Niners' Akers ties NFL record by launching 63-yard field goal

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- San Francisco 49ers kicker David Akers bounced a ball off the crossbar and through the uprights from 63 yards just before halftime, tying an NFL record in Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Akers hit a low line drive that caromed off the crossbar and kept going forward instead of bouncing back onto the field. A wide-eyed Akers raised his arms in triumph and let out a yell to celebrate.

The three other kickers to hit 63-yarders were Denver's Jason Elam in 1998, New Orleans' Tom Dempsey in 1970 and Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski in 2011.

Akers' third field goal of the half helped the 49ers take a 16-7 lead over the Packers at halftime.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

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Brady's African relief efforts spur dedication already matched on field

This is the Tom Brady that you think you know. This is the Tom Brady you don't know at all.

He was many thousands of miles away from the New England Patriots' complex, on the continent of Africa, not so long ago. It was a trip that still resonates today, even as Brady's head fills again with thoughts of football. The trip was to Ghana and Uganda -- countries bustling with incredible oil and natural gas resources and unbelievable human misery.

Brady went to Africa for eight days with the One Foundation (previously called DATA), which fights poverty and preventable diseases. He saw so much, and remembers so much, but this scene sticks out the most, and is still with him now. There was a hut-like structure containing about a dozen people -- men, women and children. Eight of them had AIDS. Their sole water source was a three-mile walk from home.

This year is the fifth anniversary of that first trip to Africa and quietly, without anyone knowing, it began to slowly change Brady. He is still the football-driven, maniacal future Hall of Famer who might be the best quarterback in history. The man on the magazine covers. One of the most visible faces in all of sports.

Yet that trip also led Brady to expand his knowledge about Africa and other impoverished areas. The pursuit of that knowledge and his contributions to stopping some of the senselessness never ceased as he has quietly donated money and time to these causes. Brady won't say exactly what he does, but his sister just got back from Africa after a three-month stay. Brady plans to go back one day as soon as he can.

"It was a life-changing experience that stuck with me and does to this day," Brady told CBSSports.com. "You never forget it. It's the kind of thing that reshapes how you see, not just the rest of the world, but also this country.

"It makes you appreciate what you have. In America, we think poverty is bad here, and it is -- don't get me wrong. We're having some tough times in this country. But you have no idea how bad things can get until you go to a place like that. It changes everything you think you know."

When Brady was there, among the places he visited were schools and HIV/AIDS clinics. What encouraged Brady was how strong people were in the face of such war, famine and disease. Brady saw hope and what he saw has become a driving force in his own life.

Did that trip make Brady -- always known for his uber-work ethic -- work even harder? "Probably, yes," he said. "It makes you appreciate what you have and you don't want to lose it."

"At the end of the day, we play a game," Brady continued. "It's our job. We don't cure cancer but we can use our jobs to bring attention to places and people that otherwise might not receive that attention."

Could Brady have made that trip before becoming a star?

"I ultimately believe that you have to take care of yourself first before you can help others," he said. "You have to grow and then you can reach out."

Brady still has another pursuit -- the one with which we're most familiar. So we talked some football -- which makes sense since there is no question the Patriots are again a title threat. That will likely always be the case as long as Brady is running the offense.

• On the Patriots' ability to again reach the Super Bowl: "The foundation has been set here with smart and talented football players. We have that foundation. As long as we have that we feel like we can be competitive. If we lose that, it's different. As long as we keep performing under pressure and not being distracted by things other teams say, we can keep performing well."

• On Patriots owner Robert Kraft saying he is already better than Joe Montana, Brady's boyhood idol: "I love Mr. Kraft and he's one of my great friends. The big thing is I just want to win for him and the Patriots fans." (In other words, Brady wasn't touching that one.)

• On the possibility of replacement refs in the regular season: "Personally, from my standpoint, I've never gone into a game thinking about the officials. That won't change. I'm not going to think about it at all."

As it turns out, you may have thought you knew Tom Brady. But there's a Tom Brady you didn't know at all.

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Ravens' road to playoffs clear: Better earn home field Sunday

Haloti Ngata and the Ravens' tough D tends to spring leaks only on the road. (US Presswire)

Now that the Cincinnati Bengals are urging fans to show up for Sunday's game, I suggest the Baltimore Ravens respond with a similar message -- only aim it at their players. Because if they don't show up on the road again, the Ravens' chances of reaching the Super Bowl are in serious jeopardy.

