NEW!Full Football CoverageWe hand it off – you run with it

Satisfy your readers’ passion for the game with great, insightful coverage of NFL and college football – fully designed, edited and paginated, ready to go.

Choose what you want: Modular full and partial pages provide smart previews, predictions and savvy coverage by some of the nation’s best sportswriters.

National Football League Weekly Picks: Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times previews upcoming games, including handicapping and predicted scores. Ready by 8:30 pm Thurs.; updates Fri. & Sat. with line changes.

NFL Week-by-Week: Roundup of game results in capsule form, with standings, box scores, briefs and top statistical performances. Ready by 9 pm Sun.; updates with late game.

NFL Notebook: Irresistible nuggets from on and off the field –personnel moves, personal news, insight and background. Ready by 9 pm Mon. & Tues., 8:30 pm Wed., Thurs., Fri.

NFL By the Numbers: Complete standings, schedules and statistics, designed for clarity and consistency. Ready by 8:30 pm Thurs.

NFL Schedules: Team-by-team schedules and week-by-week schedules. Ready at 9 pm Tues.

• Saves staff time to focus on local coverage

• Serves readers with best-in-class national sports coverage

• Consistent modules make production easy

• Clear, sharp design is reader-tested

Benefits:

6 Tuesday, October 7, 2014

DAILY PRESS

SPORTS

For the third time in six

weeks, theLionswillhavea

new kicker by the time

preparations begin

Wednesday for their game

Sunday inMinneapolis.

CoachJimCaldwell an-

nounced Monday that

kicker Alex Henery, who

missed three attempts in a

three-point loss to theBills

a day earlier,was released.

The Denver Post re-

ported that formerBroncos

kickerMatt Praterwill be

trying out for the Lions on

Tuesday.Hewill have some

competition from 38-year-

old Jay Feely and Connor

Barth,whoalsowill tryout

Tuesday.The Broncos released

Prater last week as his

four-game suspension for

violating the league’s sub-

stance abuse policy was

ending.Between rookie Nate

Freese, releasedafterthree

games, and Henery, the

Lionshavemade just 4of12

field-goal tries in 2014.

“We’ve got to find a

performer,” Caldwell said.

Holmgren, Raiders talk:

Former Packers and Sea-

hawks coach Mike Holm-

gren confirmed he visited

with Raiders officials last

week, but he said he “prob-

ably”would not be a candi-

date to be their next coach.

“I did go down there,”

Holmgren said on KJR

radio in Seattle, according

to ProFootballTalk.com. “I

went down there for a day

and looked at some film ...

just to float some ideas, and

get another opinion of the

team.No jobswerediscuss-

ed.”When asked whether he

definitely would not be the

Raiders’ next coach, Holm-

gren said, “Probably not.

Probably not.”Dennis Allen was fired

as the Raiders’ coach last

week, and Tony Sparano

is serving as interim coach.

Injuries: Bills cornerback

Ron Brooks was dis-

charged from the hospital

after sufferinganeck injury

in Sunday’s 17-14 victory

over the Lions. Brooks suf-

fered the injury on a spe-

cial-teams play while run-

ning downfield to cover a

punt. He was hit in his

lower body by Lionssafety

JeromeCouplin,went fly-

ing into the air, spunupside

down and landed on his

head.Brookswasplacedon

a spinal stabilizationboard

before being carted off the

field. ... Broncos running

backMontee Ball will not

need surgery to repair the

strained groin he suffered

against the Cardinals but

willmiss severalweeks, the

Denver Post reported.

Extra points:Arrested and

tased three times by police

in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,on

Sunday, defensiveendDer-

rick Shelby has been sus-

pended by the Dolphins.

Shelby was asked to leave

Cyn Nightclub for “touch-

ing females without per-

mission” and charged with

trespassing and resisting

arrest. ... The Jaguars

apologized for theirmascot

using theEbolaepidemic to

mock the Steelers’ Terrible

Towels. Curtis Dvorak,

the person playing Jaxson

de Ville, carried a Terrible

Towel in one had while

holding up a sign with the

words “Towels Carry

Ebola” in an attempt to

poke fun at Pittsburghfans.

... Jets quarterback Geno

Smith and a few team-

mates reportedly missed

team meetings Saturday

because they went tosee a

movie.A source toldESPN-

.com that Smith and the

other players got “messed

up” because of the three-

hour difference between

Eastern andPacific time.

Lions will try 3rdkicker of seasonTribune news services

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

— The New England

Patriots responded in a big

way Sunday night.Facing the prospect of

their first 2-3 start since

2001 and amid rumors of

inner turmoil including fu-

ture Hall of Fame quarter-

backTomBradybeingmad

at management, the

Patriots hammered the

previously undefeatedCin-

cinnati Bengals 43-17.

New England, 41-14 los-

ers to the Chiefs in Kansas

City six nights earlier,

made quick work of the

NFL’s last unbeaten team,

jumping to a 20-3 halftime

lead and cruising to their

32nd consecutive home

victory over an AFC oppo-

nent.Brady, ineffective

through much of the first

four games, threw for a

season-high 292 yards and

two touchdowns, and Ste-

phen Gostkowski kicked a

career-high five field goals

in the easywin.Brady,whoheard chants

of “Bra-dy, Bra-dy” from

the supportive home

crowd on four occasions,

also became the sixth play-

er in NFL history to throw

for 50,000 yards. His

touchdown passes went to

tight ends TimWright and

RobGronkowski.Brady finished 23 of 35,

and he wasn’t intercepted.

Before the game, ESPN

reported he was unhappy

with management deci-

sions that affected the

Patriots’ offense, andthat

rookie quarterback Jimmy

Garoppolo could take over

“sooner than later.”Running backs Stevan

Ridley and Shane Vereen

combined for 203 of the

team’s 220 yards on the

ground, with Ridley scor-

ing the game’s first touch-

down, on the opening

drive. Ridley ran for 113

yards on 27 carries, his

seventh100-yard game. Ve-

reen gained 90 yards on

nine carries.Cincinnati quarterback

Andy Dalton was 15 of 24

for 204 yards and two

touchdowns. He was

sacked in the third quarter,

the first time he was been

sacked this season.The Bengals, who fell to

1-9 in Sunday night road

games, lost three fumbles,

one of them picked up and

returned for a touchdown

by New England corner-

back Kyle Arrington on a

kick return.Brady’s 27-yard comple-

tion to Gronkowski in the

first half put him over the

50,000-yards passing

mark. That got the ball to

the17, andBradyhitWright

with the touchdown pass

tomake it 14-0.

LATE SUNDAY

PATRIOTS 43, BENGALS 17

Pats quiet talk offranchise’s declineOffense, defensedelivers Bengalsfirst loss of 2014

By Mike ShalinThe Sports Xchange

LATE SUNDAYPATRIOTS 43, BENG

ALS 17

Cincinnati0 3 14 0—17

New England14 6 14 9—43

First quarterNE: Ridley 1 run (Gostkowski kick), 10:03.

NE: T.Wright 17 pass from Brady (Gostkowski

kick), 3:12.Second quarter

Cin: FG Nugent 23, 4:33.

NE: FG Gostkowski 48, 1:12.

NE: FG Gostkowski 19, 0:09.

Third quarterCin: Sanu 37 pass from Dalton (Nugent kick),

11:27.NE: Gronkowski 16 pass from Brady (Gostkow-

ski kick), 6:06.NE: Arrington 9 fumble return (Gostkowski

kick), 6:00.Cin: A.Green 17 pass from Dalton (Nugent

kick), 3:43.Fourth quarter

NE: FG Gostkowski 23, 14:54.

NE: FG Gostkowski 47, 7:53.

NE: FG Gostkowski 35, 2:55.

A: 68,756.

TEAM STATSCIN NE

First downs17 30

Total net yards320 505

Rushes-yds18-79 46-220

Passing241 285

Sacked-yds lost1-0 1-0

Comp-att-int18-29-0 23-35-0

Punts4-41.5 3-40.3

Punt returns2-53 3-12

Kickoff returns7-141 1-16

Interceptions ret.0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards4-37 12-114

Fumbles-lost3-3 1-0

Time of possession21:04 38:56

Rushing: Cincinnati, Bernard 13-62, Dalton

2-16, Je.Hill 2-1, Br.Tate 1-0. New England,

Ridley 27-113, S.Vereen 9-90, Brady 4-13, Deve-

lin 2-5, B.Bolden 1-3, Garoppolo 3-(minus 4).

Passing: Cincinnati, Dalton 15-24-0-204,

J.Campbell 3-5-0-45. New England, Brady

23-35-0-292.Receiving: Cincinna

ti,A.Green 5-81, Sanu 5-70,

Je.Hill 3-68, J.Gresham 2-15, Bernard 2-10,

Sanzenbacher 1-5.New England, Gron

kowski

6-100, T.Wright 5-85, Edelman 5-35, S.Vereen

3-18, LaFell 1-20, Dobson 1-16, Develin 1-11,

Amendola 1-7.Missed field goals:

Cincinnati,Nugent52 (SH).

New England, None

NFL NOTEBOOK

WASHINGTON—WhenWash-

ington last squared off against Seat-

tle, in the Jan. 6, 2013NFLplayoff

game, itwas a showdownbetween

two franchises on therise that bris-

tledwith big-time charisma and

big-gamepromise.The10-6Redskinswe

re theNFC

East champions, led by the sensa-

tional rookie quarterbackRobert

Griffin III and a hard-nosed rookie

running back, AlfredMorris, who

stirredmemories of the burgundy-

and-gold’s golden era.

The11-5 Seahawks,who’d finished

second in theNFCWest,were led by

a surprising rookie quarterback of

their own inRussellWilson and a

beastly running back,Marshawn

Lynch,whopopped Skittles and

spewed fire.Seattle rallied froma14-0 deficit

in thatmeeting,whileWashington

lost not only the gamebut alsoGrif-

fin,whose right knee, injured earlier

in the season, buckledbeneath him

amid catastrophic damage to his

anterior-cruciate ligament.

From then on, the fortunesof the

franchises diverged.

Washington,1-3 headinginto

Monday night’s repriseat FedEx

Field, haswon just four games since

that playoff loss.In the tumultuous 20-month span

that followed, theRedskins finished

last inNFCEast for a sixth time in

the last eight years, changedhead

coaches andhave gonewithout the

services ofGriffin forfive games and

counting.Benched the last three

games of

2013, the franchise quarterback is

recovering from the secondmajor

leg injury (dislocatedleft ankle) of

his youngNFL career.

Meanwhile, Seattle has posted a

15-4 regular-season record and fol-

lowed its 2013NFCWest titlewith a

Super Bowl championship.Wilson

hasn’tmissed a startwhile raising his

passer-rating each season. Andhead

coachPeteCarroll has kept his staff

largely intactwhile re-tooling his

roster to add strengthto strength.

No single factor explains the di-

vergent trajectories ofWashington

and Seattle. Neither coach, under-

standably, is eager toweigh in.

But it’s glaring toRedskins play-

ers, particularly thosewhowere on

the field for that 2012wild-card

game.“It’s unbelievable,” sai

dWashing-

ton’s ProBowl linebacker Brian

Orakpo. “Wewould have thoughtwe

would have been up there, consider-

ing those two teamswere on that rise

at that point it time. It’s unfortunate.

Those guys go on andwin a Super

Bowl, andwe just digress as far as

winning ball games.”

InOrakpo’s view, Seattle’s front

office and coaching staff have added

talent shrewdly andhoned the skills

of its veterans.“They’re almost building a dy-

nasty over there by continually add-

ing talent, continuallygrowing as a

team,”Orakpo said.FullbackDarrel Youn

g,whohas

near-total recall of every play in that

24-14 playoff loss, believes that cama-

raderie among Seattle’s players has

beenmajor factor in their ascent.

“Camaraderie, they have it,”

Young said. “And I think they just

were a littlemore hungry than us in

terms ofwhat theywanted to do.”

In comments echoed by free safe-

ty RyanClark, Youngwent on to

credit Seattle’s coacheswith identi-

fying players’ individual strengths

andmaximizing them through their

scheme.Moreover, Young noted,

Seattle’s offense rarelygets in third-

and-long situations nor does the

teamkill itselfwith penalties. Both

have bittenWashington the last two

seasons.ESPN’s Ron Jaworski

, however,

boils down the essential difference in

the teams’ trajectories to one unit:

Seattle’s secondary, composed of Pro

Bowl safetiesKamChancellor and

Earl Thomas andProBowl corner-

backRichard Sherman, in addition

to the fast-risingByronMaxwell.

“It’s pretty simple,” Jaworski said.

“If you look back andcompare the

teams in 2012 towhere they are now,

the difference is the secondary of

Seattle. It starts thereand ends there.

They can shut you down.”

Off-the-field factors have contrib-

uted to the divergentfortunes, as

well.Washington’s roster has

suffered

for the $36million salary-cap penal-

ty theNFL slapped on the team for

theway it structured contracts in the

2010 season,when a salary cap

wasn’t in place. The league argued

that theRedskins, andCowboys to a

lesser extent, tried togain an unfair

advantage. GeneralManager Bruce

Allen called the penalty, docked in

$18million increments in 2012 and

2013, a “travesty of fairness.”

Washington also paid dearly for

Griffin, both literally and in terms of

opportunity-costs, trading three

first-round and one second-round

picks to St. Louis for the right to

move up four spots in the 2012 draft

to acquire the 2011HeismanTrophy

winner.Griffin dazzled his roo

kie season,

leadingWashington to theNFCEast

title and playoffs. Butafter under-

going reconstructive knee surgery,

he has appeared in just15 games

since, inwhichWashingtonwent

4-11.Through subsequent

deals St.

Louis parlayedWashington’s four

draft picks into eight acquisitions.

HadWashington kept the picks and

used themwisely, the teamcould

have added four potential starters to

beef up its defensive backfield and

offensive line.Seattle, by contrast, ex

pended one

third-roundpick onWilson,whohas

proven themore durable and pro-

ductive quarterback to date.

And though it’s difficult to quan-

tify,Washington’s decision to fire

Mike Shanahan and bring in a fourth

newhead coach in the past nine

years surely put any progress on

hold, at least temporarily, even if the

move pays long-termdividends.

NFLCOMMENTARY

A far cryfrom ’13playoffmeetingWashington, Seattle

follow different paths

since wild-card game

By Liz ClarkeTheWashington Post

AL BELLO/GETTY

Richard Sherman celebrates the Seahawks’ 24-14 win over the Redskins in the

NFC wild-card game in 2013. Washington has won just four games since.

NEWYORK–Coming off another

exciting Sunday slateof games, the

NFL is holding its breath that its

Thursday night showcasewill finally

be something other than a hard-to-

watch blowout.So far, thatmid-weekmauling has

been a bust.In fourThursday nigh

t games, the

averagemargin of victory has been

31.3 points and none has been com-

petitive, even thoughthe league

ramped-up the importance of the

matchups this season bymaking

each a division game.

Thursday,Houston plays host to

Indianapolis, and league officials are

keeping their fingers crossed that the

game is closer to the first suchmeet-

ing in 2013 (a 27-24win by theColts)

than the second (a 25-3Colts blow-

out).The topic is sure to ar

ise at the

NFL’s annual fall ownersmeetings,

heldWednesday inNewYork.

It’s too late to reshuffle the sched-

ule now, of course. Butwhat the

league needs to do next season is

arrange it so that the teams playing

onThursday night have their bye

weeks immediately before that

game. Thatwould give them11days

between games—as opposed to four

—and theywouldn’t have to play

again until aweek from the following

Sunday. Thatwould be a true rest.

As it stands, teams don’t have

enough time for their players to

recover, the sore bodiesmake for

sloppy tackling, andwell developed

strategies are an unaffordable luxury.

Many teams simply rely on the same

gameplan they put in place the

previous Sunday, drawing from the

leftover portions theydidn’t use.

That’s not good for teams, espe-

ciallywith the importance of divi-

sion games, puts players at even

greater risk of injury, and doesn’t put

the product in anything close to the

best light.

HGH testing: The league onMon-

day began its human-growthhor-

mone (HGH) testing program.

