg Gumbel, Dan Dier-dorfuKeys to the game: The Giants defense

can take on many looks, but the three-safetypackage has been most effective. Using S An-trel Rolle as a hybrid linebacker-safety givesthe Giants another active body near the line ofscrimmage. Jaguars QB David Garrard, whowas rattled into three interceptions Sunday,will have to make smart decisions under con-stant duress. The Giants don’t expectWR Steve Smith back from a strained pectoral,and QB Eli Manning misses his security blan-ket. The Jaguars have allowed 20 touchdownpasses.uMatchup to watch — Giants RB Ahmad

Bradshaw vs. Jaguars’ blitz packages: Jack-sonville has turned to a blitzing defense that ishigh-risk and high-reward. The schemechange, necessitated by underperformance(Derrick Harvey) and injury (Aaron Kamp-man), leaves the defense perilously exposed ifthe linebackers crashing down are picked up,especially against a back such as Bradshaw,who is effective on delayed draws, screenpasses and isolation plays that demand suretackling.uPlayer spotlight — Giants WR Mario

Manningham: He has been more precisesticking to designed pass routes this season,earning more looks from Manning with hisnewfound discipline and a few clutch grabsearly in the season. He has sticky hands andgood quickness to separate underneath,meaning he’ll get plenty of looks against theJaguars’ horrendous third-down defense.uFast facts: The Jaguars have been out-

scored 138-39 in their four losses and 270-220overall this season. . . . Manning has 16 touch-down passes in his last six games.

The Bodog.net line: Giants by 7

Who will win and whyThe Giants have been stagnant in the first half of consecutive

games. If they give the Jaguars life with a slow start, an upset is feasi-ble if QB David Garrard plays well.

Our pick: Giants 32-17

uSunday, 1p.m. ET, at New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. uTV: CBS, DirecTV 704

Week 12 matchup:Jaguars (6-4) vs. Giants (6-4)

By William Perlman, The (Newark) Star-Ledger

Tough to tackle: Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw hascompiled 1,064 yards from scrimmage this season.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgGarrard 214 145 1694 67.8 7.92 17 10 75 21/151 98.5Bouman 34 18 222 52.9 6.53 2 2 29 1/6 68.5Jaguars 292 188 2176 64.4 7.45 19 15 75 24/173 87.1Opp. 317 213 2790 67.2 8.80 20 9 61t 20/144 103.9

Jaguars statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDJones-Drew 209 878 4.2 24 4Garrard 35 140 4.0 25t 2Karim 27 105 3.9 15 0Jennings 22 100 4.5 15 0M. Thomas 8 98 12.3 33 0Jaguars 311 1353 4.4 33 6Opp. 266 1122 4.2 70 12

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsScobee 0 0 0 0 70Lewis 8 0 8 0 48Jones-Drew 6 4 2 0 36Sims-Walker 4 0 4 0 24M. Thomas 3 0 3 0 18Garrard 2 2 0 0 12Jaguars 25 6 19 0 220Opponents 34 12 20 2 270

Fum/Lost: Garrard 4/3, Karim 3/0,Jones-Drew 2/2, M. Thomas 2/2, Lewis1/1, Sims-Walker 1/1

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDM. Thomas 46 572 12.4 50t 3Lewis 35 445 12.7 42t 8Sims-Walker 32 418 13.1 39 4Jones-Drew 24 263 11.0 75 2Miller 17 182 10.7 52t 1Jennings 9 86 9.6 25 0Underwood 8 111 13.9 22 0Osgood 5 54 10.8 24t 1Jaguars 188 2176 11.6 75 19Opp. 213 2790 13.1 61t 20

Int. No. Yds Avg LngD. Cox 2 14 7.0 14Jaguars 9 96 10.7 47Opp. 15 180 12.0 35

Kicking PAT FG PtsScobee 25/25 15/17 70Jaguars 25/25 15/17 70Opp. 33/33 11/13 66

Sacks: Knighton 4.5, Kampman 4, Alua-lu 3.5, Mincey 3, Da. Smith 2, Harvey1.5, Considine 1, Hart 0.5, TM 20, OPP 24

Jax Opp. Jax Opp.Possession Avg. 30:58 29:03 Total First Downs 204 211Total Net Yards 3356 3768 Rushing 84 63Avg. Per Game 335.6 376.8 Passing 106 133Total Plays 627 603 Penalty 14 15Avg. Per Play 5.4 6.2 3rd Down/Att. 47/120 53/116Net Yards Rushing 1353 1122 3rd Down Pct. 39.2 45.7Avg. Per Game 135.3 112.2 4th Down/Att. 9/16 6/12Net Yards Passing 2003 2646 4th Down Pct. 56.3 50.0Avg. Per Game 200.3 264.6 Penalties/Yards 55/436 57/512

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgManning 352 231 2595 65.6 7.37 21 16 54t 12/82 88.4Giants 352 231 2595 65.6 7.37 21 16 54t 12/82 88.4Opp. 309 173 2102 56.0 6.80 14 10 87t 27/173 78.7

Giants statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDBradshaw 185 867 4.7 45 5Jacobs 78 387 5.0 38 5Ware 15 81 5.4 14 0Manning 23 49 2.1 16 0Giants 306 1383 4.5 45 10Opp. 241 895 3.7 50t 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsTynes 0 0 0 0 63Nicks 9 0 9 0 54Bradshaw 5 5 0 0 30Jacobs 5 5 0 0 30Manningham 4 0 4 0 24Smith 3 0 3 0 18Beckum 2 0 2 0 12Boss 2 0 2 0 12Giants 31 10 21 0 253Opponents 23 6 14 3 220

Kicking PAT FG PtsTynes 27/27 12/15 63Graham 4/4 0/0 4Giants 31/31 12/15 67Opp. 20/21 18/20 74

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDNicks 62 800 12.9 46t 9Smith 47 517 11.0 45 3Manningham 38 500 13.2 54t 4Bradshaw 28 197 7.0 18 0Boss 21 318 15.1 54 2Beckum 11 83 7.5 25 2Jacobs 7 59 8.4 22 0Hagan 3 10 3.3 5t 1Giants 231 2595 11.2 54t 21Opp. 173 2102 12.2 87t 14

Int. No. Yds Avg LngThomas 3 29 9.7 28Grant 3 0 0.0 0Webster 2 2 1.0 2Rolle 1 36 36.0 36Phillips 1 0 0.0 0Giants 10 67 6.7 36Opp. 16 282 17.6 101tSacks: Umenyiora 8, Tuck 7, Kiwanuka4, Cofield 3, Canty 1.5, Boley 1, Grant 1,Ross 1, Goff 0.5, TM 27, OPP 12 Fum/Lost:Manning 7/5, Bradshaw 6/5, Blackmon1/0, Boss 1/1, Dodge 1/1, Jacobs 1/1,Koets 1/0, Nicks 1/0, Reynaud 1/0, Seub-ert 1/1

NY-G Opp. NY-G Opp.Possession Avg. 34:00 26:00 Total First Downs 221 142Total Net Yards 3896 2824 Rushing 76 44Avg. Per Game 389.6 282.4 Passing 124 91Total Plays 670 577 Penalty 21 7Avg. Per Play 5.8 4.9 3rd Down/Att. 49/128 36/128Net Yards Rushing 1383 895 3rd Down Pct. 38.3 28.1Avg. Per Game 138.3 89.5 4th Down/Att. 2/9 6/12Net Yards Passing 2513 1929 4th Down Pct. 22.2 50.0Avg. Per Game 251.3 192.9 Penalties/Yards 65/558 77/687



The Browns played the Jackson-ville Jaguars last week without ver-satile Josh Cribbs. It is a situationthey are hopeful they do not experi-ence Sunday when they host theCarolina Panthers.

Cribbs was injured in the secondquarter against the New York Jetswhen he tried jumping at the end ofa 37-yard catch-and-run. As he did,someone stepped on his foot. Hesuffered four dislocated toes.

Two days later, the Browns signedClifton Smith to absorb Cribbs’workload on punt and kick returns,but the Browns have no one to takeCribbs’ spot as a receiver and Wild-cat quarterback.

When healthy, Cribbs is on thefield for about 50% of the offensivesnaps, coach Eric Mangini said.

Cribbs is involved in an average of10% to 15% of the plays, dependingon the flow of the game, but evenwhen he is a decoy, opponents haveto be aware of where he is. Whenhe doesn’t play, the Browns do nothave Wildcat options.

Offensive coordinator Brian Da-boll said his play sheet has 20 playsdesigned specifically for Cribbs.

Rookie Colt McCoy made his fifthconsecutive start in the 24-20 lossto the Jaguars. He suffered asprained ankle in the third quarterbut continued playing.uTrending: John St. Clair start-

ed at right tackle after missing sixgames with an ankle injury.uBy the numbers: McCoy’s

streak without throwing an inter-ception ended at 98 passes.

Browns scheduleL ............. at Tampa Bay ............. 17-14L .............. Kansas City .............. 16-14L .............. at Baltimore .............. 24-17W .............. Cincinnati .............. 23-20L ................... Atlanta ................... 20-10L ............. at Pittsburgh ............. 28-10W .......... at New Orleans ..........30-17.............................. Bye ..............................W ........... New England ........... 34-14L ............. N.Y. Jets ............. 26-20 (OT)L ............ at Jacksonville ............ 24-20Nov. 28 ................ Carolina ................ 1Dec. 5 ................. at Miami ................. 1Dec. 12 ............... at Buffalo ............... 1Dec. 19 ............ at Cincinnati ............ 1Dec. 26 ............... Baltimore ............... 1Jan. 2 ................ Pittsburgh ................ 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Offenseneeds Cribbsto return

Brian St. Pierre had his day inthe sun, but if Jimmy Clausen iscleared to practice this week he’llbe back as the starting quarterbackSunday when the Panthers visit theCleveland Browns.

Clausen sat out last week’s gamewith a concussion, and the Pantherswent with St. Pierre, who finished13 of 28 for 173 yards, including an88-yard touchdown pass but hadtwo costly fourth-quarter intercep-tions that were returned for touch-downs by Baltimore Ravens defend-ers Dawan Landry (off an Ed Reedlateral) and Ray Lewis.

When asked if St. Pierre wouldstart if Clausen is healthy, coachJohn Fox replied, “We’ll see. I doubtthat.”

Fox made the controversial moveto start newly signed St. Pierre overrookie Tony Pike, who has beenwith the team all season.uLineup watch: The Panthers

deactivated defensive tackle EdJohnson. Johnson has gone fromstarter the first six games to inac-tive. Undrafted rookie Andre Ne-blett was activated instead.uTrending: The Panthers are

slow starters on both sides of theball.

On offense, the Panthers havescored 15 points in the first quarterthis season — all on field goals.

Meanwhile Carolina’s defense hasallowed opponents to score a touch-down on its opening drive in four ofthe last six games before settling in.

Panthers scheduleL ................ at N.Y. Giants ................ 31-18L ................... Tampa Bay ................... 20-7L .................... Cincinnati .................... 20-7L ............. at New Orleans ............. 16-14L ..................... Chicago ..................... 23-6................................ Bye ................................W ........... San Francisco ........... 23-20L .................. at St. Louis .................. 20-10L ................. New Orleans ................. 34-3L ................ at Tampa Bay ................ 31-16L ................... Baltimore ................... 37-13Nov. 28 ............... at Cleveland ............... 1Dec. 5 ............... at Seattle ............... 4:15Dec. 12 ................... Atlanta ................... 1Dec. 19 ................... Arizona ................... 1Dec. 23 ........... at Pittsburgh ........... 8:20Jan. 2 ................... at Atlanta ................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Chris Rose, Torry HoltuKeys to the game: The Panthers have no

passing game, and it doesn’t seem to matterwhom they use at quarterback. Coach JohnFox hasn’t named a starter and first plans togauge Jimmy Clausen’s recovery from aWeek 10 concussion. But the Panthersmight’ve found an answer to what had been astalled rushing attack. Mike Goodson has aver-aged 4.3 and 5.5 yards a carry in his two starts.He’s not a bulldog in the red zone but shouldcomplement Jonathan Stewart nicely; Stewartcould return after missing two weeks with aconcussion. The Browns continue to ride RBPeyton Hillis, the team’s leading rusher and re-ceiver. Rookie QB Colt McCoy has been theBrowns’ second-best weapon but is dealingwith a left ankle injury.uMatchup to watch — Panthers WR

Steve Smith vs. Browns LCB Eric Wright:Teams have aggressively gone after Wright incoverage. He’s in a contract year. But the mis-takes are piling up, and he’s desperate to turnit around. Smith draws a lot of attention,which could lead to rookie WR David Gettismatching up with either Sheldon Brown or JoeHaden one-on-one.uPlayer spotlight — Panthers RB Mike

Goodson: His past two games — 45 carries,220 yards — have been more productive thanany two games by all the other running backson the roster. Goodson flashed his big-playspeed on a 45-yard scamper Sunday and willremain involved in the base offense.uFast facts: The Panthers won the only

game this season in which they managed toscore more than 18 points (23-20 vs. San Fran-cisco). . . . The Browns have scored at least 20points in four consecutive games for the firsttime since 2008.

The Bodog.net line: Browns by 6

Who will win and whyThe Browns are capable of winning games with their defense, and,

coming off last week’s four-sack, six-takeaway effort, the Panthersshould be easy prey.

Our pick: Browns 23-12

uSunday, 1 p.m. ET, at Cleveland Browns StadiumuTV: Fox, DirecTV 709

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgMoore 143 79 857 55.2 5.99 5 10 39 13/90 55.6Clausen 138 67 692 48.6 5.01 1 4 55t 13/85 53.8Panthers 321 165 1769 51.4 5.51 7 16 88t 30/208 54.4Opp. 323 200 2144 61.9 6.64 15 11 56t 16/109 82.6

Panthers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDD. Williams 87 361 4.1 39t 1Goodson 61 270 4.4 45 0Stewart 69 208 3.0 24 1Sutton 7 41 5.9 32 0Panthers 257 964 3.8 45 3Opp. 322 1284 4.0 68t 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsKasay 0 0 0 0 55Gettis 3 0 3 0 18Smith 2 0 2 0 12Stewart 2 1 1 0 12LaFell 1 0 1 0 6Vaughan 1 1 0 0 6D. Williams 1 1 0 0 6Hardy 0 0 0 0 2Panthers 10 3 7 0 117Opponents 27 8 15 4 252

Kicking PAT FG PtsKasay 10/10 15/17 55Panthers 10/10 15/17 55Opp. 27/27 21/22 90

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDSmith 34 411 12.1 37t 2Gettis 25 400 16.0 88t 3Goodson 25 184 7.4 23 0Rosario 21 170 8.1 26 0LaFell 20 264 13.2 44 1King 13 87 6.7 14 0D. Williams 11 61 5.5 14 0Stewart 5 85 17.0 55t 1Panthers 165 1769 10.7 88t 7Opp. 200 2144 10.7 56t 15

Int. No. Yds Avg LngGodfrey 4 94 23.5 38Marshall 2 66 33.0 66E. Johnson 1 5 5.0 5Munnerlyn 1 2 2.0 2Panthers 11 166 15.1 66Opp. 16 218 13.6 42t

Sacks: C. Johnson 4.5, Anderson 2.5, E.Brown 2, Hardy 2, Landri 2, Connor 1,Marshall 1, TM 16, OPP 30Fum/Lost: Clausen 7/2, Moore 4/2,Goodson 3/1, Smith 3/2, Munnerlyn2/1, Stewart 2/2

Car. Opp. Car. Opp.Possession Avg. 26:51 33:09 Total First Downs 143 196Total Net Yards 2525 3319 Rushing 40 73Avg. Per Game 252.5 331.9 Passing 84 106Total Plays 608 661 Penalty 19 17Avg. Per Play 4.2 5.0 3rd Down/Att. 44/143 51/137Net Yards Rushing 964 1284 3rd Down Pct. 30.8 37.2Avg. Per Game 96.4 128.4 4th Down/Att. 6/14 3/4Net Yards Passing 1561 2035 4th Down Pct. 42.9 75.0Avg. Per Game 156.1 203.5 Penalties/Yards 62/530 68/590

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgMcCoy 127 81 975 63.8 7.68 3 3 47 15/80 85.3Wallace 100 63 693 63.0 6.93 4 2 65t 6/33 88.5Browns 290 180 2024 62.1 6.98 8 9 65t 23/123 79.2Opp. 352 216 2562 61.4 7.28 19 14 78t 20/128 85.0

Browns statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDHillis 173 774 4.5 48 8McCoy 20 87 4.4 18 1Cribbs 16 69 4.3 19 0Hodges 1 68 68.0 68 0Browns 277 1133 4.1 68 10Opp. 291 1164 4.0 55 3

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsDawson 0 0 0 0 66Hillis 10 8 2 0 60Bowens 2 0 0 2 12Massaquoi 2 0 2 0 12Watson 2 0 2 0 12Cribbs 1 0 1 0 6Elam 1 0 0 1 6Stuckey 1 1 0 0 6Browns 21 10 8 3 192Opponents 24 3 19 2 206

Kicking PAT FG PtsDawson 21/21 15/19 66Browns 21/21 15/19 66Opp. 23/23 13/19 62

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDHillis 40 351 8.8 47 2Watson 36 434 12.1 44 2Stuckey 31 272 8.8 25 0Massaquoi 19 232 12.2 41t 2Cribbs 17 235 13.8 65t 1Moore 14 306 21.9 49 1Browns 180 2024 11.2 65t 8Opp. 216 2562 11.9 78t 19

Int. No. Yds Avg LngHaden 3 89 29.7 62Bowens 2 94 47.0 64tWard 2 39 19.5 23S. Brown 2 0 0.0 0M. Adams 1 26 26.0 26Browns 14 265 18.9 64tOpp. 9 139 15.4 64Sacks: Benard 6.5, Fujita 3.5, Roth 2.5,Coleman 2, Rubin 2, M. Adams 1, Go-cong 1, Trusnik 1, Rogers 0.5, TM 20,OPP 23Fum/Lost: Hillis 5/4, Cribbs 4/0, Stuckey3/2, Delhomme 1/0, Haden 1/0, Harri-son 1/1, Wallace 1/0

Clev. Opp. Clev. Opp.Possession Avg. 28:28 31:32 Total First Downs 170 204Total Net Yards 3034 3598 Rushing 55 55Avg. Per Game 303.4 359.8 Passing 99 134Total Plays 590 663 Penalty 16 15Avg. Per Play 5.1 5.4 3rd Down/Att. 52/131 59/142Net Yards Rushing 1133 1164 3rd Down Pct. 39.7 41.5Avg. Per Game 113.3 116.4 4th Down/Att. 2/3 9/10Net Yards Passing 1901 2434 4th Down Pct. 66.7 90.0Avg. Per Game 190.1 243.4 Penalties/Yards 56/483 57/507

QB Clausenwill start ifhe’s healthy

Week 12 matchup:Panthers (1-9) vs. Browns (3-7)

By Amy Sancetta, AP

Needs a big game: Browns cornerback Eric Wright has hadhis share of struggles this season.



Chan Gailey knows that hedoesn’t have the most talentedteam in the NFL, but he sure likescoaching the Bills.

“They kept fighting,” Gailey saidof his team, which overcame a 28-7deficit to beat the Cincinnati Bengals49-31.

The Bills have won two in a row.Of course, those wins have comeagainst the Detroit Lions and theBengals, teams that share the Bills’record of 2-8. This week, the taskbecomes more difficult for Buffalo asit hosts the 7-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.Chances are, if the Steelers get up28-7, there won’t be any miraclecomebacks.

Buffalo has four victories in its his-tory in which it came from at least21 points behind to win: the historic32-point comeback against theHouston Oilers in the 1992 playoffs;a rally from 26 points down againstthe Indianapolis Colts in 1997; and acomeback from 21 points againstthe Miami Dolphins in 1987.uBy the numbers: The Bills’ 35

second-half points were their mostin a half since 1994 when theyscored 35 in the second half of a winin Miami. It was the fourth time theBills had scored that many points ina half; their 49 total points tied forsixth highest in team history.uLineup watch: George Wil-

son took over at free safety forstruggling second-year man JairusByrd for much of the second halfagainst Cincinnati. Wilson intercept-ed a Carson Palmer pass in the endzone and returned it 56 yards.

Bills scheduleL ................... Miami ................... 15-10L .............. at Green Bay .............. 34-7L .......... at New England .......... 38-30L .................. N.Y. Jets .................. 38-14L .............. Jacksonville .............. 36-26.............................. Bye ..............................L ......... at Baltimore ......... 37-34 (OT)L ........ at Kansas City ........ 13-10 (OT)L ............... vs. Chicago ............... 22-19W ................. Detroit ................. 14-12W ........... at Cincinnati ........... 49-31Nov. 28 .............. Pittsburgh .............. 1Dec. 5 ............. at Minnesota ............. 1Dec. 12 ............... Cleveland ............... 1Dec. 19 ................ at Miami ................ 1Dec. 26 ............ New England ............ 1Jan. 2 ................ at N.Y. Jets ................ 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Third winin row willbe challenge

The Steelers feel a whole lot bet-ter about themselves heading intotheir road game vs. the Buffalo Bills,having rebounded from a bad losswith a blowout win.

Pittsburgh remains tied with theBaltimore Ravens atop the AFCNorth Division at 7-3, and thoseteams will meet in Baltimore onDec. 5.

The Steelers displayed renewedlife as they socked the OaklandRaiders 35-3. The victory came oneweek after the New England Patri-ots embarrassed them at HeinzField.

The Steelers have two games leftagainst playoff contenders down thestretch — at Baltimore and at homeagainst the New York Jets. Afterplaying the next two games on theroad, they play three of their finalfour at home; the road game is atthe Cleveland Browns.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberg-er had a nice comeback game withthree touchdown passes vs. Oak-land.uLineup watch: Ramon Foster

started at right guard as coach MikeTomlin demoted his starter since2009, Trai Essex. “It was basedsolely on performance,” Tomlin said.“Trai was below the line. We felt likeRamon gave us a better shot today.We like his tenacity.”uUnder the radar: Rookie Em-

manuel Sanders has replaced vet-eran Antwaan Randle El as theNo. 3 wideout. Sanders caught hissecond touchdown pass in twogames.

Steelers scheduleW ............. Atlanta ............. 15-9 (OT)W ............ at Tennessee ............ 19-11W ........... at Tampa Bay ........... 38-13L ................... Baltimore ...................17-14................................ Bye ................................W ............... Cleveland ............... 28-10W ................ at Miami ................ 23-22L ............. at New Orleans ............. 20-10W ............ at Cincinnati ............ 27-21L ............... New England ............... 39-26W ................. Oakland ................. 35-3Nov. 28 .................. at Buffalo .................. 1Dec. 5 ............. at Baltimore ............. 8:20Dec. 12 ................. Cincinnati ................. 1Dec. 19 ............... N.Y. Jets ............... 4:15Dec. 23 ............... Carolina ............... 8:20Jan. 2 ................. at Cleveland ................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Rejuvenationcomes inrebound win

uTV announcers: Kevin Harlan, SolomonWilcotsuKeys to the game: As testament in last

week’s rally to win at the Cincinnati Bengals,the Bills have far more speed and agility thanpower as an offense and will focus on spread-ing out the Steelers’ 3-4 defense that is No. 1against the run. That won’t mean eliminatingRB Fred Jackson from the game plan. Jacksonshaking free on short outlet routes is vital forQB Ryan Fitzpatrick facing the Steelers’ zoneblitz. Improved statistics defending the runaren’t enough to prevent the Steelers from at-tacking Buffalo’s front seven, but WR MikeWallace has become one of the league’s topbig-play threats and has an NFL-best seventouchdowns of 20-plus yards. With Wallace tocontend with, teams haven’t been able to zeroin on RB Rashard Mendenhall as much.uMatchup to watch — Steelers C Maur-

kice Pouncey vs. Bills NT Kyle Williams:Pouncey might be a Pro Bowl pick, and Wil-liams, if not for the overall play of the defense,would be in line to join him. Williams playswith a constant high-running motor and hasbeen a major key to the defense’s recent im-provement. To be a significant factor, he’ll haveto needle through Pouncey and LG Chris Ke-moeatu.uPlayer spotlight — Steelers TE Heath

Miller: A minimal role in the passing gamewasn’t expected this season after Miller set thefranchise record for tight ends with 76 recep-tions in 2009. The Bills struggle to slow activetight ends, and Miller and QB Ben Roethlis-berger are almost always in sync.uFast facts: The Steelers have allowed one

100-yard rusher in their past 44 games. . . .The Bills have outscored opponents 71-48 inthe fourth quarter this season.

The Bodog.net line: Steelers by 6

Who will win and whyBills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had his second 300-yard game of the sea-

son last week; it was also the fourth time in eight games that hethrew two picks. Giveaways are a death knell against the Steelers’meat-grinder defense.

Our pick: Steelers 34-23

uSunday, 1 p.m. ET, at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y.uTV: CBS, DirecTV 705

Week 12 matchup:Steelers (7-3) vs. Bills (2-8)

By Mike Groll, AP

A nose for tackling: Kyle Williams has played a role in theBills’ recent improvement on defense.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgRoethlisber. 187 117 1579 62.6 8.44 12 4 53t 14/89 101.9Batch 49 29 352 59.2 7.18 3 3 46t 4/21 76.2Steelers 269 169 2224 62.8 8.27 16 8 53t 23/151 96.3Opp. 388 253 2583 65.2 6.66 11 13 50 30/192 79.6

Steelers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDMendenhall 202 811 4.0 50t 8Redman 34 146 4.3 17 0Roethlisber. 16 85 5.3 31 1Steelers 287 1180 4.1 50t 9Opp. 216 630 2.9 24 4

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsReed 0 0 0 0 64Mendenhall 8 8 0 0 48Wallace 8 0 8 0 48Ward 4 0 4 0 24Sanders 2 0 2 0 12Brown 1 0 0 1 6Redman 1 0 1 0 6Steelers 27 9 16 2 235Opponents 16 4 11 1 165

Kicking PAT FG PtsReed 19/19 15/22 64Suisham 5/5 0/0 5Steelers 24/24 15/22 69Opp. 13/14 18/22 67

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDWallace 33 759 23.0 53t 8Ward 33 403 12.2 43 4Miller 28 329 11.8 36 1Moore 19 159 8.4 29 0Randle El 17 205 12.1 34 0Sanders 11 152 13.8 22t 2Steelers 169 2224 13.2 53t 16Opp. 253 2583 10.2 50 11

Int. No. Yds Avg LngPolamalu 3 39 13.0 38I. Taylor 2 9 4.5 9Timmons 2 5 2.5 5Harrison 2 2 1.0 2Keisel 1 79 79.0 79tSteelers 13 153 11.8 79tOpp. 8 122 15.3 62

Sacks: Harrison 9, Woodley 6.5, Tim-mons 3, Farrior 2, McFadden 2, Worilds2, Eason 1.5, Foote 1, Gay 1, Hampton 1,Keisel 1, TM 30, OPP 23Fum/Lost: Roethlisberger 3/1, Batch 2/0,Dixon 2/1, Randle El 2/0, Sanders 2/1

Pitt. Opp. Pitt. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:19 29:41 Total First Downs 161 184Total Net Yards 3253 3021 Rushing 64 36Avg. Per Game 325.3 302.1 Passing 92 128Total Plays 579 634 Penalty 5 20Avg. Per Play 5.6 4.8 3rd Down/Att. 48/128 45/132Net Yards Rushing 1180 630 3rd Down Pct. 37.5 34.1Avg. Per Game 118.0 63.0 4th Down/Att. 0/2 3/7Net Yards Passing 2073 2391 4th Down Pct. 0.0 42.9Avg. Per Game 207.3 239.1 Penalties/Yards 62/546 54/491

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgFitzpatrick 285 169 1961 59.3 6.88 18 9 54 14/102 88.1Bills 337 198 2202 58.8 6.53 19 11 54 21/165 83.5Opp. 310 191 2199 61.6 7.09 20 4 48 15/110 99.1

Bills statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDF. Jackson 129 562 4.4 39 5Fitzpatrick 26 178 6.8 22 0Lynch 37 164 4.4 17 0Spiller 41 164 4.0 19 0Bills 254 1137 4.5 39 6Opp. 351 1635 4.7 33 10

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsSt. Johnson 9 0 9 0 54Lindell 0 0 0 0 51F. Jackson 6 5 1 0 36Evans 4 0 4 0 24Parrish 2 0 2 0 12Spiller 2 0 1 1 12Florence 1 0 0 1 6Jones 1 0 1 0 6McIntyre 1 1 0 0 6Bills 27 6 19 2 213Opponents 31 10 20 1 276

Kicking PAT FG PtsLindell 24/25 9/14 51Bills 24/25 9/14 51Opp. 29/29 19/25 86

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDSt. Johnson 52 728 14.0 45 9Evans 33 497 15.1 54 4Parrish 33 400 12.1 37 2F. Jackson 21 78 3.7 16t 1Spiller 18 81 4.5 14 1D. Nelson 17 189 11.1 37 0Jones 7 98 14.0 28t 1Martin 4 30 7.5 15 1Bills 198 2202 11.1 54 19Opp. 191 2199 11.5 48 20

Int. No. Yds Avg LngWilson 1 56 56.0 56Davis 1 11 11.0 11D. Edwards 1 8 8.0 8Florence 1 2 2.0 2Bills 4 77 19.3 56Opp. 11 165 15.0 40

Sacks: Scott 3, K. Williams 3, Stroud 2,Kelsay 1.5, Corner 1, D. Edwards 1, Ellis1, Sp. Johnson 1, Posluszny 1, TM 15,OPP 21Fum/Lost: F. Jackson 3/2, Fitzpatrick 2/0,Spiller 2/1

Buff. Opp. Buff. Opp.Possession Avg. 27:51 32:09 Total First Downs 178 217Total Net Yards 3174 3724 Rushing 60 83Avg. Per Game 317.4 372.4 Passing 106 124Total Plays 612 676 Penalty 12 10Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.5 3rd Down/Att. 57/138 60/141Net Yards Rushing 1137 1635 3rd Down Pct. 41.3 42.6Avg. Per Game 113.7 163.5 4th Down/Att. 6/16 7/9Net Yards Passing 2037 2089 4th Down Pct. 37.5 77.8Avg. Per Game 203.7 208.9 Penalties/Yards 52/416 56/397



The Bears have the NFL’s best de-fense where it matters most — onthe scoreboard.

No team has allowed fewer pointsa game than the Bears’ 14.6, andseven times they’ve allowed 17points or fewer. That defense will betested Sunday when Michael Vickand the Philadelphia Eagles visit Sol-dier Field.

“We’re playing a true Cover 2 de-fense right now,” Bears generalmanager Jerry Angelo said of thepass defense that features the safe-ties playing deep in protection.“There are no bells and whistles toit. It’s pretty vanilla, pretty stan-dard.”

And pretty effective. While win-ning three in a row to boost theirrecord to 7-3, the Bears have al-lowed a total of 32 points, and theybelieve they’re getting better as theseason goes along.

“We’re evolving every week,”middle linebacker Brian Urlachersaid.uTrending: For the last seven

weeks, the Bears have been in thetop five in preventing third-downconversions. And they have allowedtwo conversions in the last 20 third-down plays.uBy the numbers: Before sack-

ing Miami Dolphins quarterback Ty-ler Thigpen six times, the Bears hadthree sacks in their previous fourgames.

Bears scheduleW .................. Detroit .................. 19-14W ................ at Dallas ................ 27-20W .............. Green Bay .............. 20-17L ................ at N.Y. Giants ................ 17-3W .............. at Carolina .............. 23-6L ..................... Seattle ..................... 23-20L ................ Washington ................ 17-14................................ Bye ................................W .................. Buffalo .................. 22-19W .............. Minnesota .............. 27-13W ................. at Miami ................. 16-0Nov. 28 ........... Philadelphia ........... 4:15Dec. 5 .................. at Detroit .................. 1Dec. 12 ............. New England ............. 1Dec. 20 .......... at Minnesota .......... 8:30Dec. 26 .................. N.Y. Jets .................. 1Jan. 2 ................ at Green Bay ................ 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Stingy defensecontinuesto lead way

The Eagles entered their NFC Eastshowdown against the New York Gi-ants ranked third in the league inrushing, but star running back Le-Sean McCoy has been relativelyquiet of late.

McCoy had a three-touchdown,120-yard rushing performanceagainst the Detroit Lions in Week 2,and he rushed for 92 yards and ascore in a Week 5 win against theSan Francisco 49ers. But since then,he has mainly earned his keep as areceiver and a blocker.

Even newcomer Jerome Harri-son had a big game, rushing for 109yards in Philadelphia’s 59-28 winagainst the Washington Redskins inWeek 10.

But McCoy came up big againstthe Giants, scoring on a 50-yard runwith 4½ minutes left in the game toerase a 17-16 deficit and lead the Ea-gles to a 27-17 win. McCoy followedhis 50-yard romp with a 40-yardrun on Philadelphia’s next posses-sion to finish with 111 yards on 14carries.

Before his TD run, he had man-aged 13 yards on eight carries.uLineup watch: Rookie tight

end Clay Harbor was activated forthe second consecutive game andsaw a lot of action in two-tight-endsets.uBy the number: With the win

against the Giants, the Eagles im-proved their November to Januaryregular-season record under AndyReid to 66-33-1.

Eagles scheduleL .................. Green Bay .................. 27-20W ............... at Detroit ............... 35-32W ........... at Jacksonville ........... 28-3L ................. Washington ................. 17-12W ........ at San Francisco ........ 27-24W .................. Atlanta .................. 31-17L ................ at Tennessee ................ 37-19................................ Bye ................................W ............ Indianapolis ............ 26-24W .......... at Washington .......... 59-28W ............... N.Y. Giants ............... 27-17Nov. 28 ............. at Chicago ............. 4:15Dec. 2 ................ Houston ................ 8:20Dec. 12 ............... at Dallas ............... 8:20Dec. 19 .............. at N.Y. Giants .............. 1Dec. 26 ................ Minnesota ................ 1Jan. 2 ...................... Dallas ...................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Kenny Albert, DarylJohnston, Tony SiragusauKeys to the game: During the bye week,

somebody in Chicago’s organization had a talkwith offensive coordinator Mike Martz, whohas called more than 30 running plays in eachof the last three games after the Bears totaled30 runs in a pair of losses heading into the bye.Pass protection remains an issue, and Philadel-phia will attack rookie RT J’Marcus Webb onlong passing downs. The Bears racked up sixsacks in their shutout win at the Miami Dol-phins but face a different challenge in EaglesQB Michael Vick. The key is not only to keepVick in the pocket but to get him to make off-balance throws. Chicago is allowing 78 rushingyards a game, but Philadelphia runs morescreen passes than anyone in the NFL to helpcomplement a mediocre ground game.uMatchup to watch — Eagles CB Dimitri

Patterson vs. Bears WR Johnny Knox: Knoxis emerging as a true No. 1 wideout in his sec-ond season out of Abilene Christian. Thespeedster is averaging 18.2 yards a reception.Chicago will attempt to take advantage of thismismatch as Patterson has been a popular tar-get since taking over the starting job threegames ago. He has been playing solidly, butthat’s the result of playing opposite ballhawkAsante Samuel.uPlayer spotlight — Bears WR Devin

Hester: He remains highly inconsistent as a re-ceiver, but Hester’s 13 career regular-seasonreturn touchdowns is tied for the most all-time with Brian Mitchell.uFast facts: The Eagles have won five of

their last six games at Soldier Field, includingplayoff games. . . . Bears CB Corey Graham has14 special-teams tackles, more than twice asmany as anyone else on the team.

The Bodog.net line: Eagles by 3

Who will win and whyThis is a fascinating matchup between Eagles quarterback Michael

Vick and an excellent — and rested — Bears defense. Chicago’s de-fense rarely makes assignment mistakes and will keep the gameclose, but the offense won’t keep pace.

Our pick: Eagles 24-20

uSunday, 4:15 p.m. at Soldier Field, ChicagouTV: Fox, DirecTV 708

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgVick 191 120 1608 62.8 8.42 11 0 88t 18/97 108.7Kolb 153 97 1035 63.4 6.76 6 4 83t 10/60 85.3Eagles 344 217 2643 63.1 7.68 17 4 88t 28/157 98.3Opp. 352 198 2324 56.3 6.60 18 19 80t 26/188 71.0

Eagles statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDMcCoy 146 726 5.0 62 6Vick 55 375 6.8 32 5Harrison 13 115 8.8 50t 1D. Jackson 11 95 8.6 31t 1Eagles 279 1508 5.4 62 13Opp. 249 997 4.0 33 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsAkers 0 0 0 0 90Maclin 7 0 7 0 42McCoy 7 6 1 0 42D. Jackson 6 1 5 0 36Vick 5 5 0 0 30Celek 2 0 2 0 12Mikell 1 0 0 1 6Eagles 32 13 17 2 284Opponents 27 8 18 1 2262-Pt Conv: Avant

Kicking PAT FG PtsAkers 30/30 20/25 90Eagles 30/30 20/25 90Opp. 26/26 12/14 62

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDMcCoy 51 381 7.5 31 1Maclin 47 705 15.0 83t 7D. Jackson 33 652 19.8 88t 5Avant 33 396 12.0 34 1Celek 23 237 10.3 32 2Schmitt 16 126 7.9 18 0R. Cooper 4 71 17.8 37 1Eagles 217 2643 12.2 88t 17Opp. 198 2324 11.7 80t 18

Int. No. Yds Avg LngSamuel 7 70 10.0 33D. Patterson 3 40 13.3 40tAllen 3 27 9.0 16Hanson 1 17 17.0 17Lindley 1 8 8.0 8Eagles 19 169 8.9 40tOpp. 4 103 25.8 41t

Sacks: T. Cole 7, Parker 5, Laws 3, Dixon2, Graham 2, Sims 2, Tapp 2, Allen 1,Bradley 1, Mikell 1, TM 26, OPP 28Fum/Lost: Kolb 5/2, Vick 4/1, Calvin 2/1,D. Jackson 2/0, McCoy 2/1, M. Bell 1/0,Buckley 1/1, Hobbs 1/0, D. Patterson1/0, Samuel 1/1

Phil. Opp. Phil. Opp.Possession Avg. 32:08 27:52 Total First Downs 201 187Total Net Yards 3994 3133 Rushing 72 56Avg. Per Game 399.4 313.3 Passing 119 108Total Plays 651 627 Penalty 10 23Avg. Per Play 6.1 5.0 3rd Down/Att. 59/140 49/132Net Yards Rushing 1508 997 3rd Down Pct. 42.1 37.1Avg. Per Game 150.8 99.7 4th Down/Att. 5/8 3/8Net Yards Passing 2486 2136 4th Down Pct. 62.5 37.5Avg. Per Game 248.6 213.6 Penalties/Yards 88/806 57/449

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgCutler 271 166 2064 61.3 7.62 12 10 89t 33/203 84.2Bears 305 181 2187 59.3 7.17 12 15 89t 37/233 74.0Opp. 375 228 2250 60.8 6.00 6 15 53t 19/126 66.4

Bears statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDForte 150 567 3.8 68t 4Taylor 76 216 2.8 24 1Cutler 29 172 5.9 25 0Bears 264 990 3.8 68t 5Opp. 225 780 3.5 29 9

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsGould 0 0 0 0 69Forte 7 4 3 0 44Hester 4 0 2 2 24Olsen 4 0 4 0 24Bennett 1 0 1 0 6K. Davis 1 0 1 0 6Knox 1 0 1 0 6D. Moore 1 0 0 1 6Taylor 1 1 0 0 6Bears 20 5 12 3 191Opponents 17 9 6 2 146

Kicking PAT FG PtsGould 18/18 17/21 69Bears 18/18 17/21 69Opp. 15/16 9/15 42

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDKnox 37 672 18.2 67 1Forte 32 331 10.3 89t 3Olsen 28 322 11.5 39t 4Bennett 28 297 10.6 48 1Hester 28 284 10.1 38 2Taylor 14 100 7.1 18 0Aromashodu 8 120 15.0 34 0K. Davis 1 19 19.0 19t 1Bears 181 2187 12.1 89t 12Opp. 228 2250 9.9 53t 6

Int. No. Yds Avg LngD. Moore 4 95 23.8 54tTillman 3 29 9.7 17C. Harris 2 5 2.5 5Briggs 2 1 0.5 1Jennings 1 39 39.0 39Manning 1 0 0.0 0Peppers 1 0 0.0 0Urlacher 1 0 0.0 0Bears 15 169 11.3 54tOpp. 15 163 10.9 92tSacks: Idonije 6, Peppers 5, Urlacher 2.5,Melton 2, TM 19, OPP 37Fum/Lost: Cutler 8/4, Forte 3/2, Olsen2/1

Chi. Opp. Chi. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:14 29:47 Total First Downs 164 163Total Net Yards 2944 2904 Rushing 46 49Avg. Per Game 294.4 290.4 Passing 101 107Total Plays 606 619 Penalty 17 7Avg. Per Play 4.9 4.7 3rd Down/Att. 43/133 41/134Net Yards Rushing 990 780 3rd Down Pct. 32.3 30.6Avg. Per Game 99.0 78.0 4th Down/Att. 2/5 3/6Net Yards Passing 1954 2124 4th Down Pct. 40.0 50.0Avg. Per Game 195.4 212.4 Penalties/Yards 60/508 67/567

McCoy picksperfect timefor big game

Week 12 matchup:Eagles (7-3) vs. Bears (7-3)

By Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

Rising fast: Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox has onetouchdown but is averaging 18.2 yards a catch.



Give the Redskins the persever-ance award for Week 11.

Already missing strong safety La-Ron Landry (Achilles), top covercornerback Carlos Rogers (ham-string) and right guard Artis Hicks(thigh) for the visit to the TennesseeTitans, they lost running back Clin-ton Portis, who had just returnedfrom a groin injury, center CaseyRabach (knee), linebackers Loren-zo Alexander (hamstring) andRocky McIntosh (thigh), defensiveend Kedric Golston (groin), reserveguard Derrick Dockery (knee),backup running back Chad Simp-son (foot) and rookie safety Ander-son Russell (knee) during thegame.

And yet, Washington improved to5-5, prevailing 19-16 in overtime ona 48-yard field goal by Graham Ga-no, who had missed kicks of 51 and47 yards earlier in the game. CoachMike Shanahan has topped thefour victories recorded by predeces-sor Jim Zorn in 2009.uTrending: All three of Wash-

ington’s games against the AFC havebeen undecided until the final min-ute.

Before beating Tennessee, theRedskins had lost 30-27 in overtimeat home to the Houston Texans andhad fallen to the visiting Indianapo-lis Colts 27-24 in a result that wasn’tsealed until a Colts interceptionwith 24 seconds left.uBy the numbers: Eleven play-

ers on Washington’s 53-man rosterwere injured and unable to play dur-ing overtime Sunday.

Redskins scheduleW .................... Dallas .................... 13-7L ............... Houston ............... 30-27 (OT)L .................. at St. Louis .................. 30-16W .......... at Philadelphia .......... 17-12W .......... Green Bay .......... 16-13 (OT)L ................. Indianapolis ................. 27-24W ............... at Chicago ............... 17-14L ................... at Detroit ................... 37-25................................ Bye ................................L ................ Philadelphia ................ 59-28W ....... at Tennessee ....... 19-16 (OT)Nov. 28 ................ Minnesota ................ 1Dec. 5 ............... at N.Y. Giants ............... 1Dec. 12 ................ Tampa Bay ................ 1Dec. 19 .................. at Dallas .................. 1Dec. 26 ............. at Jacksonville ............. 1Jan. 2 .................. N.Y. Giants .................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Injuries don’tprevent winin overtime

A Vikings season that had barely aheartbeat entering the game vs. theGreen Bay Packers appears to beover. The Packers throttled the Vik-ings 31-3 at Mall of America Field,dropping Minnesota to 3-7 on theseason. This comes a year after theVikings went 12-4 and advanced tothe NFC title game.

As the Vikings prepare to visit theWashington Redskins on Sunday,that success has to seem like a life-time ago for many. This includes ex-coach Brad Childress, who was firedMonday, and quarterback BrettFavre, who returned for a 20th NFLseason with the hope of making aSuper Bowl run.

After the loss, Favre was vaguewhen asked if he planned to finishthe season with the Vikings. The 41-year-old said that he needed to re-evaluate the situation.

Owner Zygi Wilf refused to ad-dress Childress’ future Sunday butthen fired him Monday.uLineup watch: Right guard

Anthony Herrera suffered whatappeared to be a serious knee inju-ry, forcing Ryan Cook to finish thegame at that position. Rookie ChrisDeGeare also can play guard, butit’s likely Cook will be the starter forthe remainder of the season.uBy the numbers: The 28

points by which the Vikings lost tothe Packers was the team’s worstdefeat at home since Dec. 23, 2001.That was when the Jacksonville Jag-uars cruised to a 33-3 victory. Dayslater, Dennis Green was fired asMinnesota’s coach.

Vikings scheduleL .............. at New Orleans .............. 14-9L ...................... Miami ...................... 14-10W ................. Detroit ................. 24-10................................ Bye ................................L .................. at N.Y. Jets .................. 29-20W .................. Dallas .................. 24-21L ................ at Green Bay ................ 28-24L ............. at New England ............. 28-18W ............ Arizona ............ 27-24 (OT)L ................... at Chicago ................... 27-13L .................... Green Bay .................... 31-3Nov. 28 ............. at Washington ............. 1Dec. 5 ..................... Buffalo ..................... 1Dec. 12 ................ N.Y. Giants ................ 1Dec. 20 ................ Chicago ................ 8:30Dec. 26 ............ at Philadelphia ............ 1Jan. 2 ................... at Detroit ................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Playoff hopesfading fast aslosses pile up

uTV announcers: Dick Stockton, CharlesDavis, Charissa ThompsonuKeys to the game: The Redskins were

shorthanded because of injuries but survivedto win in overtime at the Tennessee Titans lastweek. There’s no time to exhale for a defensestretched in consecutive weeks by QB MichaelVick of the Eagles and RB Chris Johnson of theTitans. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson will be fea-tured unless the Vikings fall too far behind, ashas become the recent trend. The Redskins’play-calling imbalance and poor execution onthird downs have hindered their ability to playkeep-away. Poor offensive-line play and inju-ries at running back have affected Washing-ton’s offensive approach, but the Vikings’ de-fense has crumbled and lacks playmakers toturn the tide in close games. With the firing ofcoach Brad Childress and signs of infightingamong players in Minnesota’s locker room, theRedskins have far more to play for.uMatchup to watch — Redskins SS La-

Ron Landry vs. Vikings RB Adrian Petersonand TE Visanthe Shiancoe: Landry, whoplays regularly as an in-the-box safety, is everwilling to deliver punishment in run supportand when receivers creep into the center ofthe field. His main assignment will be wrap-ping up Peterson; Landry will have responsi-bilities against Shiancoe downfield, but he’sbeen underused as a deep threat.uPlayer spotlight — WR Sidney Rice: His

first game action in 2010 implied Rice could bea factor down the stretch. Rice has the abilityto open up the field, and Washington’s passdefense has been routinely torched deep.uFast facts: At 25.2% conversions on third

down, the Redskins are 32nd in the NFL. . . .The Vikings have allowed 27.6 points a gamein their past five games.

The Bodog.net line: Redskins by 1½

Who will win and whyIf the Redskins can muster more out of their running game, they

should be in position to put the Vikings away in the second half. Min-nesota is winless on the road and showing little mental fortitude.

Our pick: Redskins 27-19

uSunday, 1 p.m. ET, at FedEx Field, Landover, Md.uTV: Fox, DirecTV 707

Week 12 matchup:Vikings (3-7) vs. Redskins (5-5)

By Andy Blenkush, AP

Vikings weapon: Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, above, willbear close watching by Redskins strong safety LaRon Landry.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgFavre 327 197 2274 60.2 6.95 10 17 53t 19/117 69.8Vikings 333 201 2310 60.4 6.94 11 17 53t 20/127 71.0Opp. 326 208 2273 63.8 6.97 17 8 65t 17/93 91.5

Vikings statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDPeterson 211 980 4.6 80t 7Harvin 10 92 9.2 17t 1Gerhart 24 86 3.6 11 0Jackson 1 33 33.0 33 0Vikings 262 1185 4.5 80t 8Opp. 271 991 3.7 51 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsLongwell 0 0 0 0 50Peterson 8 7 1 0 48Harvin 6 1 4 1 38Moss 2 0 2 0 12Shiancoe 2 0 2 0 12Camarillo 1 0 1 0 6Tahi 1 0 1 0 6Vikings 20 8 11 1 172Opponents 28 6 17 5 226Sacks: J. Allen 6.5, Edwards 5.5, Green-way 1, Mitchell TM 1, Robison 1, K. Wil-liams 1, Kennedy 0.5, M. Williams 0.5,TM 17, OPP 20Fum/Lost: Favre 6/5, Berrian 2/0, Ger-hart 2/2, Harvin 1/1, Kennedy 1/0, Sulli-van 1/0

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDHarvin 46 595 12.9 53t 4Peterson 31 297 9.6 33 1Shiancoe 30 366 12.2 33 2Berrian 18 176 9.8 30 0Lewis 14 176 12.6 33 0Camarillo 14 167 11.9 31 1Moss 13 174 13.4 37t 2Gerhart 13 139 10.7 23 0Rice 3 56 18.7 20 0Tahi 3 19 6.3 10 1Vikings 201 2310 11.5 53t 11Opp. 208 2273 10.9 65t 17

Int. No. Yds Avg LngE.J. Henderson 2 10 5.0 10Abdullah 2 5 2.5 5Leber 1 19 19.0 19J. Allen 1 4 4.0 4M. Williams 1 0 0.0 0Winfield 1 0 0.0 0Vikings 8 38 4.8 19Opp. 17 258 15.2 66

Kicking PAT FG PtsLongwell 17/18 11/12 50Vikings 17/18 11/12 50Opp. 28/28 10/14 58

Minn. Opp. Minn. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:09 29:51 Total First Downs 187 172Total Net Yards 3368 3171 Rushing 64 57Avg. Per Game 336.8 317.1 Passing 106 110Total Plays 615 614 Penalty 17 5Avg. Per Play 5.5 5.2 3rd Down/Att. 44/124 59/137Net Yards Rushing 1185 991 3rd Down Pct. 35.5 43.1Avg. Per Game 118.5 99.1 4th Down/Att. 5/13 3/6Net Yards Passing 2183 2180 4th Down Pct. 38.5 50.0Avg. Per Game 218.3 218.0 Penalties/Yards 68/509 57/475

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgMcNabb 358 206 2642 57.5 7.38 10 12 76 27/198 76.1Redskins 365 210 2686 57.5 7.36 10 12 76 28/211 76.1Opp. 401 258 2917 64.3 7.27 18 10 88t 20/116 90.6

Redskins statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDTorain 91 391 4.3 36 3Portis 54 227 4.2 27 2K. Williams 49 195 4.0 32t 3McNabb 25 139 5.6 36 0Redskins 235 969 4.1 36 8Opp. 258 1310 5.1 71 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsGano 0 0 0 0 76K. Williams 5 3 2 0 30Torain 4 3 1 0 24Moss 3 0 3 0 18Cooley 2 0 2 0 12Hall 2 0 0 2 12Portis 2 2 0 0 12Banks 1 0 0 1 6Young 1 0 1 0 6Redskins 21 8 10 3 202Opponents 28 6 18 4 245

Kicking PAT FG PtsGano 19/19 19/26 76Redskins 19/19 19/26 76Opp. 24/24 17/24 75

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDMoss 57 738 12.9 56 3Cooley 49 554 11.3 35 2K. Williams 24 162 6.8 26 2Armstrong 23 492 21.4 76 1Sellers 14 143 10.2 28 0F. Davis 12 248 20.7 71 0Galloway 12 173 14.4 62 0Torain 8 55 6.9 13 1Redskins 210 2686 12.8 76 10Opp. 258 2917 11.3 88t 18

Int. No. Yds Avg LngHall 6 92 15.3 92tBuchanon 1 43 43.0 43Moore 1 5 5.0 5Rogers 1 5 5.0 5Landry 1 0 0.0 0Redskins 10 145 14.5 92tOpp. 12 201 16.8 64

Sacks: Orakpo 7.5, Haynesworth 2,McIntosh 2, Alexander 1.5, Carter 1.5,Fletcher 1.5, Holliday 1.5, Daniels 1,Landry 1, Carriker 0.5, TM 20, OPP 28Fum/Lost: McNabb 6/0, Banks 2/0, Coo-ley 2/0, Moss 2/1, Torain 2/1

Wash. Opp. Wash. Opp.Possession Avg. 28:23 31:37 Total First Downs 186 218Total Net Yards 3444 4111 Rushing 45 66Avg. Per Game 344.4 411.1 Passing 120 143Total Plays 628 679 Penalty 21 9Avg. Per Play 5.5 6.1 3rd Down/Att. 32/127 45/131Net Yards Rushing 969 1310 3rd Down Pct. 25.2 34.4Avg. Per Game 96.9 131.0 4th Down/Att. 2/6 7/9Net Yards Passing 2475 2801 4th Down Pct. 33.3 77.8Avg. Per Game 247.5 280.1 Penalties/Yards 63/462 76/615



The Falcons will face anothersack-happy team when they metthe Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

They were able to control theSt. Louis Rams, who were tied forthe league lead (with Green Bay)with 28 sacks.

