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NFL Picks: Giants rally to beat Patriots 18-17
Not risking his starters on a three-day turnaround, New York coach Tom Coughlin let the Giants reserves close out the NFL Picks preseason against the New England Patriots.
And some of the greenest players on the roster turned a stalemate into an entertaining exhibition finale as the Giants scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to rally past the Patriots 18-17.
Rookie Da’Rel Scott ran a fake punt 65 yards for a touchdown and Derrick Martin returned a fumble 11 yards for a score in the fourth quarter for the Giants, who had just played the Jets on Monday night.
“I thought these young guys played hard. They did make a lot of errors, particularly in the first half,” Coughlin said. “But they kept playing. They played hard.” While happy, Coughlin wasn’t getting carried away. This wasn’t exactly a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl.
Just three days after a loss to the Jets, Coughlin wasn’t taking chances with quarterback Eli Manning and the rest of his starters. And New England used quarterback Tom Brady and the rest of the first team for only the first quarter and one play in the second period.
“We usually play them,” Coughlin said. “Our offensive NFL team could have used a good solid quarter.” It was largely a battle of reserves as the Giants rested their starters and New England’s first string played just long enough to take a 17-3 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
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NFL Picks: Generating Interest: 5-6 Teams Make Offer To Maybin
Apparently two underwhelming seasons in Buffalo isn’t enough to derail a professional NFL Picks career for good.
Cut by the Bills on Monday, free agent linebacker and 2009 first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin is drawing some interest on the open market.
Per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the New York Jets have made a one-year offer to the 23-year-old linebacker.
In addition, Mehta tweets that 5-6 other NFL teams have made a similar offer. After becoming the 11th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Maybin went on to start only one game and record just 22 tackles in two highly disappointing seasons with the Bills. Buffalo pulled the plug on Monday and Maybin cleared through waivers on Tuesday.
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#2009 NFL Draft#Aaron Maybin#Buffalo Bills#Daily News (New York)#Free agent#Linebacker#National Football League#New York Jets
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NFL Picks: Generating Interest: 5-6 Teams Make Offer To Maybin
Apparently two underwhelming seasons in Buffalo isn’t enough to derail a professional NFL Picks career for good.
Cut by the Bills on Monday, free agent linebacker and 2009 first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin is drawing some interest on the open market.
Per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the New York Jets have made a one-year offer to the 23-year-old linebacker.
In addition, Mehta tweets that 5-6 other NFL teams have made a similar offer. After becoming the 11th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
Maybin went on to start only one game and record just 22 tackles in two highly disappointing seasons with the Bills. Buffalo pulled the plug on Monday and Maybin cleared through waivers on Tuesday.
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NFL Picks : Rookie WR Cobb Continues To Shine For Packers
Packers rookie Randall Cobb turned some heads in practice, then made some plays during Green Bay’s preseason loss at Cleveland on Saturday.
If Cobb can keep it up, the second-round draft pick out of Kentucky could challenge for playing time in what already was one of the NFL Picks most talented wide receiver groups.
That’s in addition to what most people expected him to do as a rookie—add some life to the Packers’ long-suffering return game.
Cobb doesn’t seem overwhelmed by his early success, and isn’t surprised he was as productive in his first preseason game as he has been so far in practice.“That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Cobb said.
“That’s just something that’s built into me, I want to go out in practice and get better each day, and then show how much I’ve gotten better in games.”
Cobb was the Packers’ leading receiver Saturday, catching three passes for 60 yards. He also returned two kickoffs for 58 yards. He was back at it in practice on Monday, again getting open to make a couple of nice catches in NFL team drills.
Cobb certainly has to make the most of whatever chances come his way, given the talented group of veterans who also want the ball from Aaron Rodgers: Greg Jennings, tight end Jermichael Finley, Donald Driver, James Jones and Jordy Nelson.
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Free Football Picks: Tebow Scrambles For Naught; McGee Rescues Dallas
Tim Tebow showed off his fancy moves on a wild play that didn’t even count. Tebow’s failed scramble just before halftime stood as the play of the NFL Picks game, until Stephen McGee another option quarterback in college ran around to throw a 13-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion with 15 seconds left.
