Ravens beat Texans 20-13, move into AFC title game

Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed intercepts a pass intended for Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed intercepts a pass intended for Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is stopped by Houston Texans outside linebacker Connor Barwin during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates, left, congratulates running back Arian Foster on his touchdown during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak reacts to a play during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed, right, celebrates his interception with teammate outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, left, during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Houston Texans in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. The Ravens won the game 20-13. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

BALTIMORE (AP) ? If style points and offensive fireworks meant anything, the Baltimore Ravens wouldn't stand a chance of making it to the AFC championship.

Playing defense and protecting the football are what they do best, and that formula led to a 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, putting Baltimore in the AFC title game against the New England Patriots.

"I always say there is a right way to do things, there is a wrong way to do things and there is just the Ravens' way of doing things," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "It wasn't pretty but we're not really a pretty team. We got the W and now it's on to the AFC championship."

The Ravens (13-4) had almost as many punts (nine) as first downs (11) and scored only three points over the final 46 minutes. But Baltimore wasn't penalized once, didn't commit a turnover, intercepted rookie quarterback T.J. Yates three times and totaled four takeaways ? two in the first quarter and two over the final eight minutes.

"If we didn't get any of those turnovers it would probably be a different game," Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said.

Baltimore visits New England next Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Feb. 5.

The Patriots lead the series 6-1, but Baltimore's lone win came in the postseason.

"We don't play the game until next week," Suggs said. "I'm going to enjoy tonight."

Veteran defensive stars Ed Reed and Ray Lewis led a unit that yielded only one touchdown and came up with the big play when one was needed. Lewis had a team-high seven tackles and Reed sealed the victory with the Ravens' fourth takeaway, an interception near the goal line in the closing minutes.

"It's winning by any means necessary," Reed said. "That's what it's got to be."

The Ravens finished 9-0 at home, but this one was anything but easy. Baltimore led 17-3 after the first quarter, and interceptions by Lardarius Webb and Reed in the final 7? minutes helped the advantage stand up.

Reed has eight interceptions in 10 playoff games, few bigger than the last one.

"You can't say enough about him," Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "His big plays always seem to happen when you need one."

One week earlier, in the first playoff game in Texans history, Houston didn't commit a turnover in a 31-10 home rout of Cincinnati. Against Baltimore, the Texans couldn't hold onto the ball and quickly fell behind by two touchdowns.

Arian Foster ran for 132 yards, the first player ever to rush for 100 yards against the Ravens in the postseason. But Yates' three interceptions matched the total he had in six regular season games.

"I can't have the turnovers," Yates said. "If we don't turn the ball over like that, we have a chance to win. And we still had a chance to win. If I'd done a better job of protecting the football, I really think we'd have come out with the win today. We did a good job of moving the ball and we had some big plays, but you can't have that many picks."

Yates was the third starting quarterback used by Houston this season following injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. The Texans also lost wide receiver Andre Johnson for a spell and finished without sack specialist Mario Williams, who missed the last two-thirds of the season.

And still, the Texans got within a win of reaching the conference title game. After the game, team owner Bob McNair pulled aside coach Gary Kubiak and congratulated him.

"I told him how proud I was. ... To come out and play the way this team has played, I think it's just remarkable," McNair said. "Where would New England have been if (Tom) Brady wasn't playing, and if Wes Welker wasn't playing, and if their best defensive player wasn't playing? Go down the list of any of these teams and ask where they would be ? and they wouldn't be in the playoffs. And this team was in the playoffs."

Down 17-13 at halftime, Houston twice held the Ravens without a first down in the third quarter before driving to the Baltimore 32. From there, Neil Rackers' 50-yard field goal try hit the crossbar and dropped into the end zone.

Baltimore then launched a drive in which seldom-used Lee Evans made a sensational one-handed catch for a 30-yard gain on third-and-5 from the Houston 39. On fourth-and-goal inside the 1, Ray Rice was stuffed by linebacker Tim Dobbins for no gain.

"That's a huge play," Houston defensive end J.J. Watt said. "Those are the type of plays that win playoffs games. Obviously, we wish it had gone the other way, but those are the type of plays that you remember."

The Texans couldn't move the ball, and the Ravens took the ensuing punt at the Houston 49. But three plays netted only 4 yards, and Sam Koch punted for the seventh time.

