Sports category, Page 1414
Steelers’ offseason begins with plenty of unanswered questions ahead
A half foot of snow isn’t all that greeted the Pittsburgh Steelers upon their return to Pennsylvania early Monday. Boots will seemingly be just as needed to trudge through a deep collection of freshly-packed questions about charting the course of the future of the franchise. While the peripheral statistics suggest...
Diontae Johnson sees ‘a lot’ of upside in Mason Rudolph as next Steelers QB
Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers season is over, a long offseason of debate is sure to ensue regarding the identity of their next franchise quarterback. The player who arguably has the most at stake in that decision let it known whom he supports. “I’m pulling for (Mason Rudolph),” Diontae Johnson...
D-line thinned by injuries as Bengals prepare for Titans
CINCINNATI — After the Bengals won a playoff game for the first time in three decades last Saturday, coach Zac Taylor and a few players delivered game balls to three Cincinnati sports bars as a way of thanking fans who stuck with them through the bad times. “I think the...
Mark Madden: Steelers have lots of issues, and they can’t all be fixed in 1 offseason
The Steelers’ season-ending 42-21 wild-card loss at Kansas City offered no surprises. The Steelers told you, once again, who they really are. Now you’ve got no choice but to believe them. Plenty of criticism is rightly being heaped on the offense, which indulged its habit of not scoring a first-half...
Chiefs open up offense against Pittsburgh, eye Buffalo next
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had to learn to dink and dunk their way through this entire season, contrary to every instinct of go-for-broke quarterback Patrick Mahomes, as opposing defenses simply refused to let themselves get beaten deep. You can bet they relished the opportunity to open...
South Carolina still No. 1 in women’s Top 25; Oklahoma jumps 9 spots
South Carolina remained the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll released Monday. The Gamecocks received 28 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel after beating Texas A&M and Arkansas last week. South Carolina is off until hosting Vanderbilt next Monday. There was...
Former Pirates lefty, wild-card winner Francisco Liriano announces retirement after 14 seasons
Former Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano, the winning pitcher in their 2013 wild-card win over the Cincinnati Reds, announced his retirement Monday after a 14-year major league career. Liriano, 38, had a 112-114 record and 4.15 ERA in 1,813⅔ innings over 416 games (300 starts) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago...
5 things: Roster changes on horizon after Steelers season comes to close
Five things we learned from Chiefs 42, Steelers 21 1. Changes coming With 15 players set to hit unrestricted free agency, the Steelers that open OTAs in five months will look vastly different than the group that lost a playoff game for the fourth consecutive opportunity. Some decisions will be...
Gonzaga back at No. 1 in AP Top 25; Auburn up to No. 2
A wild week of upsets led to big changes in the AP Top 25. Amid the chaos, a familiar team returned to the top. Preseason No. 1 Gonzaga climbed back to the top of The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday, ending Baylor’s five-week run. The Bulldogs had...
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the Steelers’ playoff loss to Chiefs
Columnists Tim Benz and Mark Madden present the Steelers’ wrap-up edition for the 2021 season on this week’s “Unfiltered” on TribLIVE’s Facebook page. The Steelers fell 42-21 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round of the playoffs to end their season. Benz, wearing a Pittsburgh Maulers hat, said...
Madden Monday on Steelers’ playoff loss: ‘Coaching couldn’t have saved that game’ — or the season
The Pittsburgh Steelers offense is catching most of the heat for the team’s failings en route to a 42-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday night’s playoff game. Rightfully so. By halftime, the team converted all of two first downs, was 1 for 8 on third downs, and...
Steelers’ Cameron Heyward emotional about playing season without ‘brothers’ Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu
Getting choked up and emotional Sunday night wasn’t only about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season coming to an end for Cameron Heyward. It went beyond feelings associated with Ben Roethlisberger’s purported final game, too. Speaking soon after the Steelers’ 42-21 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC wild-card game,...
