NFL
The Cleveland Browns managed to end their 17-game losing streak by rallying against the Steelers, but their winless skid continues.
The Browns erased a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter but had to settle for a 21-21 tie with Pittsburgh when T.J. Watt blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt by Zane Gonzalez with nine seconds left in overtime.
Carlos Hyde began the Browns' rally with a one-yard touchdown run midway through the final period. Tyrod Taylor later threw a 17-yard scoring strike to Josh Gordon with 1:58 left in regulation, but Cleveland's last drive of the quarter ended when Taylor misfired to Gordon and was intercepted by Cameron Sutton with 16 seconds remaining.
Steelers’ running back James Connor ran for 135 yards and scored two touchdowns in place of Le'Veon Bell, who continues his holdout.
Ben Roethlisberger threw three interceptions in the first half and finished 23 of 41 for 335 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Antonio Brown.
It was the NFL's first season-opening tie with 1971.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
Aaron Rodgers returned from a knee injury and hit Randall Cobb for a 75-yard, catch-and-run touchdown with 2:13 left in the Packers' 24-23 win over the Bears. Rodgers finished with 286 passing yards and threw all three of his scoring passes in the fourth quarter after being carted off in the first half with a knee injury. Mitch Trubisky ran for a touchdown and had 171 yards passing for Chicago, which led 20-0 late in the third period.
Luke Kuechly had 13 tackles and Kawann Short sacked Dak Prescott twice as the Panthers' defense dominated in a 16-8 victory against the Cowboys. Carolina's defense had six sacks and limited the Cowboys to 232 yards. Cam Newton ran for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers, who iced the victory on Mario Addison's strip-sack of Prescott with 1:23 remaining.
Jakeem Grant scored on a tiebreaking 102-yard kickoff return with 14 minutes to go and the Dolphins overcame two weather delays to win the longest game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, 27-20 over the Titans. Lightning delays lasted a total of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and the game took 7 hours, 10 minutes to play. Tennessee had a chance to tie it until Reshad Jones picked off Blaine Gabbert and returned it 54 yards.
The Giants were 20-15 losers to the Jaguars despite Saquon Barkley, who ran 68 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown and finished with 106 yards on 18 carries in his NFL debut. Myles Jack scored on a 32-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter to give Jacksonville a 20-9 lead before Barkley's TD. Blake Bortles threw for 176 yards and a touchdown for the Jags, who finished the game without Leonard Fournette because of a hamstring injury suffered in the second quarter.
Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots opened with a 27-20 victory over Houston. Rob Gronkowski grabbed a 21-yard scoring strike from Brady and finished with seven receptions for 123 yards. DeShaun Watson was 17 of 34 for 176 yards, one touchdown and an interception in his return from a major knee injury.
Von Miller sacked Russell Wilson three times, forced two fumbles and recovered one before the Broncos completed a 27-24 triumph over the Seahawks. Case Keenum passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted three times. Wilson also was picked off three times while passing for 298 yards and three scores.
Ryan Fitzpatrick highlighted his four-touchdown performance with two scoring strikes of more than 50 yards in the Buccaneers' 48-40 stunner at New Orleans. Mike Evans caught seven passes for 147 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown. DeSean Jackson caught scoring passes of 58 and 36 yards to highlight his 146-yard day before going out with a concussion.
Kirk Cousins passed for two touchdowns without a turnover in his Vikings debut while Minnesota forced four takeaways to fuel a 24-16 victory over San Francisco. Cousins went 20 for 36 for 244 yards, targeting Adam Thielen 12 times for 102 yards. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was sacked three times and tossed three second-half interceptions in his first loss in eight games as an NFL starter.
Tyreek Hill scored three touchdowns and Patrick Mahomes passed for his first four NFL scores in the Chiefs' 38-28 verdict over the Chargers. Hill had a 91-yard punt return for a score and a 58-yard TD reception during the first quarter before adding a 1-yard TD grab in the fourth quarter. Mahomes was 15 of 27 for 256 yards in the Chiefs' ninth straight win over the Chargers.
