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    NFL Week 14: What We Learned

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat We Learned From Week 14 of the N.F.L. SeasonThe Chiefs did not need perfection to win, the Bears’ losing streak finally ended and the N.F.C. East remained wide open.Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes was able to recover this fumble, but his day included three interceptions and a 30-yard sack. He also threw for 393 yards and won.Credit…Wilfredo Lee/Associated PressDec. 13, 2020Updated 9:10 p.m. ETMost of the favored teams won on Sunday, but there was still a little drama, including a mistake-filled performance by the leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award, an unbelievably bad day for a veteran kicker and an upset led by a rookie quarterback making his first start.Here’s what we learned:[embedded content]The Chiefs are not fair. Coming into the day, Patrick Mahomes appeared locked in for the second M.V.P. Award of his career and had been intercepted just twice in 463 passing attempts. The Miami Dolphins’ opportunistic defense had him flustered for much of the day, picking him off three times in 34 attempts. On top of that, Miami made Mahomes look foolish on a rambling play in which he repeatedly retreated before being sacked for a 30-yard loss. The Dolphins picked up a fourth takeaway on a fumble by Mecole Hardman. And Tua Tagovailoa had the first 300-yard passing game of his career.Despite all that, Miami lost, 33-27. And it didn’t feel that close.The win improved Kansas City to 12-1, and the Chiefs, who clinched the A.F.C. West, have a good chance to secure the A.F.C.’s only first-round bye in the playoffs. Miami dropped to 8-5, but is still a strong contender for a wild-card spot.Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts threw for 167 yards and a touchdown in a win over New Orleans while rushing for 106 yards.Credit…Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Eagles have a new quarterback. No player had topped 100 yards rushing in a game against New Orleans since Nov. 19, 2017 — a span of 56 games — but thanks to a new-look Eagles offense led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, two players surpassed that mark on Sunday. Hurts showed enough skill as a passer to keep the Saints’ defense honest — his 15-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery in the first quarter was a thing of beauty — and that allowed Miles Sanders to rush for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Hurts carried 18 times for 106 yards, joining Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson as the only quarterbacks to rush for 100 or more yards in their first N.F.L. start.In five seasons under Coach Doug Pederson, the Eagles are 10-3 in games not started by Carson Wentz (including the playoffs) and 35-33-1 with Wentz starting.The N.F.C. East is far from decided. The Giants’ four-game winning streak came to a screeching halt with a 26-7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. That result, combined with wins by Washington, Philadelphia and Dallas, kept things interesting in the N.F.C. East, which is making up for its lack of quality by having all four teams in the division race with three games remaining. The Footballers should be in the driver’s seat after improving to 6-7, but that will depend on the health of quarterback Alex Smith, who reinjured the leg that kept him out for nearly two years. The severity of Smith’s injury was not immediately announced.Minnesota’s Dan Bailey was having a terrific season before a brutal two-game stretch in which he has missed four field-goal attempts and three extra points.Credit…Kim Klement/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Vikings might need a new kicker. While his missed kicks would not have provided enough points to give Minnesota a win on the road, it was hard not to point a finger at Dan Bailey in his team’s 26-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bailey missed an extra-point attempt in the first quarter and proceeded to miss field-goal attempts of 36, 54 and 46 yards, with each sailing wide right. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Bailey is the first player to miss three field-goal attempts and an extra point, without a make of any kind, since Washington’s John Aveni in 1961. Bailey also missed two extra points and a 51-yard field-goal attempt last week, making him 1 of 4 on extra points and 2 of 6 on field goals in a two-week period after having started the season 26 of 27 on extra points and 10 of 12 on field goals.With Arizona and Chicago winning, Minnesota (6-7) complicated its wild-card hopes. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, improved to 8-5, and is on its way to its first playoff appearance since 2007.Eighty of David Montgomery’s 113 yards rushing came on one run, but that worked out just fine for Chicago in a win over the Houston Texans.Credit…Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesThe Bears can still make the playoffs — yes, the Chicago Bears. After a 5-1 start, Chicago turned into a laughingstock with six consecutive losses. But the Bears dominated Houston in every way on Sunday and came away with a 36-7 win in which several unlikely things happened. Among them: Mitchell Trubisky outplayed Houston’s Deshaun Watson; running back David Montgomery had his most productive game in nearly a year, rumbling for 113 yards (with 80 of them on a single, electrifying run); and the Bears’ defense sacked Watson seven times, once for a safety. Chicago had more rushing and passing yards, and fewer turnovers, than the Texans. And the win managed to keep the Bears very much alive in the race for the N.F.C.’s third wild card.Derrick Henry has an N.F.L.-record four career games with 200 or more rushing yards and two or more touchdowns. Two of the games have come against Jacksonville.Credit…Stephen B. Morton/Associated PressDerrick Henry stands alone. After a 215-yard performance in Tennessee’s 31-10 win over Jacksonville on Sunday, Henry has four career games with 200 or more rushing yards and two or more touchdowns, breaking a tie he held with Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson, each of whom is in the Hall of Fame. Henry is leading the N.F.L. with 1,532 yards rushing this season — just 8 short of the total he led the N.F.L. with last year — and he has run for 100 or more yards in his last nine road games, one short of Sanders’s N.F.L. record.Henry was so dominant that you’d hardly notice that Ryan Tannehill passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was an incredible 37-yarder in which A.J. Brown corralled the ball with just his right hand.Green Bay may sneak into a first-round bye. Most of the talk in the N.F.C. this season has centered on New Orleans and Seattle, but a Packers win over Detroit on Sunday, combined with a Saints loss — and some help from a head-to-head tiebreaker, thanks to Green Bay’s Week 3 win over New Orleans — vaulted the Packers to the No. 1 seed in the conference with three games remaining. Green Bay controls its own