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    Bills Beat the Steelers, Surging as a Rival Sinks

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBills 26, Steelers 15Bills Beat the Steelers, Surging as a Rival SinksBuffalo can clinch the A.F.C. East title on Saturday. Pittsburgh fell behind Kansas City in the race for the top seed in the playoffs.Stefon Diggs had 10 catches for 130 yards, including this 19-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.Credit…Matt Durisko/Associated PressDec. 14, 2020, 8:49 a.m. ETAfter the interception that cemented Buffalo’s standing among the N.F.L. elite, the Bills’ defense assembled and jogged the remaining length of the field together, toward the end zone and the cameras and oceans of blue seats. It was midway through the fourth quarter Sunday on a night at Bills Stadium that begged for fans, dancing in the aisles to “Shout” and swilling their Labatts and celebrating a victory that reverberated far beyond western New York.Buoyed by a defensive touchdown just before halftime and two scores immediately after the break, the Bills toppled the Pittsburgh Steelers, 26-15, with the outcome evoking a pebble skimming across a pond.One wave fanned out from the home locker room, where a most dangerous team continued to gain confidence as it approaches a prize that has eluded it since before its cherished quarterback, Josh Allen, was born: With a two-game lead over Miami, the Bills (10-3), who have the franchise’s best record through 13 games since 1991, could clinch their first A.F.C. East title in 25 years as soon as next week.Another ripple registered throughout the Steelers (11-2), who only a week ago were unbeaten — imperfect but unbeaten. Pittsburgh has lost two straight, and if Buffalo is soaring as the playoffs draw near, then the Steelers are flailing, as if grasping for a light switch in the dark, struggling without an explosive offense.But the biggest ripple of all jostled the A.F.C. landscape, where the Steelers dropped behind the Kansas City Chiefs (12-1), who won in Miami, in the race for the top seed in the playoffs. Even if the Bills’ playoff positioning itself didn’t change, they reasserted their place within that hierarchy.As the N.F.L. has evolved, the best teams are those with dynamic passing offenses and defenses that can slow down the aerial game just enough. Sitting on Ben Roethlisberger’s short throws and blitzing him off the edge, the Bills hounded him into his worst game of the season.“If I don’t play good enough football, then I need to hang it up,” said Roethlisberger, who went 21 of 37 for 187 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. “I still feel like I can do enough things to help this team win football games, and I’ll do everything I can to get us back on track.”Ed Oliver and the Bills defense harassed Ben Roethlisberger into his worst game of the season.Credit…Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated PressA Pittsburgh defense, meantime, that embellished its bona fides the previous six games against the likes of Garrett Gilbert and Jake Luton and Robert Griffin III was on Sunday exposed by an unfamiliar phenomenon: a formidable passing attack. Missing three starters, including cornerback Joe Haden, the Steelers managed to contain Allen and his cadre of explosive receivers for one half but not two.In that first half, Stefon Diggs caught three passes, and after the Bills took a 9-7 lead just before the break on a 51-yard interception return by Taron Johnson — their first defensive touchdown of the season — they spent halftime sorting out how to unlock an offense that had gained only 102 yards.They did that in two ways, Allen said.One: “I started completing it to the right guys.”Two: “We started throwing it to Stef.”Allen completed his first 11 passes after halftime, a stretch of brilliance that included touchdowns to Diggs and the rookie Gabriel Davis, neither of whom were on the Bills last season.As the Bills sought to mold Allen’s bountiful physical talent into a trustworthy N.F.L. quarterback, they surrounded him with what could be the deepest and most reliable receiving corps in the league. Heading that group is Diggs, who in his first season with Buffalo after being acquired in a trade from Minnesota has caught 100 passes — tying the franchise’s single-season record. Six of those catches on Sunday (for 83 of his 130 receiving yards) came on the two third-quarter scoring drives that capped a string of 23 consecutive points.“Diggs is so special that as I see him play, I just want to rip off my captain’s ‘C’ and throw it on his chest,” offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said.Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes as the Bills moved within a game of clinching their first A.F.C. East title since 1995.Credit…Bryan M. Bennett/Getty ImagesBefore Sunday, the last time Diggs scored was in Week 10 at Arizona, a late go-ahead touchdown that would only be eclipsed by Kyler Murray’s game-winning Hail Mary. The Bills had won three in a row before that loss, and they have won three in a row since, overcoming the stage fright that doomed them in earlier defeats against two other A.F.C. contenders, Tennessee and Kansas City.The Steelers may not live in their fears, as their coach, Mike Tomlin, likes to say, but they have now laid bare their shortcomings three times in 12 days. After playing what he called “junior varsity” football in a close win over Baltimore, and producing “catastrophic” results on short-yardage failures in a loss to Washington, the Steelers’ performance Sunday was not an aberration or an anomaly but evidence of a trend.Asked if there was enough time before next week’s game against Cincinnati to fix an offense that regained center Maurkice Pouncey and running back James Conner but still averaged 2.8 yards on 17 carries, Tomlin replied with one word: Yes. If he is wrong, Pittsburgh might be wise to start monitoring the Browns, who, if they beat Baltimore on Monday night, would inch within a game of the Steelers in the A.F.C. North. The teams will meet in Week 17 in Cleveland.That division might be unsettled, but the A.F.C. East is not. Long the domain of the New England Patriots, it soon shall belong to the Buffalo Bills, who, week after week in this bizarre season, are making their fans wish they were there to see this ascent for themselves.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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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