They might be anyway. Baltimore hasn't exactly looked overwhelming in its past four starts. All I know is that this team is better off in the playoffs -- much better off -- at home where it can't lose, and it gets there only with a victory Sunday in Cincinnati.

Look, road games can be tough for anyone, but they're especially tough for Baltimore. All the Ravens' defeats this season have been there, with the club 3-4, including three of its past five. But it's not just that it struggles on the road; it's whom it struggles against.

It lost to Tennessee. It lost to Jacksonville. It lost to Seattle. It lost to San Diego. Three of those teams have losing records, and all but Tennessee are out of the playoff picture.

The Ravens, meanwhile, can clinch the AFC North if they beat Cincinnati, and while it's a critical game for the Bengals -- with a victory putting them in the playoffs -- it's at least as critical for Baltimore. The playoffs aren't the Ravens' goal; the Super Bowl is. We already know they're one of the AFC's heavyweights; what we don't know is how far they can go into January.

We will Sunday.

Basically, it comes down to this: The Ravens have a chance to make it to Indianapolis if they can clinch the first-round bye and be home for the divisional round of the playoffs. As I said, they're 8-0 at M&T Bank Stadium, outscoring opponents 219-119. They won 18 of their past 19 there, including the past 10, and are 27-5 over the past four seasons. Only New England (27-4) has a better home record during that time.

So when we talk about home-field advantages, it's places like Baltimore we have in mind.

Now look what happens on the road: The Ravens barely outscore opponents (135-131). But throw out a 37-7 shredding of St. Louis, and the margin becomes 124-98, in favor of the home team. The Ravens' three lowest point totals are on the road. Their worst defensive showing was a 34-14 hammering in San Diego on Dec. 18. After closing to 22-17 in Seattle in mid-November, their defense couldn't make a stop in the last six minutes -- with Seattle running off 12 plays for 72 yards to close out the victory.

And that's a concern.

It's the Ravens' vaunted defense that seems to wilt on the road. It has 25 takeaways this season, but only seven are on the road. It has 47 sacks, but only 14 on the road. Opposing quarterbacks complete 51 percent of their passes in Baltimore, with six touchdowns and 11 interceptions. But send the Ravens on the road, and suddenly the percentage jumps to 59, with quarterbacks throwing for five TDs and only four interceptions.

Three times Baltimore allowed more than 400 yards, with two of those games on the road. And the third? Ah, that's where this gets interesting. It was Cincinnati, and it was at M&T Bank Stadium, with the Bengals piling up 483 yards -- the most the Ravens surrendered in any game this season.

Yeah, I know, the Ravens won at Pittsburgh. But that's the only opponent with a winning record they've beaten away from home. The others are Cleveland and St. Louis, a combined 6-24.

In Baltimore, the Ravens outscore opponents by an average of almost 13 points per start. They beat San Francisco there. They beat Houston there. They beat Pittsburgh there. They beat Cincinnati there. I think you get the idea. The Ravens are simply a different -- and better -- club at home.

If they lose Sunday, they qualify as the AFC's No. 5 seed, and, sure, they can win in Denver or Oakland. Hey, all they've done in John Harbaugh's tenure as head coach is play road playoff games, and they're 4-3 there -- winning at least once in every season.

But they're no slam dunk, as they proved with that dreadful performance in San Diego. Maybe they win once in the playoffs, but are you going to tell me they can go 3-0 on the road? No way. Not this season.

So the playoffs start now, Baltimore. I know your team is in, but it better be in as the division champion, which means it better show up Sunday in Cincinnati.

It was after the loss in San Diego that Ravens' linebacker Terrell Suggs said that "championship teams get on a roll and keep playing. They peak. They don't take a step back." Now, more than ever, the Ravens must heed that advice. Otherwise, they're back where they don't want to be.

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NFL Car Flags and Car Magnets Pepper The Field In a Reminiscent Ritual of Support

Rams' Bradford organizes rookie symposium -- on practice field

ST. LOUIS -- The closest thing the St. Louis Rams had to a coach stood in the middle of the huddle, holding the closest thing the St. Louis Rams had to a playbook.

A white sheet of paper, held by second-year quarterback Sam Bradford, detailed the formations, assignments and terminology of the play in question. Bradford in turn relayed those details to the receivers and linemen who attended this week's players-only practices at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.

