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Home , 2012 NFL season, Ben Roethlisberger, Caleb Hanie, Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte

VOL. 4 No. 3! DECEMBER 16, 2011 SPORTS X-TREME Lafayette Elementary School Washington, DC

The 2011: Final Results

by Timothy Costello, 5N Well after many weeks of , the Heisman Trophy race came down to two very good players, and Robert Griffin III. Before I tell you who won, I want you to know that honestly, I don’t think Andrew Luck was that fantastic. And that is exactly why the 77th Heisman trophy went to Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. Most college football fans thought that Andrew Luck should have Robert Griffin III holds his Heisman won since he was the favorite at the beginning of the 2011 . Here Trophy are the final results.

First Place Votes Inside Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor: 405 Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford: 247 NFL Injuries...... 2 , RB, Alabama: 138 Bears B-Ball...... 3 , RB, Wisconsin: 22 Playoff Picture...... 3 Statistically, Griffin III put up better numbers than Luck. He Top QBs...... 4 threw for 3998 yards, had 36 and only six . He also finished the season with dominating performances over Oklahoma, Tech and Texas. These performances obviously influenced the Heisman voters. Luck threw for 3170 yards, 35 touchdowns and threw 9 interceptions. The third place finisher, Trent Richardson, rushed for 1583 yards, had 20 touchdowns, and a very successful season. I think Robert Griffin III was the best player out of all the Heisman contenders. Also you saw that I put someone you probably hadn’t heard about. His name is Montee Ball. He is the junior for Wisconsin. This year, he rushed for 1759 yards, had 32 touchdowns, and averaged 6.4 yards a carry. Even though he finished fourth, he still did well. He is a really good player. If he doesn’t turn pro, he will be the Heisman favorite going into the 2012 season. The Happy Holidays other early contenders for 2012 are Tyrann Matheiu, CB, LSU, Marcus ! Lattimore, RB, South Carlolina and Aaron Murray, QB, . SPORTS X"TREME! 1 VOL. 4 No. 3! DECEMBER 16, 2011 NFL Injuries by Aaron Rosenthal, 5JL

! There have been a lot of injuries over the course of the 2011-2012 NFL season. The biggest blow was , the running back for the . The Bears were in the hunt for the playo"s; they were 6-4. In the third quarter of their Week 11 game against the , Forte went down. He took a huge to his right knee and was carted o" the field with a knee injury. The Bears are now 7-6, a decent record, coming o" a tough loss to magnificent and the Broncos. The Bears are collapsing. They aren’t synchronized at all and they have already lost their starting , . Their second string QB, , isn’t very good and already has one of the worst passer ratings in with a 40.8. He’s played three games terribly and it looks Matt Forte like it’s just going to get worse.

! A second major injury occurred to . Vick the quarterback, and the Eagles had very high expectations but they haven’t lived up to them at all. The 2011-2012 NFL season was supposed to be unreal for the Eagles. People were calling them the “Dream Team”. That dream has quickly turned into a nightmare. Going into Week 15 the Eagles are an atrocious 5-8. They got o" to a rocky start and never recovered. Around Week 8 it looked like they have might been gelling as a team. Then in Week 9, it happened. Michael Vick, the Eagles all-pro quarterback got injured. The Eagles fell apart. The Eagles were, and still are, a mess. Vick was escorted to the locker room with a couple of broken ribs. The injury was much worse than it had to be. Michael Vick stupidly played with the nagging injury for a couple of weeks. When he actually broke the ribs they shattered like glass. Mike Vick ! A third major and most recent injury befell . During a game in Week 14, Big Ben and the Steelers were playing the . The Browns, a measly 4-8, were supposed to be eradicated by the Steelers, They didn’t get eradicated but they lost. The final score was 14-3, Steelers. Besides losing, the Browns did one more thing. They injured Ben Roethlisberger. He was helped o" the field in the second Ben Roethlisbergerr quarter with an apparent broken ankle. He was eventually carried out of the stadium on a stretcher. He was wearing a boot on his left foot. He underwent an MRI and it turned out that it was only a sprain. He is listed as day to day for his Week 15 game against the . It wasn’t that big of an injury. The thing that was big was the scare that this little hiccup gave . These injuries have raised many questions. Will the Bears make the playo"s? Are the Eagles a miracle in the making? Will Big Ben’s ankle continue to nag him throughout the rest of his career? I don’t know. What I do know is that when it comes to NFL injuries, expect the unexpected.

NOTE: , who’s out for the season with a neck injury is not mentioned here. Only teams whose players are in the hunt for the playo"s. The Colts are a horrendous 0-13.