Minutes later, the Ravens went three and out for the fourth time in five second-half possessions. Fortunately for Baltimore, the defense compensated for the team's inability to add to its early lead.

"You have to do whatever you have to do to win a football game," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

Webb's second interception came with 7? minutes left and the Ravens clinging to 17-13 advantage. Baltimore moved 45 yards to get a field goal by Billy Cundiff with 2:52 left.

Houston's Danieal Manning muffled the record crowd of 71,547 by taking the opening kickoff 60 yards to the Baltimore 41. Yates then completed two straight passes, and after the Ravens stuffed Foster on a third-and-1, Rackers kicked a 40-yard field goal.

Baltimore failed to get a first down on its first possession and had to punt. Jacoby Jones inexplicably attempted to field the bouncing ball at the 13-yard line, was immediately hit by Cary Williams and lost the ball, which was recovered by Baltimore rookie Jimmy Smith at the 2.

On third down, Joe Flacco threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kris Wilson ? the tight end's first catch of the season.

After a Houston punt, Flacco completed a 21-yard pass to Anquan Boldin to set up a 48-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead.

Later in the first quarter, Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb stepped in front of Johnson for an interception at the Houston 35. Five plays later, Flacco tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Boldin in the right side of the end zone.

Yates then completed a pair of third-down passes in a 59-yard drive that ended with a field goal.

After Yates misfired on third down from the Baltimore 10, the rookie came off the field he was greeted by coach Gary Kubiak, who put a hand on the back of the quarterback's jersey while chatting.

Yates returned after a Baltimore punt to direct a 12-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Foster, who accounted for 66 yards ? including 54 on the ground.

Yates went 17 for 35 for 184 yards. Johnson had eight catches for 111 yards.

Notes: Baltimore improved to 6-0 against Houston, 2-0 this season. ... It was the Ravens' first home playoff win since 2000. ... Foster ran for 285 yards in the postseason, most by a player in his first two NFL playoff games. ... With the Ravens' home win, it's the first time since the NFL went to current playoff format in 1990 that the first seven games have been won by the home team.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-15-Texans-Ravens/id-a1b5116d9cc24fdc81aedde5b60579c8

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Palhares spectacular leg lock finishes Massenzio at UFC 142

Don't let Rousimar Palhares get near you. If he does you're probably going to walk away from the fight with a limp

Palhares flashed brilliance in taking down Mike Massenzio, quickly getting a hold of his leg and finishing things with a heel hook just 63 second into pay-per-view fight No. 3 of night at UFC 142.

Palhares (14-3, 7-2 UFC) has posted five submissions in seven UFC wins. The Brazilian has also had his brushes with controversy. He's held onto several submission finishes even after the referee stopped things. Tonight, he behaved himself.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/palhares-spectacular-leg-lock-finishes-massenzio-ufc-142-041048859.html

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West Virginia Gets a Pair of Rematches (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with MIPS Technologies

MIPS has been pretty busy as of late, hookin' up a little Android ICS action onto the Ainovo NOVO7 tablet, for the budget-minded slate seekers out there. Amit Rohatgi of MIPS Technologies joins us on stage to talk about affordable tablets and more. Don't miss it, live at 2:00PM ET.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with MIPS Technologies

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/live-from-the-engadget-ces-stage-an-interview-with-mips-technol/

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HBT: Rangers meeting with Fielder

Most of the recent reports about Prince Fielder center around various teams not being interested in paying his asking price, but now Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Rangers are meeting with the free agent first baseman at a Dallas hotel today.

That doesn?t necessarily mean a deal is close, but clearly the Rangers? interest in Fielder is legitimate.

And at this point it?s hard to say that with confidence about any other teams, although the Nationals, Cubs, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Orioles have been linked to Fielder at various times this offseason.

Fielder to Texas would make plenty of sense, because thanks to their new television contract the Rangers have tons of money to spend even if they sign Yu Darvish to a massive deal and they?ve seemingly soured somewhat on Mitch Moreland as the long-term answer at first base. And of course an American League team would enable Fielder to move to designated hitter if needed at some point.