Giving the Dallas Cowboys a 24-23 victory over the Denver Broncos in a preseason opener Thursday night. Tebow led the Broncos to two field goals in four drives. His first scoring NFL series started at Denver’s 10 and included a 43-yard pass perfectly lofted into double coverage.
The other drive, however, started 7 yards from the end zone and wound up moving backward.That series began with Tebow running it into the end zone on first down, but a holding penalty wiped it out, shoving the Broncos back to the 17.
On third down, Tebow ran almost to the left sideline, back to the middle of the field, then tossed the ball to a waiting receiver for a short gain. However, Tebow crossed the line of scrimmage before ever cutting back, a lineman illegally went up the field to block and another NFL teammate clobbered one of the Cowboys in the back.
Dallas declined them all, forcing the Broncos to kick a field goal. When Tebow went to the sideline, new Denver coach John Fox spoke to him gently, patting him on the helmet at the end of the chat. “For a young quarterback, he did very well,” Fox said. Tebow’s numbers were good. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 91 yards.
He also ran twice for 15 yards. But it remains to be seen how much his overall performance helped in his bid to unseat veteran Kyle Orton. Orton led the Broncos 74 yards on his lone series, much of it on runs against a Dallas defense now coordinated by Rob Ryan. Orton misfired on three straight throws from the Dallas 6, forcing Denver to settle for a field goal.
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NFL Picks: Colt Not Gun-Shy About Taking Leadership Reins In Cleveland
NFL Picks News: Back in May when the owners were meeting in Indianapolis, and the lockout was in full swing, Mike Holmgren left the door slightly ajar on Cleveland's quarterback situation. The Browns president told me he expected it to be "competitive" at the position, while adding that Colt McCoy would "probably be the guy."
Consider that door slammed shut and erase the word "probably" from Holmgren's assessment. The Browns are McCoy's NFL team. Does that mean for the next decade? Not necessarily. But for now, the quarterback's teammates have no problem deferring to the 24-year-old. One example? The move McCoy made in the offseason getting his hands on new coach Pat Shurmur's playbook.
It's not unlike the one that then-Denver coach Mike Shanahan taught Peyton Hillis when the Browns running back (and Madden cover boy) was a rookie with the Broncos, but when it came to disseminating the message to teammates, the bulldozing back cleared the way for McCoy, rather than taking the ball himself.
"Colt did a great job with it. I left it to him," said Hillis, who's coming off an 1,177-yard, 11-touchdown season. "He's the leader of this NFL team, and I accept that. Everyone else accepts that. So when he's trying to teach receivers the routes and progressions, you just sit back and try to listen and try to learn from it."
So how is it that McCoy, who has precisely one season as a pro, could teach the Browns' system? Part of it is the little bit of carryover in scheme from what he did as a four-year starter at Texas. But bigger is the fact that McCoy exhausted every resource available to get it down as the doors were locked, something that also played no small role in his teammates gravitating to the idea of a second-year guy as their leader.
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#Colt McCoy#Cleveland Browns#Mike Holmgren#Pat Shurmur#National Football League#Peyton Hillis#NFL#Mike Shanahan
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Free Football Picks: Channing Crowder Calls It A Career
Free Football Picks News: Two weeks after being cut by the Miami Dolphins, veteran linebacker Channing Crowder has decided to retire.
Appearing on WQAM in South Florida, Crowder told radio host Sid Rosenberg, “I’m retiring. I’m hanging it up.”
A six-year veteran out of the University of Florida, Crowder was a third-round NFL selection in the 2005 draft. In six seasons with the Dolphins, the 27-year-old amassed 470 tackles, 2.5 sacks and three forced fumbles in 74 career starts.
While we think it’s quite plausible Crowder could return to the field in 2011 if given the right offer, as of the current moment, no such opportunity exists.
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NFL Picks: Lawsuit Between Stringer's Widow, Riddell Inc. Settled
Free Football Picks: A settlement has been reached in the final lawsuit stemming from the heat stroke death of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer 10 years ago, his family announced Monday.
