Chiefs Deny Green Bay Packers a Shot at Perfection

The Packers have only the Super Bowl to look forward to now

Somewhere, the most annoying former champs in sports, the 1972 Dolphins, are planning their annual toast to their own perfection, their status as the NFL's lone unbeaten champions secure for another year. The latest threat to Mercury Morris' only claim to relevance was derailed by a guy who was chased out of Denver with a 1–4 record.

COMMENTS

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 14 Playoffs

Christian Ponder, Marion Barber and Ricky Williams lead the way this week

It’s playoff time — for most of you at least. Now is the time of year where every move has to be the right one or your fantasy football season is over. Of course this late in the 2011 season, pickings are slim on the waiver wire. But there are a few names out there that could be beneficial as you make your way through the playoffs.

COMMENTS

Tim Tebow Looks to Turn Denver Broncos' Season Around

Coach John Fox named Tim Tebow the starter for the Denver Broncos

by Josh Kipnis

Never before have fans been more enthusiastic about a 1-4 team than the fans of the Mile High city. This morning, the Denver Broncos announced that backup quarterback Tim Tebow will be promoted to starter following this week’s bye. Kyle Orton started all five of the Broncos’ games this season.

COMMENTS

Tim Tebow Won't Be A Saviour In Denver

It looks like it's Tebow time in Denver. But is that a good thing?

Tim Tebow has a knack for not going away. With Kyle Orton continuing to struggle, and fans begging for Tebow Time to start in Denver, head coach John Fox finally gave in and benched Orton during the Broncos game against the Chargers.

COMMENTS

Denver Broncos Should Start Tim Tebow

The Mile High faithful Broncos fans have spoken via digital billboard: Denver wants Tebow.

by Nathan Rush

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!

Well, really it’s only a giant digital billboard of the Denver Broncos’ Tim Tebow.

“Broncos Fans to John Fox: Play Tebow!!”

COMMENTS

Fantasy Football: Week 1 Start & Sit Recap

Detroit QB Matthew Stafford

Here's a scoring recap of how Week 1's Start or Sit worked out. Needless to say, I fell flat on my face, much like the Steelers' defense, with the call to sit Ray Rice. However, I take some solace in the fact my sneaky start of the week, Kenny Britt, did outscore Ray Rice. It's very little solace of course.

Anyways, I'd like to see more accountability in fantasy football, and I am happy to take the bad with the good. So a 50-percent success rate in Week 1 only seems fitting.

This is how I work out fantasy football scoring in my mind: I want to average 16 points from my QBs, RBs, WRs and Flex and average 10 points from my TEs, Ks and DSTs. It rarely works that way, but if you could get the skill spots to average 16 and the other three to average 10, that's 132 points in a 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 FLX, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DST setup; it's a score that should win you most weeks.

Week 1 Accuracy
(according to the 16 & 10 average theory)
Starts called correctly: 8 of 19
Sits called correctly: 11 of 19
Total correct: 19 of 38 (50 percent)

Sneaky Start of the Week
Kenny Britt, WR, TEN at Jacksonville - 5 catches, 136 yards, 2 TDs (29.10)

Unexpected Sit of the Week
Ray Rice, RB, BAL vs. Pittsburgh - 107 yards rushing, 4 catches, 42 yards, 2 TDs (28.90)

QB Starts
Kyle Orton (DEN) vs. Oakland - 304 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 FL (16.46)
Matthew Stafford (DET) at Tampa Bay - 305 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT (28.20)
Mark Sanchez (NYJ) vs. Dallas - 335 yards passing, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 FL (22.70)

QB Sits
Tony Romo (DAL) at New York Jets - 342 yards passing, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 FL (23.58)
Sam Bradford (STL) vs. Philadelphia - 188 yards passing, 1 FL (5.02)
Kerry Collins (IND) at Houston - 197 yards passing, 1 TD, 2 FL (11.88)

RB Starts
Peyton Hillis (CLE) vs. Cincinnati - 57 yards rushing, 6 catches, 30 yards (11.70)
Cedric Benson (CIN) at Cleveland - 121 yards rushing, 1 TD, 1 catch (18.80)
DeAngelo Williams (CAR) at Arizona - 30 yards rushing, 1 catch, 6 yards (4.10)

RB Sits
Michael Turner (ATL) at Chicago - 100 yards rushing, 3 catches, 40 yards, 1 FL (14.50)
Felix Jones (DAL) at New York Jets - 44 yards rushing, 1 TD, 3 catches, 22 yards, 1 FL (14.10)
Marshawn Lynch (SEA) at San Francisco - 33 yards rushing, 2 catches, 14 yards (6.70)

