Contact Sports Director Bruce.Rader@wavy.com

The NFL Wildcard puzzle was put together this weekend, and now the four pieces are in place.

The Ravens, Chargers, Cardinals and Eagles live to play another week, and the divisional match-ups for next weekend are set.

The best game of the weekend was by far the one played Saturday night when the San Diego Chargers beat the Indianapolis Colts 23 to 17 in overtime.  Dead in the water five weeks ago, the Chargers have gone on a tear.  Darren Sprawls had an incredible game including a 22 yard touchdown run in overtime which was the game winner.  Mike Scifers the punter put six of his kicks inside the 20 yard line.  Phillip Rivers is a great quarterback, I don’t see how he didn’t make the Pro Bowl this year.  Norv Turner’s Chargers have now won five games in a row, ending the Colt’s nine game winning streak. 

Next week the Chargers travel to Pittsburg to take on Mike Tomlin’s Steelers, that game will be played Sunday evening at 4:30pm.

In the other AFC wildcard game played Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens once again proved why they have the best defense in the NFL. The Ravens beat the Miami Dolphins 27 to 9, limiting the Dolphins to 52 rushing yards and forcing five tournovers.  Ed Reed had two interceptions for the Ravens, for 76 return yards and a touchdown.

Chad Pennington trhew four interceptions for Miami, but still what a great comeback year for the Dolphins.  They went 1 and 15 last year, and then Bill Parcells took over the team and they come back to win 11 games this year.

The Raven will play the first game next weekend, when they travel to take on the top seeded Tennessee Titans at 4:30 next Saturday evening.

The first game of the weekend was Saturday’s first NFC wildcard game, and the Arizona Cardinals knocked off the Atlanta Falcons 30 to 24.  It was the first time the Cardinals had won a playoff game at home since the old Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia to win the FLF championship back in 1947.  The Cardinals now travel to the east coast to take on the Carolina Panthers Saturday night at 7:30 on FOX 43.

And the final game of the weekend Sunday night had the Philadelphia Eagles go on the road and beat the Minnesota Vikings 26 to 14.  The Eagles had a two point halftime lead, thanks in part to an interception returned for a touchdown by Asante Samuels.  The score stayed that way until with 6:40 left in the game, old number 36 Brian Westbrook took a screen pass from Donovan McNabband broke loose for a 71 yard touchdown.  Up to that point, the Vikings defense had held Westbrook in check all day.  Then the Vikings with a bad snap under 2:50 to play in the game, the Eagles recovered. David Akers kicked a couple of long field goals, McNabb with 300 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The Eagles now travel to the Meadowlands next week to take on the well rested Super Bowl champion New York Giants. During the regular season each won on the others home turf.  It will be the 4th time these two teams will have met in the playoffs the Giants lead the series 2 wins to 1.

If you haven’t heard by now, Virginia Tech beat Cincinnati last night 20 to 7 in the 75th annual Orange Bowl.

Several things stood out in my mind.  First, I thought sophmore quarterback Tyrod Taylor did an excellent job.  He totally out played the Cincinatti quarterback Tony Pike, who had one of the worst bowl game’s I’ve ever seen.

We all knew Tyrod was one of the best high school quarterbacks in the nation when he played at Hampton High School, the only question was could he be as good in college. Well, in only his second year (and he didn’t even start the entire season), he has won an ACC Championship (where he was named the most valuable player) and he won a BCS bowl game.

Second, freshman running back Darren Evans is the real deal. We knew he was one of the best high school runners in the nation, and here in his first bowl game, (and not the PapaJohnsdotcompizza bowl, but a BCS game), he runs for 153 yards and two touchdowns and is named the game’s MVP.

Unless for some reason they were to leave school early, both Taylor and Evans will be back for at least two more years Evans maybe three.  Toss in the fact that all but four of the starters from last night’s game will be back next year, and the future looks bright for the Hokies.

Bad Day for Burress

They say there are good choices and bad choices, and I am sure if he had it to do over again, Virginia Beach football star Plaxico Burress would have chosen not to take a handgun when he and his buddies went drinking Friday night.