destiny as far as a first-round bye is concerned, and the Packers will close their season with winnable games against Carolina, Tennessee (in Green Bay) and Chicago.One* Sentence About Sunday’s Games*Except when it takes more.Colts 44, Raiders 27 There were so many things you could focus on in this convincing Indianapolis victory: Philip Rivers’s two touchdown passes; Jonathan Taylor’s career-high 150 yards rushing (and two touchdowns); or Khari Willis’s 50-yard pick-6. But when you factor in the degree of difficulty, the highlight to remember is Kenny Moore’s one-handed interception in the end zone in the second quarter.Chiefs 33, Dolphins 27 It looked like it could be a long day for Kansas City when the Chiefs fell behind by 10-0 in the second quarter, but thanks to touchdown drives of 75 and 74 yards, the Chiefs led at halftime, and never trailed again.Titans 31, Jaguars 10 Jacksonville has lost 12 consecutive games — one short of the franchise record — and a switch at quarterback to Gardner Minshew in the second half led to a quick touchdown, but that wasn’t nearly enough to make this game competitive.Tampa Bay’s defense produced six sacks and 12 quarterback hits, giving Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins almost no time to work.Credit…Alex Menendez/Associated PressBuccaneers 26, Vikings 14 Tampa Bay had the ball for less than 21 of the game’s 48 minutes, and while Minnesota had the game’s leading passer, leading rusher and leading receiver, the Buccaneers walked away with a fairly easy victory thanks largely to mistakes forced by the team’s terrific pass rush.Packers 31, Lions 24 Aaron Rodgers had 290 yards passing, three touchdowns and only seven incompletions — a typical day for him at this point — and Green Bay clinched the N.F.C. North. Of larger concern for Detroit than the loss was an injury sustained by quarterback Matthew Stafford in which he took a hard hit by Green Bay’s Kenny Clark at the end of a run and appeared to hurt his ribs.Eagles 24, Saints 21 Taysom Hill passed for a career-high 291 yards, but he also threw an interception and lost a fumble. The loss broke a streak of eight consecutive wins by backup quarterbacks for New Orleans.Jamal Adams has already set the N.F.L.’s single-season record for sacks by a defensive back in just nine games with the Seahawks. Credit…Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports, via ReutersSeahawks 40, Jets 3 Last week felt like the bottom for the Jets, but the team’s former star safety, Jamal Adams, was credited with a sack of Sam Darnold in the second quarter, giving him the N.F.L.’s single-season record for sacks by a defensive back with 8.5. Adams only needed nine games to break Adrian Wilson’s record of eight, which was set over the course of 16 games in 2005. Rubbing some salt in the Jets’ wounds, the team’s former quarterback, Geno Smith, came on in relief of Russell Wilson for mop-up duty at the end of the blowout. The Jets are 0-13.Footballers 23, 49ers 15 A lot of things went wrong for Washington in this game, but the rookie defensive end Chase Young put on a show with six tackles, a sack, two passes defended, two quarterback hits and a 47-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.Cardinals 26, Giants 7 Arizona’s Haason Reddick became the 16th player to record five or more sacks in a game (since the statistic became official in 1982), leading an all-out assault in which the Cardinals produced eight sacks and 11 quarterback hits. Reddick, who came into the day with only 12.5 sacks in 60 career games, also forced three fumbles.Justin Herbert will be credited with a game-winning drive and Michael Badgley with a game-winning field goal, but it was this interception by Michael Davis that won the game for Los Angeles.Credit…Ashley Landis/Associated PressChargers 20, Falcons 17 It looked like the Chargers were throwing away yet another potential win when Justin Herbert was intercepted with less than a minute remaining. But Michael Davis stole momentum right back for Los Angeles by intercepting a Matt Ryan pass, and Herbert was able to get his team close enough for Michael Badgley to win the game with a 43-yard field goal as time expired.Bears 36, Texans 7 Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has taken his lumps over the last few years — largely as a result of his being drafted ahead of Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Houston’s Deshaun Watson — but he had a terrific game against Watson’s Texans, completing 24 of 33 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns.Aldon Smith of the Cowboys returned a fumble 78 yards for a touchdown.Credit…Emilee Chinn/Associated PressCowboys 30, Bengals 7 In his return to Cincinnati, Andy Dalton was hardly perfect, but he did enough to beat the lowly Bengals, tossing two touchdown passes without committing a turnover. Aldon Smith, a defensive end who missed four seasons because of off-field issues, contributed to the scoring with his first career touchdown.Broncos 32, Panthers 27 A lot went right for Denver in this one, with Drew Lock throwing a career-high four touchdown passes, Diontae Spencer returning a punt 83 yards for a score and the Broncos’ defense holding strong against Carolina’s comeback attempt.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Russell Wilson Throws Four Touchdowns in Three Quarters in Win Over the Jets

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySeahawks 40, Jets 3Russell Wilson Throws Four Touchdowns in Three Quarters in Win Over the JetsThe Seahawks rebounded from a loss to the Giants last week, while the Jets’ losing streak reached a franchise record 13 games.Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf had six catches for 61 yards and a touchdown, which he celebrated with one of the TV cameras.Credit…Ted S. Warren/Associated PressDec. 13, 2020Updated 8:51 p.m. ETSEATTLE (AP) — Russell Wilson threw four touchdowns passes to give him a new career-high with 36 for the season before resting in the fourth quarter, leading the Seattle Seahawks to a 40-3 rout of the Jets on Sunday.Seattle (9-4) rebounded exactly as it had hoped after its surprisingly poor offensive performance last week in a loss to the Giants. They stayed even with the Los Angeles Rams (9-4), who beat the Patriots (6-7) on Thursday, on top of the N.F.C. West.Wilson threw touchdowns to Freddie Swain and DK Metcalf in the first half and added touchdown tosses to Will Dissly and David Moore in the third quarter. It was his fifth game this season with at least four touchdown passes. His previous career high in touchdown passes came in 2018.Metcalf commandeered a TV broadcast camera as part of his celebration after catching a 5-yard scoring pass in the second quarter, his 10th of the season.Wilson finished 21 of 27 for 206 yards and checked out late in the third quarter, giving way to the former Jets quarterback Geno Smith for his first action since joining Seattle last season. Wilson’s only mistake was a forced throw in the first half that the Jets’ Marcus Maye caught for a terrific juggling interception.Wilson had played every snap of the previous 49 games for Seattle. The last time he wasn’t under center was Week 15 of 2017 when Seattle lost 42-7 to the Rams. It was also a rare blowout for Seattle. The Seahawks had just one win by more than 14 points in the past two seasons. “We took on the challenge, kept our heads down to just stay focused on what we need to do and our execution,” Wilson said. “It was a great day today.”For the Jets, it was another miserable day in their forgettable season. Days after firing defensive coordinator Gregg Williams after a collapse at the end of last week’s loss to Las Vegas, the Jets (0-13) showed little resistance on defense and little excitement on offense as they lost their 13th consecutive game, a franchise record.And even when the Jets had chances to score, kicker Sergio Castillo struggled. After converting a 45-yard attempt on the Jets’ opening drive, Castillo missed attempts of 37, 41 and 43 yards in the first half. Quarterback Sam Darnold was 14 of 26 for 132 yards.