January 3, 2024 4:37 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett says the coaching staff felt he wasn’t ready to play against Seattle, which is why he was inactive during Pittsburgh’s 30-23 win over the Seahawks. The second-year pro, who had right ankle surgery a month ago, denied online speculation that he told the coaching staff he didn’t want to suit up as a backup behind Mason Rudolph. Pickett, who is recovering from right ankle surgery in early December, is expected to be the primary backup behind Rudolph when Pittsburgh visits Baltimore in the regular-season finale.
January 3, 2024 4:39 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal during Washington’s fast start, and the Capitals beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Ovechkin and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the regular season. Crosby finished with a goal and an assist, but Washington held on after racing out to a 4-0 lead. It was the 10th time that Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game, and first since a Capitals win on Nov. 7, 2018. Martin Fehervary, Tom Wilson and Beck Malenstyn also scored for Washington, which had dropped four in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves.
January 3, 2024 4:41 am
The NFL has fined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for tossing a drink at fans in Jacksonville toward the end of a game on Sunday. The league called Tepper’s conduct “unacceptable” in a statement released Tuesday. Tepper’s reaction came after rookie quarterback Bryce Young threw an interception with less than three minutes to play in a 26-0 loss to the Jaguars. It wasn’t clear whether Tepper was reacting to something said to him or another loss for the NFL’s worst team. The Panthers are 2-14 and won’t even have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft because it was traded to Chicago for the top pick used to select Young.
January 2, 2024 6:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are sticking with Mason Rudolph ahead of their pivotal regular-season finale against Baltimore. Coach Mike Tomlin says Rudolph will make a third straight start for the Steelers even with Kenny Pickett expected to be available after recovering from right ankle surgery. Rudolph has been spectacular at times while throwing for 567 yards and two touchdowns over the past two weeks to help Pittsburgh keep its playoff chances alive. The Steelers have multiple ways to reach the playoffs, most of them predicated on first beating the Ravens. Pittsburgh rallied past Baltimore for a 17-10 win in the team’s first meeting of the season on Oct. 8.
January 2, 2024 4:41 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Michael Penix Jr. passed for 430 yards and two touchdowns as No. 2 Washington beat No. 3 Texas 37-31 in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game, earning the beleaguered Pac-12 one more game this season. The unbeaten Huskies will face No. 1 Michigan next Monday night in Houston, looking for their first national championship since 1991 and the Pac-12’s first since Southern California in 2004. Washington is one of 10 schools fleeing the Pac-12 for other Power Five conferences next year, with the Huskies headed to join Michigan in the Big Ten.
January 2, 2024 4:39 am
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Blake Corum rushed for a 17-yard touchdown on the second snap of overtime, and top-seeded Michigan advanced to its first College Football Playoff championship game with a 27-20 victory over fourth-seeded Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Michigan’s defense ended only the second overtime game in the 110 editions of the Rose Bowl when Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was emphatically stopped when he attempted to sneak up the middle on fourth down from the Michigan 3. Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines will play for their school’s first national title since 1997 against Washington on Jan. 8 in Houston.
January 2, 2024 4:43 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Bo Nix threw for 363 yards and five touchdowns to cap a recording-breaking career, and No. 8 Oregon closed out a season that started with national title expectations by rolling over No. 18 Liberty 45-6 in the Fiesta Bowl. Nix played like a Heisman Trophy finalist after opting to join his teammates on the field one last time, throwing for 257 yards and four touchdowns as the Ducks built a 31-6 halftime lead. Nix finished 28 of 35 in just over three quarters and completed 77.44% of his passes this season, breaking the NCAA record of 77.36% set by Alabama’s Mac Jones in 2020. Tez Johnson had 11 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown, part of a 584-yard afternoon by the Ducks.
January 2, 2024 4:46 am
SEATTLE (AP) — Joey Daccord made 35 saves in his second career shutout, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in the NHL Winter Classic. A crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park watched the Kraken dominate the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a matchup of the league’s last two expansion franchises. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games and continued its climb back into playoff contention after a disappointing start to the season. Daccord posted the first shutout in a Winter Classic and fifth shutout overall in the NHL’s 39 outdoor games since 2003.
January 1, 2024 3:46 am
SEATTLE (AP) — Najee Harris rushed for a season-high 122 yards and bullied his way into the end zone for a pair of touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive into Week 18 with a 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Using a punishing running attack that faced little resistance from Seattle, the Steelers pushed their way into the final week of the regular season with a chance at the postseason and ensured that Mike Tomlin’s team would yet again avoid a losing record. Pittsburgh thrived against Seattle’s run defense that has been awful for more than half the season and finished with 202 yards rushing and a season-high 468 total yards.
January 1, 2024 3:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alex Nedeljkovic made 37 saves, Lars Eller scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the New York Islanders 3-1 on Sunday night. Nedeljkovic was spectacular at times to help the Penguins win for the fifth time in six games following a blowout loss to Toronto on Dec. 16. Eller scored early in the first period and added an empty-netter in the final minute as Pittsburgh beat the Islanders for the second time in five days. Noel Acciari added third of the season for Pittsburgh. Samuel Bolduc drew the Islanders within one with 6:09 left. Pittsburgh has at least a point in each of its last six games and is 7-1-1 over its last nine to climb into wild-card contention.
