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The Hall of Fame will announce its class of 2010 this afternoon. And you can bet Randy Johnson will be among its 2015 inductees. The 10-time All-Star retired Tuesday after an outstanding 22-season career. Where the 6-foot-10 left-hander ranks all-ime in key categories:
Wins: 303 (22nd)
Strikeouts: 4,875 (2nd)
Games started: 601 (21st)
Iinnings pitched: 4,135 1/3 (38th)
Cy Young Awards: 5 (2nd)
The Hall of Fame will announce its class of 2010 this afternoon. And you can bet Randy Johnson will be among its 2015 inductees. The 10-time All-Star retired Tuesday after an outstanding 22-season career. Where the 6-foot-10 left-hander ranks all-ime in key categories:
Wins: 303 (22nd)
Strikeouts: 4,875 (2nd)
Games started: 601 (21st)
Iinnings pitched: 4,135 1/3 (38th)
Cy Young Awards: 5 (2nd)
One intriguing free agent remains on the market, and his destination may be known soon.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday that 21-year-old Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman may sign "within the next three or four days." The newspaper reported the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays are the favorites to land him, and that each has offered him about $21 million.
Chapman reportedly has also received offers from the Florida Marlins ($13 million) and the Boston Red Sox ($15 million).
Teams have been eager to scout Chapman ever since he defected from Cuba. He was impressive in a recent workout for scouts in Houston; he reached the mid-90s with his fastball.
One intriguing free agent remains on the market, and his destination may be known soon.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday that 21-year-old Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman may sign "within the next three or four days." The newspaper reported the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays are the favorites to land him, and that each has offered him about $21 million.
Chapman reportedly has also received offers from the Florida Marlins ($13 million) and the Boston Red Sox ($15 million).
Teams have been eager to scout Chapman ever since he defected from Cuba. He was impressive in a recent workout for scouts in Houston; he reached the mid-90s with his fastball.
The agent for free-agent third baseman Melvin Mora told The Baltimore Sun that three teams have expressed interest in his client. Two of the teams are from the National League and the third is from the American League, but none of the teams is from the AL. East or NL. East.
It was reported recently that the Rockies had interest in Mora as a utility player, though it is unclear if Colorado is one of the NL teams looking at Mora now. According to his agent, Mora hopes to land with a contender who will give him a decent amount of playing time.
The agent for free-agent third baseman Melvin Mora told The Baltimore Sun that three teams have expressed interest in his client. Two of the teams are from the National League and the third is from the American League, but none of the teams is from the AL. East or NL. East.
It was reported recently that the Rockies had interest in Mora as a utility player, though it is unclear if Colorado is one of the NL teams looking at Mora now. According to his agent, Mora hopes to land with a contender who will give him a decent amount of playing time.
Although the Twins should get a financial boost from the new Target Field, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul reported the team won’t dramatically ramp up its spending. The Twins still have needs at second base and third base, but the newspaper noted they also have to sign catcher Joe Mauer to a long-term extension.
In addition, first baseman Justin Morneau, closer Joe Nathan and right fielder Michael Cuddyer all will make more than $10 million this season. A handful of other Twins also will get substantial raises from 2009. Thus, the team has been conservative this offseason.
In other Twins news, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported left-hander Francisco Liriano has been impressive in winter ball. "I just got a report that he’s throwing the living fire out of the ball down in the Dominican (Republic)," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the newspaper.
After going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA as a rookie in 2006, Liriano missed all of 2007 season because of Tommy John surgery. In his first full season back in the majors in 2009, he went 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA.
The newspaper reported Liriano will compete with Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins for the fifth spot in the Twins’ rotation this season.
Although the Twins should get a financial boost from the new Target Field, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul reported the team won’t dramatically ramp up its spending. The Twins still have needs at second base and third base, but the newspaper noted they also have to sign catcher Joe Mauer to a long-term extension.
In addition, first baseman Justin Morneau, closer Joe Nathan and right fielder Michael Cuddyer all will make more than $10 million this season. A handful of other Twins also will get substantial raises from 2009. Thus, the team has been conservative this offseason.
In other Twins news, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported left-hander Francisco Liriano has been impressive in winter ball. "I just got a report that he’s throwing the living fire out of the ball down in the Dominican (Republic)," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the newspaper.
