Ryan Tannehill threw a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Dolphins to a 24-3 thrashing of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The rookie completed 22 of 28 passes for 220 yards and ran eight times for 52 yards.  He got help from Reggie Bush, who ran for 104 yards and kicker Dan Carpenter connected on field goals of 53, 30, and 31 yards.  The Dolphins still have a mathematical chance of reaching the playoffs, but it isn’t going to happen.  The best they can hope for is finishing the season at .500.  Next game is on Sunday, at 1pm, against the Buffalo Bills, again at the Seven Names Stadium.  

Yesterday’s complete scoreboard in the NFL,

SUNDAY

Miami 24 Jacksonville 3 Mia -7

Denver 34 Baltimore 17 Ind -3

The Broncos won their ninth straight game.

Houston 29 Indianapolis 17 Hou -9.5

Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass to Andre Johnson, who had 11 catches for 151 yards.  Arian Foster gained 165 yards on 27 carries.

Green Bay 21 Chicago 13 GB -3

Aaron Rodgers and James Jones connected for three touchdown passes

Atlanta 34 NY Giants 0 Atl -1

Total domination by the Falcons.  Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes, two to Julio Jones.

Washington 38 Cleveland 21 Cle +1

Rookie Kirk Cousins stepped in for the injured Robert Griffin III and threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns

Minnesota 36 St. Louis 22 StL -1

Adrian Peterson ran for 212 yards on 24 carries.  Peterson needs 294 yards in the final two games to surpass Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,015 yards in a season.

New Orleans 41         Tampa Bay 0 NO -4

Drew Brees completed 26 of 39 passes for 307 yards and 4 TD’s

Seattle 50 Buffalo 17 Buf + 5.5

Russell Wilson ran for 3 touchdowns and passed for another

Arizona 38 Detroit 10 Ari +6

Beanie Wells ran for three touchdowns and the Cardinal defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns

Carolina 31 San Diego 7 SD -3

Cam Newton completed 19 of 33 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns

Dallas 27 Pittsburgh 24  (OT) Dal +1

Brandon Carr’s interception on the second play of overtime keyed the win for the Cowboys, who rallied to tie the game with less than a minute left in regulation

Oakland 15 Kansas City 0 Oak -3

Sebastian Janikowski accounted for all the scoring with 5 field goals

San Francisco 41 New England 34 NE -5

The Patriots stormed back from a 28-point deficit but fell short.  SF quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns.  

Overall, a very good week on my picks with a 4-1 record.  Nailed the Dolphins, Packers, Texans, and Broncos, but fell short on the Patriots. 

TONIGHT

New York Jets @ Tennessee Ten -1

8:30 pm ESPN

If the playoffs started today,

NFC

Atlanta 12-2  NFC South

San Francisco 10-3-1 NFC West

Green Bay  10-4 NFC North

Washington   8-6 NFC East

Seattle   9-5 Wild Card 1

Minnesota   8-6 Wild Card 2

In the hunt: Chicago(8-6), Dallas (7-6), NY Giants(7-6)

AFC

Houston 12-2 AFC South

Denver 11-3 AFC West

New England 10-4 AFC East

Baltimore   9-5 AFC North

Indianapolis   9-5 Wild Card 1

Cincinnati     8-6 Wild Card 2

In the hunt:  Pittsburgh (7-7), New York Jets (6-7)  

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Brian Hartline reached the 1,000 yard receiving plateau for the Dolphins.  Who was the first Dolphins receiver to reach the 1,000 yard mark in a season?  Tell you later, alligator. 

The Miami Heat destroyed the Washington Wizards on Saturday, 102-72.  LeBron James had 23 points and 10 rebounds, the 26th straight game this year with 20 or more points.  Jose Juan Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves will be in town tomorrow night to take on the Heat.    

In the NBA yesterday,

Toronto 103 Houston 96

Jose Calderon had 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds

LA Lakers 111 Philadelphia 98

Kobe Bryant had a game-high 34 points

Denver 122 Sacramento 97

JaVale McGee led six Nuggets players in double figures with 19 points

Portland 95 New Orleans 94

Damian Lillard hit a three-pointer in the final second of the game

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Minnesota @ Orlando 7:00 pm

Houston @ NY 7:30 pm NBA-TV

LA Clippers @ Detroit 7:30 pm

Chicago @ Memphis 8:00 pm

San Antonio @ OklahomaCity 8:00 pm

Sacramento @ Phoenix 9:00 pm

In baseball, the New York Mets traded Cy Young award winner RA Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays.  The deal is not final until the Blue Jays sign Dickey to a contract extension.  The team has until Tuesday at 2pm to sign him.  The Mets will receive catchers Travis d’Arnaud, John Buck, a minor league pitcher and cash.  The Mets would also send catcher Josh Thole to Toronto. 

The Boston Red Sox have reached an agreement with free agent shortstop Stephen Drew.  One year, $9.5 million, with another $500K in performance bonuses.

Are the Yankees going to do anything before the new year?

It still bears repeating:

Dear Santa Claus Jeffrey Loria and minions:  

Why haven’t you announced that you are selling the team?  What are you waiting for, Christmas?  Your inept management allowed the Marlins farm system to deteriorate to the point of being horrible, and have dismantled the major league roster while pissing off the players on the roster and the entire South Florida community.  Sell the team so we can enjoy baseball in Miami again.

