"Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity."
Michael Johnson
Showing posts with label Cincinnati Bengals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cincinnati Bengals. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Friday, 5 February 2016
Panthers Davis to Play with Pain
Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis is prepared to play through the pain barrier at Super Bowl 50 after having surgery on a broken arm only nine days ago.
Davis has received the green light from the NFC champions' medical team to face the Denver Broncos this Sunday in the biggest game of his 11-year NFL career.
He is no stranger to overcoming serious setbacks following three torn anterior cruciate ligament injuries, but there has been little time for him to overcome his latest problem before the season finale at Levi's Stadium.
Davis broke his right arm in the 49-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game and knows he is likely to be in discomfort on Sunday having had a plate and screws inserted.
"You don't sit around and think about it," he said. "Our doctors came up with a game-plan and they feel confident that I can go out and play at a high level.
"With them having confidence, that pushes my confidence level up. I know how I feel right now.
"I understand that on game day it's really going to boil down to how much pain that I can actually play through. There are not going to be any limitations, I can go out there and actually play.
"But I just had surgery a little bit over a week ago, it's going to hurt but you play the game with pain all the time.
Asked about his pain threshold, he added: "It's definitely a lot higher than you would imagine and given that this is the Super Bowl, you figure out a way to play through things. That's something I'm going to be doing.
"When it comes down to actually playing with limitations and playing through pain - it's two different things. Playing with pain is something that you can deal with and that's what I'm going to be doing, I'll deal with it."
Archie Manning Backs Broncos Peyton
Peyton Manning’s father Archie has backed his son over allegations the Broncos quarterback took the banned substance HGH, telling ESPN: “He didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”
A report from Al Jazeera America in December linked Peyton to human growth hormone delivered to his wife while he was recovering from neck surgery in 2011, but Archie Manning insisted his son has never taken anything he shouldn’t have.
“I didn’t like [the report]. I thought it was some pretty shabby journalism,” Manning Sr said on ESPN’s Mike & Mike. “Actually, I hadn’t done a lot of interviews this year. This is the first time I’ve been asked about it. But I’m pretty much with him.
“He told me: ‘I didn’t do that.’ I always had a saying when he was going through everything, and he had to talk to a lot of different doctors and trainers, and I always said: ‘No voodoo.’ That was kind of our theme. And he didn’t. He said he didn’t. He didn’t.”
The report claims Manning received HGH from an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic in 2011 while he was still with the Colts. It said the drug, which was banned by the NFL in 2011, was delivered to his wife, Ashley, so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to the shipments.
Manning denied the story when it emerged just after Christmas. “The allegation that I would do something like that is complete garbage and is totally made up. It never happened. Never,” he said.
“I really can’t believe somebody would put something like this on the air. Whoever said this is making stuff up.”
Peyton Manning also supports an NFL investigation into the report.
“I do welcome it. It’s no news to me,” Manning said in January. “I still stand by what I said then – that it’s garbage from the first day that it came out, garbage today.”
Archie Manning also said he hasn’t spoken with his son about whether he’ll retire next year – but thinks Peyton hasn’t yet made up his mind.
“He’ll find the right time to sit down and discuss it. He hasn’t talked to me. He’ll talk to Ashley,” the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, told SportsCenter later in the day.
“I think it will be pretty clear-cut. He loves this game. The end of last year being hurt, this year being hurt could affect this. When the time comes, he’ll sit down and make the right decision.”
Monday, 1 February 2016
Jarryd Hayne to Remain a 49ers
Jarryd Hayne will remain at the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 according to the NFL franchise’s general manager, Trent Baalke.
Baalke has also labelled Hayne’s NFL experiment a success, despite the former NRL star playing just eight games in a fractured season which included spending a number of months in the practice squad.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but what I do know is that he is very conscientious and this is very important to him,” Baalke told Fairfax Media.
“We are committed to this. I’m looking forward to getting him back here, I know the coaching staff is.”
Baalke also predicted the 27-year-old would have a big second season in the game, despite having to prove himself to the coaching team headed by former Philadelphia Eagles mentor Chip Kelly.
“We haven’t spent a ton of time speaking about individual players on a roster yet but I’ll tell you [Kelly is] well aware of Jarryd and Jarryd’s story, as is everyone in the National Football League by now.
