Sports category, Page 1068
Bears get No. 1 pick after Texans rally for win at Indy
CHICAGO — Thanks to an old friend, the Chicago Bears are on the clock for the NFL Draft. Chicago will pick No. 1 for the first time since 1947 after it lost 29-13 to the Minnesota Vikings in its season finale Sunday. It was the 10th straight loss for the...
Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth leaves game with knee injury
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth suffered a knee injury during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win against the Cleveland Browns and did not return. Sunday’s game — a 28-14 victory — concluded the Steelers’ season, so the seriousness of Freiermuth’s injury perhaps is less relevant than if the team...
AFC title game will be at neutral site if Bills vs. Chiefs
The AFC championship game will be played on a neutral site if the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills reach that point. Buffalo’s 35-23 win over New England on Sunday coupled with Kansas City’s 31-13 victory at Las Vegas on Saturday means the No. 1 seed Chiefs (14-3) can’t host...
Different Dakota: SD State wins 1st FCS title over ND State
FRISCO, Texas — Mark Gronowski threw three touchdowns passes and ran 51 yards for another one as South Dakota State won its first national championship with a 45-21 win Sunday over North Dakota State, which lost for the first time in its 10 FCS title-game appearances. As a freshman two...
Steelers hit Vegas for 1st time; 2023 opponent schedule set
Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas. It’s not just a sign along a median on a thoroughfare through that arid Nevada city. It’s what the Pittsburgh Steelers were (figuratively) told by way of their victory in their season finale Sunday. Based on the NFL’s predetermined schedule rotation, only three of the...
Steelers’ longest-tenured player, Cam Heyward: ‘Never know if (management) wants me back’
Less than an hour after a game in which he showed he still has it at age 33, Cameron Heyward was hesitant to express the Pittsburgh Steelers were committed to bringing him back for a 13th season. “I want to take time to think about what’s going on,” Heyward said...
No. 1 Georgia tries to launch dynasty against emboldened TCUVideo
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart was part of college football’s greatest dynasty as an assistant for Nick Saban at Alabama. Now, he is on the verge of launching his own. After going through the Crimson Tide last season to win Georgia’s first national title in 41 years,...
Bengals beat Ravens to avoid coin flip, set up home rematch
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow threw for a touchdown, and Joe Mixon ran for another as the Cincinnati Bengals took advantage of four Baltimore turnovers to beat the Ravens, 27-16, on Sunday and set up a rematch in the first round of the playoffs next week. The AFC North champion Bengals...
Bills win for Hamlin and eliminate Patriots from playoffsVideo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The echoes of “Let’s Go Buffalo!” pregame chants were still reverberating through an emotionally charged Bills stadium celebrating injured safety Damar Hamlin, when another roar suddenly erupted as Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Some three hours later, and after Hines...
Dolphins clinch playoff berth after beating Jets 11-6Video
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — After just one successful field goal of 50-plus yards all season, it was only fitting that the Miami Dolphins’ playoff hopes came down to a 50-yard kick. “I felt like I owed it to the guys,” said Jason Sanders, whose booming go-ahead kick with 18 seconds...
Steelers keep their end of bargain, but Dolphins’ win will keep them out of playoffs
Just when it looked as if the Pittsburgh Steelers might shuffle off to Buffalo for the most unlikely of playoff appearances, they had their hopes gutted Sunday with the ferocity of Lucy yanking a football away from Charlie Brown. The Steelers held up their end of the bargain with a...
Steelers, fans show support for Damar Hamlin before, during game vs. Browns
The four white “3” digits marking the 30-yard-lines on each side of the field were painted with subtle outlines of red and blue, but that wasn’t the only recognition for Damar Hamlin during Sunday’s game at Acrisure Stadium. Hamlin, the former star at Pitt and Central Catholic, remains in a...
