December 26, 2021 1:45 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was brutally honest about his decision to trade disgruntled linebacker Melvin Ingram to the Chiefs, saying “we prefer volunteers as opposed to hostages” in the Pittsburgh locker room. Well, perhaps Tomlin should have weighed Kansas City’s circumstances at least a little bit. Ingram’s trade last month for a sixth-round draft pick resulted in an about-face for the Chiefs defense, which had been historically awful through the first six weeks. The Chiefs ended their failed experiment of moving Chris Jones to end, putting him back at tackle, and that changed the entire complexion of their defense. It has been downright dominant the past six weeks, helping the first-place Chiefs (10-4) carry a seven-game win streak into their important game against — you guessed it — the Steelers on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
December 26, 2021 7:43 am
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Rasul Douglas and the Green Bay Packers’ pass defense didn’t let the Cleveland Browns spoil Aaron Rodgers’ milestone day. Rodgers surpassed Brett Favre to become Green Bay’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, and the Packers intercepted Baker Mayfield four times in a 24-22 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Cleveland nearly came all the way back from a 12-point second-half deficit before Douglas’ second interception of the day sealed the game with 43 seconds left. Rodgers went 24 of 34 for 202 yards with three touchdown passes to increase his career total to 445. Favre threw 508 touchdown passes during his Hall of Fame career, 442 of them with Green Bay. But it was Green Bay’s defense that clinched this victory by sacking Mayfield five times and forcing him into his first career four-interception performance. All three touchdowns by the Packers (12-3) came after Mayfield interceptions.
December 26, 2021 7:41 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts have beaten some teams with Jonathan Taylor’s legs, some with Carson Wentz’s arm and a few with stellar defense. They added another formula for a victory Saturday night: sheer grit. Wentz threw two touchdown passes, Taylor ran for 108 yards and the banged-up Colts continued their late-season surge with a hard-earned 22-16 win over the fading Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. The Colts (9-6) have won three straight and six of seven. They got the road win despite missing 2020 All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard — who was put on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier Saturday — and four starting offensive linemen. Wentz made the game’s biggest play midway through the fourth quarter, when he bounced around in the pocket for a few seconds before hitting Dezmon Patmon for a 14-yard touchdown on a perfectly placed ball in the back of the end zone. That gave the Colts a 22-13 lead. The Cardinals (10-5) failed to clinch a playoff spot for a third straight week and are 3-5 since starting the season 7-0. Kyler Murray threw for 245 yards and a touchdown while also running for 74 yards. Arizona’s Matt Prater missed two field goals, including a potential go-ahead try early in the fourth quarter, and an extra point.
December 26, 2021 1:47 am
The NHL pushed back its return from an already extended holiday break an extra day by postponing its entire 14-game Monday schedule for COVID-19 testing reasons. The league said Friday it now plans to resume play Tuesday in a decision that increases the total of postponed games to 64 this season. Teams are still scheduled to resume practicing Sunday, but won’t be allowed to take the ice until players, coaches and traveling officials are cleared following a round of COVID-19 tests. The decision to delay the resumption of play will allow what the NHL called “an adequate opportunity to analyze league-wide testing results and to assess clubs’ readiness to play.” The NHL said it will provide further updates on its return to play plans Sunday. The move comes after the NHL opened its annual holiday break on Wednesday, two days earlier than scheduled, because of a significant jump in players landing in the league’s COVID-19 protocols, and with 10 teams’ schedules paused. The sudden rash of postponed games also led the NHL to exercise its right to withdraw from participating in the Winter Olympics in February. The league will instead use its previously scheduled Olympic break, which runs from Feb. 6-22, to make up its postponed games in order to complete an 82-game season.
December 24, 2021 3:50 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Tennessee Titans are on the verge of claiming their second straight AFC South title. The Titans are 10-5 after Randy Bullock hit a 44-yard field goal with four seconds remaining in the Titans’ 20-17 comeback win over the 49ers. Ryan Tannehill threw for just 40 yards in the first half but finished with 209 yards and a TD for Tennessee. A.J. Brown caught 11 passes for 145 yards hours after being activated off injured reserve, and his 18-yard TD catch gave Tennessee a 17-10 lead early in the fourth. The Titans are a win or a Colts’ loss away from clinching their division. San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo tied it with a 2-yard TD pass to Brandon Aiyuk with 2:20 left. The Niners led 10-0 before falling to 8-7 with their second loss in seven games.
December 24, 2021 3:48 am
HONOLULU (AP) – The Hawaii Bowl was canceled Thursday after Hawaii withdrew from its game against Memphis on the eve of the contest because of COVID-19, season-ending injuries and transfers. The game was scheduled for Friday at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Hawaii finished the season 6-7, getting into the bowl because there were no available 6-6 teams. Memphis finished 6-6.
December 23, 2021 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping quicker starts on offense will take some of the pressure off their sagging defense. The Steelers haven’t scored a first-half touchdown in four straight games. That’s the first time that’s happened in more than a quarter century. Pittsburgh has managed to win two of those games thanks to fourth-quarter rallies. Coach Mike Tomlin admires his team’s resilience but says the Steelers need to score more points overall and can’t play catch-up every game. Pittsburgh faces a stiff test next weekend at red-hot Kansas City.
December 23, 2021 3:48 am
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) – The AFC North has become the NFL’s perfect storm of parity. The co-leaders – Baltimore and Cincinnati – are just a game ahead of last-place Cleveland. Sandwiched between in third place are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who would be part of that first-place deadlock if not for a tie against what was then a winless Detroit team. Each team will play two of its last three games within the division. And the four remaining non-divisional matchups are awfully compelling: Browns-Packers and Steelers-Chiefs this week, followed by Bengals-Chiefs and Ravens-Rams on Jan. 2.
December 23, 2021 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – If a team is unavailable to play in College Football Playoff semifinals because of COVID-19 issues, the game will be declared a forfeit and the available team will advance to the championship game. With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country due to the omicron variant, the CFP announced contingency plans for the semifinals and national championship game, scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis. While there will be no rescheduling of either semifinal, the championship game could be delayed until as late as Jan. 14. Meanwhile, No. 23 Texas A&M won’t play in the Gator Bowl against Wake Forest on Dec. 31 because of COVID-19 issues and season-ending injuries. The team did not provide any details on the COVID-19 issues or injuries on the team.
December 22, 2021 10:55 am
The NHL has announced that players won’t be able to participate in the Beijing Olympics. The move that seemed inevitable in recent days means the league will spend the previously scheduled Olympic break making up games that have and will be postponed because of COVID-19 protocols. International officials and national federations must now pivot to Plan B without NHL talent. This will be the second consecutive Olympic men’s hockey tournament without NHL players. Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said the league and players are looking forward to the Olympics in 2026.
