NFC North Gap Narrowed After Bears and Lions Free Agency Moves

While NFC North rivals the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers were forced to sit idle during the free agency bidding wars, the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions were the most aggressive teams on day one.

Lovie Smith and Da’ Bears snatched the biggest prize of the day when they signed defensive end Julius Peppers to a six-year contract worth a maximum $91.5 million. The five-time Pro Bowl player will receive a record $42 million guaranteed.

In addition to Peppers, Da’ Bears also snatched running back Chester Taylor from the Vikings signing the rusher to a four-year deal worth $12.5 million with $7 million guaranteed.

Knowing the importance of granting quarterback Jay Cutler more time to throw, they also added blocking tight end Brandon Manumaleuna from the San Diego Chargers.

Not to be outdone, the Detroit Lions made a few quick moves of their own, signing three sure starters when they inked deals with two defensive linemen and a No. 2 wide receiver.

Wanting to shore up a defense that was last in the NFL in points allowed and total yards, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz personally visited Tennessee Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch at 12:01 AM on day one of free agency and convinced the Pro Bowler to sign with the team.

While Vanden Bosch and his agent were working out the details of a four-year, $26 million deal, the Lions also inked a $25 million contract with Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Nate Burleson.

Burleson played in 13 games for the Seahawks last year, catching 63 for 812 yards and three touchdowns and is expected to free up Calvin Johnson from the double and triple coverage he sees on a weekly basis.

Joining Vanden Bosch on the Lions’ defensive line will be Cleveland Browns Corey Williams, another proven starter who was obtained by a trade.

With the Lions adding these proven veteran linemen to their defense and with the team expected to use their No. 2 overall selection in the upcoming 2010 NFL Draft to select defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy, you can throw last year’s dismal defensive stats out the window.

These aggressive moves by the Bears and Lions are certain to make the NFC North more competitive.

Minnesota lost a huge piece of their offense when Taylor left and while Brett Favre sits on the fence in Minnesota still contemplating a return, The Green Bay Packers lost Pro Bowl defensive lineman Aaron Kampman to free agency as well.

© 2010 - Sports Climax^TM

Thrashers’ GM Teflon Don

The Slap-of-the-Week many times is awarded to athletes with guns, swimmers who decide to hit bongs in public or guys who sucker-punch opponents on the sidelines but occasionally we do award it to those managers and GMs who show a high enough level of incompetency.That said, this week’s slap goes to Atlanta Thrashers’ GM Don Waddell GM.

For those of you who do not know the NHL exists, Waddell is the orchestrator of one of the NHL’s most struggling franchises. At the helm for about ten years, Teflon Don has only taken a team to the playoffs on one occasion and that team was sent packing in a four-game sweep. In a league where a majority of the teams are handed a playoff spot, that record speaks volumes.

DW said earlier in the week, the team needs to start winning games and how does a guy like Waddell accomplish that? By trading away Ilya Kovalchuk, the face of his franchise , one of the most talented players in the world for a slew of unproven players and leaving his fans hanging out to dry. After the trade Waddell had the audacity to say “I don’t think it sets us back at all. I think it moves us forward.”

SLAP!

A landslide choice, Waddell joins Matt Millen the Detroit Lions’ CEO who received the Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week a few weeks into the 2009 NFL season.

Since the trade that rocked the hockey world some of the mainstream media continues to hammer Waddell while he ventures off on a face-saving mission. Before last night’s game, Waddell actually met with his season ticket holders explaining the team needs a ‘new identity’.

SLAAAPP! Yes it does Don and it needs to start at the top with a new GM.

Detroit Lions fans spent almost a decade as their guy Millen was somehow able to hang onto a job while his team constantly struggled to stay out of the basement-now it’s the Atlanta fans who are falling victim to the same scenario. Millen spent his time firing everyone around him as Waddell has while both their teams remained one of the jokes of their leagues.

Back to that meeting with the fans. Have you ever seen an NHL GM meet personally with the fans to explain a move like DW did before yesterday’s game? That move may be considered a desperate move to save face and one that reeks ‘amateur’.

