January 5, 2024 4:36 am
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. Although the matchup doesn’t mean much for Baltimore’s postseason seeding, it’s huge for Pittsburgh. The Steelers can clinch a postseason berth with a victory and a loss by either Buffalo or Jacksonville. There is a scenario in which Pittsburgh could get in with a loss, but that requires help from multiple teams. Baltimore has already wrapped up the top seed in the AFC. MVP favorite Lamar Jackson isn’t playing in this game.
January 4, 2024 2:53 am
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Ravens coach John Harbaugh says Lamar Jackson will not play in Baltimore’s regular-season finale against the Steelers this weekend. Harbaugh said Tyler Huntley will start for the Ravens. The team has already clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs. Josh Johnson will be Huntley’s backup. The announcement was no surprise now that Baltimore has wrapped up a first-round bye in the postseason. Jackson missed the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but has started all 16 games so far this season. Huntley has started eight games in his pro career.
January 4, 2024 4:35 am
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill and his family are safe after fire rescue crews responded to a large fire at his South Florida home Wednesday afternoon. The house, which is located in Southwest Ranches about 30 miles northwest of Miami, was shown Wednesday afternoon on local station WSVN 7 News with a large amount of black smoke coming out of the roof as firefighters doused it with water. No injuries have been reported. Hill had been at Dolphins practice as Miami prepares for its regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, but he left after being told about the fire.
January 4, 2024 4:33 am
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican prosecutors have accused Wander Franco of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering following allegations that the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop had a relationship with a minor whose mother also faces the same charges. Prosecutors on Wednesday requested that a judge hold Franco on an $86,000 bond, bar him from leaving the Dominican Republic and place him under house arrest. They noted that the money laundering charges stems from allegations that Franco made payments to the minor’s mother. The judge is scheduled to analyze the evidence that was collected during a months-long investigation and issue a ruling on Friday. Franco remains in jail for now.
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.