Clayton Fejedelem scored on an 83-yard fumble return with 24 seconds to go to seal the Bengals' 34-23 victory at Indianapolis. Andy Dalton rallied Cincinnati with three scores in the final 19 minutes of the team's first win in its last nine visits to Indianapolis. Andrew Luck was 39 of 53 for two touchdowns and one interception in his first start in more than 20 months.
Joe Flacco threw for three touchdowns and was 25 of 34 for 236 yards before being replaced in the third quarter of the Ravens' 47-3 pounding of the Bills. The Ravens held Buffalo to 33 yards and no first downs in going up 26-0 at the half. Buffalo's Nathan Peterman went 5 for 18 for 24 yards and two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 0.0.
Redskins newcomers Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson had productive afternoons in a 24-6 downing of the Cardinals. Smith completed 21 of 30 passes without an interception and had TD throws of 13 yards to Chris Thompson and four yards to Jordan Reed. Peterson rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and had a 52-yard reception before fumbling at the end of the play.
The New York Jets take on the Lions Monday at 7:10 p.m.
US OPEN
Novak Djokovic has earned his 14th Grand Slam title and second in a row by getting through a key 20-minute game to beat 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the U.S. Open men's final.
Djokovic appeared on the ropes after dropping three straight games in the second set to fall behind 4-3. But when he faced three consecutive break points in the following game and won an epic that required 22 points to settle.
The 31-year-old Serb is now even with Pete Sampras for the third-most major trophies for a man in tennis history, trailing only Roger Federer's 20 and Rafael Nadal's 17.
Also at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams has been fined a total of $17,000 for three code violations during Saturday's women's final. The tournament referee's office docked Williams $10,000 for "verbal abuse" of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, $4,000 for being warned for coaching, and $3,000 for breaking her racket.
MLB
The National League West race is a little tighter once again, while the Atlanta Braves have more breathing room in the NL East.
Los Angeles is within a half-game of West-leading Colorado after Justin Turner was 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and two runs scored in the Dodgers' 9-6 win over the Rockies. Kike (KEE'-kay) Hernandez banged out his 20th home run and Chris Taylor added a two-run double to help the Dodgers gain a split of the four-game series.
Charlie Blackmon homered twice and Nolan Arenado hit a two-run shot for the Rockies, whose lead in the NL West is a half-game over Los Angeles.
The Braves moved 4 ½ games ahead of Philadelphia and kept the Diamondbacks 2 ½ games behind the Rockies. Ender Inciarte, Lucas Duda and Johan Camargo homered while the Braves were scoring six times in the ninth inning to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 9-5 win at Arizona. Inciarte put Atlanta ahead with a three-run blast before Duda and Carmargo added insurance runs.
Ronald Acuna Jr. smacked a two-run shot and scored three times for the Braves.
The Phillies lost ground to Atlanta by dropping the rubber match of their three-game set with the Mets, 6-4. Michael Conforto drove in four runs with an RBI single and a tiebreaking, three-run blast that chased losing pitcher Vince Velasquez in the fifth. The Mets take on the Marlins Monday 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia wasted Rhys Hoskins' 30th home run and fell to 2-6 this month.
Checking out Sunday's other major league action:
The Brewers completed a three-game sweep as Jonathan Schoop launched a go-ahead, grand slam in the sixth inning of a 6-3 victory against the Giants. Schoop had five RBIs for Milwaukee, which climbed within two games of the NL Central-leading Cubs.
Chicago's game in Washington was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The Cardinals are still a half-game ahead of the Dodgers for the second NL wild card after John Gant allowed two runs over 6 2/3s to lead St. Louis past Detroit, 5-2. The Redbirds didn't have a baserunner until the sixth inning, but the game was scoreless until Kolten Wong delivered an RBI single in a five-run seventh.