“This one got away from us very quickly and when you have chances against a team like this, you’ve got to take advantage of them or this is what the outcome’s going to be,” Jets Coach Adam Gase said.In just about the only bright spot for the Jets, they extended their streak of scoring on their opening drive to seven straight games, the longest active streak in the N.F.L. and the longest in franchise history.The Jets became the ninth team since the A.F.L.-N.F.L. merger to start a season with 13 straight losses. Three of those teams had winless seasons.“Losing’s not fun. We’ve just got to be better,” Darnold said.Seattle’s Jamal Adams, the former Jets safety, set a record for most sacks by a defensive back in a single season, breaking the previous mark of eight by Adrian Wilson in 2005. He had been credited with a sack after forcing Darnold to run out of bounds for a loss in the second quarter, giving him 8 1/2 for the season.“I’m trying to shatter it, to be real with you,” Adams said. “This is just a start.”Adams spent a significant amount of time postgame in a receiving line of hugs and handshakes with his former Jets teammates and coaches, including Gase.“Seeing so many guys, it just brings back a lot of memories because I do miss those guys,” Adams said. “This is bigger than football. It goes back to just relationships.”The Jets will be back on the West Coast next Sunday to face the Rams.Seahawks will make the last of its East Coast trips next week, traveling to play Washington (6-7) on Sunday.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Giants Cannot Protect Win Streak Against the Cardinals

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCardinals 26, Giants 7Giants Cannot Protect Win Streak Against the CardinalsThe Giants entered Sunday’s game riding high on a four-game win streak. They left it with a battered quarterback and diminished playoff chances.Giants quarterback Daniel Jones spent much of Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals in a prone position. He was sacked six times before being benched.Credit…Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesDec. 13, 2020, 6:33 p.m. ETFor more than a month, as they won four successive games, the Giants went from somnolent to startlingly successful, having a stretch that resurrected the team’s fan base and advanced the budding folk hero status of the rookie head coach Joe Judge. But on Sunday, with a meaningful chance at home to maintain the momentum necessary to finish a late-season run at a playoff berth, the Giants collapsed.Thoroughly outplayed in every facet of the game, the Giants were trounced by the visiting Arizona Cardinals, 26-7. The Giants (5-8), who never seriously threatened to upend the Cardinals, had five fumbles — three that they lost — and managed just 10 first downs and 159 total yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones, returning from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for the last game of the win streak, was sacked six times, completed just 11 passes and left the game in the fourth quarter with a pronounced limp.Defensively, the game was just as lopsided. The Cardinals (7-6) converted 39 percent of their third downs and rushed for 159 yards. Led by the ever-inventive quarterback Kyler Murray, who thwarted the Giants’ pass rush with his agility and knack for extending plays, Arizona earned a valuable win to keep alive their meager postseason chances.Since the Giants were coming off an emotional upset victory at Seattle last week, it was easy to wonder if they were overconfident as they took the field against Arizona, which had lost its three previous games. That the Giants could feel comfortable looking past any N.F.L. team is somewhat comical — the franchise’s last playoff win was nine seasons ago — but there was no denying the substandard execution and attention to detail in Sunday’s debacle at MetLife Stadium.“I don’t think we had any kind of a hangover from last week,” Judge said afterward. “We simply didn’t coach well enough or play well enough. That’s the hard truth of it.”Nonetheless, the opportunity lost with three remaining games in a regular season that began with seven defeats in the first eight games was obvious to all.“It’s a tough moment; we didn’t perform the way we needed to,” said linebacker Blake Martinez, one of the team’s veteran leaders. “I don’t think it was overconfidence, we just didn’t play collectively well as a team.”And yet, when asked if the loss might serve as an alarm for the Giants, Martinez answered: “Any time you lose, it’s always a wake-up call. The really good teams focus on getting better the following week.”The Giants will host the Cleveland Browns (9-3) next week.The Cardinals’ 6-foot-5 tight end Dan Arnold leapt above the crowd to catch a Kyler Murray touchdown pass in the back of the end zone in the first half.Credit…Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFor the Cardinals, whose linebacker Haason Reddick set a franchise record with five sacks — mostly by zooming past the Giants rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas — the victory was a necessary boost. Noting that his team had “a sense of urgency,” Arizona Coach Kliff Kingsbury added: “We made a step in the right direction — we understand what’s in front of us and what we can be. This will build our confidence moving forward.”The Cardinals opened the scoring with a 34-yard Mike Nugent field goal in the first quarter shortly after the Giants’ highlight of the game — a goal-line stand by the defense that followed a Jones fumble on the team’s first possession. Jones’s turnover track record does not merit a defense but, in this case, the fumble occurred as he was being sacked by the former Giants linebacker Markus Golden, who dashed into the Giants backfield unblocked on a blitz. Jones never saw Golden coming.As the Giants’ feeble offense failed to advance into Arizona’s end of the field in the first half, the Cardinals seemed to always be in Giants territory. But the Giants’ defense was mostly stout and Arizona was only able to extend its lead to 6-0.When the Giants’ fatigued defense trotted off the field after