Eachweek, five randomly selected

players on eight randomly selected

teamswill be blood tested forHGH

as part of the standardweekly collec-

tion process for the performance-

enhancing drug program.The test-

ing pool consists of players on the

active roster, practicesquad and

reserve listwho are not already

subject to reasonable-cause testing.

The leaguewill conduct a com-

bined 950 tests duringthe regular

season andpostseason, and approxi-

mately 385 during the off-season. By

comparison,Major LeagueBaseball

conducts 400HGH tests year-round.

Appeals of positive tests under the

PEDpolicy, includingHGH,will be

heard by a third-partyarbitrator

whom league andunion officialswill

choose jointly. For steroid/HGH

violations other than apositive test,

such as a conviction for possession of

controlled substances, Commis-

sionerRogerGoodellretains his

historic disciplinary authority.

Harbaugh hubbub:With all the talk

and speculation latelythat SanFran-

cisco coach JimHarbaughmight not

be long for the 49ers,one of the

team’s players vented his frustration

about the chatter.“I’m really kind of sick of e

very-

body talking aboutmy coach, espe-

cially because he’s likea brother to

me,” guardAlexBoone said after

Sunday’s victory overKansasCity.

“So if Iwere everybody I’d just keep

theirmouth shut because they don’t

wantme coming after them… I’m

kind of sick of it. Leavemy coach

alone.”Various reports say 49

ers players

have turned onHarbaugh, in his

fourth season, andFox’s JayGlazer

said Sunday he doesn’t see anyway

[Harbaugh] comes back next year…

even if they hoist the Lombardi

Trophy.”

On the chopping block: Arizona

coachBruceArians called it the

dirtiest block he’s ever seen, but

Denver tight end JuliusThomas said

Monday that he had nointention of

hurtingCardinals defensive end

Calais Campbellwhenhe hit him

low in Sunday’s game.

“Therewas no intentto hurt any-

body,” Thomas said. “I definitely

want tomake sure that that is theNo.

1most clear thing. I respectwhat

everybody does in order to play this

game–howmuchhardwork goes

into it – and Iwould neverwant to

take away somebody’s ability to go

out there and play football.”

TheBroncoswere flagged for an

illegal chop block on the third-quar-

ter play becauseThomas blocked

Campbell in the thigh or lowerwhile

tackleRyanCladywas engaging

Campbell’s upper body.

Campbell left the gamewithwhat

was later diagnosed as a strained

medial collateral ligament in his

right knee. Arians reacted strongly to

the block after the game, a 41-20

Broncos victory.“I’ve been coaching fo

r 37 years

and thatwas the dirtiest play I’ve

ever seen in theNational Football

League,” Arians said.“Itwas a chop

block that put himout of the game.

I’ve never seen anything like that.

Something has to be doneabout that.

I knowJohnFox andhe’s a great

coach and a great guy,but somebody

has to answer to that.”

COMMENTARY

Thursday night schedule a bust

By Sam FarmerTribune Newspapers

BENNY SIEU/USA TODAY SPORTS

Minnesota’s Christian Ponder is

sacked by a trio of Green Bay de-

fenders in a 42-10 loss, the latest in a

series of Thursday night blowouts.

NFL WEEK 3

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCENORTH W L T PF PA HOME AWAY NORTH NFCDetroit 2 1 0 61 45 2-0 0-1 1-0 2-1Chicago 1 1 0 48 43 0-1 1-0 0-0 1-0Minnesota 1 2 0 50 56 0-1 1-1 0-0 1-1Green Bay 1 2 0 54 79 1-0 0-2 0-1 0-2SOUTH W L T PF PA HOME AWAY SOUTH NFCCarolina 2 1 0 63 58 110 1-0 1-0 2-0Atlanta 2 1 0 103 72 2-0 0-1 2-0 2-0New Orleans 1 2 0 78 72 1-0 0-2 0-1 1-1Tampa Bay 0 3 0 45 95 0-2 0-1 0-2 0-3EAST W L T PF PA HOME AWAY EAST NFCPhiladelphia 3 0 0 101 78 2-0 1-0 1-0 1-0Dallas 2 1 0 77 69 0-1 2-0 0-0 1-1N.Y. Giants 1 2 0 58 77 1-1 0-1 0-0 0-2Washington 1 2 0 81 64 1-0 0-2 0-1 0-1WEST W L T PF PA HOME AWAY WEST NFCArizona 3 0 0 66 45 2-0 1-0 1-0 2-0Seattle 2 1 0 83 66 2-0 0-1 0-0 1-0San Francisco 1 2 0 62 68 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2St. Louis 1 2 0 56 85 0-2 1-0 0-0 1-2AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCENORTH W L T PF PA HOME AWAY NORTH AFCCincinnati 3 0 0 80 33 2-0 1-0 1-0 2-0Baltimore 2 1 0 65 50 1-1 1-0 2-1 2-1Pittsburgh 2 1 0 73 72 1-0 1-1 1-1 1-1Cleveland 1 2 0 74 77 1-1 0-1 0-2 0-2SOUTH W L T PF PA HOME AWAY SOUTH AFCHouston 2 1 0 64 50 1-0 1-1 0-0 1-0Indianapolis 1 2 0 95 78 0-1 1-1 1-0 1-1Tennessee 1 2 0 43 69 0-1 1-1 0-0 1-1Jacksonville 0 3 0 44 119 0-1 0-2 0-1 0-1EAST W L T PF PA HOME AWAY EAST AFCBuffalo 2 1 0 62 52 1-1 1-0 1-0 1-1New England 2 1 0 66 49 1-0 1-1 0-1 1-1N.Y. Jets 1 1 0 43 45 1-0 0-1 0-0 1-0Miami 1 2 0 58 83 1-1 0-1 1-1 1-2WEST W L T PF PA HOME AWAY WEST AFCDenver 2 1 0 75 67 2-0 0-1 1-0 2-0San Diego 2 1 0 69 49 1-0 1-1 0-0 1-0Kansas City 1 2 0 61 65 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2Oakland 0 3 0 37 65 0-1 0-2 0-0 0-3

Through SundaySUNDAY’S RESULTSSan Diego 22, BUFFALO 10Dallas 34, ST. LOUIS 31PHILADELPHIA 37, Washington 34N.Y. GIANTS 30, Houston 17NEW ORLEANS 20, Minnesota 9CINCINNATI 33, Tennessee 7Baltimore 23, CLEVELAND 21DETROIT 19, Green Bay 7Indianapolis 44, JACKSONVILLE 17NEW ENGLAND 16, Oakland 9ARIZONA 23, San Francisco 14Kansas City 34, MIAMI 15SEATTLE 26, Denver 20, OTPittsburgh 37, CAROLINA 19MONDAY’S SCHEDULEChicago at N.Y. Jets, 8:30 p.m.THURSDAY’S RESULTATLANTA 56, Tampa Bay 14

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25N.Y. Giants at Washington, 8:25SUNDAY, SEPT. 28Green Bay at Chicago, 1 p.m.Buffalo at Houston, 1 p.m.Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.Carolina at Baltimore, 1 p.m.Detroit at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.Miami at Okland, 1 p.m.Jacksonville at San Diego, 4:05 p.m.Atlanta at Minnesota, 4:25 p.m.Philadelphia at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m.New Orleans at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.MONDAY, SEPT. 29

New England at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.Off: Cincinnati, Cleveland,Denver, St. Louis,Arizona, Seattle

WEEK 3 RESULTSWEEK 4 SCHEDULE

PASSINGCOM ATT YDS TD INTKirk Cousins, Redskins 30 48 427 3 1Andrew Luck, Colts 31 39 370 4 0Austin Davis, Rams 30 42 327 3 2Nick Foles, Eagles 27 41 325 3 0Peyton Manning, Broncos 31 49 303 2 1Drew Brees, Saints 27 35 293 2 0

RECEIVING REC YDS AVG LG TDJulio Jones, Falcons 9 161 17.9 40 2Jeremy Maclin, Eagles 8 154 19.3 50 1Emmanuel Sanders, Broncos 11 149 13.5 42 0Pierre Garcon, Redskins 11 138 12.5 43 1DeSean Jackson, Redskins 5 117 23.4 81 1DeAndre Hopkins, Texans 6 116 19.3 49 0

DEFENSIVE SO AST TCK OTHERBrian Cushing, Texans 8 9 17 1 pass def.Jelani Jenkins, Dolphins 11 4 15 1.5 scksDontay Poe, Chiefs 3 1 4 1.5 sacksBruce Carter, Cowboys 9 3 12 INT for TDDevin Hester, Falcons 1 0 1 1 FF, PR TDAaronWilliams 9 5 14 1 tck loss

RUSHINGATT. YDS AVG LG TDRashad Jennings, Giants 34 176 5.2 18 1Le’Veon Bell, Steelers 21 147 7.0 81 0Knile Davis, Chiefs 32 132 4.1 21 1LaGarrette Blount, Steelers 10 118 11.8 50 1Lamar Miller, Dolphins 15 108 7.2 24 0DeMarco Murray, Cowboys 24 100 4.2 44 1

WEEK’S TOP PERFORMANCES

Seahawks 26, Broncos 20: Mar-shawn Lynch’s 6-yard TD run onthe firstpossessionofovertimewonit for Seattle,whichhaswon 17of 18at home under Russell Wilson (258passing yards, two TDs). PeytonManning threw two fourth-quarterTD passes, hitting Jacob Tammewith 18 seconds left in regulation.Eagles 37, Redskins 34: NickFoles threw for 325 yards and threeTDs, two to Jordan Matthews, andJeremy Maclin had eight catchesfor 154 yards and a score in ashootout in Philadelphia. KirkCousins passed for a career-high427 yards and threeTDs.

Cowboys 34, Rams 31: Tony Ro-mo threw two TD passes andDeMarco Murray rushed for 100yards as visiting Dallas rallied froma 21-0 deficit. Bruce Carter had a25-yard interception return TD inthe fourthquarter.AustinDaviswas30 of 42 for 327 yards an threeTDs.Chargers 22, Bills 10: Philip Riv-ers (18 of 25, 256 yards) and EddieRoyalhookedup for apair ofTDs tohand the host Bills their first loss.Rivers matched his franchiserecord with his 23rd straight gamewith at least one TD pass. FredJackson had 112 total yards.

Ravens 23, Browns 21: JustinTucker’s 32-yard field goal as timeexpired lifted the visiting Ravens totheir 12th win in the last 13meetings. Steve Smith had 101receiving yards and Lorenzo Talia-ferro rushed for 91 yards and aTD.

Colts 44, Jaguars 17: AndrewLuck (31-for-39) threw for 244 ofhis 370 yards and three of his fourTDs in the first half in the visitingColts’ first victory. Blake Bortlestook over in the second half for theJags andwent 14 of 24 for 223 yardswith twoTDs, two interceptions.Patriots 16, Raiders 9:TomBradypassed for 234 yards and a TD toRob Gronkowski for the host Pats.Julian Edelman had 10 catches. BillBelichick earned his 201st victory,fifth all time.

Saints 20, Vikings 9: Drew Breespassed for293yardsand twoTDsasthe Saints claimed their ninthstraight home victory. PierreThomas added a rushing score.

Giants 30, Texans 17: RashadJennings rushed for a career-high176 yards and a score and EliManning had two TD passes in thehost Giants’ first victory. RyanFitzpatrick threw his first threeinterceptions of the season.Bengals 33, Titans 7:AndyDaltoncaught a TD pass and A.J. Greenhad 102 receiving yards in theBengals’ 10th straight home victory.Jake Locker threw two intercep-tions.

Chiefs 34, Dolphins 15: AlexSmith tossed three TD passes andJoe McKnight had his first twoscoring receptions for the visitingChiefs. Knile Davis had a career-high 132 rushing yards and aTD.Lions 19, Packers 7: Reggie Bushhad a rushing TD and the hostLions’ defense scored nine points(Don Carey fumble return,DeAndre Levy safety) in just theirthirdwin in the last 18meetings.

Cardinals 23, 49ers 14: DrewStanton (18 of 33, 244 yards) hitrookie John Brown for a pair ofthird-quarter TDs as the host Car-dinals remained perfect. MichaelFloyd had 114 receiving yards fortheCards,winners of 10 of 12.Steelers 37, Panthers 19: TheSteelers ran for 264 yards (Le’VeonBell 147 on 21 carries andLaGaretteBlount 118 on 10) and BenRoethlis-berger had a pair of TD tosses toAntonio Brown. Cam Newtonthrew for 250 yards in the loss.

ROUNDUP

Quarterback Russell Wilson grabsa pass from wide receiver JermaineKearse in the Seahawks’ victory.

STEVEN BISIG/USA TODAY SPORTS

■ RavensTEDennisPitta exitedwith a right hipinjury.He fractured the samehip in 2013.NFL.comreported Pitta’s hipwas dislocated andhe’ll undergotestsMonday to determine if there’s also a fracture.■ VikingsQBMattCassel suffered several brokenbones in his foot.Hewas replaced by rookie first-round pickTeddyBridgewater, whowent 12 of 20for 150 yards in his debut, adding 27 rushing yards.■ Chargers RBDannyWoodheadwas carted offwitha right ankle injury. ESPN reported he has a severehigh ankle sprainwith a fractured fibula. TheChargersalready arewithout startingRBRyanMathews, whois expected tomiss severalweeks (right knee sprain).■ RedskinsCBDeAngeloHall likely suffered a sea-son-endingAchilles injury on a non-contact play. LBBrianOrakpo (finger), DEJasonHatcher (ham-string), GShawnLauvao (knee) and SDuke Ihe-nacho (foot) also left early.■ Lions LBStephenTulloch (knee)was hurt cele-brating a sack.He returned for one play but finished iton the ground. SDonCarey (hamstring) also exited.■ Other injuries includedVikingsTEKyleRudolph(groin); Eagles CJasonKelce (abdominal); Saints C

JonathanGoodwin (leg); ColtsWRT.Y.Hilton (an-kle) andLBAndyStudebaker (hamstring); RaidersWRRodStreater (foot) and STyvonBranch (foot);PatriotsDTSealver Siliga (foot); Steelers LBRyanShazier (knee), CB IkeTaylor (forearm) andLBJarvis Jones (wrist); Panthers RBJonathanStewart(knee) andCardinals CBAntonioCromartie (knee).■ Jaguars first-round pickBlakeBortles, who re-placedQBChadHenne at halftime,will start nextweek against theChargers. In 30 possessions underHenne, the Jaguars scored just oneTD.■ Eagles All-ProTJasonPeters andRedskinsDLChrisBakerwere ejected in the fourth quarter. BakerblindsidedQBNickFoles, which started the fracas.■ QBAndyDalton caught an 18-yardTDpass fromWRMohamedSanu, the first in Bengals history by aQB. Sanuhas four career completions, two forTDs.■ FormerRavensRBRayRiceplans to argue in ap-pealing his suspension that the video of himpunchinghis then-fianceewas edited, according toESPN.■ Ex-TitansKRobBironas, 36, died in a single-carcrash inNashville, Tenn., on Saturday night.He lostcontrolwhile traveling at a high speed, reports said.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

SUMMARIES

RAVENS 23, BROWNS 21Baltimore 3 7 7 6 23Cleveland 7 0 14 0 21First quarter A: 67,407.Bal: FG Tucker 38, 9:11.Cle: West 1 run (Cundiff kick),3:15.Second quarterBal: Juszczyk 9 pass from Flacco(Tucker kick), 7:24.Third quarterCle: Crowell 14 run (Cundiff kick),10:01.Bal: Taliaferro1run (Tucker kick),5:04.Cle:Mi.Austin 4 pass from Hoyer(Cundiff kick), 0:13.Fourth quarterBal: FG Tucker 21, 5:00.Bal: FG Tucker 32, 0:00.TEAM STATS BAL CLEFirst downs 23 19Total net yards 377 375Rushes-yds 33-160 29-91Passing 217 284Sacked-yds lost 0-0 1-6Comp-att-int 19-31-1 19-25-0Punts 3-50.7 4-45.0Punt returns 0-0 1-0Kickoff returns 0-0 1-31Interception ret. 0-0 1-17Penalties-yards 5-32 12-94Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0Time of poss 30:55 29:05Rushing:Bal,Taliaferro18-91, For-sett11-63, Flacco 4-6.Cle,Crowell11-55, West 12-36, Hoyer 2-4, Ag-new 1-0, Gabriel 2-(-2), T.Benja-min 1-(-2).