The cops have a pretty strong case against the Giants wide reciever who has been charged with two separate counts of criminal possession of a handgun after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a Midtown nightclub.

Burress faces a mandatory sentence of 3 1/2 years in state prison, with a maximum of 15 years on each count.

Burress’ lawyer Benjamin Brafman says Plex asked him to tell all the fans who have written and called, and his teamates, that he very much appreciates their expressions of concern.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND

College football games this weekend, number one Alabama should have no trouble beating Mississippi State Saturday night on ESPN.  This is a down year for the Bulldogs, and Glen Coffee should have a field day running the football for Alabama.

The 3rd ranked Fla Gators are 21 point favorites to beat the Old Ball Coach and his 24th ranked South Carolina team.

Fla already in the SEC title game against Alabama but needs to beat the Gamecocks to keep their national title hopes alive.

Number 4 Texas at Kansas, Texas has to avoid an upset to stay in the hunt for the Big 12 title and maybe a national championship.

Number 7 Penn State a 36 point favorite to beat Indiana, 8th ranked Utah a
30 point favorite to beat San Diego State.

Navy plays Notre Dame in Baltimore, East Carolina is at Southern Miss.

Virginia is off this week, Norfolk State hosts Deleware State. Hampton is at FAM-U, and the big 1-AA showdown in Harrisonburg, number one James Madison against red hot William and Mary.

This does not surprise me, but I often asked if I think that Michael Vick will ever play football again.

I have always thought he would try, and I believe that there are teams that will sign him if they think he can help them win.

That being said, you probably know that the former Falcons quarterback has filed for bankruptcy now that he is in prison.

His lawyers have filed papers in court saying that Vick has every reason to believe that upon his release he will be reinstated into the NFL, resume his career and be able to earn a substantial living.

Right now he has assets of 16 million dollars and liabilities of 20 and a half million dollars.

Vick is expected to be released from jail in late July.

Virginia Tech’s hopes for another ACC championship were washed away by Hurricane last night, as the University of Miami excelled on defense and special teams and beat the Hokies 16 to 14.

Miami scored first on a touchdown in the first quarter, then Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor scored to tie the game.

Miami hit three field goals, and their defense shut down the Hokies until the final minutes of the game, when Taylor drove Tech 70 yards and then ran in for his second touchdown.

The Tech defense held, Taylor got the ball back with a little over three minutes to go, but Miami sacked Taylor on 4th down and held on for the 2 point win.

Going into the game, Tech, Miami and North Carolina were tied for first place in the Coastal Division. Now Tech has to win its final two games against Duke and UVA and hope that Miami loses twice and Carolina loses to get back into the championship picture.

I’ll tell you one thing, Virginia Tech’s kicking game is terrible, they really need to do something about that next year.

Tough loss for the Hokies last night.

Love him, or maybe “not” love him.
There is certainly no denying that Hampton High School football coach Mike Smith knows how to win.
In almost 4 decades at Hampton, Smith has coached 469 games and won 400 of them.
It helped he had great players like NFL Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson, Oakland Raiders receiver Ronald Curry, Cardinals lineman Elton Brown, and kicker Michael Husted.
But it takes a lot more than that to become the winningest coach in a football crazy state like Virginia.
Chris Reckling spent some time with Coach Smith this week and you can see the entire interview by going to WAVY.com and click on sports.
If you have any special Mike Smith stories you’d like to tell, click on the headline and put them in the comment section below.

It was kind of interesting to see video of our old buddy DeAngelo Hall wearing the Burgundy and Gold of the Washington Redskins. Wearing jersey number 23.

In case you missed us talking about it, the former Deep Creek High School star, who played at Virginia Tech, was cut by the Oakland Raiders last week and signed with the Redskins on Saturday.

He joins a pretty good defensive backfield that already includes two other former first-round draft picks (Carlos Rogers and Shawn Springs) as well as a former second-rounder (Fred Smoot).

Now it’s no secret that D-Hall has a bit of reputation around the league as being a hot head.

He mixed it up with Coach Bobby Petrino when he played for the Falcons, and he showed his temper a couple of times while playing for the Raiders.

He did not play very well in Oakland.

But he’s only 24 years old and admits he has some growing up to do, and hopes this is going to be a new start for him.

