Sports category, Page 751
Mark Madden: Mason Rudolph saved the Steelers’ season
Even if the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wild-card game at Buffalo ends their season, at least we get to witness two great quarterbacks go toe-to-toe. In the blue and red corner, Josh Allen. He’s not afraid to throw an interception. He takes chances and reaps reward. Big man. Big arm. Twenty-nine touchdown...
What you need to know about the Steelers’ Wild-Card opponent, the Buffalo Bills
The No. 7-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers will visit Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., for a 1 p.m. kickoff Sunday, facing the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild-Card round. The Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 21-14, on Sunday night to clinch their fourth straight AFC East title and earn the No....
Panthers fire GM Scott Fitterer after finishing with NFL-worst 2-15 record
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers now need a head coach and a general manager. The Panthers announced Monday they have fired GM Scott Fitterer one day after the team finished with an NFL-worst 2-15 record. “As we move forward with the new direction for our franchise, I have made...
Bill Belichick under contract, would take lesser role in personnel matters as Kraft meeting looms
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick is open to letting someone else handle personnel duties if he remains with the New England Patriots. The Patriots coach also confirmed Monday during his season-ending news conference that he remains under contract, though he didn’t specify the length of its current terms. New England’s...
Commanders fire coach Ron Rivera as new ownership begins making changes
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders fired coach Ron Rivera on Monday, the first move of many expected by new owners as they put their stamp on the NFL franchise they bought last year. The decision came a day after the Commanders’ season-ending 38-10 home loss to division-rival Dallas. “As...
Primanti Bros. sending gift of thanks — in sandwiches — to Titans for helping Steelers make playoffs
Tennessee is about to get a taste of Pittsburgh. Primanti Bros. announced on social media that they’ll be sending sandwiches, topped with fries and coleslaw, to the Tennessee Titans as a way to say thanks for helping the Steelers make the playoffs. The Steelers learned Sunday, a day after closing...
Analysis: Bills, Cowboys were the NFL’s biggest winners in Week 18, securing the No. 2 seeds
On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here. Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys made sure they’ll start the playoffs at home, where they’re undefeated. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are going home with a division title...
Falcons fire coach Arthur Smith hours after completing 3rd straight 7-10 season
ATLANTA — Arthur Smith, who inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift Atlanta from its playoff drought, was fired late Sunday night, hours after completing his third straight losing season with the Falcons. Smith, the 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith,...
Madden Monday: Mason Rudolph should start at QB going into ’24; Penguins’ power play ‘abjectly stinks’
Despite a strong finishing kick to the 2023-24 regular season, Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X isn’t expecting the Pittsburgh Steelers to push their stay in the playoffs beyond the first weekend. During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Madden says to look for the Steelers to be one-and-done...
Tim Benz: Steelers’ completely unpredictable path to a totally believable regular-season result
In the end, the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers took a completely unpredictable path to a totally predictable result for their regular season. They finished 10-7, in third place of their own division and in an AFC wild-card spot behind two other teams from the AFC North. How predictable was that? Well,...
First Call: Ex-Steelers in Tennessee help former team reach playoffs; Steelers’ social media team jabs back at Jaguars
The Pittsburgh Steelers are taking particular joy in making the playoffs at Jacksonville’s expense. A pair of former Steelers were at the center of Tennessee’s upset of the Jaguars. The Penguins are hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointment when they travel to Philadelphia on Monday night. The Robert Morris...
Gold Glove in hand, Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes wants to show same consistency at plate
Now that Ke’Bryan Hayes finally has a Gold Glove, the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman can turn his attention to other hardware. With the way Hayes finished last season, a Platinum Glove is a strong possibility and perhaps even a Silver Slugger is in his future. Hayes, however, would prefer jewelry....
Josh Allen rallies Bills for win over Dolphins; Buffalo secures No. 2 seed in AFC
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Josh Allen threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Dawson Knox midway through the fourth quarter, and the Buffalo Bills won their fourth straight AFC East title, rallying past the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday night. Allen made things difficult for the Bills with three turnovers in...
