NFL-SCHEDULE
Pats still perfect
UNDATED (AP) β There are still five unbeaten teams in the NFL following wins by New England and Carolina. The Patriots needed a fourth-quarter rally to keep their perfect record intact before the Panthers held off the Philadelphia Eagles. The other unbeaten teams are on a bye week.
Tom Brady hit Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski for touchdowns in the final 7:16 as the Pats downed the New York Jets 30-23 to improve to 6-0. The Jets led 20-16 until Amendola scored on an eight-yard reception. Gronkowski’s 15-yard scoring grab put the Patriots in front 30-20 with 1:13 remaining.
Brady finished the game 34 of 54 for 355 yards and two scores. He was 13 of 16 for 135 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
Gronkowski had 11 receptions for 108 yards and the one score as the Patriots moved two games ahead of the Jets in the AFC East.
Like the Pats, the Panthers are 6-0 after they built a 21-6 lead in a 27-16 win over the Eagles. Mike Tolbert caught a touchdown pass and ran for a TD to help Carolina take command of the game. Jonathan Stewart ran for 125 yards on 24 carries, and Cam Newton atoned for his three interceptions by throwing for a touchdown and running for another.
Sam Bradford had just 205 passing yards on 46 attempts and didn’t lead the Eagles into the end zone until Ryan Matthews’ 63-yard run in the third quarter.
The Eagles are 3-4.
Elsewhere on the NFL on Week 7:
β Former Cowboy Dwayne Harris returned a kickoff 100 yards for the deciding touchdown as the New York Giants held off Dallas 27-20. Harris’ return came immediately after Matt Cassel’s 25-yard TD pass to Devin Street tied the game with 7:14 remaining. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had two interceptions for the 4-3 Giants, returning one 58 yards for a touchdown. The Cowboys dropped to 2-4 despite Darren McFadden, who rushed for 152 yards and a TD.
β The Atlanta Falcons bounced back from their first loss of the season to edge Tennessee 10-7. Matt Ryan threw for 251 yards and a touchdown, and Devonta Freeman ran for 116 yards as the Falcons improved to 6-1. The 1-5 Titans lost their fifth straight overall and ninth consecutive at home dating to last season.
β Teddy Bridgewater threw for a season-high 316 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings beat the Lions in Detroit 28-19. Adrian Peterson rushed for 98 yards and the Vikings improved to 4-2 by winning an NFC North road game for the first time in three years. The 1-6 Lions had an 11-point lead after Matthew Stafford threw TDs on their first two drives, but the Vikings’ defense racked up a season-high seven sacks and Peterson had a season-long 75-yard run.
β The Chiefs snapped a five-game losing streak with a home-field victory over Pittsburgh, 23-13. Alex Smith threw for 251 yards and a touchdown and Cairo Santos added three field goals. Charcandrick West added 110 yards rushing and his first career touchdown for the 2-5 Chiefs, and Eric Berry intercepted his first pass since his cancer diagnosis last December.
β Drew Brees (breez) threw for 255 yards and one touchdown and Khiry Robinson ran for two scores in the Saints’ 27-21 win over the Colts. Brees finished 28 of 44 and was helped by a running game led by Mark Ingram, who ran for 143 yards and one score. The 3-4 Saints led the game 27-0, but the Colts clawed back into the game with 21 second-half points. Indy’s Andrew Luck threw TD passes of 87 and 46 yards to T.Y. Hilton and an 8-yard TD pass to Donte Moncrief with 3:46 left to make it 27-21.
β The Rams took advantage of a bad start by the Browns for a 24-6 win. St. Louis scored 10 points off miscues on Cleveland’s first two series, a 17-yard fumble recovery by Rodney McLeod and a field goal after Josh McCown was stripped of the ball. The 3-3 Rams had four sacks and recovered four fumbles in dropping the Browns to 2-5.
β Kirk Cousins threw three second-half touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score with 24 seconds left, to lead the Washington Redskins to the largest comeback in franchise history, a 31-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Redskins stormed back to improve to 3-4 after trailing 24-0 in the second quarter. Jameis Winston was 21 of 29 for 297 yards and two touchdowns for the 2-5 Buccaneers, while Doug Martin ran 19 times for 136.
β Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes, including a nifty 52-yarder to Amari Cooper in Oakland’s 37-29 verdict over the Chargers in San Diego. Carr was 24 of 31 for 289 yards, including TD passes of 23 yards to Clive Walford and 25 yards to Michael Crabtree. The Raiders also turned two interceptions of Philip Rivers into 10 points and evened their record at 3-3. Oakland scored on its first seven drives and kept the 2-5 Chargers out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
β Jacksonville was a 34-31 winner over Buffalo in London as quarterback Blake Bortles threw the game-winning scoring pass to Allen Hurns with 2:16 remaining. The Bills fell behind 27-3 but took the lead in the fourth quarter with 18 straight points before Bortles connected on his pass with Hurns. T.J. Yeldon had 116 yards on 20 carries, including a 28-yard TD run for the 2-5 Jaguars. EJ Manuel was 24 of 42 for 300 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions as the Bills slipped to 3-4.
β The Dolphins are 2-0 since interim coach Dan Campbell replaced Joe Philbin, and 3-3 on the season after Miami built a 41-0 halftime lead in a 44-26 rout of Houston. Ryan Tannehill completed his first 18 passes while throwing for four scores in the game’s first 16 minutes. Campbell is now the fifth interim coach of 26 since 2000 to win his first two games.