forcing the second Nugent field goal midway through the second quarter, they were soon dragging themselves back into action when Giants kickoff returner Dion Lewis fumbled and gave the football back to the Cardinals at the Giants’ 21-yard line. Lewis’s turnover was forced by Arizona’s Kylie Fitts, who kicked at the football in Lewis’s arm as he ran past the Giants returner. While it is illegal for a player to kick another player, the game officials did not throw a flag for the violation and Fitts’s leg knocked the ball loose. In this case, the foul committed by Fitts was not reviewable by the referee.Four plays later, on a third-and-goal from the Giants’ 7-yard line, Murray was backpedalling from the Giants’ pass rush when he hoisted a high pass into the end zone. Initially, it appeared that Murray was throwing the football away, but the Cardinals’ 6-foot-5 tight end Dan Arnold leapt above the crowd of four defenders to catch the throw in the back of the end zone for a touchdown that put Arizona ahead, 13-0 at the half.If the Giants’ first half was bad, the second half was worse. After receiving the kickoff to begin the third quarter, Murray led Arizona on an 11-play, 77-yard drive that concluded with Kenyan Drake’s 1-yard touchdown plunge. The Giants answered with their only score of the game, a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis. But Arizona dominated the fourth quarter in every way, especially with a four-man rush that repeatedly overpowered the Giants’ offensive linemen and knocked Jones to the ground so often he was pulled from the game for backup Colt McCoy, who was sacked twice.Jones at that point was also nursing an injury. After the game, Judge said he did not know what Jones’s injury was and he defended his second-year quarterback. Asked about Jones’s erratic play, Judge answered: “There are 11 guys on the field. It’s not one person’s fault.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Columbus Beats Seattle to Win M.L.S. Cup

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesThe Latest Vaccine InformationVaccine TrackerFAQAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyM.L.S. Cup: Crew 3, Sounders 0Columbus Wins M.L.S. Cup, the Final Stop on a Journey to Stay PutLucas Zelarayán’s two goals carried the Crew over the Sounders in the stadium the team had almost abandoned three years ago.Lucas Zelarayán, center, scored two of the Crew’s goals and set up the third.Credit…Emilee Chinn/Getty ImagesDec. 12, 2020The celebration was the catharsis Columbus Crew fans had dreamed of since 2017, when the team’s former owner had threatened to move their team to Texas. It was the party they had pined for since 2018, when their campaign to stop him had yielded new owners and new hope. It was the dream that sustained them this year when the coronavirus played havoc with the schedule and locked them out of their stadium.So once the party finally began, once the final whistle had blown on the Crew’s 3-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders at Columbus’s Mapfre Stadium and Columbus had won its second league title, the only sadness, it seemed, was that more Crew fans were not there to see it in person.“When I took the job, I had a dream to take M.L.S. Cup to those fans over there,” said Crew Coach Caleb Porter, who circled the field thanking the roughly 1,500 socially distanced supporters in attendance even before his team had been handed its silver trophy. “That’s why I was so emotional.”Porter had denied those fans just such a celebration five years ago when, as coach of the Portland Timbers, he beat the Crew at Mapfre Stadium to win his own M.L.S. Cup. When he was hired by the Crew in January 2019, only months after the city’s successful campaign to save the team, he pledged to give Columbus fans something to cheer again.On Saturday, those who had been allowed inside — where they were instructed by health officials and stadium signs to stay masked and safely distant for all 90 minutes — showered Porter with thanks. The hugs will come later, when that sort of thing is safe again.That the final of M.L.S.’s 25th season took place at all was, in many respects, a triumph in itself. The season had begun on Feb. 29, the earliest start in league history, and concluded with the latest M.L.S. Cup ever played. In between was a year like no other: two weeks of matches and then a four-month hiatus because of the pandemic; a five-week summer tournament; and then weeks of wary returns to empty — or near-empty — stadiums.Along the way, the league conducted more than more than 130,000 virus tests, with about 20 percent of its players recording positive results, according to a players’ union official. Dozens of games were postponed, rescheduled or simply not played at all. To get to the end of the season, the league repeatedly tweaked its health protocols, adjusted its rules and crossed its collective fingers.Not even the final was immune, though. Columbus’s title hopes were dealt a significant blow on Friday when the team’s most important player, midfielder Darlington Nagbe, and a key member of its attack, Pedro Santos, were ruled out of the final for medical reasons. Both Nagbe and Santos later confirmed the league’s worst fear: that they, too, had tested positive for the coronavirus.“It’s a big loss; it’s a big blow,” Porter had said Friday. But he expressed confidence that his players could adjust, and his team took the game to the Sounders from the opening whistle.The first goal came in the 25th minute: a driven cross from the right by Gyasi Zardes, and a powerful one-timed finish at the back post by Lucas Zelarayán, an Argentine midfielder signed out of Mexico’s top league last winter, and — despite his diminutive size — a menacing presence throughout the first half.Six minutes later, it was 2-0, after Zelarayán fed an open Derrick Etienne Jr. — Santos’s replacement in the starting lineup — on the left side of the penalty area. Slipping behind his defender, Etienne coolly curled a right-footed shot around Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei.Health regulations limited attendance at the final to about 1,500 fans. They were ordered to sit only with their own parties and to wear masks at all times.Credit…Kyle Robertson/USA Today Sports, via ReutersSeattle tried to adjust, making two substitutions at halftime, but by then the momentum — or was it fate? — was too much to overcome. Zelarayán’s second goal, Columbus’s third, in the 82nd minute removed all doubt. The Sounders, finalists for the fourth time in five years, and seeking their second title in a row, never stood a chance.“This was going to be our day,” Porter said. “Our time, our day and our trophy.”Next season is scheduled to start in March. But, in a halftime interview on Saturday night, Commissioner Don Garber said the ongoing pandemic meant that he could not guarantee it.The Crew, for now at least, are fine with waiting. The title is theirs again at last, and they are more than happy to hold on to it as long as they can.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    They Saved the Crew. Now It's Playing in M.L.S. Cup.

