January 25, 2022 3:55 am
UNDATED (AP) – Locked-out Major League Baseball players removed the first of three major obstacles to a labor contract, withdrawing their proposal for more liberalized free agency when the sides met face-to-face for the first time since the management lockout began Dec. 1. The union also modified its revenue-sharing proposal, asking the amount shifted from big markets to smaller ones be cut by what it said was $30 million, a figure management disputed. Another meeting in the contentious talks is scheduled Tuesday, the first consecutive sessions since the bargaining collapse last fall that led to baseball’s ninth work stoppage, its first since 1995.
January 25, 2022 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – Pittsburgh Penguins forward Teddy Blueger will miss 6-to-8 weeks after having surgery to repair a fractured jaw. Blueger was injured when Winnipeg’s Brenden Dillon hit him into the glass on Sunday in the first period of Pittsburgh’s victory over the Jets. The 27-year-old Blueger has eight goals and nine assists in 40 games this season. He has been an important part of Pittsburgh’s NHL-best penalty-killing unit and centers the Penguins’ fourth line.
January 24, 2022 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce in the corner of the end zone early in overtime to give the Chiefs a 42-36 triumph over the Bills. The lead changed hands three times in the final two minutes of regulation before Harrison Butker drilled a 49-yarder for Kansas City as time expired to force overtime. Mahomes finished with 378 yards passing and three touchdowns, including a 64-yarder to Tyreek Hill during the thrilling final minutes of regulation. It’s the second straight year the Bills’ season has ended in Kansas City. Josh Allen did everything in his power to prevent it by throwing two scoring strikes to Gabriel Davis in the last 1:54 of regulation. His last TD toss came with 13 seconds to play, just enough time for Mahomes to engineer the game-tying drive. Allen finished with 329 yards passing, and Davis with eight catches for 201 yards.
Meanwhile, Matt Gay drilled a 30-yard kick to bail out the Los Angeles Rams in a 30-27 win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady and the Bucs’ defense had engineered a comeback from a 27-3 deficit before Matthew Stafford connected on completions of 20 and 44 yards to Cooper Kupp, setting up the winning kick and putting the Rams in the NFC championship game against the visiting 49ers. Stafford coasted for three quarters, ran for a short TD and finished with 366 yards passing and two touchdowns. His primary target was Kupp, who had nine catches for 183 yards and a score. Brady took advantage of three Rams turnovers to rally the Bucs, whose offense was stagnant over the first 40 minutes. He was 30 of 54 for 329 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Leonard Fournette had a pair of rushing TDs for the defending Super Bowl champs. The question now is whether this was Brady’s final game. The seven-time Super Bowl is signed through next season and said in September he expected to play out the contract. But he has indicated several times since then that returning will be a family decision.
It will be the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game next Sunday.
January 24, 2022 2:37 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kasperi Kapanen and Jeff Carter scored nine seconds apart in the third period to erase a two-goal deficit and Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied by road-weary Winnipeg 3-2. The Penguins trailed for more than 40 minutes after falling behind early in the first but recovered late to extend their winning streak to five. All-Star Tristan Jarry made 27 saves for the Penguins. Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who finished 3-3-2 during an eight-game, three-week road trip.
January 23, 2022 6:49 pm
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Stafford threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Los Angeles Rams to a 30-27 divisional playoff victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady rallied the Bucs from a 27-3 second-half deficit with help from three Los Angeles turnovers, tying the game with Leonard Fournette’s 9-yard run on fourth-and-inches with 42 seconds remaining. Stafford led the Rams downfield after the ensuing kickoff, using completions of 20 and 44 yards to league receiving leader Cooper Kupp to set up Gay’s winning field goal. The Rams advance to next week’s NFC championship game against the 49ers
January 23, 2022 1:29 am
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Robbie Gould continued his playoff perfection and moved the San Francisco 49ers one step away from their second Super Bowl appearance in three seasons. Gould kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired on a field littered with snow flurries to give the 49ers a 13-10 victory over the top-seeded Green Bay Packers in an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday night. The 49ers (12-7) continued their postseason hex on Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and advanced to an NFC championship game matchup Jan. 30 on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (14-4) or Los Angeles Rams (13-5).
January 23, 2022 1:58 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals just keep ending postseason droughts. Their latest victory has them in their first AFC championship game in 33 years. Rookie Evan McPherson kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired as the fourth-seeded Bengals beat the top-seeded Tennessee Titans 19-16 Saturday to end the NFL’s longest active road playoff skid. A week after ending a 31-year playoff victory drought, the Bengals finally won their first road game in the postseason after losing their first seven. The Bengals intercepted Ryan Tannehill three times. The Titans tied an NFL postseason record with nine sacks. Joe Burrow threw for 348 yards in the win.
January 23, 2022 1:55 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler has retired. The 65-year-old Butler made the announcement less than a week after his 19th season with the Steelers ended in a playoff loss to Kansas City. Butler helped the Steelers win two Super Bowls and reach another while working as the linebackers coach. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2015 and put together a unit that’s led the NFL in sacks each of the past five seasons. Pittsburgh’s defense struggled as a whole, however in 2021. The Steelers finished 24th in yards allowed and were last against the run.
January 22, 2022 3:58 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Frank Cignetti is back for a third coaching stint at Pittsburgh. The Panthers have hired Cignetti as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Cignetti replaces Mark Whipple, who left to take the same position at Nebraska. Cignetti broke into coaching at Pitt in 1989 as a graduate assistant. He also spent two years as the offensive coordinator under former Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt in 2009-10. Cignetti spent the last two seasons calling plays at Boston College.
January 22, 2022 3:57 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Sidney Crosby notched his 15th career hat trick and added an assist to lead Pittsburgh over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 for the Penguins’s fourth straight win. Brian Dumoulin had a goal and two assists, Mike Matheson added a goal and an assist, and Bryan Rust had two assists for Pittsburgh, which has won 15 of its last 17 games. Gus Nyquist and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five home games. Casey DeSmith stopped 10 shots in the first period before being pulled and replaced in the second by Tristan Jarry, who stopped all 15 shots he faced. Joonas Korpisalo saved 26 shots in the loss.