Fielder in that ballpark and in the middle of a lineup that scored 855 runs last season would be scary.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/13/rangers-meeting-with-prince-fielder-in-dallas/related/

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Anthony Ha Joins TechCrunch

Blogging is still a relatively young part of the media industry. But already there are a cadre of professional reporters who cut their teeth blogging, who are used to the pace and get an adrenaline rush from covering events as they unfold. Anthony Ha is one of them, and I am very pleased to announce that he will be joining the TechCrunch writing staff next week in San Francisco. Anthony (pictured here writing furiously at a conference) comes to us from AdWeek, where he is currently a staff technology writer. Before that was one of the most prolific bloggers at VentureBeat, which is where I first noticed him. (Another one of our recent hires, Eric Eldon, also hails from there).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1nHSBlhr7hY/

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Mixed News on Tough-to-Treat Lung Cancer (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Dutch researchers report disappointing results from an early clinical trial of the drug Nexavar (sorafenib) in fighting a tough-to-treat form of lung cancer.

But, in better news, an experimental drug known as ganetespib showed promise in laboratory and animal experiments.

The results of both studies were to be presented Tuesday at an American Association for Cancer Research/International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting in San Diego.

In recent years, researchers have made some headway in finding treatments to combat lung cancer, which often doesn't respond well to chemotherapy, explained Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

Those treatments include drugs such as crizotinib (Xalkori) and erlotinib (Tarceva), which are most effective in tumors that contain certain genetic mutations.

However, those drugs tend to not work well in people with tumors that contain a particular type of mutation in the KRAS gene. KRAS is the most common molecular mutation, present in about 25 percent of people with non-small cell lung cancers such as adenocarcinoma, particularly smokers, said Dr. Paul Bunn, a professor of lung cancer research at the University of Colorado and executive director of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

"The patients who have this mutation have a somewhat worse prognosis than patients who don't have this mutation, and have worse outcomes with chemotherapy," Bunn said. "Most drugs produce a shrinkage of the tumor in less than 10 percent of KRAS patients."

While a smaller, even earlier trial showed sorafenib might be that drug, the latest findings were not impressive. This larger trial by researchers in the Netherlands involving 57 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who had already failed chemotherapy and who had the KRAS mutation showed the median progression-free survival was just 2.3 months. Overall survival was about five months.

"They were undoubtedly hoping that progression-free survival would be longer, maybe four or five months, and overall survival would be six or eight months," Bunn said. "The results were not encouraging. Their basic conclusion is that we should find something better for these patients, and not spend a lot of time on a big randomized trial to show it has a teeny effect or no effect."

In addition, sorafenib was not compared to other drugs, or even to no treatment, Lichtenfeld said, so there is no way of gauging if the 2.3 months represents a true benefit above and beyond what patients would experience otherwise.

A second study done on non-small cell cancer cells and mice with the KRAS mutation showed more promise, experts said.

In it, researchers tested the drug ganetespib, which inhibits the Hsp90 protein. When combined with other cancer drugs, ganetespib seems to affect multiple other proteins present in the cancer cell that help the cancer cell thrive, Lichtenfeld said.

"The presence of this protein [Hsp90] really directs or impacts many proteins within the cancer cell that are necessary for it to survive," Lichtenfeld said. "If you can block that protein's effect, you then have other proteins that are blocked, and by blocking them you could shut down the cancer cell and severely impact the cell and its growth patterns. That is interesting and exciting from a laboratory point of view."

However, Lichtenfeld noted, "the problem we always face is translating what we see in the laboratory to clinical medicine. There are so many times we have promising and exciting findings in the laboratory that don't translate into patients, but occasionally they do."

The next step will be larger trials involving cancer patients, Bunn said.

"I would say this other approach is more promising than the sorafenib, and certainly worthy of additional studies, but not ready for clinical primetime," Bunn said.

Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer. Non-small cell cancers include squamous cell and adenocarcinomas.

"The big picture is we are learning about these mutations that tell us something about lung cancer, which has in some cases given us targets to guide us to use certain drugs because we know they have a higher chance of being effective," Lichtenfeld said.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States for men and women, killing an estimated 157,000 people this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Experts note that research presented at meetings has not been subjected to the same type of rigorous scrutiny given to research published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on lung cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120110/hl_hsn/mixednewsontoughtotreatlungcancer

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