After going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA as a rookie in 2006, Liriano missed all of 2007 season because of Tommy John surgery. In his first full season back in the majors in 2009, he went 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA.
The newspaper reported Liriano will compete with Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins for the fifth spot in the Twins’ rotation this season.
A day after agreeing to a contract with Adrian Beltre, the Red Sox are working to ease their corner infield logjam.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Boston is close to trading first baseman Casey Kotchman to Beltre’s former team, the Seattle Mariners, for utilityman Bill Hall, a minor leaguer and cash to cover a portion of Hall’s $8.4 million salary for 2010.
The trade is pending physicals and Beltre’s signing being finalized later this week, according to the Seattle Times.
Many believed Kotchman was expendable even before Beltre came aboard in Boston; the Red Sox had Kevin Youkilis at first base and Mike Lowell at third. The team unsuccessfully attempted to trade Lowell in December. It reportedly will try again once Lowell shows he has recovered from offseason surgery on his thumb.
Kotchman played in 39 games for the Red Sox after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche before the July 31 nonwaiver deadline. He batted .218/.284/.287 in 95 plate appearances. Seattle will make Kotchman, 26, its full-time first baseman. The former Angels regular is a lifetime .269/.337/.406 hitter in parts of six major league seasons.
Hall played in 34 games for the Mariners last season after being released by the Brewers. Milwaukee is responsible for about $7 million of Hall’s salary this year.
A day after agreeing to a contract with Adrian Beltre, the Red Sox are working to ease their corner infield logjam.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Boston is close to trading first baseman Casey Kotchman to Beltre’s former team, the Seattle Mariners, for utilityman Bill Hall, a minor leaguer and cash to cover a portion of Hall’s $8.4 million salary for 2010.
The trade is pending physicals and Beltre’s signing being finalized later this week, according to the Seattle Times.
Many believed Kotchman was expendable even before Beltre came aboard in Boston; the Red Sox had Kevin Youkilis at first base and Mike Lowell at third. The team unsuccessfully attempted to trade Lowell in December. It reportedly will try again once Lowell shows he has recovered from offseason surgery on his thumb.
Kotchman played in 39 games for the Red Sox after being acquired from the Atlanta Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche before the July 31 nonwaiver deadline. He batted .218/.284/.287 in 95 plate appearances. Seattle will make Kotchman, 26, its full-time first baseman. The former Angels regular is a lifetime .269/.337/.406 hitter in parts of six major league seasons.
Hall played in 34 games for the Mariners last season after being released by the Brewers. Milwaukee is responsible for about $7 million of Hall’s salary this year.
Saturday’s NFC playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys marks the 20th time since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger teams have met a third time in a season — twice in the regular season and again in the playoffs.
Twelve of the matchups resulted in sweeps, the most recent being last season, when the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers met in the AFC championship game. The Steelers won 23-14 and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Dallas has failed in two previous attempts to pull off the three-peat. In 1998 they lost to the Cardinals; in 2007 they lost to the Giants, both part of the franchise’s 13-year postseason drought.
Vinnie Iyer looks deeper into Saturday’s 8 p.m. ET playoff game and how the Eagles and Cowboys got there.
Here’s a look at the 19 previous playoff games in which teams met for the third time in one season:
| Year | Season | Playoffs |
| 1982 | Dolphins over Jets | Won |
| 1983 | Seahawks over Raiders | Lost |
| 1986 | Giants over Redskins | Won |
| 1989 | Oilers over Steelers | Lost |
| 1991 | Chiefs over Raiders | Won |
| 1992 | Chiefs over Chargers | Lost |
| 1993 | Raiders over Broncos | Won |
| 1994 | Vikings over Bears | Lost |
| 1994 | Steelers over Browns | Won |
| 1997 | Patriots over Dolphins | Won |
| 1997 | Packers over Buccaneers | Won |
| 1998 | Cowboys over Cardinals | Lost |
| 1999 | Titans over Jaguars | Won |
| 2000 | Giants over Eagles | Won |
| 2002 | Steelers over Browns | Won |
| 2004 | Rams over Seahawks | Won |
| 2004 | Packers over Vikings | Lost |
| 2007 | Cowboys over Giants | Lost |
| 2008 | Steelers over Ravens | Won |
This season, the Cowboys won twice against the Eagles:
Week 9: Cowboys 20, Eagles 16
Tony Romo threw a 49-yard TD pass to Austin midway through the fourth quarter to decide the 100th meeting between the division rivals. Romo finished 21 of 34 for 307 yards, one TD and one interception.