Offensive coordinator Mike Mu-larkey had to dig deep into his bagof wizardry to slow down defensiveends James Hall (71⁄2 sacks) andChris Long (51⁄2 sacks).

Quarterback Matt Ryan con-trolled the tempo of the game byslowing down the play calls, thenspeeding them up out of the no-huddle and by going with dummycadences to keep the Rams off bal-ance.

Not only did the Rams not regis-ter a sack but they were penalizedtwice for being offsides.uLineup watch: Right defensive

end John Abraham, who had start-ed 55 of the last 56 games, was alate scratch at St. Louis with a groininjury. Jamaal Anderson made thestart in his spot and was solid.

Tight end Justin Peelle returnedafter missing three games. He re-claimed his role as the second tightend from rookie Michael Palmer.uBy the numbers: With a

26-yard reception in the first quar-ter, Roddy White passed formerFalcons receiver Andre Rison for thethird-most receiving yards in fran-chise history. Rison totaled 5,633 re-ceiving yards in four seasons in At-lanta, while White has 5,706 yardsin his six seasons.

Falcons scheduleL .......... at Pittsburgh ..........15-9 (OT)W .................. Arizona .................. 41-7W..... at New Orleans ..... 27-24 (OT)W ........... San Francisco ........... 16-14W............. at Cleveland ............. 20-10L ............ at Philadelphia ............ 31-17W .............. Cincinnati .............. 39-32.............................. Bye ..............................W .............. Tampa Bay .............. 27-21W .............. Baltimore .............. 26-21W .............. at St. Louis .............. 34-17Nov. 28 .............. Green Bay .............. 1Dec. 5 ............. at Tampa Bay ............. 1Dec. 12 .............. at Carolina .............. 1Dec. 19 ............ at Seattle ............ 4:05Dec. 27 ......... New Orleans ......... 8:30Jan. 2 .................. Carolina .................. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Aiming forslack in foe’ssack attack

Greg Jennings is making up forlost opportunities.

After the Packers’ top wideout ap-peared to be a forgotten man at theoutset of the season, Jennings isagain the focal point of an offensethat is humming.

“We’ve got a foot on the gas,hands on the wheel, and we’relooking straight ahead. That’s whatyou have to do in November,” coachMike McCarthy said.

The hard-driving Packers extend-ed their winning streak to fourgames with a 31-3 road knockout ofthe Minnesota Vikings and stayedtied with the Chicago Bears atop theNFC North.

Next up for Green Bay is a show-down Sunday at the 8-2 Atlanta Fal-cons, owners of the NFC’s top rec-ord.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers andJennings played big roles in com-pleting the season sweep of BrettFavre and the Vikings after GreenBay suffered the same fate last year.uTrending: A key aspect of the

four-game spurt has been discipline.Green Bay has been penalized eighttimes for 60 yards during the streak,including one infraction for 5 yardsin Sunday’s game. With 45 penaltiesafter the first six games this season,the Packers were on pace to finishwith 120 and eclipse their league-leading total of 118 last season.uBy the numbers: The Packers

have allowed 10 points in the lastthree games, the fewest pointsscored against the team in a three-game stretch since 1974.

Packers scheduleW ......... at Philadelphia ......... 27-20W ................... Buffalo ................... 34-7L ................ at Chicago ................ 20-17W ................. Detroit ................. 28-26L ....... at Washington ....... 16-13 (OT)L .............. Miami .............. 23-20 (OT)W .............. Minnesota .............. 28-24W................. at N.Y. Jets ................. 9-0W .................... Dallas .................... 45-7.............................. Bye ..............................W ............. at Minnesota ............. 31-3Nov. 28................ at Atlanta ................ 1Dec. 5 ............. San Francisco ............. 1Dec. 12................ at Detroit ................ 1Dec. 19....... at New England ....... 8:20Dec. 26 ........... N.Y. Giants ........... 4:15Jan. 2 ................... Chicago ................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Thom Brennaman, Bri-an Billick, Laura OkminuKeys to the game: For all the yards and

touchdowns QB Aaron Rodgers is piling up, it’sthe injury-riddled defense that is setting thetone for the Packers. Green Bay has surren-dered a combined 10 points in its past threegames, but the Falcons will bring the most bal-anced attack the Packers will face until theyhost the New York Giants in Week 16. GreenBay will attempt to contain RB Michael Turneron first and second downs, and then playphysical outside coverage while pressuring QBMatt Ryan on third downs. Generating pres-sure is also critical for the Falcons, who have amodest 18 sacks and were without John Abra-ham (groin) last week. If Rodgers has time, hisplaymaking receivers will have little troublegetting open because the Falcons are over-matched in the secondary.uMatchup to watch — Packers CB

Charles Woodson vs. Falcons WR RoddyWhite: With 79 receptions on the season,White has been particularly dangerous athome, where nine of his 41 catches this seasonhave gone for 20-plus yards. Woodson will at-tempt to jam White at the line and preventhim from getting over the top quickly. ButWhite is no pushover at 6-0, 212 pounds andhas feasted off man coverage.uPlayer spotlight — Packers RB Dimitri

Nance: The Packers continue to search for arespectable ground game, and the rookie dou-bled his previous career total with 12 carriesfor 37 yards against the Minnesota Vikings ashe vies for more touches down the stretch.uFast facts: White has at least nine catches

in three of his past four games. . . . PackersWR Greg Jennings has 37 career touchdowncatches, with 15 going for 40-plus yards.

The Bodog.net line: Falcons by 2

Who will win and whyBoth teams enter with four-game winning streaks. Along with

home-field advantage, the Falcons’ ability to control the ball morewith their ground game gives Atlanta a slight edge.

Our pick: Falcons 24-20

uSunday, 1 p.m. ET, at Georgia Dome, AtlantauTV: Fox, DirecTV 710

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgRodgers 334 214 2601 64.1 7.79 19 9 86t 20/135 95.7Packers 337 215 2606 63.8 7.73 19 9 86t 20/135 95.1Opp. 356 199 2300 55.9 6.46 9 15 52 29/187 66.5

Packers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDJackson 122 488 4.0 71 3Kuhn 62 225 3.6 18 1Rodgers 37 194 5.2 27 3Packers 248 1005 4.1 71 7Opp. 248 1121 4.5 40 4

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsCrosby 0 0 0 0 72Jennings 9 0 9 0 54Jackson 4 3 1 0 24Driver 3 0 3 0 18J. Jones 3 0 3 0 18Rodgers 3 3 0 0 18Collins 1 0 0 1 6Finley 1 0 1 0 6Matthews 1 0 0 1 6Woodson 1 0 0 1 6Packers 30 7 19 4 252Opponents 14 4 9 1 146

Kicking PAT FG PtsCrosby 30/30 14/19 72Packers 30/30 14/19 72Opp. 14/14 16/20 62

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDJennings 46 703 15.3 86t 9Driver 32 338 10.6 48 3J. Jones 30 458 15.3 45 3Nelson 29 301 10.4 27 0Jackson 29 231 8.0 36 1Finley 21 301 14.3 34 1Quarless 8 104 13.0 23 1D. Lee 8 68 8.5 17 1Kuhn 6 37 6.2 10 0Crabtree 3 40 13.3 33 0Swain 2 14 7.0 12 0Packers 215 2606 12.1 86t 19Opp. 199 2300 11.6 52 9

Int. No. Yds Avg LngT. Williams 4 78 19.5 64Woodson 2 48 24.0 48tHawk 2 33 16.5 21Packers 15 280 18.7 64Opp. 9 33 3.7 17

Sacks: Matthews 11.5, Jenkins 4, Raji2.5, Bishop 2, Zombo 2, Chillar 1, Neal 1,Poppinga 1, T. Williams 1, Wilson 1,Woodson 1, Wynn 1, TM 29, OPP 20Fum/Lost: J. Jones 3/1, Nelson 2/2, T.Williams 2/0

G.B. Opp. G.B. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:24 29:36 Total First Downs 189 182Total Net Yards 3476 3234 Rushing 49 52Avg. Per Game 347.6 323.4 Passing 131 109Total Plays 605 633 Penalty 9 21Avg. Per Play 5.7 5.1 3rd Down/Att. 51/124 54/136Net Yards Rushing 1005 1121 3rd Down Pct. 41.1 39.7Avg. Per Game 100.5 112.1 4th Down/Att. 3/8 2/14Net Yards Passing 2471 2113 4th Down Pct. 37.5 14.3Avg. Per Game 247.1 211.3 Penalties/Yards 53/415 64/498

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgRyan 377 238 2518 63.1 6.68 18 5 46 15/94 92.9Falcons 377 238 2518 63.1 6.68 18 5 46 15/94 92.9Opp. 345 231 2574 67.0 7.46 18 15 83t 18/133 88.2

Falcons statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDTurner 200 864 4.3 55 6Snelling 70 293 4.2 30 2Ryan 30 82 2.7 13 0Falcons 316 1290 4.1 55 8Opp. 222 954 4.3 80t 3

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsM. Bryant 0 0 0 0 90White 7 0 7 0 46Turner 6 6 0 0 36Snelling 4 2 2 0 24Finneran 3 0 3 0 18Gonzalez 3 0 3 0 18Biermann 1 0 0 1 6Palmer 1 0 1 0 6Peelle 1 0 1 0 6Falcons 27 8 18 1 256Opponents 24 3 18 3 192

Kicking PAT FG PtsM. Bryant 24/24 22/25 90Falcons 24/24 22/25 90Opp. 21/21 9/17 48

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDWhite 79 1017 12.9 46 7Gonzalez 45 448 10.0 34 3Snelling 31 207 6.7 28t 2Jenkins 20 285 14.3 43 0Douglas 16 191 11.9 34 1Finneran 15 127 8.5 21 3Turner 10 69 6.9 19 0Mughelli 6 42 7.0 18 0Weems 5 54 10.8 18 0Peelle 5 40 8.0 15 1Palmer 5 29 5.8 11 1Norwood 1 9 9.0 9 0Falcons 238 2518 10.6 46 18Opp. 231 2574 11.1 83t 18

Int. No. Yds Avg LngMoore 4 90 22.5 34Grimes 3 40 13.3 36Falcons 15 217 14.5 40Opp. 5 50 10.0 39

Sacks: Abraham 8, Babineaux 2, Lofton2, Anderson 1, Biermann 1, Jerry 1, Pe-terson 1, Weatherspoon 1, Williams 1,TM 18, OPP 15Fum/Lost: Ryan 3/3, DeCoud 1/1, White1/1

Atl. Opp. Atl. Opp.Possession Avg. 32:43 27:17 Total First Downs 231 180Total Net Yards 3714 3395 Rushing 74 49Avg. Per Game 371.4 339.5 Passing 130 122Total Plays 708 585 Penalty 27 9Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.8 3rd Down/Att. 77/158 52/120Net Yards Rushing 1290 954 3rd Down Pct. 48.7 43.3Avg. Per Game 129.0 95.4 4th Down/Att. 7/9 4/8Net Yards Passing 2424 2441 4th Down Pct. 77.8 50.0Avg. Per Game 242.4 244.1 Penalties/Yards 38/418 65/520

Offense isacceleratingat right time

Week 12 matchup:Packers (7-3) vs. Falcons (8-2)

By Jeff Roberson, AP

Prolific catcher: Falcons wide receiver Roddy White hascaught 79 passes this season.



At 5-5, the Seahawks sit aloneatop the NFC West. And Seattle hasa favorable schedule the rest of theway, playing four of its next sixgames at home.

The Seahawks are 3-1 at QwestField, with the lone loss comingagainst the New York Giants threeweeks ago.

The Seahawks host the KansasCity Chiefs on Sunday, and then getthe Carolina Panthers the nextweek.

“When you look at it, we onlyhave a couple road games left on theseason,” coach Pete Carroll said.“So we do have a big opportunityhere to go home and rally for a bigfinish. We need everybody involved.

“We need the crowd. We needour players and every factor work-ing positively for us. Every game isgoing to be a dogfight.”uLineup watch: Wideout Ben

Obomanu had another strong per-formance in his second start of theseason, finishing with five catchesfor 87 yards and his third touch-down of the season.uTrending: Rookie offensive

tackle Russell Okung got his firststart in more than a month at lefttackle, and he held up.

The Seahawks did allow a sackagainst the New Orleans Saints’pressure defense. One of the reasonsSeattle’s offense is playing muchbetter is because of the protectionup front. The Seahawks front linehas given up two sacks in the pastthree games.

Seahawks scheduleW ............ San Francisco ............ 31-6L .................. at Denver .................. 31-14W ............... San Diego ............... 27-20L .................. at St. Louis .................. 20-3................................ Bye ................................W .............. at Chicago .............. 23-20W ................. Arizona ................. 22-10L .................. at Oakland .................. 33-3L ................... N.Y. Giants ................... 41-7W .............. at Arizona .............. 36-18L ............. at New Orleans ............. 34-19Nov. 28 ............ Kansas City ............ 4:05Dec. 5 ................ Carolina ................ 4:15Dec. 12 ........ at San Francisco ........ 4:05Dec. 19 ................ Atlanta ................ 4:05Dec. 26 .............. at Tampa Bay .............. 1Jan. 2 ................. St. Louis ................. 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Home gamessmooth pathto playoffs

Against the Arizona Cardinals,Dwayne Bowe set a Chiefs recordby extending his streak of gameswith a touchdown catch to six. Hehas 11 touchdown receptions thisseason — more than the five he hadin his big rookie season or the sevenhe scored in his even better secondseason or the four he tallied duringhis troubled 2009 performance.

Bowe caught six passes for 109yards and two touchdowns in theChiefs’ victory against the Cardinalsand afterward talked to the newsmedia for the first time since theoffseason program in May.

“At this level you have to learn tokeep your mouth closed, keep yourhead down and just work,” Bowesaid. “That’s what I’ve been doing.”uLineup watch: Defensive coor-

dinator Romeo Crennel continuesto tinker with his sub defenses, es-pecially his dime scheme. For awhile that six-defensive-backs lookwould include outside linebackerMike Vrabel. But near midseason,Crennel started lifting Vrabel inthose situations for linebacker AndyStudebaker. Now the Chiefs alsoare using linebacker DemorrioWilliams as a pass rusher in thedime scheme.uBy the numbers: The Chiefs

are 5-0 this season at ArrowheadStadium. There is nothing unusualabout a team playing well at home,but those five victories exceed thefour wins they had on their homefield in the 2007-09 seasons com-bined. In that stretch, the Chiefswere 4-20 at Arrowhead.

Chiefs scheduleW ............... San Diego ............... 21-14W ............. at Cleveland ............. 16-14W ........... San Francisco ........... 31-10................................ Bye ................................L ............... at Indianapolis ............... 19-9L .................. at Houston .................. 35-31W ............ Jacksonville ............ 42-20W ............. Buffalo ............. 13-10 (OT)L ............. at Oakland ............. 23-20 (OT)L .................. at Denver .................. 29-49W ................. Arizona ................. 31-13Nov. 28 .............. at Seattle .............. 4:05Dec. 5 ..................... Denver ..................... 1Dec. 12 ........... at San Diego ........... 4:15Dec. 19 ................ at St. Louis ................ 1Dec. 26 ................ Tennessee ................ 1Jan. 2 .................... Oakland .................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Bowe breaksteam recordwith streak

uTV announcers: Bill Macatee, RichGannonuKeys to the game: The Chiefs offense is

becoming far more dangerous with QB MattCassel making more consistent reads down-field and hurting defenses geared up to stopRBs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. Charlesalso has at least four receptions in five of hislast six games. The Seahawks continue tostruggle running the ball, and RB MarshawnLynch had two fumbles against the New Or-leans Saints. But the passing game has sudden-ly become a quick-strike unit. QB Matt Hassel-beck, playing with broken bones in his leftwrist, is coming off consecutive 300-yard pass-ing games and looks comfortable in offensivecoordinator Jeremy Bates’ system.uMatchup to watch — Chiefs WR

Dwayne Bowe vs. Seahawks secondary:Bowe has caught a touchdown pass in a team-record six consecutive games. And at 6-2,221 pounds, he has size that is difficult forSeattle’s cover men to contend with. WhenCB Marcus Trufant left Sunday’s game with ahead injury, rookie Walter Thurmond waspicked on by the Saints. Look for the Chiefs tomove Bowe around, searching for mismatches.uPlayer spotlight — Seahawks WR Mike

Williams: Williams has topped his previouscareer totals for catches and yards. Known pri-marily as a big receiver with strong hands,Williams has been starting to stretch the fieldwith cornerbacks overplaying underneathroutes. But he also left Sunday’s game with afoot injury that bears watching.uFast facts: Seahawks FS Earl Thomas has

tied Michael Boulware’s franchise rookie rec-ord with five interceptions. . . . Bowe has 563receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his lastsix games.

The Bodog.net line: Chiefs by 1

Who will win and whyThe Seahawks are a difficult team to beat at home, but this is a

good matchup for the run-based Chiefs. Seattle isn’t big along the de-fensive line and has been hurt by injuries up front that will allowKansas City to dictate the action.

Our pick: Chiefs 24-19

uSunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, at Qwest Field, SeattleuTV: CBS, DirecTV 712

Week 12 matchup:Chiefs (6-4) vs. Seahawks (5-5)

By Charlie Riedel, AP

Chess piece: The Chiefs figure to shift Dwayne Bowe aroundin search of mismatches with the Seahawks secondary.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgCassel 291 173 2074 59.5 7.13 18 4 53t 15/97 96.2Chiefs 291 173 2074 59.5 7.13 18 4 53t 15/97 96.2Opp. 386 221 2576 57.3 6.67 16 7 65t 21/133 83.9

Chiefs statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDCharles 139 848 6.1 56t 2Jones 156 644 4.1 70 5McCluster 11 60 5.5 20 0Cassel 17 55 3.2 9 0Chiefs 341 1647 4.8 70 8Opp. 256 1041 4.1 38t 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsSuccop 0 0 0 0 69Bowe 11 0 11 0 66Jones 5 5 0 0 30Charles 3 2 1 0 18McCluster 2 0 1 1 12Moeaki 2 0 2 0 12Battle 1 1 0 0 6D. Johnson 1 0 0 1 6Vrabel 1 0 1 0 6Chiefs 29 8 18 3 243Opponents 24 6 16 2 207

Kicking PAT FG PtsSuccop 27/27 14/18 69Chiefs 27/27 14/18 69Opp. 24/24 13/17 63

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDBowe 45 715 15.9 53t 11Moeaki 31 378 12.2 34 2Charles 30 356 11.9 31 1McCluster 15 147 9.8 31t 1Chambers 13 122 9.4 15 1Copper 12 117 9.8 20 0Pope 6 64 10.7 14 0Castille 6 23 3.8 14 0Jones 5 40 8.0 19 0Tucker 3 62 20.7 38 1Chiefs 173 2074 12.0 53t 18Opp. 221 2576 11.7 65t 16

Int. No. Yds Avg LngBerry 2 48 24.0 35Flowers 2 33 16.5 33tMcGraw 2 4 2.0 4D. Johnson 1 15 15.0 15tChiefs 7 100 14.3 35Opp. 4 1 0.3 1

Sacks: Hali 8, Gilberry 4, Berry 2, Ed-wards 2, Studebaker 1.5, Arenas 1, D.Williams 1, Dorsey 0.5, TM 20, OPP 15Fum/Lost: Cassel 2/1, Charles 2/1, Are-nas 1/1, Bowe 1/0, Jones 1/0, McCluster1/0

K.C. Opp. K.C. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:12 29:48 Total First Downs 204 191Total Net Yards 3624 3484 Rushing 80 53Avg. Per Game 362.4 348.4 Passing 107 126Total Plays 647 663 Penalty 17 12Avg. Per Play 5.6 5.3 3rd Down/Att. 45/131 52/142Net Yards Rushing 1647 1041 3rd Down Pct. 34.4 36.6Avg. Per Game 164.7 104.1 4th Down/Att. 8/17 7/15Net Yards Passing 1977 2443 4th Down Pct. 47.1 46.7Avg. Per Game 197.7 244.3 Penalties/Yards 58/483 70/603

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgHasselbeck 314 189 2110 60.2 6.72 8 7 68 23/137 79.4Seahawks 344 206 2304 59.9 6.70 9 10 68 24/137 76.5Opp. 393 220 3002 56.0 7.64 16 9 69t 26/170 84.6

Seahawks statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDLynch 81 253 3.1 39 2Forsett 93 407 4.4 32 2Washington 18 59 3.3 21 0Hasselbeck 16 53 3.3 20t 2Seahawks 236 837 3.5 39 6Opp. 269 1054 3.9 49 9

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsMare 0 0 0 0 75Butler 3 0 3 0 18Obomanu 3 0 3 0 18Forsett 2 2 0 0 12Hasselbeck 2 2 0 0 12Lynch 2 2 0 0 12Washington 2 0 0 2 12Trufant 1 0 0 1 6Babineaux 0 0 0 0 2Seahawks 18 6 9 3 185Opponents 26 9 16 1 233

Kicking PAT FG PtsMare 18/18 19/22 75Seahawks 18/18 19/22 75Opp. 23/23 16/19 71

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDM. Williams 52 654 12.6 68 1Butler 25 265 10.6 63t 3Carlson 25 254 10.2 37 1Forsett 24 201 8.4 21 0Stokley 17 210 12.4 36 0Obomanu 15 231 15.4 42 3Branch 13 112 8.6 41 1Tate 10 151 15.1 52 0Seahawks 206 2304 11.2 68 9Opp. 220 3002 13.6 69t 16

Int. No. Yds Avg LngThomas 5 68 13.6 34Trufant 1 32 32.0 32tBabineaux 1 20 20.0 20Hawthorne 1 5 5.0 5Jennings 1 0 0.0 0Seahawks 9 125 13.9 34Opp. 10 119 11.9 28

Sacks: Clemons 7.5, Milloy 4, Brock 3,Curry 3, Babineaux 1.5, Bryant 1, Chan-cellor 1, Cole 1, Davis 1, Herring 1, R.Lewis 1, Mebane 1, TM 26, OPP 24Fum/Lost: Hasselbeck 3/2, Lynch 2/2

Sea. Opp. Sea. Opp.Possession Avg. 27:32 32:28 Total First Downs 158 204Total Net Yards 3004 3886 Rushing 43 53Avg. Per Game 300.4 388.6 Passing 103 139Total Plays 604 688 Penalty 12 12Avg. Per Play 5.0 5.6 3rd Down/Att. 51/140 54/145Net Yards Rushing 837 1054 3rd Down Pct. 36.4 37.2Avg. Per Game 83.7 105.4 4th Down/Att. 3/9 5/14Net Yards Passing 2167 2832 4th Down Pct. 33.3 35.7Avg. Per Game 216.7 283.2 Penalties/Yards 68/613 63/485



Coach Tom Cable wants his play-ers to put the loss to the PittsburghSteelers behind them.

Oakland fell to 5-5 and is a gamein back of the Kansas City Chiefs(6-4), but the Raiders are the onlyAFC West team that is unbeaten inthe division (3-0). With gamesagainst all three division opponentsremaining, the Raiders are in controlof their own destiny.

Maintaining control will be toughif the Raiders struggle as they didagainst the Steelers, for it’s conceiv-able the Denver Broncos will be theonly of the remaining six opponentson the schedule with a losing rec-ord.

Included in the non-divisiongames are a road game vs. the Jack-sonville Jaguars (6-4) and a homedate with the Indianapolis Colts(6-4).

The Raiders found that all of theareas of strength that led them totheir first meaningful Novembergame in seven years deserted themvs. the Steelers.

Their improved defense gave up162 yards rushing, and Pittsburghquarterback Ben Roethlisberger hadample time to pass. Oakland’s sec-ond-ranked running game had 61yards on 18 carries, with DarrenMcFadden gaining 14 yards on 10attempts.uLineup watch: Rookie line-

backer Travis Goethel saw time inplace of Quentin Groves.uBy the numbers: Oakland’s

average drive started on the 18.7 inits first 10 possessions Sunday.

Raiders scheduleL ................ at Tennessee ................ 38-13W ................ St. Louis ................ 16-14L .................. at Arizona .................. 24-23L .................... Houston .................... 31-24W .............. San Diego .............. 35-27L .............. at San Francisco .............. 17-9W ............... at Denver ............... 59-14W ................... Seattle ................... 33-3W ........ Kansas City ........ 23-20 (OT)................................ Bye ................................L ................. at Pittsburgh ................. 35-3Nov. 28 ................. Miami ................. 4:05Dec. 5 ............ at San Diego ............ 4:05Dec. 12 ............. at Jacksonville ............. 1Dec. 19 ................ Denver ................ 4:15Dec. 26 ........... Indianapolis ........... 4:05Jan. 2 ............... at Kansas City ............... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Strengthsvanished inlopsided loss

The Dolphins are seriously con-sidering shutting down Jake Longin advance of Sunday’s trip to playthe Oakland Raiders or perhapssoon after. The team worked out apair of left tackles last weekend.

Levi Jones, who made a com-bined 97 starts for the CincinnatiBengals and Washington Redskinsfrom 2002-09, was one of them.The other was left tackle Tony Ugoh,who made 27 starts for the Indian-apolis Colts from 2007-09.

