myLot Discussions| Bears can clinch division title in Week 12 | | BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - The Chicago Bears can clinch their second straight division title on Sunday. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots know all about winning divisions. The interconference battle between the Bears (9-1) and Patriots (7-3) is the marquee matchup of Week 12 in the NFL. The Sunday night meeting between the Indianapolis Colts (9-1) and Philadelphia Eagles (5-5) was supposed to be another intriguing interconference game featuring quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb. But the contest lost much of its luster when McNabb suffered a season-ending knee injury last week. The Bears can become only the fourth team since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 to clinch a division title by its 11th game. The other three are the 1985 Bears, the 1997 San Francisco 49ers and 2004 Eagles. Chicago can seal the NFC North crown with a win at New England, coupled with losses by the Minnesota Vikings (4-6) and Green Bay Packers (4-6). The Vikings host former coach Dennis Green and the Arizona Cardinals (2-8) on Sunday and the Packers visit the first-place Seattle Seahawks (6-4) on Monday night. But beating the Pats will be difficult.... | |
| | Bears can clinch division title in Week 12 | |
The Chicago Bears can clinch their second straight division title on Sunday. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots know all about winning divisions. The interconference battle between the Bears (9-1) and Patriots (7-3) is the marquee matchup of Week 12 in the NFL.
The Sunday night meeting between the Indianapolis Colts (9-1) and Philadelphia Eagles (5-5) was supposed to be another intriguing interconference game featuring quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb. But the contest lost much of its luster when McNabb suffered a season-ending knee injury last week. The Bears can become only the fourth team since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 to clinch a division title by its 11th game. The other three are the 1985 Bears, the 1997 San Francisco 49ers and 2004 Eagles. Chicago can seal the NFC North crown with a win at New England, coupled with losses by the Minnesota Vikings (4-6) and Green Bay Packers (4-6). The Vikings host former coach Dennis Green and the Arizona Cardinals (2-8) on Sunday and the Packers visit the first-place Seattle Seahawks (6-4) on Monday night. But beating the Pats will be difficult. New England has won three of the... | |
| | NFL Capsules | | Tony Romo tied a Dallas Cowboys record with five touchdown passes Thursday in a 38-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was the ninth time it's happened in team history and the first time on Thanksgiving. More impressive: Troy Aikman never did it in regulation and Roger Staubach never did it at all.
As wild as it seems to mention Romo with those Hall of Famers -- especially because this was only his fifth start -- he's certainly proving worthy. After spending the first 3 1/2 years of his career on the bench, Romo won NFC offensive player of the week honors and outplayed Peyton Manning in his previous two starts. Dallas has won three straight for the first time this season and is 4-1 since Romo took over for Drew Bledsoe. Now 7-4, the Cowboys go into the weekend with a half-game lead over the New York Giants in the NFC East and are second only to Chicago in the conference. Terry Glenn caught the first two TD passes, of 30 and 2 yards. Marion Barber III caught the next two, giving him an NFC-best 11 touchdowns. The record-tying fifth touchdown went to Terrell Owens. Tampa Bay (3-8) drove 80 yards for a touchdown on the first drive of the... | |
| | Dallas 38, Tampa Bay 10 | |
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- For a three-play stretch Thursday, Tony Romo looked like a guy making only his fifth start after 3 1/2 years on the bench. He threw low and inside on what could've been a long touchdown pass to Terry Glenn. On the next snap, he held the ball too long and got sacked. Then he came up short on a deep ball to a wide-open Terrell Owens. He hardly misfired again. Romo went on to throw five touchdown passes, tying a Dallas Cowboys record and leading them to an easy 38-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "I thought it was Aikman out there," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said.
Well, there was one difference: Troy Aikman needed overtime for the only five-TD game of his career. And Roger Staubach, the other Hall of Fame quarterback for the Cowboys, never did it. While it's tough to lump Romo in with those guys at this point in his career, it is no longer "ludicrous" to consider him being Pro Bowl-caliber, as coach Bill Parcells said earlier this week. The Cowboys are 7-4, with a half-game lead in the NFC East and the second-most wins in the conference behind Chicago (9-1), and Romo is a major reason for it. He's 4-1 as... | |
| | Bucs place DE Rice on injured reserve | |
Simeon Rice will not suit up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers again this season. The Buccaneers placed the veteran defensive end on injured reserve Wednesday because of a nagging shoulder injury. Rice had 21 tackles, two sacks, a team-best four forced fumbles and one pass defensed in eight starts this season. He had been deactivated for Tampa's last two contests.
