through ball past Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic, bef

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - John Elway broke the mould.The Denver Broncos general manager bucked this years trend when he hired his former backup QB and offensive co-ordinator Gary Kubiak as his head coach.Every other head coach vacancy thats been filled has gone to men with defensive roots: John Fox in Chicago, Jack Del Rio in Oakland, Jim Tomsula in San Francisco, Rex Ryan in Buffalo and Todd Bowles with the Jets.Oddly, every one of those teams also had trouble on offence in 2014.So did the Falcons, the only head coaching vacancy that hasnt been filled.It appears that offensive co-ordinators Josh McDaniels of New England and Adam Gase, Peyton Mannings co-architect in Denver, will have to keep waiting as defensive co-ordinators Dan Quinn of Seattle and Detroits Teryl Austin are the only candidates to get follow-up interviews with the Falcons.If Quinn is the choice, the Falcons will have to wait to offer him the job until after Seattle plays New England in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.Quinns star rose with the Seahawks 43-8 walloping of Elways Broncos in last years Super Bowl, something NFL Network analyst Terrell Davis believes has driven this defensive shift, along with the aerial fireworks show the league has become.One, you look at who won the Super Bowl last year. Theyve got a formula people want, Davis said. Theyve got a good quarterback and their offence was good; it just wasnt as good as their defence. If you have a good defence, you can mask a lot of deficiencies on offence. And two, it really is about offences in this league and if you can stop them.Then again, Davis said, it could just be coincidence.Maybe it just happens to be the best candidates are defensive coaches, Davis said.Theres no ambiguity about it, insisted former NFL executive and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian.Each hire, each situation is different. Thats one part of the puzzle, Polian said. The second part is the pool of candidates is what it is. In any given year, you might have more people who come from the offensive side of the ball as opposed to the defensive. And third, anybody thats asked for my advice, I have said, Hire the best person regardless of orientation.Because what youre hiring is a head coach. Hes going to hire a defensive co-ordinator. Hes going to hire an offensive co-ordinator. Theyre the ones that are going to determine largely the scheme. So, hire the best person whose philosophy of football fits how you want to operate.The only other factor that should come into the equation is previous head coaching experience, Polian said.That certainly burnished the resumes of Fox, Del Rio and Ryan. Fox was 49-22 in four seasons in Denver even though the Broncos came up short in the playoffs each year.Guys who have been a successful head coach before, theres probably something to be said for that, Polian said.New Bills owner Terry Pegula said experience was the tilting factor in Ryans hiring. In San Francisco, it came down to Tomsula or Gase, but the deciding factor wasnt their backgrounds, CEO Jed York said.Youre not the head coach of the defence. Youre not the head coach of the offence, York said. Youre the head coach of the entire team.Interestingly, teams led by head coaches with offensive roots had an average rank of 16.1 in points per game this season to 16.0 for defensive coaches (excluding the Raiders, who switched mid-season from defensive to offensive). The season started with 16 offensive and 16 defensive coaches.So, there was essentially no difference in performance on average based on the expertise of the head coach.Yeah, if you want to use that metric, Polian said. When you use the word expertise of the coach, would you presume that Bill Belichick knows only defence? OK, so thats my point. If you hire a good coach, he understands both sides of the ball, how it fits, how he wants to do it, how it fits his personnel, etc. etc. Were hiring head coaches here, not co-ordinators.Raiders owner Mark Davis was initially looking for an offensive-minded coach to help quarterback Derek Carr develop, something he told Del Rio in their first conversation.And Jack said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop! I know about offence as well, Davis said.Labels dont matter when youre a head coach, Del Rio said, because if youre a defensive guy, quickly you become an offensive guy as well.He pointed to the two coaches who are in the Super Bowl.Bill Belichick was a defensive guy and hes doing a pretty good job with his offence, Del Rio said. Pete Carroll is a defensive guy in his background, but hes doing a pretty good job up there in Seattle with their offence and with their team. So, I think when you hire a head coach, you get that — you get a head coach.___AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, John Wawrow and Janie McCauley contributed.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Stefan-Savic-Jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Filipe-Luis-Jersey/ .S. - Nova Scotias Mary Fay guaranteed at least one more match and a shot at the Canadian junior curling championships final on home ice. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Gelson-Martins-Jersey/ .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. http://www.atleticomadridpro.com/Kids-Koke-Jersey/ . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. Custom Atletico Madrid Jerseys . - The Oakland Athletics have finalized an agreement on a 10-year extension to play at the Coliseum through the 2024 season.Antonio Di Natale scored a hat trick to help Udinese draw 3-3 against Sampdoria in its last Serie A match on Saturday, then announced he was going back on his decision to retire this year. The 36-year-old said a few months ago he would hang up his boots at the end of the season, but has since changed his mind. "Its a pity the season is ending now, as I am in good physical shape and enjoying myself," Di Natale said. "Lets hope I continue like this. "At the start of the season, the whole team struggled to do what wed been able to in three years together. But you weigh things up at the end, and I still got 17 goals in the league." Stefano Okaka headed Sampdoria into an early lead, but Di Natale levelled with a magnificent free kick into the top near corner, and the former Italy striker side-footed in Roberto Pereyras cross in the 33rd after good work by his teammate.dddddddddddd The match changed in two second-half minutes. First Eder beat the offside trap to roll Okakas through ball past Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic, before Roberto Soriano gave Samp the lead from a tight angle. Di Natale completed his hat trick in bizarre fashion two minutes from time after Sampdoria substitute Pawel Wszolek sent a backpass from the halfway line straight to the Udinese forward for his 193rd Serie A goal. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '