September 19, 2025 4:24 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles are defending their controversial tush push play amid criticism from people around the NFL. The Eagles used the play seven times in their win over the Kansas City Chiefs. That led to a new round of criticism, largely because officials struggle to catch false starts and the Eagles are seemingly getting away with offensive linemen moving early. Philadelphia hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in a rematch of last season’s playoffs. Both teams are 2-0. Rams coach Sean McVay says he’s had conversations with the league office to understand how the tush push is officiated.
September 18, 2025 2:07 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ian Happ homered and drove in three runs, and the Chicago Cubs clinched their first postseason berth since 2020 with an 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Chicago has won four in a row and seven of eight overall. It leads the NL wild-card standings with an 88-64 record. Nico Hoerner had two hits and scored three times for the Cubs. Justin Turner hit a pair of RBI singles after entering in the sixth. The Cubs grabbed control with three runs in the sixth, helped by errors on Pirates reliever Yohan Ramírez and catcher Joey Bart. Aaron Civale pitched three scoreless innings for the win.
September 18, 2025 4:24 am
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a concussion. Coach Aaron Glenn announced the decision Wednesday. Fields remains in the concussion protocol after being injured in the Jets’ loss to Buffalo last Sunday. He fell backward when he was sacked by Joey Bosa and the back of his helmet hit off the turf. Tyrod Taylor will start in Fields’ place. The 36-year-old Taylor last started for the Giants in 2023. He missed the Jets’ preseason games due to a knee injury. Glenn isn’t concerned about Taylor being behind in any way. Taylor has 58 career NFL starts.
September 16, 2025 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Busch hit a leadoff home run against Paul Skenes, and the Chicago Cubs moved closer to a playoff berth with a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs reduced their magic number to one for securing their first postseason berth in five years. Skenes, a heavy favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award, struggled. The right-hander gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings and fell to 10-10 on the season. Cubs rookie Cade Horton allowed one run over five innings to move to 11-4. He is 8-1 since the All-Star break.
September 17, 2025 4:24 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kaleb Johnson’s mistake in Pittsburgh’s loss to Seattle has cost him his role as kick returner. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says Johnson is off special teams in the “short term” following a pivotal miscue against the Seahawks when Johnson failed to chase after a live ball, leading directly to a Seattle touchdown. Tomlin believes in Johnson’s talent and plans to give him a chance to recover from the error. Johnson, a third-round pick, was averaging 23.9 yards per return before the incident. Pittsburgh faces challenges with injuries in their defense as they prepare to play New England next week.
September 17, 2025 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll finds sports fans are likelier to use a combination of streaming services and traditional TV options to access their favorite teams. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows this complicated and often expensive patchwork is common for many sports fans and leaves them beholden to multiple platforms and subscriptions if they want to keep up with their teams. About 4 in 10 people who follow sports “extremely” or “very” closely use both cable and satellite TV and a sports streaming platform. That’s compared with about 2 in 10 people who follow sports “somewhat” closely.
September 16, 2025 4:26 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jameson Taillon allowed two hits in six innings, and Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong homered as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 and got closer to clinching a postseason berth. Chicago (86-64) opened a four-game lead over San Diego for the top NL wild card and trails NL Central-leading Milwaukee by five games with 12 games remaining. The Cubs won for the fifth time in six games and sent the Pirates to their ninth loss in 10 games..
September 16, 2025 4:22 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have clinched their second consecutive NL East title with a 6-5 victory in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Dodgers. This marks the earliest division clinch in franchise history, happening two days sooner than the 2011 team. The Phillies also secured a 90-win season for the third consecutive year. On Monday night, they overcame the Dodgers for their ninth win in 11 games. Despite injuries to key players like Zack Wheeler, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm, the Phillies ran away from the second-place New York Mets down the stretch and became the first division champion in the majors this season.
September 16, 2025 4:27 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Justin Herbert passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Chargers to a 20-9 victory over the Raiders. This win gave Los Angeles coach Jim Harbaugh a victory over rival Las Vegas coach Pete Carroll, who turned 74 on Monday. The Chargers lost defensive end Khalil Mack to a left elbow injury in the first quarter. Herbert also led the Chargers in rushing with 31 yards. The Chargers’ defense held the Raiders to 218 yards. Geno Smith threw three interceptions for the Raiders. This win put the Chargers atop the AFC West with a 2-0 record.
September 16, 2025 4:28 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Baker Mayfield led an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by Rachaad White’s 2-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rallied past the Houston Texans 20-19. Mayfield threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs, and his 15-yard scramble on fourth-and-10 kept the game-winning drive going. The Texans took a 19-14 lead on a 25-yard TD run by Nick Chubb with 2:10 left. Houston went for 2 but C.J. Stroud was sacked. The Bucs improved to 2-0 while the Texans fell to 0-2. Stroud threw for 207 yards and a touchdown.