OBIT-SAUNDERS
NBA coach has died
UNDATED (AP) β Longtime NBA head coach Flip Saunders has passed away at the age of 60. He was serving as coach, president and part owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves when he was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in June. Doctors called it “treatable and curable” when the Timberwolves made the diagnosis public in August.
Saunders took a leave of absence from the team in September after complications arose during his recovery.
Saunders went 654-592 in 17 NBA seasons with the Wolves, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.
Sam Mitchell has been named the team’s interim head coach. GM Milt Newton is heading the team’s personnel department.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-MIAMI-GOLDEN
Miami provides a Golden boot
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) β Miami has fired football coach Al Golden just a day after the worst loss in the program’s 90-year history.
Golden went 32-25 with the Hurricanes and 17-18 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. His entire stint was marred by an NCAA investigation and subsequent fallout caused by things that happened before he arrived in Coral Gables. His last game with Miami was a 58-0 loss to then-No. 6 Clemson.
T25-POLL
Bigger lead for OSU
UNDATED (AP) βTop-ranked Ohio State picked up an additional 11 first-place votes in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll following Utah’s first loss of the season. The 8-0 Buckeyes have been No. 1 all season but had been losing first-place votes in recent weeks. The latest pole has them with 39 first-place votes following a 49-7 rout of Rutgers.
Second-ranked Baylor picked up seven first-place votes, third-rated Clemson claimed 6 and No. 4 LSU received five.
TCU is fifth, followed by Michigan State, Alabama, Stanford, Notre Dame and Iowa.
Utah slid from third to 13th with its loss to Southern Cal. Florida State fell eight spots to 17th with its last-second loss to Georgia Tech.
T25-BAYLOR
Bears wait for word from the medical staff
WACO, Texas (AP) β Playoff hopeful Baylor is facing a potentially huge loss, with quarterback Seth Russell set to see a specialist for a fractured bone in his neck. The extent of Russell’s injury won’t be known until after that visit early this week, but the second-ranked and unbeaten Bears will almost certainly be without the top-rated FBS passer for at least some time.
After Russell got hurt in the Bears’ win over Iowa State on Saturday, coach Art Briles said he was concerned “about his health and then football.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-CENTRAL FLORIDA
O’Leary resigns
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) β George O’Leary has retired as the football coach at the University of Central Florida, effective immediately. It comes a day after the Knights dropped to 0-8 with a 59-10 loss to Houston, the worst home defeat in school history. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett has been named interim coach.
NASCAR
Madcap finish in Alabama
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) β In a wild ending, Joey Logano finished first at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR said earlier in the week it would make just one attempt to finish the race under green-flag conditions, and Logano was the leader on what was supposed to be the final restart. But a spin in traffic behind him before he took the green extended the caution and set up one more chance for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others.
Instead, reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick sputtered on the restart to trigger a multi-car accident. Logano did pass under the green flag, though, and NASCAR quickly threw the caution.
It denied Earnhardt a chance to race for the win, and he was eliminated from the Chase for the Cup playoffs. So was Denny Hamlin, who used Twitter to call the end of the race “complete crap” and apologize to anyone who “spent money coming to this circus.”
Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman also were eliminated from the Chase.
F1-U.S. GRAND PRIX
Another win for Hamilton
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) β Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won his second straight Formula 1 world driving championship. He achieved it by finishing first in the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Teammate Nico (NEE’-koh) Rosberg was second after starting from the pole, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third.
Hamilton overtook Rosberg when Rosberg locked his tires and helplessly watched his teammate zoom past with eight laps remaining.
Hamilton has now won the world title three times. The win in Austin was his third straight on the U.S. track.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Rangers whip Flames
UNDATED (AP) β The New York Rangers had plenty left in the tank on Sunday after losing in a shootout at Philadelphia the previous night.
Antti Raanta (AN’-tee RAHN’-tah) stopped 22 shots and the Rangers scored the last four goals in a 4-1 victory over Calgary. Raanta blanked the Flames after Jiri Hudler (HOOD’-lur) beat him 3:06 into the contest, but it remained 1-0 until Oscar Lindberg and Dan Girardi scored late in the second period.
Kevin Klein and Derick Brassard also scored as the Rangers improved to 6-2-2.
The Flames are off to a 1-5-1 start, the worst in the Western Conference just a year after they advanced to the second round.
Also on ice:
β Drew Stafford scored twice and Blake Wheeler had two assists in Winnipeg’s 5-4 triumph against Minnesota. The Jets scored five unanswered goals after Jason Zucker tallied 10 seconds into the game.
β The Kings beat Edmonton 3-2 on Tanner Pearson’s power-play goal with 3:26 remaining. Jonathan Quick stopped 26 shots to help Los Angeles win its fifth in a row since a season-opening three-game skid.
PGA-SHRINERS
Kaufman wins in Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) β Smylie Kaufman has earned a victory in just his fifth PGA start, taking the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Kaufman fired a final-round 10-under 61 before waiting more than two hours to see if anyone could catch him. He played the final 11 holes in 9 under with an eagle and seven birdies to finish minus-16 for the tournament.
Kevin Na, third-round leader Brett Stegmaier, Patton Kizzire, Cameron Tringale (trihn-GAH’-lee), Jason Bohn and Alex Cejka (CHAY’-kah) tied for second, one stroke back.
LPGA-TAIWAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Ko wins
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) β Lydia Ko ran away with the LPGA Taiwan Championship to regain the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. The 18-year-old New Zealander holed a 30-yard pitch for eagle on the par-5 12th and finished with a 7-under 65 for a nine-stroke victory. Two South Koreans tied for second.
At 18 years, 6 months, 1 day, Ko is the youngest player to win 10 events on any major tour.
