How the Texans can upset the heavily favoured Patriots Getty Images
The question of whether the Falcons should be rooting for a home game against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers or a road trip to Dallas to face the Cowboys and their rookie quarterback will surely tilt in one direction but not as sharply as, in the abstract, it should.
In the AFC, the Patriots have a much closer question to resolve. Now that they have dispensed with the texans, who should the patriots want to see next Sunday night at home?
The issue will be resolved tonight in Kansas City. Until then, chime in with the preferred choice of the Patriots. Steelers or Chiefs for a berth in Super Bowl LI.
Scott Zolak of the Patriots Radio Network cast a vote earlier this week on PFT Live for the Chiefs, given that the Steelers have such a dynamic offense. That said, the Chiefs may be more adept at applying pressure to Tom Brady, which traditionally is one of the key ingredients to beating the Patriots in the postseason.
Theyll be favored against either opponent. But they surely have a preference. Whats yours?
The Blue Devils started this season looking every bit the part of a force to be reckoned with. After jumping out to an early lead on the No. 14 ranked Louisville Cardinals, the Cardinals outscored Duke 20-5 to end the first half.
Louisville went on to secure the win, 78-69.
With a four-point lead coming out of the break, Duke appeared to be drowning at times against their conference foe.
Led by Anas Mahmouds double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds), and 15 points contributed by Donovan Mitchell, the Cardinals handled their opponent handily.
What once appeared as if it would be one of the more challenging games on the schedule for either team failed to live up to the expected billing. Neither team wowed the other with its offensive prowess, but Louisville managed to hit key shots near the end of each half and connected seven times from behind the arc.
Grayson Allen managed to pour in 23 points but couldnt will his team to victory. Without head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils are floundering and for the first time have lost two games in a row. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have won four times in seven chances against ranked opponents this year, the most of any other team in the college basketball.
Duke falls to 2-3 in the conference and needs to come up with answers, fast.
Coach K is out indefinitely with a back injury and he isnt going to come walking through the door. Allen might be able to redeem some of his behavior with hard, clean play that wills a suddenly suspect duke team to a title run.
Louisville continues to look like one of the most formidable opponents in the AC.
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Michael is originally from Miami, FL and is of Cuban descent. He holds BFA from the University of Florida/New World School of the Arts and is also a stand-up comedian based in New York City. Michael is 5"11", but wears elevators in his shoes to make himself 6 feet tall.Twitter: @MichaelNapoles
Michael Bennett does the "Hingle McCringleberry" Dance
Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett wasn"t going to take a question about Seattle"s pass rush lightly.
After Saturday"s 36-20 Divisional Round playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Bennett reportedly stopped FOX Q13 reporter Bill Wixey in the middle of a question about getting pressure on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. According to USA Today, the question seemed to suggest that Seattle was not getting their typical amount of pressure.
The Seahawks finished with three sacks, five tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits; a pretty good performance given how fast Ryan releases the ball.
"There"s some (expletive) that happened. He threw the ball pretty fast. He did his thing, we rushed as good as we could."
He added: "Don"t point (at us) and say we didn"t do what we needed to do, OK? Don"t do that, OK? Get out of my face now. Don"t tell me I didn"t do my job, (expletive). Get the (expletive) out of my face. Like I said, get out of my face.
"Don"t play with me! I just put my heart on the (expletive) field! Don"t play with me. Get the (expletive) out of my face! Try me again and see what happens. I ain"t one of these (expletive). Don"t tell me what I didn"t do, (expletive).
"We lost the game! That"s the NFL, you non-playing (expletive)! What you do with your life? What you do with your lifetime (expletive)? What injury you play through? What adversity you went through?"
Wixey, according to several printed articles about his battle with Hodgkin"s Lymphoma, has been through quite a bit in his life for the record.
This is the second time in a few weeks that a Seahawks player has blown up at a reporter. Just before Christmas, cornerback Richard Sherman threatened to "ruin" the career of KIRO-AM reporter Jim Moore and said that he would get Moore"s press credentials revoked.