McNabb threw for 227 yards, one TD and was intercepted twice for the first time this season.
Week 17: Cowboys 24, Eagles 0
Romo threw two early touchdown passes and the defense took over. The Cowboys won the NFC East to be host for a rematch in the first round of the playoffs. They also posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in team history, Romo and the entire offense setting all sorts of single-season records, having a winning record after Dec. 1 for the first time since 1996 and ending a nine-game losing streak in season finales.
McNabb threw for 223 yards and the Eagles gained just 228 overall. The Cowboys had 291 yards by halftime, on their way to gaining 474.
Philadelphia’s game-breaking receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin failed to have any plays longer than 32 yards, and that was better than they did in the first matchup. The defense saw Romo go 24-of-34 for 311 yards
Saturday’s NFC playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys marks the 20th time since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger teams have met a third time in a season — twice in the regular season and again in the playoffs.
Twelve of the matchups resulted in sweeps, the most recent being last season, when the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers met in the AFC championship game. The Steelers won 23-14 and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Dallas has failed in two previous attempts to pull off the three-peat. In 1998 they lost to the Cardinals; in 2007 they lost to the Giants, both part of the franchise’s 13-year postseason drought.
Vinnie Iyer looks deeper into Saturday’s 8 p.m. ET playoff game and how the Eagles and Cowboys got there.
Here’s a look at the 19 previous playoff games in which teams met for the third time in one season:
| Year | Season | Playoffs |
| 1982 | Dolphins over Jets | Won |
| 1983 | Seahawks over Raiders | Lost |
| 1986 | Giants over Redskins | Won |
| 1989 | Oilers over Steelers | Lost |
| 1991 | Chiefs over Raiders | Won |
| 1992 | Chiefs over Chargers | Lost |
| 1993 | Raiders over Broncos | Won |
| 1994 | Vikings over Bears | Lost |
| 1994 | Steelers over Browns | Won |
| 1997 | Patriots over Dolphins | Won |
| 1997 | Packers over Buccaneers | Won |
| 1998 | Cowboys over Cardinals | Lost |
| 1999 | Titans over Jaguars | Won |
| 2000 | Giants over Eagles | Won |
| 2002 | Steelers over Browns | Won |
| 2004 | Rams over Seahawks | Won |
| 2004 | Packers over Vikings | Lost |
| 2007 | Cowboys over Giants | Lost |
| 2008 | Steelers over Ravens | Won |
This season, the Cowboys won twice against the Eagles:
Week 9: Cowboys 20, Eagles 16
Tony Romo threw a 49-yard TD pass to Austin midway through the fourth quarter to decide the 100th meeting between the division rivals. Romo finished 21 of 34 for 307 yards, one TD and one interception.
McNabb threw for 227 yards, one TD and was intercepted twice for the first time this season.
Week 17: Cowboys 24, Eagles 0
Romo threw two early touchdown passes and the defense took over. The Cowboys won the NFC East to be host for a rematch in the first round of the playoffs. They also posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in team history, Romo and the entire offense setting all sorts of single-season records, having a winning record after Dec. 1 for the first time since 1996 and ending a nine-game losing streak in season finales.
McNabb threw for 223 yards and the Eagles gained just 228 overall. The Cowboys had 291 yards by halftime, on their way to gaining 474.
Philadelphia’s game-breaking receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin failed to have any plays longer than 32 yards, and that was better than they did in the first matchup. The defense saw Romo go 24-of-34 for 311 yards
Five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson is likely to announce his retirement, according to multiple media reports.
Johnson, 46, has scheduled a conference call with the media Tuesday to discuss his baseball future. The Big Unit won his 300th game last season with the Giants, but missed more than a month with injuries and finished the year 8-6 with a 4.88 ERA.
In 22 seasons, Johnson won 303 games while losing 166 and posting a 3.29 ERA. He is second on the all-time strikeout list to Nolan Ryan.