Terms of the settlement between Stringer's widow, Kelci Stringer, and Chicago-based helmet and shoulder pads-maker Riddell Inc. were not disclosed, said James Gould, who was Korey Stringer's agent and serves as a family spokesman.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Ohio in 2003, alleged Riddell failed to warn players and coaches that wearing its helmets and shoulder pads in hot temperatures could be dangerous. The family reached separate settlements earlier with the NFL and other defendants.
Korey Stringer died Aug. 1, 2001, after collapsing on a sweltering day in training camp in Mankato. His death prompted teams to monitor their players more closely during the hot weather and long practices typical of August training camps.
Gould said the final settlement culminates a decade of work to make some good come from Stringer's death. Kelci Stringer founded the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut with help from the NFL.
Gatorade and the Football Picks NFL Players Association as his legacy to raise awareness of how to prevent heat-related illnesses in sports. "It's been 10 long years for everybody involved, so I'm just happy today that it's all been resolved," Gould said.
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NFL Picks: Fantasy Rankings Under Construction
NFL Picks: For those of you who find yourselves checking out the 2011 NFP fantasy rankings today, don’t be alarmed if you see some interesting names at the top of the list.
We’re in the process of updating all of our positional rankings to reflect what took place over the last two weeks, but we’ll be sure to make an announcement when everything has been completed.
Thanks for your patience. In addition, I’ll be hosting a 12-man, non-PPR mock draft Monday at 1:00pm eastern for anyone who are interested. The draft will consist of 15 rounds with each owner getting 60 seconds to make each pick.
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Free Football Picks : Dalton Leads Cincy Through 1st Full-Squad Workout
Free Football Picks: Cedric Benson lined up at running back for the first play during 11-on-11 drills, veered left after the snap and caught a dump-off pass from Andy Dalton. Finally, the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense was back at full strength, though still not all on the same page.
Benson was still learning the playbook when he and the rest of the Bengals’ free agents lined up for the first time on Thursday night. A bunch of them were making up for lost time, including quarterbacks Jordan Palmer and Bruce Gradkowski.
“We have a new offensive coordinator, it’s a new playbook,” Benson said before practice. “I’m only one day in. So I’m just trying to catch up on everything. It always is a little overwhelming. As soon as I get this playbook down, the defensive guys had better be ready.”
Like other NFL teams, the Bengals were short-handed while their signed free agents sat out the first four practices. They weren’t allowed to participate until the new collective bargaining agreement was signed on Thursday afternoon.
“We’ll try to ease them into practice,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “Some of them have been here with us longer than others, but we will still try to ease them in as we go into this weekend. We want to come out of this weekend full of strength.” Their first full-squad practice clearly showed where they’re going at quarterback.
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#Cincinnati Bengals#Andy Dalton#Bruce Gradkowski#Cedric Benson#Jordan Palmer#Marvin Lewis#Free agent#National Football League
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Free Football Picks: Niners Cramming To Learn New Offense
Free Football Picks News: New San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman is cramming a whole lot of work into a small amount of time. So far, the transition seems to be going well. Roman doesn’t expect that to change, either, after San Francisco signed free-agent center Jonathan Goodwin to a three-year deal on Wednesday.
“We’re throwing a lot at these guys and they’re taking it all in,” Roman said. “I grabbed Vernon Davis’ notebook the other day and it looked like ‘War and Peace’ he had so much written down. Guys are really dialed in, and that’s what we need.”Roman.
Who joined the 49ers this year after working on new NFL coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford for the past two seasons, has been putting his players through a daily cram session since training camp began last week. It hasn’t been easy because San Francisco hasn’t had its full complement of players.
Running back Frank Gore missed the first four days of camp in a holdout, and wide receiver Michael Crabtree hasn’t been able to practice because of a sore left foot. Quarterback Alex Smith has been prevented from joining his teammates until Thursday providing a final collective bargaining agreement is reached.
None of those obstacles has slowed down Roman one bit. The burly assistant, who previously coached in the NFL with Carolina, Houston and Baltimore, has kept San Francisco’s players hopping on the field and scribbling in their notebooks in the classroom.
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#Jim Harbaugh#San Francisco#Frank Gore#Michael Crabtree#Vernon Davis#Alex Smith#Jonathan Goodwin#NFL
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Free Football Picks: Titans Re-Sign Harris, Offensive Line Intact Again
Free Football Picks News: The Tennessee Titans always prided themselves on having a strong offensive line when Mike Munchak coached the group. Nothing has changed now that he is the head coach.