These incidents can be spun a thousand different ways to fit whatever narrative the author so chooses, but it"s always important to consider a few facts. Postgame situations are difficult for players, who sometimes don"t handle the moment with the grace that has become unreasonably expected of them given the circumstances. Reporters, for the most part, are just there to do their job and glean information for the fans who depend on them for some type of breakdown or report. In a perfect world, there would be a better way to do this than in a tense, sweaty locker room just moments after a promising season comes to an end.
That doesn"t mean Sherman or Bennett should be excused for threatening a person"s job or suggesting something about a person they clearly don"t know much about. Sherman later apologized and it wouldn"t be surprising to see Bennett do the same.
Michael Bennett Mic"d Up at 2016 Pro Bowl Practice | NFL Fan Pass
Michael Bennett was seen pointing his finger after going down on a play in Saturdays playoff game between the teams and had to be restrained.
Bennett went down on a first down play by Atlanta during the Falcons first drive of the third quarter. He was upset after the play and the refs told him to leave the field:
There was speculation that Bennett may have been upset with Jake Matthews, who was part of the play where the Seahawks defensive lineman was hurt.
The annual report by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), released Jan. 11, raised the issue of what it calls the load and go approach planned by SpaceX to fuel the Falcon 9 rocket with liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants only after astronauts have boarded the Dragon spacecraft.
Traditionally, launch vehicles are fueled hours before launch, and only afterwards do crews board the spacecraft. However, SpaceX has shifted to an approach of fueling the rocket starting only about a half-hour before launch. That allows the company to use super-cooled liquid oxygen, which is denser and provides additional performance. However, it would require crews to board the Dragon prior to the start of fueling.
ASAP, in its report, noted that it is not clear how safe this approach is given the limited experience of the load and go approach. In this regard, the Panel is concerned that the dynamic thermal effects on the system associated with loading densified propellants may not be adequately understood, which results in a higher level of uncertainty that must be factored into the risk determination, it stated.
Another NASA advisory group, the International Space Station Advisory Committee, first raised concerns about the load and go approach in a December 2015 letter to NASA. The issue received new scrutiny when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad prior to a static-fire test Sept. 1 in advance of the scheduled launch of the Amos-6 communications satellite.
There is a unanimous, and strong, feeling by the committee that scheduling the crew to be on board the Dragon spacecraft prior to loading oxidizer into the rocket is contrary to booster safety criteria that has been in place for over 50 years, both in this country and internationally, Stafford wrote in the letter, which NASA released in November.
Stafford raised the issue again at an Oct. 31 meeting of this committee, when he complained that NASA had not responded to his original letter, even after the pad accident. The agency, in a later statement, said it was still evaluating NASAs plans for fueling the Falcon 9 for commercial crew launches, and would incorporate the results of the pad explosion investigation into that analysis.
SpaceX announced Jan. 2 that it had completed the investigation into the explosion. It blamed the accident on buckling of the aluminum liner of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel used to store helium in the rockets upper stage liquid oxygen tank. Liquid oxygen pooled in the gap between the liner and the carbon overwrap, leading to friction and the subsequent failure of the pressure vessel. The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses Falcon 9 commercial launches, said Jan. 6 it had accepted the results of that investigation and issued a launch license for SpaceXs next Falcon 9 launch of 10 Iridium satellites, now scheduled for Jan. 14.
ASAP, in its report, said it was concerned that there may be additional, unforeseen issues associated with the load and go fueling process. Despite testing at the component and subassembly level, systems often display emergent behavior once they are used in the actual operational environment, the panel stated in the report. It called for NASA to better understand how the system functions in the dynamic thermal environment associated with load and go so that other previously unidentified hazards can be discovered.
Some former NASA astronauts remain skeptical of SpaceXs fueling approach. I am not a supporter of load and go! Steep hill for SpaceX to convince NASA of load and gos safety for crew, tweeted former astronaut Mike Foreman, a veteran of two shuttle missions, in response to the report Jan. 12.
You are not alone, Clayton Anderson, another former astronaut, tweeted in response.
ASAP cited the load and go fueling approach by SpaceX, as well as a fault tolerance issue on the Centaur upper stage that will be used to launch Boeings CST-100 commercial crew vehicle, as issues for NASA to watch for in the commercial crew program. That is complicated, the panel said, by the fact that the companies control the design of their commercial crew systems, with NASA providing oversight.
