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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
The Bills are looking for a complement to OLB Shawne Merriman this offseason.
Merriman projects as a situational pass rusher in the Bills' transition to a 4-3 defense, and his ability to stay healthy remains in serious doubt coming off an Achilles' injury that limited him to eight games over the past three seasons. The Bills are also expected to formally move Chris Kelsay back to defensive end.
Bills GM Buddy Nix confirmed that the team still plans to extend Fred Jackson's contract before the start of the 2012 season.
"I'd like for Fred to finish his career as a Bill," said Nix. "He's meant a lot to us. I've got great respect for him." This has major repercussions for offseason Dynasty start-up drafts. C.J. Spiller proved capable of shouldering feature-back duties down the stretch, but he's not going to nail down that role for another 1-2 years if a still productive F-Jax is extended. Jackson (fibula) was cleared for all football-related activities two weeks ago.
Bills released S Jon Corto.
They apparently didn't want to pay his $675,000 salary. Corto, 27, spent all last season on Buffalo's I.R. list after finishing fifth on the team in 2010 special teams tackles despite missing five games with a wrist injury. Corto has an uphill climb as an NFL player because he doesn't contribute on defense.
New TEs coach Pete Metzelaars' first priority is to get in touch with free agent Scott Chandler.
"Hopefully we can get him back," said Metzelaars. "I know the team would like to have him come back. He had a very good year last year, and try to build upon that." Despite his 6'7/265 frame, Pro Football Focus graded Chandler as one of the NFL's worst run blockers. The Bills need to pair Chandler with a more athletic tight end.
Bills re-signed K Rian Lindell to a four-year, $11 million contract.
Lindell is 35 and missed eight games in 2011 due to injury. While we can't imagine the Bills committed much, Lindell will be a good bet to beat out Brandon Coutu to keep his job in 2012. Buffalo's offense will have to take a major surge to get Lindell back on the fantasy radar.
Coach Chan Gailey says the Bills will still use multiple defensive fronts despite their official switch to a 4-3 scheme.
"When we hand you a lineup card, it's going to have two defensive tackles, two defensive ends, and three linebackers," Gailey said. "But how much we end up in even spacing (or) odd spacing ... that's determined by players and the offense we're playing." The Bills will mix in some 3-4, but new DC Dave Wannstedt has only ever coached 4-3s. Finding 4-3 players will be a priority in the draft.
Sources tell the Buffalo News that Ryan Fitzpatrick's midseason injury in 2011 included four cracked ribs and an injured sternum.
It sounds pretty severe, but Fitzpatrick insists the injury had no effect on his performance. "My only reaction would be, I don't really want to comment at all," Fitzpatrick said. "I don't think injuries had any effect on the way I played this year, at any point. I don't want to get into it." The Bills are tentatively expected to pay Fitzpatrick's $5 million option bonus on March 19.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.