The Seattle Seahawks are once again counting on a former Minnesota Viking.
On Monday, the Seahawks acquired wide receiver Percy Harvin from the Vikings for their first, seventh and middle round draft pick.
Harvin led the Vikings with 677 receiving yards in 2012 and provides quarterback Russell Wilson another formidable deep threat to accompany another former Viking in Sidney Rice and former Fighting Irish product Golden Tate.
The Seahawks weren’t the only team in the NFC West however to significantly improve at the wide receiver position on Monday. The San Francisco 49ers acquired Anquan Boldin from the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens on Monday for a sixth round draft pick.
Boldin, who will now be joining his third NFL team (has also played with the Arizona Cardinals) was unwilling to restructure his contract in Baltimore.
This week on 15MOF we recap a very interesting Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, we discuss the opening weeks of the NHL season and how the Edmonton Oilers are looking and we answer the question: who owns the Phoenix Coyotes?
In the GABBYs: Vincent Lecavalier, David Beckham, the NFL, Ottawa’s CFL team, PED’s and pro sports blackouts. The Punchline this week is OHL ref Joe Monette.
The Baltimore Ravens have won the 47th Super Bowl Sunday from New Orleans. The Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in a very exciting game from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The Ravens won despite a third quarter power outage and a near comeback of the ages. San Francisco was once trailing 28-6 in the third quarter, before the 49ers made a heroic comeback.
The 47th Super Bowl will take place Sunday in New Orleans (CBS, 4:30 p.m.) with the Baltimore Ravens playing the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers have won the Super Bowl five times, while the Ravens won it once in 2001. This will also be a record tenth time the Super Bowl is in New Orleans. The last Super Bowl in Louisiana was in 2002 as the New England Patriots defeated the Saint Louis Rams 20-17.
Super Bowl XLVII will also be historical because brothers will be coaching against each other for the first time. Jim Harbaugh will take the reigns for San Francisco, with his older brother John Harbaugh in charge of Baltimore.
The Ravens (10-6) led the AFC North, while the 49ers (11-4-1) led the NFC West.
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers will be playing in the Super Bowl two weeks from now in New Orleans.
On Sunday, the Ravens defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 in the AFC Championship and the 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 in the NFC Championship.
With the Ravens and 49ers playing in the Super Bowl, it will mean that brothers will be coaching against each other with John Harbaugh coaching Baltimore and Jim Harbaugh coaching San Francisco.
In the AFC Championship, a major story surrounded the tight ends. The Patriots had a tough time stopping Dennis Pitta in a key Raven drive early in the third quarter. Even though Aaron Hernandez had a respectable day, having nine catches for 83 yards, it was clear the team missed Rob Gronkowski.
Yes there’s hockey and football this weekend, but how could one not get excited about the Australian Open at the moment. There is literally some thrilling tennis from down under. Last night, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario advanced to the fourth round with a straight sets win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. Bad news is he has Roger Federer next!
On the ladies side, Ana Ivanovic, the former French Open champion takes on Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the Wimbledon finalist, in the fourth round (Sunday, TSN2, 1:00 a.m.)
Here are the other games I’m watching this weekend:
Saturday–NHL–Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens–CBC–5:00 p.m.–I heard a report on Sportsnet yesterday that the Maple Leafs and Canadiens could battle for the worst team in the Eastern Conference this season. The Habs are expected to have Tomas Plekanec in their lineup despite some sore ribs. The Maple Leafs meanwhile will be led this season by Phil Kessel, who averaged a point a game last season.
Well it appears that Jimmy Johnson was correct after all. Just days after the former Dallas Cowboys head coach and FOX Sports analyst tweeted that Marc Trestman would be going to the Chicago Bears, Trestman is indeed off to Chicago.
Trestman, who has spent the last five years with the Montreal Alouettes, will try to follow in the footsteps of Bud Grant and Marv Levy rather than Hugh Campbell and Mike Riley.
The Bears are making a strong commitment to offense in the NFC North and hope that Trestman will be able to deliver the same sort of magic with Jay Cutler that he had with Anthony Calvillo.
It was simply an outstanding day for the National Football League on Saturday as the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens won playoff classics.
In San Francisco’s 45-31 win over the Green Bay Packers last night, Colin Kaepernick set a NFL record for most rushing yards in a playoff game by a quarterback. In rushing for 181 yards, Kaepernick set a record set by Michael Vick, who rushed for 119 yards in an Atlanta playoff win over St. Louis in 2005.
Frank Gore had 119 yards rushing and Michael Crabtree had 119 yards receiving.
However, the Ravens victory over the Broncos was remarkable, with Baltimore winning 38-35 in double overtime. In what should be considered one of the greatest games of all-time, five times the game was tied before Justin Tucker kicked a game winning field goal of 47 yards in double overtime.
Some call this weekend the best weekend during the NFL season. Others call it the elite eight. There are great expectations for excellent football this weekend after last week produced anti-climactic contests.