Baalke, who has been involved with the club in various roles since 2005, also defended the club’s mid-season dropping of the punt returner.
He also suggested he couldn’t envisage Hayne giving up on his NFL dream to return to the NRL.
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Belichick Patriots Problems Surface
Bill Belichick refused to blame his Pro Bowl kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, after a missed extra-point contributed towards the New England Patriots’ defeat in the AFC championship game.
Gostkowski’s miss in the second quarter meant the Patriots had to go for a two-point conversion as they attempted to tie the game against the Denver Broncos. The attempt failed and New England’s season ended with a 20-18 defeat. Gostkowski said he blamed himself for the loss but at his end of season press conference on Monday, Belichick said the defeat was a team responsibility.
“Steve is a great kicker. He had a great year for us,” Belichick said. “I think every coach or player who participated in the game wishes there was a couple things they could have done differently. I feel that way. Everybody I’ve talked to feels that way. I can’t imagine that anyone who participated in the game doesn’t feel that way. I feel like it’s my fault, I’m sure all the other players who played feel like it’s their fault.”
Belichick was one of the coaches who pushed to move the extra-point back to 33 yards, a rule that was introduced at the start of this season. But on Monday he would not be drawn into a discussion on the change. “Whatever the rules are, we play by them. We don’t make the rules. That’s decided by the league,” Belichick said.
The Patriots also received criticism when they decided to go for it on a fourth and one in the final quarter, when they trailed 20-12 and were well within field-goal range. Again, Belichick refused to rue the decision: “At that time, there was no hesitation in doing that,” Belichick said. He explained “time, and number of possessions you have left” played a part in his thinking.
Tom Brady was pressured all day, taking 23 hits from the Broncos. But like Belichick we he took the defeat as a team. “When you play quarterback, you’re going to take hits. You have to stand in there and make throws. There are no excuses for me for not getting the job done,” Brady said. “Our guys fought hard. I’m proud of all the guys for what they tried to accomplish. We just came up one play short to a very good football team.”
Belichick was also hampered when the Patriots’ Microsoft Surface tablets went offline for 20 minutes, leaving his staff at a disadvantage. The outage did not affect the Broncos. Meanwhile, some fans wondered whether the Pats were victims of double standards.
“Our team on the field confirmed the issue was not related to the tablets themselves but rather an issue with the network, said Microsoft in a statement. “We worked with our partners who manage the network to ensure the issue was resolved quickly.”
Monday, 25 January 2016
Manning Surpasses Elway Record
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| Getty Images |
Peyton Manning — the 39-year-old quarterback who was supposed to be on his way to a retirement party — will be playing in the Super Bowl two weeks from now.
Manning engineered a 20-18 victory over the Patriots — not settled until Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby picked off Brady’s pass on a two-point attempt that would have tied it with 12 seconds left.
The New England Patriots had to go for two after Brady hit Rob Gronkowski in the back of the end zone because Stephen Gostkowski missed his first extra point in 524 tries in the first quarter. Aqib Talib stepped in front of Brady’s pass and deflected it skyward.
Roby, who forced the game-changing fumble in last week’s victory over Pittsburgh, made the pick. The Broncos (14-4) recovered the onside kick and the celebration began. Manning is now 6-11 in his vaunted series against Brady, but 3-1 when it has counted the most — with the AFC title on the line.
“Well, it’s been a special rivalry over the course of my career against the Patriots, the entire organization,” Manning said.
“To play four times in the AFC championship with so much on the line, those games have been very special.”
Manning surpassed his boss, John Elway, as the oldest quarterback to take his team to the Super Bowl. The Broncos will play Arizona or Carolina, who met later in the NFC title game.
Whether it’s been Manning lining up under centre, or Brock Osweiler, who took snaps while Manning was injured for six weeks toward the end of the season, the Broncos have depended on a defense that gave up the fewest yards this season and came up with game-saving plays time and again.
Von Miller finished with two-and-a-half sacks and an interception. The Broncos harassed Brady all day. He finished 27 for 56 for 310 yards. After being shut out twice inside the Denver 20 late in the fourth quarter, Brady lobbed a 40-yard pass to a double-covered Gronkowski to keep a desperation drive going on fourth-and-10.