Bradford's training as a coach is limited. He also happens to be a novice in the offense he's attempting to teach, a scheme brought to the Gateway City by new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Sam Bradford is trying to help rookies adjust while learning Josh McDaniels' new offense. (Getty Images) Presumably, once McDaniels is allowed to have contact with the personnel he'll be tutoring, he'll bring some official playbooks for the rookies. For now, Bradford's hand-written guidelines will have to do.

"Sam's a good teacher and whatever he knows, we know and we know that it's accurate and good information," said Lance Kendricks, the rookie tight end from Wisconsin drafted in the second round of April's draft. "We can just take that in and use that as a starting point."

NFL players would normally be involved in organized team activities and minicamps this time of year, but the ongoing lockout has put those plans on hold. Veteran players around the league have been organizing informal team practices, the kind that Bradford's Rams scheduled this week at Lindenwood.

With about 30 players in attendance, the Rams held practices on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A scheduled session for Thursday was canceled because of inclement weather.

For his fellow holdovers on offense, Bradford helped the unit adjust from the "old numbering system to the new numbering system" of play calls. For Kendricks and rookie receivers Austin Pettis and Greg Salas, the time with Bradford has been as much about schematic preparation as it's been a chemistry-building exercise.

Pettis, the team's third-round pick from Boise State, said getting a dose of the offense now means "everything won't be new to us" when the lockout is eventually lifted. "I'm able to learn a lot of stuff out here and just get as much knowledge as I can from Sam," said Pettis, a 6-foot-3 red-zone threat who caught 39 touchdown passes as a collegian.

Bradford told reporters on Monday that the rookie pass-catchers "hopped right in" without hesitation and looked good.

"We've gone over some things," the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner said. "I've tried to explain to them in as much detail as possible the formations, routes, alignments, things like that."

Meanwhile, Pettis, Kendricks and Salas have had plenty of time to pick Bradford's brain -- they've been staying at his house.

In addition to some private playbook study, Salas said Bradford has shown his house guests around St. Louis and treated them to dinner.

"It's been great," said Salas, the all-time University of Hawaii receiving leader. "He's a super-nice guy and has made it a lot easier coming in as a rookie. It's been a lot of learning, a lot of information to take in. We've got a lot to look forward to and a lot of things to study."

On the field at Lindenwood's Hunter Stadium, Salas said "it's all work" and the rookies have been absorbing a lot of the offense. Though the practices are undoubtedly different without coaches present, the youngsters have been seen asking plenty of questions of Bradford and all of the veterans present, including linebacker James Laurinaitis.

"It's important because rookies in this situation are the ones who are going to suffer," said Laurinaitis, who helped organize the practices along with Bradford and cornerback Ron Bartell. "They don't have the time to make those mistakes during OTAs and minicamps that I remember making. It's important for them, not to only get around everybody and introduced and learn the faces of your teammates, but also to get some more experience with everything. So it's good to get them here to learn and get their timing down with Sam."

The work Bradford and Laurinaitis do in mentoring their young teammates could go a long way toward determining the Rams' fate in 2011. The team jumped from one win to seven last season, nearly won the NFC West, and figure to be a trendy playoff pick this season. That said, a more difficult schedule that includes both Super Bowl XLV participants means it's no guarantee the win total will again increase.

"Last year was a good stepping stone, but you're not going to get more wins exponentially," Laurinaitis said. "It's year-by-year and what we did last year doesn't mean anything. I don't think there's any clear leader in the NFC West -- it's wide open. We've just got to make ourselves better and be prepared to go full-speed when (the lockout) is over."

Laurinaitis believes general manager Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo have already made the team better through the draft. Rookie cornerback Mikail Baker of Baylor and Oklahoma safety Jonathan Nelson also attended the Lindenwood workouts.

"Billy and Spags want to pick guys who love to play football," Laurinaitis said. "It's the sense I get from these guys out here. These guys love to play football and that creates competition and makes everybody on the team better."

While Devaney and Spagnuolo await a time when they're allowed to do some more tinkering with the team, the Rams have another session of informal workouts scheduled to begin June 8 in Phoenix. Depending on the ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on June 3, Laurinaitis said the players would love to cancel the Phoenix practices.

"We have a plan just in case," Laurinaitis said. "We don't know how long they'll take to rule on this thing, but we have to plan accordingly."

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