Jones, 31, has battled leg, foot andknee injuries at various times in hiscareer. Ugoh, a second-round pick in2007 out of Arkansas — where hejust missed Dolphins quarterbackscoach David Lee — was waived be-fore this season while battling a lin-gering toe injury.uBy the numbers: Since the

start of the 1999 season, the Dol-phins are 11-6 in the Mountain andPacific time zones. But since thestart of 2004, they are 4-4 whenheading west, including a 23-13 lossat the San Diego Chargers in 2009.Their last trip to Oakland cameNov. 27, 2005, a 33-21 win. Theysuffered a 27-0 playoff loss in Oak-land after the 2000 season.uTrending: Last week’s out-

come against the Chicago Bears wasthe second home shutout loss forthe Dolphins in the past 40 seasonsand the fifth in club history. Asidefrom the 2001 loss to the New YorkJets (24-0), the only other homeshutout loss since the 1970 mergercame in Don Shula’s second homegame.

Dolphins scheduleW ............... at Buffalo ............... 15-10W ............ at Minnesota ............ 14-10L ..................... N.Y. Jets ..................... 31-23L ................ New England ................ 41-14................................ Bye ................................W ....... at Green Bay ....... 23-20 (OT)L .................. Pittsburgh .................. 23-22W ............ at Cincinnati ............ 22-14L ................ at Baltimore ................ 26-10W .............. Tennessee .............. 29-17L ..................... Chicago ..................... 16-0Nov. 28 ............. at Oakland ............. 4:05Dec. 5 .................. Cleveland .................. 1Dec. 12 ............. at N.Y. Jets ............. 4:15Dec. 19 .................... Buffalo .................... 1Dec. 26 ................... Detroit ................... 1Jan. 2 ............. at New England ............. 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Gus Johnson, SteveTaskeruKeys to the game: Dolphins RBs Ronnie

Brown and Ricky Williams combined for sixcarries in Miami’s shutout loss to the ChicagoBears despite QB Tyler Thigpen making his firststart since 2008. Coach Tony Sparano saidThigpen generally made the right reads as Chi-cago’s defense dictated more passes, but lookfor Miami to call more dedicated run plays,even if Chad Henne is able to return from hisleft knee injury. The Raiders’ speed at wideoutwill test the Dolphins secondary, which did apoor job of being physical at the line againstBears receivers. Oakland will have no problemdedicating much of its playbook to runningplays. With an offensive line that is shaky inlong passing situations, the Raiders will workhard to set up play-action.uMatchup to watch — Dolphins C Joe

Berger vs. Raiders DTs Tommie Kelly andRichard Seymour: With backup Cory Procterout for the season, Miami hopes Berger can re-turn from a knee injury and prevent furthershuffling along the line, where LT Jake Longcould be facing shoulder surgery. The Dolphinsgave up six sacks in Week 11. Kelly and Sey-mour provide rare upfield pressure from theinterior, and Seymour should enter motivated.uPlayer spotlight — Dolphins RB Ronnie

Brown: Brown has been held to 3.9 yards acarry, but he isn’t being given much of achance to get into a rhythm. He has a com-bined 24 carries the past three weeks.uFast facts: Anthony Fasano (26 recep-

tions) is the only Dolphins tight end to be tar-geted with a pass this season. . . . Miami haswon nine of the past 11 regular-season meet-ings.

The Bodog.net line: Raiders by 3

Who will win and whyThe Dolphins offense is in shambles with QB Chad Henne (knee)

and WR Brandon Marshall (hamstring) in doubt and the offensiveline banged up. The Raiders will control the ball on the ground athome, setting up big completions off play-action.

Our pick: Raiders 23-15

uSunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, at Oakland Coliseum uTV: CBS; DirecTV: 713

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgHenne 305 195 2140 63.9 7.02 9 11 54 13/79 79.4Thigpen 41 23 266 56.1 6.49 1 2 31 6/39 63.7Dolphins 350 219 2425 62.6 6.93 10 13 54 19/118 77.1Opp. 311 183 2122 58.8 6.82 13 7 86t 26/154 84.1

Dolphins statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDR. Brown 116 454 3.9 51 3Williams 92 401 4.4 23 1Dolphins 260 979 3.8 51 4Opp. 289 1127 3.9 30 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsD. Carpenter 0 0 0 0 80Bess 3 0 3 0 18R. Brown 3 3 0 0 18Fasano 3 0 3 0 18Williams 2 1 1 0 12Cobbs 1 0 1 0 6Marshall 1 0 1 0 6Misi 1 0 0 1 6Dolphins 15 4 10 1 172Opponents 22 6 13 3 208

Sacks: Wake 9.5, Misi 3.5, Dansby 2,Langford 2, Starks 2, Bell 1.5, Dobbins 1,Jones 1, McDaniel 1, Moses 1, Soliai 1,Clemons 0.5, TM 26, OPP 19Fum/Lost: Williams 3/1, Henne 2/0

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDMarshall 58 693 11.9 46 1Bess 49 489 10.0 26t 3B. Hartline 39 540 13.8 54 1Fasano 26 383 14.7 31 3R. Brown 21 139 6.6 16 0Williams 9 64 7.1 28t 1Polite 8 41 5.1 14 0Cobbs 4 35 8.8 13t 1Moore 2 20 10.0 13 0Wallace 2 18 9.0 12 0Dolphins 219 2425 11.1 54 10Opp. 183 2122 11.6 86t 13

Int. No. Yds Avg LngJ. Allen 3 17 5.7 17S. Smith 1 18 18.0 18V. Davis 1 0 0.0 0Jones 1 0 0.0 0Sapp 1 0 0.0 0Dolphins 7 35 5.0 18Opp. 13 109 8.4 51t

Kicking PAT FG PtsD. Carpenter 14/14 22/25 80Dolphins 14/14 22/25 80Opp. 22/22 18/21 76

Miami Opp. Miami Opp.Possession Avg. 30:04 29:56 Total First Downs 187 174Total Net Yards 3286 3095 Rushing 55 61Avg. Per Game 328.6 309.5 Passing 122 103Total Plays 629 626 Penalty 10 10Avg. Per Play 5.2 4.9 3rd Down/Att. 60/140 55/141Net Yards Rushing 979 1127 3rd Down Pct. 42.9 39.0Avg. Per Game 97.9 112.7 4th Down/Att. 1/7 7/14Net Yards Passing 2307 1968 4th Down Pct. 14.3 50.0Avg. Per Game 230.7 196.8 Penalties/Yards 41/349 55/446

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgJ. Campbell 190 104 1322 54.7 6.96 7 6 69t 23/147 75.8Gradkowski 125 66 807 52.8 6.46 4 5 70 9/72 67.0Raiders 316 170 2129 53.8 6.74 11 11 70 32/219 72.1Opp. 297 161 2114 54.2 7.12 19 5 56t 29/182 91.2

Raiders statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDD. McFadden 149 771 5.2 57t 4Bush 89 357 4.0 30 4J. Campbell 28 101 3.6 16 0Reece 18 97 5.4 31 1Ford 4 48 12.0 23 0Murphy 1 43 43.0 43 0Gradkowski 12 41 3.4 12 0Raiders 317 1521 4.8 57t 9Opp. 282 1285 4.6 76t 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsJanikowski 0 0 0 0 92D. McFadden 6 4 2 0 36Bush 4 4 0 0 24Z. Miller 4 0 4 0 24Reece 3 1 2 0 18Raiders 24 9 11 4 238Opponents 28 8 19 1 223

Kicking PAT FG PtsJanikowski 23/23 23/30 92Raiders 23/23 23/30 92Opp. 28/28 9/13 55

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDZ. Miller 36 470 13.1 43t 4D. McFadden 26 258 9.9 43 2Murphy 24 362 15.1 70 1Heyward-Bey 19 266 14.0 69t 1Reece 13 160 12.3 51 2Ford 12 212 17.7 47 0Bush 11 145 13.2 55 0Higgins 10 103 10.3 26 0Myers 9 69 7.7 16 0N. Miller 3 40 13.3 32 0Figurs 2 17 8.5 11 0Bennett 2 9 4.5 6 0Raiders 170 2129 12.5 70 11Opp. 161 2114 13.1 56t 19

Int. No. Yds Avg LngRaiders 5 41 8.2 30tOpp. 11 136 12.4 38Sacks: Kelly 5, Shaughnessy 5, Seymour4.5, Wimbley 4.5, Houston 3, Branch 2,Huff 2, T. Scott 1.5, Bryant 1, McClain0.5, TM 29, OPP 32Fum/Lost: J. Campbell 9/1, Gradkowski3/1, D. McFadden 2/1, N. Miller 2/1,Murphy 2/1

Oak. Opp. Oak. Opp.Possession Avg. 31:19 28:41 Total First Downs 195 178Total Net Yards 3431 3217 Rushing 69 59Avg. Per Game 343.1 321.7 Passing 99 92Total Plays 665 608 Penalty 27 27Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.3 3rd Down/Att. 47/144 46/136Net Yards Rushing 1521 1285 3rd Down Pct. 32.6 33.8Avg. Per Game 152.1 128.5 4th Down/Att. 5/12 2/6Net Yards Passing 1910 1932 4th Down Pct. 41.7 33.3Avg. Per Game 191.0 193.2 Penalties/Yards 98/849 84/881

Long ailing;left tacklesworked out

Week 12 matchup:Dolphins (5-5) vs. Raiders (5-5)

By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire

Up in the air: The status of Dolphins quarterback ChadHenne, recovering from a knee injury, is uncertain.



Sam Bradford, the top overalldraft pick last April, was handed thekeys to the St. Louis Rams offensefrom Day One.

Denver has handled the secondplayer at the position taken on draftday, Tim Tebow, like a kid with alearner’s permit — driving the caronly sparingly.

Tebow finally threw his first NFLpass Nov. 14 against the Kansas CityChiefs after a slew of option runs.But while Tebow watches Bradfordrun the show at Invesco Field atMile High this Sunday, he’ll be oper-ating under his usual one-play in,several-series out playing schedule.

The Monday night meeting withthe San Diego Chargers also rekin-dled questions about Tebow’s me-chanics. Perhaps there haven’t beentwo quarterbacks whose throwingmotions were scrutinized moreclosely in recent years than theChargers’ Philip Rivers and Tebow.uUnder the radar: The lingering

quadriceps/hip issues of cornerbackAndre Goodman have meant moreplaying time for rookie Perrish Cox.Syd’Quan Thompson, a seventh-round selection out of California,has been part of Denver’s dimepackage in recent weeks.uBy the numbers: The Rams

and the Broncos have met fourtimes since the 2000 season. TheBroncos won the only meeting at In-vesco Field at Mile High (23-16) in2002. But the Rams have sweptboth home meetings in 2000 (41-36) and 2006 (18-10).

Broncos scheduleL ............ at Jacksonville ............ 24-17W .................. Seattle .................. 31-14L .............. Indianapolis .............. 27-13W ........... at Tennessee ........... 26-20L .............. at Baltimore .............. 31-17L .................. N.Y. Jets .................. 24-20L ................. Oakland ................. 59-14L ........... vs. San Francisco........... 24-16.............................. Bye ..............................W ............. Kansas City ............. 49-29L .............. at San Diego .............. 35-14Nov. 28 ............. St. Louis ............. 4:15Dec. 5 ............ at Kansas City ............ 1Dec. 12 ........... at Arizona ........... 4:15Dec. 19 ........... at Oakland ........... 4:15Dec. 26 ............. Houston ............. 4:05Jan. 2 ............. San Diego ............. 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Tebow stillplaying onlimited basis

In a division that no team seemsto want to win, the Rams lost by 17points at home to the Atlanta Fal-cons and lost no ground in the NFCWest. In truth, the Rams played theFalcons (8-2) tougher than the 34-17 score indicates. But the loss end-ed a four-game home winningstreak, and they face a three-gameroad trip that could determinewhether they are able to remain inthe division race.

The Rams have not won awayfrom home this season, and three ofthe four losses have been by a totalof six points. The Denver Broncosare next, followed by the ArizonaCardinals and New Orleans Saints.uTrending: The Rams were 1-

for-10 on third-down conversions,and their only success came late inthe fourth quarter.

At one point, going back to theweek before when they failed ontheir last seven third downs, theRams hadn’t converted 13 consec-utive third-down plays.

Said quarterback Sam Bradford,“I think that all comes down to whatwe do on first and second down.We’ve got to keep ourselves out ofthird-and-long; get ourselves intothird-and-manageable, third-and-short.”uBy the numbers: An intercept-

ed shovel pass broke a streak of 169consecutive passes without an in-terception by Bradford. He holdsclub rookie records for attempts(376) and completions (228) and isthird in yardage (2,158).

Rams scheduleL ................... Arizona ................... 17-13L ................ at Oakland ................ 16-14W ............ Washington ............ 30-16W ................... Seattle ................... 20-3L .................. at Detroit .................. 44-6W ............... San Diego ............... 20-17L .............. at Tampa Bay .............. 18-17W ................ Carolina ................ 20-10.............................. Bye ..............................L ...... at San Francisco ...... 23-20 (OT)L ................... Atlanta ................... 34-17Nov. 28 ............ at Denver ............ 4:15Dec. 5 ............. at Arizona ............. 4:15Dec. 12 ....... at New Orleans ....... 4:05Dec. 19 .............. Kansas City .............. 1Dec. 26 ............ San Francisco ............ 1Jan. 2 .............. at Seattle .............. 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Three-gameroad triplooms large

uTV announcers: Ron Pitts, John Lynch,Nischelle TurneruKeys to the game: The Rams are becom-

ing more confident with putting the offense inQB Sam Bradford’s hands. Facing a tough At-lanta Falcons run defense, Bradford threw 42passes last weekend. That willingness to adaptand attack a defense’s weakness should bringthe Rams back to a run-heavy game plan onthe road against the Broncos’ soft run defense.Denver can rack up points quickly and willstress a St. Louis secondary that isn’t deepwith cover corners. QB Kyle Orton will attackrookie nickel back Jerome Murphy and dimeback Justin King, or Kevin Dockery if he’s ac-tive this week. St. Louis had no sacks againstAtlanta and must bring a strong pass rush vs.Orton.uMatchup to watch — Rams LT Rodger

Saffold vs. Broncos LB Mario Haggan: TheBroncos had Haggan inside during the offsea-son, moved him back outside when Elvis Du-mervil was lost for the season, shifted himback inside for several games and then movedhim outside again when Robert Ayers was in-jured. Outside, he has been one of the fewBroncos able to apply pressure in the backfield.Saffold has been dealing with an ankle injuryand was seen limping against the Falcons.uPlayer spotlight — Rams TE Michael

Hoomanawanui: After being an integral partof the passing game during the preseason, thefifth-round pick missed four games with ahigh ankle sprain suffered in the season open-er. Healthy, Hoomanawanui has 10 receptionsover his past four games.uFast facts: The Rams haven’t won in Den-

ver since 1979. . . . Orton has a 96.6 passerrating with 10 touchdowns and two intercep-tions at home this season.

The Bodog.net line: Broncos by 3

Who will win and whySt. Louis has lost its past two road games by a total of four points

but hasn’t been able to break through away from home. The thinDenver air can take a toll on visitors and will be a new obstacle formany of the young Rams.

Our pick: Broncos 27-21

uSunday, 4:15 p.m. ET, at Invesco Field at Mile High, DenveruTV: Fox, DirecTV: 714

Week 12 matchup:Rams (4-6) vs. Broncos (4-6)

By Jack Dempsey, AP

Bringing the heat: Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan, tak-ing down the Chiefs’ Matt Cassel on Nov. 14, has three sacks.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgBradford 376 228 2158 60.6 5.74 14 9 49 20/125 79.0Rams 376 228 2158 60.6 5.74 14 9 49 20/125 79.0Opp. 361 214 2503 59.3 6.93 12 8 65 28/198 82.2

Rams statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDS. Jackson 203 811 4.0 42t 3Darby 27 86 3.2 13 1Bradford 19 50 2.6 17 0Rams 270 1024 3.8 42t 4Opp. 240 1018 4.2 39t 4

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsJo. Brown 0 0 0 0 69Amendola 3 0 3 0 18S. Jackson 3 3 0 0 18Clayton 2 0 2 0 12Darby 2 1 1 0 12Fells 2 0 2 0 12B. Gibson 2 0 2 0 12Hoomanaw. 2 0 2 0 12Alexander 1 0 1 0 6Robinson 1 0 1 0 6Rams 18 4 14 0 177Opponents 18 4 12 2 198

Kicking PAT FG PtsJo. Brown 18/18 17/21 69Rams 18/18 17/21 69Opp. 16/16 24/26 88

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDAmendola 60 493 8.2 36 3B. Gibson 31 342 11.0 33 2S. Jackson 28 243 8.7 49 0Clayton 23 306 13.3 39 2Fells 23 210 9.1 36 2Robinson 19 154 8.1 24 1Hoomanaw. 12 110 9.2 25t 2Bajema 8 74 9.3 18 0Rams 228 2158 9.5 49 14Opp. 214 2503 11.7 65 12

Int. No. Yds Avg LngAtogwe 2 34 17.0 34Fletcher 2 32 16.0 28J. Butler 2 13 6.5 16Murphy 1 19 19.0 19Laurinaitis 1 4 4.0 4Rams 8 102 12.8 34Opp. 9 148 16.4 65Sacks: Hall 7.5, Long 5.5, Ah You 3, Lau-rinaitis 3, Grant 2, Robbins 2, Selvie 1.5,Atogwe 1, M. Lewis LG 1, M. Lewis TM 1,Vobora 1, Cudjo 0.5, TM 28, OPP 20Fum/Lost: Bradford 3/1, Amendola 1/1,Bajema 1/0, Ja. Brown 1/0, Gilyard 1/1,Ryan 1/1

St.L. Opp. St.L. Opp.Possession Avg. 31:11 28:49 Total First Downs 193 192Total Net Yards 3057 3323 Rushing 55 48Avg. Per Game 305.7 332.3 Passing 116 124Total Plays 666 629 Penalty 22 20Avg. Per Play 4.6 5.3 3rd Down/Att. 53/146 48/137Net Yards Rushing 1024 1018 3rd Down Pct. 36.3 35.0Avg. Per Game 102.4 101.8 4th Down/Att. 5/10 3/6Net Yards Passing 2033 2305 4th Down Pct. 50.0 50.0Avg. Per Game 203.3 230.5 Penalties/Yards 72/646 89/642

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgOrton 388 241 3023 62.1 7.79 17 6 71 26/185 94.5Tebow 1 1 3 100.0 3.00 1 0 3t 0/0 118.8Broncos 389 242 3026 62.2 7.78 18 6 71 26/185 95.3Opp. 300 184 2425 61.3 8.08 20 6 58 14/104 100.8

Broncos statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDMoreno 111 416 3.7 17 3Orton 20 93 4.7 14 0Buckhalter 38 82 2.2 13 1Maroney 36 74 2.1 13 0Tebow 12 28 2.3 6 3Broncos 231 754 3.3 19 7Opp. 329 1435 4.4 57t 15

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsPrater 0 0 0 0 61Lloyd 7 0 7 0 42Moreno 6 3 3 0 36Tebow 3 3 0 0 18Buckhalter 2 1 1 0 12Royal 2 0 2 0 12Hunter 1 0 0 1 6Broncos 26 7 18 1 217Opponents 37 15 20 2 287

Kicking PAT FG PtsPrater 25/26 12/14 61Broncos 25/26 12/14 61Opp. 35/35 10/14 65

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDLloyd 54 1046 19.4 71 7Gaffney 51 606 11.9 40t 2Royal 45 478 10.6 41 2D. Thomas 22 283 12.9 31 2Moreno 22 239 10.9 45 3Buckhalter 19 124 6.5 12 1Graham 14 100 7.1 28 0Gronkowski 6 43 7.2 13 0Maroney 4 50 12.5 28 0Larsen 4 40 10.0 29 1Willis 1 17 17.0 17 0Broncos 242 3026 12.5 71 18Opp. 184 2425 13.2 58 20

Int. No. Yds Avg LngBailey 2 0 0.0 0Broncos 6 45 7.5 18Opp. 6 119 19.8 44

Sacks: D. Williams 3.5, Haggan 3, Hunt-er 3, Ayers 1.5, Bannan 1, Dawkins 1, M.Thomas 1, TM 14, OPP 26Fum/Lost: D. Thomas 3/2, Moreno 2/1,Orton 2/2, Royal 2/0, Thompson 2/0

Denv. Opp. Denv. Opp.Possession Avg. 28:53 31:07 Total First Downs 200 207Total Net Yards 3595 3756 Rushing 40 80Avg. Per Game 359.5 375.6 Passing 143 112Total Plays 646 643 Penalty 17 15Avg. Per Play 5.6 5.8 3rd Down/Att. 48/134 54/126Net Yards Rushing 754 1435 3rd Down Pct. 35.8 42.9Avg. Per Game 75.4 143.5 4th Down/Att. 4/13 6/11Net Yards Passing 2841 2321 4th Down Pct. 30.8 54.5Avg. Per Game 284.1 232.1 Penalties/Yards 61/618 64/629



Another road game, another loss.Indianapolis fell to 6-4 overall and

2-4 on the road after a 31-28 loss tothe New England Patriots.

The Colts dropped into a first-place tie in the AFC South with theJacksonville Jaguars, who have thetiebreaker, thanks to a win againstIndianapolis on Oct. 3.

Coach Jim Caldwell’s team hasyet to lose at home, which shouldhelp the team’s preparations for thisweek’s game with the San DiegoChargers.

Indianapolis also has a Dec. 5home game with the Dallas Cow-boys.

This week’s visit by the Chargerswill be their first to Lucas Oil Stadi-um and their first to Indianapolissince 2005 (a 26-17 Colts loss).

The Colts haven’t defeated SanDiego in a home game since 2004(34-31 in overtime).uTrending: The Colts entered

the game with New England con-verting 43.7% of their third-downopportunities (45 of 103). Indian-apolis was good on 11 of 14 third-down chances against the Patriots.uLineup watch: Wide receiver

Blair White played extensively af-ter sitting out the Cincinnati Bengalsgame with a shoulder injury. Whitehad a career-high five pass recep-tions for 42 yards (tying his careerhigh) and two touchdowns (a careersingle-game high).

An undrafted free agent fromMichigan State, White has caught 14passes for 150 yards and threetouchdowns this year.

Colts scheduleL ..................at Houston..................34-24W................N.Y. Giants................ 38-14W.................at Denver.................27-13L ...............at Jacksonville ...............31-28W .............. Kansas City.............. 19-9W............at Washington............27-24................................ Bye ................................W .................Houston ................. 30-17L ............. at Philadelphia ............. 26-24W ...............Cincinnati ............... 23-17L .............at New England ............. 31-28Nov. 28 .............. San Diego .............. 8:20Dec. 5 ................... Dallas ................... 4:15Dec. 9 .............at Tennessee ............. 8:20Dec. 19................ Jacksonville................ 1Dec. 26 ..............at Oakland .............. 4:05Jan. 2 ...................Tennessee ................... 1Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Road gamescontinue tobe unkind

The Chargers, who visit the Indi-anapolis Colts on Sunday, have hitthe road, and it has hit back in lossesat the Kansas City Chiefs, SeattleSeahawks, Oakland Raiders andSt. Louis Rams.

Still, after winning their last roadgame at the Houston Texans, theChargers are confident about theirroad prospects. Peyton Manningand his vaunted passing game willbe ready, and the Chargers have toprove up to the challenge.

San Diego’s secondary says it isstriving for perfection, perhaps theonly thing that can stop the Colts.

“We’ve been good, but we can bebetter in all areas,” cornerbackQuentin Jammer said. “We haven’tcome in and dominated a gamefrom start to finish. We have theability to do that, but we haven’t putit all together.”

There have been rocky games, in-cluding the win vs. the TennesseeTitans when the Chargers gave upmore than 300 passing yards.

“It’s been better, but it’s not per-fect,” Jammer said.uLineup watch: Vincent Jack-

son should contribute immediatelyand be inserted into the startinglineup, especially with Legedu Naa-nee having hamstring issues. Jack-son and Philip Rivers had more 20-plus yards completions (67) thanany combination last season.uBy the numbers: The Char-

gers’ record in their past five match-ups with the Colts is 4-1, including adivisional playoff game at Indian-apolis.

Chargers scheduleL ............... at Kansas City ............... 21-14W ............ Jacksonville ............ 38-13L ................... at Seattle ................... 27-20W ................. Arizona ................. 41-10L .................. at Oakland .................. 35-27L .................. at St. Louis .................. 20-17L ............... New England ............... 23-20W .............. Tennessee .............. 33-25W ............. at Houston ............. 29-23................................ Bye ................................W .................. Denver .................. 35-14Nov. 28 ......... at Indianapolis ......... 8:20Dec. 5 ................ Oakland ................ 4:05Dec. 12 ............ Kansas City ............ 4:15Dec. 16 .......... San Francisco .......... 8:20Dec. 26 ........... at Cincinnati ........... 8:20Jan. 2 ................ at Denver ................ 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

uTV announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collins-worth, Andrea KremeruKeys to the game: Chargers QB Philip

Rivers and Colts QB Peyton Manning have hadsimilarly impressive seasons in that they havecontinued to move their offenses despite littlehelp from their ground games and a slew of in-juries. Manning did struggle with several highpasses at the New England Patriots last weekand was picked off three times. The Chargersmust pounce on any errant pass in a very diffi-cult road venue. The Colts were gashed by thePatriots on the ground, and Chargers coachNorv Turner would be wise to give RB MikeTolbert — and rookie Ryan Mathews if his an-kle is healthy enough — a few early carries totry to slow down the Colts’ fierce pass rushthat is far more explosive at home.uMatchup to watch — Chargers cover-

age teams vs. Colts WR-KR Brandon James:An undrafted rookie out of Florida, James wassigned off the practice squad earlier thismonth and has taken over as the primary kick-off returner and punt returner. He has yet tofind much room to run as a return man, butSan Diego’s special teams have been a sorespot all season. The last thing the Chargersneed is to set up Manning with shorter fieldsto play with.uPlayer spotlight — Colts WR Blair

White: The undrafted rookie overcame ashoulder injury to play at New England andcatch a pair of touchdowns. He’ll continue toplay a big role with Austin Collie suffering an-other blow to the head against the Patriots.uFast facts: Rivers has a 99.8 passer rating

with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions onthe road this season. . . . Colts DE DwightFreeney has five sacks in four home games thisseason.