Rice never had missed more than one game in a season. The Buccaneers are not expected to make a related move prior to Thursday's game in Dallas. A three-time Pro Bowler, Rice has 121 career sacks. Only the New York Giants' Michael Strahan (132.5) has more among active players. | |
| | Chiefs host Broncos in marquee Thanksgiving game | | BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - The Kansas City Chiefs will join the traditional Thanksgiving hosts. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt lobbied for a long time to host a Thanksgiving game. He finally gets his wish Thursday night when the Chiefs (6-4) host the Denver Broncos (7-3) in a battle of AFC West rivals. It will be the first regular-season game on the NFL Network and begins a string of five Thursday night contests. The Dallas Cowboys (6-4) and Detroit Lions (2-8) continue their tradition of hosting the holiday afternoon games. With a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the NFC East, the Cowboys will face the last-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-7). The Lions (2-8), who are tied with Arizona for the worst record in the NFL, will play the Miami Dolphins (4-6) in an interconference contest. But the marquee game will take place at night. Denver is one game behind the first-place San Diego Chargers in the AFC West. The Chiefs can tie the Broncos for second place with a win on Thursday. In the first meeting on September 17, Jason Elam kicked a 39-yard field goal with 9:50 left in overtime to lift the Broncos to a 9-6 victory.... | |
| | Tampa Bay at Dallas | | By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN, STATS Senior WriterAll of a sudden, the Dallas Cowboys can move into first place -- at least for a few days. Buoyed by the outstanding play of Tony Romo, the Cowboys can move atop the NFC East as they try for a third straight victory when they meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their annual Thanksgiving home game. Dallas (6-4) is tied with the New York Giants for first place in the NFC East, although New York holds the tiebreaker. The Cowboys will visit the Giants, who play at Tennessee on Sunday, next weekend. Romo has guided Dallas to consecutive wins and is 3-1 as a starter after last week's 21-14 victory over previously unbeaten Indianapolis.
He's been outstanding in his last two second halves, going 10-of-11 against the Colts one week after completing all 10 passes in a 27-10 victory at Arizona. "Romo is having one of those Cinderella seasons," linebacker Kevin Burnett said. "He's the type of quarterback who is cool. He extends the play, he gets himself out of bad situations. If we go to the Super Bowl, he's going to be the guy who takes us there." Romo's quarterback rating is 100.0, a mere 0.5 behind the... | |
| | Bucs place Simeon Rice on injured reserve | |
Simeon Rice's streak of consecutive seasons with double-digit sacks ended at five Wednesday when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed him on injured reserve because of a lingering shoulder injury. The three-time Pro Bowl selection had never missed a game because of injury before sitting out the Bucs' loss to the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 13. Rice ranks second among active players with 121 career sacks, but he's been slowed by a shoulder problem that may require surgery and had a career-low two this season. Rice started eight games, finishing with 21 tackles and a team-high four forced fumbles. The team announced the decision to place him on injured reserve before heading to Dallas to face the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Dewayne White, who shares the club lead with four sacks this season, will replace Rice in the starting lineup. Coach Jon Gruden was asked Tuesday if Rice, who had not practiced in two weeks, might need surgery. "That's certainly an option right now. I think the longer this goes on, it's inevitable that we've got to take a look at what the final analysis is," Gruden said. "It's been very frustrating for him. He's tried to go, he's wanted to go,... | |
| | Stir up the Campbell: Jason take the reins for Redskins | | Within a few hours of his big promotion, Jason Campbell had received congratulations and advice from Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair and Charlie Frye. For that matter, it seemed everyone wanted a word with the new Washington Redskins starting quarterback.
"I had to cut my phone off," Campbell said. "It was getting crazy." Campbell arrived for work a bit calmer Tuesday, having slept on the news that he has replaced Mark Brunell and will start Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Campbell said he left his Monday meeting with coach Joe Gibbs feeling as if he were "winning the lottery," so he was happy to hear from other quarterbacks who had experienced the same. "They just told me to take the approach of `Go out there, be yourself,"' Campbell said. "'Just take every play one play at a time. If you make a mistake, keep your head up high and keep working hard, because you are going to get better from game to game."' But there are sure to be some early growing pains for a quarterback who hasn't taken a snap in a competitive game since undefeated Auburn's victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl in January 2005. The move from 36-year-old Brunell to... | |
| | Despite win, Panthers still not hitting stride | | The Carolina Panthers looked as sick as Steve Smith felt in the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unable to run, convert third downs or avoid costly turnovers Monday night, the Panthers didn't look much better than they did 15 days earlier in their stunning loss to Dallas.
Things got a lot better in the second half as Smith fought through his bout with the flu and caught the decisive touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Carolina took advantage of four turnovers to pull out a 24-10 win. After a first half in which Carolina generated no points, three first downs and only 98 yards, the Panthers (5-4) still have plenty of problems. It also meant a less-than-festive atmosphere in the locker room Tuesday morning. "What we've been doing, we don't hold ourselves to those type of standards," defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said. "We have higher expectations here and what we've been doing over the past eight games hasn't been cutting it. I actually like the mood in the locker room. No one is jumping around or celebrating." The good thing for Carolina is its rivals in the NFC South are also struggling. The Panthers are tied with Atlanta for second place... | |
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