AGRI Biz

ôLast night, while I lay thinking here, some Whatifs crawled inside my earàö --Shel Silverstein One question for 2010 is finally answered.á Will there be a 19-0 (or even simply 16-0) team? The answer came in back to back weeks with the Saints falling to the Cowboys (then shockingly to the Buccaneers in the next game) in Week 15, followed by a Colts loss to the New York Jets in Week 16. It put ...

While not a dangerous game as far as impact on the season, it was another great test of a game that the Chargers could easily have taken for granted. Tennessee was a 7-7 team desperate to preserve its playoff life. They were also a red-hot 7-1 following a disappointing 0-6 start, with the lone loss coming against the undefeated Colts. The question was not if San Diego could beat the Titans; ...

Early into the 2009 season, it appeared that this would be the year that the NFC asserted its dominance.á Minnesota, New Orleans, New York (Giants), and Atlanta all looked to be forceful presences in the league.á Philadelphia looked to join those ranks as soon as McNabb returned to speed after missing weeks two and three to injury. Somewhere along the way a switch triggered.á Once again the AFC proved the superior ...

It would have been easy had the Raiders closed the season as they had started it.á Take a 2-7 Raiders team, end with three or four wins and the real work could begin.á A housecleaning that would see the team shopping for a coach, a quarterback, and possibly looking for another guy to earn the featured back role.á Essentially, it would be a full purge and reset of an underachieving squad that ...

á The head coach of the San Diego Chargers, Norv Turner, has had a peculiar career with the team.á He has led San Diego to three playoff victories in two years while overcoming inopportune injuries to core players (Philip Rivers, Ladainian Tomlinson, and Antonio Gates have all both missed games and played hobbled across the last two postseasons).á As a Charger he has never lost in December. Yet he has also helmed ...

What a week. Charlie FryeÆs Oakland defeated the Denver Broncos, Carolina stunned Minnesota, Pittsburgh ended its second half skid against Green Bay, and New Orleans lost to the Dallas in December.á A few things did run true to form, however. Indianapolis pulled out a victory with a fourth quarter comeback and San Diego secured the AFC West with SundayÆs victory over an emotionally charged Cincinnati Bengals team. San Diego's win was fueled ...

Every league strives for that magical term "parity." This does not mean .500 teams across the league, but rather a degree of competitiveness that allows sportswriter and sports fan alike to keep bouncing infinite hypotheticals around to determine who will ultimately take home a championship. In the face of a historic 46-2 possible record among the NFLÆs three powerhouses (including a pair of undefeated teams), that parity looks to be ...

If there was any doubt surrounding Jamarcus RussellÆs status within the Oakland Raiders organization, it was answered this week.á The first vote of no-confidence came when J.P. Losman was brought into the organization in an emergency quarterback role, despite no real opportunity to learn the offense in the highly limited time remaining. The signing is most likely geared toward 2010, as the Raiders will have the first crack at negotiations to ...

Everyone loves the idea of a "dark horse" pick. Many teams get that label despite the attention they get ultimately flying in the face of the true definition (i.e. little-known).á Most of those teams, picked to make great steps in the preseason or early in the year, have now found themselves facing the very real possibility of a missing the playoffs entirely after being picked to possibly make some noise.á Houston is ...

San Diego has quite a few players seeing time standing behind Philip Rivers.á If you include the pair of converted fullbacks, San Diego presently carries five running backs on their roster.á The most notable, Ladainian Tomlinson, has a questionable future with the team due to diminishing returns.á Darren Sproles, the primary backup to Tomlinson, has proven effective catching the ball out of the backfield and in the return game but ...