As the fans and media are trying to cool down after the move that may destroy this franchise, it’s time to deliver one more for good measure SLAP! to the man who helped make it all possible.

Related Articles:

Once Again, Teflon Don Couldn’t Get the Deal Done

Matt Millen Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax

Stafford Leads Lions to Dramatic Last-Second Win

DETROIT - The Detroit Lions may have found the leader they have been searching for over the past few decades and that leader may have accomplished a near-impossible feat; winning over the Detroit media.

On his home field in a game against the Cleveland Browns, Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford had been battling all afternoon to lead his team back from a 24-3 deficit and it ended in dramatic fashion.

Down 37-31 Stafford had no timeouts remaining, needed to get into the end zone from the Cleveland 32 and had only :08 seconds to do it. What happened over the next several minutes may become Stafford’s defining moment.

Stafford took the snap and scrambled Favre-style, avoiding an aggressive rush while trying to find an open receiver. He avoided one rusher, then another as the clock ticked to :00. Stafford saw the Browns’ 305-pound lineman C.J. Mosley barreling in at him but stood tall, planted his feet and threw the desperation pass.

As the ball sailed towards the end zone, Mosley crushed Stafford into the Ford Field turf. The rookie quarterback laid flat on the turf, grimacing in pain with an apparent shoulder injury but the Hail Mary pass was answered in the form of yellow hankies blanketing the end zone.

Pass interference on the defense.

While Stafford was helped to the sidelines where team doctors attempted to look at the injury, Cleveland decided to call time out to set up their defense as Lions back-up quarterback Daunte Culpepper was stepping up to the line to take the game’s final snap.

“I heard time-out over the loudspeaker and knew that was probably my only chance of getting back in,” Stafford said. “It was my left shoulder. Don’t really need it to throw.”

The doctors attempted to keep Stafford down to examine and determine the type of injury but Stafford refused to stay down. When he told the doctors to help him up, they refused until he demanded.

“Once one of them helped me up,” Stafford said, “they weren’t going to stop me.”

Lions coach Jim Schwartz must have had a tremendous amount of information swirling through his head. His back-up quarterback was in the huddle on the field, his starter with an obvious injury demanding on returning for the final play, his team needing a touchdown to win, no timeouts remaining.

Ignoring the pain, Stafford found the energy to push his way back onto the field, took the final snap and thread a bullet to tight end Brandon Pettigrew for a touchdown, his record 5th of the game and a 38-37 victory. Stafford also finished with a career-high 422 passing yards.

See dramatic comeback video on NFL.com here.

Schwartz was nearly lost for words during some of the post-game. “[Stafford] popped up, and all the team doctors said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.’ I said, ‘What does he have?’ They said, ‘We don’t even know.’

Stafford, his shoulder wrapped in ice, elaborated more during post game. “I was in some good pain, but the play goes on. It didn’t feel good, but I didn’t care. It was one play. I knew I didn’t have to play too much, just one snap, and try to throw a TD.”

“I’ve never been a part of [winning with no time on the clock],” said Stafford. “I’ve been a part of some close ones at the end, obviously, but that was wild.”

Wild? Yes. 

True courage? Yes.

Defining moment? Time will tell and more importantly, the Detroit Lions may have finally found their leader.

Related Articles:

No Doubt Now: Stafford Strong Enough to Lead - Detroit Free Press

Stafford Shows True Grit in Beating Browns - The Detroit News

Schwartz: X-Rays Negative on Stafford’s Shoulder - DFP

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Heisman Trophy Winner Bradford Considers Having Surgery

OKLAHOMA - ESPN reported that last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Oklahoma Sooners’ quarterback Sam Bradford is seriously considering having season-ending surgery on his injured shoulder.

Bradford has missed a majority of the season and when he tried to make a comeback last week, lasted just two series of downs before leaving the field aggravating the injury further.

The Sooners entered the season focused on making a run for a national title but those dreams were shattered in one snap of the ball. The Sooners currently sit at the cellar of the AP Top 25 with a 3-3 record and are struggling to earn a decent bowl bid.