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTheir Team Almost Left Town. Now It’s Playing for a Title.Fan activism, public pressure and new owners kept the Columbus Crew in Ohio. On Saturday, the team will try to pay back its supporters by winning M.L.S. Cup on its home field.Columbus Crew fans at the groundbreaking for the team’s new stadium last year, a prospect that seemed unthinkable only a year earlier. Credit…Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire, via Getty ImagesDec. 11, 2020, 3:24 p.m. ETThe Columbus Crew is not supposed to be here right now.Not “here,” as in Major League Soccer’s championship game, M.L.S. Cup, against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night — though for some fans that feels unlikely enough.But here, in Ohio, they said. The team’s home. Their home.Their path to Saturday’s final begins in October 2017, when Crew fans received the nauseating news that the owner of their beloved team — an M.L.S. original that began play in the city in 1996 — was angling, with the support of the league office, to uproot the entire operation and move it to Austin, Texas.It was a devastating revelation, precisely because Crew fans knew how these things often go: rich owners, omnipotent leagues — in American sports, they tend to get their way. In Ohio they knew this all too well. Just look at what happened to the Cleveland Browns, they said.But the self-pity lasted only a moment. Then came anger and determination and, soon, organization. Keeping their team in Columbus, in defiance of the wishes of wealthy and powerful forces, felt like a long shot. But they would try.Their energies coalesced behind a simple slogan — Save The Crew — but the campaign was more than just a hashtag. Behind the scenes, a group of almost two dozen longtime fans assembled itself into a leadership team that had the energy, and long hours, of a buzzy start-up.The group included graphic designers, public relations specialists, lawyers and anyone else who had an angle they could work. Their message traveled far. Fans of opposing teams extended their sympathies. Some even flew the Crew colors in solidarity. If it can happen to them, other fans said, it can happen to us.In time, public officials and community leaders in Ohio took up the cause, exercising whatever leverage might they could muster. Twelve thousand fans signed a pledge to purchase tickets if the team stayed in the area. The pressure points on the owner behind the move, Anthony Precourt, and the league increased. Slowly the tide began to turn.In October 2018, the parties began working on a deal to transfer ownership of the Crew to an investment group that included Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the owners of the Browns, and Pete Edwards, the longtime Crew team doctor. The new owners pledged to keep the club in Columbus, an announcement that set off a volcanic blast of joy and relief that in some ways has yet to settle.The fight to save the Crew, still fresh in everyone’s memory, has made the team’s unlikely ascent to the championship game this season that much sweeter.The goal is to win the match, of course.But in some sense, maybe more than the average sports fan, they’re all just happy to be here. In Columbus. Still home.David Miller and his wife, Ellie.DAVID MILLER, 31, joined the leadership group of Save The Crew, helping out with communications.I was angry. I didn’t sleep well. And the next day I was still angry. Within the following week or so I saw this movement had been started, a website, a Twitter handle. I was following media clips. My wife kept telling me, if you keep getting angry, you’re going to have to do something about it.People who had skills kept popping up. We needed an attorney, and an attorney appeared. We needed someone who could submit records requests, and someone came out of the blue who was good at that. It’s amazing that all these volunteers came out of the woodwork and were interested in fighting the machine and came prepared.“Save the Crew” was seen in Columbus as a battle between good and evil. That’s a motivating story for a lot of people, how the fans, the community, banded together to fight the millionaires and billionaires.Karen Crognale and members of her family on the field before a Columbus Crew game in 2017, when her son Alex played for the team.Credit…Ralph SchudelKAREN CROGNALE, 55, is a longtime fan of the Crew, a former club employee and the mother of a former Columbus player.This is a closer-knit community compared to Ohio State. You could run into Crew players at the grocery store, at the mall. They were approachable. And it still feels that way.When we found out the team was going to be saved, I was by myself. I sat on my bed and sobbed. Over a sports team! It seems crazy. But that was the emotional toll it took on us all year.Fans can recall Frankie Hejduk’s header for a goal in 2008. I can’t recall moments. It’s never been about the team or how well it did or if we made the playoffs. For me, it was the place my kids grew up, where we raised our family, the friends we made in the stadium, the parking lot. It was not about the game of soccer. It was about everything outside the pitch. And if the team leaves, that’s what we lose.Frankie Hejduk was the Crew’s captain when the team won its only league title.Credit…Lucy Nicholson/ReutersFRANKIE HEJDUK, 46, a beloved former player who was still working for the team, had to walk a fine line during the Save the Crew campaign.I like to focus on the positive, but it was tough. I couldn’t say much during it. I was employed by the club. So I had to do what I had to do. But the fans, I think, know how I felt. I think they felt for me, whether they knew or not. And if they didn’t, I was going to have a beer with them after the game and tell them. But openly I couldn’t say much.When they saved the team, that was probably the seventh-best moment of my life. I have four kids and a wife. So those are top five. The sixth is winning the M.L.S. Cup in 2008 with the Crew. I’ve played with the national team. I’ve been in the Olympics. I’ve won other M.L.S. Cups. But that might have been No. 7.Signs supporting the #SaveTheCrew were soon everywhere in Columbus, but they popped up in other cities, too, as the campaign gained popular