In this type of environment, the [NASA commercial crew program] must work diligently to ensure that acceptable risk is not defined by the best we can do given the constraints, the panels report stated. The residual risk must be openly acknowledged and elevated to the appropriate level within the Agency for consideration.
Antony Armstrong-Jones, a British photographer who wed Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1960, a marriage that made the commoner groom the first Earl of Snowdon and an object of fascination in England long after the couples headline-grabbing divorce, died Jan.13. He was 86.
His photo agency, the London-based Camera Press, confirmed his death to the Associated Press, which reported no other details.
Before he joined the royal family, and for decades after he left it, Lord Snowdon was known for his striking skill for photography, an art form he took up as a teenager recovering from polio.
In his 20s, he established himself as a savvy portrait and fashion photographer and began a 60-year relationship with Vogue magazine. His portfolio, exhibited at venues including the National Portrait Gallery in London, ranged from a famous image of Margaret in a bathtub, bedecked by a tiara, to a series documenting the inside of a mental hospital.
But he was best known as the love interest, then husband and then ex-husband of Margaret. His artistic connections had led to assignments to photograph Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip and their children. Margaret sat for him in 1958, when they began a secret courtship.
Their romance followed the first major royal scandal since the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936: Margarets romance with the World War II flying ace Peter Townsend. The British establishment frowned on the relationship Townsend was divorced and Margaret was given the choice between marrying Townsend or keeping her royal privilege and income. She chose the latter.
Lord Snowdon was already an up-and-coming figure in the bohemian and aristocratic set in postwar London. It was a scene that the high-spirited and increasingly extravagant Margaret was drawn to after the Townsend debacle.
Lord Snowdon was dashing and suave and, as a commoner, was seen as bringing the royal family a much-needed touch of modernity.
The engagement was announced in February 1960, with a lavish wedding ceremony following in May at Westminster Abbey. The queen lent the royal yacht to the couple for a weeks-long honeymoon in the Caribbean.
Elizabeth also granted her new brother-in-law the title of 1st Earl of Snowdon, an allusion to Mount Snowdon in Wales, the land of his forebears. But he was widely known as Tony.
The title gave him a seat in Britains upper legislative chamber, the House of Lords, and he later used his political position to champion the rights of the disabled.
Margaret and Lord Snowdon were a part of the thriving social scene in the Swinging 60s in London, but by the end of the decade by which time they had two small children, David, Viscount Linley, and Lady Sarah rumors circulated of marital discord. It became known that they kept private residences in Kensington Palace, and Lord Snowdon was often absent on photo assignments abroad.
Margaret was linked romantically to at least two suitors (one of whom later committed suicide). In 1973, she became involved with a young garden designer, leading to her separation and, in 1978, divorce from Lord Snowdon. Years later, there would be reports that Lord Snowdon had fathered a child who was born weeks after his marriage to margaret.
royal marriages had broken down before, but theirs was the first royal divorce in England since Henry VIII, and it set the tone for the salacious media coverage in the 1990s of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York.
Those controversies took the glare off Margaret and Lord Snowdon, although his life was not without its twists as he maintained his work as a photographer and filmmaker.
With his royal connections, he had access to the regal, the famous and the artistic, even after his divorce. In 1984, he was the first to photograph the newborn Prince Harry, and three years later he took an official portrait photo of Margaret and their two grown children. They were said to have been on good terms in later years.
He photographed the actor Laurence Olivier; Vita Sackville-West, the writer and lover of Virginia Woolf; David Bowie; the artist Barbara Hepworth; and novelists Kingsley Amis and Graham Greene. He was known for his brooding, black-and-white images. Some of his subjects regarded the camera; others didnt. He didnt dwell much on the psychology of his photographs, although he once told an interviewer that I dont like pictures of people smiling, because its a false facial expression.
There was drama in his personal life as well as in his artwork. While married to his second wife, Lucy Lindsay-Hogg with whom he had a daughter, Frances he had a relationship with a journalist 33 years his junior, Melanie Cable-Alexander, and fathered a son, Jasper.