The Bodog.net line: Colts by 3

Who will win and whyAll the ingredients are in place for an offensive slugfest. The Colts

are 4-0 and averaging 27.5 points at home, and QB Peyton Manningwill work with whoever is healthy while his offensive line holds thepocket.

Our pick: Colts 31-27

uSunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, at Lucas Oil Stadium, IndianapolisuTV: NBC

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgRivers 353 230 3177 65.2 9.00 23 9 59t 23/148 105.0Chargers 356 232 3213 65.2 9.03 23 9 59t 23/148 105.0Opp. 318 184 2046 57.9 6.43 9 9 71t 32/207 74.8

Chargers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDTolbert 112 506 4.5 36 8Mathews 87 382 4.4 20 2Sproles 31 145 4.7 34 0Hester 20 48 2.4 6 0Rivers 21 32 1.5 14 0Brinkley 1 9 9.0 9 0Chargers 278 1117 4.0 36 10Opp. 240 868 3.6 56t 8

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsGates 9 0 9 0 54Tolbert 8 8 0 0 50Kaeding 0 0 0 0 44Floyd 4 0 4 0 24Brown 0 0 0 0 20Chargers 34 10 23 1 274Opponents 23 8 9 6 211

Kicking PAT FG PtsKaeding 23/23 7/10 44Brown 8/8 4/5 20Chargers 31/31 11/15 64Opp. 21/21 16/16 69

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDGates 40 663 16.6 48t 9Sproles 34 327 9.6 57t 2Crayton 28 514 18.4 49 1Floyd 26 537 20.7 55 4Davis 21 259 12.3 49 1Hester 17 119 7.0 21 1Tolbert 16 141 8.8 28 0Naanee 11 181 16.5 59t 1Ajirotutu 9 185 20.6 55t 2McMichael 7 84 12.0 28 2Kr. Wilson 4 63 15.8 37 0Sperry 2 21 10.5 13 0Chargers 232 3213 13.8 59t 23Opp. 184 2046 11.1 71t 9

Int. No. Yds Avg LngCason 3 51 17.0 28Chargers 9 99 11.0 31tOpp. 9 74 8.2 34

Sacks: Phillips 9, Burnett 5, Garay 4,Barnes 2, Cesaire 1.5, English 1.5, Ap-plewhite 1, Cooper 1, T. Johnson 1, Mar-tin 1, Siler 1, Strickland 1, Thomas 1,Tucker 1, TM 32, OPP 22Fum/Lost: Rivers 6/3, Mathews 3/3, Tol-bert 3/2, Sproles 2/2

S.D. Opp. S.D. Opp.Possession Avg. 33:01 26:59 Total First Downs 229 157Total Net Yards 4182 2707 Rushing 58 47Avg. Per Game 418.2 270.7 Passing 154 96Total Plays 657 590 Penalty 17 14Avg. Per Play 6.4 4.6 3rd Down/Att. 58/127 44/130Net Yards Rushing 1117 868 3rd Down Pct. 45.7 33.8Avg. Per Game 111.7 86.8 4th Down/Att. 3/8 6/15Net Yards Passing 3065 1839 4th Down Pct. 37.5 40.0Avg. Per Game 306.5 183.9 Penalties/Yards 63/499 65/472

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgManning 438 286 3059 65.3 6.98 20 7 73t 12/63 94.2Colts 438 286 3059 65.3 6.98 20 7 73t 12/63 94.2Opp. 328 210 2206 64.0 6.73 13 9 61 21/129 85.2

Colts statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDAddai 93 406 4.4 46 3D. Brown 76 265 3.5 36 1Hart 38 177 4.7 35 1Colts 243 885 3.6 46 8Opp. 274 1367 5.0 62 11

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsVinatieri 0 0 0 0 82Collie 6 0 6 0 36Wayne 4 0 4 0 24Addai 3 3 0 0 18Clark 3 0 3 0 18J. James 3 3 0 0 18White 3 0 3 0 18Hayden 2 0 0 2 12Moala 1 0 0 1 6Robinson 1 0 1 0 6Colts 31 8 20 3 268Opponents 24 11 13 0 216

Kicking PAT FG PtsVinatieri 31/31 17/19 82Colts 31/31 17/19 82Opp. 24/24 16/18 72

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDWayne 71 865 12.2 42 4Collie 50 562 11.2 73t 6Clark 37 347 9.4 50t 3Garcon 33 406 12.3 57t 1Tamme 31 305 9.8 26 2Addai 18 118 6.6 15 0White 14 150 10.7 33 3D. Brown 10 126 12.6 25 0Gonzalez 5 67 13.4 34 0Colts 286 3059 10.7 73t 20Opp. 210 2206 10.5 61 13

Int. No. Yds Avg LngHayden 2 56 28.0 31tPowers 2 11 5.5 11Francisco 2 10 5.0 11Lacey 1 44 44.0 44Hagler 1 35 35.0 35Bullitt 1 19 19.0 19Colts 9 175 19.4 44Opp. 7 121 17.3 47Sacks: Mathis 7.5, Freeney 7, Foster 2.5,Angerer 1, Hagler 1, Session 1, TM 21,OPP 12Fum/Lost: Manning 3/1, Addai 2/1, D.Moore 2/1, K. Moore 2/1

Ind. Opp. Ind. Opp.Possession Avg. 30:38 29:23 Total First Downs 235 197Total Net Yards 3881 3444 Rushing 56 74Avg. Per Game 388.1 344.4 Passing 166 113Total Plays 693 623 Penalty 13 10Avg. Per Play 5.6 5.5 3rd Down/Att. 61/131 50/123Net Yards Rushing 885 1367 3rd Down Pct. 46.6 40.7Avg. Per Game 88.5 136.7 4th Down/Att. 3/5 4/11Net Yards Passing 2996 2077 4th Down Pct. 60.0 36.4Avg. Per Game 299.6 207.7 Penalties/Yards 53/471 58/479

Big road testawaits atIndianapolis

Week 12 matchup:Chargers (5-5) vs. Colts (6-4)

By Stew Milne, US Presswire

Opportunity knocks: Brandon James, signed off the prac-tice squad, has emerged as the Colts’ top return man.



The Cardinals have lost five con-secutive games, the most since2006, when they lost eight underDennis Green.

This team has myriad problems.Quarterback Derek Anderson isnot accurate enough to compensatewhen other parts of the offense un-derperform. And that’s almost al-ways the case.

In the 31-13 loss to the KansasCity Chiefs, Arizona’s offense waspenalized seven times. The Cardi-nals didn’t commit a turnover, butthe penalties killed any hope theyhad of pulling off the upset.

The Cardinals remain in playoffcontention because they are in theNFC West. At 3-7, they are twogames behind the Seattle Seahawks.Their next three games are at home,two vs. division foes.

The loser of Monday night’s gamevs. the San Francisco 49ers couldfind itself out of playoff contention.uLineup watch: Running back

Chris “Beanie” Wells is healthyagain, and it probably won’t be longbefore he returns to the startinglineup. Wells played against KansasCity, backing up Tim Hightower.Wells had moved into the startinglineup a month ago but had an ad-verse reaction to an injection in hisknee.uUnder the radar: Jeremy

Bridges is expected to play righttackle for the rest of the season, andhe could improve the team’s run-blocking. Brandon Keith, whostarted the first nine games, is outfor the season.

Cardinals scheduleW .............. at St. Louis .............. 17-13L .................... at Atlanta .................... 41-7W ................ Oakland ................ 24-23L ................ at San Diego ................ 41-10W ........... New Orleans ........... 30-20................................ Bye ................................L ................... at Seattle ................... 22-10L ................. Tampa Bay ................. 38-35L .......... at Minnesota .......... 27-24 (OT)L ..................... Seattle ..................... 36-18L ............... at Kansas City ............... 31-13Nov. 29 .......... San Francisco .......... 8:30Dec. 5 ................ St. Louis ................ 4:15Dec. 12 ................ Denver ................ 4:15Dec. 19 ................ at Carolina ................ 1Dec. 25 ................. Dallas ................. 7:30Jan. 2 .......... at San Francisco .......... 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Even at 3-7,playoffs notout of reach

The 49ers remain two games outin the NFC West despite their 21-0loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.But with six games to play, time isrunning out.

Will the team’s conservative ap-proach on offense change to a morego-for-broke mentality Mondayagainst the division rival ArizonaCardinals?

The 49ers appeared to make sucha change in a Nov. 14 win vs. theSt. Louis Rams. Their passing gameaveraged more than 20 yards acompletion in that game, and TroySmith threw for 356 yards, thehighest total for a San Franciscoquarterback in six seasons.

But they reverted to their stodgyselves against Tampa Bay. Early onthe passing game mainly consistedof screens and swing passes. Smithfired the ball downfield twice in thefirst half.

Tight end Vernon Davis finishedthe game with one catch for 3 yards.uLineup watch: Safety Reggie

Smith got the start and never leftthe game. Taylor Mays watchedfrom the sideline and didn’t play ondefense for the first time since earlythis season.uBy the numbers: For the sec-

ond consecutive week, San Francis-co struggled on third downs.Against the Buccaneers, the 49erswere 3-for-12 on third downs. Theproblem was the team failed tomake consistent gains on first down.Running back Frank Gore, whotypically runs up the middle on firstdown, averaged 1.9 yards a carry.

49ers scheduleL ................... at Seattle ................... 31-6L .............. New Orleans .............. 25-22L ............. at Kansas City ............. 31-10L ................. at Atlanta ................. 16-14L ............... Philadelphia ............... 27-24W ................. Oakland ................. 17-9L ................ at Carolina ................ 23-20W .............. vs. Denver .............. 24-16.............................. Bye ..............................W ........... St. Louis ........... 23-20 (OT)L ................. Tampa Bay ................. 21-0Nov. 29 ........... at Arizona ........... 8:30Dec. 5 ............. at Green Bay ............. 1Dec. 12 ............... Seattle ............... 4:05Dec. 16 ......... at San Diego ......... 8:20Dec. 26 .............. at St. Louis .............. 1Jan. 2 ............... Arizona ............... 4:15Game times in weeks 11-17 subject to change

Time growsshort forplayoff bid

uTV announcers: Mike Tirico, Ron Jawor-ski, Jon Gruden, Michele Tafoya, Suzy KolberuKeys to the game: Both teams have been

hurt by inconsistent quarterback play. Ninerscoach Mike Singletary is sticking with TroySmith for a fourth consecutive start. CardinalsQB Derek Anderson was plagued by dropsfrom his normally sure-handed receivingcorps last weekend. The 49ers need to be ableto throw against teams that load up against RBFrank Gore, but pass protection is a concern af-ter Smith was sacked six times by the TampaBay Buccaneers. Oft-injured Cardinals RB Chris“Beanie” Wells returned to the lineup but waslimited to eight carries. He’s more explosivethan Tim Hightower and needs to be given anopportunity to carry the ground game. Arizo-na won’t win many games playing from be-hind and asking Anderson to throw 46 passeslike he did at the Kansas City Chiefs.uMatchup to watch — 49ers LT Barry

Sims vs. Cardinals OLB Joey Porter: Simsstruggled in place of injured Joe Staley and willhave to practice well this week to keep thejob. Porter has five sacks in his first seasonwith Arizona but none in the past two weeks.The Cardinals need him to exploit this weak-ness and at the very least force the 49ers todedicate an extra blocker to help out Sims.uPlayer spotlight — 49ers TE Vernon

Davis: The Cardinals held Davis to a combinedeight catches for 74 yards and a touchdowndespite losing both matchups last season. Da-vis left last weekend’s game with a naggingankle injury he has been dealing with for sev-eral weeks.uFast facts: The teams have alternated

sweeping the series each of the past four sea-sons. . . . Davis has 17 touchdown receptionssince the start of 2009.

The Bodog.net line: 49ers by 1

Who will win and whyNeither offense inspires much confidence. San Francisco has aver-

aged 12.5 points in losing all four road games and is coming off beingshut out at home. Arizona has to be motivated to snap its five-gamelosing streak.

Our pick: Cardinals 19-16

uMonday, 8:30 p.m. ET, at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.uTV: ESPN

Week 12 matchup:49ers (3-7) vs. Cardinals (3-7)

By Ted S. Warren, AP

Sack man: Cards linebacker Joey Porter has five sacks thisseason, including this one of the Seahawks’ Matt Hasselbeck.

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgA. Smith 242 143 1554 59.1 6.42 9 9 53 13/74 75.0T. Smith 78 45 700 57.7 8.97 2 1 65 11/63 90.849ers 333 193 2321 58.0 6.97 11 11 65 25/142 76.7Opp. 328 217 2355 66.2 7.18 15 8 71 22/141 92.2

49ers statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDGore 198 801 4.0 64 3T. Smith 12 59 4.9 15 1A. Smith 12 43 3.6 12 049ers 244 958 3.9 64 5Opp. 289 1068 3.7 43 6

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsNedney 0 0 0 0 50Gore 5 3 2 0 30V. Davis 4 0 4 0 26Crabtree 4 0 4 0 24Dixon 1 1 0 0 6Mays 1 0 0 1 6Morgan 1 0 1 0 6T. Smith 1 1 0 0 649ers 18 5 11 2 160Opponents 23 6 15 2 219

Kicking PAT FG PtsNedney 17/17 11/13 5049ers 17/17 11/13 50Opp. 22/23 19/22 79

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDGore 46 452 9.8 41 2V. Davis 38 516 13.6 53 4Crabtree 36 461 12.8 32t 4Morgan 26 384 14.8 65 1Del. Walker 19 257 13.5 38 0Zeigler 8 88 11.0 20 0Ginn 6 75 12.5 19 0Westbrook 5 38 7.6 19 049ers 193 2321 12.0 65 11Opp. 217 2355 10.9 71 15

Int. No. Yds Avg LngSpencer 3 0 0.0 0Clements 2 46 23.0 39McDonald 1 31 31.0 31tSpikes 1 6 6.0 6Lawson 1 0 0.0 049ers 8 83 10.4 39Opp. 11 115 10.5 32tSacks: J. Smith 5, Haralson 4, Willis 4,LaBoy 3, Brooks 2, Lawson 2, Clements1, Jean-Francois 1, TM 22, OPP 25Fum/Lost: Gore 4/2, A. Smith 3/1, Mor-gan 2/1, T. Smith 2/0, Adams 1/1, Baas1/0, Clements 1/1, Del. Walker 1/1

S.F. Opp. S.F. Opp.Possession Avg. 28:50 31:10 Total First Downs 165 188Total Net Yards 3137 3282 Rushing 52 53Avg. Per Game 313.7 328.2 Passing 101 115Total Plays 602 639 Penalty 12 20Avg. Per Play 5.2 5.1 3rd Down/Att. 43/132 49/133Net Yards Rushing 958 1068 3rd Down Pct. 32.6 36.8Avg. Per Game 95.8 106.8 4th Down/Att. 6/11 2/6Net Yards Passing 2179 2214 4th Down Pct. 54.5 33.3Avg. Per Game 217.9 221.4 Penalties/Yards 80/674 61/544

Yds/ Sack/Passing Att Cmp Yds Cmp% Att TD Int Lng Lost RtgAnderson 272 146 1776 53.7 6.53 7 8 37 23/163 70.3M. Hall 75 38 360 50.7 4.80 1 5 26 12/78 41.0Cardinals 348 185 2153 53.2 6.19 8 13 37 35/241 64.3Opp. 355 225 2756 63.4 7.76 16 10 70 20/139 90.5

Cardinals statistics

Rushing No. Yds Avg Lng TDHightower 91 438 4.8 80t 3Wells 78 270 3.5 24 2Cardinals 196 845 4.3 80t 6Opp. 308 1351 4.4 48 12

Scoring TD Rsh Rec Ret PtsFeely 0 0 0 0 54Fitzgerald 5 0 5 0 32Hightower 3 3 0 0 18Stephens-Howling

3 1 0 2 18

Rhodes 2 0 0 2 12Adams 1 0 0 1 6L. Brown 1 0 0 1 6Hayes 1 0 0 1 6Cardinals 22 6 8 8 188Opponents 31 12 16 3 292

Kicking PAT FG PtsFeely 21/21 11/12 54Cardinals 21/21 11/12 54Opp. 31/31 25/33 106

Receiving No. Yds Avg Lng TDFitzgerald 55 691 12.6 33 5Breaston 34 548 16.1 37 1Doucet 17 195 11.5 36 1Patrick 15 123 8.2 21 0Hightower 14 111 7.9 20 0Roberts 12 148 12.3 30t 1Cardinals 185 2153 11.6 37 8Opp. 225 2756 12.2 70 16

Int. No. Yds Avg LngRhodes 2 131 65.5 66Rodgers-Cromartie

2 54 27.0 28t

Lenon 2 12 6.0 10Wilson 2 4 2.0 4Cardinals 10 208 20.8 66Opp. 13 237 18.2 45t

Sacks: Porter 5, Campbell 3, Branch 2,Dockett 2, Haggans 2, Wilson 2, Davis 1,Lenon 1, Toler 1, Washington 1, TM 20,OPP 35Fum/Lost: Anderson 5/2, M. Hall 4/2,Hightower 3/3, Komar 3/1

Ariz. Opp. Ariz. Opp.Possession Avg. 26:26 33:34 Total First Downs 158 219Total Net Yards 2757 3968 Rushing 42 70Avg. Per Game 275.7 396.8 Passing 102 124Total Plays 579 683 Penalty 14 25Avg. Per Play 4.8 5.8 3rd Down/Att. 36/125 57/144Net Yards Rushing 845 1351 3rd Down Pct. 28.8 39.6Avg. Per Game 84.5 135.1 4th Down/Att. 4/11 6/12Net Yards Passing 1912 2617 4th Down Pct. 36.4 50.0Avg. Per Game 191.2 261.7 Penalties/Yards 71/568 74/641



Justin Upton’s appearance in this winter’strade market is more than just another off-season rumor.

New Arizona Diamondbacks generalmanager Kevin Towers has made certain ofthat. While Towers insists any deal for argu-ably his team’s best player would have to bea clear win for the Diamondbacks — in Tow-ers’ mind at least — he has been open aboutthe fact he’s accepting calls on his rightfielder’s availability.

“The asking price is going to be steep,”Towers said last week at the general man-agers’ meetings. “If someone wants to meetthat, we’ll have to strongly consider it. Ifnot, we’ll keep Justin and move on.”

Towers said more than half the majorleague teams inquired about Upton, whohas $49.5 million remaining on a contractthat runs through 2015. That contract alsoallows him to block trades to the OaklandAthletics, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royalsand Cleveland Indians.

So, why would Towers roll into town anddeal the 2005 No. 1 overall pick who got tothe majors as a teenager and was an All-Staras a 21-year-old?

Because someone else might be con-vinced he not only is that good but, at 23,has time to get significantly better. Thatwould result in a superstar player.

Trading Upton could accelerate the proc-

winter’s trade market, and they even havelate-August birthdays. That could be signifi-cant for the purpose of comparisons.

Check out these numbers (age is whatthey reached that August):Year Age Avg. HR RBI BB SOB.J. Upton2007 23 .300 24 82 65 1542008 24 .273 9 67 97 134Justin Upton2009 22 .300 26 86 55 1372010 23 .273 17 69 64 152

The year difference in these stats is perti-nent, because the first season was eachplayer’s first year with more than 500 plateappearances. B.J.’s path to the majors wasslowed as Tampa Bay transitioned him frominfielder to outfielder.

More pertinent is that B.J.’s numbershave steadily declined since, at least part ofthe reason why the Rays might considermoving him. A combined .239 batting aver-age over the last two years has reduced hisstock below that of Justin.

Over the past two seasons, B.J.’s strike-out-to-walk ratio has slipped to a concern-ing 2.55-1. Justin’s ratio hasn’t deviatedmuch from his 2.43-1 career mark. In theircombined six seasons with 500 or moreplate appearances, the Uptons have aver-aged 149 strikeouts.

Both can hit. Both can run. Both areabove-average defenders. For now, at least,Justin finds himself a notch above on onelist — that of the offseason’s most intriguingtrade possibilities.

— Paul White

ess of rebounding from back-to-back last-place, 90-plus loss seasons, but only if Ari-zona gets several players who can be sig-nificant contributors. Upton’s raw abilitieshave been partially obscured by his infec-tion of what could be called Diamondbacksdisease, marked by continued and persis-tent strikeouts. Arizona’s batters whiffed1,529 times last year, 154 more than anyother NL team.

Or could there be a potential Upton afflic-tion on Towers mind?

Consider this: Justin’s older brother B.J. isthe Tampa Bay Rays’ center fielder and hassimilar physical gifts, so similar that bothhave even battled through shoulder injuriesthat have clouded the assessment of theirperformances, current and future.

Both also have a potential role in this

By Matt York, AP

A lot of interest: More than half of theteams have inquired about Justin Upton.

Diamondbacks sayasking price for Upton,23, will be steep

As baseball’s offseason unfolds, USA TODAY’s DailyPitch will examine players who figure to land on thetrade block, potential deals for them and the likeli-hood they will get dealt in a series called “Trade se-crets.”uPlayer: Zack Greinke, Kansas City RoyalsuWhy he could get traded: The Royals could

be a year or two away from being the next hotyoung team; that’s how highly regarded their farmsystem is. And Greinke is two seasons away fromthe end of his contract. But Greinke, the 2009American League Cy Young Award winner, said dur-

ing the 2010 seasonthat he wasn’t to-tally sold on generalmanager DaytonMoore’s rebuildingprogram and didn’tknow if he wantedto wait and seehow it works out.That’s enough toget the trade vul-tures circling.

As much as he could make a nice ace/cornerstonefor a team on the rise, he also can hasten the Royals’rebuilding by fetching major league-ready talent. At$13.5 million a year, he’d certainly be intriguing foranyone who couldn’t land free agent Cliff Lee.uPotential destinations: This is where it gets

tricky. Greinke has a clause in his contract for 2011that allows him to block trades to 15 teams. Thoseteams haven’t been revealed.

The Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins arestrong candidates. Both have the prospects, espe-cially those at or near the major league level. Anddid we mention Greinke’s wife, Emily, is a formerDallas Cowboys cheerleader? The Toronto Blue Jaysand Washington Nationals — if they’re on Greinke’slist of approved teams — would be others a notchbelow the usual big spenders who could be lookingto make a splash this winter.uPotential roadblocks: Moore doesn’t have to

move Greinke now, so he can hold out for a verita-ble Christmas list. He’s certainly paid close atten-tion to how the Rangers converted their 2007 haulfor Mark Teixeira — including shortstop Elvis An-drus and closer Neftali Feliz — into a key compo-nent of their rise to pennant winners. The probableprice in talent will be prohibitive even for a team ina win-now mode.uProjection: We projected in the Daily Pitch

that Lee would wind up with the New York Yan-kees. So here’s the place for the Rangers to get overthe disappointment, especially because they havethe high-ceiling pitching prospects the Royalswould demand. Moore probably would want bothof Texas’ top young arms: Martin Perez and TannerScheppers. So our package is lefty Perez, who wasin Class AA as a teenager this year, plus Derek Hol-land, who has been relieving for Texas but wasgroomed as a starter. Shortstop Jurickson Profar,another teenage blue-chipper, becomes the Andrusof this deal — he’s blocked by Andrus anyway —and outfielder Julio Borbon is the final piece, a solu-tion for center field and leadoff for the Royals.

— Paul White

By Paul Sancya, AP

Limited field:Royals ace ZackGreinke has a listof 15 teams hecan contractuallyblock trades to.

Where might Greinke move for 2011?

To follow the series,go to dailypitch.usatoday.com

Major League Baseball: Trade secrets



The power of the Internet mighthave trumped East Coast bias.

Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernan-dez and San Francisco Giants catcherBuster Posey looked like no betterthan even-money candidates toclaim postseason awards during theseason’s stretch run.

The former was not even certainto finish with a winning record, letalone convince voters he was worthyof the Cy Young Award as the Ameri-can League’s best pitcher. The latterplayed four months and had to over-come the considerable hype advan-tage enjoyed by Atlanta Braves out-fielder Jason Heyward, his chief rivalfor National League rookie of theyear.

And both played their homegames on the West Coast, often attimes when much of America wasasleep.

But the Internet never sleeps, andapparently neither do the stats-ad-dicted bloggers who kept floggingtheir cases. When the voting was re-vealed, Hernandez and Posey wonfairly handily, which was especially

startling in the case of the Seattleright-hander, considering his pedes-trian 13-12 record.

No starting pitcher had ever wonthe Cy Young with fewer victories ina full season.

Hernandez received 21 of the 28first-place votes to pile up 167points, easily outdistancing TampaBay Rays left-hander David Price(111) and New York Yankees ace CCSabathia (102).

“When I first heard, my mind waslike, ‘Really, really?’ ” the Venezuelanative said by phone from his home-land. “I had to ask again, ‘Did I winthe Cy Young?’ And then I startedcrying and jumping around thehouse. It was a great, great, great,great, amazing thing.”

King Felix’s case was made not byhis victory total, which was tied for18th in the league, but by his majorleague-best 2.27 ERA, 249Z innings(tops in the AL) and 232 strikeouts,one behind league leader JeredWeaver of the Los Angeles Angels.

Hernandez had the AL’s second-best walks-plus-hits-allowed-per-inning (1.06) and ranked No. 1 in op-ponents’ lowest batting average(.212) and on-base-plus-sluggingpercentage (.585), as well as fewesthits per nine innings (seven).

In the NL, Roy Halladay had aclear-cut case for becoming the fifthpitcher to win a Cy Young Award inboth leagues. The Philadelphia Phil-lies right-hander was selected unani-

mously after going 21-10 with a 2.44ERA and leading the league in in-nings pitched (250Z), shutouts(four) and complete games (nine).

Joey Votto’s victory as NL MVPwas almost as decisive, as the Cincin-nati Reds’ first baseman garnered 31of 32 first-place votes to easily out-distance three-time MVP Albert Pu-jols of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In other awards:uPosey received 20 of 32 first-

place votes to defeat Heyward, whohad nine, despite the latter’s two-month head start. Their key offensivenumbers were fairly similar — a .305batting average, 18 homers, 67 RBIand an .862 on-base-plus-sluggingpercentage for Posey, compared to.277, 18 homers, 72 RBI and an .849OPS for Heyward — but catching themajors’ top pitching staff the secondhalf of the season carried weight.

Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz,who set a rookie record with 40saves, earned the AL honor.uBud Black, who led the San Die-

go Padres to a 15-win turnaroundthat fell just short of the playoffs,took NL manager of the year honors,edging out the Reds’ Dusty Baker104-103. In the AL, the MinnesotaTwins’ Ron Gardenhire won the topmanagerial prize after finishing sec-ond five times in the last eight years.

Awards voting, Page 39. The resultsof the AL MVP voting were an-nounced too late for this edition.

By Ben Margot, AP

Cy Young winner: Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez was 13-12 this season but led the majors with a 2.27 ERA.

Voters look at big pictureAward winnerslet numberstell their storiesBy Jorge L. Ortiz

ORLANDO — Commissioner BudSelig is making it clear he wants toexpand baseball’s playoff field to 10teams, and barring any obstacles, hecould formally present the proposalto general managers and owners attheir quarterly meeting in January.

“We will move ahead and movepretty quickly,” says Selig, who willaddress the specifics of another play-off round with his 14-member com-mittee for on-field mat-ters. “I just need towork my way throughit. When we’re ready,we’ll take it to all con-stituencies and moveforward. I pretty muchknow where all theconstituencies (stand)right now.”

Selig says he heardlittle opposition to theproposal at the generalmanagers meetings lastweek in Orlando. Theplayoff field would be expandedfrom eight to 10 teams, with twowild-card teams playing one anotherin the first round.

“I’ve heard the pros and cons,” Se-lig says. “I’m very cautious. Change isnot a temporary thing. Once you doit, it’s a permanent part of our struc-ture. Eight (playoff teams) is a veryfair number. So is 10.”

Several general managers say theyare opposed to a one-game playoff inthe first round, preferring a best-of-three format.

That would give the division win-ners a competitive advantage with afirst-round bye without a lengthylayoff.

“I think best-of-one would be a lit-tle short,” New York Mets generalmanager Sandy Alderson says, “but Idon’t see how you go more thanbest-of-three, given the need fortravel and all the other playoffs thathave to take place.”

The difficulty with a best-of-threeformat is making sure that the layofffor the division winners is kept at aminimum. Selig also wants to keepthe postseason from expanding intoNovember.

Perhaps the perfect scenariowould be for the regular season to bereduced, but Selig says there hasbeen no support from the ownersbecause of lost revenue.

Selig also says that owners aren’tready to embrace the idea of teams

playing scheduled doubleheaders toshrink the schedule.

“There’s very little support fordoubleheaders from the clubs, and Ican understand that,” Selig says. “Iwent to a lot of doubleheaders in thelate 1940s and ’50s, but games wereplayed a lot quicker, too. We’re livingin a little different era.”

Baseball likely will not expand thepostseason until the 2012 season.The extra playoff round likely wouldbe part of labor negotiations in the

next collective bargainingagreement, Selig says, echo-ing thoughts of MichaelWeiner, executive directorof the Major League PlayersAssociation. The CBA is setto expire in Decem-ber 2011.

“In the middle of a con-tract,” says Rob Manfred,baseball’s chief labor nego-tiator, “we can’t act unilat-erally.”

There also has been talkamong GMs and owners

about possible realignment and re-turning to a balanced schedule.

“When we went to three divisions(in 1994),” Chicago White Sox Chair-man Jerry Reinsdorf says, “I was infavor of two divisions and two wild-card teams. I could still see two 15-team leagues, but that would meanhaving an interleague game everynight.

“That way you could still have anunbalanced schedule, but it justwouldn’t be as unbalanced.”

Andy MacPhail, president of base-ball operations for the BaltimoreOrioles, says he would be in favor ofsimply going to a balanced schedulein which teams play each other thesame amount of games. In the cur-rent schedule, teams play divisionfoes up to 18 or 19 times a year.

The teams in the American LeagueEast would no longer get nine homegames apiece against the New YorkYankees and Boston Red Sox, butthey might also have a better chanceat reaching the postseason.

“Selfishly, if that’s something base-ball wanted to do, we wouldn’t fightit,” MacPhail says. “I’d be willing togive up the revenue for additionalNew York and Boston games if it’sgoing to have an impact in the stand-ings.

“Really, we’re open-minded abouteverything. . . . You just have to becareful about making too manychanges.”

AP

Selig: Proceedingwith caution.

Selig, GMs supportexpanded playoffsExtra wild-card round targeted for ’12By Bob Nightengale



OK, that didn’t work.Even general manager Jack Zduriencik was

getting uncomfortable with all of the attentionfor his Seattle Mariners by the end of springtraining.

“I’ll be honest,” he said near the end of aspring marked by the Mariners being anointed2010’s breakthrough contender. “I don’t knowhow good we are.”

The truth became painfully obvious — quick-ly.

Zduriencik turned out to be more prescientin identifying the elements of his team thatwould have to be positives during 2010 — suchas the need for Chone Figgins to combine withIchiro Suzuki for a high-octane top of the orderand for Milton Bradley to be productive in themiddle of the order — than he was at produc-ing immediate results.

Figgins got over .200 to stay May 30. Bythen, Seattle was 19-30. Bradley left the teamfor two weeks in May to deal with personal is-sues and, when he was playing, didn’t mustermuch offense.

The Mariners scored 100 fewer runs thanany other AL team.

Even if the defense Zduriencik built to get allof those preseason accolades was as good asadvertised, even if the pitching staff was led byFelix Hernandez in a Cy Young Award-winningseason, the offense doomed the team.

“I think some of these players are better thanthey were,” Zduriencik said after the season.

That sentiment might preclude a total over-haul, but it puts the Mariners back in the realmof harsh reality as opposed to the spring’s fasttrack. And that’s Zduriencik’s expertise, theplayer development reputation that got himhired in the first place.

“We’ve done a lot of positive things, espe-cially in building up the minor league system,”he says. “There are some nice things going on.”

While Zduriencik, who has also built a rep-utation for not shying away from makingtrades, won’t get specific about what kind ofroster shake-up could be forthcoming, he’seliminating elements of the team that hardly fit

into the “nice things” category.First basemen Casey Kotchman and Russell

Branyan, who hit .217 and .237 in 2010, re-spectively, are gone. Third baseman Jose Lopezcould be next with the Dec. 2 deadline for ten-dering contracts looming.

That opens first base for second-year manJustin Smoak, acquired in the July trade for CliffLee, and could mean Figgins moves to third tomake second base available for Dustin Ackley,the organization’s top offensive prospect.

Bradley is back, at least in part because his$12 million price tag for 2011 makes him vir-tually untradeable. He’ll not only have to earnplaying time, but he’ll have to show he andnew manager Eric Wedge, with whom Bradleyhad disagreements while they were with theCleveland Indians, can co-exist.

He could vie for left-field time or be in theDH mix for the Mariners, because those weretwo of the team’s most unproductive positionslast season and there’s little immediate helpwithin the organization.

Still, it will take more to fix things than canbe provided by a couple of young players andan enigmatic outfielder/DH coming off a .205season in which he was limited to 73 games,thanks in part to knee surgery.

There is hope. Michael Saunders hit .211 butis 24 and will get a chance to develop into theleft fielder.

Figgins hit 51 points higher in the secondhalf than in the first half, is 32 and is a year re-moved from a 183-hit, 101-walk season. Suzu-ki is the constant on offense that Hernandez ison the pitching staff.

That rotation won’t have the one-two punchof Hernandez and Lee from the spring, but theMariners hope they have another front-liner-in-waiting in hard-throwing 21-year-old Mi-chael Pineda. Zduriencik says he’ll get a chanceto make the rotation out of spring training.

It’s back to building with young players forthe Mariners, probably a more realistic propo-sition than the pitching-and-defense euphoriaof the spring.

MLB organizational report

Seattle Mariners

GM: ‘Some nicethings going on’High hopes fizzled quicklyin 2010, but prospects loom

2006: Richie Sexson

2007: Richie Sexson

2008: Ichiro Suzuki

2009: Ichiro Suzuki

2010: Ichiro Suzuki

Highest-paid player

Source: USA TODAY list of opening-day payrolls

By Bob Laird, USA TODAY

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Source: USA TODAY list of opening-day payrolls

$2.5

$2.0

$1.5

$1.0

$0.5

0

Payroll dollars per win(in millions)

$1.4$1.1

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

100

80

60

40

20

0

6178

Wins(in millions)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Attendance

2.1

5

4

3

2

1

0

2.5

$13million

$15.5million

$17.1million

$18million

$18million

By Kevin P. Casey, AP

Slow start: Chone Figgins was expected to contribute to the Mariners offense, but he didn’t gethis average over .200 to stay until May 30. Seattle was 19-30 at that point.

By Paul White

Sports Weekly is taking an in-depthlook at each major league organizationduring the offseason, starting with theteams with the worst records and movingup. We analyze what teams are doing toimprove this offseason, look ahead to nextseason, share fun facts and more.

This week: Mariners and Nationals

Next week: Orioles and Cubs

Follow the series at baseball.usatoday.com

About this series



CatcherAdam Moore and Rob Johnson were given

opportunities to seize the job — or at leastseize half of it — last season. Neither did; nei-ther hit .200. At least Johnson could say his 35%caught-stealing rate was nearly double Moore’s19%. The opportunity remains. So do the lackof alternatives for the Mariners.

First baseThe rush to judgment on Justin Smoak was

swift from fans starved for any kind of offensewhen he hit .159 in his first 16 games for Seat-tle and was sent to the minors. But the keypiece for Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade with theTexas Rangers in July is the first baseman. Hehit .340 with a 1.001 OPS (on-base-plus-slug-ging percentage) in 14 games after Seattlebrought him back to the majors in September.

Second baseDustin Ackley, who hit .424 with four hom-

ers and 19 RBI in 20 games to win Arizona FallLeague MVP honors, is the team’s best hope tobe the next big thing. He’ll get a chance to winthe second-base job. That would make it easyto move Chone Figgins back to third base aftera one-year experiment at second. Josh Wilsonand Matt Tuiasosopo are the most likely short-term possibilities if Ackley isn’t ready, unless amore veteran utility man is signed.

Third baseThe Mariners didn’t exercise the option year

on Jose Lopez’s contract and could decide inthe next couple of weeks to not tender him acontract. That would leave third base to Fig-gins. The Mariners have prospects — MattMangini got a brief look in 2010, and Alex Liddiis promising but probably a year away — butnone is a 2011 option.

ShortstopJack Wilson is one of the linchpins of the

Mariners’ emphasis on defense. But he waslimited to 61 games last season by a hamstringproblem, then a broken hand. The job is hisagain as he heads into the final year of a two-year contract; Josh Wilson is his backup.

Left fieldSeattle left fielders (seven of them) hit .218

in 2010, worst in the majors. They also werelast in hits and runs and last in the AL in totalbases. Michael Saunders is 24 and could ex-pand his part-time role. That could dependpartially on whether Milton Bradley hitsenough to earn time. Infielders Mike Carp andTuiasosopo could play. Prospect Greg Halman,23, has power but too many strikeouts.

Center fieldFranklin Gutierrez remains a darling of the

statistical analysts, consistently ranking amongleaders in defensive measurements. That hewas the team’s top offensive threat for much ofthe first half of 2010 was more an indictmentof the rest of the lineup.

Right fieldThe one absolute bastion of stability in the

Seattle lineup is where Ichiro Suzuki plays. Hehas spent time in center field in the past, butright field is his home and will continue to befor at least two more seasons.

Designated hitterBradley was one part of a disaster at what is

supposed to be an offensive position. So wereKen Griffey Jr. and 14 others who at one timeor another filled the spot in 2010. Bradley isback and, when not in left field, will be in theDH mix with few other options. The Marinerscan look at young hitters who don’t fit into theclub’s defensive emphasis; first baseman Carpand outfielder Halman are examples, but nei-ther has proved he’s ready for the offensivepart of the big leagues.

StartersThe rotation begins with its youngest mem-

ber, Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez.Little is certain after that. No other candidate tostart in 2011 had a winning record in the ma-jors last season. They’re all younger than 30, sohow they continue to develop will determinethe pecking order. Lefty Jason Vargas is theclear No. 2, and Doug Fister has an edge overthe rest, who include Ryan Rowland-Smith, Da-vid Pauley and Luke French. Help is coming, assoon as opening day if the Mariners think Mi-chael Pineda, the top pitching prospect in the

system, can handle the job at age 22. The otherstarter likely to find major league time in 2011is right-hander Blake Beavan.

BullpenThe bad news is that the Mariners bullpen

ranked 11th in the AL in ERA last season and11th in opponents’ slugging percentage — evenin their spacious ballpark. The good news isthat Seattle had the fewest innings pitched byrelievers in the majors. The group is solid butnot deep, led by right-handed setup man Bran-don League. Garrett Olson was the lone lefty atthe end of the year, and the only possible helpfor him from within the organization is Maur-icio Robles, who had control issues atClass AAA. Sean White and Shawn Kelleyshould return to bullpen slots, and potentialstarters French (a lefty) and Pauley could getbumped to relief. Dan Cortes, who was con-verted from starting, is a fireballer who shouldmake the big-league club and could be a futurecloser.

CloserDavid Aardsma’s 31 saves and 3.44 ERA

were solid enough, but not nearly as eye-open-ing as the 38 saves and 2.52 when he emergedas Seattle’s closer in 2009. With League theonly viable short-term option on the roster,there’s little competition for Aardsma.

By Paul White

Around the horn

After Suzuki, uncertaintyWhere the Marinersstand at each position

By Otto Greule Jr., Getty Images

Improvement: First baseman Justin Smoak, the centerpiece in the Cliff Lee trade, hit poorly atfirst and was sent to the minors, but he rebounded in his second tour with the Mariners.

Closer.

David Aardsma e.

Brandon League t.

Dan Cortes 1

Rotation.

Felix Hernandez e.

Jason Vargas e.

Doug Fister e.

Luke French 5.

Ryan Rowland-Smith 5.

David Pauley 5.

Michael Pineda 1.

Blake Beavan 1.

Taijuan Walker +.

Mauricio Robles +

Left field.

Michael Saunders 5.

Milton Bradley 5.

Matt Tuiasosopo t.

Greg Halman t.

Johermyn Chavez +

Shortstop.

Jack Wilson e.

Josh Wilson t.

Nick Franklin +

Catcher.

Adam Moore 5.

Rob Johnson 5

Center field.

Franklin Gutierrez e.

Ichiro Suzuki t.

Michael Saunders t.

Milton Bradley t

Right field.

Ichiro Suzuki e.

Milton Bradley t.

Michael Saunders t.

Johermyn Chavez +

Second base.

Dustin Ackley 5.

Chone Figgins 5.

Josh Wilson t.

Kyle Seager +

First base.

Justin Smoak e.

Mike Carp t.

Jose Lopez t

Third base.

Chone Figgins 5.

Jose Lopez 5.

Matt Mangini t.

Matt Tuiasosopo t.

Alex Liddi 1

DH.

Milton Bradley 5.

Mike Carp 5.

Matt Tuiasosopo 5.

Greg Halman 5

2010record:61-101

KEY:e Full-timer 5 Competition 1Up-and-coming t Backup + Long-range prospect & Injured

Free agents: C Josh Bard, LHP Erik Bedard, 1B Russell Branyan, SS Chris Woodward, RHP Jamey Wright

A detailed look, from the parent clubthrough the farm system

In-depth chart



The Mariners’ farm system isn’t likely to pro-vide any immediate solutions to the majorleague club’s offensive issues. But there’senough in the pipeline for long-term optimism.

The system has more depth on offense, withmuch of it approaching the upper levels. Thepitching includes many raw youngsters,though most of them probably have severalseasons of development ahead of them.

Five intriguing Mariners prospects:uRHP Michael Pineda: The best pitcher in

the system is also the closest to the majors. Hedominated Class AA for 13 starts and was solidat AAA.

He’ll get a chance to pitch himself into theSeattle rotation in spring training. But he’ll bejust 22, and the hard thrower could use moretime at Class AAA, especially after missingmuch of 2009 with elbow trouble. He throwsin the mid-90s and has been polishing his off-speed pitches.uOF Johermyn Chavez: The power-hitting

corner outfielder came from the Toronto BlueJays in the trade for Brandon Morrow in De-cember. His arm is close to good enough tomake him a right-field candidate, but left is aposition of greater need in this organization.

Regardless, he’ll get to the majors because ofoffense. He’ll be 22 in January and, if he con-tinues to improve his walk-strikeout ratio atClass AA next year, could find himself on thefast track, though a September 2011 call-upwould be a long shot.uSS Nick Franklin: High school draftees

traditionally develop power as they fill out, butFranklin, 19, has a lean middle-infielder’s bodyyet hit 23 home runs in his first full season afterbeing picked in 2009’s first round. He couldjump from that low-A performance to Class AAthis year but needs to work on plate coverage.

He’s at least a year away from the majors,but his stock continues to rise.u2B Kyle Seager: Nobody will have more

to prove at every level than the 5-10, 175-pound contact hitter. Seager, 23, is neitherpowerful nor spectacular but just hits and oth-erwise gets on base. A .419 on-base percentagehelps alleviate any skepticism that his .345 bat-ting average is a product of the hitter-friendlypark at high-A High Desert (Adelanto, Calif.).u2B Dustin Ackley: The Mariners seem to

have settled on him as a second baseman rath-er than an outfielder, and he could reach themajors in 2011, possibly winning an opening-day job with a big spring. He’s a contact hitterwho should produce high on-base percentages.

By Paul White

Prospect report

Pipelineto produceslowlyPatience required asfuture is evaluated

By Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images

Springing into the majors: A successful spring training could catapult second baseman DustinAckley, a contact hitter, into a starting role with the Mariners.

Top salariesMilton Bradley’s contract will expire after thisseason, and Ichiro Suzuki can become a freeagent after 2012.Player 2011 salary

OF Ichiro Suzuki $18 millionOF Milton Bradley $12 millionRHP Felix Hernandez $10.7 millionIF Chone Figgins $9.5 millionSS Jack Wilson $5 millionOF Franklin Gutierrez $4.3 millionIF Dustin Ackley $1.8 million

Arbitration eligiblesDavid Aardsma has saved 69 games in twoseasons, setting up a significant paydaythrough arbitration.Player 2010 salary

IF Jose Lopez $3 millionRHP David Aardsma $2.7 millionRHP Brandon League $1 millionLHP Ryan Rowland-Smith $440,000IF Josh Wilson $420,000

Division power rankingsThe Mariners are last in the league and divi-sion.

AL West rank League1. Rangers 1st2. Athletics 9th3. Angels 10th4. Mariners 14th

Mariners

Key datesJan. 10-28: Mariners’ winter caravanJan. 29-30: FanFest, Safeco FieldMore information on this and the winter car-

avan available at mariners.comFeb. 14: First workout for Mariners pitchers

and catchersFeb 19: First full-squad workoutFeb 27: First spring game, vs. San Diego Pa-

dres in Peoria, Ariz.

Ticket information1250 First Ave. SouthSeattle, WA 98134206-346-4000 or mariners.comIndividual tickets go on sale March 12. Sea-

son ticketholders will have early access.

Spring informationPeoria Sports Complex16101 N. 83rd Ave.Peoria, AZ 85382Spring training tickets go on sale Jan. 8. For

ticket information, call 623-773-8720 or [email protected]

Fan information

P No B Batters BA SLG OBA G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS vsLH vsRH Home Road ERF 51 L Ichiro Suzuki .315 .394 .359 162 680 74 214 30 3 6 43 45 86 42 9 .309 .318 .313 .317 42B 9 B Chone Figgins .259 .306 .340 161 602 62 156 21 2 1 35 74 114 42 15 .286 .247 .251 .267 193B 4 R Jose Lopez .239 .339 .270 150 593 49 142 29 0 10 58 23 66 3 2 .277 .226 .233 .246 18CF 21 R Franklin Gutierrez .245 .363 .303 152 568 61 139 25 3 12 64 50 137 25 3 .248 .244 .253 .236 01B 13 L Casey Kotchman .217 .336 .280 125 414 37 90 20 1 9 51 35 57 0 0 .179 .231 .214 .221 1SS 16 R Josh Wilson .227 .294 .278 108 361 22 82 14 2 2 25 14 74 5 0 .196 .239 .287 .178 22LF 55 L Michael Saunders .211 .367 .295 100 289 29 61 11 2 10 33 35 84 6 3 .202 .215 .220 .204 4LF 15 B Milton Bradley .205 .348 .292 73 244 28 50 9 1 8 29 28 75 8 2 .235 .190 .202 .209 2C 10 R Adam Moore .195 .283 .230 60 205 12 40 6 0 4 15 8 63 0 1 .212 .190 .140 .241 4

DH 30 L Russell Branyan .215 .483 .319 57 205 23 44 10 0 15 33 30 82 1 0 .180 .229 .215 .214 0SS 2 R Jack Wilson .249 .316 .282 61 193 17 48 11 1 0 14 7 35 1 2 .264 .243 .279 .213 8C 32 R Rob Johnson .191 .281 .293 61 178 24 34 10 0 2 13 25 46 1 1 .184 .193 .122 .250 4

1B 27 R Matt Tuiasosopo .173 .307 .234 50 127 12 22 5 0 4 11 9 49 0 0 .133 .195 .154 .187 71B 17 B Justin Smoak .239 .407 .287 30 113 11 27 4 0 5 14 8 34 0 0 .357 .169 .214 .263 1C 26 B Josh Bard .214 .357 .276 39 112 9 24 7 0 3 10 10 27 0 0 .283 .167 .145 .300 2LF 12 L Ryan Langerhans .196 .318 .344 60 107 16 21 2 1 3 4 24 51 4 1 .091 .243 .212 .182 1DH 5 R Mike Sweeney .263 .475 .327 30 99 11 26 3 0 6 18 9 14 2 0 .227 .291 .241 .293 0DH 24 L Ken Griffey Jr. .184 .204 .250 33 98 6 18 2 0 0 7 9 17 0 0 .250 .174 .208 .156 0C 41 R Eliezer Alfonzo .220 .317 .220 13 41 4 9 1 0 1 4 0 10 0 0 .188 .240 .238 .200 2

3B 61 L Matt Mangini .211 .211 .250 11 38 2 8 0 0 0 1 2 13 0 0 .133 .261 .286 .167 01B 20 L Mike Carp .189 .243 .268 14 37 1 7 2 0 0 0 4 8 0 0 .222 .179 .000 .233 0LF 1 R Eric Byrnes .094 .156 .237 15 32 1 3 2 0 0 0 6 9 1 0 .000 .158 .071 .111 0CF 56 R Greg Halman .138 .172 .167 9 29 1 4 1 0 0 3 1 11 1 0 .286 .000 .250 .059 01B 6 R Chris Woodward .158 .211 .273 8 19 0 3 1 0 0 0 3 9 0 0 .333 .077 .167 .154 1C 40 R Guillermo Quiroz .286 .429 .286 2 7 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .250 .333 .250 1

No T Pitchers W L Pct. ERA G GS SV IP H ER R HR BB SO SB H/9 BB/9 SO/9 BA LH RH34 R Felix Hernandez 13 12 .520 2.27 34 34 0 249.2 194 63 80 17 70 232 15 6.99 2.52 8.36 .212 .213 .21238 L Jason Vargas 9 12 .429 3.78 31 31 0 192.2 187 81 86 18 54 116 9 8.74 2.52 5.42 .251 .200 .26858 R Doug Fister 6 14 .300 4.11 28 28 0 171.0 187 78 85 13 32 93 2 9.84 1.68 4.89 .277 .274 .27918 L Ryan Rowland-Smith 1 10 .091 6.75 27 20 0 109.1 141 82 94 25 44 49 11 11.61 3.62 4.03 .314 .342 .30436 L Cliff Lee 8 3 .727 2.34 13 13 0 103.2 92 27 31 5 6 89 1 7.99 0.52 7.73 .231 .287 .21439 R David Pauley 4 9 .308 4.07 19 15 0 90.2 89 41 44 13 30 51 8 8.83 2.98 5.06 .254 .247 .26125 L Luke French 5 7 .417 4.83 16 13 0 87.2 88 47 47 13 29 37 2 9.03 2.98 3.80 .262 .256 .26443 R Brandon League 9 7 .563 3.42 70 0 6 79.0 67 30 38 7 27 56 5 7.63 3.08 6.38 .229 .243 .21853 R David Aardsma 0 6 .000 3.44 53 0 31 49.2 33 19 19 5 25 49 2 5.98 4.53 8.88 .198 .244 .14835 R Ian Snell 0 5 .000 6.41 12 8 0 46.1 60 33 36 10 25 26 2 11.65 4.86 5.05 .308 .302 .31349 L Garrett Olson 0 3 .000 4.54 35 0 1 37.2 42 19 20 6 15 31 2 10.04 3.58 7.41 .271 .245 .28450 R Jamey Wright 0 1 .000 3.41 28 0 0 37.0 30 14 15 2 16 19 8 7.30 3.89 4.62 .231 .153 .29637 R Brian Sweeney 1 2 .333 3.16 24 0 0 37.0 33 13 16 5 6 14 1 8.03 1.46 3.41 .239 .308 .19846 R Sean White 0 1 .000 5.24 38 0 0 34.1 45 20 20 4 11 15 0 11.80 2.88 3.93 .336 .357 .32123 R Shawn Kelley 3 1 .750 3.96 22 0 0 25.0 26 11 11 5 12 26 0 9.36 4.32 9.36 .265 .261 .26952 L Chris Seddon 1 0 1.000 5.64 14 0 0 22.1 21 14 14 4 10 16 0 8.46 4.03 6.45 .250 .276 .23654 R Kanekoa Texeira 0 1 .000 5.30 16 0 0 18.2 22 11 12 0 10 14 1 10.61 4.82 6.75 .293 .270 .31637 R Jesus Colome 0 1 .000 5.29 12 0 0 17.0 15 10 10 1 11 16 2 7.94 5.82 8.47 .242 .294 .17957 R Mark Lowe 1 3 .250 3.48 11 0 0 10.1 11 4 5 1 5 7 0 9.58 4.35 6.10 .282 .400 .20833 R Chad Cordero 0 1 .000 6.52 9 0 0 9.2 10 7 7 1 5 6 0 9.31 4.66 5.59 .313 .294 .33357 R Danny Cortes 0 1 .000 3.38 4 0 0 5.1 3 2 3 0 3 6 2 5.06 5.06 10.13 .158 .222 .10060 R Anthony Varvaro 0 1 .000 11.25 4 0 0 4.0 6 5 5 2 6 5 0 13.50 13.50 11.25 .333 .200 .385uTeam-leading totals in bold; league-leading totals in box

Mariners 2010 statistics

AprilMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3OAK OAK OAK

4 5 6 7 8 9 10TEX TEX TEX CLE CLE CLE11 12 13 14 15 16 17

TOR TOR TOR KC KC KC KC18 19 20 21 22 23 24

DET DET DET OAK OAK OAK OAK25 26 27 28 29 30

DET DET DET BOS BOS

MayMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1BOS

2 3 4 5 6 7 8TEX TEX TEX CWS CWS CWS

9 10 11 12 13 14 15BAL BAL BAL CLE CLE CLE

16 17 18 19 20 21 22MIN MIN LAA LAA SD SD SD23 24 25 26 27 28 29

MIN MIN MIN NYY NYY NYY30 31

BAL BAL

JuneMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5BAL TB TB TB TB

6 7 8 9 10 11 12CWS CWS CWS DET DET DET DET13 14 15 16 17 18 19

LAA LAA LAA PHI PHI PHI20 21 22 23 24 25 26

WAS WAS WAS FLA FLA FLA27 28 29 30

ATL ATL ATL

JulyMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3SD SD SD

4 5 6 7 8 9 10OAK OAK OAK LAA LAA LAA LAA11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ASG TEX TEX TEX TEX18 19 20 21 22 23 24

TOR TOR TOR BOS BOS BOS25 26 27 28 29 30 31

NYY NYY NYY TB TB TB

AugustMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5 6 7OAK OAK OAK LAA LAA LAA

8 9 10 11 12 13 14TEX TEX TEX BOS BOS BOS15 16 17 18 19 20 21

TOR TOR TOR TB TB TB22 23 24 25 26 27 28

CLE CLE CLE CWS CWS CWS29 30 31

LAA LAA LAA

SeptemberMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4LAA OAK OAK OAK

5 6 7 8 9 10 11LAA LAA LAA KC KC KC KC12 13 14 15 16 17 18

NYY NYY NYY TEX TEX TEX19 20 21 22 23 24 25

MIN MIN MIN TEX TEX TEX26 27 28 29 30

OAK OAK OAK

uHome games shaded

2011 Mariners schedule



The Washington Nationals improved by 10games in 2010.

