TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 SPORTS

NFL Capsules Falcons fly past Saints 37-34 in OT Bengals take big step forward in AFC North

ATLANTA: Matt Bryant kicked a 51-yard field Robert Griffin III threw for 267 yards, but rushed up the middle and appeared stopped, goal on the final play of regulation, then booted Washington was done in by two second-half but slipped a few would-be tacklers on his way a 52-yarder in overtime to give the Atlanta fumbles in Jay Gruden’s debut as an NFL head to the end zone. A 2-point conversion failed, but Falcons a 37-34 victory over the New Orleans coach. the Jets held on to win their season opener. Saints. In another thriller between the NFC Geno Smith threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to COLORADO: Billy Horschel of the United States poses with the BMW trophy South rivals Sunday, Matt Ryan threw for a fran- VIKINGS 34, RAMS 6 Chris Johnson as the Jets sent the Raiders to and JK Wadley trophy (right) after his two-stroke victory at the of the BMW chise-record 448 yards, leading the Falcons to Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson ran for their 14th straight loss in the Eastern time zone. Championship at the Cherry Hills Country Club. —AFP just their fourth victory over the Saints in the last 102 yards on three carries with a 67-yard scoring Carr held his own in the first half, but the Jets 17 meetings. This one was particularly sweet for run off a simple pitchout and the Vikings pressured him throughout the final two quar- Atlanta (1-0) coming off a miserable 4-12 season, opened impressively under new coach Mike ters. He finished 20 of 32 for 151 yards and Unflappable Horschel grabs its first losing campaign since 2007. The teams Zimmer. The Rams handled Adrian Peterson, lim- touchdown throws to Rod Streater and James combined for 17 points in the final 2:50 of the iting the star runner to 75 yards on 21 carries. Jones. fourth quarter to force overtime. The Saints (0-1) They had zero luck with Patterson, who had BMW Championship title got the ball first, but Marques Colston fumbled three touchdowns rushing as a rookie. Rams PANTHERS 20, BUCCANEERS 14 after catching a pass over the middle. The quarterback Shaun Hill lasted one half as the Derek Anderson filled in nicely for injured COLORADO: Ice-cool American Billy spotlight as he kept his closest chal- Falcons recovered at the Saints 38; after three stand-in starter for Sam Bradford, missing the Cam Newton, throwing for 230 yards and two Horschel withstood an early challenge from lengers at bay, twice relinquishing the plays gained only 4 yards, Bryant booted rest of the game with a thigh injury and leaving touchdowns. Despite rallying with two late Ryan Palmer and a late charge by Bubba outright lead before regaining it quickly through another long field goal. Watson to win his second PGA Tour title by on both occasions. Three ahead of the two shots at the BMW Championship on chasing pack overnight, he maintained BILLS 23, BEARS 20, OT Sunday. Putting superbly when the pres- that advantage as he and playing partner Fred Jackson set up Dan Carpenter’s field sure was at its most intense, Horschel fired Palmer both birdied the driveable par- goal in overtime with a 38-yard run to the 1, and a one-under-par 69 at Cherry Hills Country four opening hole. Horschel bogeyed the the Bills stunned the Bears. The Bears (0-1) had Club to hold off his closest pursuers in the second after ending up in the right rough just punted to open the extra period and Buffalo PGA Tour’s penultimate FedExCup playoff off the tee to slip back to 13 under. Both took over on its 22. The Bills (1-0) got to the event. players birdied the par-four third before Chicago 39 when Jackson turned toward the left The 27-year-old American, who clinched Palmer cut the deficit to one by picking side and broke off his big run, pushing safety his maiden victory on the U.S. circuit at the up another shot at the tricky fifth, where Chris Conte out of the way twice inside the 10 2013 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, sank he hit a superb approach to five feet. before being knocked out of bounds at the 1. clutch par putts from eight feet at the 15th Horschel then bogeyed the par-three Carpenter won it with a 27-yarder. and 16th holes on the way to a 14-under sixth after finding a greenside bunker off total of 266. Horschel safely two-putted for the tee to make it a two-way tie at the top STEELERS 30, BROWNS 27 par on the 18th green, then gave a little fist at 13 under. Shaun Suisham drilled a 41-yard field goal as pump in celebration before being warmly A 23-foot birdie putt at the seventh time expired. The Steelers blew a 24-point half- embraced by his caddie. “It just means a restored the outright lead for Horschel, time lead