Passing: Bal, Flacco 19-31-1-217.Cle, Hoyer 19-25-0-290.Receiving: Bal, St.Smith 5-101,Forsett 4-2, Juszczyk 3-54, Pitta 3-12, To.Smith 2-25, Ma.Brown 1-15,O.Daniels 1-8. Cle, A.Hawkins 7-87, Mi.Austin 6-51, Gabriel 2-81,West 2-5, T.Benjamin 1-43, Cam-eron 1-23.Interceptions: Cle, Gipson 1-17.Missed FG: Cle, Cundiff 50 (WL),36 (BK)

EAGLES 37, REDSKINS 34Washington 14 6 7 7 34Philadelphia 7 14 6 10 37First quarter A: 69,596.Was: D.Young 4 pass from K.Cou-sins (Forbath kick), 8:42.Phi: Polk 102 kickoff return (Par-key), 8:29.Was: Garcon 4 pass from K.Cou-sins (Forbath), 2:09.Second quarterWas: FG Forbath 49, 8:48.Phi: Jo.Matthews 11 pass fromFoles (Parkey), 5:48.Was: FG Forbath 44, 1:15.Phi: Jo.Matthews 11 pass fromFoles (Parkey), 0:09.Third quarterPhi: FG Parkey 38, 12:03.Phi: FG Parkey 33, 8:04.Was: De.Jackson 81 pass fromK.Cousins (Forbath), 2:04.Fourth quarterPhi: Maclin 27 pass from Foles(Parkey), 7:34.Phi: FG Parkey 51, 5:55.Was: Helu 1 run (Forbath), 4:16.TEAM STATS WAS PHIFirst downs 27 22Total net yards 511 379Rushes-yds 28-84 26-54Passing 427 325Comp-att-int 30-48-1 28-42-0Punts 3-56.7 4-37.3Punt returns 1-6 2-27Kickoff returns 3-46 3-153Interception ret. 0-0 1-6Penalties-yards 10-131 9-70Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1Time of poss 34:48 25:12Rushing: Was, A.Morris 23-77,K.Cousins 3-5, D.Young 1-1, Helu1-1.Phi, L.McCoy 20-22, Sproles 2-20, Foles 4-12.

Passing: Was, K.Cousins 30-48-1-427. Phi, Foles 28-42-0-325.Rec. leaders: Was, Garcon 11-138,Paul 6-68, De.Jackson 5-117, Rob-erts 4-38, Helu1-55. Phi,Maclin 8-154, Jo.Matthews 8-59, R.Cooper4-34.Missed FG:Was, Forbath 33 (WR).

GIANTS 30, TEXANS 17Houston 0 0 10 7 17N.Y. Giants 0 14 3 13 30Second quarter A: 77,462.NYG: Cruz 26 pass from E.Man-ning (Js.Brown kick), 3:21.NYG: R.Jennings 1 run (Js.Brownkick), 1:07.Third quarterNYG: FG Js.Brown 39, 10:39.Hou: FG Bullock 27, 6:09.Hou: Dm.Johnson 44 pass fromFitzpatrick (Bullock kick), 2:13.Fourth quarterNYG: FG Js.Brown 29, 12:19.NYG: Dn.Fells 9 pass from E.Man-ning (Js.Brown kick), 9:25.NYG: FG Js.Brown 31, 5:33.Hou: Fitzpatrick 1 run (Bullockkick), 2:00.TEAM STATS HOU NYGFirst downs 20 26Total net yards 411 419Rushes-yds 25-119 42-193Passing 292 226Sacked-yds lost 2-7 1-8Comp-att-int 21-35-3 21-28-0Punts 5-41.0 4-39.8Punt returns 1-3 2-12Kickoff returns 3-67 1-17Penalties-yards 5-40 4-31Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1Time of poss 27:26 32:34Rushing: Hou, Blue13-78, Fitzpat-rick 7-34, J.Grimes 1-5, R.Brown3-2, Dm.Johnson 1-0. NYG, R.Jen-nings 34-176, An.Williams 6-18,Weatherford 1-0, E.Manning 1-(minus 1).

Passing:Hou, Fitzpatrick 20-34-3-289, Lechler1-1-0-10.NYG, E.Man-ning 21-28-0-234.Receiving: Hou, D.Hopkins 6-116,G.Graham 5-41, Ad.Johnson 4-24,Dm.Johnson 2-56, J.Grimes 1-31,Ke.Martin1-16, Blue1-10, R.Brown1-5.NYG,Donnell 6-45, Cruz 5-107,R.Randle 5-27, P.Parker 3-33,Dn.Fells 2-22.INTs: NYG, Rolle 1-25, Rodgers-Cromartie 1-10, Amukamara 1-0.

COWBOYS 34, RAMS 31Dallas 0 10 10 14 34St. Louis 7 14 0 10 31First quarter A: 58,739.StL: L.Kendricks 1 pass from Au-.Davis (Zuerlein kick), 6:10.Second quarterStL: Quick 51 pass from Au.Davis(Zuerlein), 14:54.StL: Jn.Jenkins 25 interception re-turn (Zuerlein), 6:06.Dal: D.Murray1 run (Bailey), 2:07.Dal: FG D.Bailey 29, 0:02.Third quarterDal:Dz.Bryant 68pass fromRomo(Bailey), 12:48.Dal: FG D.Bailey 40, 2:43.Fourth quarterStL: FG Zuerlein 28, 13:28.Dal: Te.Williams 12 pass from Ro-mo (Bailey), 6:13.Dal: B.Carter 25 interception re-turn (Bailey), 5:58.StL: Pettis 4 pass from Au.Davis(Zuerlein), 2:36.TEAM STATS DAL STLFirst downs 19 26Total net yards 340 448Rushes-yds 29-123 30-121Passing 217 327Comp-att-int 18-23-1 30-42-2Punts 2-39.0 1-24.0Punt returns 0-0 1-1Kickoff returns 3-74 2-53Interception ret. 2-17 1-25Penalties-yards 3-15 8-119Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1Time of poss 27:10 32:50Rushing: Dal, D.Murray 24-100,Romo 3-14, J.Randle 2-9. StL,Stacy 12-67, B.Cunningham 9-29,T.Watts 5-24, K.Britt 1-2, J.Cook1-0, Au.Davis 2-(minus 1).Passing: Dal, Romo 18-23-1-217.StL, Au.Davis 30-42-2-327.Receiving: Dal, Dz.Bryant 6-89,Witten 4-49, D.Murray 4-31, Te-.Williams 2-32, Beasley 1-9,Escobar 1-7. StL, J.Cook 7-75,L.Kendricks 6-29, K.Britt 5-69,Stacy 5-54, Pettis 3-28, Quick 2-62, B.Cunningham1-5, Givens1-5.

COLTS 44, JAGUARS 17Indianapolis 10 20 0 14 44Jacksonville 0 0 3 14 17First quarter A: 60,601.Ind: FG Vinatieri 48, 9:37.Ind: Bradshaw 6 pass from Luck(Vinatieri kick), 1:50.Second quarterInd: D.Allen 1 pass from Luck (Vi-natieri), 12:28.Ind: FG Vinatieri 43, 9:08.Ind: FG Vinatieri 25, 1:10.Ind: Fleener 7 pass from Luck (Vi-natieri), 0:28.Third quarterJac: FG Scobee 41, 5:13.Fourth quarterInd:Nicks1pass fromLuck (Vina-tieri), 8:53.Jac: Hurns 63 pass from Bortles(Scobee), 6:51.Ind: Toler 47 interception return(Vinatieri), 2:58.Jac: Shorts 10 pass from Bortles(Scobee), 0:18.TEAM STATS IND JAXFirst downs 27 18Total net yards 529 344Rushes-yds 29-144 20-105Passing 385 239Sacked-yds lost 2-5 4-17Comp-att-int 33-43-0 18-31-2Punts 2-53.5 5-46.4Kickoff returns 0-0 1-26Interception ret. 2-40 0-0Penalties-yards 8-46 2-15Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1Time of poss 37:03 22:57Rush leaders: Ind, Bradshaw 9-65, T.Richardson 14-57, Luck 3-15.Jax, D.Robinson 8-33, T.Gerhart 9-32, Bortles 2-30.Passing: Ind, Luck 31-39-0-370,Hasselbeck 2-4-0-20. Jax, Bortles14-24-2-223, Henne 4-7-0-33.Receiving leaders: Ind, Hilton 5-80, Wayne 4-62, Moncrief 4-55,Nicks 4-50, Fleener 4-49, D.Allen4-43. Jax, Al.Robinson 7-79,Shorts 5-35, T.Gerhart 2-31, Hurns1-63.

SAINTS 20, VIKINGS 9Minnesota 0 6 3 0 9New Orleans 13 0 0 7 20First quarter A: 73,005.NO: P.Thomas 1 run (S.Grahamkick), 9:36.NO: Js.Hill 34 pass from Brees(Kick failed), 4:50.Second quarterMin: FG Walsh 25, 14:06.Min: FG Walsh 30, 6:33.Third quarterMin: FG Walsh 40, 10:20.Fourth quarterNO: Colston 18 pass from Brees(S.Graham kick), 12:28.TEAM STATS MIN NOFirst downs 13 27Total net yards 247 396Rushes-yds 22-59 32-108Passing 188 288Sacked-yds lost 2-15 1-5Comp-att-int 17-30-0 27-35-0Punts 4-45.3 4-45.3Punt returns 4-11 1-(-3)Kickoff returns 4-120 0-0Interception ret. 0-0 0-0Penalties-yards 5-44 4-30Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0Time of poss 26:27 33:33Rushing: Min, Asiata 12-35,Bridgewater 6-27, Cassel 1-5,McKinnon 2-(minus 1), C.Patter-son1-(-7).NO,Kh.Robinson18-69,P.Thomas 8-30, Cadet 2-9, Au-.Johnson 1-2, Brees 3-(minus 2).Passing: Min, Bridgewater 12-20-0-150, Cassel 5-10-0-53.NO, Brees27-35-0-293.

Receiving: Min, G.Jennings 5-70,C.Patterson 4-61, Asiata 3-36, Ru-dolph 3-27, McKinnon 2-9. NO,Cooks 8-74, J.Graham 6-54, Stills4-38, P.Thomas 3-21, Js.Hill 2-48,Colston 2-25, Meachem 1-23,B.Watson 1-10.Punt ret: Min, Sherels 4-11. NO,J.Byrd 0-0, Cooks 1--3. Kick ret:Min, C.Patterson 4-120.Tackles-assists-sacks:Min, Blanton 7-3-0, Barr 2-3-1.NO, Lofton 7-1-0, Galette 4-3-1

CHARGERS 22, BILLS 10San Diego 7 6 7 2 22Buffalo 0 3 7 0 10First quarter A: 68,611.SD: Royal 3 pass from P.Rivers(Novak kick), 9:45.Second quarterSD: FG Novak 19, 10:18.Buf: FG D.Carpenter 45, 2:56.SD: FG Novak 37, 0:21.Third quarterSD: Royal 5 pass from P.Rivers(Novak kick), 7:31.Buf: F.Jackson 11 pass from Ma-nuel (D.Carpenter kick), 1:16.Fourth quarterSD:Manuel safety, penalty in endzone, 3:23.TEAM STATS SD BUFFirst downs 20 18Total net yards 336 292Rushes-yds 37-85 22-87Passing 251 205Sacked-yds lost 1-5 3-33Comp-att-int 18-25-0 23-40-0Punts 6-49.2 5-45.2Punt returns 3-6 1-0Kickoff returns 0-0 3-44Interception ret. 0-0 0-0Penalties-yards 6-44 11-101Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0Time of poss 31:34 28:26Rushing: SD, Do.Brown 31-62, Oli-ver 3-11, P.Rivers 2-11, Woodhead1-1. Buf, F.Jackson 6-34, Spiller 10-25, Manuel 5-24, Summers 1-4.Passing: SD, P.Rivers 18-25-0-256.Buf, Manuel 23-39-0-238, F.Jack-son 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: SD, Brown 5-27,L.Green 4-64, Royal 4-42, Ma-.Floyd 2-98, K.Allen 2-17, Gates1-8. Buf, F.Jackson 8-78, Chandler5-74, Spiller 3-37, Woods 3-19,S.Watkins 2-19, Williams 2-11.Punt ret: SD, Royal 3-6. Buf,McKelvin 1-0. Kick ret: SD, None.Buf, Spiller 1-18, McKelvin 1-15,An.Dixon 1-11.Tackles-assists-sacks:SD,Weddle 9-1-0, Liuget 5-1-1.Buf,Williams 9-5-0, Lawson1-0-1.

LIONS 19, PACKERS 7Green Bay 7 0 0 0 7Detroit 7 5 0 7 19First quarter A: 62,418.Det: D.Carey 40 fumble return(Freese kick), 12:02.GB: Quarless 10 pass fromA.Rodgers (Crosby), 0:39.Second quarterDet: Lacy safety, tackle in endzone, Levy, 13:21.Det: FG Freese 30, 6:16.Fourth quarterDet: Re.Bush 26 run (Freese),10:40.TEAM STATS GB DETFirst downs 14 21Total net yards 223 353Rushes-yds 22-76 38-115Passing 147 238Sacked-yds lost 2-15 2-8Comp-att-int 16-27-0 22-34-2Punts 5-43.0 2-52.0Punt returns 2-23 2-16Kickoff returns 2-0 2-56Interception ret. 2-9 0-0Penalties-yards 5-30 6-40Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1Time of poss 21:47 38:13Rushing: GB, J.Starks 8-38, Lacy11-36, Du.Harris 3-2. Det, Re.Bush12-61, J.Bell 15-33, Riddick 3-16,M.Stafford 6-8, Je.Collins 1-2,J.Ross 1-(-5).

Passing: GB, A.Rodgers 16-27-0-162. Det,M.Stafford 22-34-2-246.Receiving: GB, J.Nelson 5-59,Quarless 4-43, Cobb 3-29,D.Adams 2-11, J.Boykin 1-11, Lacy1-9. Det, Cl.Johnson 6-82, Re.Bush6-38, G.Tate 5-51, J.Ross 3-20,C.Fuller 1-52, Fauria 1-3.Punt returns: GB, Cobb 2-23. Det,J.Ross 2-16.Kickoff returns: GB, Du.Harris2-0. Det, J.Ross 2-56.Tackles-assists-sacks:GB, Lttimre 7-2-0, Peppers 2-0-1.Det, Levy 9-1-0, Suh 1-1-1.Interceptions: GB, Clinton-Dix1-9, House 1-0. .Missed FG: Det, Freese 41 (WL)

BENGALS 33, TITANS 7Tennessee 0 0 0 7 7Cincinnati 10 9 7 7 33First quarter A: 56,743.Cin: FG Nugent 29, 4:48.Cin: Dalton 18 pass from Sanu(Nugent kick), 0:00.Second quarterCin:Groves safety, penalty in endzone, 6:25.Cin: Bernard1 run (Nugent), 3:29.Third quarterCin: Bernard 1 run (Nugent), 1:58.Fourth quarterCin: Je.Hill 4 run (Nugent), 9:26.Ten: S.Greene 1 run (Succop),6:09.TEAM STATS TEN CINFirst downs 22 25Total net yards 326 300Rushes-yds 28-149 31-116Passing 177 184Sacked-yds lost 2-8 0-0Comp-att-int 17-34-2 17-26-1Punts 4-35.3 4-49.3Punt returns 1-1 0-0Kickoff returns 2-56 1-18Penalties-yards 11-99 7-50Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0Time of poss 31:16 28:44Rushing: Ten, Sankey 10-61,Locker 6-50, S.Greene 10-33, Bat-tle 1-5, McCluster 1-0. Cin, Ber-nard 14-47, Je.Hill 7-39, Peerman5-15, Br.Tate 1-12, Dalton 3-3,Hewitt 1-0.