In the AFC, the Denver Broncos (13-3) will host the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) in a divisional playoff game (Saturday, CBS, 2:30 p.m.). The Broncos had no problems beating the Ravens in the regular season, beating them 34-17 in Baltimore on December 16. Eric Decker had 133 yards receiving and Knowshon Moreno had 115 yards rushing in a game the Broncos once led 31-3 after three quarters. The Broncos have won 11 straight, while the Ravens beat Indianapolis 24-9 last week.
Sunday’s AFC game could see another blowout as the New England Patriots (12-4) face the Houston Texans (12-4) (CBS, 2:30 p.m.). In the regular season, the Patriots hammered the Texans 42-14 on December 10 as Tom Brady had four touchdown passes. Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski led the NFL with 153 points and Texans defensive end J.J. Watt led the NFL with 20.5 sacks. The Patriots had a NFL best +226 this season, while the Texans beat the Bengals 19-13 last week in the AFC Wildcard.
A bad week last week left me at 7-9, so I am 137-88-1 on the season following Atlanta’s 31-18 win over Detroit last night. Here are my week 16 predictions:
11am
Cincinnati over Pittsburgh–I really liked how the Bengals played in the second half last week against Philadelphia.
Green Bay over Tennessee–The Packers still have something to play for as they are battling San Francisco for the number two seed.
New Orleans over Dallas–In a mild upset, the Saints stop Dallas’s three game winning streak as I’m projecting Drew Brees to have a great day.
Indianapolis over Kansas City–The Chiefs were horrible offensively against the Raiders last week, a team that has given up 44 more points than Indianapolis. (more…)
Two of the best teams in the NFC will battle this weekend as the Seattle Seahawks (9-5) host the San Francisco 49ers (10-3-1).
Both of these teams have played stellar defense all season long and rank 1-2 in the NFL in fewest points allowed. The 49ers have given up 218 points, and the Seahawks have given up 219 points.
However, it is the teams’ offenses that need to be praised just as much. Seattle has scored 108 points the last two games, and San Francisco put up 41 points against New England last week. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has had a minimum of 100 yards rushing in 8 games this season.
The Seahawks and 49ers will battle on NBC at 6:00 p.m. Sunday night.
Here are the other games I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday–NFL–Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions–ABC–6:30 p.m.–With the NFL deciding not to have a game Christmas Eve, the Monday nighter has moved to Saturday. At 12-2 the Falcons can clinch first place in the NFC with a victory. The Falcons had a major statement game last week as they shut out the New York Giants 34-0. Julio Jones had two touchdown receptions in Atlanta’s win.
The National Football League is coming down the stretch to the end of the regular season with five games that will be available for viewers to watch.
Here they are:
Sunday–New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons–TSN2–11am–The NFC East leading New York Giants will be without running back Ahmad Bradshaw Sunday when they take on the NFC South leading Atlanta Falcons. That should be ok however based on the exceptional performance by David Wilson a week ago against the Saints, where he had 100 yards on just 13 carries. The Giants are 8-5 and the Falcons are 11-2.
Sunday–Denver Broncos @ Baltimore Ravens–CBS–11am–The Ravens did something stunning this week. They fired offensive co-ordinator Cam Cameron, despite scoring the fifth most points in the AFC. The firing is stunning because it has been the Ravens’ defense that has been struggling with its veterans just getting older. Both teams are headed to the postseason with Denver at 10-3 and Baltimore at 9-4.
Another lousy week this year left me at 6-7-1 in week 10 and 85-60-1 overall heading into week 11.
On Thursday night, Rian Lindell kicked four field goals and the Buffalo Bills defense came up huge in a 19-14 win over Miami. The Bills and Dolphins now share 4-6 records in the AFC East.
Here are my week 11 picks:
11am
Atlanta over Arizona–The Falcons will bounce back after a tough loss to the Saints rather easily.
Dallas over Cleveland–The Cowboys running game got things going against the Eagles, and Felix Jones could have a big day against the Browns.
Green Bay over Detroit–The Packers might just be the best team in the NFC went it is done, as other teams ahead of them are reeling.
Many football fans have been cringing over the last couple of days with the enormous amount of injuries at the quarterback position since Sunday.
The list includes Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears and Alex Smith of the San Francisco 49ers.
Cutler, Smith and Vick all suffered concussions while Roethlisberger went down with a shoulder injury. Unless Cutler and Smith make significant improvements, next Monday’s prime time game featuring the 7-2 Bears and 6-2-1 49ers, will see Jason Campbell versus Colin Kaepernick at the helm. Yikes!
Getting back to the 49ers, they tied this week at 24 against St. Louis on Sunday. It was the first game that ended in a tie since 2008 when Philadelphia and Cincinnati tied at 13. From the San Francisco-St. Louis game Sunday, ESPN was reporting last night that many players didn’t realize the game could end in a tie. It made Donovan McNabb not look so dumb after all.
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