Johnson’s career included stints with the Expos, Mariners, Astros, Diamondbacks, Yankees and Giants. He was the AL Cy Young winner with the M’s in 1995 and then won four straight with the D-backs from 1999 to 2002.
Five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson is likely to announce his retirement, according to multiple media reports.
Johnson, 46, has scheduled a conference call with the media Tuesday to discuss his baseball future. The Big Unit won his 300th game last season with the Giants, but missed more than a month with injuries and finished the year 8-6 with a 4.88 ERA.
In 22 seasons, Johnson won 303 games while losing 166 and posting a 3.29 ERA. He is second on the all-time strikeout list to Nolan Ryan.
Johnson’s career included stints with the Expos, Mariners, Astros, Diamondbacks, Yankees and Giants. He was the AL Cy Young winner with the M’s in 1995 and then won four straight with the D-backs from 1999 to 2002.
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
He was criticized for going for it on fourth down. His team struggled mightily on the road. His team wasn’t as dominant as it was just a few years ago. His leading pass catcher, Wes Welker, was injured in Week 17 and will miss the playoffs. Nonetheless, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are back in the playoffs, are AFC East champions again, and are looking to win another Super Bowl.
Belichick joined the Big Show on WEEI in Boston and talked about the game against the Houston Texans this past weekend, the field at Reliant Stadium, Welker’s season-ending injury, and the Patriots’ upcoming playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Asked about his plan for the final game, and if that changed when Welker went down with the injury:
"No, not really. I’d say we pretty much played everybody and we got guys some experience, in normal situations and in some situations that they hadn’t been in. For example, [Brian] Hoyer.
I think that’s kind of what we wanted to do going into the game. Everybody played. Everybody got a chance to get some work, of the guys that were active."
Asked if he thought there was any problem with Houston’s turf:
"The turf down there is terrible. It’s terrible. It’s just inconsistent. It’s all the little trays of grass, and some of them are soft, and some of them are firm, and they don’t all fit well together. Those seams — some of it feels like a sponge, some of it feels real firm and hard like the Miami surface. One step you’re on one, the other step you’re on another. I really think it’s one of the worst fields I’ve seen."
Asked about Welker making the same cut he’s made before, only this time getting injured:
"For the level of play we have in the National Football League, I think consistency on the field would be priority number one. We talk about players’ safety, about hits and all that, and that’s certainly an area that should always be addressed. There’s nothing more important than player safety. To me, player safety starts on the surface that we play on … I walked out there and I thought it was terrible."
Asked how much time did he spent planning for Baltimore:
"Not too much time formulating a game plan, but quite a bit of time getting ready for them and preparing for them. Watching the game. That’s the team I spent all my time watching, and you never know how it’s going to turn out, but [we] kind of played the percentages that the Jets would win and that Baltimore would beat the Raiders, and that sewed it up …
We’ve seen a lot of them. And we have a lot of scouting work done on them. Today, we’ll start on the game plan, tonight and tomorrow, and have that ready when the players come in on Wednesday. But they’re, in a way, the same team we saw, but in another way, they’ve evolved like all of us have over the course of the season, and they’re solid in all three phases of the game."
On how the Ravens have evolved:
"They seem to be a little more balanced running and passing. We got a lot of passing — I think [Joe Flacco] threw almost 50 times against us. I think it was 40-something. And [Ray] Rice is their leading receiver with 70-something catches. They get the ball to everybody, obviously the backs and the receivers…
It seems like they’ve balanced it up a bit with the running game and with Rice and, of course, [Willis] McGahee had a big day for them yesterday. [Jared] Gaither is back on the offensive line, and they’re using [Chris] Chester a little bit as a second tight end, and [Marshal] Yanda is playing a little bit more. It seems like they’ve gotten a little bit bigger. And [LeRon McClain] has had a real good year for them, and that’s helped them in the running game, too."
Listen to Bill Belichick on the Big Show on WEEI in Boston
===
More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
He was criticized for going for it on fourth down. His team struggled mightily on the road. His team wasn’t as dominant as it was just a few years ago. His leading pass catcher, Wes Welker, was injured in Week 17 and will miss the playoffs. Nonetheless, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are back in the playoffs, are AFC East champions again, and are looking to win another Super Bowl.