Passing: Ten, Locker 17-34-2-185.Cin, Dalton 15-23-1-169, Sanu 1-1-0-18, J.Campbell 1-2-0-(minus 3).Receiving: Ten, Ke.Wright 5-44,D.Walker 4-54, J.Hunter 3-37, Ste-vens 2-26, McCluster 2-15, San-key 1-9. Cin, A.Green 6-102, Sanu5-44, Dalton 1-18, Bernard 1-7,Hewitt 1-6, Br.Tate 1-5, J.Gresham1-5, K.Brock 1-(minus 3).Interceptions Ten, G.Wilson 1-0.Cin, R.Geathers 1-2, Re.Nelson1-0.Missed FG: Ten, Succop 40 (WR),44 (WR).

PATRIOTS 16, RAIDERS 9Oakland 3 0 6 0 9New England 0 10 0 6 16First quarter A: 68,756.Oak: FG Janikowski 49, 4:37.Second quarterNE: Gronkowski 6 pass fromBrady (Gostkowski kick), 4:14.NE: FG Gostkowski 21, 0:00.Third quarterOak: FG Janikowski 37, 9:39.Oak: FG Janikowski 47, 2:21.Fourth quarterNE: FG Gostkowski 20, 13:42.NE: FG Gostkowski 36, 6:20.TEAM STATS OAK NEFirst downs 14 21Total net yards 241 297Rushes-yds 22-67 32-76Passing 174 221Sacked-yds lost 0-0 2-13Comp-att-int 21-34-1 24-37-0Punts 5-43.2 5-48.0Punt returns 4-36 1-7Kickoff returns 0-0 1-26Interception ret. 0-0 1-1Penalties-yards 6-49 6-59Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0Time of poss 28:25 31:35Rushing: Oak, McFadden 18-59,Reece 1-7, L.Murray 3-1. NE, Rid-ley 19-54, S.Vereen 7-20, Edelman1-5, B.Bolden 2-4, Brady 3-(minus7).

Passing: Oak, D.Carr 21-34-1-174.NE, Brady 24-37-0-234.Receiving: Oak, McFadden 4-6,Jm.Jones 3-43, Streater 3-32,De.Moore 3-23, Reece 3-19, Rivera2-11, A.Holmes 1-29, Leonhardt1-7, Olawale 1-4. NE, Edelman 10-84, LaFell 4-46, S.Vereen 4-17,Gronkowski 3-44, T.Wright 1-20,Thompkins 1-16, Ridley 1-7.Punt returns: Oak, Carrie 4-36.NE, Edelman 1-7.Kickoff returns: NE, Slater 1-26.Tackles-assists-sacks:Oak, T.Branch 7-3-0, Tuck 2-2-1.NE, L.Ryan 4-0-0, Mayo 3-8-0Interceptions: NE,Wilfork 1-1.

CARDINALS 23, 49ERS 14San Francisco 7 7 0 0 14Arizona 3 3 14 3 23First quarter A: 61,572.Ari: FG Catanzaro 51, 12:23.SF: Crabtree 2 pass from Kaeper-nick (Dawson), 6:45.Second quarterAri: FG Catanzaro 32, 13:42.SF: C.Hyde 6 run (Dawson), 5:07.Third quarterAri: Jh.Brown 24 pass from Stan-ton (Catanzaro), 9:20.Ari: Jh.Brown 21 pass from Stan-ton (Catanzaro), 4:39.Fourth quarterAri: FG Catanzaro 35, 0:29.TEAM STATS SF ARIFirst downs 20 24Total net yards 318 338Rushes-yds 24-82 27-84Passing 236 254Sacked-yds lost 1-9 0-0Comp-att-int 29-37-0 19-34-0Punts 4-43.5 1-49.0Punt returns 1-14 1-8Kickoff returns 2-44 0-0Penalties-yards 9-107 5-36Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1Time of poss 32:20 27:40Rushing: SF, Kaepernick 13-54,C.Hyde 3-13, Gore 6-10, Crabtree1-4, B.Ellington 1-1. Ari, A.Elling-ton 18-62, Stanton 6-16, Ginn 1-4,S.Taylor 1-2, Parmele 1-0.Passing: SF, Kaepernick 29-37-0-245. Ari, Stanton 18-33-0-244,Ginn 1-1-0-10.

Receiving: SF, Crabtree 10-80, Se-.Johnson 9-103, Boldin 6-36,C.Hyde 2-(minus 2), Carrier 1-23,Lloyd 1-5. Ari, Mi.Floyd 5-114,Jh.Brown 4-52, Fitzgerald 3-34,Carlson 3-33, A.Ellington 3-13,Ginn 1-8. Punt ret: SF, B.Ellington1-14. Ari, Ginn 1-8. Kickoff ret: SF,B.Ellington 2-44.Tackles-assists-sacks:SF,Wilhoite 5-1-0, Willis 5-1-0, .Ari, T.Jeffersn 8-2-1, Jhnsn 8-0-0.Missed FG: SF, Dawson 45 (BK).

SEAHAWKS 26, BRONCOS 20 OTDenver 3 0 0 17 0 20Seattle 3 14 0 3 6 26First quarter A: 68,447.Sea: FG Hauschka 20, 10:33.Den: FG McManus 24, 3:27.Second quarterSea: Lockette 39 pass from R.Wil-son (Hauschka), 3:05.Sea: M.Lynch 5 pass from R.Wil-son (Hauschka), 0:12.Fourth quarterDen:M.Lynch safety, 13:07.Den: Ju.Thomas 3 pass fromP.Manning (McManus), 9:20.Sea: FG Hauschka 28, 0:59.Den: Tamme 26 pass from P.Man-ning (Dm.Thomas pass fromP.Manning), 0:18.Sea:M.Lynch 6 run, 9:14.TEAM STATS DEN SEAFirst downs 20 26Total net yards 332 384Rushes-yds 20-36 37-129Passing 296 255Sacked-yds lost 1-7 3-20Comp-att-int 31-49-1 25-35-1Punts 8-47.3 6-50.2Punt returns 2-15 5-36Kickoff returns 1-22 1-13Interception ret. 1-13 1-52Penalties-yards 4-27 7-34Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0Time of poss 27:42 38:04Rushing: Den,Mo.Ball 14-38, Hill-man 2-2, V.Green 1-0, P.Manning1-(minus 1), CJ.Anderson 2-(mi-nus 3). Sea,M.Lynch 26-88, R.Wil-son 9-40, Turbin 2-1.Passing: Den, P.Manning 31-49-1-303. Sea, R.Wilson 24-34-1-258,J.Kearse 1-1-0-17.Receiving leaders: Den, E.San-ders 11-149, Welker 6-60, Dm.Tho-mas 4-31, Ju.Thomas 3-17, Tamme2-22, Mo.Ball 2-6, V.Green 1-10.Sea, Harvin 7-42, Baldwin 4-56,M.Lynch 3-40, J.Kearse 2-22, Wal-ters 2-22, Z.Miller 2-12, Lockette1-39, R.Wilson 1-17.Missed FG: Sea, Hauschka 46 ()

CHIEFS 34, DOLPHINS 15Kansas City 0 14 7 13 34Miami 0 3 12 0 15Second quarter A: 70,313.KC: K.Davis 21 run (Santos kick),6:38.KC: T.Kelce 20 pass from Ae.S-mith (Santos kick), 1:35.Mia: FG Sturgis 22, 0:00.Third quarterMia: Hartline 1 pass from Tanne-hill (Sturgis kick), 12:07.KC: McKnight 11 pass from Ae.S-mith (Santos kick), 6:36.Mia: FG Sturgis 51, 5:54.Mia: Ae.Smith safety, sack in endzone from R.Starks, 2:38.Fourth quarterKC: McKnight 4 pass from Ae.S-mith (pass failed), 4:35.KC: C.Gray 6 run (Santos), 0:13.TEAM STATS KC MIAFirst downs 23 18Total net yards 342 332Rushes-yds 41-174 20-141Passing 168 191Sacked-yds lost 5-18 4-14Comp-att-int 19-25-0 21-43-0Punts 5-51.0 7-0.0Punt returns 5-100 3-11Kickoff returns 3-65 7-212Interception ret. 0-0 0-0Penalties-yards 4-23 6-65Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0Time of poss 33:42 26:18Rushing: KC, K.Davis 32-132,C.Gray 4-18, Ae.Smith 2-17,A.Sherman 1-4, McKnight 1-3,A.Jenkins1-0.Mia, L.Miller15-108,Dn.Thomas 2-15, M.Wallace 1-12,Tannehill 1-9, Dm.Williams 1-(-3).Passing: KC, Ae.Smith 19-25-0-186.Mia, Tannehill 21-43-0-205.Rec.: KC, McKnight 6-64, T.Kelce3-36, Bowe 3-32, Fasano 2-23,Hemingway 2-18, Avery 2-12,Sherman 1-1. Mia, Wallace 5-74,Miller 4-24, Hartline 3-25,.Landry3-24, Clay 3-21, Thomas 1-21,R.Matthews 1-13, Gibson 1-3.Missed FG: Mia, Sturgis 48 (WL)

STEELERS 37, PANTHERS 19Pittsburgh 3 6 14 14 37Carolina 3 0 3 13 19First quarter A: 73,945.Car: FG Gano 40, 6:40.Pit: FG Suisham 42, 0:07.Second quarterPit: FG Suisham 24, 5:37.Pit: FG Suisham 45, 0:00.Third quarterPit: An.Brown 7 pass from Roeth-lisberger (Suisham kick), 11:02.Car: FG Gano 40, 6:21.Pit: An.Brown 7 pass from Roeth-lisberger (Suisham), 2:22.Fourth quarterCar: Olsen 37 pass from C.New-ton (Gano), 13:28.Pit: Golden fumble return (Suish-am), 11:00.Pit: Blount 8 run (Suisham), 5:38.Car: K.Benjamin 35 pass fromD.Anderson (pass failed), 3:53.TEAM STATS PIT CARFirst downs 24 20Total net yards 454 349Rushes-yds 34-264 10-42Passing 190 307Sacked-yds lost 1-6 3-23Comp-att-int 22-30-0 29-41-0Punts 3-46.0 4-52.5Punt returns 2-17 1-(-10)Kickoff returns 0-0 2-43Interception ret. 0-0 0-0Penalties-yards 11-91 7-105Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2Time of poss. 34:39 25:21Rush: Pit, L.Bell 21-147, Blount 10-118, Roethlisberger 1-1, B.Grad-kowski 2-(minus 2). Car, Jn.Ste-wart 5-31, C.Newton 2-7, Tolbert3-4.

Passing: Pit, Roethlisberger 22-30-0-196. Car, Newton 24-35-0-250, Anderson 5-6-0-80.Receiving: Pit, An.Brown 10-90,H.Miller 4-51, Wheaton 4-35,L.Bell 2-10, Ju.Brown 2-10. Car,K.Benjamin 8-115, Ph.Brown 7-66,Olsen 5-69, Tolbert 3-20, Jn.Ste-wart 3-19, Avant 2-12, Bersin 1-29.

BEARS AT JETS8:30 p.m., ESPNLine: Jets by 21⁄2Series: Bears lead 7-3.Last meeting: Bears won 38-34 onDec. 26, 2010.

Last week: Bears beat 49ers 28-20;Jets lost to Packers 31-24.Bears update: Club is 27-35 on “MondayNight Football,” while Jets are 20-27. ...Bears have won three straight vs. Jets andare 3-1 overall against them in New Jersey.... Bears coming off comeback win over49ers in which they erased 17-pointdeficit. QB Jay Cutler threw four TDpasses in game, including three toBrandon Marshall. It was 22nd timeCutler has led a winning drive in fourthquarter or overtime, and 15th with Bears. .Jets update: Coming off disappointingloss in which they blew 18-point lead inGreen Bay. ... Jets first team since Vikingsat end of 2007 season to lead league inrushing offense and rushing defense atthe end of any week. ... LB DemarioDavis had career-high two sacks vs.Packers.Sam Farmer’s pick: Bears 24-20.

MONDAY NIGHT

AFC NORTHBALTIMORE (1-1)S7 L 23-16 vs. Cin.S14:W 26-6 vs. Pitt.S21 at Cleveland 1S28 Carolina 1O5 at Indpls 1O12 at Tampa Bay 1O19 Atlanta 1O26 at Cincinnati 1N2 at Pittsburgh 8:30N9 Tennessee 1N16 offN24 at New Orl. 8:30N30 San Diego 1D7 at Miami 1D14 Jacksonville 1D21 at Houston 1D28 Cleveland 1

CINCINNATI (2-0)S7W 23-16 at Balt.S14:W 24-10 vs. AtlS21 Tennessee 1S28 offO5 at New Eng. 8:30O12 Carolina 1O19 at Indpls 1O26 Baltimore 1N2 Jacksonville 1N6 Cleveland 8:25N16 at New Orl. 1N23 at Houston 1N30 at Tampa Bay 1D7 Pittsburgh 1D14 at Cleveland 1D22 Denver 8:30D28 at Pittsburgh 1

CLEVELAND (1-1)S7: L 30-27 at PittS14:W 26-24 vs. N.O.S21 Baltimore 1S28 offO5 at Tennessee 1O12 Pittsburgh 1O19 at Jacknvlle 1O26 Oakland 4:25N2 Tampa Bay 1N6 at Cinc. 8:25N16 Houston 1N23 at Atlanta 1N30 at Buffalo 1D7 Indpls 1D14 Cincinnati 1D21 at Carolina 1D28 at Baltimore 1

PITTSBURGH (1-1)S7W 30-27 vs. Cle.S14: L 26-6 at Balt.S21 at Carolina 8:30S28 Tampa Bay 1O5 at Jacksnvlle 1O12 at Cleveland 1O20 Houston 8:30O26 Indpls 4:25N2 Baltimore 8:30N9 at N.Y. Jets 1N17 at Tennessee 8:30N23 offN30 New Orleans 1D7 at Cinc. 1D14 at Atlanta 1D21 Kansas City 1D28 Cincinnati 1

AFC EASTBUFFALO (2-0)S7W 23-20, OT at ChiS14:W 29-10 vs. MiamiS21 San Diego 1S28 at Houston 1O5 at Detroit 1O12 New England 1O19 Minnesota 1O26 at N.Y. Jets 1N2 offN9 Kansas City 1N13 at Miami 8:25N23N.Y. Jets 1N30 Cleveland 1D7 at Denver 4:05D14 Green Bay 1D21 at Oakland 4:25D28 at New England 1

MIAMI (1-1)S7:W 33-20 vs. N.E.S14: L 29-10 at BuffaloS21 Kansas City 4:25S28 at Oakland-l 1O5 offO12 Green Bay 1O19 at Chi 1O26 at Jacksonville 1N2 San Diego 1N9 at Detroit 1N13 Buffalo 8:25N23 at Denver 4:25D1 at N.Y. Jets 8:30D7 Baltimore 1D14 at New England 1D21Minnesota 1D28 N.Y. Jets 1

NEW ENGLAND (1-1)S7: L 33-20 at MiamiS14:W 30-7 at Minn.S21 Oakland 1S29 at Kansas City8:30O5 Cincinnati-x 8:30O12 at Buffalo 1Oct. 16 N.Y. Jets 8:25O26 Chi 1N2 Denver 4:25N9 offN16 at Indpls 8:30N23Detroit 1N30 at Green Bay 4:25D7 at San Diego-x 8:30D14 Miami 1D21 at N.Y. Jets 1D28 Buffalo 1

N.Y. JETS (1-1)S7:W 19-14 vs. OakS14: L 31-24 at Gr. BayS22 Chi 8:30S28 Detroit 1O5 at San Diego 4:25O12 Denver 1O16 at New Eng. 8:25O26 Buffalo 1N2 at Kansas City 1N9 Pittsburgh 1N16 offN23 at Buffalo 1D1Miami 8:30D7 at Minnesota 1D14 at Tennessee 4:05D21 New England 1D28 at Miami 1

