New England Patriots Playoff Scenarios Week 17

New England PatriotsAs we know, the New England Patriots took care of their business this afternoon with a 47-7 demolishing of the Arizona Cardinals to keep their playoff dreams alive. They also got some help from the Seattle Seahawks who beat the New York Jets 13-3.

Now the Patriots playoff situation looks like this.

To win the AFC East:

  • The Patriots (10-5) must win against the Buffalo Bills and hope that the New York Jets (9-6) beat the Miami Dolphins (10-5).

To win the final Wild Card spot:

  • The Patriots must win against the Buffalo Bills and hope that the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens.

By the late afternoon next Sunday, we will know whether or not the Patriots will be playing in the playoffs as they kickoff at 1 against the Bills in Buffalo while Jets/Dolphins start at 1 at Giants Stadium and the Ravens/Jags are also at 1 in Baltimore.

If the Patriots win the AFC East, they would host a first round playoff game at the Razor.  If they get the final wild card spot, they would be on the road.

Now let’s just hope that things go the Patriots way and they are back in the playoffs.

Update: The NFL has moved the Jets/Dolphins game and Ravens/Jaguars to a 4:15 kickoff so now we will have to wait until after 7 PM to find out the Patriots fate should they win.

There’s No Stopping the Boston Celtics

18 Straight: Rajon Rondo had 26 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 124-105 win over the New York Knicks to give them their 18th straight win. The win also gives them a 26-2 record which is tied for the best mark in NBA history. Ray Allen added 18 points, Paul Pierce had 17 points, Kevin Garnett 12 points and 8 assists and Kendrick Perkins chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds. They were without the services of Glen “Big Baby” Davis who was hospitalized after a car accident this afternon. The Celtics will look for their 19th straight win on Tuesday night when the Philadelphia 76ers come to the TD BankNorth Garden. [ESPN.com]

UConn Finishes Cancun Trip With Win Over FSU

With the weather being so pleasant up here with all the snow on the ground, I’m sure Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team wishes they could stay in Cancun for a little longer. But unfortunately for them the Caribbean Classic has come to a close and they now get to head home for the holidays.

2008 Caribbean Classic UConn heads home for the holidays happy though as they were able to get past a feisty Florida State Seminoles team 83-71 to win the Caribbean Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

The win for the Huskies is their 10th of the season and it’s the 3rd straight time and 10th time in the last 13 seasons they have opened up 10-0.

Renee Montgomery overcame her recent shooting struggles to lead the Huskies with 25 points, including 7 three-pointers and had 8 assists. Maya Moore had another good all around game as she had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots while Kaili McLaren kept up her good play with 10 points and 7 assists. Tina Charles spent most of the game in foul trouble and finished with 8 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Tanae Davis-Cain led the Seminoles (9-4) with 25 points and added 6 rebounds. Courtney Ward chipped in with 14 points and 6 assists while Alysha Harvin had 11 points.

UConn got off to a 13-0 lead to start the game as they forced the Seminoles into 7 turnovers but Florida State battled back with a 10-4 run. UConn pushed the lead to 12 points and Florida State would get no closer than 10 points in the first half.

It was more of the same in the second half as every time Florida State got the lead back to 1o  or 12 points, the Huskies would respond going up by as many as 20 points before settling for the 12 point win. Over the last 15 minutes of the game, the Seminoles actually outscored UConn 71-70.

Auriemma has given his team the week off and they will meet up in South Carolina on the 26th to prepare for their game against the South Carolina Gamecocks on December 28th. This will serve as Kalana Greene’s homecoming game which is something that Geno likes to do for all of his players when possible.

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Report: Angels Drop Out of Teixeira Sweepstakes

Angels drop out of bidding: According to Tim Brown, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have dropped out of the bidding for Mark Teixeira leaving just the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and New York Yankees vying for his services.

The Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon withdrew their offer to free-agent slugger Mark Teixeira and do not intend to continue negotiations with his agent, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Sources close to the process said Angels owner Arte Moreno concluded that Teixeira did not intend to play for the Angels and that his team was being used to drive up the price for the other interested clubs.

Also, a source said the Red Sox have not spoken to Boras since Thursday night, when Henry issued his statement.

Update:The Angels have confirmed to MLB.com that they have in fact dropped out of the bidding. [Yahoo! Sports]

Plenty Of Snowball Salutes In Patriots 47-7 Rout of Arizona

New England Patriots running back LaMont Jordan (32) celebrates his touchdown run during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass - AP Photo

Result

The snow was falling in Foxboro this afternoon and that usually means good things for the New England Patriots as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a 47-7 thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals at the Razor. The win moves the Patriots to 10-5 and with the Dolphins winning today as well, they remain tied for first place in the AFC East. The Jets are currently playing the Seahawks in snowy Seattle.