Then, on fourth-and-goal from the four with 12 seconds left, Brady found Gronkowski — again double-covered — in the back corner of the end zone. The tight end stepped in front of Chris Harris Jr for the catch, and the game came down to one play.
Denver tight end Owen Daniels was the hero in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, catching two Peyton Manning passes for touchdowns in the first half as the Broncos booked their Super Bowl place
The Broncos defense made it once again, and the franchise are now headed to their eighth Super Bowl. This marks No4 for Manning, who could become the first quarterback to lead two different franchises to titles.
“The one thing we’ve done all year long is we just grind as a football team,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “Our fans are great to play for. Defensively, we played our tails off all year long and we found a way to win another tough one.”
Was it vintage Manning? Not quite. Vintage Manning has never been known for taking off when the field is clear, the way he did with 9:49 left in the third quarter and nothing but air between him and the first-down marker on the Patriots sideline.
The 17-for-32 performance certainly won’t go in his top half, nor will Owen Daniels go down as one of his top 50 all-time favourite receivers. But 17 completions was enough, and it was Daniels, the tight end who has played his whole career somewhere with Kubiak, who caught both of Manning’s touchdown passes.
Faced with the new title of game manager, Manning made the best playoff scramble by a Broncos quarterback since Elway helicoptered his way to a first down in the Super Bowl 18 years back to help the Broncos finally break through.
More fresh in the minds of Broncos fans was Manning’s decision to pull up and throw in the playoff game against the Colts last season when he had as much or more open space in front of him as he did Sunday.
Some thought his career might be over after that one. But there’s at least one more game in his future — 7 February in Santa Clara, California against the Carolina Panthers.
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Broncos Smith Starts Brady Sledging
Although the AFC title game showdown between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos is still days away, but the first verbal jabs between the conference’s two best teams have already been exchanged.
Broncos defensive lineman Antonio Smith drew first blood on Monday at the club’s Dove Valley training facility, answering in the affirmative when asked if Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was a crybaby.
“That would be an accurate statement,” Smith told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “I’ve never seen any quarterback look to the referee right after he gets sacked more than Brady. Every time he gets sacked he looks at the ref like, ‘You see him sack me? Was that supposed to happen? He did it a little hard. Please throw a 15-yard penalty on him. Get him fined.’”
Smith’s remarks drew the attention of New York City’s tabloids, with both the Post and Daily News having a go at the New England quarterback on their Wednesday back pages.
Denver’s Chris Harris Jr doubled down in a Tuesday interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter when asked about the best way to defend Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“You gotta hit him low, man,” the fifth-year cornerback said. “Hit him in his knees. That’s the best chance you got of hitting him.”
Gronkowski’s risqué riposte has since been retweeted more than 48,000 times.
The 6ft 6in, 265lb Pro Bowler tore his ACL and MCL in 2013 when he was directly hit in the knee by current Denver safety TJ Ward, then with the Cleveland Browns.
He was tackled low several times by Denver defenders when the teams met earlier this year, a 30-24 win by the Broncos that saw Gronkowski carted off with a knee injury.
Sunday’s AFC championship game will be the 17th all-time meeting between Brady and Denver quarterback Peyton Manning with Brady’s teams holding an 11-5 edge.
The winner will advance to Super Bowl 50, scheduled for 7 February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Monday, 18 January 2016
Panthers Overcome Seahawks
The Panthers, who led 31-0 at half-time, beat the Seahawks 31-24 as they remain on course to win the Super Bowl for the first time.
They will meet the Arizona Cardinals after their 26-20 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
The Denver Broncos will host defending champions the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
Denver were trailing 13-12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers with 10 minutes to go before CJ Anderson scored the only touchdown to help the Broncos win 23-16.
The Patriots, who are aiming to make a record ninth Super Bowl, ended the Kansas City Chiefs' 11-game winning run with a 27-20 success.
Carolina won 15 of their 16 matches during the regular season and looked on their way to an easy victory against Seattle. Two touchdowns from Jonathan Stewart and one apiece from Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen helped Carolina into a 31-point lead.
However, two touchdowns from Jermaine Kearse and one from Tyler Lockett brought Seattle within seven points, but Carolina held on.
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