NFL:
The Green Bay Packers have knocked off the NFL’s last unbeaten team.
The Packers came away with a 24-21 win over the Cardinals when Kyler Murray threw an interception on second-and-goal with 12 seconds remaining. The pick came shortly after the Packers were stopped on downs near the Arizona goal line.
Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes to Randall Cobb as the Packers won their seventh straight since a season-opening loss to New Orleans. Rodgers was 22 of 37 for just 184 yards and no interceptions.
Murray finished with 274 yards passing and two interceptions as the Cardinals fell to 7-1.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has practiced for a second straight day, testing his injured shoulder while wearing pads and a new harness as he tries to get ready to play Sunday.
Mayfield sat out last week’s win over Denver with a torn labrum and fracture in his non-throwing shoulder. He made it through Wednesday’s practice without any difficulty and was on the field again Thursday as the Browns continue preparing for the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
If Mayfield can’t play this week, Case Keenum will start again. The 33-year-old backup led the Browns to a 17-14 win over the Broncos last week.
In other NFL news:
Saints coach Sean Payton says running back Mark Ingram is slated to practice with the team on Friday and is “absolutely” expected to play against the Buccaneers this weekend. The Saints and the Houston Texans have agreed to a trade sending Ingram back to the club where he spent his first eight NFL seasons before leaving for Baltimore in 2019.
Former NFL head coach Jack Del Rio is showing little interest in being a possible candidate for the vacant Southern Cal job. When asked about the position, Del Rio said he liked his current position as Washington’s defensive coordinator. He played for the Trojans in the 1980s.
The NFL has instituted some policy changes to the Rooney Rule designed to further enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring practices. The rule has been expanded to require teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for general manager/executive of football operations positions, and all coordinator roles.
NHL:
Joel Quenneville has resigned as head coach of the Florida Panthers.
The decision follows a Thursday meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and comes two days after he was among those implicated for not swiftly responding to allegations by a Chicago Blackhawks player in 2010 of being sexually assaulted by another coach.
An investigation released Tuesday said Quenneville and others in the Blackhawks organization did not prioritize addressing Kyle Beach’s allegations, presumably because they did not want to take away from the team’s push toward a championship. Quenneville was head coach of the Blackhawks at the time.
Quenneville had said as recently as Wednesday morning that he was unaware of the allegations until this summer. But in an interview that aired Wednesday evening on TSN, Beach said there was “absolutely no way” Quenneville could deny knowing about the allegations.
At 7-0-0, the Panthers are off to their best start in the franchise’s 28-year history.
The Carolina Hurricanes are 6-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Frederik Andersen made 33 saves for his first shutout with Carolina, leading a 3-0 win over the Bruins.
Tony DeAngelo and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Hurricanes before Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal.
The Hurricanes killed all three of Boston’s third-period power plays, including 61 seconds of a two-man advantage.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
The Blues suffered their first loss of the season as J.T. Compher scored two goals to lead the Avalanche to a 4-3 victory at St. Louis. Nazem Kadri and Cale Makar also scored and Darcy Kuemper faced just 18 shots in getting the win. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington finished with 38 saves, and also was given a rare 10-minute misconduct near the end of the second period.
The Flames earned a 4-0 win at Pittsburgh as Jacob Markstrom stopped 45 shots for his second shutout in his last three starts. Johnny Gaudreau scored his first goal in the opening period, and Blake Coleman, Dillon Dube and Milan Lucic scored in the third as Calgary swept a five-game road trip. The Flames never trailed during the road trip, outscoring the opposition 21-7.
Alex Killorn scored twice in the first period of the Lightning’s 5-1 win against the Coyotes. Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist in the first period to help Tampa Bay get his first home win of the season. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves and blanked Arizona until Lawson Crouse scored with 7:24 remaining.
Haydn Fleury had the first two-goal game of his career and Brandon Tanev added his sixth of the season into an empty net, carrying the Kraken to a 4-1 verdict over the Wild. Tanev and Mark Giordano both scored empty net goals to secure Seattle's first-ever winning streak. Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves, including a critical stop of Kaprizov on a breakaway in the closing seconds of the second period.
Buffalo coughed up a 3-0 lead before Rasmus Asplund scored his second goal with 43.9 seconds left in overtime to complete the Sabres' 4-3 win at Anaheim. Zemgus Girgensons and Arttu Ruotsalainen also scored as the Sabres opened a four-game West Coast trip by earning at least a point for the sixth time in their seven games. Craig Anderson stopped 34 shots in a standout performance in goal.
Montreal won in San Jose for the first time in nearly 22 years as Jake Allen made 45 saves and Mike Hoffman scored for the third straight game in the Canadiens' 4-0 shutout of the Sharks. Alexander Romanov and Brendan Gallagher also scored goals as Montreal snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Sharks. The Habs had been outscored, 25-11 in dropping six of their first seven games.
The Jets knocked off the Kings, 3-2 as Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice and Kyle Connor set up three goals. Andrew Copp had a power-play goal in Winnipeg's fourth win in a row. Jets netminder Eric Comrie allowed two goals on 32 shots in his season debut.