With the snow falling and the field covered, it was expected that both teams would run the ball most of the game. The Patriots did that rushing for 183 yards in the game while holding the Cardinals to 44 yards on the ground. The big difference though was the fact that Matt Cassel was able to throw for 345 yards leading the Patriots to scores on 8 of their first 9 drives to put this game out of reach by halftime.

This was a Cardinals team that is already headed to the playoffs due to the ineptitude of the other teams in the NFC West. But they didn’t play like a playoff team at all as they were definitely affected by the elements. They made some fundamental mistakes allowing the Patriots to get some clean hits on Kurt Warner and just couldn’t get anything down until a garbage time touchdown pass from Matt Leinart to Larry Fitzgerald.

There’s not much more really to say as it was a complete domination by the Patriots of the Cardinals. Let’s hope the Seahawks can give the Patriots some help tonight and make the Patriots control their own destiny instead of having to rely on help from other teams.

Scoring Plays

CARDINALS 0 0 0 7 7
PATRIOTS 14 17 13 3 47

1st Quarter

  • Patriots running back LaMont Jordan (32) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Randy Moss (81) during New England's game against the Arizona Cardinals at Gillette Stadium - Patriots.com PhotoNE – LaMont Jordan 1 yard run (Stephen Gostowski PAT)
  • NE – Jordan 3 yard run (Gostowski PAT)

2nd Quarter

  • NE – Kevin Faulk 15 yard pass from Matt Cassel (Gostowski PAT)
  • NE – Wes Welker 11 yard pass from Cassel (Gostowski PAT)
  • NE – Gostowski  38 yard field goal

3rd Quarter

  • NE – Randy Moss 76 yard pass from Cassel (Gostowski PAT)
  • NE – Gostowski 35 yard field goal
  • NE – Gostowski 24 yard field goal

4th Quarter

  • NE – Gostowski 30 yard field goal
  • New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel celebrates a touchdown during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Foxborough, Mass - AP PhotoARI – Larry Fitzgerald 78 yard pass from Matt Leinart (Neil Rackers PAT)

Offensive Player of the Game

Matt Cassel was 2o-of-36 for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns

Defensive Player of the Game

The entire New England defense.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The snow falling at Gillette Stadium. The Cardinals hadn’t played a game in the snow since 1983 when they were in St. Louis.

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Paw Prints – The Daily Roundup – 12/21

Paw Prints The Daily Roundup

It’s the first day of winter and it has struck again here for us in Connecticut. And since we are stuck inside again, what better way than to spend your late afternoon watching the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team take on Florida State in the final game of the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 PM and the game will be broadcast locally on CPTV. Former Husky and current Northern Colorado Bears assistant coach Paige Sauer will be making an appearance on the broadcast.

Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register has a nice feature on former Husky and author Mel Thomas as does Lori Riley of the Hartford Courant.

Kaili McLaren is starting to make an impact for the Huskies.

The UConn women feature just two players over 6 feet in their starting lineup but are 5th in the country in rebounding margin.

The UConn women are enjoying the break from their normal routine.

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant and Rich Elliot of the Connecticut Post have some notes from yesterday’s practice in Cancun.

Nine UConn women’s players earned a 3.0 GPA in the first semester.

The UConn women will be playing the Texas Longhorns next season as well.

When the Price is right so are the UConn men.

Yesterday was a defining moment for A.J. Price and the UConn men’s team.

Gavin Edwards came up huge for the Huskies yesterday.

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant has some extras from yesterday’s win over Gonzaga.

The UConn men showed they were just tough enough yesterday.

This group of Huskies play best under adversity.

David Gillett has his look at yesterday’s win over Gonzaga.

The Slipper Still  Fits says Gonzaga threw that game away yesterday.

A.J. Price showed UConn is a title contender this season.

Rob Lunn checks in with his take on Desi Cullen’s appendectomy over at Thoughts From a Fat White Guy.

And the FWG also has this week’s sign of the apocalypse.

Hasheem Thabeet’s Weak Technical Foul Call

During the UConn Huskies overtime win over Gonzaga yesterday, Hasheem Thabeet was called for a taunting technical foul after a monstrous dunk to start overtime. I’ll let you judge for yourself on whether or not this was the right call.

In the words of Charles Barkley, this was a “turrible call.” In my humble opinion, Thabeet was just showing a little emotion coming back down the court. Luckily for UConn it didn’t end up hurting them.

Patriots Playoff Hopes Dealt Big Blow

New England Patriots: With the Baltimore Ravens win over the Dallas Cowboys last night, the Patriots playoff hopes took a big blow. If the Ravens had lost and the Pats win their final two games, they would have made the playoffs. Now they have to win both games and pray for help. Otherwise, they’ll be an 11-5 team that doesn’t make the playoffs should they win out.

[Reiss’s Pieces] [NFL Playoffs Week 16 Picture]