WR Starts
Santonio Holmes (NYJ) vs. Dallas - 6 catches, 70 yards (10.00)
Mario Manningham (NYG) at Washington - 4 catches, 49 yards (6.90)
Lee Evans (BAL) vs. Pittsburgh - 0 catches (0.0)

WR Sits
Reggie Wayne (IND) at Houston - 7 catches, 106 yards, 1 TD (20.10)
Jeremy Maclin (PHI) at St. Louis - 1 catch, 20 yards (2.50)
Miles Austin (DAL) at New York Jets - 5 catches, 90 yards, 1 TD (17.50)

TE Starts
Brandon Pettigrew (DET) at Tampa Bay - 4 catches, 57 yards (7.70)
Marcedes Lewis (JAC) vs. Tennessee - 2 catches, 28 yards (3.80)
Jared Cook (TEN) at Jacksonville - 1 catch, 7 yards (2.20)

TE Sits
Tony Gonzalez (ATL) at Chicago - 5 catches, 72 yards (10.70)
Dustin Keller (NYJ) vs. Dallas - 5 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD (14.60)
Greg Olsen (CAR) at Arizona - 4 catches, 78 yards (9.80)

Defense/Special Teams Starts
Houston vs. Indianapolis - 19 fantasy points (Ranked 4th)
Cleveland vs. Cincinnati - 5 fantasy points (Ranked 24th)
San Francisco vs. Seattle - 26 fantasy points (Ranked 1st)

Defense/Special Teams Sits
New York Giants at Washington - 7 fantasy points (Ranked 21st)
Dallas at New York Jets - 9 fantasy points (Ranked 14th)
Atlanta at Chicago - 14 fantasy points (Ranked 9th)

K Starts
Neil Rackers (HOU) vs. Indianapolis - 10 fantasy points (Ranked 6th)
Alex Henery (PHI) at St. Louis - 7 fantasy points (Ranked 14th)
Nick Folk (NYJ) vs. Dallas - 11 fantasy points (Ranked 5th)

K Sits
David Akers (SF) vs. Seattle - 15 fantasy points (Ranked 1st)
David Buehler (DAL) at New York Jets - 0 fantasy points
Billy Cundiff (BAL) vs. Pittsburgh - 9 fantasy points (Ranked 9th)

Athlon Sports Default Scoring System
Offense
All touchdowns are 6 points 
1 point for 25 yards passing 
1 point for 10 yards rushing/receiving 
Receptions are .5 points 
Interceptions/fumbles are minus-2 points.
1 point for 40 return yards

Defense/Special Teams Scoring
0 points allowed = 12 points
1-6 points allowed = 10 points
7-13 points allowed = 8 pts
14-20 points allowed = 6 points
21-27 points allowed = 2 pts
28+ points allowed = 0 points
Safeties = 2 points
Fumbles recovered = 2 points
Interceptions = 2 points
Sacks = 1 point
Defensive/Special Teams TDs = 6 points

Kicker Scoring
PATs = 1 point
39 yards and under = 3 points
40-49 yards = 4 points
50-59 yards = 5 points
60+ yards = 6 points

— Corby A. Yarbrough @AthlonCorby on Twitter

COMMENTS

10 Soap Operas Sure To Play Out During the NFL Season

Here's 10 NFL stories bound to spark a lot of drama this season.

Every NFL season has its share of drama. Unfortunately, with the Twitterverse and 24/7 media world, most of that drama happens off the field, as opposed to on. In the spirit of preseason predictions, I looked into my crystal ball and predicted 10 stories the sports media world will work itself into a frenzy over this season.

COMMENTS

Denver Broncos 2011 NFL Team Preview

An in-depth look at the Broncos' offense, defense and special teams this year.

If the Broncos aren’t rebuilding, someone forgot to tell the man in charge. That would be John Elway, still the face of the franchise after all these years. Elway, now the Broncos’ executive vice president of football operations, has a three-year plan for getting a once-proud franchise back on its feet and back in the NFL playoff picture.

COMMENTS

Quarterback Carousel

The NFL’s quarterback landscape has seen considerable changes since the lockout ended.

Kevin Kolb, Cardinals
Arizona traded away 2008 first-round pick (No. 16 overall) and 25-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie along with its 2012 second-round pick to acquire the young gun with seven career starts under his belt.

COMMENTS

NFL's Ten High-Priority Moves as Lockout Ends

With player transactions about to kick off, some teams have big moves to make

By Scott Henry (Twitter: @4QuartersRadio)

With free agency’s usual five-month time frame being condensed into five weeks, the phones of both team executives and the players they’re pursuing are about to be set ablaze with constant activity. Some teams would rather lay low, but the ten teams that follow have one available move that would fill a tremendous need, offer roster or cap flexibility, or simply get the fan base excited.