The Flyers were 2-1 winners at Vancouver behind Sean Couturier's goal and an assist. James van Riemsdyk also scored on the power play for Philadelphia and Claude Giroux had two assists. Quinn Hughes tallied for the Canucks.
Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie has been listed as week to week with a lower-body injury.
Oshie took a shot from Detroit’s Danny DeKeyser off the outside of his right foot during the third period of the Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime win on Wednesday. He limped to the bench but did not miss any shifts and finished the game.
Oshie has scored four goals and six points in seven games this season.
In other NHL news:
Wild forwards Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Zuccarello is Minnesota’s leading scorer with seven points in six games, including three goals.
NBA:
The Washington Wizards have continued their impressive start under new coach Wes Unseld Jr. by knocking off one of last season’s Eastern Conference finalists.
The Wizards are 4-1 after Bradley Beal scored 27 points in a 122-111 downing of the Hawks. Montrezl Harrell added 25 with 13 rebounds for Washington, which won without injured guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Hawks cut a 20-point second-half deficit to five in the fourth quarter, but Harrell dunked off a pass from Beal before Beal slammed home a basket.
John Collins led Atlanta with 28 points on 14-of-16 shooting. Trae Young added 15 points and 13 assists.
In Thursday’s other NBA action:
Joel Embiid played through lingering knee pain while scoring 30 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the 76ers’ 110-102 win over the Pistons. Embiid sank four free throws and buried a 3 from the top of the arc down the stretch to save the Sixers from a complete collapse. Tobias Harris scored 17 points and Maxey had 16 for the Sixers.
Ja Morant made a driving layup with 57.9 seconds left and finished with 30 points as the Grizzlies knocked off the Warriors, 104-101 in overtime. Desmond Bane scored 19 for the Grizzlies, who ended a two-game skid and concluded their four-game West Coast trip with a back-to-back following a 116-96 defeat at Portland on Wednesday. Stephen Curry wound up with 36 points but missed two key 3-pointers late.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points to lead seven Jazz players in double-figures in a 122-91 thrashing of the Rockets. Rudy Gobert contributed 16 points and 14 boards for Utah, which led by 21 at halftime. Jordan Clarkson chipped in 16 points, and fellow backup Joe Ingles had 14 to help the Jazz move to 4-0.
Luka Doncic scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ 104-99 victory against the Spurs. Jalen Brunson added 19 points for the Mavericks, while Dorian Finney-Smith had 14 and Maxi Kleber 12. San Antonio jumped out to a 25-5 lead, and the Mavericks didn’t have a field goal until Doncic scored with 6:33 left in the first quarter.
Kemba Walker delivered 21 points and RJ Barrett added 20 as the Knicks handed the Bulls their first loss of the season, 104-103. Julius Randle had 13 points and 16 rebounds as New York won for the fourth time in five games. Chicago star Zack LaVine scored 25 points despite playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Former Bullets player and general manager Bob Ferry has died at 84.
Ferry became the team’s GM in 1973 and held that position until 1990. The Bullets reached the NBA Finals in 1975 and won its only championship three years later. He won executive of the year honors in 1979 and 1982.
Ferry was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1959 and played 10 seasons in the NBA, the last five with the Bullets.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
Coastal Carolina has rebounded from its first loss since last season.
Grayson McCall threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as the 24th-ranked Chanticleers took down Troy, 35-28. McCall passed for 294 yards, including scoring throws of 66 yards to Jaivon Heiligh and 71 yards to Braydon Bennett.
MLB:
The World Series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday after the Braves and Astros split the first two games in Houston.
Ian Anderson goes to the mound for the Braves in their first World Series home game since 1999. He’ll be opposed by Luis Garcia, the only pitcher to go eight innings in a game this postseason.
Each team has earned 7-2 victories so far. The Astros evened the Fall Classic on Wednesday as Jose Altuve homered and Jose Urquidy worked five strong innings.
The San Diego Padres have hired Bob Melvin from the Oakland Athletics as their new manager.
That’s according to a person with knowledge of the deal who tells The Associated Press that Melvin will receive a three-year deal.
Melvin replaces Jayce Tingler, who was fired Oct. 6 after a brutal second-half collapse dropped the Padres out of contention.
Melvin became the winningest manager in Oakland team history this year, but the A’s missed the playoffs following three straight postseason berths.
The A’s were 853-764 under Melvin.
In other MLB news:
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas has accepted a two-year deal worth $5 million annually and runs through 2023. Rojas batted .265 this season for Miami with nine home runs and 48 RBIs. He leads all current Marlins with 730 games played for the team.
PGA:
Brandon Hagy and Chad Ramey avoided the worst of the wind while recording 6-under 65′s to share the clubhouse lead in the Bermuda Championship.
The wind and spots of heavy rain were so fierce that play was suspended briefly in the morning and later halted by darkness.
Ramey managed to finish off a bogey-free round right before play was halted. Hagy made nine birdies to offset his bogeys, one of which was a 2-foot par putt he missed on the par-5 seventh hole.
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