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Athlon Sports Features

NFL: Free Agency Preview

Mar 4th, 2010

The craziness of NFL free agency begins Friday. Mike Nahrstedt previews the upcoming open-market period and explains what could happen if a new CBA isn't reached before Friday.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Combine - Defense

Mar 3rd, 2010

Put down your stopwatch and step away from the orange cones, the NFL Scouting Combine is officially over. Check out which defensive players made the most of their job interview in Indianapolis.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Combine - Offense

Mar 1st, 2010

While the Vancouver Olympics were wrapping up, the NFL Scouting Combine was just getting started. Check out which offensive players made the most of their job interview in Indianapolis.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Lockout Would Cost League Too Much

Feb 10th, 2010

The NFL, by any calculation, is at the height of its all-time popularity. So it would be a shame if the owners and players managed to screw that up with a 2011 lockout.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Athlon's All-AFC and All-NFC Teams

Jan 29th, 2010

The Pro Bowl has turned into a joke, but that doesn't mean the league's All-Stars should be discounted. Here's how Pro Bowl lineups would look if it were up to Athlon Sports, plus picks for the major award winners.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Athlon's All-Rookie Team

Jan 29th, 2010

Some of them were the stars of last April's Draft and others flew under the radar, but all of Athlon's Rookie Team members excelled in their first season in the league.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Greatest Moments in Super Bowl History

Jan 28th, 2010

We prepare you for Super Sunday with a little history lesson. Our writers have gone list crazy in identifying the best of the best in the 43-game history of the Super Bowl.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Sorting out a Wild weekend

Jan 12th, 2010

A trio of Week 17 rematches headlined Wild Card weekend in the NFL, and in two of the three scenarios, the victor did not change. What did we learn from the first week of the playoffs?

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Wild Card Weekend

Jan 11th, 2010

If familiarity does, indeed, breed contempt, there will be no love lost between combatants in the NFL’s wild card weekend. Three of the games are rematches of games played just last week, the fourth is a rematch from earlier this season.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Topsy-turvy NFL playoffs begin

Jan 6th, 2010

One month ago we were all destined to see a Super Bowl with two unbeaten teams -- Indianapolis and New Orleans. But now that the postseason is finally here, the entire NFL has seemingly gone crazy. How does Ralph Vacchiano think it'll all play out?

[FULL STORY]

NFL: End of the year power rankings

Jan 4th, 2010

The NFL playoffs are set to begin this weekend but first, Mike Nahrstedt wraps up the regular season with the final edition of his Power Rankings column.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Week 17 Preview

Jan 2nd, 2010

It's the final week of the NFL's regular season, and that means there are some huge games on the slate ... and plenty of unimportant ones. Mike Nahrstedt runs through them all in his Week 17 Preview.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Week 16 Power Rankings

Dec 29th, 2009

The Colts sat their starters and took their first loss of the season, but did Mike Nahrstedt bump them from the top spot of this week's power rankings?

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Week 16 Sunday Takeaway

Dec 28th, 2009

Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell fired up the great debate when he pulled his starters in the third quarter and the Colts lost their undefeated season. Rob Doster opines on this and more in his Sunday Takeaway column.

[FULL STORY]

Patriots clinch AFC East with methodical win

Dec 27th, 2009

Randy Moss caught three of Tom Brady's four touchdown passes, as the New England Patriots secured the AFC East crown with a 35-7 victory over Jacksonville at Gillette Stadium.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Week 15 Preview

Dec 18th, 2009

The Bengals play one of their biggest games of the season Sunday at San Diego with very heavy hearts. Mike Nahrstedt looks at that game and the other 14 on the weekend slate in his Week 15 preview.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Bubble teams vying for playoff spots

Dec 17th, 2009

Nine of the NFL playoff spots are pretty much set. That leaves only three spots realistically open for a big group of bubble teams. Ralph Vacchiano takes a quick look at those teams and their chances for extending their season beyond Week 17.

[FULL STORY]

NFL: Week 14 Preview

Dec 11th, 2009

We have reached the season’s quarter pole, the point at which the big games get bigger and the lesser games start to fall off the map entirely. Mike Nahrstedt looks at them all in his Week 14 NFL Preview.

[FULL STORY]

Fantasy Updates - PlayerScope

Wes Welker

Feb 3rd, 2010

Welker underwent successful knee surgery today to repair a torn ACL suffered in Week 17. At this time, projections for his return vary. Optimistically, he might be ready for the season opener in September, but realistically, it's likely to be much later. A torn ACL is a more devastating injury for a receiver who has to make sharp, precise cuts. We don't think we'll see him until the latter half of the '10 season....

[FULL STORY]

Fred Taylor

Nov 7th, 2009

Taylor will miss Week 9's game. He still hasn't recovered fully from his ankle surgery in October....

[FULL STORY]

Sammy Morris

Nov 7th, 2009

Morris (knee) will remain out for Week 9....

[FULL STORY]

Julian Edelman

Nov 6th, 2009

He is not likely to play this week. The Patriots have not said when they expect to have Edelman back on the practice field....

[FULL STORY]

Tom Brady

Sep 2nd, 2009

Brady's shoulder didn't look particularly sore at practice Tuesday. He threw short passes with zip and lofted several softly as far as 25 yards. Don't look for him to play Thursday in the Pats' preseason finale, but it will be a big surprise if he isn't ready to go in Week 1....

[FULL STORY]

Randy Moss

Aug 29th, 2009

Moss caught six passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns, both from Tom Brady, against Washington on Friday night. All is well with the duo that was the scourge of the league in 2007 — as long as the hurt shoulder Brady absorbed from an Albert Haynesworth hit doesn't amount to anything....

[FULL STORY]

David Patten

Mar 24th, 2009

35-year-old Patten has signed with Cleveland who has questions at the WR position. The Browns recently released Joe Jurevicius and they don't know the fate of Donte Stallworth who accidently struck and killed a pedestrian while driving his car in Miami Beach. Patten had been with New Orleans the past few seasons....

[FULL STORY]

Chris Baker

Feb 27th, 2009

Baker has signed with New England, but with Ben Watson and Dave Thomas ahead of him, we are not expecting much fantasy impact....

[FULL STORY]

More Inside Athlon Sports ...

Vacchiano: Patroits are the favorites in '07

A lot of things can change between now and next February. But the events of draft weekend, and some of the events of the two months before, have Ralph Vacchiano convinced that the Pats are the early favorite to win Super Bowl XLII.

Read More »

Vacchiano: Quinn's value being overlooked

No player in this year’s draft has seen his stock yo-yo more than former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Ralph Vacchiano says the "Golden Boy" will be a great pick up for whichever team doesn't out-think themselves.

Read More »

Vacchiano: NFL must send message to teams

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Pacman Jones and Chris Henry on Tuesday for their off-the-field problems. Ralph Vacchiano applauds the decision but says the league should focus on punishing the teams as well.

Read More »