Its trite, but not wholly untrue, writer A.A. Gill observed for Australian Magazine in 2014, to say a great deal of Antony Armstrong-Jones life came out of the skillful double act of Tony and Snowdon, a mutual ventriloquism where one of them, then the other, plays the dummy.
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones was born in London on March7, 1930. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was the sister of Oliver Messel, the noted stage designer.
Lord Snowdon had studied architecture at the University of Cambridge but was expelled after failing his final exams. He would go on, however, to design structures including the engineered aluminum aviary at the London Zoo, named after him and the first walk-through aviary of its kind. He also designed chairs for the 1969 investiture of his wifes nephew, Prince Charles, as the Prince of Wales.
Princess Margaret died in 2002. A complete list of Lord Snowdons survivors was not immediately available.
In a 2014 video with his contemporary celebrity photographer David Bailey, Bailey put his arm on Lord Snowdons shoulder and asked, So Tony, do you have any regrets?
Lord Snowdon cleared his throat and gave himself a moment of consideration of a life lived in a rarefied world of fame, glamour and s*x. He responded, None.
Manchester United vs Sunderland 3-1 All Goals & Highlights - Premier League 26/12/2016
With the help of Opta, we round up the best stats and facts from Saturday"s Premier League action...
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Bromwich Albion
Spurs won their sixth consecutive Premier League game, equalling their existing record in the competition (six games, last done in February 2016).
Harry Kane hit the 60 Premier League goal mark faster than any other Tottenham player in the competition (99 games).
Kane has now scored 94 per cent of his Premier League goals for Tottenham inside the box (58 of 62).
The defeat for West Brom marks their joint-heaviest Premier League defeat under Tony Pulis (along with 0-4 v Manchester City in October 2016).
The Baggies conceded more than twice in a premier league away game for the first time since January 16 of last year - 364 days ago (0-3 v Southampton).
The last 10 Premier League goals scored by Tottenham players have been netted by Harry Kane or Dele Alli (five each).
No player has scored more Premier League hat-tricks for Tottenham than Harry Kane (three, level with Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe).
Only Kevin de Bruyne (nine) has provided more assists than Christian Eriksen in the Premier League this season.
Burnley 1-0 Southampton
Burnley have won four consecutive home Premier League games for only the second time, after the won each of their first four home games ever in the competition back in 2009-10.
Southampton havent won any of their last four league visits to Burnley, last beating them there in the Championship in October 2007.
Sean Dyches side have won six of their last seven home league games (L1).
Southampton have failed to find the back of the net in four of their last five Premier League away games
Saints Premier League games this season have produced a league-low 17 first-half goals (eight for, nine against).
It took until the 40th minute for the first shot on target in this game, courtesy of a James Ward-Prowse effort.
Joey Barton scored his first Premier League goal since April 2015 (for QPR v West Brom).
The Clarets have now scored in 10 consecutive home league clashes with Southampton (last failing to do so in March 1971).
Southampton mustered 20 shots in the game, their most in a Premier League fixture without scoring this season.
Hull City 3-1 Bournemouth
Hull enjoyed their first win in their last 10 Premier League games (D3 L6).
The Cherries have conceded exactly three goals in seven of their last nine top-flight games.
Eddie Howes side have registered just two wins in their last 13 top-flight away games, drawing two and losing nine.
Artur Boruc is the fourth Polish player to make 100 Premier League appearances (also Wojciech Szczesny 132, Jerzy Dudek 127 and Lukasz Fabianski 127).
Ryan Fraser has won three penalties in the Premier League this season, a joint-high figure (level with Dele Alli and Christian Benteke).
Junior Stanislas has been involved in 14 Premier League goals for Bournemouth (seven goals, seven assists), a joint-high along with Charlie Daniels.
Abel Hernandez netted two goals in this game, as many as in his previous 30 Premier League appearances.
Robert Snodgrass has been directly involved in 10 of Hulls 20 Premier League goals this season (seven goals, three assists).
Sunderland 1-3 Stoke City
Stoke have beaten Sunderland twice in the same league season for the first time since 1993-94.