Belichick joined the Big Show on WEEI in Boston and talked about the game against the Houston Texans this past weekend, the field at Reliant Stadium, Welker’s season-ending injury, and the Patriots’ upcoming playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Asked about his plan for the final game, and if that changed when Welker went down with the injury:
"No, not really. I’d say we pretty much played everybody and we got guys some experience, in normal situations and in some situations that they hadn’t been in. For example, [Brian] Hoyer.
I think that’s kind of what we wanted to do going into the game. Everybody played. Everybody got a chance to get some work, of the guys that were active."
Asked if he thought there was any problem with Houston’s turf:
"The turf down there is terrible. It’s terrible. It’s just inconsistent. It’s all the little trays of grass, and some of them are soft, and some of them are firm, and they don’t all fit well together. Those seams — some of it feels like a sponge, some of it feels real firm and hard like the Miami surface. One step you’re on one, the other step you’re on another. I really think it’s one of the worst fields I’ve seen."
Asked about Welker making the same cut he’s made before, only this time getting injured:
"For the level of play we have in the National Football League, I think consistency on the field would be priority number one. We talk about players’ safety, about hits and all that, and that’s certainly an area that should always be addressed. There’s nothing more important than player safety. To me, player safety starts on the surface that we play on … I walked out there and I thought it was terrible."
Asked how much time did he spent planning for Baltimore:
"Not too much time formulating a game plan, but quite a bit of time getting ready for them and preparing for them. Watching the game. That’s the team I spent all my time watching, and you never know how it’s going to turn out, but [we] kind of played the percentages that the Jets would win and that Baltimore would beat the Raiders, and that sewed it up …
We’ve seen a lot of them. And we have a lot of scouting work done on them. Today, we’ll start on the game plan, tonight and tomorrow, and have that ready when the players come in on Wednesday. But they’re, in a way, the same team we saw, but in another way, they’ve evolved like all of us have over the course of the season, and they’re solid in all three phases of the game."
On how the Ravens have evolved:
"They seem to be a little more balanced running and passing. We got a lot of passing — I think [Joe Flacco] threw almost 50 times against us. I think it was 40-something. And [Ray] Rice is their leading receiver with 70-something catches. They get the ball to everybody, obviously the backs and the receivers…
It seems like they’ve balanced it up a bit with the running game and with Rice and, of course, [Willis] McGahee had a big day for them yesterday. [Jared] Gaither is back on the offensive line, and they’re using [Chris] Chester a little bit as a second tight end, and [Marshal] Yanda is playing a little bit more. It seems like they’ve gotten a little bit bigger. And [LeRon McClain] has had a real good year for them, and that’s helped them in the running game, too."
Listen to Bill Belichick on the Big Show on WEEI in Boston
===
More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
The New York Jets are ahead of schedule. They’ve made it to the NFL playoffs with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback in the country’s biggest media market. No matter what happens against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, these Jets are now saddled with the burden of expectations.
Head coach Rex Ryan joined ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay to talk about making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach, why he has so much confidence in his team, whether or not he is concerned with his rookie quarterback, and whether or not his team can win a Super Bowl this season.
On making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach:
"It’s hard to get into the playoffs. It took a lot of things for us to get in there besides having to play really well. They don’t come around all the time. You can’t assume that you’re always going to be in it, that’s for sure. You’d like to think you would be, but it is difficult. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in team sports.
You can look at last years, somebody was telling me, the top four teams in last year’s tournament, none of them made the playoffs this year. It just goes to show how difficult it is. Being my first year and all that kind of stuff, absolutely, I’m excited about it. But that’s not our goal. We’re in it to win it.
We’ve got a tough task in front of us going to Cincinnati. I believe in this football team and I think were built for this time of year. We’ve said that. Be able to run the football, play great defense, do a good job on special teams, protect the football, and make plays down the field when we need to."
On whether or not they showed too much Sunday night against Cincinnati:
"When you know the systems the way we do and the way Brian [Schottenheimer] knows our offense, trust me, it seems like an endless bag of things that he can come up with. Then on defense, we’ll have enough tricks for them as well and do different things. We’ll be dialed in. I think were a difficult team to prepare for. We’re multiple on offense, defense, and special teams as well. It’s a short week, we’ll see the adjustments they make and we’ll already have some adjustments as well."