support.Credit…Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire, via Getty ImagesJOHN ZIDAR, 33, used his design skills to help with the branding of “Save The Crew” movement.We would get my dad season tickets for his birthday slash Christmas, and he would alternate taking me or my brother or my sister. I met most of my closest friends through the team. I go with my brother now, still. It permeates every part of my life.During “Save The Crew” my dad passed away, and he didn’t get to see that we saved them. So having them here now is nice, like I still have a piece of him that I can enjoy. It means the world to me, possibly in ways I can’t necessarily put into words.Ben Hoelzel, Miranda Leppla and Robert Rovick.Credit…Courtesy Miranda LepplaRANDI LEPPLA, 36, has had Crew season tickets since 2009.We’ve seen relocations all the time. It’s based on money. You have to account for that. But that’s not how soccer works anywhere else in the world. There is an identity to teams, and their identity is the community.Save The Crew jerseys, yard signs, stickers, bumpers stickers — they were everywhere. Local businesses were putting things up in their shops. It was a very quick turnaround from, ‘Oh no this is so sad,’ to, ‘What are we going to do to fight this?’We weren’t supposed to have a team this year, and here we are. Winning would be a fairy tale ending for us. It’d be quite a way to close out a two-year victory lap, if you will.Dee Haslam with Pete Edwards in 2018. Both are members of the Crew’s ownership group.Credit…Joshua A. Bickel/The Columbus Dispatch, via Associated PressDEE HASLAM, 66, was a newcomer to soccer when she and her husband, the Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, bought the team.We’re really excited for Columbus and for our fans, with them having gone through the process of almost losing a team. Cleveland lost a team. We obviously came in much later into that story, but you still hear the stories. It was a crushing thing. So when we heard about the Columbus Crew and that they might leave Ohio, we were just like: “That can’t happen. That’s terrible for a community.”Standing on the field for the conference championship [last weekend], it was like, Oh my gosh, we’re really here. We’re in the finals. It’s the M.L.S. Cup. We haven’t slept, really. When you lose, there’s a lot of tension and a lot of stress. When you win, and you’re expecting to win, the stress is even worse.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    NFL. Week 14 Predictions: Our Picks Against the Spread

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.F.L. Week 14 Predictions: Our Picks Against the SpreadThe Patriots and the Rams will get things started on Thursday in a week in which plenty of teams are fighting for playoff spots.This is the type of swagger a defense develops when Xavien Howard, second from left, repeatedly makes teams pay for  mistakes. But the Miami Dolphins will have their hands full against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.Credit…Doug Murray/Associated PressDec. 10, 2020Updated 12:24 a.m. ETThe N.F.L. made its way through a few weeks of odd schedules caused by coronavirus delays, and appears set for its first “normal” week in a while. Or at least the league is starting out with that plan until any virus-related adjustments are needed.The week doesn’t have a signature game to look forward to, but matchups between the Chiefs and Dolphins and the Steelers and Bills are entertaining enough, and more than a few teams should be looking to step up as they fight for spots in the expanded playoff field.Here is a look at N.F.L. Week 14, with all picks made against the spread.Last week’s record: 8-7Overall record: 94-93-5A look ahead at Week 14:Sunday’s Best GamesThursday’s MatchupSunday’s Other GamesMonday’s MatchupHow Betting Lines WorkSunday’s Best GamesKansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Chiefs -7 | Total: 49.5It is nice to be the Chiefs (11-1). Kansas City let Denver stay uncomfortably close for much of last week’s game and then simply pushed the “win now” button, got a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce, a 48-yard field goal from Harrison Butker and a win-sealing interception from Tyrann Mathieu. That it looked so easy made the rest of the game remarkably frustrating in retrospect.The Dolphins (8-4) are not on the Chiefs’ level, but they are also not a team to trifle with. Miami’s defense can make an opponent pay for its mistakes — cornerback Xavien Howard is leading the N.F.L. in interceptions (eight) and passes defended (16) — and the team’s offense is adept at chewing up clock and doing enough to score.The script for this game could mirror Kansas City’s previous game. Miami could easily stay in it for much of the game, but when the Chiefs need to score, Mahomes will make that happen. The Dolphins deserve plenty of respect, but being only 7-point underdogs to the Chiefs is its own version of respect. Pick: Chiefs -7Buffalo’s Josh Allen has stayed cool under pressure this season, and he has people respecting the Bills. Credit…Ralph Freso/Getty ImagesPittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m., NBCLine: Bills -2.5 | Total: 46.5Earlier this week, people were openly wondering if the Steelers (11-1) could go undefeated. One not entirely shocking loss to Washington later, and Pittsburgh is an underdog against the Bills (9-3). The reasons, for the loss and the betting line, are injuries on defense, which are weakening the team’s biggest strength, and a slumping offense.Buffalo is coming off a big win over San Francisco, looking like a good bet to win the A.F.C. East and making people talk about quarterback Josh Allen as an emerging superstar. Unless Pittsburgh turns it around on both sides of the ball, it may go from 11 consecutive wins to two straight losses. Pick: Bills -2.5Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Buccaneers -6.5 | Total: 52The Buccaneers (7-5) have disappointed a bit this season. The team was expected to take a leap defensively and, with Tom Brady added to the offense, even out the kinks from the Jameis Winston era. The team has been inconsistent, rather than bad, but has lost back-to-back games by 27-24. Its surprising defensive woes may continue against the Vikings (6-6), who have plenty of their own