In short order, you will find out the identity of the NFC Souths best team. With two meetings scheduled over the next three weeks, the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints are set to battle for division supremacy as well as a potential first-round bye in the NFC playoff picture. Things get started this Sunday night in the Big Easy with the sequel set for Charlotte on Dec. 22. Catch all the action on TSN starting with Football Night in America at 7pm et/4pm pt. "Its like youre getting the best of the best," NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said when talking about this weeks affair, which will air nationally on "Sunday Night Football." "Youre going to see Carolinas defense, led by Luke Kuechly, going into the Superdome where weve seen everybody struggle to try and stop that offense with Drew Brees. Its going to be fantastic." Fantastic indeed. Carolina has won a franchise-record eight consecutive games, including last weeks dominating 27-6 victory over Tampa Bay. For their next trick the Panthers will attempt to become just the second NFL team to win nine consecutive this season (joining Kansas City) and the first club to beat Brees and Co. in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another against the Bucs, while Carolinas defense, which leads the NFL in fewest points allowed (157), limited Tampa Bay to 206 total net yards and no touchdowns. Newton threw for 263 yards with two interceptions while adding 68 yards and a TD on the ground. Brandon LaFell and Ted Ginn Jr. each had touchdown catches in the rout. "People want to keep pointing at me, but the truth of the matter is our defense is playing lights out and giving us opportunities," admitted Newton. The Saints, meanwhile, are 6-0 at home this season and Brees leads the NFL with a 122.2 home passer rating, which includes 19 touchdowns and only three interceptions. However, New Orleans was blitzed in Seattle on Monday night when Russell Wilson had three touchdowns passes and the Seahawks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a resounding 34-7 win over the Saints. The Seattle defense did its part on Monday, limiting Brees to just 147 yards and a touchdown on 23-for-38 passing, and allowing the Saints to cross midfield just once in the first three quarters while also stopping NOLA twice on fourth down in the fourth quarter. The seven total points matched the lowest output the Saints have scored since Sean Payton took over the team in 2006, while the 188 total yards accrued were the fewest in Payton-era. "That first half was real tough and we just couldnt get anything going," said Brees. "We had a bunch of three-and-outs before we had that one drive where we scored. But after that we just couldnt do much at all. We took one in the chin today." With the loss, its first since dropping a game in New York to the Jets on Nov. 3, New Orleans fell into a tie for first in the NFC South with Carolina, and two games behind the Seahawks for the conferences top spot. "Well make sure well get the corrections made because theres a lot of things we didnt do well," said Payton. "Its a short week and we have some work to do here." The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Saints by a slim 19-17 margin after sweeping the season series a year ago. WHAT TO WATCH FOR This is your classic matchup of strength versus strength pitting New Orleans powerful offense against Carolinas league-leading D. Forget the Saints team you saw in Seattle, this is a totally different bunch on the fast track in the dome. New Orleans is unbeaten and averages 33.2 points a game at home this season while outscoring opponents 199-95 in six contests. The Panthers, on the other hand, have won four consecutive on the road and their defense is allowing an NFL-low 13.1 points per game and only 289.8 yards per contest, second best in football. Carolina is also the last team to actually beat the Saints in NOLA, earning a 44-38 decision last December. "There are a lot of things theyre doing offensively that make you say, Wow," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "A lot of people thought last year that Jimmy Graham had an off-year, but now watching him he looks like hes in the form he was two years ago. Darren Sproles, Ive got a bottle of Tums next to me because he is a heck of a football player. And Drew Brees is having a classic Drew Brees season." Rivera touched on the two players that make the New Orleans offense so difficult to deal with, matchup nightmares Graham and Sproles. The lengthy Graham has 68 receptions for 988 yards and 12 TDs on the season and six 100-yard games, the most ever for a tight end, while Sproles leads all NFL running backs with 216 catches, 1,872 receiving yards and 16 receiving TDs since 2011. Helping matters for Carolina could be the possible return of star pass rusher Charles Johnson, who has missed the last two games with a sprained knee. Johnson leads the Panthers with 8 1/2 sacks and since the 2010 season is one of just two NFL players with 40-plus sacks (41.5) and 10-plus forced fumbles (10). Kuechly, meanwhile, has settled in as the best middle linebacker in the game, compiling 266 tackles since debuting in 2012, the most in all of football over that period. The Carolina offense isnt nearly as formidable save for the dynamic Newton, who has thrown 19 touchdowns and rushed for six more so far this season. Veteran receiver Steve Smith and tight end Greg Olsen have been Newtons favorite targets but neither will pop the top off a defense at this stage. Newton, though, seems to have realized that he can live to play another down so to speak and punting the football isnt the worst thing in the world with his defense. Taking care of the football is paramount to the Panthers and Newton has done so in recent weeks, although he did throw two picks against Tampa Bay. Overall, Carolina has turned it over just seven times during its winning streak and is one of only five teams with a plus-10 turnover ratio. "We know that were going to have to minimize these turnovers," Newton said. OVERALL ANALYSIS A dismal trip to Seattle and a short week for the Saints was further exacerbated when the teams chartered flight out of the Pacific Northwest was delayed a day. "Its a setback and now youre on a short week, but we have to make the corrections," Payton said. "We have to quickly get focused on Carolina. Theyre playing as good football as anybody in the league right now." The best way to forget about the Seahawks and Seattle is to get back on the horse in the dome and halt Carolinas franchise-record winning streak. Expect the fast track to be the difference here before the Panthers rebound to hold serve in Charlotte down the road. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Saints 27, Panthers 17 . After the loss, White refused to make good on the bet, instead offering Hoyt tickets to a Bears game. . But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an .
