September 29, 2019 7:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Less than an hour before Pittsburgh kicked off against Delaware at Heinz Field on Saturday, coach Pat Narduzzi still wasn’t sure who his starting quarterback would be. Regular starter Kenny Pickett had suffered a shoulder injury the week before against UCF and though he returned to star in that upset, he didn’t practice much in the week leading up to the meeting with the Blue Hens. When the final decision was made, Pickett was out and redshirt freshman Nick Patti was in. With Pickett and more than a half-dozen other starters on the sidelines with injuries, the Panthers were in for an unexpectedly close battle with the Blue Hens. Trailing in the fourth quarter, Patti directed an eight-play, 90-yard drive, finding Taysir Mack in the end zone from 12 yards out to put Pitt in the lead for good for a closer-than-expected 17-14 victory. Patti and Mack utilized a connection built during the week of practice to hook up five times for 124 yards, including a crucial 48-yard completion on a third-and-17 to keep that scoring drive moving. Patti finished 23 of 37 for 271 yards and two touchdowns while making his first career start, but a poor decision on a first-half interception let the Blue Hens into the game. After a Patti was picked off on a pass thrown right to Blue Hens defensive back Tim Poindexter, Nolan Henderson passed 7 yards to Gene Coleman II to tie the game. When Pitt receiver Maurice Ffrench fumbled in the third quarter to give Delaware another short field, Henderson hit Jourdan Townsend with a 5-yard score to give the Blue Hens a four-point lead. That’s when Pitt’s offense found a much-needed spark in the fourth quarter to turn the tide of the game.
September 28, 2019 3:58 am
(AP) – Antonio Brown has indicated he’s not retiring from the NFL.
That comes only a few days after announcing he was done with the league in a Twitter rant. The four-time All-Pro wide receiver wrote: “I’m still the best why stop now.” Brown has been accused of sexual misconduct by two women. He was released by the Patriots last week after playing only one game. Brown has been dumped by three teams in the last six months.
Brown says he’ll practice at high schools one day a week, starting in Miami.
September 27, 2019 3:54 am
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The Philadelphia Eagles are a .500 team at the one-quarter mark of their NFL schedule after handing the Green Bay Packers their first loss of the season. Nigel Bradham picked off Aaron Rodgers’ pass in the end zone with 20 seconds left to secure the Eagles’ 34-27 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field. Jordan Howard gashed Green Bay for his second career three-touchdown game as Philadelphia ended a two-game skid. Howard finished with 15 carries for 87 yards with two touchdowns rushing and one receiving. Carson Wentz went 16 for 27 for 160 yards, three scores and no turnovers in helping the 2-2 Eagles drop the Packers to 3-1. Rodgers completed his first 10 passes and finished 34 for 53 for 422 yards, two touchdowns and a fumble that set up a short Philadelphia scoring drive. Davante Adams had a career-high 180 yards on 10 catches before a toe injury kept him off the field for Green Bay’s final drive.
September 27, 2019 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals say they’re more focused on picking up their first win of the season instead of any lingering bad blood between the clubs. Both teams are 0-3 heading into Monday night’s game in Pittsburgh. The series between the AFC North rivals has been marked by some questionable hits over the past few seasons, though most of the faces involved have moved on. Pittsburgh has dominated the Bengals in recent years, winning eight straight over Cincinnati.
September 26, 2019 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Calgary Flames have signed forward Matthew Tkachuk to a three-year, $21 million deal that makes him the team’s highest-paid player this season. Tkachuk was a restricted free agent and will arrive at camp before the Flames’ season opener on October 3rd against the Avalanche. Tkachuk had career highs with 34 goals, 43 assists and 77 points in 80 games last season.
September 24, 2019 3:44 am
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) – Mitchell Trubisky threw his first three touchdown passes of the season, all to Taylor Gabriel in the second quarter, to finally get the Chicago Bears’ offense going and build a big lead that held up to beat the Washington Redskins 31-15 on Monday night. Trubisky lit up a porous Redskins defense on 25 of 31 passing for 231 yards in the offensive explosion he predicted would come this week. Chicago (2-1) had just a 1-yard touchdown run to show for its first two games before Trubisky and the passing attack broke out against Washington (0-3). The 2017 second overall pick who entered the night with a completion percentage of 58.3 and ranked near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt completed passes to nine different receivers. Trubisky had 173 yards in the first half alone before throwing an interception at the goal line in the third quarter. With scores of 1, 3 and 36 yards , Gabriel joined Mike Ditka in 1963 as the only Bears receivers with three TD catches in the first half of a game. Gabriel made six catches for 75 yards before leaving in the second half with a concussion. The Bears took advantage of five turnovers by Redskins quarterback Case Keenum: two interceptions by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, including a pick six, another by Kyle Fuller and fumbles forced by Khalil Mack and Danny Trevathan. With the offense up to the defense’s speed in the first half, Chicago put up 28 points in two quarters after scoring a total of 19 the past two weeks, 12 of which came on field goals from Eddy Pineiro . Mack had two of the Bears’ four sacks to continue a dominant start by the defense that didn’t give up a Washington TD until midway through the third quarter. Keenum’s two TD passes came long after fans chanted for rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins and booed the Redskins off the field at halftime.