They shepherded pitching phenom StephenStrasburg to the majors and signed 2010’s firstoverall draft pick, Bryce Harper. But the Nation-als appear to have miles to go before they canbe considered contenders.

General manager Mike Rizzo is a player de-velopment guy at heart, and his Nationals areproof that his idea is to build from within.

“There will be a day in 2011 when we’re go-ing to have (Wilson) Ramos catching, (Ryan)Zimmerman at third, (Ian) Desmond at short,(Danny) Espinosa at second and a young (Rog-er) Bernadina in the outfield,” Rizzo says.“Those are young core players that have comethrough our farm system or through trade andbeen developed by us.

“We’re looking forward to that and a 2011spring training that has Jordan Zimmermann18 months out of Tommy John (elbow) sur-gery. We’re excited about our young pitchingstaff.”

The 2010 season saw progress on severalfronts. But the timetable for rapid improve-ment was dealt a serious blow when much-heralded Strasburg, the first overall pick in the2009 draft who signed for $15.1 million — arecord for a baseball draft pick — required el-bow surgery that could cost him all of the 2011season.

There are examples of pitchers, such as theFlorida Marlins’ Josh Johnson, who have come

back stronger after Tommy John surgery.Strasburg, a right-hander, finished his rookie

year 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 12 starts. He struckout 92, allowed 56 hits and walked 17 in 68innings.

“All we’re asking for is that he’s just asgood,” Rizzo says.

For now, the Nationals are shopping for afront-line starter and counting on the matura-tion of pitchers such as Cuban Yunesky Maya,who got his first major league experience in2010, and Craig Stammen, who has a 5.12 ERAin 54 major league games.

Manager Jim Riggleman worked a number ofyoung players into the 2010 mix, includingshortstop Desmond, who showed power butalso led the majors with 34 errors. Late in theseason, Espinosa got a chance to play secondbase in the majors, pairing with Desmond andshowing pop with six homers in 28 games.

Bernadina emerged as a strong candidate toplay center field but suffered from a similarproblem that plagued incumbent Nyjer Mor-gan. Bernadina, who hit 11 homers, had a .307on-base percentage. Morgan, who battled in-jury and the commissioner’s office (two sus-pensions for on-field conduct), didn’t homerbut stole 34 bases despite a .319 OBP.

The Nationals sorely need another depen-dable and productive outfielder. First base isanother question mark. Aside from rock-steadyZimmerman (.307, 25 homers) at third, Wash-ington’s most productive hitter in 2010 wasAdam Dunn, who belted 38 homers and drovein 103. But Dunn, who batted .260, remains aliability in the field and is seeking a multiyearcontract as a free agent.

Rizzo has repeatedly said he’d like to signDunn, but on his terms. The market happens tobe flush with left-handed hitting first basemen.

The bullpen, led by Tyler Clippard, was theteam’s most improved area in 2010. Clippardwon a staff-high 11 games, making 78 appear-ances.

Sean Burnett and Doug Slaten, along withexpected 2011 closer Drew Storen, providereason to believe the bullpen could be astrength again in 2011.

Riggleman will be back to manage the Na-tionals in 2011, the team giving him a vote ofconfidence in October. He had been given thepermanent job last November, about threemonths after Rizzo became the full-time GM.

“We’ve made great strides in a very shortperiod of time, and that can’t be swept away,”Rizzo says. “We’re just in our infancy as an or-ganization, and I can’t be a knee-jerk generalmanager. . . . Everyone wants this develop-mental process to be microwaved. You justcan’t do it. It’s impossible.”

MLB organizational report

Washington Nationals

Core players key to future progressNo Strasburg fornow, but Rizzolikes directionteam is taking

2006: Alfonso Soriano

2007: Nick Johnson

2008: Chad Cordero

2009: A. Dunn/C. Guzman/A. Kearns

2010: AdamDunn

Highest-paid player

Source: USA TODAY list of opening-day payrolls

By Bob Laird, USA TODAY

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Source: USA TODAY list of opening-day payrolls

$2.5

$2.0

$1.5

$1.0

$0.5

0

Payroll dollars per win(in millions)

$0.8$0.8

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

100

80

60

40

20

0

6971

Wins(in millions)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Attendance

1.8

5

4

3

2

1

0

2.2

$10million

$5.5million

$6.2million

$8million

$12million

By John Bazemore, AP

Impressive audition: The Nationals liked what they saw of infielder Danny Espinosa, who hit six homers and committed one error in 28 games.

By Seth Livingstone



CatcherIvan Rodriguez is likely to be the opening-

day starter and a mentor, but the plan is tophase in Wilson Ramos as the everyday catch-er before long. “We think he has the ability tohit for power and be an excellent catch-and-throw guy,” general manager Mike Rizzo saysof Ramos. “Pitchers love to throw to him.” Ra-mos was acquired from the Minnesota Twinslast season in the deal for closer Matt Capps.Wil Nieves has a chance to stick as a backup.Jesus Flores, once the starter, has been de-toured by shoulder problems that have affect-ed his throwing. He could be traded or used atfirst base.

First baseA true question mark at this point. Washing-

ton hasn’t put together a deal to satisfy freeagent Adam Dunn and will likely plunge intothe free agent market itself, perhaps finding aless-costly alternative such as Adam LaRocheor Lyle Overbay. In-house, barring a Dunn sign-ing, outfielder Mike Morse becomes a candi-date to start. Prospects Chris Marrero and TylerMoore aren’t ready.

Second baseThe Nationals appear ready to hand the job

to Danny Espinosa, who was impressive in a

late-season call-up. “He has a chance to hithome runs, steal bases and be a Gold Glove-type defender at second base,” Rizzo says. TheNationals elected not to pick up an option onAdam Kennedy’s contract. If Espinosa falters,Alberto Gonzalez could take over. (Espinosaplayed shortstop in the minors, so he’s a po-tential future option there.) On the horizon,the Nationals like the bat of minor league sec-ond baseman Jeff Kobernus.

Third baseRyan Zimmerman is the Nationals’ rock. He

batted a career-high .307 in 2010 and in thelast two seasons has 58 homers, 191 RBI and aGold Glove. The Nationals have no suitable re-placements.

ShortstopThe Nationals love the upside of Ian Des-

mond and are willing to see him improve hisdefense with time at the big-league level. Des-mond can make outstanding plays, but he ledthe majors in errors (34) last season. “He needsto cut out the plays he should make anddoesn’t because of the over-aggressiveness ofyouth,” Rizzo says. “He relies a little too muchon his powerful arm, but he does have a gunand brings terrific range.”

Left fieldThe Nationals need Josh Willingham’s power

bat back in the lineup. After recovering fromAugust knee surgery, Willingham should settleback in. Mike Morse is a possibility — at least

until top prospect Bryce Harper, 18, is ready toenter the discussion.

Center fieldNyjer Morgan can be a weapon with his

speed, but his on-base percentage makes it dif-ficult to rely on him as a leadoff man. RogerBernadina offers speed and power and couldstart unless he’s needed in right field. The Na-tionals have another speed merchant in theminors in Eury Perez.

Right fieldLook for Morse or Bernadina, who combined

for 26 homers and 88 RBI in 680 at-bats lastseason, to settle in, depending upon what theNationals do at first base. Hard-hitting prospectMichael Burgess is probably a year away. Hisarm could encourage the Nationals to shift Har-per from right field to left.

StartersWithout Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals go

into the winter looking for a top-tier starter,though they have quantity. Veterans Livan Her-nandez (211Z innings last season) and JasonMarquis (a 15-game winner in 2009 who hadelbow surgery in 2010) will be back, alongwith left-hander John Lannan, who pitchedbetter in the second half of 2010. Lannan, theNationals’ ace in 2008 and 2009 who was de-moted to Class AA Harrisburg (Pa.) last year,was 6-3 with a 3.42 ERA after the All-Starbreak and 8-8, 4.65 overall. The Nationals ex-pect progress from young pitchers Ross Det-

wiler, a first-round pick in 2007 who was de-railed by hip surgery, and Yunesky Maya, aCuban whom the team signed to a four-year,$8 million deal in the spring. There’s an outsideshot the team could benefit from veteranChien-Ming Wang (signed by the Nationals in2010 but unsigned for 2011) after shoulder re-hab, but there’s a better chance to see some-one from the J.D. Martin-Craig Stammen-Gar-rett Mock-Matt Chico mix before the end of theseason. “We certainly need another guy wethink can win 14-15 ballgames and pitch 200-220 innings,” manager Jim Riggleman says.“Those guys don’t just show up for you.”

BullpenPerhaps the team’s most improved area in

2010, Washington counts on solid setup workfrom lefty Sean Burnett and righty Tyler Clip-pard, the team leader with 11 wins. Lefty DougSlaten (4-1, 3.10 ERA in 49 games last year) hasa chance to become a fixture. The Nationalshave numerous candidates to round out thebullpen, but appear eager to see what CollinBalester (2.57 ERA in 17 relief appearances in2010 but who also has big-league starting ex-perience) can offer as a long man in the spring.

CloserDrew Storen, a first-round pick in 2009, took

the job and ran with it as a rookie. Barring theunforeseen, he will close for Washington in2011 and beyond.

By Seth Livingstone

Around the horn

At hot corner, no questionWhere the Nationalsstand at each position

By John Amis, AP

Defensive deficiency: Shortstop Ian Desmond led the league in errors, but the Nationals expecthim to improve in time. Says GM Mike Rizzo: “He relies a little too much on his powerful arm.”

Closer.

Drew Storen e.

Tyler Clippard t.

Sean Burnett t

Rotation.

Livan Hernandez e.

John Lannan e.

Jordan Zimmermann e.

Jason Marquis e.

Ross Detwiler 5.

Yunesky Maya 1.

Matt Chico t.

Luis Atilano t.

Shairon Martis t.

Tom Milone +.

Sammy Solis +.

Stephen Strasburg &

Left field.

Josh Willingham e.

Mike Morse t.

Bryce Harper +.

Destin Hood +

Shortstop.

Ian Desmond e.

Alberto Gonzalez t

Catcher.

Wilson Ramos e.

Ivan Rodriguez e.

Wil Nieves t.

Jesus Flores &

Center field.

Nyjer Morgan 5.

Roger Bernadina 5.

Eury Perez +.

Justin Maxwell &

Right field.

Michael Morse 5.

Roger Bernadina 5.

Justin Maxwell &.

Michael Burgess +.

Bryce Harper +

Second base.

Danny Espinosa e.

Alberto Gonzalez t.

Jeff Kobernus +

First base.

Michael Morse 5.

Josh Willingham t.

Chris Marrero +.

Tyler Moore +

Third base.

Ryan Zimmerman e.

Alberto Gonzalez t

2010record:

69-93

KEY:e Full-timer 5 Competition 1Up-and-coming t Backup + Long-range prospect & Injured

Free agents: RHP Miguel Batista, 1B Adam Dunn, OF Willie Harris, 2B Adam Kennedy, OF Kevin Mench

A detailed look, from the parent clubthrough the farm system

In-depth chart



The Nationals have successfully drafted andsigned the previous two No. 1 overall picks inthe draft, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.

Other recent draftees are being polished, butsome, such as pitchers Sammy Solis and A.J.Cole, won’t be ready to sparkle for two or threemore years.

A look at the Nationals’ most intriguingprospects:uOF Harper: The Nationals say they won’t

rush Harper, even though the first pick inthe 2010 draft signed a five-year deal worth$9.9 million. A catcher in college, he is beinggroomed as a corner outfielder to acceleratehis progress to the majors.

“We project him to start at lower A ball anddevelop at his own pace,” says general man-ager Mike Rizzo, who watched Harper lead theNationals’ instructional league team in hits,home runs and RBI.

Harper, who turned 18 last month, was alsoholding his own as a hitter in the Arizona FallLeague, which is made up of elite prospects.uOF Michael Burgess: A left-handed hitter,

Burgess, 22, has 37 homers over his last twominor league seasons, six in 21 games aftermaking the jump to Class AA last year. He alsoimproved his 2009 average from .235 in high-Ain 2009 to .265 between high-A and Class AAin 2010.

“He’s a prototypical right fielder with a pow-erful arm and a big power stroke,” Rizzo says.

His arm could influence Washington to shiftHarper from right field to left.u1B Chris Marrero: A .281 hitter since go-

ing pro, Marrero, 22, has averaged 17 homersin his four full minor league seasons. He playedat Class AA Harrisburg (Pa.) in 2010, hitting.294 with 18 homers and 82 RBI in 141 games.

“He can hit it a mile,” Rizzo says, “and heuses the whole field. As he matures and learnshow to pick pitches, better power numberswill come.”uLHP Tom Milone: A 10th-round pick in

2008, Milone, 23, blossomed at Harrisburg in2010, going 12-5 with a 2.85 ERA, earning theNationals’ minor league pitcher of the yearhonors. His 155 strikeouts led the EasternLeague.uOF Eury Perez: Speed, which resulted in

64 steals for low-A Hagerstown (Md.) in 2010,is his calling card. Perez, who also hit .299, pro-jects as a leadoff hitter and a center fielder whocan get to balls that others can’t.

Rizzo calls Perez, 20, “one of the shiningstars from our new Dominican program.”

By Seth Livingstone

Prospect report

Harper atoplist heavyon outfieldBurgess packs power;Perez flashes speed

By Christian Petersen, Getty Images

No hurry: The Nationals say they won’t rush Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010. He isprojected to start 2011 in low-A ball, working on converting from catcher to corner outfielder.

Top salariesBryce Harper also will receive a $1.25 millioninstallment of his signing bonus in 2011.Player 2011 salary

3B Ryan Zimmerman $9 millionRHP Jason Marquis $7.5 millionRHP Stephen Strasburg $4.3 millionC Ivan Rodriguez $3 millionRHP Livan Hernandez $1.2 millionC Bryce Harper $500,000

Arbitration-eligiblesJesus Flores once was a nice Rule 5 project, butnow he’s a non-tender candidate after injurywoes and the acquisition of Wilson Ramos.Player 2010 salary

OF Josh Willingham $4.6 millionLHP Sean Burnett $775,000C Jesus Flores $750,000LHP John Lannan $458,000OF Michael Morse $410,000

Division power rankingsThe offseason hasn’t helped the Nationals’ up-ward mobility much, because the AtlantaBraves-Florida Marlins trade involving Dan Ug-gla seemed to help two teams that finishedahead of them in 2010.

NL East rank League1. Philadelphia Phillies 2nd2. Atlanta Braves 4th3. Florida Marlins 8th4. New York Mets 10th5. Washington Nationals 14th

Nationals

Key datesFeb. 28: Open the spring season vs. the New

York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla.March 1: First spring home game, vs. MetsReporting dates and information on Nation-

als Fanfest and winter caravan TBA. Checknationals.com for updates.

Ticket informationNationals Park1500 South Capitol Street, SEWashington, D.C. 20003202-675-6287/nationals.com

Spring informationSpace Coast Stadium5800 Stadium ParkwayViera, FL 32940Spring training season tickets are on sale at

321-633-9200 or nationals.com. Individualgame tickets go on sale Jan. 29 at the SpaceCoast Stadium box office, nationals.com and888-632-6287.

Fan information

P No B Batters BA SLG OBA G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS vsLH vsRH Home Road E1B 44 L Adam Dunn .260 .536 .356 158 558 85 145 36 2 38 103 77 199 0 1 .199 .286 .261 .259 133B 11 R Ryan Zimmerman .307 .510 .388 142 525 85 161 32 0 25 85 69 98 4 1 .331 .300 .317 .296 17SS 6 R Ian Desmond .269 .392 .308 154 525 59 141 27 4 10 65 28 109 17 5 .300 .257 .248 .289 34CF 1 L Nyjer Morgan .253 .314 .319 136 509 60 129 17 7 0 24 40 88 34 17 .200 .273 .259 .248 5RF 2 L Roger Bernadina .246 .384 .307 134 414 52 102 18 3 11 47 35 93 16 2 .250 .246 .269 .223 4C 7 R Ivan Rodriguez .266 .347 .294 111 398 32 106 18 1 4 49 16 66 2 3 .292 .258 .295 .236 4LF 16 R Josh Willingham .268 .459 .389 114 370 54 99 19 2 16 56 67 85 8 0 .277 .264 .294 .242 12B 20 L Adam Kennedy .249 .327 .327 135 342 43 85 16 1 3 31 37 44 14 2 .316 .240 .257 .240 92B 15 B Cristian Guzman .282 .361 .327 89 319 44 90 11 4 2 25 17 53 4 2 .330 .257 .327 .239 9RF 28 R Michael Morse .289 .519 .352 98 266 36 77 12 2 15 41 22 64 0 1 .295 .287 .278 .301 0LF 22 L Willie Harris .183 .362 .291 132 224 25 41 6 2 10 32 33 60 5 2 .222 .180 .193 .171 32B 12 R Alberto Gonzalez .247 .301 .277 114 186 19 46 8 1 0 5 7 30 0 0 .254 .244 .265 .233 5C 23 R Wil Nieves .203 .310 .244 59 158 10 32 8 0 3 16 8 29 0 0 .212 .200 .215 .190 5RF 30 R Justin Maxwell .144 .288 .305 67 104 16 15 6 0 3 12 25 43 5 1 .155 .130 .140 .148 2SS 18 B Danny Espinosa .214 .447 .277 28 103 16 22 4 1 6 15 9 30 0 2 .200 .218 .212 .216 1C 3 R Wilson Ramos .269 .404 .296 15 52 3 14 4 0 1 4 2 9 0 0 .571 .222 .280 .259 0RF 3 R Willy Taveras .200 .257 .243 27 35 7 7 0 1 0 4 2 6 1 2 .389 .000 .200 .200 0LF 32 R Kevin Mench .111 .111 .172 27 27 2 3 0 0 0 1 2 6 0 0 .111 .111 .091 .125 0C 25 R Carlos Maldonado .273 .545 .333 4 11 1 3 0 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 .000 .429 --- .273 0C 32 R Jamie Burke --- --- --- 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- --- --- --- 0

No T Pitchers W L Pct. ERA G GS SV IP H ER R HR BB SO SB H/9 BB/9 SO/9 BA LH RH61 R Livan Hernandez 10 12 .455 3.66 33 33 0 211.2 216 86 93 16 64 114 4 9.18 2.72 4.85 .270 .295 .24831 L John Lannan 8 8 .500 4.65 25 25 0 143.1 175 74 82 14 49 71 18 10.99 3.08 4.46 .302 .287 .30735 R Craig Stammen 4 4 .500 5.13 35 19 0 128.0 151 73 78 13 41 85 4 10.62 2.88 5.98 .297 .291 .30136 R Tyler Clippard 11 8 .579 3.07 78 0 1 91.0 69 31 33 8 41 112 5 6.82 4.05 11.08 .212 .242 .18856 R Luis Atilano 6 7 .462 5.15 16 16 0 85.2 96 49 56 11 32 40 1 10.09 3.36 4.20 .282 .275 .28643 R Miguel Batista 1 2 .333 3.70 58 1 2 82.2 71 34 36 9 39 55 8 7.73 4.25 5.99 .234 .243 .22919 L Scott Olsen 4 8 .333 5.56 17 15 0 81.0 93 50 54 10 27 53 3 10.33 3.00 5.89 .289 .289 .28937 R Stephen Strasburg 5 3 .625 2.91 12 12 0 68.0 56 22 25 5 17 92 2 7.41 2.25 12.18 .221 .241 .20717 L Sean Burnett 1 7 .125 2.14 73 0 3 63.0 52 15 17 3 20 62 4 7.43 2.86 8.86 .220 .273 .18221 R Jason Marquis 2 9 .182 6.60 13 13 0 58.2 76 43 47 9 24 31 9 11.66 3.68 4.76 .315 .336 .29658 R Drew Storen 4 4 .500 3.58 54 0 5 55.1 48 22 24 3 22 52 2 7.81 3.58 8.46 .241 .247 .23862 R Joel Peralta 1 0 1.000 2.02 39 0 0 49.0 30 11 12 5 9 49 3 5.51 1.65 9.00 .170 .212 .14551 R J.D. Martin 1 5 .167 4.13 9 9 0 48.0 56 22 30 9 11 31 0 10.50 2.06 5.81 .287 .337 .24555 R Matt Capps 3 3 .500 2.74 47 0 26 46.0 51 14 20 5 9 38 1 9.98 1.76 7.43 .274 .244 .30045 L Doug Slaten 4 1 .800 3.10 49 0 0 40.2 34 14 18 2 19 36 3 7.52 4.20 7.97 .225 .151 .29539 R Tyler Walker 1 0 1.000 3.57 24 0 0 35.1 35 14 16 5 8 30 1 8.92 2.04 7.64 .265 .245 .27727 R Jordan Zimmermann 1 2 .333 4.94 7 7 0 31.0 31 17 20 8 10 27 3 9.00 2.90 7.84 .256 .276 .23848 L Ross Detwiler 1 3 .250 4.25 8 5 0 29.2 34 14 22 5 14 17 4 10.31 4.25 5.16 .288 .381 .26829 R Yunesky Maya 0 3 .000 5.88 5 5 0 26.0 30 17 18 3 11 12 1 10.38 3.81 4.15 .294 .333 .25099 R Collin Balester 0 1 .000 2.57 17 0 0 21.0 15 6 6 2 11 28 0 6.43 4.71 12.00 .203 .257 .15432 R Brian Bruney 1 2 .333 7.64 19 0 0 17.2 21 15 18 1 20 16 1 10.70 10.19 8.15 .309 .219 .38950 L Jesse English 0 0 --- 3.86 7 0 0 7.0 10 3 3 0 2 4 0 12.86 2.57 5.14 .323 .188 .46747 L Matt Chico 0 0 --- 3.60 1 1 0 5.0 6 2 2 0 0 3 0 10.80 0.00 5.40 .286 .500 .26346 R Joe Bisenius 0 0 --- 9.64 5 0 0 4.2 6 5 6 1 6 5 2 11.57 11.57 9.64 .300 .167 .35749 R Garrett Mock 0 0 --- 5.40 1 1 0 3.1 4 2 2 2 5 3 0 10.80 13.50 8.10 .286 .000 .40057 R Jason Bergmann 0 1 .000 15.43 4 0 0 2.1 3 4 4 2 1 2 0 11.57 3.86 7.71 .300 .200 .400uTeam-leading totals in bold; league-leading totals in box

Nationals 2010 statistics

March/AprilMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun28 29 30 31 1 2 3

ATL ATL ATL4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FLA FLA FLA NYM NYM NYM11 12 13 14 15 16 17

PHI PHI PHI MIL MIL MIL18 19 20 21 22 23 24

STL STL STL PIT PIT PIT25 26 27 28 29 30

NYM NYM NYM SF SF

MayMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1SF

2 3 4 5 6 7 8SF PHI PHI PHI FLA FLA FLA9 10 11 12 13 14 15

ATL ATL ATL FLA FLA FLA16 17 18 19 20 21 22PIT PIT NYM NYM BAL BAL BAL23 24 25 26 27 28 29

MIL MIL MIL SD SD SD30 31

PHI PHI

JuneMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5PHI ARI ARI ARI ARI

6 7 8 9 10 11 12SF SF SF SD SD SD SD13 14 15 16 17 18 19

STL STL STL BAL BAL BAL20 21 22 23 24 25 26

SEA SEA SEA CHWCHWCHW27 28 29 30

LAA LAA LAA

JulyMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3PIT PIT PIT

4 5 6 7 8 9 10CHC CHC CHC CHC COL COL COL11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ASG ATL ATL ATL18 19 20 21 22 23 24

HOU HOU HOU LAD LAD LAD25 26 27 28 29 30 31

FLA FLA FLA NYM NYM NYM

AugustMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5 6 7ATL ATL ATL COL COL COL COL

8 9 10 11 12 13 14CHC CHC CHC PHI PHI PHI15 16 17 18 19 20 21

CIN CIN CIN PHI PHI PHI22 23 24 25 26 27 28

ARI ARI ARI ARI CIN CIN CIN29 30 31

ATL ATL

SeptemberMon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4ATL NYM NYM NYM

5 6 7 8 9 10 11LAD LAD LAD LAD HOU HOU HOU12 13 14 15 16 17 18

NYM NYM NYM NYM FLA FLA FLA19 20 21 22 23 24 25

PHI PHI PHI ATL ATL ATL26 27 28 29 30

FLA FLA FLA

uHome games shaded

2011 Nationals schedule



HEALTH/FITNESS

TRAVEL

www.USATODAY.com

UNIQUE MONEY MAKING METHODS+ tips, Satisfaction guaranteed! Send $10

Check/M.O. to Martin Enterprises, P.O. Box 0574Winter Haven, FL 33882

BUSINESS CAPITAL

To Advertise Call: 1-800-397-0070 • [email protected]

SERVICES

866-240-8003, 24/7for your FREE info kit

See what Donald Trump and the SUPERFILTHY RICH know that YOU don’t…

You Can Get $250K+ InBusiness lines of credit

• No Personal Credit Check• No Collateral • No Personal Guarantee

• Receive $35,000 in corp credit cards• Receive $75,000 in Staples, Home Depot, etc.• Takes 10-15 weeks max• Banks double CASH credit lines after 6 months

Spring Training Flyers for the Floridaand Arizona tours will be sent in December

& the 2011 Regular Season Brochurewill be sent in January.

