49ers CEO Jed York preaches patience in coach, GM search

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York is preaching patience as the team's search for a new coach and general manager enters its fourth week.

York fired first-year coach Chip Kelly and longtime general manager Trent Baalke on Jan. 1 after the team matched the worst record in franchise history with a 2-14 mark.

''We have to make sure that we get the right person,'' York said Tuesday at an event on the intersection of sport and social change at San Jose State.

York has interviewed six coaching candidates with Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan the only remaining candidate. The Niners will meet again with Shanahan this week but can't sign him to a contract until after the Falcons play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 against New England.

There have also been nine interviews with potential general managers with Minnesota assistant GM George Paton and Arizona vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough expected to get second interviews this week as well.

The five other NFL coach openings have already been filled, including three candidates who interviewed with San Francisco. Washington offensive coordinator Sean McVay got hired by the Los Angeles Rams, Carolina defensive coordinator Sean McDermott got the job in Buffalo and Bills interim coach Anthony Lynn took over the Chargers. Read more...

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TOMLIN NOT ALARMED AS ROETHLISBERGER PONDERS FUTURE

PITTSBURGH (AP) As a general philosophy, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin treats each individual season as its own unique entity, with no direct through line from one to the next.
Considering his quarterback's current state of mind, probably a good idea.

While Tomlin believes the Steelers have a ''championship caliber'' team a couple days removed from an ugly blowout loss to New England in the AFC title game, his franchise's most important player isn't guaranteeing a return in 2017. Roethlisberger said during his weekly appearance on 93.7 The Fan that he needs time to reflect before coming back for a 14th season.

''I'm going to take this offseason to evaluate, to consider all options, to consider health and family and things like that and just kind of take some time away to evaluate next season, if there's going to be a next season, all those things,'' Roethlisberger said.

Roethlisberger will turn 35 in March and is under contract through 2020. Knee injuries have forced him to miss time in each of the last two seasons and while Pittsburgh ripped off nine straight wins on its way to the AFC North title and its first appearance in the NFL's final four in six years, Roethlisberger wasn't terribly sharp.

He threw 10 interceptions over Pittsburgh's final seven games, though the two-time Super Bowl winner didn't receive much help on Sunday against the Patriots, as dropped passes, a groin injury to running back Le'Veon Bell and occasionally questionable playcalling - not to mention Tom Brady at the peak of his powers - played significant factors in the worst postseason loss of his career. Read more....

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PACKERS SURVIVE COWBOYS TO RETURN TO THE NFC TITLE GAME

After a long wait, the NFL playoffs finally got interesting with games coming down to the final possession.  The first of these games came on the NFC side as the top seeded Dallas Cowboys hosted the fourth seeded Green Bay Packers.  Though this one came down to the wire, it seemed that the Packers was going to dominate the Cowboys as they took a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter.

It seemed all but done when Ty Montgomery ran for his second touchdown of the day that gave Green Bay the biggest lead of the game.

After that, Dallas would wake up as they would outscore Aaron Rodgers and company 28-10 with 0:35 left in the game.  As we have seen many times the past couple seasons, that would be too much time to leave Rodgers to make something happen.

This time, Rodgers would not get a Hail Mary, but would have a clutch 36-yard pass as he rolled out to the left that set up the game winner for Mason Crosby from 51 yards out.  This continues one of the most impressive runs in the league as the Packers have won their eighth straight thanks to their 34-31 victory Sunday.  Despite the Packers winning, rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott showed that he is as good as the hype made him out to be as he was 24/38 with 302 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. Read more.....

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LEVEON BELL AND STEELERS RUN OUT THE CLOCK ON THE CHIEFS

Leveon Bell and Antonio Brown took over against the Chiefs and when the Chiefs made a push to come back into the game, Bell ran the clock out on them. For the Chiefs they were unable to assemble any amount of a run game as their lead rusher Ware ran for 35 yards on 8 carries.

The Chiefs got behind early though and were forced to throw the ball to get back in the game. Alex Smith threw for 172 yards one TD and one INT, with his main recipient being Travis Kelce with 77 yards.

Leveon Bell dominated for the Steelers even though they were unable to get the ball into the end zone. Bell ran for 170 yards on 30 carries  averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Antonio Brown meanwhile dominated the game through the air catching six passes for 108 yards. The Steelers are now on a nine game win streak as they head to New England to face the Patriots, who are in the AFC Championship for an NFL record sixth straight year.

