December 28, 2023 4:58 am
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are benching quarterback Russell Wilson for their game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Wilson will serve as a backup to Jarrett Stidham. Coach Sean Payton said he made the move because the offense needs a spark. Payton has been vocal about his displeasure over the team’s offensive struggles and two weeks ago had a sideline blowup directed at Wilson. The Broncos could move on from Wilson in the offseason, but it would be costly as they’d have $85 million in dead cap money over the next two years.
December 28, 2023 4:57 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have finalized their 12-year deal with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They’ve teamed the prized free-agent right-hander with Shohei Ohtani in their prolific winter spending spree. The 25-year-old Yamamoto was coveted by teams across the majors after he elected to leave the Orix Buffaloes this offseason. The big-budget Dodgers landed him with a mammoth deal after already acquiring Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow this month. Yamamoto has posted spectacular numbers in Japan’s top league in recent years, winning three straight Most Valuable Player awards in the Nippon Pacific League.
December 27, 2023 2:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mason Rudolph’s dynamic play against Cincinnati helped keep the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season alive. The longtime backup quarterback could get a chance to do it again when the Steelers visit Seattle on New Year’s Eve. Coach Mike Tomlin says Rudolph will “have the ball” to begin the week and will get the nod against the Seahawks if starter Kenny Pickett’s surgically repaired right ankle is not ready in time. Rudolph threw for 290 yards and two long touchdowns to George Pickens in a win over the Bengals that moved Pittsburgh to 8-7 and kept its faint playoff hopes afloat.
December 27, 2023 4:32 am
PHOENIX (AP) — Jason Bean threw for 449 yards and all six of his touchdown passes to two receivers, and penalty-plagued Kansas outlasted UNLV 49-36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Jayhawks were flagged 18 times for 210 yards, including four personal fouls. They made up for it with an explosive offense that produced 591 total yards at Chase Field, home of baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Luke Grimm had four catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Lawrence Arnold added six catches for 132 yards and three more scores. UNLV’s Jayden Maiava threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
December 27, 2023 4:35 am
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sports betting has spread rapidly across U.S. states in the past five years. But the odds for further expansion may be fading as state legislatures prepare to return to work in 2024. A 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court opened the way for states to legalize sports betting. Since then, a total of 38 have done so. But proposals in some other states have become bogged down by political resistance and competing financial interests from casinos, tribal gaming groups, horse tracks and other gambling operations. California and Texas — the two most populous states — are among the dozen where sports betting still is illegal.
December 26, 2023 4:34 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes in a span of 18 seconds in the third quarter and the Baltimore Ravens intercepted Brock Purdy four times in a 33-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Jackson and the Ravens turned a highly anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the NFL into a lopsided win thanks to strong performances on both sides of the ball. Kyle Hamilton and the defense set the tone early by intercepting Purdy on three of the first four drives of the game for the 49ers before Jackson started to take the game over.
December 26, 2023 4:31 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts scored on the “tush push” that gave him the NFL record for most rushing scores by a quarterback in a season, threw for a touchdown, and the Philadelphia Eagles maintained control of their NFC East title hopes with a 33-25 win over the New York Giants. The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak. The losses to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle essentially ended Philadelphia’s bid for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Eagles need to win their final two games against Arizona and a rematch against the Giants to clinch the NFC East.
December 26, 2023 4:34 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Las Vegas got a pair of defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, and the resurgent Raiders held off the sloppy Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 on Monday to keep their postseason hopes alive. Bilal Nichols returned a fumble 8 yards for a touchdown, and Jack Jones took an interception 33 yards for another score a mere 7 seconds later, helping the Raiders snap a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs. Kansas City wasted a chance to clinch its eighth consecutive AFC West title while dealing a crippling blow to its chances of earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
December 26, 2023 4:36 am
Florida Atlantic jumped seven places to No. 7 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll following a double-overtime win over No. 4 Arizona. It’s the Owls’ highest ranking ever after being No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25. They made a surprising run to the Final Four last season and returned nearly everyone from that team. Purdue remained at No. 1 for the second straight week, with Kansas, Houston, Arizona and UConn rounding out the top five.
December 25, 2023 7:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mason Rudolph and George Pickens connected for two long touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 34-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Rudolph threw for 290 yards while starting in place of the injured Kenny Pickett and the ineffective Mitch Trubisky. Pickens finished with four receptions for 195 yards as the Steelers snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 8-7. Jake Browning passed for 335 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted three times as the Bengals fell to 8-7.