To receive a copy, call (888) 666-3510(www.jaybuckley.com) or Email: [email protected]’s Oldest and Largest National Baseball Tour Business

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Toll Free: (800) 397-0070(727) 443-7667

Fax: (727) [email protected]

www.russelljohns.com

Sports Weekly offers you a wayto reach over 2.7 million sportsfanatics at an affordable cost!

Sports Weekly's classified sectionis where small to mid-size sports

companies come to sell theirproducts and services.

(800) 397-0070 • (727) [email protected]

www.russelljohns.com

Corporation For SaleEst. 1995 * Private Banking * Credit Lines

800-621-2920

BUY WHOLESALE DIRECT!Top pharmaceutical grade body buildingand health supplements! FREE catalog.

1-800-798-9798. Fitness Dept.SW POB 2073, Reading, PA 19608

TAX TROUBLE?

Reputable, licensed and long standingEastern Based Tax and Trust

Representation Firm will assist you.NO MONEY DOWN to begin, reasonablearrangements thereafter. Call or E-Mailfor brochure and Client Arrangements.

PARAGON TRUST COMPANY-NEW HAVEN CT

203-777-7334www.ParagonTrust.com

MERCHANDISE

BASKETBALL & FOOTBALL WINNERS

1-800-555-7690Free Picks online at JOEWIZ.COM

FREE. RECORDED MESSAGE

SERVICES

11/24/2010 ©2010 Steve Ollove/Sportsbuff Features

Answers tolast week’scrossword

puzzle

To sponsorthis puzzle call800-582-0404

S P O R T S W E E K L Y

ACROSS1 Wes Welker injury4 Doubleheader8 Scott Brosius

11 ––– Paulo, Brazil12 Assistant coach13 Zebra14 Looking to knock off the

favorite17 Moundsman McClung18 Beach color19 Public radio trio20 Joseph Addai’s alma mater23 Texas League level24 Hurler Esteban25 Triple A trio27 Irish logo28 Sailing water29 Fuss30 2005 World Series MVP for

the White Sox33 Asian garment35 Guy ahead of the ballcarrier39 Catcher Crandall40 Not bad41 Links org.42 Mr. Maxvill43 Catcher St. Claire44 Negative word

DOWN1 Tempe team2 Money to spend3 Pitcher with the wrong

decision4 Baserunning area5 Draw a bead6 Mad Amin7 Monthly money8 He went from D-Backs'

broadcaster to their manager9 Harold Grange

10 Diamond pos.15 Willie McGee16 ––– Bears19 Cleveland AL team 1903-1421 Holiday Bowl site22 Unfasten26 Running back Betts29 Actor Alan in "Cooperstown"31 Yelberton Abraham32 Edgerrin James33 Pop34 Green in the NBA35 Meadow36 First name of 8 Down37 Stranded trio38 Gary Gaetti39 Linebacker Lewis

GoldStrikePoker.comA Legal Online USA Poker Site

John 360.332.1204

SPORTS CARDS

WANTED ALL VINTAGESPORTS CARDS

www.buy-sportscards.com

WWWWWW.SPORT.SPORTS-WATS-WATCH.COMCH.COM - NFLNFL 20102010 - W - L - UnitsUnits------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The She Sporports Ats Asylumsylum #1 25 11 25 17 +6.37 +6.3Alleghenies Alleghenies Analysisnalysis #2 12 16 9 +66 9 +6.1.1



Nov. 15Cincinnati Bengals: Placed CB Morgan Trent and K

Mike Nugent on injured reserve.Miami Dolphins: Signed QB Patrick Ramsey. Placed

QB Chad Pennington on injured reserve.San Diego Chargers: Signed S Pat Watkins. Waived

WR Gary Banks.Washington Redskins: Signed QB Donovan

McNabb to a contract extension.

Nov. 16Arizona Cardinals: Placed T Brandon Keith on in-

jured reserve. Signed T D’Anthony Batiste. ReleasedWR Ed Gant from the practice squad. Signed RB Al-fonso Smith to the practice squad.

Carolina Panthers: Signed QB Brian St. Pierre fromthe practice squad. Waived RB Andre Brown. SignedLB Sean Ware to the practice squad.

Cincinnati Bengals: Signed K Aaron Pettrey and TKirk Chambers. Signed T Andrew Gardner to thepractice squad.

Cleveland Browns: Signed DB Eric King and RB Clif-ton Smith. Placed OL Billy Yates on injured reserve.Waived QB Brett Ratliff.

New York Giants: Signed WR Derek Hagan. PlacedWR Ramses Barden on injured reserve.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Released K Jeff Reed. Signed KShaun Suisham.

San Francisco 49ers: Waived WR Jason Hill.Tennessee Titans: Signed TE Riar Geer to the prac-

tice squad. Waived TE Joel Gamble.

Nov. 17Carolina Panthers: Placed RB DeAngelo Williams

on injured reserve. Signed G C.J. Davis from the prac-tice squad. Signed RB Jeremiah Johnson to the prac-tice squad.

Denver Broncos: Released DL-LB Jarvis Moss.Signed LB David Veikune.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Claimed WR Jason Hill offwaivers from San Francisco. Waived CB Chevis Jack-son.

New England Patriots: Signed LB Pierre Woods.San Francisco 49ers: Signed K Shane Andrus to a

one-year contract.St. Louis Rams: Signed TE Derek Schouman. Placed

TE Fendi Onobun on injured reserve.

Nov. 18Cleveland Browns: Signed OL Jeff Hansen to the

practice squad.Cincinnati Bengals: Signed DE Victor Adeyanju.

Placed DE Jonathan Fanene on injured reserve.Kansas City Chiefs: Signed LB Eric Bakhtiari to the

practice squad.New York Jets: Waived DL Jarron Gilbert.

Nov. 19New York Jets: Signed WR Patrick Turner from the

practice squad. Signed LB Shawn Crable and DT Jar-ron Gilbert to the practice squad. Released CB WillBillingsley from the practice squad.

Nov. 20Minnesota Vikings: Activated WR Sidney Rice.New Orleans Saints: Signed LS Jake Ingram.New York Giants: Signed TE Jake Ballard from the

practice squad. Waived DB D.J. Johnson.

Nov. 22Cincinnati Bengals: Placed S Chris Crocker and DE

Frostee Rucker on the injured reserve list. Signed CBJonathan Wade. Activated DE Antwan Odom.

Miami Dolphins: Signed OL Eric Ghiaciuc. PlacedOL Cory Proctor on injured reserve.

Minnesota Vikings: Fired coach Brad Childress.Named Leslie Frazier interim coach.

NFL transactions

Nov. 15uAmerican League

Boston Red Sox: Claimed P Taylor Buchholz offwaivers from Toronto.

Cleveland Indians: Signed P Anthony Reyes to a mi-nor league contract.uNational League

Arizona Diamondbacks: Signed IF Geoff Blum to atwo-year contract. Announced the resignation of di-rector of player development Rico Brogna. NamedMike Bell director of player development, Billy Ryanassistant general manager and Shiraz Rehman direc-tor of player personnel.

Cincinnati Reds: Signed C Ramon Hernandez to aone-year contract.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Signed P Hiroki Kuroda to aone-year contract.

Milwaukee Brewers: Named Rick Kranitz pitchingcoach, Jerry Narron bench coach, Garth Iorg first-base coach, Ed Sedar third-base coach and JohnShelby outfield instructor.

Philadelphia Phillies: Named Ryne Sandberg man-ager at Lehigh Valley (International/AAA).

Pittsburgh Pirates: Named Clint Hurdle manager.

Nov. 16MLB: Announced the retirement of vice president

of rules and on-field operations Bob Watson, effec-tive at the end of the year.uAmerican League

Baltimore Orioles: Signed P Mitch Atkins to a mi-nor league contract.

Detroit Tigers: Named Kevin Bradshaw minorleague field coordinator, Joe DePastino minor leaguecatching coordinator and Dave Owen minor leagueinfield coordinator.

Toronto Blue Jays: Released P Shawn Hill.uNational League

Atlanta Braves: Acquired 2B Dan Uggla from Flori-da for OF Omar Infante and P Mike Dunn.

Colorado Rockies: Released P Manuel Corpas.Florida Marlins: Signed C John Buck to a three-year

contract.Philadelphia Phillies: Signed P Jose Contreras to a

two-year contract with a club option for 2013.St. Louis Cardinals: Re-signed P Jake Westbrook to

a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2013.San Diego Padres: Named Brad Ausmus special as-

sistant to baseball operations.


Seattle Mariners: Claimed IF Sean Kazmar offwaivers from San Diego.

Toronto Blue Jays: Acquired OF Rajai Davis fromOakland for P Daniel Farquhar and P Trystan Magnu-son.

uNational LeagueHouston Astros: Named Tony DeFrancesco man-

ager of Oklahoma City (Pacific Coast/AAA).St. Louis Cardinals: Purchased the contracts of P

Eduardo Sanchez, P Adam Reifer, P David Kopp, IFPete Kozma and OF Adron Chambers.

San Francisco Giants: Purchased the contracts of IFEhire Adrianza from San Jose (California/A) and OFThomas Neal from Richmond (Eastern/AA).


Kansas City Royals: Signed P Steven Shell and OFBrett Carroll to minor league contracts. Re-signed PLuis Mendoza, P Julio Pimentel, C Cody Clark, IF Ir-ving Falu, IF Mario Lisson and IF Jamie Romak to mi-nor league contracts.

Minnesota Twins: Signed manager Ron Garden-hire to a two-year contract extension through 2013.Signed pitching coach Rick Anderson, bench coachSteve Liddle, bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, third-base coach Scott Ullger, hitting coach Joe Vavra, first-base coach Jerry White, athletic trainer RickMcWane, assistant athletic trainer Dave Pruemerand strength and conditioning coordinator PerryCastellano to two-year contracts through 2012.uNational League

Arizona Diamondbacks: Acquired 1B Juan Miran-da from the New York Yankees for P Scott Allen.

Atlanta Braves: Named Marty Reed pitching coachfor Gwinnett (International/AAA); Rocket Wheelermanager and Mike Alvarez pitching coach for Mis-sissippi (Southern/AA); Luis Salazar manager, DerekBotelho pitching coach and Bobby Moore hittingcoach for Lynchburg (Carolina/A); Paul Runge man-ager, Derrick Lewis pitching coach, Carlos Mendezhitting coach and Ty Cobbs trainer for Rome (SouthAtlantic/A); Randy Ingle manager, Gabe Lukertpitching coach and D.J. Boston hitting coach for Dan-ville (Appalachian/A) and Jonathan Schuerholzmanager, Vladimir Nunez pitching coach and Bran-don Harris trainer for the Braves (GCL).

Houston Astros: Acquired IF Clint Barmes fromColorado for P Felipe Paulino.


Baltimore Orioles: Assigned P Armando Gabinoand IF Rhyne Hughes outright to Norfolk (Interna-tional/AAA). Purchased the contracts of P Zach Brit-ton, IF Joe Mahoney and OF Matt Angle from Norfolk.

Boston Red Sox: Purchased the contracts of C LuisEsposito, P Stolmy Pimentel and IF Oscar Tejeda fromPawtucket (International/AAA).

Chicago White Sox: Purchased the contracts of PAnthony Carter and SS Eduardo Escobar from Bir-mingham (Southern/AA) and P Nate Jones fromWinston-Salem (Carolina/A).

Cleveland Indians: Purchased the contracts of IF Ja-red Goedert, P Josh Judy, P Zach McAllister and P Co-rey Kluber from Columbus (International/AAA) and

P Nick Hagadone from Akron (Eastern/AA).Detroit Tigers: Agreed to terms with P Joaquin Be-

noit on a three-year contract and P Alberto Albur-querque on a one-year contract. Purchased the con-tracts of P Charlie Furbush and SS Cale Iorg fromToledo (International/AAA) and P Lester Oliveros, PJose Ortega, P Brayan Villarreal and P Duane Belowfrom Erie (Eastern/AA). Assigned P Fu-Te Ni outrightto Toledo.

Kansas City Royals: Purchased the contracts of PEverett Teaford, 1B Clint Robinson, OF David Loughand OF Derrick Robinson from Omaha (Pacific Coast/AAA). Designated P Bryan Bullington, P Gaby Her-nandez, P Victor Marte and OF Jordan Parraz for as-signment.

Minnesota Twins: Purchased the contracts of P Da-vid Bromberg, OF Joe Benson, OF Chris Parmelee andOF Rene Tosoni.

New York Yankees: Released P Jonathan Albalade-jo. Named Larry Rothschild pitching coach. Pur-chased the contracts of P Dellin Betances from Tren-ton (Eastern/AA) and IF Brandon Laird and P RyanPope from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (International/AAA). Acquired OF Cody Johnson from Atlanta forcash considerations.

Oakland Athletics: Purchased the contracts of OFMichael Taylor, OF Corey Brown, IF Adrian Cardenasand IF Sean Doolittle from Sacramento (PacificCoast/AAA) and P Trystan Magnuson from Midland(Texas/AA).

Seattle Mariners: Purchased the contracts of P Mi-chael Pineda, P Tom Wilhelmsen, P Josh Lueke, OF Jo-hermyn Chavez, OF Carlos Peguero, IF Alex Liddi, PMaikel Cleto, P Cesar Jimenez, P Yoervis Medina andP Mauricio Robles.

Texas Rangers: Purchased the contracts of P FabioCastillo, P Wilmer Font, P Miguel De Los Santos andOF Engel Beltre from Oklahoma City (Pacific Coast/AAA). Agreed to terms with C Kevin Cash, OF DougDeeds and IF Esteban German on minor league con-tracts.uNational League

Arizona Diamondbacks: Claimed P Juan Jaime offwaivers from Washington. Purchased the contractsof P Josh Collmenter and P Yonata Ortega from Reno(Pacific Coast/AAA).

Atlanta Braves: Purchased the contracts of P Ran-dall Delgado, P Cory Gearrin and OF Matt Young fromGwinnett (International/AAA).

Chicago Cubs: Purchased the contracts of P ChrisArcher, P Kyle Smit and OF Brandon Guyer from Ten-nessee (Southern/AA) and P Alberto Cabrera fromDaytona (Florida State/A). Sold the rights to the con-tract of IF Micah Hoffpauir to Nippon Ham (Japan).

Cincinnati Reds: Purchased the contracts of IF ZackCozart, IF-OF Todd Frazier, IF Kris Negron and P DarylThompson.

Colorado Rockies: Purchased the contracts of PBruce Billings, P Cory Riordan, P Casey Weathers, CJordan Pacheco and C Wilin Rosario from ColoradoSprings (Pacific Coast/AAA).

Houston Astros: Purchased the contracts of P Da-vid Carpenter, P Jorge De Leon, P Arcenio Leon and IFJimmy Paredes from Round Rock (Pacific Coast/AAA).

New York Mets: Purchased the contracts of P JoshStinson and 3B Zach Lutz from Buffalo (Interna-tional/AAA), IF Jordany Valdespin from Binghamton(Eastern/AA) and P Armando Rodriguez from Savan-nah (South Atlantic/A).

Philadelphia Phillies: Agreed to terms with IF-OFTagg Bozied, IF Josh Barfield, P Eddie Bonine, P RyanFeierabend, C Erik Kratz, IF Jeff Larish, P Dan Meyer,OF Matt Miller, OF Brandon Moss, IF Pete Orr, P JuanPerez and C Dane Sardinha on minor league con-tracts. Purchased the contracts of P Justin De Fratus,IF Freddy Galvis, IF Harold Garcia, IF Cesar Hernandezand IF Matt Rizzotti from Lehigh Valley (Interna-tional/AAA).

Pittsburgh Pirates: Purchased the contracts of PMike Crotta, P Jeff Locke, P Kyle McPherson, P DanielMoskos and P Tony Watson.

St. Louis Cardinals: Purchased the contracts of PBlake King from Springfield (Texas/AA) and C TonyCruz from Memphis (Pacific Coast/AAA). Assigned PAdam Ottavino, C Steven Hill, OF Daryl Jones and OFNick Stavinoha outright to Memphis. Named MarkDeJohn minor league field coordinator, Derrick Mayminor league roving hitting instructor, BryanEversgerd pitching coach and Jason Hall trainer ofSpringfield (Texas/AA), Dennis Martinez pitchingcoach of Palm Beach (Florida State/A) and DernierOrozco pitching coach of the Cardinals (GulfCoast/R).

San Diego Padres: Purchased the contracts of P Si-mon Castro, P Brandon Gomes, P Jeremy Hefner, PEvan Scribner, OF Cedric Hunter, C Luis Martinez andIF Jeudy Valdez from Portland (Pacific Coast/AAA).

San Francisco Giants: Purchased the contracts of PJose Casilla, P Steve Edlefsen and P Clayton Tanner.Sent IF Brett Pill outright to Fresno (Pacific Coast/AAA). Released P Waldis Joaquin.

Washington Nationals: Purchased the contracts ofP Adam Carr, P Cole Kimball and 1B Chris Marrero.

Nov. 20uNational League

New York Mets: Fired director of amateur scoutingRudy Terrasas.


Chicago White Sox: Claimed P Waldis Joaquin offwaivers from San Francisco.uNational League

Houston Astros: Named Tom Lawless manager,Don Alexander pitching coach, Stubby Clapp hittingcoach and Eric Montague athletic trainer for CorpusChristi (Texas/AA).

Los Angeles Dodgers: Named Dave Hansen hittinginstructor, Trey Hillman bench coach, Davey Lopesfirst-base coach and Tim Wallach third-base coach.

New York Mets: Named Terry Collins manager.Philadelphia Phillies: Named Mark Parent man-

ager of Reading (Eastern/AA), Mickey Morandinimanager of Williamsport (N.Y.-Penn) and Chris Tru-by manager of Lakewood (South Atlantic/A).

MLB transactions

American Football ConferenceEast W L T Pct PF PANew England 8 2 0 .800 289 242N.Y. Jets 8 2 0 .800 238 177Miami 5 5 0 .500 172 208Buffalo 2 8 0 .200 213 276South W L T Pct PF PAIndianapolis 6 4 0 .600 268 216Jacksonville 6 4 0 .600 220 270Tennessee 5 5 0 .500 257 198Houston 4 6 0 .400 244 287North W L T Pct PF PABaltimore 7 3 0 .700 233 178Pittsburgh 7 3 0 .700 235 165Cleveland 3 7 0 .300 192 206Cincinnati 2 8 0 .200 215 262West W L T Pct PF PAKansas City 6 4 0 .600 243 207Oakland 5 5 0 .500 238 223San Diego 5 5 0 .500 274 211Denver 3 7 0 .300 217 287

National Football ConferenceEast W L T Pct PF PAPhiladelphia 7 3 0 .700 284 226N.Y. Giants 6 4 0 .600 253 220Washington 5 5 0 .500 202 245Dallas 3 7 0 .300 229 271South W L T Pct PF PAAtlanta 8 2 0 .800 256 192New Orleans 7 3 0 .700 235 170Tampa Bay 7 3 0 .700 209 206Carolina 1 9 0 .100 117 252North W L T Pct PF PAChicago 7 3 0 .700 191 146Green Bay 7 3 0 .700 252 146Minnesota 3 7 0 .300 172 226Detroit 2 8 0 .200 234 237West W L T Pct PF PASeattle 5 5 0 .500 185 233St. Louis 4 6 0 .400 177 198Arizona 3 7 0 .300 188 292San Francisco 3 7 0 .300 160 219

Week 11Monday’s resultSan Diego 35, Denver 14Sunday’s resultsDallas 35, Detroit 19Pittsburgh 35, Oakland 3Washington 19, Tennessee 16 (OT)N.Y. Jets 30, Houston 27Buffalo 49, Cincinnati 31Kansas City 31, Arizona 13Jacksonville 24, Cleveland 20Baltimore 37, Carolina 13Green Bay 31, Minnesota 3Atlanta 34, St. Louis 17New Orleans 34, Seattle 19Tampa Bay 21, San Francisco 0New England 31, Indianapolis 28Philadelphia 27, N.Y. Giants 17Thursday’s resultChicago 16, Miami 0

Week 12Thursday’s gamesNew England at Detroit, 12:30New Orleans at Dallas, 4:15Cincinnati at N.Y. Jets, 8:20Sunday’s gamesGreen Bay at Atlanta, 1Tennessee at Houston, 1Minnesota at Washington, 1Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 1Carolina at Cleveland, 1Jacksonville at N.Y. Giants, 1Kansas City at Seattle, 4:05Miami at Oakland, 4:05Philadelphia at Chicago, 4:15St. Louis at Denver, 4:15Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 4:15San Diego at Indianapolis, 8:20Nov. 29San Francisco at Arizona, 8:30

NFL standingsNL MVPVoting by the Baseball Writers Association of Ameri-ca with first-, second- and third-place votes and to-tal points based on a 14-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis:

1st 2nd 3rd TotalJoey Votto, Cincinnati 31 1 - 443Albert Pujols, St. Louis 1 21 8 279Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado - 7 13 240Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego - 1 3 197Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado - - 2 132Roy Halladay, Philadelphia - 1 3 130Aubrey Huff, San Francisco - - - 70Jayson Werth, Philadelphia - - - 52Martin Prado, Atlanta - - - 51Ryan Howard, Philadelphia - 1 1 50Buster Posey, San Francisco - - 1 40Matt Holliday, St. Louis - - - 32Brian Wilson, San Francisco - - 1 28Scott Rolen, Cincinnati - - - 26Ryan Braun, Milwaukee - - - 19Ryan Zimmerman, Washington - - - 18Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia - - - 12Dan Uggla, Florida - - - 12Adam Wainwright, St. Louis - - - 12Jason Heyward, Atlanta - - - 11Brian McCann, Atlanta - - - 9Adam Dunn, Washington - - - 9Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado - - - 7David Wright, New York - - - 3Corey Hart, Milwaukee - - - 2Josh Johnson, Florida - - - 2Heath Bell, San Diego - - - 2

AL Cy Young AwardBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 7-4-3-2-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Felix Hernandez, Mariners 21 2 3 167David Price, Rays 4 15 7 111CC Sabathia, Yankees 3 10 12 102Jon Lester, Red Sox - - 1 33Jered Weaver, Angels - 1 2 24Clay Buchholz, Red Sox - - 2 20Cliff Lee, Mariners/Rangers - - 1 6Rafael Soriano, Rays - - - 5Trevor Cahill, Athletics - - - 4Joakim Soria, Royals - - - 2Francisco Liriano, Twins - - - 1Justin Verlander, Tigers - - - 1

NL Cy Young AwardBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 7-4-3-2-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Roy Halladay, Phillies 32 - - 224Adam Wainwright, Cardinals - 28 3 122Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies - 4 19 90Tim Hudson, Braves - - 3 39Josh Johnson, Marlins - - 5 34Roy Oswalt, Astros/Phillies - - 1 14Brian Wilson, Giants - - - 7Heath Bell, Padres - - 1 4Mat Latos, Padres - - - 4Brett Myers, Astros - - - 2Tim Lincecum, Giants - - - 2Bronson Arroyo, Reds - - - 1Matt Cain, Giants - - - 1

AL rookie of the yearBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Neftali Feliz, Rangers 20 7 1 122Austin Jackson, Tigers 8 19 1 98Danny Valencia, Twins - 1 9 12Wade Davis, Rays - - 11 11John Jaso, Rays - 1 - 3Brennan Boesch, Tigers - - 3 3Brian Matusz, Orioles - - 3 3

NL rookie of the yearBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Buster Posey, Giants 20 9 2 129Jason Heyward, Braves 9 20 2 107Jaime Garcia, Cardinals 1 1 16 24Gaby Sanchez, Marlins 2 1 5 18Neil Walker, Pirates - 1 - 3Starlin Castro, Cubs - - 3 3Ike Davis, Mets - - 2 2Jose Tabata, Pirates - - 1 1Jonny Venters, Braves - - 1 1

AL manager of the yearBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Ron Gardenhire, Twins 16 8 4 108Ron Washington, Rangers 10 8 7 81Joe Maddon, Rays 1 10 9 44Terry Francona, Red Sox - 2 7 13Cito Gaston, Blue Jays 1 - - 5Joe Girardi, Yankees - - 1 1

NL manager of the yearBBWAA voting; points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

1st 2nd 3rd Pts.Bud Black, Padres 16 7 3 104Dusty Baker, Reds 13 12 2 103Bruce Bochy, Giants 1 4 13 30Bobby Cox, Braves 1 4 11 28Charlie Manuel, Phillies 1 4 3 20Brad Mills, Astros - 1 - 3

MLB awards




Documents

USA TODAY Sports Weekly 2010.11.24 English)