While we watch Bradford’s stock in the NFL 2010 Draft drop like a Wall Street crash, it makes me reminisce about the day Mark Sanchez announced he was leaving the USC Trojans and opting to join the draft.

At the time, USC Coach Pete Carroll showed some displeasure at the press conference and said Sanchez “made a bad choice”.

Since then, Sanchez has been the starting quarterback for the New York Jets, playing under a contract fat enough to support even the family members he has never met ($60 million with $28 million guaranteed).

Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford who went No. 1 overall in last year’s draft is another player who left campus early. Stafford who is currently rehabbing a knee injury suffered this NFL season is the starter for the Detroit Lions and playing with a $72 million contract ($41.7 million guaranteed).

While Bradford contemplates going under the knife with a cloudy future and Sanchez and Stafford cash their checks every week, I would like to now ask Mr. Carroll who he thinks made a “bad choice”.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

NFL Update: Stafford Injured, Titans 0-4, Broncos 4-0

Hottest news this NFL weekend includes the Detroit Lions No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford’s knee injury.

In a 48-24 loss in Chicago, Stafford showed several signs of why he was touted as a No. 1 when he orchestrated  several long scoring drives of over 70 yards against the banged-up Bears defense including one 98 yard drive for a touchdown.

But the show came to an abrupt end late in the game when Stafford took a sack then lay on the grass, clutching his knee in pain. Stafford limped off the field and spent the rest of the game with his knee wrapped in ice while veteran Daunte Culpepper took the remaining snaps.

ESPN reported that Stafford’s injury was a dislocated kneecap that popped back in while he was on the sideline and the injury is expected to sideline him for one or two weeks.

After starting out 3-0, Mark Sanchez, New York Jets quarterback and second slinger taken in last year’s NFL Draft finally had his rookie break-out game throwing three interceptions in a 24-10 road loss in New Orleans. Before the loss, Sanchez’ three straight wins included an upset victory against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.  

Darren Sharper returned one of Sanchez’ errant throws 99 yards to the house and that 14-point swing was too much for the young quarterback and his Jets to overcome. The Saints went on to win 24-10.

In other surprising news the Tennessee Titans fell to 0-4 while the Denver Broncos improved to 4-0 with their 17-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Detroit Lions Get First Win Since 2007!

DETROIT - While considered a normal occurrence in other parts of America like New England, Cleveland, Chicago, and even as far away as Al Davis country, a rare phenomenon occurred in Motown today–the Detroit Lions won a football game.

Dump the Gatorade, ride off into the sunset, this event is worthy of a ticker-tape parade and is the first of its kind in Detroit since 2007.

The Lions snapped the second longest losing streak in NFL history on Sunday and embarrassed Jim Zorn and the Washington Redskins 19-14 in front of the smallest crowd to see the guys in Honolulu Blue in 20 years.

All eyes have been on the Lions as they were chasing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ record of 26 losses in a row. ESPN has featured the Lions struggles over the past years on many of their shows that normally included a few Matt Millen jokes and reporters struggling to keep a straight face when referring to the Lions as an NFL team.

Laugh no more, America! The Lions were victorious on Sunday.

This is life-changing for many Americans.

The few remaining auto assembly workers can proudly don their Lions jerseys once again and Matt Millen may saturate NFL talk shows with quotes like, ”See, drafting wide receivers every year high in the first round does pay off!”

Across the continent in Los Angeles, Jay Leno’s monologues may have to change. The funny late-night host has been making a living on Lions’ jokes including one of my all-time favorites, “I set my TiVo to record ‘The Biggest Loser’ and I got the Lions game.”

Leno may start the week off sniffing out fresh NFL meat for another source of material. The Lions victory was blacked-out but Jay Leno’s show is not; come Monday Jim Zorn and his ‘Skins may wish it were.

Other Bizarre Moments on Sports Climax:

NFL Cheerleaders Caught Having Sex in Public Restroom

Fox Shows Naked Vikings Player During Live Telecast

Convicted Burglar ‘Steals’ Game For Patriots

NFL’s Most Famous Fumble Recovery, “He’s Running the Wrong Way!”