On people saying that they backed into the playoffs:
"People can think what they want. That’s fine. It’s hard to say you backed in when you lead the league in defense and it’s not even close. We gave up on average 252 yards a game against us on defense and the next closest team is probably 35 yards away per game. This defense has been spectacular. I know we haven’t finished some of the games the way we wanted to, but trust me, there isn’t a team in this league that wouldn’t trade our defense for their defense. I think that’s not backing in. I think leading the league in fewest points allowed and also, by the way, giving up seven or eight touchdowns in returns and still leading the league in fewest points allowed is also not backing in. Having the number one rushing attack in the league is not backing in.
That’s how I feel about it, but again everybody can have their opinions. That’s fine. We’re not making an apology for getting into the playoffs. We’re just focused on putting our best foot forward on Saturday."
On whether his quarterback is ready for the playoffs:
"I believe he is. I really do. He had a big throw earlier in the game [this past weekend], but it was tough … I think Braylon would have caught that thing eight out of ten times.
I had a lot of confidence in our passing attack, but the way the game was going we really never needed to risk anything down the field. We were just going to run the football and our guys did just a phenomenal job. Two of the best drives that I have seen into the wind, in those conditions."
On whether or not he believes his team can win a Super Bowl this year:
"I believe that. I believe we’re gonna win every game. It doesn’t always happen but I believe it. You’ve earned that right to be one of those teams in there. One of the final twelve teams, and why not? We have the number one defense by far in this league. We have the number one rushing attack in this league. We’re protecting the football, getting takeaways now, and playing good special teams. That’s what you have to have. I think we’ve peaked at the right time and we’re ready for this."
Listen to Rex Ryan on ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay
===
More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
The New York Jets are ahead of schedule. They’ve made it to the NFL playoffs with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback in the country’s biggest media market. No matter what happens against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, these Jets are now saddled with the burden of expectations.
Head coach Rex Ryan joined ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay to talk about making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach, why he has so much confidence in his team, whether or not he is concerned with his rookie quarterback, and whether or not his team can win a Super Bowl this season.
On making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach:
"It’s hard to get into the playoffs. It took a lot of things for us to get in there besides having to play really well. They don’t come around all the time. You can’t assume that you’re always going to be in it, that’s for sure. You’d like to think you would be, but it is difficult. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in team sports.
You can look at last years, somebody was telling me, the top four teams in last year’s tournament, none of them made the playoffs this year. It just goes to show how difficult it is. Being my first year and all that kind of stuff, absolutely, I’m excited about it. But that’s not our goal. We’re in it to win it.
We’ve got a tough task in front of us going to Cincinnati. I believe in this football team and I think were built for this time of year. We’ve said that. Be able to run the football, play great defense, do a good job on special teams, protect the football, and make plays down the field when we need to."
On whether or not they showed too much Sunday night against Cincinnati:
"When you know the systems the way we do and the way Brian [Schottenheimer] knows our offense, trust me, it seems like an endless bag of things that he can come up with. Then on defense, we’ll have enough tricks for them as well and do different things. We’ll be dialed in. I think were a difficult team to prepare for. We’re multiple on offense, defense, and special teams as well. It’s a short week, we’ll see the adjustments they make and we’ll already have some adjustments as well."
On people saying that they backed into the playoffs:
"People can think what they want. That’s fine. It’s hard to say you backed in when you lead the league in defense and it’s not even close. We gave up on average 252 yards a game against us on defense and the next closest team is probably 35 yards away per game. This defense has been spectacular. I know we haven’t finished some of the games the way we wanted to, but trust me, there isn’t a team in this league that wouldn’t trade our defense for their defense. I think that’s not backing in. I think leading the league in fewest points allowed and also, by the way, giving up seven or eight touchdowns in returns and still leading the league in fewest points allowed is also not backing in. Having the number one rushing attack in the league is not backing in.
That’s how I feel about it, but again everybody can have their opinions. That’s fine. We’re not making an apology for getting into the playoffs. We’re just focused on putting our best foot forward on Saturday."
On whether his quarterback is ready for the playoffs:
"I believe he is. I really do. He had a big throw earlier in the game [this past weekend], but it was tough … I think Braylon would have caught that thing eight out of ten times.