The Hall of Fame offensive lineman hired close friend Bruce Matthews, also a Hall of Famer, to replace him. Then the Titans re-signed left guard Leroy Harris to make sure all five starters returned intact to block again for Chris Johnson.
Matthews says the Titans are very fortunate with three linemen who played every snap in 2010. Bringing back Harris on a two-year deal allows them to build on all the work the linemen put in last season.
“My goal is not to screw up what Munch left me with,” Matthews said with a smile. “It’s a very sound group.” Munchak coached the offensive line from 1997-2010. In that time, the Titans ranked second in the NFL in fewest sacks allowed, averaged 28.3 sacks per season, and ranked seventh in allowing 124.5 yards rushing per game.
Tennessee’s strong offensive line was a big reason Matt Hasselbeck decided to sign a three-year deal with the Titans.Yet Munchak only got to start the same five linemen in consecutive seasons twice while coaching the line. So Matthews, working with Art Valero, is starting in an enviable position.
“The big thing you know is knowing the guys who play next to you,” Matthews said. “We’re very fortunate on this team. We had three guys last year that played every rep, and then we had the left guard and center position where we got some young guys who came in and stepped up.”
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#Tennessee Titans#Matt Hasselbeck#Chris Johnson#Mike Munchak#Leroy Harris#NFL#Bruce Matthews#National Football League
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Free Football Picks: Ex-NBA Player Arrested On Drug Charges In Arizona
Free Sports Picks: Authorities say a former NBA player is facing drug charges in western Arizona after he was arrested last week. An Arizona Department of Public Safety officer pulled over 35-year-old Samaki Walker on Thursday near Kingman, the agency said Monday.
As the officer approached Walker’s car, he could smell marijuana, said agency spokesman Capt. Stephen Harrison. A search of the vehicle produced one gram of marijuana, 259 prescription pills and eight bottles of an unknown prescription, Harrison said.
Walker did not have a prescription for the drugs and the basketball player said some of them were steroids, Harrison alleged. Officials are conducting tests on the substances to identify them. It was unclear why Walker was in the area, Harrison said. Court records show he lives in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Walker was booked into Mohave County Jail and has been charged with destruction of evidence, possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and prescription drugs. He was released Friday evening after posting bail, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Kingman Justice Court records, Walker does not have yet have an attorney. Walker played for the University of Louisville and was a first-round draft pick by Dallas in 1996, according to ESPN. He spent 10 years in the NBA, playing for San Antonio, Los Angeles and Miami.
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#Samaki Walker#Arizona#Arizona Department of Public Safety#Los Angeles#University of Louisville#National Basketball Association#Prescription drug#ESPN
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NFL Picks: NFL-Players Not Ready To OK Owners’ Proposed Settlement
NFL Picks News: National Football League (NFL) players took a cautious stance on a collective bargaining agreement approved Thursday by team owners, holding off a vote to sign off until they had more time to read the fine print.
Team owners thought they had found the right formula to end the four-month lockout with their proposal for a 10-year deal, but representatives of the players said they would have to wait at least another day, because the players had not seen the full document yet.
“As you know the owners have ratified their proposal to settle our differences,” NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith wrote to the players in an e-mail. “As you may have heard, they apparently approved a supplemental revenue-sharing proposal.
“Obviously, we have not been a part of those discussions … issues that need to be collectively bargained remain open, other issues such as workers compensation, economic issues and end-of-deal terms remain unresolved.”
Smith and 32 player representatives took part in a two-hour conference call Thursday night, but they broke up without taking a vote. They planned to resume meeting on Friday. Other players expressed their disappointment with NFL owners.
“We feel like we’ve been backed into a corner. We haven’t had time to read it thoroughly,” Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth told. “We just want to make sure that it’s done right. We all want to start the season on time and make sure it’s right.”
Some players expressed objections to the timetable laid out by the league, others believed there were items in the document that had not been negotiated with the players.
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NFL Picks: NFL, Players Should Be In A Position To Take Votes,' Pash Says
As NFL Picks owners gathered for their meeting in Atlanta, their lead negotiator, Jeff Pash, said he expected the league and its players to continue working toward separate Thursday votes on a new collective bargaining agreement that would end the four-month-old lockout.