The Chiefs and Steelers have combined for for nine AFC titles since 2001 and after this one they'll have 10 in just 16 years. The Steelers became the first team in the NFL to win a playoff game with no touchdowns since the Super Bowl Champion Colts in 2006. Between Brady and Rothlisberger they have combined for nine Super Bowl appearances, six titles, and three super bowl MVPs. Read  more...

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OAKLAND RAIDERS VS HOUSTON TEXANS - 01/07/2017 - PREVIEW AND PREDICTION

The Texans take their home field in this wild card round matchup as Osweiler tries to lead them to victory over Connor Cook and the Raiders. The Raiders will be without their MVP in Derek Carr for the remainder of the season and now to to Cook to try and pull off the upset win on the road to move to the second round. The Texans will look to their defense to get the job done against the rookie quarterback and make it to the second round. Raiders at Texans will be played at 3:35 pm central time on Saturday.

The Raiders will struggle without their leader in Derek Carr, the man who led them to their 12-4 season and their first playoff appearance in a very long time. Connor Cook came in as relief for Matt McGloin, who was 6/11 for 21 yards against the Broncos last week. In his relief effort he threw 14/21 for 150 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Lucky for Connor Cook he'll have weapons like Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray to throw to.

If the Raiders are to win this game though it will be up to Khalil Mack and the defense to pin their ears back and get to Osweiler.

If there is a quarterback that's going to give the Raiders a chance to win it's Osweiler, who by no means had the season to deam him worthy of his big contract. Osweiler has thrown for 2,957 yards, 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

Most of that production came early in the year with DeAndre Hpkins and Will Fuller being the main recipients and since he's gone cold. The Texans much like the Raiders will be relying heavily on defense in this matchup. Brian Cushing and JD Clowney will try to lead this team to victory with the 11th ranked scoring defense in the NFL.

Prediction
Connor Cook plays well for the Raiders, but the home field advantage for the Texans is too much to overcome as they fall in their first playoff game since 2002. The Texans hold on to win this game 20-17.
Current Line: Texans -4
Pick: Raiders +4
Read more....

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NFC WILD-CARD: #3 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS VS #6 DETROIT LIONS - 01/07/2017 - PREVIEW AND PREDICTION

The most exciting time in any sport has come upon the NFL as the Wild-Card round kicks off on Saturday.  As for the NFC the first game features the #3 Seattle Seahawks and the #6 Detroit Lions as they look to correct late season struggles and advance to the divisional round.  These two are unfamiliar with each other as this is the first meeting between the two this season.

Seattle cruised their way to another NFC West title as they managed a 10-5-1 record that saw a few head scratching moments for the team.  Against playoff teams, they are nearly perfect at 3-1, but a week 14 loss to Green Bay by a sore of 38-10 which may tell teams how to beat the Seahawks.

The most decisive factor in the post season is the loss of veteran safety, Earl Thomas, who suffered a broken leg late in the season.  Down the stretch, the defense has not lived up to its standard as they gave up the 38 to Green Bay, 34 to Arizona and a surprising 23 to San Francisco as it may cost them a matchup.

Detroit had a different road as they lucked out in going to the playoffs after dropping the final three contests in the regular season.  On the season, they are 0-5 vs playoff teams this season including going 0-2 vs the Packers.  At this point, it seems that they will need to pull off a miracle to beat the Seahawks in Seattle, as Detroit has dropped five of their road contests on the season.  The upside for Detroit has been the performance of the offense in a surprise performance after the retirement of Calvin Johnson. Read more....

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LIONS' PLAYOFF HOPES ON HOLD AFTER 42-21 LOSS TO COWBOYS

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Matthew Stafford lost to his hometown team again, and the playoff plans are on hold for the Detroit Lions.

Dez Bryant threw his first career touchdown pass between a pair of scoring catches, Ezekiel Elliott ran for two TDs and the Dallas Cowboys kept the Lions from clinching a postseason spot with a 42-21 win Monday night.

Despite a second straight loss following five consecutive victories, Detroit (9-6) still controls its postseason fate. The Lions will be at home against Green Bay (9-6) with the NFC North title at stake in the finale Sunday.

''It's a one-game season,'' Stafford said. ''If you told me in Week 17 we would have a game at our place and got a chance to win the division, I'd take it all day.''

Stafford, a championship-winning high school quarterback in the Dallas area, had a 1-yard scoring plunge , but was sacked four times - matching a season high - almost two years after losing a wild-card game at Dallas.

He was 26 of 46 for 260 yards, including an interception that set up Elliott's 1-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to break a 21-all halftime tie. Read more....

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