You will soon have the window of opportunity you need to get out of town.  The five-year anniversary of the Marlins and Miami-Dade County agreement for the baseball stadium is coming up on February 21, 2013.  After that time, the “penalty” for selling the team is only 5%, a mere pittance, based on a $250 million value of the team. 

We’re just going to keep our fingers crossed and light a candle in the meantime. 

Today’s article of the day comes from David J. Neal of the Miami Herald.  The beat writer for FIU has some interesting comments in his FIU “Golden Panthers Prowl” blog the last few days.  Thanks, David.  http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fiusports/

The complete bowl results and upcoming schedule in college football:

December 15

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Arizona 49 Nevada 48

Arizona scored two TD’s in the last 46 seconds of the game to beat Nevada

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

#22 Utah State 41 Toledo 15

Kerwynn Williams ran for 235 yards on 18 carries.  The Aggies scored 28 points in the last seven minutes of the game

Thursday, December 20

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL

Brigham Young vs San Diego State

8:00 pm ESPN

Friday, December 21

BEEF O’BRADY BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Central Florida vs Ball State

7:30 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 22

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

East Carolina vs Louisiana-Lafayette

12:00 pm ESPN

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

Washington vs #19 Boise State

3:30 pm ESPN

Monday, December 24

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

Fresno State vs Southern Methodist

8:00 pm ESPN

Wednesday, December 26

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Western Kentucky vs Central Michigan

7:30pm ESPN

Thursday, December 27

MILITARY BOWL-PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN

#24 San Jose State vs Bowling Green

3:00 pm ESPN

BELK BOWL

Cincinnati vs Duke

6:30 pm ESPN

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

Baylor vs #17 UCLA

9:45 pm ESPN

Friday, December 28

ADVOCARE V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Ohio vs Louisiana-Monroe

2:00 pm ESPN

RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL

Rutgers vs Virginia Tech

5:30 pm ESPN

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Minnesota vs Texas Tech

9:00 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 29

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Rice vs Air Force

11:45 am ESPN

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

West Virginia vs Syracuse

3:15 pm ESPN

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Navy vs Arizona State

4:00 pm ESPN-2

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#23 Texas vs #13 Oregon State

6:45 pm ESPN

BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL

TCU vs Michigan State

10:15 pm ESPN

Monday, December 31

FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL

North Carolina State vs Vanderbilt

12:00 pm ESPN

HYUNDAY SUN BOWL

USC vs Georgia Tech

2:00 pm CBS Ch. 4

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

Iowa State vs Tulsa

3:30 pm ESPN

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL

#8 LSU vs #14 Clemson

7:30 pm ESPN

Tuesday, January 1

TAXSLAYER.COM GATOR BOWL

Mississippi State vs #20 Northwestern

12:00 pm ESPN-2

HEART OF DALLAS BOWL

Purdue vs Oklahoma State

12:00 pm ESPN-U

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#7 Georgia vs #16 Nebraska

1:00 pm ABC Ch. 10

OUTBACK BOWL

#10 South Carolina vs #18 Michigan

1:00 pm ESPN

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

Wisconsin vs #6 Stanford

5:00 pm ESPN

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#15 Northern Illinois vs #12 Florida State

8:30 pm ESPN

Wednesday, January 2

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

#21 Louisville vs #3 Florida

8:30 pm ESPN

Thursday, January 3

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

#4 Oregon vs #5 Kansas State

8:30 pm ESPN

Friday, January 4

AT&T COTTON BOWL

#9 Texas A&M vs #11 Oklahoma

8:00 pm FOX Ch. 7

Saturday, January 5

BBVA COMPASS BOWL

Pittsburgh vs Ole Miss

1:00 pm ESPN

Sunday, January 6

GODADDY.COM BOWL

#25 Kent State vs Arkansas State

9:00 pm ESPN

Monday, January 7

DISCOVER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#2 Alabama vs #1 Notre Dame

8:30 pm ESPN

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Brian Hartline reached the 1,000 yard receiving plateau yesterday for the Dolphins this season.  Who was the first Dolphins receiver to reach the 1,000 yard mark in a season? Mark Duper was the first, back in 1983.  Duper hit the 1,000 yard mark 4 times during his Dolphin career, (1983, 1984, 1986, and 1991).  The all-time leader in 1,000 yard seasons with the Fins was the other half of the “Marks Brothers”, Mark Clayton, who did it five times. (1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, and 1991)         

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com. 

The 9:25 am segment on Radio Esperanza is brought to you by the fine folks at La Lechonera Products.  The inventors of the original mojo criollo way back in 1970, also offer the BEST naranja agria (sour orange marinade) product on the market, along with the latest additions to the family - the SALSA PICANTE (hot sauces, both HOT and EXTRA HOT), SALSA DE ALITAS (Buffalo Wings Sauce) and the truly incredible SALSA PICANTE con AJO (Garlic Pepper Sauce - Sriracha).  Look for all the La Lechonera products at Publix, Winn Dixie, Sedano’s, Presidente, and GFS.  If they don’t have it where you shop, ask nicely the first time, then use whatever means necessary to make sure they start offering the complete line of products.  Go to www.lalechoneraproducts.com and LIKE them on Facebook.  Check out some great recipes!  

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.