NFL
Daniel Jones threw two touchdown passes to rookie Malik Nabers, New York’s defensive players took turns sacking Deshaun Watson, and the Giants held off the Cleveland Browns 21-15. Jones completed 24 of 34 passes for 236 yards as the Giants shook off a loss at Washington that prompted a week of criticism toward coach Brian Daboll. The Browns rallied in the fourth after being dominated for three quarters and losing three offensive linemen to injuries. But Cleveland couldn't take the lead in three opportunities. Running back Jerome Ford fumbled, and the Giants twice stopped the Browns on fourth down in the final four minutes.
Saquon Barkley rushed for fourth-quarter touchdowns of 65 and 4 yards, and the Philadelphia Eagles rebounded from a maddening late-game collapse six days earlier to beat the New Orleans Saints 15-12. Barkley’s shorter run came with 1:01 left, one play after Dallas Goedert's 61-yard catch that gave him a career-high 170 yards on 10 catches. Eagles safety Reed Blankenship sealed the victory when he intercepted Derek Carr with 48 seconds left. That capped a banner performance by Philadelphia’s defense against an offense that had scored an NFL-high 91 points during the regular season’s first two weeks under new coordinator Klint Kubiak. The Saints' lone TD came on Chris Olave's 12-yard catch.
Tonight on Monday Night Football:
Jacksonville at Buffalo 7:30 p.m.
Washington at Cincinnati 8:15 p.m.
Coach Todd Bowles rejected the notion that a 26-7 loss to the Denver Broncos was a wakeup call for his Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs sputtered offensively and didn’t get the job done on defense, either. The loss spoiled a bid to open a season with three consecutive victories for the first time since 2005. The Bucs were outgained the Bo Nix-led Broncos 352 yards to 223. The Broncos sacked Baker Mayfield seven times and intercepted the Tampa Bay quarterback once. Bowles said it's not a time to overreact. He said the Bucs simply need to play better to get back on track.
Malik Willis ran for a touchdown and threw for a score in his best performance in the NFL, leading the Green Bay Packers to a 30-14 rout of the Tennessee Titans. Willis won his second straight start subbing for Jordan Love. He also got a sweet measure of revenge against the team that traded him to Green Bay in August. Willis accounted for 134 of the Packers’ 137 yards in the first quarter. He finished with 202 yards passing and 73 rushing. The Titans fell to 0-3 under first-year coach Brian Callahan. That's their worst start since losing the first six of 2009.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams produced promising numbers in his third career NFL start. They came with a disappointingly familiar result for the Chicago Bears. The No. 1 overall draft topped the 300-yard mark for the first time and got the Bears into the end zone twice with the first two TD passes of his pro career. But Williams could not complete a fourth-quarter comeback attempt at Indianapolis, suffering a 21-16 loss to the Colts — his second straight defeat. Still, Williams remains optimistic the Bears can turn things around.
Sam Darnold matched his career high with four touchdown passes, and the undefeated Minnesota Vikings used another dominant performance on defense by trouncing C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans 34-7. Jonathan Greenard had three of the four sacks of Stroud as the Vikings intercepted the 2023 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year twice. Darnold connected with Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones for scores in the first quarter and in the second half delivered a touchdown to Jalen Nailor for the third straight game. He got tight end Johnny Mundt one, too. The Vikings are 3-0. The Texans are 2-1.
Justin Fields threw for a touchdown and ran for another and the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled away late to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-10. Pittsburgh improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2020 behind another efficient performance from Fields. The quarterback completed 25 of 32 passes for 245 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III midway through the fourth quarter that broke it open. Fields also added a 5-yard touchdown run and is quietly making a compelling case that he should be the starter even after Russell Wilson’s injured calf heals. The Chargers lost starting quarterback Justin Herbert in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Andy Dalton gave the Panthers the quarterback play they’ve been sorely lacking, throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns to lead Carolina past the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22. Promoted to the starting job in place of the ineffective Bryce Young, Dalton guided the Panthers to their first win and moved to 4-0 lifetime against the Raiders. Carolina is 3-17 going back to last season. The Panthers were blown out the first two weeks this year, prompting coach Dave Canales to bench Young. Dalton completed 26 of 37 passes and becoming the first NFL quarterback this season to post a 300-yard, three-TD performance.
Geno Smith threw for 289 yards and a 71-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf, Zach Charbonnet rushed for two TDs, and the Seattle Seahawks beat Miami 24-3 where the attention turned to another injury suffered by a Dolphins quarterback. A week after losing Tua Tagovailoa to the third concussion in the past two years, the Dolphins watched Skylar Thompson suffer a chest injury in the second half, leaving Tim Boyle to try and lead the charge back from a 17-3 deficit. Boyle was unable to direct a comeback and the Dolphins were stuck back in a place of uncertainty about their QB situation. Seattle improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2020.
Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, Lamar Jackson accounted for two scores and the Baltimore Ravens held on for a 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The Ravens scored touchdowns on their first two drives. Baltimore responded the first 0-2 start since 2015 for a franchise coming off a trip to the AFC championship game. The Cowboys have allowed 120 points in their past three home games. That includes a 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay in January that ended Dallas’ 16-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium. Dallas cut a 28-6 deficit to three in the fourth quarter before Baltimore ran out the final 2:53.
Arizona had one of the NFL’s best offenses through the first two games behind the sound decision making of quarterback Kyler Murray. The Cardinals ran into a wall of Lions and Murray had his first big mistake of the season, leading to a stuck-in-the-mud 20-13 loss to Detroit. Arizona's defense held its own after allowing 20 points in the first half, giving the Cardinals a chance. The offense didn't cooperate. Arizona went 1 for 9 on third downs after leading the league through the first two games. Murray threw an interception in the end zone while trying to force a pass and the Cardinals failed on two fourth-down conversions.
Joshua Karty hit a 37-yard field goal with 2 seconds to play, and the Los Angeles Rams staged a spectacular late rally for a 27-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Kyren Williams rushed 4 yards for his third touchdown of the day with 1:51 left in regulation for the Rams, who came back from a 14-point deficit in the second half for their second straight win over San Francisco after losing nine of the NFC West archrivals’ previous 10 meetings. Jauan Jennings set career highs with 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns for the 49ers, who blew a lead of at least 14 points for the first time since 2018.
Patrick Mahomes threw a pair of touchdown passes and Kansas City's defense made a couple of late stands to keep the Chiefs unbeaten with a 22-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs have been far from perfect as Mahomes threw another interception but they have won three times by a combined 13 points. Coming off an upset victory at Philadelphia, the Falcons had a couple of shots at the go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes. Kirk Cousins threw a pair of incompletions in the end zone to end one chance, and the final Atlanta drive ended with Bijan Robinson being thrown for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-1.
Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett will undergo an MRI on his foot today after an injury that bothered him for long stretches of Cleveland’s 21-15 loss to the New York Giants. Garrett had to be helped off the field at one point of the fourth quarter. On Friday, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year revealed he’s dealing with injuries to both feet but didn’t say exactly what was wrong. Garrett grabbed his right foot during the game, and he was limping following several plays. The 28-year-old said he’s dealing with multiple issues in both of his legs as he’s trying to compensate for the foot injuries.
WNBA PLAYOFFS
Leonie Fiebich hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Breanna Stewart added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the New York Liberty never trailed in their 83-69 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. The Liberty can sweep the best-of-three series with a win Tuesday in New York. Game 3, if necessary, is Thursday in Atlanta. The Liberty, who seek their first WNBA championship, made their fifth WNBA Finals appearance last season but lost 3-1 to the Las Vegas Aces.
Alyssa Thomas had the 15th triple-double of her career to spoil Caitlin Clark’s playoff debut as the Connecticut Sun beat the Indiana Fever 93-69 yesterday in Game 1 of their best-of-three series. Thomas finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, earning her fourth postseason triple-double. Marina Mabrey led the third-seeded Sun with 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Her 27 points are the most by a reserve in the playoffs, according to ESPN. Clark finished with 11 points, recovering from a rough start. She also had eight assists.
Napheesa Collier scored a playoff career-high 38 points and the Minnesota Lynx blew a 23-point lead before rallying late to beat the Phoenix Mercury 102-95 on Sunday in Game 1 of a best-of-three series. Kahleah Copper scored five points in a 10-2 run and her 3-pointer followed by two Brittney Griner free throws gave seventh-seeded Phoenix its first lead since scoring the first four points of the game, 86-85 with 4:44 left to play. Natasha Cloud’s layup put the Mercury on top 92-91 with 2:06 left to play, but Myisha Hines-Allen answered with a layup and Bridget Carlson hit a 3-pointer in a 9-0 spurt to pull out the victory.
A’ja Wilson scored 21 points and blocked five shots after earning her record-tying third MVP award, and the two-time defending-champion Las Vegas Aces held the Seattle Storm to a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter in pulling away for a 78-67 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. Las Vegas will host Game 2 on Tuesday. Seattle will host Game 3 on Wednesday if necessary.
Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson was a unanimous choice as the WNBA MVP the league announced Sunday. Wilson averaged 26.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. She’s only the second player to win the award unanimously, joining Cynthia Cooper, who did it in the league’s inaugural season of 1997. Wilson received all 67 first-place votes from a national media panel and has now won the award three times. The Aces’ versatile forward was also honored in 2020 and 2022. She’s the fourth player in WNBA history to do that, joining Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.