September 23, 2019 3:48 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis with 1:15 remaining and the San Francisco 49ers overcame five turnovers to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-20 on Sunday for their first 3-0 start in 21 years. The Niners gave the ball away four times in the first half and then lost a fumble again in the fourth quarter, but still managed to pull out the victory and spoil Mason Rudolph’s first career start in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers (0-3). Rudolph threw two long touchdown passes in the second half, connecting on a 76-yarder to JuJu Smith-Schuster and a 39-yarder to Diontae Johnson that gave the Steelers a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The Niners answered the first strike with a 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a 4-yard run by Jeff Wilson Jr. and appeared poised to do the same when they drove inside the 10 following the second score. But on third down from the 7, a shotgun snap hit receiver Richie James Jr. as he went in motion and T.J. Watt recovered the fumble for Pittsburgh on San Francisco’s third red-zone turnover of the game. The Steelers then gave it right back when James Conner was stripped by Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner recovered at the 24. After a third-down holding penalty on Mark Barron extended the drive, Garoppolo found Pettis for the go-ahead score. Pittsburgh was unable to generate a first down on the ensuing drive with Rudolph taking a sack on third down and throwing an incompletion on fourth to send the Steelers to their second 0-3 start since 2000. Garoppolo finished 22 for 32 for 277 yards. He threw two interceptions on the first three drives on passes that hit his receivers’ hands and also lost a fumble on a bad snap from center by Weston Richburg with the Niners inside the Pittsburgh 10. Rudolph finished 14 for 27 for 174 yards, throwing an interception to K’Waun Williams on the opening drive of the second half to set up Wilson’s first touchdown.
September 22, 2019 7:02 am
COLUMBUS, Oh. –Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1. Cam Atkinson, Eric Robinson and Josh Anderson scored for the Blue Jackets. Robinson’s goal 2:12 into the third gave Columbus the lead. Anderson added an empty-netter with 36 seconds left. Juuso Riikola scored for Pittsburgh, and Casey DeSmith finished with 19 saves.
September 22, 2019 7:01 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Wide receiver Aaron Matthews hit quarterback Kenny Pickett on a 3-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh stunned No. 15 UCF 35-34 on Saturday. The Panthers (2-2) ended UCF’s 25-game regular-season winning streak on a play head coach Pat Narduzzi called the “Pitt Special” in a nod to the Philadelphia Eagles, who ran a similar play two seasons ago in their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. Pitt trailed by six when Pickett drove the Panthers to the UCF 3. Running back A.J. Davis took a direct snap with Pickett going in motion. Davis handed the ball to Matthews, who rolled to his right and hit Pickett in the end zone. UCF’s last-gasp drive went nowhere. Pickett completed 25 of 47 for 224 yards with a touchdown despite leaving briefly with a right arm injury. Maurice Ffrench and Dontavius Butler-Jenkins caught touchdown passes for the Panthers, who bounced back from an emotional loss to rival Penn State last week by withstanding a 31-point outburst from the Knights (3-1) in the middle of the game. UCF finished with 423 yards, 180 under its season average. The Panthers reeled off the game’s first 21 points, including an 18-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown midway through the second quarter. Trailing by three touchdowns for the first time since a blowout loss to Michigan in 2016, UCF responded emphatically, with a little help from the Panthers. Pitt running back A.J. Davis fumbled deep in Panther territory with 5:41 left in the first half. Adrian Killins scored four plays later and UCF was off and running. Gabriel found Gabe Davis for two third-quarter touchdowns. Those touchdowns were sandwiched around an 87-yard punt return for a score by Otis Anderson, who broke several tackles while racing down the left sideline to the end zone. Gabriel’s 28-yard rainbow to Davis gave UCF 31 points in less than a quarter. Pitt backup quarterback Nick Patti’s first career touchdown pass, a 6-yard toss to Butler-Jenkins, drew the Panthers within three late in the third quarter. The Panthers had a chance to tie it early in the fourth, but Alex Kessman’s 40-yard attempt sailed wide. Gabriel led a long scoring drive – including a conversion on fourth-and-1 at the UCF 47 – that ended with a Dylan Barnas 28-yard field goal with 4:36 to go. Pitt, which opted to attempt a field goal while down seven in the fourth quarter against Penn State last week, moved steadily down the field. And this time, the Panthers dialed up a play that gave them a victory that should provide their season with a massive jolt.
September 21, 2019 3:31 am
(AP) – Trent Grisham hit a bases-loaded triple and Manny Pina drove in a pair as the Milwaukee Brewers hammered Pittsburgh, 10-1. The Brewers improved to 8-2 since reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich broke his right kneecap and moved two games ahead of the Cubs for the second NL wild card, one game behind Washington. Chase Anderson scattered three hits over six shutout innings, matchup his longest outing of the season.
