SAN DIEGO (AP) β The defending Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks suffered their first loss of the season as Philip Rivers completed 28 of 37 passes for 284 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in San Diego’s 30-21 victory over the Hawks. Rivers hit Antonio Gates for a pair of eight-yard touchdowns while the Chargers were scoring 17 straight points in the second quarter to take a 20-7 lead. Gates finished with three scoring grabs.
DENVER (AP) β Peyton Manning added three more touchdown passes to his career total, hitting Julius Thomas, Jacob Tamme (TAM’-ee) and Demaryius (deh-MAR’-ee-uhs) Thomas for scores in Denver’s 24-17 win over division rival Kansas City. The Chiefs led 10-7 until Manning threw two scoring strikes during a 6:10 span late in the third quarter. Manning was 21 of 26 for 242 yards and no interceptions for the 2-0 Broncos.
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) β Brad Keselowski has won the opening race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, a victory that automatically advances him into the second round. As Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick staged a hold-your-breath, side-by-side race for the lead following a restart with 19 laps remaining, Keselowski charged through the middle to grab control of the race. He easily pulled away from the field while Harvick and Larson had their hands full trying to hold off Jeff Gordon, who finished second.
MADRID (AP) β Kyrie Irving drained all six of his three-pointers and scored 26 points as the U.S. repeated as world champion for the first time by crushing Serbia 129-92 in the Basketball World Cup. James Harden added 23 for the Americans, who made 11 of 16 3-pointers in a sensational-shooting first half. The Americans have won 63 straight games and are automatically qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
ATLANTA (AP) β Billy Horschel capped off the best three weeks of his career by winning the FedEx Cup and a $10 million bonus. He closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot victory over Jim Furyk (FYOOR’-ihk) and Rory McIlroy in the Tour Championship and the biggest Sunday payoff in golf. Horschel’s career earnings were $4.5 million coming into the year.