Justin Smoak and Teoscar Hernandez each slammed two-run homers and Smoak finished with three RBIs as the Blue Jays dumped the Indians, 6-2. Thomas Pannone allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innings against the AL Central leaders, including solo homers by Francisco Lindor and Brandon Barnes.
The Red Sox avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Astros, 6-5 on Mitch Moreland's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. J.D. Martinez hit his 40th homer and drove in four for Boston, which snapped Houston's seven-game winning streak even after the Astros rallied with a four-run sixth inning to tie the game, 5-5. Boston has the night off as they prepare to host the Blue Jays Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Stephen Piscotty homered and the Athletics pulled within 2 ½ games of the AL West-leading Astros by rallying from an early three-run deficit to beat the Rangers 7-3. Matt Olson had two hits, including a double in a five-run fourth. Oakland is 30 games over .500 for the first time in five years and 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees for the first AL wild card.
The Yankees were 3-2 losers at Seattle as Mitch Haniger scored the go-ahead run on a grounder in the eighth inning. Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 54th save, helped by Haniger's diving catch in the ninth. New York heads to Minneapolis to take on the Twins Monday at 8:10 p.m.
The Rays picked up their 11th consecutive home win as Brandon Lowe smacked a three-run homer while Tampa Bay scored five in the first inning of an 8-3 romp over the Orioles. The Rays have won 16 of their last 19 overall and outscored the Orioles 32-10 in a three-game sweep.
The Twins pulled out a 3-1 win over the Royals on a two-out, two-run homer by Willians Astudillo in the bottom of the ninth.
Andrew Heaney struck out a career-high 12 and tossed three-hit ball over seven innings as the Angels blanked the White Sox, 1-0.
Eric Hosmer led off the ninth with a homer to lift the Padres past the Reds, 7-6.
The Marlins and Pirates had their game in Pittsburgh canceled by rain.
MINOR LEAGUE
The Tri-City ValleyCats had a 4-2, 12-inning victory that completed a two-game sweep of the Hudson Valley Renegades in the New York-Penn League championship series. The ValleyCats also won titles in 2010 and 2013.
T25
Alabama is No. 1 at being No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll. The Crimson Tide made its 106th overall appearance at the top of the AP rankings, which started in 1936, passing Ohio State for the most by any school.
Alabama received a season-high 54 first-place votes to strengthen its hold on No. 1 over No. 2 Clemson. The Tigers started the season with 18 first-place votes, but they are down to six after hanging on for 28-26 victory at Texas A&M on Saturday night.
No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State held their spots and Oklahoma moved to No. 5, edging past No. 6 Wisconsin. The Badgers received a first-place vote.
Elsewhere in College Football:
Oklahoma star running back Rodney Anderson is out for the season with a right knee injury. Anderson got up slowly after a 10-yard run on the final play of the first quarter Saturday against UCLA. This is the third season-ending injury of Anderson's career.
Duke quarterback Daniel Jones is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone and all-ACC cornerback Mark Gilbert is done for the season with a hip injury. Jones threw for three touchdowns before breaking his left clavicle while taking a blindside hit during the third-quarter Blue Devils' 21-7 victory at Northwestern on Saturday. Gilbert injured his left hip in the second quarter.
NASCAR
Rain wiped out Sunday's running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the final race of NASCAR's regular season.
The race has been rescheduled for Monday afternoon. Pole-sitter Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick made up the front row as NASCAR used the drivers' standings to determine the starting grid after Saturday's qualifying was rained out.
PGA
The final round of the PGA's BMW Championship has been pushed back to Monday due to rain.
Tour officials say they will wait until Monday to decide whether to try to complete 72 holes of the third FedEx Cup playoff event. If the forecast makes it unlikely to finish, the tour could cut the event to 54 holes.
Justin Rose has a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele (ZAN'-dur SHAWF'-lee). If officials deem the course unplayable Monday, Rose will get the Fedex playoff victory and climb to No. 1 in the world ranking.
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