"It's obviously a complicated agreement, but I think both sides are at the point where they can close, they should close, and we should be in a position to take votes," Pash said Wednesday. The 32 player representatives did vote Wednesday at the NFL Players Association's headquarters in Washington.
But it wasn't the type of vote that was expected. Instead of simply approving the draft that lawyers and staff had been working on for the last month, the reps conditionally passed it to the Brady plaintiffs, sources told NFL Network reporter Albert Breer.
In other words, the proposal will go to the 10 plaintiffs involved in the Brady antitrust case only if the league meets certain conditions in settling that piece of litigation, and also the TV rights fees case, in which players accused owners of setting up a $4 billion lockout-insurance fund.
"We still have a lot of work to do," Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Tyson Clabo told The Associated Press as he left the nearly 10-hour meeting. The players also empowered NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, their legal counsel and the 13-man executive committee to work out the remaining issues, according to sources.
One is the players' pursuit of $320 million in benefits lost as part of the 2010 uncapped-year rules, which were negotiated in the 2006 labor deal. The good news is, outside of a few minor issues, the players were amenable to terms that would serve as a new labor deal, should the NFLPA re-certify as a union. The Brady plantiffs -- which include quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees -- also would have to sign off for any settlement to be reached.
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#Jeff Pash#Tom Brady#National Football League#National Football League Players Association#Drew Brees#Peyton Manning#Tyson Clabo#Albert Breer
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NFL Picks: UFL delays start of 2011 season
NFL Picks News: The United Football League has postponed the start of its season. The league's five teams were scheduled to start their 2011 season on Aug. 13, but instead will kick off in mid-September, which is when the past two seasons have begun.
UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue stated that a lack of money from sponsorships and television partners contributed to the delay. He said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday that the league initially thought an August start would be beneficial to take advantage of the NFL lockout.
But without advertisers and investors, they were forced to move back. With the NFL not likely to miss any games due to their labor issue, the window to be the only professional football on the market closed for the UFL. "We were pretty confident that their labor situation was at least going to invade (the NFL's) traditional preseason and that might be an inducement to the networks to try and fill that void with a high-quality football product," Huyghue said.
"What we thought was going to be a benefit ended up delaying opportunities. Even our own networks, HD Net and Versus, don't want to broadcast games on Sundays. So it ended up having a huge impact on our overall decision." It had been reported on Monday by the National Football Post that the league had sent players home because of a lack of funds.
According to the report, the Hartford Colonials informed their players that training camp would be postponed because of the lack of money. The players were not told if there would be a season or not. A source told the Post that the camps have been suspended for 30 days, but that the UFL is still planning on playing a full season.
This is not the first time the league has faced financial difficulties, with players and other league employees not being paid on time. Huyghue said during his conference call that the league's owners already had invested $100 million over the past two years, and were committed to potentially losing $50 million more this year in an effort to build the league. Finding new investors and sponsors is a major aspect of that, the commissioner believes.
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#United Football League#Michael Huyghue#National Football League#NFL#National Football Post#Hartford Colonials#Sundays#Football
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NFL Picks: Veteran Center Wiegmann Wants To Return To Chiefs, Agent Says
Wiegmann's agent, Joe Linta, told on Monday that the veteran center has decided he wants to return for a 16th NFL Picks season if he can work out a new contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs selected Florida State center Rodney Hudson in the second round of the April draft, but coach Todd Haley has said Wiegmann is welcome to return.Linta said earlier this offseason that Wiegmann was "50-50" to play in 2011.
However, the lingering NFL lockout might have helped Wiegmann recover from the rigors of a long season. Wiegmann owns a consecutive snaps streak of over 10,000, which started in 2001.
Wiegmann returned for his second Chiefs stint last season after two years with the AFC West rival Denver Broncos. He also played in Kansas City from 2001 to 2007 after starting his career with the New York Jets (1997) and Chicago Bears (1997-2000).
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#Kansas City Chiefs#Casey Wiegmann#Rodney Hudson#Denver Broncos#Todd Haley#AFC West#New York Jets#Chicago Bears
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