flaws, but no problems scoring.While not a must-win game for Tampa Bay, it would take pressure off the Buccaneers in their hunt for an N.F.C. wild card to win this one at home. Pick: Vikings +6.5Indianapolis Colts at Las Vegas Raiders, 4:05 p.m., CBSLine: Colts -3 | Total: 51.5The Colts (8-4) got away with one last week, taking advantage of a fumbled snap to hold on for a close win over Houston. That was nothing compared with the Raiders (7-5), who had a win gifted to them by the Jets in the closing seconds of the game. But wins are wins, and with both of these teams fighting for playoff spots, they were lucky to get them.Running back Josh Jacobs is unlikely to return from injury for Las Vegas, and Indianapolis is simply farther along in its development. The Colts should be expected to win on the road. Pick: Colts -3Thursday’s MatchupIf teams give Robert Woods of the Rams an inch, he often takes a mile. Los Angeles would bolster its chances of winning the N.F.C. West with a win over New England.Credit…Mark Lomoglio/Associated PressNew England Patriots at Los Angeles Rams, 8:20 p.m., Fox, NFL Network and Prime VideoLine: Rams -5 | Total: 44.5With four wins in five games — and the lone loss a fairly close game against Houston — the Patriots (6-6) may not be pretty, but they are mostly getting the job done. The team’s defense has recovered from some issues to return to a reasonable facsimile of last year’s dominant crew, and its offense lacks consistency but can keep the team in games. A road game against the Rams (8-4), however, is a real test of just how good New England can be. Los Angeles has enough offense to score against any team and a defense that can force Cam Newton into mistakes.The Rams have a 98 percent chance at qualifying for the playoffs, and hope to take advantage of Seattle’s struggles to win the N.F.C. West. That should be enough to keep them just as motivated as New England, even as the Patriots are fighting for their playoff lives. Pick: Rams -5Sunday’s Other GamesThe Cardinals have struggled recently, but Kyler Murray has thrown for 22 touchdowns and rushed for 10. Credit…Norm Hall/Getty ImagesArizona Cardinals at Giants, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Cardinals -2.5 | Total: 45Fresh off a game in which they manhandled the favored Seahawks on both sides of the ball, the Giants (5-7) are underdogs at home to the Cardinals (6-6), a team that isn’t as good as the Seahawks. So it appears oddsmakers have not exactly bought in on the recent improvements for Big Blue. The skepticism is most likely a result of the uncertain status of quarterback Daniel Jones. Coach Joe Judge has said there is a chance Jones will play, but he also said that last week. Colt McCoy deserves some credit for keeping the win streak going, but the Giants’ chances in this game come down to Jones’s availability. If he plays — and is close to 100 percent — this pick would most likely be reversed. Pick: Cardinals -2.5Washington Football Team at San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: 49ers -3 | Total: 43.5Both of these teams are 5-7, but they are going in different directions. The Footballers have been steadily improving on both sides of the ball, and just pulled off a shocking upset of Pittsburgh. The 49ers have mostly survived in a season destroyed by injuries, but are coming off a huge letdown loss against Buffalo in which the backup quarterback Nick Mullens’s flaws were on full display. If this were truly a home game for San Francisco, it might have played to its favor, but with the 49ers relocated to Arizona, Washington has a good chance to keep winning. Pick: Footballers +3Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Packers -7.5 | Total: 55The Lions (5-7) showed serious offensive improvement in the first game under their interim coach, Darrell Bevell, with the caveat that their come-from-behind victory came against the reeling Bears. Detroit may find offensive success, but probably not enough to matter as its overmatched defense tries to slow down the electric Packers (9-3), who are led by Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams. There is always the chance that a heavily favored team will take the opportunity to slow things down and accept a smaller win, but the Packers have not been taking any games off offensively, and Rodgers is having one of the best seasons of his career — which is extremely high praise for a two-time winner of the Most Valuable Player Award. Pick: Packers -7.5Trey Hendrickson of the Saints has 10.5 sacks this season. He could add to that total against Philadelphia’s patchwork offensive line.Credit…Mark Lomoglio/Associated PressNew Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Saints -7 | Total: 44People who have Alvin Kamara on their fantasy team are undoubtedly eager for Drew Brees to return from injury. Kamara has just three catches for 7 yards over his last three games, but the Saints (10-2) seem extremely content with Taysom Hill under center until Brees gets to 100 percent. That’s understandable because last week’s win over Atlanta clinched a playoff spot for New Orleans, and this week’s game against the Eagles (3-8-1) doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. The Saints have a 66 percent chance of securing the N.F.C.’s first-round bye, according to The Upshot, but if they want to hold on for that honor, they will probably need Brees back for a Week 15 game against Kansas City. Pick: Saints -7Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Titans -7.5 | Total: 53The Titans (8-4) are much better than the Jaguars (1-11). You don’t really need to narrow down what Tennessee is better at. Football — the Titans are better at football. That being said, Jacksonville can hold its head up high after giving Minnesota a fight last week, and will come into this game hoping to slow running back Derrick Henry. That might just lead to them getting beaten on a few deep passes, but recent history suggests the Jaguars have a decent chance of covering the spread even if they have almost no chance of winning. Pick: Jaguars +7.5Jets at Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 p.m., CBSLine: Seahawks -13.5 | Total: 47How many times has a prominent N.F.L. coach been fired over one play? That’s what happened last week when Gregg