AFC SOUTHHOUSTON (2-0)S7W 17-6 vs. WashS14:W 30-14 at OakS21 at N.Y. Giants 1S28 Buffalo 1O5 at Dallas 1O9 Indianapolis 8:25O20 at Pittsburgh 8:30O26 at Tennessee 1N2 Philadelphia 1N9 offN16 at Cleveland 1N23 Cincinnati 1N30 Tennessee 1D7 at Jacksonville 1D14 at Indianapolis 1D21 Baltimore 1D28 Jacksonville 1

INDIANAPOLIS (0-2)S7: L 31-24 at DenS15: L 30-27 vs. Phila.S21 at Jacksonville 1S28 Tennessee 1O5 Baltimore 1O9 at Houston 8:25O19 Cincinnati 1O26 at Pittsburgh 4:25N3 at N.Y. Giants 8:30N9 offN16 New England 8:30N23 Jacksonville 1N30 Washington 1D7 at Cleveland 1D14 Houston 1D21 at Dallas 4:25D28 at Tennessee 1

JACKSONVILLE (0-2)S7: L 34-17 at Phila.S14: L 41-10 at WashS21 Indianapolis 1S28 at San Diego 4:05O5 Pittsburgh 1O12 at Tennessee 1O19 Cleveland 1O26 Miami 1N2 at Cincinnati 1N9 Dallas-l 1N16 offN23 at Indianapolis 1N30 N.Y. Giants 1D7 Houston 1D14 at Baltimore 1D18 Tennessee 8:25D28 at Houston 1

TENNESSEE (1-1)S7:W 26-10 at K.C.S14: L 26-10 vs. DallasS21 at Cincinnati 1S28 at Indianapolis 1O5 Cleveland 1O12 Jacksnville 1O19 at Washington 1O26 Houston 1N2 offN9 at Baltimore 1N17 Pittsburgh 8:30N23 at Philadelphia 1N30 at Houston 1D7 N.Y. Giants 1D14 N.Y. Jets 4:05D18 at Jacksnvlle 8:25D28 Indianapolis 1

AFC WESTDENVER (2-0)S7:W 31-24 vs. IndS14:W 24-17 vs. K.C.S21 at Seattle 4:25S28 offO5 Arizona 4:05O12 at N.Y. Jets 1O19 San Fran. 8:30O23 San Diego 8:25N2 at New Eng. 4:25N9 at Oakland 4:05N16 at St. Louis 1N23Miami 4:25N30 at Kan. City-x 8:30D7 Buffalo 4:05D14 at San Diego 4:05D22 at Cincinnati 8:30D28 Oakland 4:25

KANSAS CITY (0-2)S7: L 26-10 vs. Ten.S14: L 24-17 at DenverS21 at Miami 4:25S29 New England 8:30O5 at San Fran. 4:25O12 offO19 at San Diego 4:05O26 St. Louis 1N2 N.Y. Jets 1N9 at Buffalo 1N16 Seattle 1N20 at Oakland 8:25N30 Denver-x 8:30D7 at Arizona 4:05D14 Oakland 1D21 at Pittsburgh 1D28 San Diego 1

OAKLAND (0-2)S7: L 19-14 at NYJS14: L 30-14 vs. Hou.S21 at New England 1S28 Miami-l 1O5 offO12 San Diego 4:05O19 Arizona 4:25O26 at Cleveland 4:25N2 at Seattle 4:25N9 Denver 4:05N16 at San Diego 4:05N20 Kansas City 8:25N30 at St. Louis 1D7 San Francisco 4:25D14 at Kansas City 1D21 Buffalo 4:25D28 at Denver 4:25

SAN DIEGO (1-1)S8: L 18-17 at ArizS14:W30-21vs. SeattleS21 at Buffalo 1S28 Jacksonville 4:05O5 N.Y. Jets 4:25O12 at Oakland 4:05O19 Kansas City 4:05O23 at Denver 8:25N2 at Miami 1N9 offN16 Oakland 4:05N23 St. Louis 4:05N30 at Baltimore 1D7 New England-x8:30D14 Denver 4:05D20 at S.F. 4:30/7:15D28 at Kansas City 1

NFC SOUTHATLANTA (1-1)S7:W 37-34,OTvs.N.O.S14: L 24-10 at Cin.S18 Tampa Bay 8:25S28 at Minnesota 4:25O5 at N.Y. Giants 1O12 Chi 1O19 at Baltimore 1O26 Det.-l 8:30 a.m.N2 offN9 at Tampa Bay 1N16 at Carolina 1N23Cleveland 1N30 Arizona 4:05D8 at Green Bay 8:30D14 Pittsburgh 1D21 at New Orleans 1D28 Carolina 1

CAROLINA (2-0)S7:W 20-14 at T.B.S14:W 24-7 vs. DetroitS21 Pittsburgh 8:30S28 at Baltimore 1O5 Chi 1O12 at Cincinnati 1O19 at Green Bay 1O26 Seattle 1O30 New Orl. 8:25N10 at Phila. 8:30N16 Atlanta 1N23 offN30 at Minnesota 1D7 at New Orleans 1D14 Tampa Bay 1D21 Cleveland 1D28 at Atlanta 1

NEW ORLEANS (0-2)S7: L 37-34, OT at AtlS14: L 26-24 at Clev.S21Minnesota 1S28 at Dallas 8:30O5 Tampa Bay 1O12 offO19 at Detroit 1O26 Green Bay-x 8:30O30 at Carolina 8:25N9 San Francisco 1N16 Cincinnati 1N24 Baltimore 8:30N30 at Pittsburgh 1D7 Carolina 1D15 at Chi 8:30D21 Atlanta 1D28 at Tampa Bay 1

TAMPA BAY (0-2)S7: L 20-14 vs. Car.S14: L 19-17 vs. StLS18 at Atlanta 8:25S28 at Pittsburgh 1O5 at New Orleans 1O12 Baltimore 1O19 offO26 Minnesota 1N2 at Cleveland 1N9 Atlanta 1N16 at Washington 1N23 at Chi 1N30 Cincinnati 1D7 at Detroit 1D14 at Carolina 1D21 Green Bay 1D28 New Orleans 1

NFC WESTARIZONA (2-0)S8:W 18-17 vs. S.D.S14:W 25-14 at NYGS21 San Fran. 4:05S28 offO5 at Denver 4:05O12 Washington 4:25O19 at Oakland 4:25O26 Philadelphia 4:05N2 at Dallas 1N9 St. Louis 4:25N16 Detroit 4:25N23 at Seattle 4:05N30 at Atlanta 4:05D7 Kansas City 4:05D11 at St. Louis 8:25D21 Seattle-x 8:30D28 at San Fran. 4:25

SAN FRANCISCO (1-1)S7:W 28-17 at DalS14: L 28-20 vs. ChiS21 at Arizona 4:05S28 Philadelphia 4:25O5 Kansas City 4:25O13 at St. Louis 8:30O19 at Denver-x 8:30O26 offN2 St. Louis 4:05N9 at New Orleans 1N16 at N.Y. Giants 1N23 Washington 4:25N27 Seattle 8:30D7 at Oakland 4:25D14 at Seattle 4:25D20 S. Diego 4:30/7:15D28 Arizona 4:25

SEATTLE (1-1)S4:W 36-16 vs. G.B.S14: L 30-21 at S. DiegoS21 Denver 4:25S28 offO6 at Washington 8:30O12 Dallas 4:25O19 at St. Louis 1O26 at Carolina 1N2 Oakland 4:25N9 N.Y. Giants 4:25N16 at Kansas City 1N23Arizona 4:05N27 at San Fran. 8:30D7 at Philadelphia4:25D14 San Francisco 4:25D21 at Arizona-x 8:30D28 St. Louis 4:25

ST. LOUIS (1-1)S7: L 34-6 vs. Minn.S14:W 19-17 at T. BayS21 Dallas 1S28 offO5 at Philadelphia 1O13 San Francisco8:30O19 Seattle 1O26 at Kansas City 1N2 at San Fran. 4:05N9 at Arizona 4:25N16 Denver 1N23at San Diego 4:05N30 Oakland 1D7 at Washington 1D11 Arizona 8:25D21 N.Y. Giants 4:05D28 at Seattle 4:25l–in London

NFC NORTHCHICAGO (1-1)S7: L 23-20 OT vs. BufS14:W 28-20 at S. Fran.S22 at N.Y. Jets 8:30S28 Green Bay 1O5 at Carolina 1O12 at Atlanta 1O19 Miami 1O26 at New England 1N2 offN9 at Green Bay-x 8:30N16 Minnesota 1N23Tampa Bay 1N27 at Det 12:30D4 Dallas 8:25D15 New Orleans 8:30D21 Detroit 1D28 at Minnesota 1

DETROIT (1-1)S8:W 35-14 vs. NYGS14: L 24-7 at CarolinaS21 Green Bay 1S28 at N.Y. Jets 1O5 Buffalo 1O12 at Minnesota 1O19 New Orleans 1O26 at Atl-l 8:30 a.m.N2 offN9 Miami 1N16 at Arizona 4:25N23 at New England 1N27: Chi 11:30D7 Tampa Bay 1D14 Minnesota 1D21 at Chi 1D28 at Green Bay 1

GREEN BAY (1-1)S4: L 36-16 at SeattleS14:W 31-24 vs. NYJS21 at Detroit 1S28 at Chi 1O2 Minnesota 8:25O12 at Miami 1O19 Carolina 1O26 at New Orl. 8:30N2 offN9 Chi-x 8:30N16 Philadelphia 1N23 at Minnesota 1N30 New England 4:25D8 Atlanta 8:30D14 at Buffalo 1D21 at Tampa Bay 1D28 Detroit 1

MINNESOTA (1-1)S7:W 34-6 at StLS14: L 30-7 vs. N.E.S21 at New Orleans 1S28 Atlanta 4:25O2 at Green Bay 8:25O12 Detroit 1O19 at Buffalo 1O26 at Tampa Bay 1N2 Washington 1N9 offN16 at Chi 1N23Green Bay 1N30 Carolina 1D7 N.Y. Jets 1D14 at Detroit 1D21 at Miami 1D28 Chi 1

NFC EASTDALLAS (1-1)S7: L 28-17 vs. S.F.S14:W 26-10 at Tenn.S21 at St. Louis 1S28 New Orleans 8:30O5 Houston 1O12 at Seattle 4:25O19 N.Y. Giants 4:25O27 Washington 8:30N2 Arizona 1N9 at Jacksonville-l 1N16 offN23 at NY Giants-x8:30N27 Philadelphia 4:30D4 at Chi 8:25D14 at Phila.-x 8:30D21 Indianapolis 4:25D28 at Washington 1

N.Y. GIANTS (0-2)S8: L 35-14 at DetS14: L 25-14 vs. ArizonaS21 Houston 1S25 at Wash. 8:25O5 Atlanta 1O12 at Phila.-x 8:30O19 at Dallas 4:25O26 offN3 Indianapolis 8:30N9 at Seattle 4:25N16 San Fran. 1N23 Dallas-x 8:30N30 at Jacksnville 1D7 at Tennessee 1D14 Washington 1D21 at St. Louis 4:05D28 Philadelphia 1

PHILADELPHIA (2-0)S7:W 34-17 vs. JaxS15:W 30-27 at IndplsS21Washington 1S28 at San Fran. 4:25O5 St. Louis 1O12 N.Y. Giants-x 8:30O19 offO26 at Arizona 4:05N2 at Houston 1N10 Carolina 8:30N16 at Green Bay 1N23 Tennessee 1N27 at Dallas 4:30D7 Seattle 4:25D14 Dallas-x 8:30D20 at Wash 4:30/7:15D28 at N.Y. Giants 1

WASHINGTON (1-1)S7: L 17-6 at HouS14:W 41-10 vs. JaxS21 at Philadelphia 1S25 N.Y. Giants 8:25O6 Seattle 8:30O12 at Arizona 4:25O19 Tennessee 1O27 at Dallas 8:30N2 at Minnesota 1N9 offN16 Tampa Bay 1N23at San Fran. 4:25N30 at Indpls 1D7 St. Louis 1D14 at N.Y. Giants 1D20 Phila. 4:30/7:15D28 Dallas 1(x-subject to change)

TEAM-BY-TEAM SCHEDULES

NFL SCHEDULES

Weeks 5-10 games can beflexed from Sunday afternoontonight,with a limit of two. Be-ginningwithWeek11, aSundaygame can be moved to primetime each week.x-subject to change

WEEK 1Thursday, Sept. 4SEATTLE 36, Green Bay 16Sunday, Sept. 7Minnesota 34, ST. LOUIS 6Buffalo 23, CHICAGO 20, OTHouston 17, WASHINGTON 6Tennessee 26, KANSAS CITY10ATLANTA 37, New Orl. 34, OTPITTSBURGH 30, Cleveland 27PHILA. 34, Jacksonville 17N.Y. JETS 19, Oakland 14Cincinnati 23, BALTIMORE 16MIAMI 33, New England 20San Francisco 28, DALLAS 17Carolina 20, TAMPA BAY 14DENVER 31, Indianapolis 24Monday, Sept, 8DETROIT 35, N.Y. Giants 14ARIZONA 18, San Diego 17

WEEK 2Thursday, Sept. 11BALTIMORE 26, Pittsburgh 6Sunday, Sept. 14Chicago 28, SAN FRAN 20WASH. 41, Jacksonville 10BUFFALO 29, Miami 10Dallas 26, TENNESSEE 10Arizona 25, N.Y. GIANTS 14NewEngland 30,MINNESOTA 7CLEVELAND 26, New Orl. 24CINCINNATI 24, Atlanta 10CAROLINA 24, Detroit 7St. Louis 19, TAMPA BAY 17SAN DIEGO 30, Seattle 21Houston 30, OAKLAND 14GREEN BAY 31, N.Y. Jets 24DENVER 24, Kansas City 17Monday, Sept. 15Philadelphia 30, INDPLS 27

WEEK 3Thursday, Sept. 18Tampa Bay at Atlanta, 8:25Sunday, Sept. 21San Diego at Buffalo, 1Tennessee at Cincinnati, 1Baltimore at Cleveland, 1Green Bay at Detroit, 1Indianapolis at Jacksonville, 1Oakland at New England, 1Minnesota at New Orleans, 1Houston at N.Y. Giants, 1Washington at Philadelphia, 1Dallas at St. Louis, 1San Fran at Arizona, 4:05Kansas City at Miami, 4:25Denver at Seattle, 4:25Pittsburgh at Carolina, 8:30Monday, Sept. 22Chicago at N.Y. Jets, 8:30

WEEK 4(Off: Arizona, Cincinnati, Clev.,Denver, Seattle, St. Louis)Thursday, Sept. 25N.Y. Giants atWashington, 8:25Sunday, Sept. 28Carolina at Baltimore, 1Green Bay at Chicago, 1Buffalo at Houston, 1Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1Detroit at N.Y. Jets, 1Miami vs. Oakland at London,1Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 1Jacksonville at San Diego, 4:05Atlanta at Minnesota, 4:25Philadelphia at San Fran, 4:25New Orleans at Dallas, 7:30Monday, Sept. 29New Eng. at Kansas City, 7:30

WEEK 5(Off: Miami, Oakland)Thursday, Oct. 2Minnesota at Green Bay, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 5Chicago at Carolina, 1Houston at Dallas, 1Buffalo at Detroit, 1Baltimore at Indianapolis, 1Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 1Tampa Bay at New Orleans, 1Atlanta at N.Y. Giants, 1St. Louis at Philadelphia, 1Cleveland at Tennessee, 1Arizona at Denver, 4:05N.Y. Jets at San Diego, 4:25Kansas City at San Fran, 4:25Cincinnati at New Eng.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 6Seattle at Washington, 8:30

WEEK 6(Off: Kansas City, New Orl.)Thursday, Oct. 9Indianapolis at Houston, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 12Chicago at Atlanta, 1New England at Buffalo, 1Carolina at Cincinnati, 1

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1Green Bay at Miami, 1Detroit at Minnesota, 1Denver at N.Y. Jets, 1Baltimore at Tampa Bay, 1Jacksonville at Tennessee, 1San Diego at Oakland, 4:05Washington at Arizona, 4:25Dallas at Seattle, 4:25N.Y. Giants at Phila.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 13San Fran at St. Louis, 7:30