MLB
Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 55th homer of the season, Gleyber Torres and Jasson Domínguez also went deep and the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics 7-4 for a three-game sweep that moved New York to the verge of an AL East title. Already assured of a playoff berth, the Yankees (92-64) can clinch the division with one victory over second-place Baltimore (86-70) during a three-game series in the Bronx that starts Tuesday night. New York opened a two-game lead over Cleveland for homefield advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Luís Gil (15-6) won his third straight decision, allowing four runs, five hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Tyler Soderstrom and Ryan Noda each had two-run doubles for the A’s.
Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking, sixth-inning home run off Zack Wheeler that sailed just over the glove of leaping right fielder Nick Castellanos, and the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 2-1 to prevent the Phillies from clinching the NL East at Citi Field. New York has won 18 of its last 23 games. The Mets moved past Arizona into the second of three NL wild card slots, ahead of the Diamondbacks on a tiebreaker and two games ahead of the Braves. New York finishes the regular season with three games each at Atlanta and Milwaukee. Philadelphia needs one win in its last six games to clinch its first NL East title since 2011.
The struggling Minnesota Twins were swept in a split doubleheader against Boston on Sunday, when Romy Gonzalez hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in the nightcap to lead the Red Sox to a 9-3 victory. Losing for the 13th time in 19 games, the Twins fell a game behind both Detroit and Kansas City for the AL’s final two wild-card spots. They own the tiebreaker over both. Minnesota (81-75) is just 11-22 since going 17 games over .500 on Aug. 17. Winning for just the ninth time in 23 games, the Red Sox (78-78) got back to .500 after fading in the playoff chase. They’re only 24-36 since the All-Star break. In the opener, Triston Casas homered in his first three at-bats and drove in seven runs, carrying the Red Sox to an 8-1 victory.
Blake Snell struck out nine in six strong innings and the San Francisco Giants completed a three-game series sweep with a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Kansas City was shut out for the second straight game and lost its seventh straight. Snell (5-3) allowed two singles and a walk and didn’t allow a runner past first base. In his last 14 starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 114 strikeouts. Three Giants relievers struck out four and Ryan Walker earned his ninth save.
Lars Nootbaar scored the go-ahead run from second base on a wild pitch and Andre Pallante allowed one hit in seven innings as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-1. Myles Straw’s single in the sixth inning was the only hit Pallante allowed in seven innings. Pallante walked two and struck out three. Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth to earn his major league leading 47th save, breaking a tie with Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase.
The Chicago White Sox tied the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets when the San Diego Padres won 4-2 by rallying for three runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s towering home run. The White Sox had taken a 2-1 lead on home runs by Korey Lee and Miguel Vargas off Yu Darvish, but that lead quickly disappeared in the eighth. This defeat came a day after the White Sox tied the American League record of 119 losses set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the major league record for losses at 20-134.
Kerry Carpenter homered twice, Parker Meadows made a home run-saving grab and the surging Detroit Tigers moved into a tie for the second American League wild card with a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Carpenter’s third multi-home run game of the season ensured the Tigers their first winning season since 2016 as Detroit moved into a tie with Kansas City and a half-game in front of Minnesota for the final AL wild card spot. The Tigers have won 11 of their last 14.
Jonathan Aranda homered in a third straight game and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Aranda gave the Rays a 2-1 lead on his two-run drive against Zach Pop in the sixth inning. Aranda has connected for six of his 10 career homers against the Blue Jays. Pinch hitter Christopher Morel had an seventh-inning sacrifice fly off Génesis Cabrera (3-3) before Brandon Lowe’s solo homer in the eighth made it 4-2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the Blue Jays within 4-3 with a single for his third hit of the game in the ninth off Edwin Uceta, who recovered to get his fourth save.
Marcus Semien lined a game-ending single into the left field corner to score Leody Taveras as the Texas Rangers rallied from a five-run deficit for a 6-5 win. That kept the playoff-chasing Seattle Mariners from gaining ground in the AL wild card race Sunday. The 80-76 Mariners dropped two games back in a tight, four-team wild card race with three AL Central teams. Likely only two of that quartet making the playoffs. Detroit and Kansas City are both 82-74, tied for the final two playoffs spots and four games behind wild card-leading Baltimore. Seattle is still a game behind Minnesota after the Twins were swept in a doubleheader at Boston.
Zach Neto hit two home runs and drove in six, and the Los Angeles Angels came from behind twice to beat the Houston Astros 9-8. The Angels trailed 4-0 in the sixth before scoring two runs in back-to-back innings, and then took the lead in the eighth on a solo shot from Neto. The Astros responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning before the Angels had a four-run ninth. Houston begins a three-game series with Seattle on Monday and has a chance to clinch the AL West with a win in that series.