as the Browns rallied behind quarter- lot,” a smiling Horschel told NBC Sports and he did well to remain one ahead by back Brian Hoyer, but escaped thanks to some after climbing into second place in the saving par at the 10th where he sank a 22- great plays from and wide FedExCup standings ahead of next week’s footer after splashing out from a poor lie receiver Markus Wheaton. Roethlisberger hit Tour Championship finale in Atlanta. “I in a bunker. Palmer again caught Horschel Wheaton twice on the winning drive, including a haven’t had the greatest season but I had with a birdie at the par-five 11th before 20-yarder that put Suisham in range to send the my game today,” he added. “I made some he bogeyed the 12th and ran up a double Browns to their 10th straight season-opening big putts and I could rely on my putter at the 13th, where he shanked his second loss. Roethlisberger passed for 365 yards and a because I am a good putter inside 10 feet. shot into a creek, to leave his title chal- touchdown. Hoyer threw for 230 yards and a This feels good.” lenge in tatters. Once again three ahead, score and played brilliantly at times in the sec- Masters champion Watson, five strokes Horschel maintained composure over the ond half in a performance that should strength- off the pace heading into the final round, last five holes, parring them all as he en his grip on the starting job over rookie TEXAS: tight end Gavin Escobar (89) is brought down by San surged into contention for the title with rebounded from his runner-up spot on Johnny Manziel. Francisco 49ers strong safety Antoine Bethea (41) in the first half of an NFL football four birdies on the back nine as he closed Monday at the Deutsche Bank game on Sunday, Sept 7, 2014, in Arlington. —AP with a third successive 66 to secure out- Championship where he dumped his sec- BENGALS 23, RAVENS 16 right second place. American Morgan ond shot on the final hole into a hazard. AJ Green caught a 77-yard touchdown pass Hoffmann fired a 63 to finish third at 11 “After last week, a lot of people on from Andy Dalton, and the Bengals blew a 15- untested Austin Davis in charge. Hill’s last pass TDs, it was an ugly debut for the Bucs (0-1) under while Northern Irish world number Twitter and out there wanted to call me a point lead before bouncing back. Green got was intercepted by Josh Robinson with 1:09 to under coach Lovie Smith. The defense applied one Rory McIlroy four-putted the par-three choker,” said Horschel. “I didn’t choke, I behind cornerback Chykie Brown, who was go in the half, setting up Matt Cassel’s 8-yard little pressure on Anderson, and an offense 12th hole for a second day in a row on the just made a bad swing at the wrong time. pressed into a starting role for the injured pass to Greg Jennings for a 13-0 lead. that was among the worst in the NFL in 2013 way to a 66 and a tie for eighth place at I was coming from behind. You don’t Lardarius Webb. The ball popped from Green’s showed few signs of improvement until mid- eight under par. Spaniard Sergio Garcia, choke coming from behind. “To lead this grasp before he gathered it in. That TD, along TITANS 26, CHIEFS 10 way through the fourth quarter. With Newton helped by an eagle and four birdies in the thing, to have a three-shot lead and to with the 2-pont conversion, came 48 seconds Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two cheering from the sideline after being held first 15 holes, briefly got to 12 under but hold on means a lot ... it means a lot to after Baltimore newcomer Steve Smith caught touchdowns, while Alex Smith was intercepted out because of a rib injury suffered in presea- tripled-bogeyed the 17th after chipping his have finally got a victory.” The top 30 play- an 80-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco. three times. Locker picked apart a defense that son, Anderson completed 24 of 34 passes with ball across the green into water to close ers on the FedExCup points list, led by Following Green’s score, Flacco took the Ravens lost linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive no interceptions and one sack. The 10th-year with 67 and finish in a share of fourth, five American Chris Kirk, advanced to next to the Cincinnati 16 before he was sacked on tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles tendon injuries. pro tossed threw for TDs of 5 yards to Greg off the pace. week’s Tour Championship at East Lake fourth down. Mike Nugent kicked five field goals Locker was 22 of 33 and found eight targets, Olsen and 26 yards to rookie Kelvin Benjamin where overall playoff honours and the for a 15-0 halftime lead and the Bengals ended a including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter for defending NFC South champion Carolina Commanded spotlight eye-popping bonus of $10 million will be four-game losing streak in Baltimore. McCluster. Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker (1-0). Horschel, however, commanded the on the line. —Reuters DOLPHINS 33, PATRIOTS 20 Knowshon Moreno rushed for 134 yards and NFL results/standings a touchdown, Ryan Tannehill threw for two scores and the Dolphins overpowered New Atlanta 37, New Orleans 34 (OT); Cincinnati 23, Baltimore 16; Buffalo 23, Chicago 20 (OT); England after halftime. The Dolphins (1-0) Houston 17, Washington 6; Miami 33, New England 20; Tennessee 26, Kansas City 10; NY Jets 19, outscored New England 23-0 in the second half. Oakland 14; Philadelphia 34, Jacksonville 17; Pittsburgh 30, Cleveland 27; Minnesota 34, St. Louis Tannehill had touchdown throws to Lamar Miller 6; San Francisco 28, Dallas 17; Carolina 20, Tampa Bay 14. and Mike Wallace as Miami debuted a faster- paced offense. The Dolphins’ defense made four Conference National Football Conference sacks, all in the second half, and recovered two AFC East fumbles. Tom Brady threw a scoring pass to Rob NFC East W L T OTL PF PA PCT Gronkowski, and Shane Vereen had a TD rushing Philadelphia 1 0 0 0 34 17 1.000 Miami 1 0 0 0 33 20 1.000 for New England. It was New England’s first loss NY Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NY Jets 1 0 0 0 19 14 1.000 in an opener since 2003, and marks the first time Washington 0 1 0 0 6 17 0 Buffalo 1 0 0 0 23 20 1.000 the Patriots (0-1) will not be at least tied for the Dallas 0 1 0 0 17 28 0 New England 0 1 0 0 20 33 0 AFC East lead since Week 3 of 2012. NFC North AFC North EAGLES 34, JAGUARS 17 Minnesota 1 0 0 0 34 6 1.000 Cincinnati 1 0 0 0 23 16 1.000 Nick Foles threw a 68-yard touchdown pass Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pittsburgh 1 0 0 0 30 27 1.000 to Jeremy Maclin in the fourth quarter and the Chicago 0 1 0 1 20 23 0 Cleveland 0 1 0 0 27 30 0 Eagles rallied from a 17-0 second-half deficit. Baltimore 0 1 0 0 16 23 0 Green Bay 0 1 0 0 16 36 0 Chad Henne threw two touchdown passes to rookie Allen Hurns in the first quarter and the AFC South NFC South Jaguars (0-1) dominated the defending NFC East Tennessee 1 0 0 0 26 10 1.000 Carolina 1 0 0 0 20 14 1.000 champion Eagles (1-0) in the first two quarters. Houston 1 0 0 0 17 6 1.000 Atlanta 1 0 0 0 37 34 1.000 But whatever Chip Kelly said to his players at BARCELONA: The ball is seen in the basket during the 2014 FIBA World bas- Indianapolis 0 1 0 0 24 31 0 New Orleans 0 1 0 1 34 37 0 halftime worked. The Eagles scored TDs on their ketball championships round 16 match Turkey vs Australia at the Palau Sant Jacksonville 0 1 0 0 17 34 0 Tampa Bay 0 1 0 0 14 20 0 Jordi in Barcelona. —AFP first two possessions in the third quarter. Cody Parkey hit a 51-yard field goal on his first career AFC West NFC West attempt in the fourth quarter to tie it 17-17. Denver 1 0 0 0 31 24 1.000 Seattle 1 0 0 0 36 16 1.000 Then Foles made a perfect deep throw to a Brazil book quarters San Diego 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 wide-open Maclin for the longest pass of his San Francisco 1 0 0 0 28 17 1.000 Oakland 0 1 0 0 14 19 0 career to put the Eagles ahead 24-17. Arizona 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BARCELONA: Raulzinho Neto had a game-high Bogdan Bogdanovic enjoyed an effervescent Kansas City 0 1 0 0 10 26 0 St. Louis 0 1 0 0 6 34 0 21 points as Brazil avenged their defeat four years afternoon with a game-high 21 points, as play- TEXANS 17, REDSKINS 6 ago by Argentina and progressed to the quarter- maker Milos Teodosic engineered a flowing effort Rookie Alfred Blue blocked a punt and finals of the basketball World Cup with an 85-65 in which centre Miroslav Raduljica also thrived, returned it for a touchdown and J J Watt lived up had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop 49ERS 28, COWBOYS 17 victory on Sunday. Argentina’s golden generation racking up 16 points and six rebounds. to his massive new contract to help Texans snap was perfect on four field-goal attempts against Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown pass- are coming to the end of the road and while they Greece had won all five group stage games a 14-game losing streak. The Texans led 7-6 after the team that released him last weekend. Smith es to Vernon Davis, one right after the first of took the first quarter in Madrid, with a lead of while Serbia squeezed into the knockout stage a 76-yard touchdown reception by DeAndre was 19 of 35 for 202 yards and a touchdown for three interceptions of . The 49ers (1- eight points, it was downhill from there against with a 2-3 record but having endured strong criti- Hopkins in the second quarter. Blue blocked a Chiefs offense missing suspended wide receiv- 0) also got a 35-yard fumble return on the sec- Brazil who are fancied for