The Redskins have a very tight unit and Coach Jim Zorn is going to keep a tight leash on DeAngelo.

But I’ve know this kid since he was in high school, and he really is a nice guy.

And I think he learned a lot during these eight games in Oakland and I think he’s going to really be minding his pea’s and cues there with the Redskins.

And I think we’re going to see him play 20 or 30 plays against the Cowboys.

NFL

            Let’s take a quick trip around the NFL, the Redskins and the Cowboys were off this weekend, they meet Sunday at Fed Ex field, but the New York Giants were busy last night on Sunday night football, taking care of the Philadelphia Eagles 36 to 31.

            Plexaco Burris from Virginia Beach, caught one of Eli Manning’s two touchdown passes, and the Super Bowl champions are now 8 and 1, and have a two game lead in the NFC east over the Redskins who go into Dallas week 6 and 3.

            The Pittsburgh defense have a great defense but that doesn’t do much for you if your quarterback throws three interceptions, and that’s what Ben Roethlisberger did yesterday and the Steelers lost to the Colts 24 to 20.

            The Tennessee Titans are still unbeaten they beat the Bears 21 to 14, but managed only 20 yards rushing.  Thank goodness for them their quarterback Kerry Collins had a big day.  The Titans have now won 12 regular season games in a row.

            Give it up to Brett Favre even though it was former Virginia running back Thomas Jones that carried the day with three touchdowns, Favre’s Jets beat the Rams 44 to 3, and that is a nice way to get ready for the Patriots, big game for the Jets against New England on Thursday night.  Not Sunday, that will be a Thursday night game.

            The Vikings beat Green Bay on a last minute or two touchdown, I watched that game on TV, Carolina beat the Raiders (the Raiders are horrible) I watched that last night on TV, Miami beat Seattle.

            Drew Brees threw 3 picks; one was taken back for a touchdown, so the Saints lose to Atlanta.  An uncharacteristic game for him, even though he did throw for over 400 yards.

            Dante Cullpepper couldn’t help the Lions they lose to the Jags, Detroit is 0 and 9.

            And a score that jumped out at me, the Baltimore Ravens 41 to 13 over the Texans, keep an eye out for Baltimore, they are really playing well.

NASCAR

            A NASCAR race has to be pretty boring to be bumped off TV for America’s Funniest Home Video’s.

            But that’s what ABC did last night; it switched the end of the Phoenix race over to ESPN 2 with a little over 30 laps to go.

            They had two red flags in that race which made it run long.

            And as expected Jimmy Johnson ended up in victory lane for his 3^rd straight win at Phoenix, and he now has a 141 point lead over Carl Edwards for the Cup championship with only one race to go.

            The season wraps up down in Miami on Sunday where Johnson is expected to clinch his 3^rd straight championship, and that’s big. 

            Kurt Busch who will be living in Virginia Beach during this off season finished 2^nd, Jamie McMurry finished 3^rd.

            If you want a recap of the race, I’ll have it for you tonight at 10:45 on the Fox 43 Sportswrap on my Monday Thunder segment. 

ADMIRALS

            I got a very nice email this morning from Scott M. in Virginia Beach, and he wanted to remind me of a very successful weekend for the Norfolk Admirals hockey team.

            They had not had a very good start but the Admirals won their games Friday and Saturday night against the Rockford Icehogs, which is the old Admirals team owned by the Chicago Blackhawks.

            The Admirals won 5 to 2 Friday, the two teams started fighting even before the game started, and then Saturday night the Admirals beat Rockford again and the game ended in a fight.

            Scott mentioned they had 4 thousand fans at Scope on Friday night and 47 hundred there on Saturday, so the fans are behind the team, and I thank Scott for that email. 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

            Alabama and Texas Tech still 1-2 in the BCS standings, Penn State lost to Iowa so Texas moves up to 3^rd,  Florida is 4^th, Oklahoma 5^th and USC is 6^th.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. The start of the high school football playoff season in Hampton Roads.  Tonight the quarterfinals of the Division 5 and 6 triple A teams.  For all of your scores and highlights go to WAVY.com and click on Friday Night Flights.