Cowboys Claiborne has season-ending knee injury

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne will have season-ending surgery after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee.

Coach Jason Garrett said Monday that Claiborne will have surgery in the next couple of days and be put on injured reserve.

Claiborne got hurt in Sunday night's 38-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints, when he was down on the field at the end of a play with about 6 minutes left in the first quarter. The sixth overall pick from the 2012 draft had to be helped off the field with people on both sides of him.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones immediately after the game expressed concerns about the severity of the injury, and further tests Monday confirmed that.

 
Source: sports.yahoo.com/news

Author: (AP - Sports)

Photo: (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

Raiders make Tony Sparano interim coach

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- The Oakland Raiders promoted offensive line coach Tony Sparano to interim coach on Tuesday, a day after firing head coach Dennis Allen.

General manager Reggie McKenzie announced the move to Sparano after cutting ties to Allen four games into his third season as coach.

Sparano had a 29-32 record as head coach in Miami from 2008-11. He took over a one-win team in 2008 and led the Dolphins to an 11-5 record and an AFC East title. That was his only winning season and he was fired with three games remaining in 2011.
Sparano has been offensive line coach the past two seasons in Oakland.
''Tony Sparano has a strong presence in this organization,'' McKenzie said. ''His experience and leadership qualities will serve the team well in helping reach the goal of everyone here, which is to win football games.''
Sparano becomes Oakland's eighth coach in the past 12 seasons. The Raiders have not made the playoffs or had a winning record since winning the 2002 AFC championship.

The Raiders are off this week after losing 38-14 to Miami in London on Sunday for their 10th straight loss dating to last season. Oakland next plays at home against San Diego on Oct. 12.
Allen was the first head coach hired by Oakland after Al Davis' death in October 2011. His 8-28 record is the worst for the franchise since before Davis arrived in 1963. His contract was set to run through next season.
''After thorough evaluation, we have determined to move in another direction,'' McKenzie said. ''We appreciate Dennis Allen's dedication to the organization and wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.''
Allen is the third coach fired during the season by Oakland since Davis arrived. Mike Shanahan was fired after four games in 1989 and Lane Kiffin was let go four games into the 2008 season.
The Raiders have had 11 straight seasons without a winning record or a playoff berth. Oakland will now have its eighth coach since 2003.

Allen and McKenzie were hired after the team finished 8-8 under coach Hue Jackson in 2011, falling one game short of a playoff bid.
They were expected to steady a franchise that ran into disrepair during Davis' final years as owner. Instead, the team has only gotten worse.
The two were hamstrung their first two seasons by a lack of premium draft picks and a difficult salary-cap situation due to bad contracts handed out by Davis.
But after spending their first two years tearing down the team, owner Mark Davis expected the Raiders to be much more competitive this season after having ample salary cap room in the offseason and a near-full complement of draft picks.
Instead, the Raiders have looked overmatched at times. They fell behind 27-0 after three quarters of their only home game against Houston and trailed by 31 points after three quarters against the Dolphins.

In all, Allen had more losses by at least 20 points (nine) than wins. It was performances like those that Mark Davis said he no longer wanted to see in Allen's third season and that ultimately led to his downfall.
Allen was a former defensive coordinator in Denver who was expected to modernize a defense that ran what were considered outdated schemes under Al Davis' watch.
The defense, instead, has gotten worse. Allen has overseen two of the three highest-scoring seasons by opponents in franchise history. The Raiders have yielded 27.8 points per game since the start of the 2012 season, allowing opponents to complete 67.6 percent of their passes with a 101.6 passer rating.
With Allen out, the pressure is now on McKenzie, who has two seasons left on his contract. McKenzie's first two draft classes have had almost no impact, with the biggest disappointment being 2013 first-round cornerback DJ Hayden, who has struggled with injuries. Hayden was exposed in eight games as a rookie and hasn't played at all this season because of a foot injury.
This year's draft class appears to be much stronger, led by first-round linebacker Khalil Mack and second-round quarterback Derek Carr. But whether that will be enough for McKenzie to keep his job remains to be seen.
McKenzie also has botched two offseason trades for quarterbacks, with Matt Flynn in 2013 and Matt Schaub this year failing to win starting jobs after being acquired to start.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com/news
Author: By JOSH DUBOW (AP Sports Writer)
Photo:  (AP Photo/File)

2014 Season Football ERA Formula Trends Week 3 Podcast

Photo: Al Bello, Getty Images
via Zimbio

Defensive Report Card: 1st Look, September 2014

Photo: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

		Total		Rushing		Pressure
NYJ	…	564200	=	426000	+	138200
Was	…	563450	=	421750	+	141700
Cinn	…	550700	=	399000	+	151700
Det	…	544450	=	417250	+	127200
Car	…	524200	=	408000	+	116200
KC	…	523100	=	411500	+	111600
Den	…	515750	=	397750	+	118000
NYG	…	515700	=	398500	+	117200
Buff	…	514300	=	414500	+	99800
Sea	…	512250	=	412250	+	100000
Chi	…	504700	=	402000	+	102700
NE	…	503500	=	405500	+	98000
SD	…	496150	=	418250	+	77900
SF	…	494250	=	412750	+	81500
Dall	…	492500	=	408500	+	84000
Ind	…	484700	=	392500	+	92200
Minn	…	484200	=	397000	+	87200
Hou	…	482750	=	387750	+	95000
NO	…	482550	=	405250	+	77300
Mia	…	481750	=	391750	+	90000
Pitt	…	474800	=	399500	+	75300
Jax	…	468350	=	377250	+	91100
GB	…	464750	=	367750	+	97000
Phi	…	462600	=	402000	+	60600
Tenn	…	461600	=	382000	+	79600
Cleve	…	459550	=	379750	+	79800
Bal	…	459200	=	408500	+	50700
Arz	…	456450	=	408750	+	47700
StL	…	431500	=	390000	+	41500
Oak	…	427750	=	377750	+	50000
Atl	…	424300	=	374500	+	49800
TB	…	415000	=	363500	+	51500

Here are the Sack Leaders going into the Bye Weeks (3 Weeks):

Sack+PD

Totals

Cinn

Was

NYJ

Det

Den

NYG

Car

KC

Chi

Sea

Buff

NE

GB

Hou

Ind

Jax

Mia

Minn

Dall

SF

Cleve

Tenn

SD

NO

Pitt

Phi

TB

Bal

Oak

Atl

Arz

StL

 

Photo: Mike Mulholland, MLive.com