WEEK 7(Off: Philadelphia, Tampa Bay)Thursday, Oct. 16N.Y. Jets at New England, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 19Atlanta at Baltimore, 1Minnesota at Buffalo, 1Miami at Chicago, 1New Orleans at Detroit, 1Carolina at Green Bay, 1Cincinnati at Indianapolis, 1Cleveland at Jacksonville, 1Seattle at St. Louis, 1Tennessee at Washington, 1Kansas City at San Diego, 4:05N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 4:25Arizona at Oakland, 4:25San Fran at Denver-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 20Houston at Pittsburgh, 8:30

WEEK 8(Off: N.Y. Giants, San Fran)Thursday, Oct. 23San Diego at Denver, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 26 *-a.m.Det. vs. Atl. in London, 9:30*Seattle at Carolina, 1Baltimore at Cincinnati, 1Miami at Jacksonville, 1St. Louis at Kansas City, 1Chicago at New England, 1Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 1Houston at Tennessee, 1Philadelphia at Arizona, 4:05Oakland at Cleveland, 4:25Indianapolis at Pittsbgh, 4:25Green Bay at New Orl.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 27Washington at Dallas, 8:30

WEEK 9(Off: Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago,Detroit, GreenBay, Tennessee)Thursday, Oct. 30New Orleans at Carolina, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 2Jacksonville at Cincinnati, 1Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 1Arizona at Dallas, 1Philadelphia at Houston, 1N.Y. Jets at Kansas City, 1San Diego at Miami, 1Washington at Minnesota, 1St. Louis at San Fran, 4:05Denver at New England, 4:25Oakland at Seattle, 4:25Baltimore at Pittsburgh-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 3Indianaplis at N.Y. Giants, 8:30

WEEK 10(Hou, Ind, Min., N.E., S.D., Was.)Thursday, Nov. 6Cleveland at Cincinnati, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 9Tennessee at Baltimore, 1Kansas City at Buffalo, 1Miami at Detroit, 1Dallas vs. Jax’ville in London, 1San Fran at New Orleans, 1Pittsburgh at N.Y. Jets, 1Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1Denver at Oakland, 4:05St. Louis at Arizona, 4:25N.Y. Giants at Seattle, 4:25Chicago at Green Bay-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 10Carolina at Philadelphia, 8:30

WEEK 11(Off: Balt, Dal, Jax’ville, Jets)Thursday, Nov. 13Buffalo at Miami, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 16Atlanta at Carolina, 1Minnesota at Chicago, 1Houston at Cleveland, 1Philadelphia at Green Bay, 1Seattle at Kansas City, 1Cincinnati at New Orleans, 1San Fran at N.Y. Giants, 1Denver at St. Louis, 1Tampa Bay at Washington, 1Oakland at San Diego, 4:05Detroit at Arizona, 4:25New Eng. at Indianaplis-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 17Pittsburgh at Tennessee, 8:30

WEEK 12(Off: Carolina, Pittsburgh)Thursday, Nov. 20Kansas City at Oakland, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 23Cleveland at Atlanta, 1

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1Tampa Bay at Chicago, 1Cincinnati at Houston, 1Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 1Green Bay at Minnesota, 1Detroit at New England, 1Tennessee at Philadelphia, 1St. Louis at San Diego, 4:05Arizona at Seattle, 4:05Miami at Denver, 4:25Washington at San Fran, 4:25Dallas at N.Y. Giants-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 24Baltimore at NewOrleans, 8:30

WEEK 13Thursday, Nov. 27Chicago at Detroit, 12:30Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:30Seattle at San Fran, 8:30Sunday, Nov. 30San Diego at Baltimore, 1Cleveland at Buffalo, 1Tennessee at Houston, 1Washington at Indianapolis, 1N.Y. Giants at Jacksonville, 1Carolina at Minnesota, 1New Orleans at Pittsburgh, 1Oakland at St. Louis, 1Cincinnati at Tampa Bay, 1Arizona at Atlanta, 4:05New Eng. at Green Bay, 4:25Denver at Kansas City-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 1Miami at N.Y. Jets, 8:30

WEEK 14Thursday, Dec. 4Dallas at Chicago, 8:25Sunday, Dec. 7Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1Indianapolis at Cleveland, 1Tampa Bay at Detroit, 1Houston at Jacksonville, 1Baltimore at Miami, 1N.Y. Jets at Minnesota, 1Carolina at New Orleans, 1N.Y. Giants at Tennessee, 1St. Louis at Washington, 1Kansas City at Arizona, 4:05Buffalo at Denver, 4:05San Fran at Oakland, 4:25Seattle at Philadelphia, 4:25New Eng. at San Diego-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 8Atlanta at Green Bay, 8:30

WEEK 15Thursday, Dec. 11Arizona at St. Louis, 8:25Sunday, Dec. 14Pittsburgh at Atlanta, 1Jacksonville at Baltimore, 1Green Bay at Buffalo, 1Tampa Bay at Carolina, 1Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1Minnesota at Detroit, 1Houston at Indianapolis, 1Oakland at Kansas City, 1Miami at New England, 1Washington at N.Y. Giants, 1Denver at San Diego, 4:05N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 4:05San Fran at Seattle, 4:25Dallas at Philadelphia-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 15New Orleans at Chicago, 8:30

WEEK 16Thursday, Dec. 18Tenn. at Jacksonville, 8:25Saturday, Dec. 20S. Diego at San Fran, 4:30/ 8:15Phila. at Washingtn, 4:30/ 8:15Sunday, Dec. 21Cleveland at Carolina, 1Detroit at Chicago, 1Baltimore at Houston, 1Minnesota at Miami, 1Atlanta at New Orleans, 1New England at N.Y. Jets, 1Kansas City at Pittsburgh, 1Green Bay at Tampa Bay, 1N.Y. Giants at St. Louis, 4:05Indianapolis at Dallas, 4:25Buffalo at Oakland, 4:25Seattle at Arizona-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 22Denver at Cincinnati, 8:30

WEEK 17Sunday, Dec. 28Carolina at Atlanta, 1Cleveland at Baltimore, 1Detroit at Green Bay, 1Jacksonville at Houston, 1San Diego at Kansas City, 1N.Y. Jets at Miami, 1Chicago at Minnesota, 1Buffalo at New England, 1Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 1New Orleans at Tampa Bay, 1Indianapolis at Tennessee, 1Dallas at Washington, 1Oakland at Denver, 4:25Arizona at San Fran, 4:25St. Louis at Seattle, 4:25Note: Night game TBD

WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE

CONFERENCEOFFENSE DEFENSE

AFC T R P T R P

Bal 1 1 10 1 2 2Buf 4 3 9 10 3 15Cin 2 4 3 5 6 3Cle 9 5 14 16 7 16Den 6 9 1 4 1 10Hou 16 8 16 14 9 14Ind 13 13 12 9 8 11Jax 15 16 6 13 10 13KC 12 12 13 11 15 7Mia 8 10 8 3 4 6NE 5 7 4 6 12 5NYJ 7 2 15 7 5 12Oak 11 14 5 12 14 9Pit 14 15 7 15 16 7SD 10 10 11 2 11 1Ten 3 6 2 8 13 4

NFC T R P T R PAri 14 12 12 9 7 9Atl 4 14 2 14 10 14Car 13 13 11 7 5 6Chi 11 16 3 15 14 11Dal 12 8 13 11 15 10Det 9 15 4 2 1 8GB 7 9 7 6 12 2Min 10 3 14 4 6 4NO 3 6 5 16 16 16NYG 6 5 9 12 8 15Phi 1 1 1 13 13 13SF 15 6 15 3 8 3Sea 5 2 10 5 3 6StL 8 10 8 8 11 5TB 16 11 16 10 4 12Wash 2 4 6 1 2 1

LEAGUEOFFENSE DEFENSE

NFL T R P T R P

Ari 28 25 23 14 11 18Atl 5 27 2 29 15 29Bal 3 1 21 2 4 6Buf 10 7 19 20 5 28Car 25 26 19 11 9 12Chi 20 31 3 31 28 25Cin 6 9 9 12 16 7Cle 19 10 26 30 17 31Dal 23 13 27 26 29 22Den 13 18 7 9 2 19Det 16 29 4 3 1 16GB 11 15 10 10 20 3Hou 31 17 31 24 21 24Ind 26 24 24 18 19 20Jax 30 32 14 23 23 23KC 24 22 25 21 30 14Mia 17 19 16 8 7 11Min 18 5 29 5 10 5NE 12 16 11 15 25 10NO 4 11 5 32 31 32NYG 15 4 28 16 14 21NYJ 9 8 17 27 12 30Oak 22 28 13 22 27 17Phi 1 2 1 28 22 27Pit 27 30 15 25 32 14SD 21 19 22 6 24 2SF 29 11 30 4 12 4Sea 7 3 18 6 6 12StL 14 19 12 13 18 8TB 32 23 32 19 8 26Ten 8 14 8 17 26 9Was 2 6 6 1 3 1

TEAM RANKINGS

NFC NORTH REC HM DIV CON PF PA PPG PA RYF RYA PYF PYA TYF TYA PRA KRA TAKE GIVE DIF

Chicago 1-1 0-1 0-0 1-0 48 43 24.0 21.5 66.0 161.0 255.5 199.5 321.5 360.5 0.0 21.0 4-1-5 2-1-3 +2

Minnesota 1-1 0-1 0-0 1-0 41 36 20.5 18.0 119.5 111.0 166.5 194.0 286.0 305.0 8.5 19.4 2-0-2 4-0-4 -2

Detroit 1-1 1-0 0-0 1-1 42 38 21.0 19.0 73.0 57.5 297.0 197.5 370.0 255.0 10.5 33.0 2-0-2 1-1-2 +0

Green Bay 1-1 1-0 0-0 0-1 47 60 23.5 30.0 80.0 176.5 242.5 178.8 322.5 355.0 5.0 24.5 1-1-2 1-1-2 +0

NFC EASTPhiladelphia 2-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 64 44 32.0 22.0 136.0 116.5 303.0 207.0 439.0 323.5 10.9 22.5 1-2-3 2-2-4 -1

Washington 1-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 47 27 23.5 13.5 161.0 70.0 249.5 164.6 410.5 234.5 10.6 28.0 1-1-2 0-2-2 +0

Dallas 1-1 0-1 0-0 0-1 43 38 21.5 18.0 173.5 104.5 201.5 212.0 375.0 316.5 5.0 29.0 2-0-2 2-3-5 -3

N.Y. Giants 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-2 28 60 14.0 30.0 67.0 100.0 202.0 241.5 269.0 341.5 7.5 22.4 0-0-0 4-1-5 -5

NFC SOUTHCarolina 2-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 44 21 22.0 20.5 87.5 86.0 236.0 207.5 323.5 293.5 8.8 0.0 3-3-6 0-0-0 +6

Atlanta 1-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 47 58 23.5 29.0 110.0 154.5 328.5 317.5 438.5 472.0 4.0 27.8 1-1-2 3-1-4 -2

New Orleans 0-2 0-0 0-1 0-1 58 63 29.0 31.5 156.5 122.5 278.0 323.5 434.5 446.0 -2.0 24.3 0-1-1 2-1-3 -2

Tampa Bay 0-2 0-2 0-1 0-2 31 39 15.5 19.5 129.5 116.0 168.5 220.5 298.0 336.5 11.2 28.0 0-1-1 3-1-4 -3

NFC WESTArizona 2-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 43 31 21.5 15.5 116.5 66.5 218.0 249.0 334.5 315.5 38.0 15.4 3-2-5 0-2-2 +3

Seattle 1-1 1-0 0-0 1-0 57 46 28.5 23.0 157.5 90.5 185.5 225.5 343.0 316.0 1.5 17.1 1-0-1 0-0-0 +1

San Francisco 1-1 0-1 0-0 1-1 48 45 24.0 22.5 128.0 86.5 212.0 212.5 340.0 299.0 7.4 19.0 3-1-4 3-1-4 +0

St. Louis 1-1 0-1 0-0 1-1 25 51 12.5 25.5 95.5 171.0 233.0 172.5 328.5 343.5 3.8 16.0 1-0-1 2-1-3 -2

AFC NORTH REC HM DIV CON PF PA PPG PA RYF RYA PYF PYA TYF TYA PRA KRA TAKE GIVE DIF

Cincinnati 2-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 47 26 23.5 13.0 124.5 95.5 301.5 270.5 426.0 366.0 17.8 29.0 4-1-5 0-0-0 +5

Baltimore 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 42 29 21.0 14.5 125.5 89.0 247.5 251.5 373.0 340.5 12.3 27.3 1-2-3 1-1-2 +1

Pittsburgh 1-1 1-0 1-1 1-1 36 53 18.0 26.5 113.0 170.0 289.0 186.0 402.0 356.0 11.8 13.3 0-0-0 2-2-4 -4

Cleveland 1-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 53 54 26.5 27.0 152.5 150.5 204.0 299.5 356.5 450.0 1.0 20.3 2-1-3 0-0-0 +3

AFC EASTBuffalo 2-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 52 30 26.0 15.0 153.0 83.0 184.5 275.5 337.5 358.5 7.5 35.2 3-2-5 1-0-1 +4

Miami 1-1 1-0 1-1 1-1 43 49 21.5 24.5 135.5 101.0 189.5 214.0 325.0 315.0 6.2 22.0 0-2-2 2-2-4 -2

N.Y. Jets 1-1 1-0 0-0 1-0 43 45 21.5 22.5 179.0 52.5 178.0 221.5 357.0 274.0 5.2 18.8 0-1-1 2-1-3 -2

New England 1-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 50 40 25.0 20.0 119.5 122.5 184.0 166.0 303.5 288.5 13.5 25.7 5-2-7 0-2-2 -5

AFC SOUTHHouston 2-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 47 20 23.5 10.0 151.5 116.0 172.5 252.0 324.0 368.0 6.2 27.0 2-4-6 0-1-1 +5

Tennessee 1-1 0-1 0-0 1-0 36 36 18.0 18.0 122.0 143.5 237.5 163.0 359.5 306.5 -2.0 15.0 3-1-4 2-0-2 +2

Jacksonville 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 27 75 13.5 37.5 44.5 168.0 182.5 266.5 227.0 434.5 7.4 24.7 1-2-3 1-1-2 +1

Indianapolis 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-1 51 61 25.5 30.5 111.5 114.5 263.0 295.0 374.5 409.5 7.6 27.0 1-0-1 3-1-4 -3

AFC WESTDenver 2-0 2-0 1-0 2-0 55 41 27.5 20.5 95.0 93.5 248.0 300.5 343.0 394.0 1.3 54.0 2-0-2 0-0-0 +2

San Diego 1-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 47 39 23.5 19.5 76.5 108.5 257.0 237.0 333.5 345.5 7.7 0.0 0-3-3 1-0-1 +2

Oakland 0-2 0-1 0-0 0-2 28 49 14.0 24.5 63.0 200.0 198.0 164.5 261.0 364.5 5.0 24.3 1-1-2 2-2-4 -2

Kansas City 0-2 0-1 0-1 0-2 27 50 13.5 25.0 100.0 125.0 212.5 240.0 312.5 365.0 8.2 23.5 0-0-0 3-0-3 -3

PF/PA-pts for, against; PPG/PA-points per game, against; RYF/A-rush yards for, against; PYF/PYA–pass yards for, against; TYF/TYA–total yards for, against;TAKE–takeaways (int-fum-total); GIVE–

giveaways (int-fum-total); DIF–turnover margin; P/KRA–punt, kick return avg.through Week 2

EXPANDED STANDINGS, TEAM STATISTICS

POINTS41:Wash. vs. Jacksonville 9/1437: Atlanta vs. New Orleans 9/736: Seattle vs. Green Bay 9/435: Detroit vs. N.Y. Giants 9/8

TOTAL YARDS568:Atlanta vs. NewOrleans 9/7503: Pitt. vs. Cleveland 9/7472: New Orleans at Atlanta 9/7472: Cincinnati vs. Atlanta 9/14427: Chicago vs. Buffalo 9/7458: Philadelphia at Indpls 9/15