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

NFL Week 3 - Match-ups and Upsets

Paula Duffy, Examiner.com sports writer does this week’s NFL preview. Below is her take on this weekend’s games and  potential upsets for NFL Week 3.

Detroit Lions over the Washington Redskins: Like many others I look at this as a way to get Detroit over the 2 year slide and begin the Jim Zorn death watch. While the Redskins’ defense is solid, their offense is putrid. Detroit can score points as we’ve seen, even against Minnesota’s excellent defense.One caveat: if it’s close late in the 4th, momentum shifts to the Redskins. Detroit has no idea how to hold a lead.

Tennessee Titans over the New York Jets: The Titans lost in overtime to the Steelers and in a shoot-out to the Texans, both of which were close. Those games showed they’re vulnerable to the pass but can deal with the run. Sanchez is good but not that good. Don’t discount possible letdown by New York after the big win vs. Patriots.

San Francisco 49′ers over the Minnesota Vikings: Favre is due for an uncontrollable day and Adrian Peterson says he’s good to go but you think he’d admit he wasn’t? The 49′ers are tough, physical and can score in the red zone. When Vernon Davis says he’s a converted “me first” kind of guy you know they want this one for Samurai Mike.
The rest of the schedule:

Green Bay over St. Louis: No reason to think the Rams will turn the page this week.

New Orleans beat the Bills: What have you seen in Buffalo that can equal the league’s best offense? Nothing.

Texans over the Jaguars: I feel for Maurice Jones-Drew but they need an A-list QB or wide receiver to balance that attack

New York Giants over the Tampa Bay Bucs: The Bucs can’t stop good offenses and the Giants have one. But if too many Giants are banged up and can’t play, look for this to be close.

Eagles over the Chiefs: Two back-up QB’s for Philly can’t blow this opportunity can they? If Vick is misused or coughs up the ball, maybe.

Arizona bests Indianapolis: While I think this could be a close shoot-out, Indy’s defense makes this pick a reality.

Baltimore over Cleveland: The Ravens have one of the most balanced teams in the league. Awesome D and an offense that can run and throw. Cleveland’s got…?

Steelers beats the Bengals: I’m not all that sure about this. I’ve got to see more of a running game from the Steelers before I make them a lock each week. Until then, those Bengals should scare them.

Bears over the Seahawks: Seneca Wallace is a good back-up but their running game is iffy. The Bears can run against them if last week’s defensive failure vs. Gore is a measure.

Chargers best the Dolphins: But for bad play calling, the Bolts would have beaten Baltimore last weekend. I think they can take the Dolphins after that.

Denver over Oakland: JaMarcus Russell might be as big a bust as Ryan Leaf. Need I say more?

Dallas bests Carolina: Third week in a row for the Panthers to face a potent offense and the Cowboys are cranky after loss to the Giants.

Tired of the same old sports page? Then check out Paula Duffy’s insightful (and often humorous) take on the sports day at her Examiner.com page! The popular co-host for Sports Journey Radio is also a contributor to the Huffington Post and founder of the sports learning site Incidental Contact. In her spare time, Duffy practices law in Los Angeles. But don’t hold that against her.

NFL News - Urlacher & McNabb Out; Sanchez and Stafford Debut

All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher, the heart and soul of the Chicago Bears’ defense will miss the remainder of the season after dislocating his wrist in the 21-15 loss to the division rival Green Bay Packers Sunday night.

With the injury occurring so early in the season, Chicago is expected to shop around for a replacement to fill the middle linebacker spot. Derrick Brooks is expected to join the team if the two sides can work out a deal. Brooks is familiar with Chicago coach Lovie Smith and Chicago’s defensive schemes.

Mark Sanchez silenced some of the critics including Pete Carroll, his former coach at USC, when the rookie led his New York Jets to a 24-7 win over the Houston Texans.