Paul Skenes struck out nine and pitched two-hit ball through five innings, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. Skenes (11-3) recorded his 16th game with seven or more strikeouts, surpassing Larry McWilliams (1983) for seventh-most by a Pirates starter in a season. In three starts against the Reds, the 22-year-old right-hander has allowed one earned run with 25 strikeouts in 17 innings. Oneil Cruz hit his 21st homer in the first inning and Nick Yorke’s first career homer off Fernando Cruz in the fifth inning gave the Pirates a two-run lead. Pittsburgh won by shutout for the 12th time this season. The Reds lost by shutout for the 14th time this season.
Michael Harris II tripled, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 5-4 on Sunday. Gio Urshela and Ozzie Albies homered while Matt Olson had two hits and an RBI for the Braves, who began Sunday two games behind the New York Mets for the third NL wild card. Jorge Soler’s infield single with the bases loaded against Declan Cronin in the seventh scored Harris from third and put the Braves ahead.
Shota Imanaga pitched seven crisp innings in his sixth consecutive win, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 5-0. Imanaga was backed by home runs from Mike Tauchman, Michael Busch and Miguel Amaya. The Japanese left-hander allowed six hits, struck out four and walked none, continuing his strong finish to his first season in the majors. The start of the game was delayed for 2 hours, 20 minutes because of rain. The Cubs, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, took three of four in the series. They went 6-1 against the Nationals this season. James Wood and José Tena each had two of Washington’s eight hits.
Jake Bauers drove in the go-ahead run with a pinch-hit infield single that capped a four-run eighth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers overcame an eight-run deficit and avoided a series sweep, rallying for a 10-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. The Brewers trailed 8-0 in the third before chipping away and tying that game at 9 by scoring three runs with two outs in the eighth inning. Jared Koenig (9-4) earned the win and the Brewers’ Devin Williams worked a scoreless ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances. Justin Martinez (5-6) relieved and Rhys Hoskins tied it with a two-run single to left
Shohei Ohtani hit a tying home run in the ninth inning and Mookie Betts followed with another drive as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday to maintain their three-game lead in the National League West. Ohtani had four hits and added two stolen bases, giving him 53 home runs and 55 steals on the season. Three pitches after Ohtani tied the game against Rockies right-hander Seth Halvorsen, Betts homered to left, his 19th. Brendan Rodgers and Nolan Jones each drove in two runs for the Rockies.
The Chicago White Sox had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning, and then history struck. Their lead was gone in the span of four San Diego Padres batters and the White Sox went on to their 120th loss, tying the post-1900 record set by the 1962 expansion New York Mets. The White Sox headed to a somber clubhouse and quietly packed for their flight home while the Padres gathered in front of their dugout to applaud the sellout crowd of 45,197 that roared through the top of the ninth of the 4-2 win in the regular-season home finale.
The Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell on Sunday night after six seasons. The team announced the move hours after a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and named bench coach Freddie Benavides as interim manager for the final five games of the season. With a week left in the season, the Reds are 76-81 and in fourth place in the NL Central, 13 1/2 games behind division champion Milwaukee.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Dániel Gazdag scored one of his two goals three minutes after Mikael Uhre found the net early in the first half and the Philadelphia Union breezed to a 4-0 victory over D.C. United. With the victory, Philadelphia (9-12-9) pulled even with Toronto FC for one of two wild-card spots with four matches left in the regular season. The loss for DC United (8-13-9) leaves it three points off the pace for the play-in match. Uhre gave the Union the lead for good when he took a pass from 20-year-old Quinn Sullivan in the 13th minute and scored for the 10th time this season. Gazdag found the net unassisted in the 16th minute for a two-goal lead.
NHL PRESEASON
N-Y Islanders 4 New Jersey 2
N-Y Rangers 3 Boston 2
Philadelphia 6 Washington 2
OT Edmonton 3 Winnipeg 2
Florida 6 Nashville 2
Florida 3 Nashville 2
Utah 5 St. Louis 3
OT Ottawa 6 Toronto 5
Vegas 4 San Jose 2
Calgary 6 Seattle 1
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Tennessee moved up to No. 5 in The Associated Press college football poll as the Volunteers continue to surge up the rankings, and No. 25 Boise State returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time in four years. Texas was No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving 44 of 62 first-place votes as the top four teams remained the same. Georgia held at No. 2, receiving 13 first-place votes, and Ohio State is No. 3 with five first-place votes. Alabama is No. 4. The Vols, who started the season ranked No. 15, won at Oklahoma on Saturday night.
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