Sports category, Page 2193
Saints finish 13-3 but miss out on first-round bye
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It turns out 13 wins weren’t enough to earn the New Orleans Saints a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs. The runaway winners of the NFC South will have to win an extra game if they hope to reach the Super Bowl. They’ll be the No. 3...
Coach Jason Garrett’s future murky with Cowboys
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jason Garrett says he doesn’t know if he’ll be coach of the Dallas Cowboys next year, and owner Jerry Jones won’t even acknowledge that there’s a decision to make regarding the leadership of an underachieving club. The mystery of a team that sagged under the weight of...
Coach Pat Shurmur’s job uncertain after Giants post 4-12 record
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pat Shurmur is facing a very uncertain future as New York Giants coach after winning four games this season and nine overall in two seasons in charge. The Giants finished off a 4-12 season on Sunday, dropping a 34-17 decision at MetLife Stadium that allowed the...
John Steigerwald: Coach of the Year? Not Steelers’ Mike Tomlin
Sorry, Mike Tomlin, but John Harbaugh is NFL Coach of the Year. You deserved serious consideration when your Pittsburgh Steelers somehow were in position to get into the playoffs after losing Ben Roethlisberger for the season and having to deal with so many injuries to other key players along the...
‘I can take any hit … clean, dirty,’ Ravens QB Robert Griffin III says of Steelers’ tactics
BALTIMORE – Robert Griffin III was making his first NFL start in three years, and part of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive gameplan was to hit him as much as possible. “Yeah, that was the (plan),” linebacker Bud Dupree said after the Ravens’ 28-10 win. So the Steelers hit Griffin. A...
Ramon Foster uncertain whether Steelers will keep him for 12th season
BALTIMORE – The longest tenured player on the field Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers is preparing for an uncertain future. Guard Ramon Foster, who completed his 11th season with the organization, acknowledged after a 28-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens he might have played his final down with the Steelers....
All in all, Steelers’ Devlin Hodges feels ‘blessed’ after rookie seasonVideo
BALTIMORE — Devlin Hodges went undrafted and unwanted this spring. By late summer, he was unneeded and unemployed. In December, he was underwhelming and at times appeared overmatched. But in between, the scrappy kid from Alabama became something of a Pittsburgh phenomenon as the first undrafted non-replacement rookie quarterback to...
Kevin Gorman: Stunned Steelers have no excuses (or answers) for missing the playoffsVideo
BALTIMORE — A Pittsburgh Steelers season that began with a blowout at the reigning Super Bowl champion ended with another lopsided loss at the hands of the NFL’s top team. The Baltimore Ravens might have rested seven starters, but their backups were brutal in beating the Steelers, 28-10, amid a...
Minor league report: Emil Larmi leads Nailers past Fuel
An overtime goal by forward Christopher Brown gave the Wheeling Nailers a 3-2 win against the Indy Fuel at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis on Sunday. Goaltender Emil Larmi made 35 saves for the Nailers (14-12-4-0) while forward Ryan Scarfo recorded three assists. Highlights: The Nailers’ next game is...
Ron Rivera to meet with Redskins about coaching vacancy
WASHINGTON — Ron Rivera will meet with the Washington Redskins to discuss their head coaching vacancy. Agent Frank Bauer confirmed the former Carolina Panthers coach will visit the Redskins on Monday. Rivera coached the Panthers the past nine seasons and took them to a Super Bowl before being fired earlier...
Cowboys beat Redskins but miss playoffs with Eagles’ win
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes to help Dallas beat Washington 47-16 on Sunday, a win rendered meaningless when the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs by Philadelphia’s victory over the New York Giants. The Cowboys (8-8) lost control of their playoff fate with a 17-9 loss...
One, done: Browns fire Freddie Kitchens after disappointing season
BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns fired coach Freddie Kitchens after a disheartening season that didn’t come close to meeting expectations. Kitchens was let go Sunday night, hours after the Browns were beaten by the lowly Cincinnati Bengals (2-14) to finish 6-10 and miss the playoffs for the 17th straight...