I had a lot of confidence in our passing attack, but the way the game was going we really never needed to risk anything down the field. We were just going to run the football and our guys did just a phenomenal job. Two of the best drives that I have seen into the wind, in those conditions."
On whether or not he believes his team can win a Super Bowl this year:
"I believe that. I believe we’re gonna win every game. It doesn’t always happen but I believe it. You’ve earned that right to be one of those teams in there. One of the final twelve teams, and why not? We have the number one defense by far in this league. We have the number one rushing attack in this league. We’re protecting the football, getting takeaways now, and playing good special teams. That’s what you have to have. I think we’ve peaked at the right time and we’re ready for this."
Listen to Rex Ryan on ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay
===
More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
Well, the regular season wasn’t more than 12 hours old and the Washington Redskins made the first kaboom in the offseason, firing head coach Jim Zorn. This wasn’t out of nowhere, but more of a when-will-it-happen decision by owner Daniel Snyder. Rumors of Zorn getting fired swirled all season, particularly after he lost his play-calling duties this season to a guy working in a bingo hall earlier in the year.
Reasons are plenty as to why this happened (losing games might have been the worst of them), but Zorn’s shaky relationship with quarterback Jason Campbell didn’t help. The truth is it didn’t help either one that much. Zorn is now gone and Campbell will become a free agent (unless next season is uncapped, which is looking more and more likely) who’s about to test the waters as soon as he can. Washington tried to trade up last April to draft Mark Sanchez and tried to trade for Jay Cutler in the offseason, so the writing seems to be on the wall.
Campbell did improve under Zorn. Even though he might have had one of the league’s worst offensive lines, he established personal bests with 3,618 yards passing, 20 touchdowns, a 64.5 completion percentage and an 86.4 quarterback rating. These are not the numbers of a bad quarterback, but can he take the Skins where they want to go yearly, the playoffs? Can he become an elite QB in the NFL? The whole Zorn hiring seemed weird, first as offensive coordinator and then quickly promoted to head coach. Snyder was sure Zorn was the hire to make Campbell his elite NFL QB; maybe it’s time to go back to square one. Campbell was the 25th pick in the 2005 NFL draft and has not lived up to Snyder’s standards as a franchise guy.
Campbell joined The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the Fan in Washington, D.C., to talk about Zorn’s firing, the chances of Mike Shanahan becoming the next head coach, and his impending free agency.
On whether he’ll be back next season:
"We haven’t really went that deep yet. My main thing I kept telling (my agent) was let me focus on the season, let me get through the season. One thing we both talked about is this a lot of may come to down things where I may not even have a say so. If you become a restricted free agent then you know it’s pretty much up to the Redskins whether they bring you back or not. A lot of stuff is out of my control and out of my hands so I can’t spend a lot of time worrying about it."
On whether people should assume Mike Shanahan is the next head coach of the Redskins:
"Well, that’s what all the speculation has been about the last three, four weeks. I don’t know how true it is or what’s going to come of it. I am pretty sure we will find out something here this week. But you know whoever it is; you kind of know its going to be an experienced head coach, a guy with a lot of background."
On Jim Zorn getting fired:
"It’s something that didn’t shock anyone. Because all the guys already felt that was probably going to happen. Based on everything going on and everything being said over the last couple of weeks that wasn’t anything that was shocking. You know we all told each other yesterday this would be the last time we would all be together as this team anyways, you know coaches and players. So we just wanted to try and go out there yesterday and finish on a strong note. We played a good game but we still came up short. We knew that wasn’t going to be a shock, we knew the Redskins were probably going to go in a different direction. It wasn’t anything that caught us off guard."
On whether he felt the offensive players felt accountable to Zorn or if they deferred to coordinator Sherm Lewis:
"We just kept moving forward. We just kept playing. The situation we knew, they were going to do something. You know we were getting staggered as an offense. People were kind of keying on what we were doing so we didn’t know what kind of change they were going to make. I thought Sherm Lewis was coming in here to be a consultant at the time. You know he was only here two weeks and named offensive coordinator. It kind of caught some guys off guard. At the same time everyone was like let’s not get caught up in the speculation and everything that’s going on. Let’s find a way to make this work. It was the same thing the coaches said, ‘Let’s make this work. We are still going to run our same offense; we are still going to have the same guys putting together our gameplan.’ My main thing was, J, don’t get caught up in what’s going on, my job was to make sure I got the play into the huddle, got it called, got to the line of scrimmage, without getting a delay of game."