Earlier in the year and prior to selection day, Carroll had publicly stated that Sanchez “made a bad choice” in joining the NFL draft.

Sanchez finished 18-of-31 for 272 yards and one TD.

In other injury news, joining Urlacher on the sidelines list is Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb who suffered a cracked rib in his team’s 38-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

With McNabb’s status unknown and Michael Vick ineligible for another week, don’t be surprised to see ex-Eagle Jeff Garcia donning green in Philly this weekend when Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints visit the ‘City of Brotherly Love’.

In other rookie news, Matthew Stafford will have to wait for his first victory. Stafford appears to have a much larger chore ahead of him than Sanchez after his Detroit Lions started this season where they left off last year.

The Lions’ defense who were worst in the NFL last year were ripped apart by fantasy football favorite Drew Brees, who tossed six touchdown passes during the 45-27 blowout over the Lions.

Stafford finished 16-of-37 for 205 yards and 3 INTs.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Will Culpepper Ask to Be Traded?

DETROIT - When Daunte Culpepper decided to come out of retirement and sign with the Detroit Lions in October 2008 we covered that story and the first line in our coverage read, “Run Daunte run! In the opposite direction.”

Culpepper, a three-time Pro Bowler, may wish he had heeded that advice as he finds himself relegated to the back-up quarterback position on the worst team in the NFL, riding the bench while Matthew Stafford, an unproven rookie, will be taking snaps Week One in New Orleans.

Prior to signing with the Lions, Culpepper had several meetings and tryouts with other NFL teams and turned down offers to play back-up for two winning teams, Pittsburgh and Green Baybefore deciding to play in Detroit. He was clearly looking for another opportunity to start and his discussion with the Lions is sure to have included that.

Culpepper didn’t speak to reporters after Monday’s practice, there’s an early warning sign he will be wanting out of Motown. If he demands a trade like many of us think he will and should, the pressure on Stafford to succeed multiplies tenfold since there are no veterans on the sidelines to step in if he falters or go to for guidance.

The bench is a strange place to assign a veteran like Culpepper who is a proven NFL quarterback that has thrown for more than 13 miles in his career. Thirteen miles . . . 23,208 yards . . . more than 232 football fields.

Being replaced with a rookie can only add fuel to the fire. Leave it to the Lions to use and hang another veteran out to dry, (Google Tatum Bell).

Culpepper showed great loyalty during his college days at the University of Central Florida.

After running up staggering stats, several top colleges tried to recruit him but he chose to stay in Orlando playing for the only school that offered him an opportunity during the original recruiting process.

Most youngsters his age would have jumped at the chance to play in the SEC but Culpepper stayed loyal to UCF. He went on to set a laundry list of NCAA records before being drafted in the first-round by the Minnesota Vikings.

Since arriving in Motown last fall, Culpepper has shown great commitment to the Lions organization.

He showed up in game shape this summer, dropping 30 pounds in the offseason preparing to lead a 0-16 disaster out of the cellar. The Lions quarterback position was Culpepper’s to lose but he was never given a fair chance to lose it.

Although he showed more poise and confidence and ran stats much more impressive than Stafford during preseason, Stafford connected with wide receiver Calvin Johnson for long gains on several occasions. That is sure to have caught the eye of Lions Coach Jim Schwartz but in all fairness to Culpepper; Johnson sat out with an injury both of Culpepper’s starts.

If anyone thinks Culpepper would have trouble finding a sprinting Johnson down any sideline they didn’t watch Culpepper when he made a living heaving spirals to a guy named Randy Moss. Culpepper’s arm clearly has some life left and he deserved a legitimate chance to reinvent his career and rejuvenate the Lions.

Quarterbacks do it every season. Last year Chad Pennington found his game in Miami and took home the AP Comeback-Player-of-the-Year award, leading the Dolphins to an 11-5 record. A year earlier, Jeff Garcia bounced back and found himself playing into January after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 9-7 division-winning record and playoff spot.

Culpepper must certainly feel burned; shafted. He did nothing that justified losing the starting position this preseason and Stafford didn’t perform well enough in his two starts to earn it.