Titans clinch playoff spot with win over Texans
HOUSTON — Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans ran their way into the playoffs, beating a Houston Texans team that rested several starters and setting up an intriguing first-round matchup with New England. Henry rushed for a season-high 211 yards and three touchdowns in the Titans’ 35-14 victory on Sunday....
Injury-ravaged Eagles beat Giants to win NFC East
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles are heading to the playoffs thanks to a group of players off the practice squad. Boston Scott ran for three touchdowns in the second half and the injury-ravaged Eagles beat the New York Giants 34-17 on Sunday to win the...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Ravens’ backups better than Steelers’ starters in season finale
BALTIMORE — For a team in a must-win situation in the season finale to qualify for the postseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked like they wanted no part of the Baltimore Ravens. Or the playoffs. Not that the Steelers got the outside help they needed anyway. The first five AFC seeds...
Steelers stumble vs. Ravens in finale, miss playoffsVideo
BALTIMORE — What unfolded over the course of three hours Sunday on a rainy day at M&T Bank Stadium was a microcosm of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season. The start was bad. The end was worse. And what good that transpired in between simply wasn’t enough to outweigh the negatives. A...
Duquesne men lose 2nd consecutive after early-season run
CLEVELAND — All this traveling appears to be taking its toll on the Duquesne men’s basketball team. The Dukes seemed lifeless Sunday in an 83-61 loss to Marshall in the second game of a doubleheader in the Cleveland Classic at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Duquesne dropped its second consecutive decision to...
LeBron James crowned as AP’s male athlete of decadeVideo
He left Cleveland for Miami, finally became a champion, went back to his beloved northeast Ohio, delivered on another title promise, then left for the Los Angeles Lakers and the next challenge. He played in eight straight finals. No NBA player won more games or more MVP awards over the...
3 things learned from Penn State’s Cotton Bowl win over MemphisVideo
Penn State concluded its season with a 53-39 victory over the Memphis Tigers on Saturday afternoon in the Cotton Bowl. Let’s look at what we learned as the Nittany Lions brought the 2019 season to a close. 1. Micah Parsons is one of the best players in the country Penn...
Dolphins stun Patriots, denying New England first-round bye
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick never have made the Super Bowl while playing in the wild-card playoff round. They will have to make some more franchise history to win another NFL title. It wasn’t quite like last season’s “Miami Miracle” loss. It...
Long wait for Clemson, LSU before College Football Playoff championshipVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The matchup is set for a tantalizing College Football Playoff national championship game. On one side, defending champion Clemson, with its 29-game winning streak. On the other, unbeaten and No. 1 LSU, with its record-setting offense and Heisman Trophy winner. But first, we interrupt this playoff for...
Andy Dalton enjoys fond farewell in leading Bengals over Browns
CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton threw for a touchdown and ran for another Sunday in his farewell as a franchise quarterback — a Joe Burrow banner in the upper deck reminded him what comes next — and the Cincinnati Bengals ended one of their most miserable seasons with a 33-23 victory...
Mike Watkins leads No. 20 Penn State over Cornell at homeVideo
STATE COLLEGE — The smile on Mike Watkins’ face was nearly as large as the slam dunk Penn State’s big man had just thrown down. Watkins capped the nonconference schedule with another highlight-worthy dunk — a powerful first-half alley-oop — and had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the 20th-ranked...
No. 22 West Virginia men rally, upset No. 2 Ohio StateVideo
CLEVELAND — Miles McBride scored six of his season-high 21 points in the final 2 minutes, 22 seconds, and No. 22 West Virginia rallied to beat No. 2 Ohio State, 67-59, on Sunday. The Mountaineers (11-1) trailed by nine late in the first half but went ahead for good at...
7 Ravens starters not in uniform for regular-season finale vs. Steelers
BALTIMORE— Seven Baltimore Ravens starters are not in uniform for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Baltimore assured of the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, coach John Harbaugh elected to sit MVP candidate quarterback Lamar Jackson, tackle Ronnie Stanley, guard Marshall Yanda, safety Earl Thomas and...