Listen to Jason Campbell with The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the Fan in Washington
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
Well, the regular season wasn’t more than 12 hours old and the Washington Redskins made the first kaboom in the offseason, firing head coach Jim Zorn. This wasn’t out of nowhere, but more of a when-will-it-happen decision by owner Daniel Snyder. Rumors of Zorn getting fired swirled all season, particularly after he lost his play-calling duties this season to a guy working in a bingo hall earlier in the year.
Reasons are plenty as to why this happened (losing games might have been the worst of them), but Zorn’s shaky relationship with quarterback Jason Campbell didn’t help. The truth is it didn’t help either one that much. Zorn is now gone and Campbell will become a free agent (unless next season is uncapped, which is looking more and more likely) who’s about to test the waters as soon as he can. Washington tried to trade up last April to draft Mark Sanchez and tried to trade for Jay Cutler in the offseason, so the writing seems to be on the wall.
Campbell did improve under Zorn. Even though he might have had one of the league’s worst offensive lines, he established personal bests with 3,618 yards passing, 20 touchdowns, a 64.5 completion percentage and an 86.4 quarterback rating. These are not the numbers of a bad quarterback, but can he take the Skins where they want to go yearly, the playoffs? Can he become an elite QB in the NFL? The whole Zorn hiring seemed weird, first as offensive coordinator and then quickly promoted to head coach. Snyder was sure Zorn was the hire to make Campbell his elite NFL QB; maybe it’s time to go back to square one. Campbell was the 25th pick in the 2005 NFL draft and has not lived up to Snyder’s standards as a franchise guy.
Campbell joined The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the Fan in Washington, D.C., to talk about Zorn’s firing, the chances of Mike Shanahan becoming the next head coach, and his impending free agency.
On whether he’ll be back next season:
"We haven’t really went that deep yet. My main thing I kept telling (my agent) was let me focus on the season, let me get through the season. One thing we both talked about is this a lot of may come to down things where I may not even have a say so. If you become a restricted free agent then you know it’s pretty much up to the Redskins whether they bring you back or not. A lot of stuff is out of my control and out of my hands so I can’t spend a lot of time worrying about it."
On whether people should assume Mike Shanahan is the next head coach of the Redskins:
"Well, that’s what all the speculation has been about the last three, four weeks. I don’t know how true it is or what’s going to come of it. I am pretty sure we will find out something here this week. But you know whoever it is; you kind of know its going to be an experienced head coach, a guy with a lot of background."
On Jim Zorn getting fired:
"It’s something that didn’t shock anyone. Because all the guys already felt that was probably going to happen. Based on everything going on and everything being said over the last couple of weeks that wasn’t anything that was shocking. You know we all told each other yesterday this would be the last time we would all be together as this team anyways, you know coaches and players. So we just wanted to try and go out there yesterday and finish on a strong note. We played a good game but we still came up short. We knew that wasn’t going to be a shock, we knew the Redskins were probably going to go in a different direction. It wasn’t anything that caught us off guard."
On whether he felt the offensive players felt accountable to Zorn or if they deferred to coordinator Sherm Lewis:
"We just kept moving forward. We just kept playing. The situation we knew, they were going to do something. You know we were getting staggered as an offense. People were kind of keying on what we were doing so we didn’t know what kind of change they were going to make. I thought Sherm Lewis was coming in here to be a consultant at the time. You know he was only here two weeks and named offensive coordinator. It kind of caught some guys off guard. At the same time everyone was like let’s not get caught up in the speculation and everything that’s going on. Let’s find a way to make this work. It was the same thing the coaches said, ‘Let’s make this work. We are still going to run our same offense; we are still going to have the same guys putting together our gameplan.’ My main thing was, J, don’t get caught up in what’s going on, my job was to make sure I got the play into the huddle, got it called, got to the line of scrimmage, without getting a delay of game."
Listen to Jason Campbell with The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the Fan in Washington