https://www.cheapjazzonline.com/. The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. . -- Andy Granatelli, the former CEO of STP motor oil company who made a mark on motorsports as a car owner, innovator and entrepreneur, has died. . Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Foles will start in place of Michael Vick, who is out for the second time this season with a hamstring injury.This week had a major upside to it. A phone call interview with Chael Sonnen. You can hear it as part of our podcast for TSN 1290s The Weigh In. Before the interview we talked about this project, encouraging fight fans to try aspects of the training. We talked briefly about his hilarious commercials for Nexersys (more on that later) and getting people fit. During the podcast interview we talked his picks for UFC Fight Night, and about his ability to always be ready for any fight any time. His answer was simple. It goes back to his wrestling days, and you never know whos going to be your opponent. You simply have to be ready and be your best. Chael isnt as big on strength training, and in fact sees it the same as some of the "old school" guys do. Its more to break up training than to add to it. Its a mental break, something new. It got me thinking about my week of training. I spend a lot of my time doing the work I have my pros do in the strength room. I also make time for kickboxing. Unfortunately, finding time to get to a jujitsu or wrestling class never matches my schedule, but I can always hit a heavy bag. Which led me to take a look around the internet, my hope was to find a few things MMA fans could try that could match their schedule if they wanted to try striking. The fitness you need for 20-30 minutes of striking is actually incredible. It truly is one of the top cardiovascular workouts. If you want your body to lose fat, cardio burns it off. Especially if that cardio is done in intervals, and high intensity training (HIT). I checked out a brand new franchise to the market, its called 9 Round Fitness. Basically a new class starts every 30 minutes. You are involved in a circuit of 9 x 3 minute rounds of activity. So if you are a fan of MMA or Kickboxing, but are not quite ready to enter a full fight gym, this is the perfect start. Trust me when I say, fight gyms can be intimidating. Go at the wrong time and you can see blood on the mats, and sweat flying everywhere. Its not the best starting point for a lot of people. Something with the basics of kickboxing, and people there simply to get a workout and try the sport they love is perfect. If you dont want to leave your home, you need to try a Nexersys. Its a stand-alone piece of workout equipment. It comes with software to ensure yyou are progressing, learning and increasing your fitness.dddddddddddd The targets have accelerometers to insure your safety when striking. For a beginner in kickboxing its great, and it can advance you as you get better at your striking game. Again, anytime you can work in high intensity intervals into your training, its a great thing. I would love to see fight fans try something like this, just to get introduced to the sport they love. Building an understanding of what goes into training, builds more passion for the sport. It also builds sponsorship opportunities for athletes. Meaning, they get paid to train and the fans see more complete fighters. My week was capped off by a meeting with my trainer; its time to buckle down. Im looking to be able to hit 205 by the end of this 10 weeks. Currently my weight is sitting at 221 pounds. That means its time to tighten up on diet. This is the worst part of training. Its also why fighters hire trainers. Im using Jeff Fisher at Elite Performance in Winnipeg; hes helped athletes in all sports cut weight to be their best. Im using a trainer because I would not do what it takes if it was up to me. You need someone to reinforce the necessity of being strict on the diet. If a pro misses weight, it ruins his reputation and costs him a portion of his winnings. So to test how I can do with training and cutting calories my diet this week has a lot more focus. No sugar at all, increasing my good fats, using select supplements to ensure my vitamins and minerals are up even though my calories are being cut. I will eat 5 times in a day, 3 meals and two smaller snacks. Im also taking care to remove carbohydrates that have gluten, and extra dairy products. A lot of pro fighters are avoiding dairy as their fights approach. Dairy can in some people increase the production mucus, which affects breathing through the nose. Last week I started running with my SISU Mouth guard. Even though it has significant improvements in how well it fits, you still shouldnt be breathing with an open mouth. So dairy is reduced. Im on track, it feels good and I cant wait to hear from fans of the sport of MMA as they turn their health around, and develop some healthy habits thanks to their passion for MMA. Lots to learn and a lot of fun to be had while getting active. ' ' '