SPORTS X"TREME! 2 VOL. 4 No. 3! DECEMBER 16, 2011 A Look at the Divsion Leaders Bears Brightwood 37-7 by Jelani Machen, 5JB by Josh Taubman, 5JL NFC Division Leaders W L DIV CONF [y] Packers 13 0 4-0 10-0 The Lafayette boys team stomped all [y] 49ers 10 3 3-1 8-2 over Brightwood on Thursday in their home opener at [x] Saints 10 3 3-1 6-3 Giants 7 6 2-2 4-6 Bear Arena. Brightwood was very shorthanded having only five players while Lafayette had a roster of 20. AFC Division W L DIV CONF The Bears got off to a slow start in a defensive [y]Texans 10 3 4-0 8-2 game with lots of turnovers. Alex Wise had the only score Ravens 10 3 4-0 7-2 Patriots 10 3 3-1 7-2 for the Bears in the first quarter. Brightwood was hanging Broncos 8 5 3-2 6-3 tough leading 4-2 at the end of one. [y] Clinched Division Title [x] Clinched Playoff Berth The second quarter was arguably the best of the Let’s look at the current NFL division leaders. We’ll season for the Bears so far. They started to run away with start with the NFC. In the NFC West, the 49ers have clinched the game with the offense flowing. They scored 20 points their division with a 10-3 record. They are 3-1 in their division in the second and never looked back from there. This and they are 3-2 in their last 5 games. In the NFC South division, it is a race between the offensive explosion electrified the crowd. Noah Gross and Saints and the Falcons. The Saints lead the division because they Aaron Rosenthal led the scoring in the second quarter and won the first matchup between the teams, but in a press here’s what Noah had to say about it. “I think we played conference Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said “we want really well in the second quarter and had some really good revenge and we will get it.” passing.” That brings us to the NFC North. The Packers have In the third quarter, the Bears continued to make easily clinched their division. They are an outstanding 13-0 and the only team that is still undefeated. In their last five games, of noise, sinking lots of baskets. Brightwood committed lots course, they are 5-0. continues to be on fire and of fouls, mostly out of frustration. The Bears were still has not thrown an in the red zone this year. flawless, scoring 14 more points. In the NFC East, the Giants have the lead followed Dajuan Green led the third quarter, scoring half of closely by the Cowboys. They have left the poor Eagles crying. the Bears’ points. However, Dajuan said, “It wasn’t just The Cowboys are 3-2 in their last 5 games and the Giants are 2-3 in their last 5 games. We’ll see if the Giants can hold on to the me. It was my team.” The Bears had virtually locked it up lead after beating the Cowboys in their most recent game. with the score 36-4 at the end of three. Brightwood hadn’t scored for two quarters. That brings us to the AFC. Let’s start with the AFC The Bears got another free throw to make it 35 West. It’s TEBOW TIME! This guy knows how to win football straight points. Their scoring run ended after that with a games, which is why the Broncos lead the division. The Oakland Raiders are still pretty close behind. The Broncos are 5-0 in their free throw by Brightwood. Still, a 35 point scoring run is last 5 games. The Tebow Train shows no indications of stopping. pretty amazing. The game ended 37-7 Bears. It was a great In the AFC South, the have clinched game for them with their offense coordinating perfectly. “I the division. They are 5-0 in their last 5 games. Somehow, they thought we played really well but in the first quarter were keep on winning without their QB and are 10-3. a little sketchy.” said Aaron on the In the AFC North, the Ravens lead. They are 10-3 and win. they have won 4 of their last 5 games. The Ravens defense continues to play very well led by superstars , Ed The Bears are now The Girls team’s Reed, and . The Steelers are still close behind at 2-0 and on a roll. Stay tuned 10-3, but the Ravens have the tiebreaker. opponent was a no for more Bears basketball The last division is the AFC East. The Patriots lead the updates. GO BEARS!! show giving them division. They are 10-3 and have won their last 5 games. the win by However, the Jets are not far behind at 8-5. forfeit. A lot of teams can still take the lead in their division, so watch out!

SPORTS X"TREME! 3 VOL. 4 No. 3! DECEMBER 16, 2011 Sports X-Treme The Top 5 QBs in the NFL a publication of by Peter Colevas, 5JL Lafayette Elementary School Before I tell you the top five in the NFL, I should make it 5701 Broad Branch Rd. NW clear that these are the top five uninjured quarterbacks as of week 14. Washington, DC 20015 That leaves QB!s like Peyton Manning out of the running. Phone: 202-282-0116

#5: Tim Tebow, Yes, a quarterback with a 47.4 is up in the top five. But Tebow has turned the ball over only twice and is also well known for his high number of rushing yards. #4: Ben Roethlesberger, I know I said uninjured and Ben Roethlesberger does need an MRI for his ankle, but he is not out of Go Bears! play this season. He has put up some good numbers and thrown 21 passes and 11 interceptions. Finally, he has a respectable 95.6 passer rating. #3: , Editor-in-Chief Tom Brady works well with this patriot offense, but I wouldn!t say it!s a repeat of the 2008 season. The real reason he!s so Josh Taubman, 5JL good is his accuracy. he has a 119.2 passer rating, but only 12 touchdown passes. #2: , Contributors Saints Drew Brees has got to be one of the most Peter Colevas, 5JL overlooked quarterbacks of our time. He has led his Saints to a 10-3 record and to the lead of the NFC Timothy Costello, 5N South. With over 4,000 yards, he leads the league Jelani Machen, 5JB in passing yards. He has 30 touchdowns and 11 Aaron Rosenthal, 5JL interceptions. #1: Guess Who? I bet you can guess the number one, active Advisors QB of the NFL today If you think that title belongs to the reigning Superbowl MVP, then you are right! Aaron Rodgers is looking Afsheen Benab almost impossible to stop and has put up Kathy Echave some unbelievable numbers. He has a 125.7 passer rating, over 3,000 passing yards, and finally, a league high of 37 touchdowns as he leads his closer to a perfect season. Administrators

It is almost the end of the season, but that is when the best football happens! Be sure to read my next Sports X-Treme story Lynn Main, Principal where I will compare the best QBs of all time to those of today. Michael McCoy, Vice Principal

SPORTS X"TREME! 4