Bills Mafia honors Damar Hamlin with giant get-well card, more
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A mere store-bought get-well card wasn’t enough for Bills fan Ryan Magnuson to show his support for Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin. The owner of a sign shop, Magnuson took the next step by designing a 4-by-10-foot canvas card, which he erected at the foot of the...
Mikaela Shiffrin shows her emotions after matching Lindsey Vonn’s record
KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — The emotions came pouring out of Mikaela Shiffrin when she matched Lindsey Vonn’s women’s World Cup skiing record with her 82nd win Sunday. First there was a scream of delight following a serious case of nerves that had been building inside her throughout the day. Then...
Steelers at almost-full health, but ILB Mark Robinson in uniform again vs. Browns
Despite being listed as questionable on the final league-mandated status report of the week, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and inside linebacker Myles Jack were in uniform and active for Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers regular-season finale. Fitzpatrick suffered an ankle injury and Jack aggravated a groin ailment during last week’s win at the...
Jaguars return fumble for TD, beat Titans for AFC South title
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With a scoop and score that will go down in franchise lore, Josh Allen may have put an end to the chaos and disappointment that has defined the Jacksonville Jaguars for the better part of the past decade. Allen’s 37-yard fumble return with 2 minutes, 51 seconds...
Minor league report: Alex Nylander leads Penguins to overtime winVideo
An overtime goal by forward Alex Nylander gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 4-3 home win against the Hartford Wolf Pack at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. Forward Jonathan Gruden scored two goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (16-10-3-2) while forward Drake Caggiula and defenseman Jack St. Ivany each contributed three assists....
Duquesne men lose to Richmond on late 3-pointerVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Tyler Burton led Richmond with 23 points, and Jason Roche scored the game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds left as the Spiders beat Duquesne, 75-73, on Saturday night. Rodney Gunn Jr. led the way for the Dukes (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic 10) with 16 points. Jimmy Clark III added...
No. 3 Kansas takes care of West Virginia men
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Freshman Gradey Dick scored 16 points, Jalen Wilson had 14 points and 14 rebounds and No. 3 Kansas rode a hot start to a 76-62 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night. Kansas (14-1, 3-0 Big 12) has won eight straight and avoided the nail-biting finishes of...
Patrick Mahomes sets record; Chiefs beat Raiders for AFC’s top seedVideo
LAS VEGAS — Patrick Mahomes set the NFL record for total yards in a season, and the Kansas City Chiefs rolled to a 31-13 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday to lock up the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Mahomes passed for 202 yards and rushed for 29 against...
Penn Township’s Brian Sakowski ready to officiate national championship game
Sixteen years ago, as Brian Sakowski remembers, he worked his first varsity football game, a WPIAL rivalry between Trinity and Canon-McMillan. That game almost was his last, he says now, with a laugh. “There was a blocked punt, and I called this absolutely horrible holding call when the ball was...
Stars matter? Georgia, TCU both excel in player developmentVideo
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Based solely on the recruiting rankings, this national championship game between No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 TCU is the most lopsided in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs are a recruiting juggernaut, brimming with four- and five-star high school players. The...
Steelers will head to Buffalo for wild-card round if they get AFC’s No. 7 seed
The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t know yet whether they will earn the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs. They do know where they will be playing if they get there. The Steelers will travel to Buffalo and face the Bills if everything breaks their way Sunday. Based on Kansas City’s...
Pitt shows love for hospitalized alum Damar Hamlin with shirts, banner for Bills safety
The Pitt Panthers showed some love for Damar Hamlin, wearing their hearts on their chest against Clemson. While fans signed well wishes on a banner for the former Pitt safety who went into cardiac arrest during a game for the Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football” in Cincinnati, Panthers players...
Penguins notebook: Team seeks more top-6 scoring
For the Pittsburgh Penguins, Thursday’s 5-2 road loss to the Vegas Golden Knights was nothing out of the ordinary, especially because it was their sixth consecutive loss. What was different was how they generated their offense. Each goal came by way of their top line. In their five previous games,...