Chris Kirk makes late birdie to take PGA Tour season opener at Kapalua
KAPALUA, Hawaii — Chris Kirk finds pure joy in golf from the work that’s required and how hard it is to succeed, and Sunday at The Sentry was plenty difficult. A dozen players were lined up behind him, all of them capable of ripping off a low one. The conditions...
Even at the high school level, football coaches take measures to avoid signs being stolen
There was a commotion in the bleachers at a WPIAL football game one night when some opposing coaches had their notes fall from the press box window. Those notes turned out to be a cheat-sheet of sorts. “They had written on them, ‘This is outside zone. This is speed option,’...
Minor league report: Joel Blomqvist’s win streak reaches 5 as Penguins beat Wolf PackVideo
Goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 20 saves on 21 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 2-1 home win against the Hartford Wolf Pack at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. Improving to 11-4-2, Blomqvist won his fifth consecutive game. During this stretch, Blomqvist has a 1.00 goals against average...
Michigan-Washington caps season of realignment, transfers and Harbaugh
HOUSTON — Michigan vs. Washington is just about the perfect way to end the 2023 college football season: a matchup of unbeatens that hits all the major themes and storylines of the past five months from conference realignment to the transfer portal — with Jim Harbaugh as the main character....
South Dakota State repeats as FCS champs with 29th consecutive win, 23-3 over Montana
FRISCO, Texas — Mark Gronowski ran for a touchdown and threw for another after halftime as South Dakota State won its second straight Football Championship Subdivision title, beating Montana 23-3 on Sunday. The Jackrabbits (15-0) extended their overall winning streak to 29 games in a row, including their win over...
NFL Week 18: Trevor Lawrence stopped short of goal line as Jags eliminated from playoff race in loss to TitansVideo
NASHVILLE — Trevor Lawrence had every chance to play the Jacksonville Jaguars into the playoffs for a second straight year as the AFC South champs. He wound up stopped short of the goal line with 7:13 left, and he also turned the ball over on downs with 1:47 left as...
With Browns resting starters for the playoffs, motivated Bengals win 31-14 to finish above .500
CINCINNATI — With a mostly meaningless loss to the Bengals in the books, the Browns could turn their attention to preparing for their first playoff game in three years. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski rested most of his starters Sunday in a 31-14 loss to Cincinnati. The Browns will play at...
Steelers clinch No. 7 seed in playoffs, will play at Buffalo in wild-card round
After getting help to reach the postseason earlier in the day, the Pittsburgh Steelers discovered Sunday night that they will be heading to Buffalo for a matchup against the Bills in the wild-card round. The game will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y., where the Steelers...
Ace Baldwin scores 25, helps Penn State overcome Michigan
PHILADELPHIA — Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 25 points, and Penn State had 52 in the second half to rally past Michigan, 79-73, on Sunday at the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. After trailing by as many as 14 points and never taking the lead in...
Penguins forward Jake Guentzel declines comment on his contractual status
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel will offer clear, concise and detailed explanations on just about anything that happens on a hockey rink, be it a scoring sequence, taking a big hit or the contributions of a teammate. But off the ice, any ruminations he might have about his status as...
Good vibes surface for Pitt after Louisville victory, but tough ACC schedule awaits
Two encouraging events emerged from Pitt’s victory at Louisville, the Panthers’ first in four games against ACC competition. • Jaland Lowe’s time on the court continued to increase. After averaging 13.6 minutes through the first nine games of his freshman season, Lowe has been used an average of 20.6 minutes...
Pitt gets verbal commitment from ex-Alabama quarterback Eli Holstein
Pat Narduzzi hopes he altered the landscape and trajectory of Pitt’s football program with four coaching changes on offense, but he went a step further Sunday. Narduzzi took another swing at a transfer quarterback and secured a verbal commitment from Eli Holstein, formerly of Alabama. He is the 12th player...
