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.
December 22, 2021 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Jalen Hurts ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to help the Philadelphia Eagles come back from an early deficit and beat virus-ravaged Washington 27-17 in a critical showdown with NFC playoff implications. In his first game back from an ankle injury, Hurts scored on a pair of 1-yard QB sneaks to set the single-season franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 10. He was 20 of 26 for 296 yards passing with a touchdown pass to Greg Ward and a bad-luck interception. Miles Sanders rushed for a career-high 131 yards. Washington struggled behind recently signed quarterback Garrett Gilbert and missing a handful of starters.
December 22, 2021 3:54 am
Cooper Kupp caught two touchdown passes from Matthew Stafford in the second half, and the Los Angeles Rams held off the Seattle Seahawks 20-10 in a rescheduled game between two COVID-19-depleted teams. Kupp broke Isaac Bruce’s single-season Rams receptions record in the third quarter with a 6-yard TD catch that was also the 120th of his spectacular year. The NFL’s receiving leader then scored a tiebreaking 29-yard touchdown with 10:48 to play. DeeJay Dallas rushed for a touchdown for the Seahawks, whose streak of nine consecutive winning seasons under coach Pete Carroll ended. Seattle is still mathematically alive for the postseason.
December 22, 2021 4:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – Lucas Johnson passed for a career-best 333 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score as San Diego State beat No. 24 UTSA 38-24 in the Frisco Bowl for the Aztecs’ program-record 12th win of the season. Jesse Matthews caught touchdown passes of 11 and 20 yards and set career marks with 11 catches and 175 yards receiving. Tyrell Shavers caught the other touchdown pass, a 24-yarder. Greg Bell also scored on a 1-yard run for San Diego State. Frank Harris threw touchdown passes of 12 yards to De’Corian Clark and 4 yards to Zakhari Franklin, and Brenden Brady scored on a 2-yard run for UTSA.
December 22, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) – NHL players will not take part in the Winter Olympics after all. A person with direct knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press the league is going to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics after its regular-season schedule was disrupted by coronavirus outbreaks.
December 21, 2021 4:03 am
Kirk Cousins passed for two touchdowns and the Vikings evened their record at 7-7 with a 17-9 victory over the Bears. The two-time Pro Bowler also connected with Justin Jefferson for a 12-yard touchdown in the first quarter and threw a 7-yarder to Ihmir Smith-Marsette in the third. However, Cousins threw for just 87 yards, was picked off once and sacked four times. Dalvin Cook ran for 89 yards D.J. Wonnum had three sacks and the Vikings recovered three fumbles. Minnesota was in line for its easiest win of the season until Justin Fields threw a touchdown pass to Jesper Horsted on the final play. The Bears are 4-10.
December 21, 2021 4:01 am
UNDATED (AP) – Daniel Carlson’s 48-yard field goal as time expired sent the Las Vegas Raiders to a 16-14 win on Monday night over the COVID-19-depleted Cleveland Browns in a game pushed back two days by the NFL amid an uptick of virus cases across the league. Down by a point, quarterback Derek Carr patiently drove the 7-7 Raiders into Cleveland territory in the final two minutes. Then Carlson shrugged off being iced by the Browns to boot his winner, keeping Las Vegas in the playoff mix. The Raiders, who weren’t happy when the league delayed their visit, danced off their sideline when the kick went through. The loss was devastating for the 7-7 Browns, who would have vaulted into first place in the AFC North with a win. Instead, they fell into last place in the tightly packed division with three games remaining. Due to a virus outbreak, the Browns were without quarterback Baker Mayfield, coach Kevin Stefanski and several other prominent players.
December 21, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NHL is putting all teams on pause from Wednesday through Saturday. The move postpones five additional games scheduled for Thursday to make it a total of 49 this season. An increase of positive COVID-19 test results among players around the league led to 10 teams closing practice facilities. An early start to the Christmas break also comes with teams being allowed to gather Sunday for testing and other activities. The season is set to resume with games next Monday.
December 21, 2021 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers keep finding ugly ways to win. Their 19-13 victory over Tennessee kept the Steelers in the AFC North mix even though they managed just 168 yards of offense. Pittsburgh improved to 7-6-1 by forcing the Titans into four turnovers and getting a fourth-down stop in the final minute. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin says his team is still dealing with a lot of “issues” they need to work on. The Steelers travel to red-hot Kansas City next week.
December 20, 2021 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger ran for his first touchdown in three years, Chris Boswell kicked four field goals and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 19-13 win over Tennessee. The Steelers forced the Titans into four turnovers and needed every single one of them to win for the second time in three games. Despite the miscues, Tennessee drove deep into Pittsburgh territory in the final moments but wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was tackled inches short of the first down at the Steelers 11 with 27 seconds to go.