SACKS ALLOWED10: Jacksonville at Wash 9/146, Minnesota vs. New Eng. 9/145, Carolina vs. Detroit 9/145, St. Louis vs. Minnesota 9/75, Phila. vs. Jacksonville 9/7

INTERCEPTIONS THROWN4:Minnesota vs. New Eng. 9/14

FIRST DOWNS32:Wash vs. Jacksonville 9/1430: New Orleans at Atlanta 9/729: Chicago vs. Buffalo 9/7

RUSHING YARDS220: Dallas at Tennessee 9/14212: N.Y. Jets vs. Oakland 9/7207: Seattle vs. Green Bay 9/4193: Buffalo at Chicago 9/7

NET PASSING YARDS

445:Atlanta vs. NewOrleans 9/7363, Pitt vs. Cleveland 9/7354: Indianapoliss at Denver 9/7341: Chicago vs. Buffalo 9/7341: Detroit vs. N.Y. Giants 9/8333: New Orleans at Atlanta 9/7

TEAM GAME HIGHS

NFL BY THE NUMBERS

TAKE-AWAY GIVE-AWAYAFC I F T I F T D

Houston 2 4 6 0 1 1 +5New Eng. 5 2 7 0 2 2 +5Cinc. 4 1 5 0 0 0 +5Buffalo 3 2 5 1 0 1 +4Clev. 2 1 3 0 0 0 +3Denver 2 0 2 0 0 0 +2Ten. 3 1 4 2 0 2 +2S. Diego 0 3 3 1 0 1 +2Jcksnvlle 1 2 3 1 1 2 +1Balt. 1 2 3 1 1 2 +1NY Jets 0 1 1 2 1 3 -2Oakland 1 1 2 2 2 4 -2Indpls 1 0 1 3 1 4 -3Kan. City 0 0 0 3 0 3 -3Miami 0 2 2 2 3 5 -3Pitt. 0 0 0 2 2 4 -4AFC tot 25 22 47 20 14 34+13

NFCCarolina 3 3 6 0 0 0 +6Arizona 3 2 5 0 2 2 +3Chicago 4 1 5 2 1 3 +2Gr. Bay 1 1 2 1 1 2 0San Fran. 3 1 4 3 1 4 0Wash. 1 1 2 0 2 2 0Phila. 1 2 3 2 2 4 -1Detroit 2 0 2 1 2 3 -1Seattle 1 0 1 0 2 2 -1St. Louis 1 0 1 2 1 3 -2Atlanta 1 1 2 3 1 4 -2Minn. 2 0 2 4 0 4 -2Dallas 2 0 2 3 2 5 -3T. Bay 0 1 1 3 1 4 -3New Orl. 0 1 1 2 2 4 -3NYG 0 0 0 4 2 6 -6NFC tot 25 14 39 30 22 52 -13

I-int.; F-fumbles; T-total; D-difference

TURNOVERS

Weeks 5-10 games can be

flexed from Sunday afternoon

tonight,with a limit of two. Be-

ginningwithWeek11, aSunday

game can be moved to prime

time each week.

x-subject to change

WEEK 1Thursday, Sept. 4SEATTLE 36, Green Bay 16Sunday, Sept. 7Minnesota 34, ST. LOUIS 6Buffalo 23, CHICAGO 20, OTHouston 17, WASHINGTON 6Tennessee 26, KANSAS CITY10ATLANTA 37, New Orl. 34, OTPITTSBURGH 30, Cleveland 27PHILA. 34, Jacksonville 17N.Y. JETS 19, Oakland 14Cincinnati 23, BALTIMORE 16MIAMI 33, New England 20San Francisco 28, DALLAS 17Carolina 20, TAMPA BAY 14DENVER 31, Indianapolis 24Monday, Sept, 8DETROIT 35, N.Y. Giants 14ARIZONA 18, San Diego 17

WEEK 2Thursday, Sept. 11BALTIMORE 26, Pittsburgh 6Sunday, Sept. 14Chicago 28, SAN FRAN 20WASH. 41, Jacksonville 10BUFFALO 29, Miami 10Dallas 26, TENNESSEE 10Arizona 25, N.Y. GIANTS 14NewEngland 30,MINNESOTA 7CLEVELAND 26, New Orl. 24CINCINNATI 24, Atlanta 10CAROLINA 24, Detroit 7St. Louis 19, TAMPA BAY 17SAN DIEGO 30, Seattle 21Houston 30, OAKLAND 14GREEN BAY 31, N.Y. Jets 24DENVER 24, Kansas City 17Monday, Sept. 15Philadelphia 30, INDPLS 27

WEEK 3Thursday, Sept. 18ATLANTA 56, Tampa Bay 14Sunday, Sept. 21San Diego at Buffalo, 1Tennessee at Cincinnati, 1Baltimore at Cleveland, 1Green Bay at Detroit, 1Indianapolis at Jacksonville, 1Oakland at New England, 1Minnesota at New Orleans, 1Houston at N.Y. Giants, 1Washington at Philadelphia, 1Dallas at St. Louis, 1San Fran at Arizona, 4:05Kansas City at Miami, 4:25Denver at Seattle, 4:25Pittsburgh at Carolina, 8:30Monday, Sept. 22Chicago at N.Y. Jets, 8:30

WEEK 4(Off: Arizona, Cincinnati, Clev.,

Denver, Seattle, St. Louis)

Thursday, Sept. 25N.Y. Giants atWashington, 8:25Sunday, Sept. 28Carolina at Baltimore, 1Green Bay at Chicago, 1Buffalo at Houston, 1Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1Detroit at N.Y. Jets, 1Miami vs. Oakland at London,1Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 1Jacksonville at San Diego, 4:05Atlanta at Minnesota, 4:25Philadelphia at San Fran, 4:25New Orleans at Dallas, 7:30Monday, Sept. 29New Eng. at Kansas City, 7:30

WEEK 5(Off: Miami, Oakland)Thursday, Oct. 2Minnesota at Green Bay, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 5Chicago at Carolina, 1Houston at Dallas, 1Buffalo at Detroit, 1Baltimore at Indianapolis, 1Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 1Tampa Bay at New Orleans, 1Atlanta at N.Y. Giants, 1St. Louis at Philadelphia, 1Cleveland at Tennessee, 1Arizona at Denver, 4:05N.Y. Jets at San Diego, 4:25Kansas City at San Fran, 4:25Cincinnati at New Eng.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 6Seattle at Washington, 8:30

WEEK 6(Off: Kansas City, New Orl.)

Thursday, Oct. 9Indianapolis at Houston, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 12Chicago at Atlanta, 1New England at Buffalo, 1Carolina at Cincinnati, 1

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1Tampa Bay at Chicago, 1Cincinnati at Houston, 1Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 1Green Bay at Minnesota, 1Detroit at New England, 1Tennessee at Philadelphia, 1St. Louis at San Diego, 4:05Arizona at Seattle, 4:05Miami at Denver, 4:25Washington at San Fran, 4:25Dallas at N.Y. Giants-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 24Baltimore at NewOrleans, 8:30

WEEK 13Thursday, Nov. 27Chicago at Detroit, 12:30Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:30Seattle at San Fran, 8:30Sunday, Nov. 30San Diego at Baltimore, 1Cleveland at Buffalo, 1Tennessee at Houston, 1Washington at Indianapolis, 1N.Y. Giants at Jacksonville, 1Carolina at Minnesota, 1New Orleans at Pittsburgh, 1Oakland at St. Louis, 1Cincinnati at Tampa Bay, 1Arizona at Atlanta, 4:05New Eng. at Green Bay, 4:25Denver at Kansas City-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 1Miami at N.Y. Jets, 8:30

WEEK 14Thursday, Dec. 4Dallas at Chicago, 8:25Sunday, Dec. 7Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1Indianapolis at Cleveland, 1Tampa Bay at Detroit, 1Houston at Jacksonville, 1Baltimore at Miami, 1N.Y. Jets at Minnesota, 1Carolina at New Orleans, 1N.Y. Giants at Tennessee, 1St. Louis at Washington, 1Kansas City at Arizona, 4:05Buffalo at Denver, 4:05San Fran at Oakland, 4:25Seattle at Philadelphia, 4:25New Eng. at San Diego-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 8Atlanta at Green Bay, 8:30

WEEK 15Thursday, Dec. 11Arizona at St. Louis, 8:25Sunday, Dec. 14Pittsburgh at Atlanta, 1Jacksonville at Baltimore, 1Green Bay at Buffalo, 1Tampa Bay at Carolina, 1Cincinnati at Cleveland, 1Minnesota at Detroit, 1Houston at Indianapolis, 1Oakland at Kansas City, 1Miami at New England, 1Washington at N.Y. Giants, 1Denver at San Diego, 4:05N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, 4:05San Fran at Seattle, 4:25Dallas at Philadelphia-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 15New Orleans at Chicago, 8:30

WEEK 16Thursday, Dec. 18Tenn. at Jacksonville, 8:25Saturday, Dec. 20S. Diego at San Fran, 4:30/ 8:15Phila. at Washingtn, 4:30/ 8:15Sunday, Dec. 21Cleveland at Carolina, 1Detroit at Chicago, 1Baltimore at Houston, 1Minnesota at Miami, 1Atlanta at New Orleans, 1New England at N.Y. Jets, 1Kansas City at Pittsburgh, 1Green Bay at Tampa Bay, 1N.Y. Giants at St. Louis, 4:05Indianapolis at Dallas, 4:25Buffalo at Oakland, 4:25Seattle at Arizona-x, 8:30Monday, Dec. 22Denver at Cincinnati, 8:30

WEEK 17Sunday, Dec. 28Carolina at Atlanta, 1Cleveland at Baltimore, 1Detroit at Green Bay, 1Jacksonville at Houston, 1San Diego at Kansas City, 1N.Y. Jets at Miami, 1Chicago at Minnesota, 1Buffalo at New England, 1Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 1New Orleans at Tampa Bay, 1Indianapolis at Tennessee, 1Dallas at Washington, 1Oakland at Denver, 4:25Arizona at San Fran, 4:25St. Louis at Seattle, 4:25Note: Night game TBD

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1Green Bay at Miami, 1Detroit at Minnesota, 1Denver at N.Y. Jets, 1Baltimore at Tampa Bay, 1Jacksonville at Tennessee, 1San Diego at Oakland, 4:05Washington at Arizona, 4:25Dallas at Seattle, 4:25N.Y. Giants at Phila.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 13San Fran at St. Louis, 7:30

WEEK 7(Off: Philadelphia, Tampa Bay)

Thursday, Oct. 16N.Y. Jets at New England, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 19Atlanta at Baltimore, 1Minnesota at Buffalo, 1Miami at Chicago, 1New Orleans at Detroit, 1Carolina at Green Bay, 1Cincinnati at Indianapolis, 1Cleveland at Jacksonville, 1Seattle at St. Louis, 1Tennessee at Washington, 1Kansas City at San Diego, 4:05N.Y. Giants at Dallas, 4:25Arizona at Oakland, 4:25San Fran at Denver-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 20Houston at Pittsburgh, 8:30

WEEK 8(Off: N.Y. Giants, San Fran)

Thursday, Oct. 23San Diego at Denver, 8:25Sunday, Oct. 26 *-a.m.Det. vs. Atl. in London, 9:30*Seattle at Carolina, 1Baltimore at Cincinnati, 1Miami at Jacksonville, 1St. Louis at Kansas City, 1Chicago at New England, 1Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 1Houston at Tennessee, 1Philadelphia at Arizona, 4:05Oakland at Cleveland, 4:25Indianapolis at Pittsbgh, 4:25Green Bay at New Orl.-x, 8:30Monday, Oct. 27Washington at Dallas, 8:30

WEEK 9(Off: Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago,

Detroit, GreenBay, Tennessee)

Thursday, Oct. 30New Orleans at Carolina, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 2Jacksonville at Cincinnati, 1Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 1Arizona at Dallas, 1Philadelphia at Houston, 1N.Y. Jets at Kansas City, 1San Diego at Miami, 1Washington at Minnesota, 1St. Louis at San Fran, 4:05Denver at New England, 4:25Oakland at Seattle, 4:25Baltimore at Pittsburgh-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 3Indianaplis at N.Y. Giants, 8:30

WEEK 10(Hou, Ind, Min., N.E., S.D., Was.)

Thursday, Nov. 6Cleveland at Cincinnati, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 9Tennessee at Baltimore, 1Kansas City at Buffalo, 1Miami at Detroit, 1Dallas vs. Jax’ville in London, 1San Fran at New Orleans, 1Pittsburgh at N.Y. Jets, 1Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1Denver at Oakland, 4:05St. Louis at Arizona, 4:25N.Y. Giants at Seattle, 4:25Chicago at Green Bay-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 10Carolina at Philadelphia, 8:30

WEEK 11(Off: Balt, Dal, Jax’ville, Jets)

Thursday, Nov. 13Buffalo at Miami, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 16Atlanta at Carolina, 1Minnesota at Chicago, 1Houston at Cleveland, 1Philadelphia at Green Bay, 1Seattle at Kansas City, 1Cincinnati at New Orleans, 1San Fran at N.Y. Giants, 1Denver at St. Louis, 1Tampa Bay at Washington, 1Oakland at San Diego, 4:05Detroit at Arizona, 4:25New Eng. at Indianaplis-x, 8:30Monday, Nov. 17Pittsburgh at Tennessee, 8:30

WEEK 12(Off: Carolina, Pittsburgh)

Thursday, Nov. 20Kansas City at Oakland, 8:25Sunday, Nov. 23Cleveland at Atlanta, 1

WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULE

SUNDAYGAMES

LINEO/U QUICK HIT

San Diegoat Buffalo-a

Buf 21⁄244

Chargers TE Antonio Gates had 2 of his 4career TDs vs. Bills in last meeting (2011).

Dallas atSt. Louis-a

Dal 21⁄2451⁄2

Cowboys 2nd ranked ground offense (173.5ypg) faces Rams #30 rush defense (171.0).

Washington atPhiladelphia-a

Phi 61⁄2501⁄2

Eagles scored 6 first half points in 2 games,

Washington’s opp. have scored 6 2nd half pts.

Houston atN.Y. Giants-a

Hou 21⁄242

2-0 Texans have +5 turnover margiin with 6takeaways while 0-2 NYG has -5 differential.

Minnesota atNew Orleans-a

NO 91⁄251

In the last reg. season meeting (2011), Saints’

Drew Brees tossed 412 yds, 5 TDs vs. Vikings.

Tennessee atCincinnati-a

Cin 744

Bengals have AFC’s #1 pass offense (301.5ypg); Titans have NFL’s top pass defense (163.0)

Baltimore atCleveland-a

Bal 142

Both teams ran for 120 or more yds in Week 2

despite not having to use reserve lead backs.

Green Bayat Detroit-a

Det 1521⁄2

Lions WR Calvin Johnson managed 96.9 ypg

with 12 TDs in 12 career matchups vs. Pack.

Indianapolis atJacksonville-a

Ind 7451⁄2

Colts are 9-4 in Jacksonville, winning the last

2 over Jaguars by combined score of 64-13.

Oakland atNew England-a

NE 1547

Pats have committed AFC-most 24 penalties

for 263 yds while Raiders have only 9 (44 yds).

San Franciscoat Arizona-b

SF 21⁄2421⁄2

SF’s Colin Kaepernick: 3-0 with 6 touchdowns

and 838 pass yards in 3 starts against Arizona.

Denver atSeattle-c

Sea 41⁄249

Sixth time Super Bowl participants will face

each other in following season (champ is 3-2).

Kansas Cityat Miami-c

Mia 542

Dolphins have won 7 of their last 8 homemeetings vs. Chiefs, and won last 3 overall.

Pittsburghat Carolina-d

Car 31⁄2411⁄2

Steelers are 4-1 vs. Panthers, having won the

last four matchups by an average of 21.0 pts.

MONDAY

ChicagoAt N.Y. Jets-d

NYJ 11⁄246

Jets haven’t beaten Chicago since 2000, Bears

QB Jay Cutler is 2-0 vs. NYJ with 5 TDs, 2 INTs).