The Potters scored three goals in a Premier League away game for the first time since February 2016 (3-1 vs Bournemouth).
Only Jonathan Walters (41) and Peter Crouch (36) have scored more Premier League goals for Stoke City than Marko Arnautovic (19, level with Charlie Adam).
Arnautovic scored his first Premier League goals in 12 games, since netting against Crystal Palace in September.
Only Alan Shearer (23) has scored more Premier League goals in January than Jermain Defoe (21, level with Frank Lampard).
Crouch scored his 99th Premier League goal, and his 48th headed goal in the competition.
Jack Rodwell has yet to be on the winning side in any of his 35 Premier League starts for Sunderland.
The Black Cats became just the second team not to use any of their substitutes in a Premier League game this season, after Hull against Leicester on the opening day.
Swansea City 0-4 Arsenal
Arsenal have scored 27 goals away from home in the Premier League this season, at least five more than any other side (Liverpool and Manchester City 22).
Indeed, the Gunners have scored four or more goals in four away Premier League games this season, their most in a single campaign since 2002-03.
Olivier Giroud has scored in each of his last nine starts in all competitions for the Gunners, netting 11 goals in total.
Giroud scored his 92nd goal for Arsenal in all comps, and only his ninth with his right foot (55 left foot, 28 headed).
Swansea City became the first team to score two own goals in a Premier League match since QPR against Liverpool in October 2014.
This was also the first time Arsenal benefited from two own goals for the first time since September 2012 (vs Southampton).
Alexis Sanchez has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player this season (21 - 14 goals, seven assists).
The Swans have conceded four-plus goals in three of their last five Premier League home games. Theyd only conceded four or more in three of their previous 62 league games at the Liberty Stadium.
Watford 0-0 Middlesbrough
The Hornets havent lost to Middlesbrough in the league since October 2012, seven games without defeat (W4 D3).
There were just three shots in the first half between Watford and Middlesbrough; the lowest first half total of the season.
Watford ended a run of 10 successive Premier League games without a clean sheet, with their first shut-out since October 2016 (v Hull).
Watford 0-0 Middlesbrough
In contrast, Middlesbrough have failed to score in five of their last seven Premier League games, recording just one win in that period (D2 L4).
The Hornets have failed to score in the first half in 14 of their last 16 Premier League games.
Rudy Gestede has played 32 consecutive Premier League games without a win; the longest ever run in the competition.
West Ham United 3-0 Crystal Palace
West Ham recorded their first home league win against Crystal Palace since a 3-0 victory in October 2003.
Crystal Palace lost their fifth consecutive Premier League London derby, equalling their worst such run in the competition (five games, last done in March 1998).
The Eagles have failed to score in five successive Premier League London derbies, their worst such run since failing to score in six in March 1995.
Andy Carroll has scored five goals in his last three home Premier League London derbies for West Ham.
West Ham 3-0 Crystal Palace
Manuel Lanzini has scored a goal in each of his four Premier League appearances against Crystal Palace; double the amount hes scored against any other Premier League club.
Michail Antonio has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other West Ham player this season - 11 (eight goals, three assists).
Antonio is the first West Ham player to provide three assists in a Premier League game since Paolo Di Canio vs Coventry in April 2000.
Indeed, Antonio recorded his first Premier League assists since April 2016 (v Arsenal) and its the first time he has bagged three in an English league game.
Leicester City 0-3 Chelsea
Chelsea have already picked up more points in the Premier League this season (52) than they managed in the whole of 2015-16 (50).
The Foxes have lost as many home league games in their last three, as they had done in their previous 30 Premier League games at the King Power.
This was Leicesters heaviest home defeat in the league since September 2015 (2-5 v Arsenal).
Chelsea have won the last 10 games that they have been leading at half-time in the Premier League this season.
The Blues have scored five goals in the opening 10 minutes of Premier League action so far this season - a league high total.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League away games outside of London (W7 D2), scoring 17 and conceding just five.
Marcos Alonso is only the third Chelsea defender to score a double in the Premier League (also John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic).
Pedro has been directly involved in more Premier League goals this season than the whole of last season (10 - five goals, five assists).