Steelers vs. Chiefs: What they’re saying in Kansas City after playoff rout
Offensive guards were catching touchdowns, and tight ends were throwing them. The Kansas City Chiefs pretty much had the wildcard playoff game wrapped up by halftime at Arrowhead Stadium in a blowout 42-21 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. At one point, the Steelers actually led 7-0 after a T.J. Watt...
First Call: Ex-Browns star misses mark with shot at Steelers; Joe Haden, JuJu Smith-Schuster pondering future
Monday’s “First Call” features an ex-Cleveland Browns star kicking the Pittsburgh Steelers while they are down. Ben Roethlisberger bids farewell to Patrick Mahomes. Other Steelers with expiring contracts brace for departure. And the Penguins get set for a test in Las Vegas. Read the room Ex-Cleveland Browns star Joe Thomas...
Tim Benz: Another inept start, sudden defensive collapse among season’s final ‘Airing of Grievances’ for Steelers
Throughout a week of playoff hype and excitement, Pittsburgh Steelers fans did everything they could to talk themselves into why this week’s postseason result in Kansas City would be different from the 36-10 beatdown their team suffered at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 26. Hey, remember when the Steelers won in...
Ben Roethlisberger ready for next chapter after Steelers’ career ends with playoff loss to Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ben Roethlisberger tried to motivate his teammates by downplaying their chances against the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC wild-card game. He labeled the Steelers the worst of the 14 teams that extended their season into mid-January. He talked of wanting to keep the game against...
JuJu Smith-Schuster has 5 catches in return, says ‘it would be a blessing’ to remain with Steelers
JuJu Smith-Schuster fought his way back to play one more game this season. Was it also one final time he wore the black-and-gold? Smith-Schuster’s surprise return to game action three months after shoulder surgery ended with a team-high-tying five receptions in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 42-21 loss to the Kansas City...
With Novak Djokovic gone, Naomi Osaka starts her Australian Open defenseVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open started Monday without nine-time champion Novak Djokovic and, finally, the focus was on forehands and backhands instead of his fight to avoid deportation because he isn’t vaccinated against covid-19. And it got started in a big way, with a combined 64 matches scheduled on...
Steelers unable to extend Roethlisberger’s final season as Chiefs roll to victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dreams of the Pittsburgh Steelers delaying Ben Roethlisberger’s farewell for another week were alive and well early in the second quarter Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium. Then, reality set in and the fairytale finish to his 18-year NFL career turned into a nightmare. Patrick Mahomes upstaged...
Hideki Matsuyama caps big rally with eagle to win Sony Open in playoffVideo
HONOLULU — Hideki Matsuyama made up a five-shot deficit on the back nine and then won the Sony Open in a playoff with one of the best shots he never saw, a 3-wood into the sun to 3 feet for an eagle to beat Russell Henley on Sunday. The eighth...
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz disbands diversity group created after 2020 probeVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz disbanded an alumni advisory committee that was created after a 2020 investigation found evidence of racial bias against Black players in his program and bullying behavior by some of his assistants. The Gazette reported Ferentz’ decision to end the committee came...
Steelers notes: Dan Moore Jr. returns to lineup, JuJu Smith-Schuster also starts
One Pittsburgh rookie offensive lineman — at least for the time being — lost his starting job late in the season after an injury. Another, apparently, did not. Dan Moore Jr. was back at left tackle when Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs began. A fourth-round...
Minor league report: Penguins edge BearsVideo
Goaltender Tommy Nappier made 23 saves on 24 shots and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 2-1 home win against the rival Hershey Bears on at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. Forwards Alexander Nylander and Patrick Watling each scored goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (11-15-1-3). Highlights: The Penguins’ next...
Niners hold off Cowboys in NFC wild-card playoff gameVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers have started another playoff run after hanging on in a frantic wild-card finish against Dallas. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys will have to keep waiting for that elusive deep trip in the postseason. San Francisco’s versatile receiver ran 26 yards...
Allen-led Bills throttle division rival Patriots, 47-17Video
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The lingering sting of being embarrassed on home turf by the New England Patriots didn’t sit well with defensive end Jerry Hughes and the Buffalo Bills. On Saturday night, the Bills did something about it by erasing any doubt of who now rules the AFC East....