Williams, the defensive coordinator for the Jets (0-12), dialed up a cover-zero play in the game’s final seconds when his team just needed to keep Las Vegas out of the end zone from 46 yards out. The Jets sent seven pass rushers, inexplicably left a spy behind the line of scrimmage in case Derek Carr decided to scramble for a 46-yard touchdown — pause for emphasis — and had just three defensive backs in coverage. Henry Ruggs III had a touchdown before Carr even released the ball.A conspiracy theorist might suggest that Williams or Coach Adam Gase, or both, were trying to lock in the No. 1 pick in the draft, but that falls apart when you consider it was exactly the type of galaxy brain decision the overly aggressive Williams is known for. His firing the next day seemed to confirm it was simply a brutal call, and nothing more than that.So now the Jets have four games to eke out a win in hopes of avoiding 0-16. Their quest begins on the road in Seattle as two-touchdown underdogs against the Seahawks (8-4). Seattle is struggling too much to buy in on such a large point spread, but the Seahawks have plenty of playoff-related motivation to win, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. Pick: Jets +13.5Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Panthers -3.5 | Total: 46.5A lot of teams pack things in when their record goes sideways, but the Broncos (4-8) and the Panthers (4-8) have kept fighting all season, making their opponents work hard to beat them. Imagining Denver’s defense if linebacker Von Miller were healthy, or Carolina’s offense with fewer injuries, makes it easy to be enthusiastic about both teams heading into next season. For now, they are both a little too flawed to matter, but there is every reason to believe a game between them should be entertaining. Pick: Panthers -3.5Atlanta’s Julio Jones was not able to haul in this pass, but he is so talented you probably thought he did. Credit…Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated PressAtlanta Falcons at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m., FoxLine: Falcons -2.5 | Total: 49.5This game should have a playground feel to it, as both offenses are more than capable of airing the ball out, and neither defense puts up much resistance. Justin Herbert, a rookie, has the Chargers (3-9) ranked fourth in the N.F.L. in passing. The veteran Matt Ryan has the Falcons (4-8) ranked seventh in spite of some injuries to his receivers this season. It is a safe bet that a group of talented pass-catchers that includes Keenan Allen and Mike Williams (Los Angeles) and Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley (Atlanta) will produce more than a few highlight-reel-worthy plays. While Los Angeles could end up struggling for a second consecutive week should left tackle Sam Tevi be out, this could easily come down to which team has the ball last. Pick: Chargers +2.5Houston Texans at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m., CBSLine: Texans -2 | Total: 44.5It had seemed like wide receiver Will Fuller V’s suspension would devastate Houston’s offense, but the Texans (4-8) were a fumbled snap away from pulling off a huge upset of the Colts last week thanks in large part to the emergence of Keke Coutee, who put up a career-best 141 yards receiving after coming into the day with 38 yards for the season. Houston showed enough to be favored on the road against a team with a superior record, though that probably has more to do with Chicago’s six-game losing streak than it does with the Texans’ offense.Of the 242 teams to start a season 5-1 from 1920 to 2019, only four ended up with a losing record: the 1926 Chicago Cardinals (5-6-1), the 1986 Atlanta Falcons (7-8-1), the 1995 St. Louis Rams (7-9) and the 2008 Buffalo Bills (7-9). The Bears (5-7) are well on their way to setting a new mark for futility in that group of fast-starting teams. Pick: Texans -2Dallas Cowboys at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m., FoxLine: Cowboys -3.5 | Total: 43.5Cincinnati has held its opponent to 20 or fewer points in each of the last three games, which is a fairly shocking turnaround for a defense that struggled greatly earlier in the season. Whether that is improvement or indifference from opponents who know they will beat the Bengals (2-9-1), regardless, is hard to say, but with quarterback Joe Burrow out for the season and Cincinnati one of four teams that is already eliminated from playoff contention, there is no real incentive to win. The Cowboys (3-9), meanwhile, have only a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to The Upshot, but have enough offense to give that recently improved Bengals defense a workout. Pick: Cowboys -3.5Monday’s MatchupWith Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the Cleveland Browns are one of the few teams that can keep up in a run-heavy matchup against Baltimore.Credit…Ron Schwane/Associated PressBaltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns, 8:15 p.m., ESPNLine: Ravens -1 | Total: 44.5It should be a chilly night in Cleveland, and if a recent stretch of home games for the Browns (9-3) was any indication, the weather will lead to a far more conservative approach than the one the team employed to run up 38 first-half points against Tennessee last week. Since Lamar Jackson of the Ravens (7-5) has thrown for fewer than 200 yards in seven of his last nine games, this one should be decided on the ground. In a surprise compared with recent seasons, that would, at least on paper, favor Cleveland on both sides of the ball. But there is a nagging feeling that Baltimore is a quality team that has underperformed while the Browns have simply benefited from a light schedule. This game could help sort out if that is true. Pick: Ravens -1How Betting Lines WorkA quick primer for those who are not familiar with betting lines: Favorites are listed next to a negative number that represents how many points they must win by to cover the spread. Bills -2.5, for example, means that Buffalo must beat Pittsburgh by at least 3 points for its backers to win their bet. Gamblers can also bet on the total score, or whether the teams’ combined score in the game is over or under a preselected number of points.All times are Eastern.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More