a podium finish at the cism from the pundits, the Serbs hit top gear at Washington’s punt on the next drive, scooped it er Dwayne Bowe and right tackle Donald ond play of the game when Chris Culliver picked tournament in Spain. crunch time and will meet Brazil in the quarter- up and returned it 5 yards for a touchdown to Stephenson. up a loose ball stripped from DeMarco Murray. Luis Scola led Argentina to victory over Brazil finals. “This is a big win for us and after some push the lead to 14-6 in Bill O’Brien’s first game They led 21-3 after the first quarter despite run- in the Last 16 of the 2010 World Championships modest celebrations this evening, we will turn as an NFL head coach. Watt had a sack, blocked JETS 19, RAIDERS 14 ning just four offensive plays. Coming off a spot- in Turkey and they had come out on top the pre- our attention to the quarter-final game,” Teodosic an extra point, recovered a fumble and swatted Chris Ivory burst through a few tackle ty preseason for his offense, Kaepernick was effi- vious four times they met but with Brazil’s impos- told reporters. “We played as if there is no tomor- down a pass in his first game since signing a six- attempts for a 71-yard touchdown run midway cient if not prolific, going 16 of 23 for 201 yards ing frontcourt they were able to hurt the under- row and we don’t want to stop now, we will be year, $100 million contract Monday. First overall through the fourth quarter, and the Jets’ defense without an interception. Romo was playing his sized Argentine squad. “It was a very difficult ready for whoever comes our way in the last pick Jadeveon Clowney had a tackle for a loss in clamped down on Oakland rookie quarterback first meaningful game for the Cowboys (0-1) game which we expected but it worked out well eight.” the first half before leaving with a knee injury. Derek Carr. With still a one-score game, Ivory since back surgery in December. —AP for us. We now have a lot of hope but also know An Emir Preldzic-inspired Turkey scraped past there is a lot of work to do,” Neto told reporters Australia 65-64 and now face Lithuania in the after his starring role. Pablo Prigioni notched up next round who survived a spirited comeback F1: Mercedes reject ‘conspiracy theory’ 18 points for Argentina who still had a 36-33 lead from New Zealand to run out 76-71 winners. It at the break but then Brazil improved their defen- was only in the fourth quarter that Turkey found MONZA: Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has rejected all post-race conspiracy talk sur- the title race to 29 points after Hamilton retired. sive intensity and a 15-3 run helped them take a their rhythm and they began to seriously cut rounding Formula One’s leading team in the aftermath of Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Hamilton’s win on Sunday trimmed the lead to 22 points as Rosberg came home 48-39 advantage. back Australia’s lead. With just over a minute left Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Wolff said suggestions that Mercedes had wanted to see second in a Mercedes one-two. Wolff said it was virtually impossible for a team to have Brazil stretched their lead with the first seven Turkey trailed 64-59 but then the Fenerbahce for- championship leader Nico Rosberg miss his braking point at the first chicane and so executed what happened in the race deliberately. He said: “Only a paranoid mind could points of the fourth quarter and ran out comfort- ward Preldzic notched up a three-pointer and hand the race leadership, and victory, to the Briton were entirely groundless. British come up with such an idea... If it had been our idea, it would have been bloody well able winners in the end. Brazil next face Serbia, with just five seconds left he buried another to media had made much of speculation that the German had been following possible done! “There was lots of pressure on Nico because Lewis was so quick in qualifying and who struggled in the group stages but against close out the match. “I hope I can do this on every team orders to ensure that Hamilton profited from his first pole position in eight races. you could see that in the race.” Wolff added that there was no technical reason to old rivals Greece they produced their best per- birthday,” Preldzic, who was 27 on Saturday, told The latest conjecture came just two weeks after the pair had collided on the second lap explain why Rosberg went down the escape road twice in the race, but he explained formance of the tournament after nailing nine- reporters. “There is nothing better than delivering of the Belgian Grand Prix in an accident that resulted in Rosberg enlarging his lead in that the brake balance on his car had been changed twice. —AFP three pointers from 17 attempts. Shooting guard when the team needs you most.” —Reuters