Curious to see how this latest move by the NFL’s most desperate organization plays out. Snatching an opportunity like this from a veteran like Culpepper can cause bad Karma in your locker room.

Will it lead to trade demands by the 32-year-old quarterback who’s playing years are limited?

Don’t be surprised if it does.

Related Articles:

Starting Stafford Too High a Risk for Lions. 

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

Starting Stafford Too Huge a Risk for Lions

DETROIT - After seeing rookie sensations Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco evolve into legitimate starters last year in the NFL, the temptation was too much for the Detroit Lions and Coach Jim Schwartz.

With the season opening September 13th with a road game in New Orleans followed by a visit from the Minnesota Vikings, Schwartz ignored the risks and named Matthew Stafford the starter.

Putting the young slinger across from Minnesota’s swarming defensive line just eight days into his NFL career may evolve into a human sacrifice and reinvent the name ‘Purple People Eaters’ for the Vikings.

The Vikings sacked Lions quarterbacks a total of 10 times in the two games last year. That is a risky scenario to place a young rookie quarterback in who is trying to build confidence.

Stafford has an incredible arm, there’s no doubt about that but it’s hard to throw with a 300-lb. lineman’s arms wrapped around you.

We’ve been hearing the Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco theories but those two rookies stood behind proven offensive lines last year and were given plenty of protection throughout their 11-5 seasons. There’s talk about how improved the Lions O line is this year but why not wait a few weeks to verify that.

The league’s best quarterbacks crumble under excessive pressure up front, even Tom Brady as seen in the Super Bowl game when the New York Giants knocked Brady totally off his game upsetting the heavily-favored New England Patriots.

The NFL game is a sprint compared to NCAA and Stafford could have gotten a feel for the pace and speed of the game by watching the first few Sundays from the sidelines.

There would be a lesser argument for handing Stafford a clipboard and headset in New Orleans if this were a ‘Stafford vs. Stanton’ or a ‘Stafford vs. Orlovsky’ debate but the Lions have a proven Pro Bowl quarterback on their roster, Daunte Culpepper who has thrown for 23,208 yards in his career. That’s 13 miles; more than 232 football fields.

Culpepper deserves a legitimate chance to reinvent himself. It happens all the time. John Travolta did it on the screen with Pulp Fiction; Chad Pennington did it on the field with Miami last year.

Culpepper, the three-time Pro Bowl player showed up 30 pounds lighter in game shape before the season started expecting to start. Now that he finds himself out of the starting position he was never given a chance to lose, there may be some bad locker room karma heading the Lions way.

When Daunte joined the Lions in October 2008 we covered that story, “Daunte Should Avoid the Lions”. The Lions have a knack for finishing player’s careers on a sour note (Google Tatum Bell and Marcus Pollard). If Culpepper sits rotting away on the bench while he has some arm left, he could join that group. You have to wonder; Will Daunte ask to be traded?

Culpepper appears committed to again making a mark in the NFL and he cannot do that collecting splinters on the bench.

Playing against former teams brings the best out of athletes as we see ever week when ex-Lions visit Detroit and have career days after being traded or cut. I would have expected the best out of Daunte against his former Vikings team during Week Two at Ford Field.

The logical decision would have been to sit Stafford for at least two weeks then re-evaluate his progress, the O line and the team then go from there. William Clay Ford is always more interested in selling tickets as in the case with hurrying quarterback Joey Harrington, a first-round dud that was never given a fair chance to develop.

The Lions got impatient. This is clearly a rebuilding time, just as the past decade has been so what would a few more weeks of development have mattered?

 This is unlikely to be a playoff season but the Lions are taking a chance of destroying the confidence of their franchise $78 million investment-another reason this team is, and may always be, destined to be a loser.

Voice your opinion by taking our front page poll and vote whether Stafford and Mark Sanchez should be taking snaps NFL Week One.

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More Matthew Stafford Articles:

Get Ready Lions, Stafford Knows How to Party!

Why Stafford and Detroit Lions are a Bad Marriage

Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week - Matthew Stafford

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

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