THURSDAY

Tampa Bay 14Atlanta 56

Falcons led 35-0 before Bucs got 1st down. Atl’s 2nd

highest scoring game (62, 1973) with no 4th qtr pts.

a-1; b-4:05; c-4:25;d-8:30

WEEK 3 AT A GLANCE

AFC INDIVIDUAL HIGHS

SCORINGPOINTS18: Gates, SD vs. Sea, 9/1418: Ju.Thomas, Den vs. Ind, 9/7

LONGEST FIELD GOAL52: Folk, NYJ at GB, 9/14

PASSINGLONGEST PASS80: Flacco, Bal vs. Cin, 9/7RECEPTIONS10: D.Walker, Ten vs. Dal, 9/1410: Pitta, Bal vs. Cin 9/7

INTERCEPTIONS

2: J.McCourty, Ten at KC, 9/72: R.Moore, Den vs. Ind, 9/72: Iloka, Cin vs. Atl, 9/14LONGEST RETURN65: Jackson, Hou at Oak 9/14

RUSHINGLONGEST RUN71: Ivory, NYJ vs. Oak, 9/7SCRIMMAGE YARDS197: L.Bell, Pit vs. Cle, 9/7(Rush 109-21, Rec 6-88)

SPECIAL TEAMS

LONGEST PUNT65: Lechler, Hou at Oak, 9/14PUNT RETURN YARDS66: Edelman, NE at Min, 9/14LONGEST PUNT RETURN45: Ad. Jones, Cin at Bal, 9/7

KICKOFF RETURN YARDS137: Todman, Jac at Was, 9/14LONGEST KICK RETURN102: Spiller, Buf vs. MIA, 9/14

DEFENSIVE SACKS2: Branch, Jax at Phi 9/72: Ju. Houston, KC vs. Ten 9/72: Cam. Wake, Mia vs. NE 9.72: Dumervil, Bal vs. Pit 9/112: Casey, Ten vs. Dal 9/142: Hightower, NE at Min 9/142: Ch. Jones, NE at Min 9/142: D. Davis, NYJ at GB 9/14

NFC INDIVIDUAL HIGHS

SCORINGPOINTS18:Marshall, Chi at SF, 9/14

LONGEST FIELD GOAL56: Zuerlein, StL vs. Min, 9/7

PASSINGLONGEST PASS80: A.Rodgers, GB vs. NYJ, 9/14

RECEPTIONS10: Dz.Bryant, Dal at Ten, 9/1410: J.Graham, NO at Cle, 9/1410: Garcon, Was at Hou, 9/7

INTERCEPTIONS

2: Fuller, Chi at SF, 9/14, (38)LONGEST RETURNS81: Ha.Smith, Min at StL 9/748: E.Reid, SF at Dal 9/7

RUSHINGLONGEST RUN67: C.Patterson, Min at StL, 9/7

SCRIMMAGE YARDS209:.J.Nelson, GB vs. NYJ, 9/14(Rush 0-0, Rec 9-209)SPECIAL TEAMS

LONGEST PUNT66: J.Ryan, Sea at SD, 9/14

PUNT RETURN YARDS76: Ginn, Ari at NYG, 9/14LONGEST PUNT RETURN71: Ginn Jr., Ari at NYG, 9/14

KICKOFF RETURN YARDS60: Harvin, Sea vs. GB, 9/4LONGEST KICK RETURN45: Owusu, TB vs. StL, 9/14

DEFENSIVE SACKS4: Kerrigan, Was vs. Jax, 9/14

AFC LEADERSPASSING ATT CM YDS TD INT

P.Manning, Den 62 43 511 6 0Fitzpatrick, Hou 41 28 345 3 0Dalton, Cin 61 40 553 2 0P.Rivers, SD 73 49 522 4 1Manuel, Buf 48 32 375 2 1Hoyer, Cle 71 43 434 2 0Luck, Ind 87 55 542 5 3Locker, Ten 67 40 500 3 2Flacco, Bal 91 56 511 3 1Roethlisberger, Pit 71 45 582 1 2Henne, Jac 71 38 459 3 1G.Smith, NYJ 60 39 397 2 2D.Carr, Oak 74 47 414 3 2Brady, NE 78 44 398 2 0Tannehill, Mia 81 49 419 3 2Ae.Smith, KC 77 45 457 1 3

RUSHING NO YDS AVG LG TD

A.Foster, Hou 55 241 4.4 40 1L.Bell, Pit 32 168 5.2 38 1West, Cle 35 168 4.8 29 1Ivory, NYJ 23 145 6.3 71 2Bernard, Cin 41 138 3.4 16 1Moreno, Mia 25 138 5.5 15 1Mo.Ball, Den 35 127 3.6 23 1Forsett, Bal 19 126 6.6 41 1Ridley, NE 33 122 3.7 16 1Spiller, Buf 27 122 4.5 47 1Pierce, Bal 28 113 4.0 17 0Greene, Ten 20 111 5.6 18 0Miller, Mia 22 105 4.8 13 0Richarson, Ind 27 99 3.7 15 0J. Hill, Cin 19 93 4.9 13 1

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD

A.Hawkins, Cle 14 157 11.2 28 0E.Sanders, Den 14 185 13.2 48 0St.Smith, Bal 13 189 14.5 80 1Pitta, Bal 13 113 8.7 24 0Gates, SD 13 177 13.6 34 3D.Walker, Ten 13 179 13.8 61 2M.Wallace, Mia 12 137 11.4 22 2Wayne, Ind 12 126 10.5 22 0Edelman, NE 12 176 14.7 44 1An.Brown, Pit 12 206 17.2 41 1Ad.Johnson, Hou 12 167 13.9 23 0Jm.Jones, Oak 12 146 12.2 42 2Ju.Thomas, Den 11 143 13.0 35 4L.Bell, Pit 11 136 12.4 30 0Bernard, Cin 11 141 12.8 46 0Hilton, Ind 11 106 9.6 16 0Wheaton, Pit 11 135 12.3 40 0S.Watkins, Buf 11 148 13.5 30 1Bradshaw, Ind 10 96 9.6 22 2Avery, KC 10 98 9.8 25 0Allen, SD 10 92 9.2 14 0

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD

Ad.Jones, Cin 4 71 17.8 45 0Edelman, NE 6 81 13.5 34 0Jc.Jones, Bal 4 49 12.2 33 0An.Brown, Pit 5 59 11.8 36 0McKelvin, Buf 3 30 10.0 14 0Hammond Jr., KC 6 49 8.2 30 0Royal, SD 3 23 7.7 12 0Whalen, Ind 9 68 7.6 22 0Mi.Brown, Jac 5 37 7.4 13 0J.Landry, Mia 5 31 6.2 16 0D. Johnson, Hou 6 37 6.2 12 0Saunders, NYJ 5 26 5.2 12 0Burse, Den 3 4 1.3 4 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD

Spiller, Buf 3 151 50.3 102 1K.Davis, KC 2 57 28.5 32 0Jc.Jones, Bal 4 109 27.2 47 0Chung, NE 2 50 25.0 30 0Todman, Jac 7 173 24.7 40 0L.Murray, Oak 7 170 24.3 38 0J.Landry, Mia 5 113 22.6 29 0Hakim, NYJ 4 86 21.5 44 0T.Benjamin, Cle 4 85 21.2 28 0Archer, Pit 2 29 14.5 17 0

SCORING TD RUN REC RET PTS

Ju.Thomas, Den 4 0 4 0 24Gates, SD 3 0 3 0 18Wallace, Mia 2 0 2 0 12Bradshaw, Ind 2 0 2 0 12Crowell, Cle 2 2 0 0 12Daniels, Bal 2 0 2 0 12K. Davis, RB 2 2 0 0 12Hopkins, Hou 2 0 2 0 12Hurns, Jax 2 0 2 0 12Ivory, NYJ 2 2 0 0 12Ja.James, Oak 2 0 2 0 12Spiller, Buf 2 0 1 1 12D.Walker, Ten 2 0 2 0 12

KICKING PAT FG LG PTS

D.Carpenter, Buf 4-4 8-9 50 28Nugent, Cin 3-3 6-10 49 21Gostkowski, NE 5-5 5-5 48 20Sturgis, Mia 4-4 5-5 38 19Succop, Ten 3-3 5-5 47 18Suisham, Pit 3-3 5-5 43 18Tucker, Bal 3-3 5-6 38 18Bullock, Hou 5-5 4-5 46 17Cundiff, Cle 5-5 4-4 39 17Novak, SD 5-5 4-4 50 17Vinatieri, Ind 6-6 3-3 46 15Folk, NYJ 4-4 3-3 52 13McManus, Den 7-7 2-2 21 13

PUNTING NO YDS LG AVG

McAfee, Ind 8 420 61 52.5Lechler, Hou 8 406 65 50.8Kern, Ten 11 529 63 48.1Anger, Jac 16 755 61 47.2Koch, Bal 6 279 56 46.5B.Colquitt, Den 8 366 53 45.8Quigley, NYJ 10 454 56 45.4R.Allen, NE 10 452 63 45.2Wing, Pit 10 445 56 44.5Lanning, Cle 12 522 57 43.5

AFC, NFC LEADERS, INDIVIDUAL HIGHS

NFC LEADERSPASSING ATT CM YDS TD INT

R.Wilson, Sea 53 36 393 4 0K.Cousins, Was 33 22 250 2 0D.Anderson, Car 34 24 230 2 0C.Palmer, Ari 37 24 304 2 0C.Newton, Car 34 22 281 1 0Cutler, Chi 83 57 525 6 2Griffin III, Was 40 31 305 0 0A.Rodgers, GB 75 48 535 4 1M.Stafford, Det 80 49 637 3 1Brees, NO 82 56 570 3 2Au.Davis, StL 52 38 427 0 1M.Ryan, Atl 87 55 679 4 3Foles, Phi 82 48 653 3 2Kaepernick, SF 57 37 449 3 3J.McCown, TB 56 38 362 2 3Romo, Dal 66 42 457 2 3E.Manning, NYG 72 44 440 3 4Stanton, Ari 29 14 167 0 0Cassel, Min 61 36 372 3 4

RUSHING NO YDS AVG LG TD

D.Murray, Dal 51 285 5.6 22 2A.Morris, Was 36 176 4.9 23 2Rainey, TB 26 156 6.0 31 0L.McCoy, Phi 41 153 3.7 21 1M.Lynch, Sea 26 146 5.6 21 2A.Ellington, Ari 28 144 5.1 22 0Ma.Ingram, NO 24 143 6.0 26 3Gore, SF 29 129 4.4 20 1Stacy, StL 30 114 3.8 12 1R.Jennings, NYG 34 110 3.2 14 1Forte, Chi 29 103 3.6 14 0Patterson, Min 3 102 34.0 67 1S.Jackson, Atl 23 98 4.3 17 0Sproles, Phi 15 97 6.5 49 2Bell, Det 25 87 3.5 12 1

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD

J.Graham, NO 18 200 11.1 23 2J.Nelson, GB 18 292 16.2 80 1Ma.Bennett, Chi 15 107 7.1 17 2Dz.Bryant, Dal 14 158 11.3 22 1Olsen, Car 14 155 11.1 22 1Quick, StL 14 173 12.4 23 0Ju.Jones, Atl 14 204 14.6 27 1Cl.Johnson, Det 13 247 19.0 67 2B.Marshall, Chi 13 119 9.2 17 4Forte, Chi 13 102 7.8 18 0Donnell, NYG 12 137 11.4 23 1Paul, Was 12 185 15.4 48 1Garcon, Was 11 89 8.1 15 0Cobb, GB 11 97 8.8 23 3Sproles, Phi 11 166 15.1 57 0G.Tate, Det 11 150 13.6 44 0Boldin, SF 10 133 13.3 37 0R. White. Atl 10 114 11,4 38 1Douglas, Atl 10 107 10.7 23 0McCoy, Phi 10 64 6.4 12 0Cooks, NO 10 94 9.4 32 1

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD

Ginn, Ari 2 76 38.0 71 1S.Patton, TB 5 56 11.2 33 0Sproles, Phi 8 87 10.9 22 0Roberts, Was 9 95 10.6 37 0J.Ross, Det 6 63 10.5 26 0Ph.Brown, Car 5 44 8.8 23 0Sherels, Min 2 17 8.5 11 0P.Parker, NYG 4 30 7.5 18 0B.Ellington, SF 5 37 7.4 19 0Dw.Harris, Dal 3 15 5.0 15 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD

Dw.Harris, Dal 2 58 29.0 30 0Roberts, Was 2 56 28.0 28 0Hester, Atl 5 139 27.8 36 0S.Patton, TB 5 123 24.6 27 0Du.Harris, GB 4 98 24.5 41 0M.Hyde, GB 2 49 24.5 28 0C.Patterson, Min 3 71 23.7 29 0Cadet, NO 3 69 23.0 34 0Carroll Jr., Phi 2 45 22.5 24 0Demps, NYG 7 157 22.4 29 0

SCORING TD RUN REC RET PTS

B.Marshall, Chi 4 0 4 0 24Cobb, GB 3 0 3 0 18Ma.Ingram, NO 3 3 0 0 18M.Lynch, Sea 3 2 1 0 18Bennett, Chi 2 0 2 0 12V. Davis, SF 2 0 2 0 12J. Graham, NO 2 0 2 0 12Ca.Johnson, Det 2 0 2 0 12Maclin, Phi 2 0 2 0 12McCown, TB 2 2 0 0 12Morris, Was 2 2 0 0 12Murray, Dal 2 2 0 0 12Sproles, Phi 2 2 0 0 12D.Young, Was 2 1 1 0 12

KICKING PAT FG LG PTS

Parkey, Phi 7-7 5-6 51 22D.Bailey, Dal 4-4 5-5 51 19Catanzaro, Ari 1-1 6-6 49 19Zuerlein, StL 1-1 6-7 56 19Gano, Car 3-3 5-6 53 18Mt.Bryant, Atl 5-5 4-4 52 17S.Graham, NO 7-7 3-3 50 16Crosby, GB 3-3 4-4 55 15Hauschka, Sea 7-7 2-2 35 13Dawson, SF 6-6 2-3 27 12Gould, Chi 6-6 2-2 41 12

PUNTING NO YDS LG AVG

Cs.Jones, Dal 6 327 62 54.5Way, Was 9 445 61 49.4S.Martin, Det 7 342 64 48.9Dr.Butler, Ari 8 382 61 47.8A.Lee, SF 5 237 54 47.4Hekker, StL 8 377 57 47.1Bosher, Atl 9 423 66 47.0Locke, Min 10 465 57 46.5J.Ryan, Sea 6 279 66 46.5Nortman, Car 12 551 57 45.9

through Week 2

PASSINGYDS: QB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT C-A, TD

448:M.Ryan, Atl vs. NO 9/7 31-43, 3

370: Luck, Ind at Den 9/7 35-53, 2

365:Roethlisberger, Pit vs.Cle9/723-34,1

349: Cutler, Chi vs. Buf 9/7 34-49, 2

346: A.Rodgers, GB vs. NYJ 9/14 25-42, 3

346:M.Stafford, Det vs. NYG 9/8 22-32, 2

345: Flacco, Bal vs. Cin 9/7 35-62, 1

333: Brees, NO at Atl 9/7 29-42, 1

331: Foles, Phi at Ind 9/15 21-37, 1

322: Foles, Phi vs. Jac 9/7 27-45, 2

304: C.Palmer, Ari vs. SD 9/8 24-37, 2

301: Dalton, Cin at Bal 9/7 25-38, 1

2013 TOP PASSING GAMES

YDS: QB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT C-A, TD

506: Romo, Dal vs. Den 10/6 25-36, 5

488 Stafford, Det vs. Dal 10/27 33-48, 1

480: Rodgers, GB vs. Was 9/15 34-42, 4

462:Manning, Den vs. Bal 9/5 27-42, 7

450:Manning, NYG at Dal 9/8 27-42, 4

432: Brady, NE vs. Pit 11/3 23-33, 4

428: Foles, Phi at Min 12/15 30-48, 3

428: Vick, Phi vs. SD 9/15 24-37, 2

421: Ryan, Atl vs. NE 9/29 34-54, 2

419: Palmer, Ari at Jax 11/17 30-42, 2

419: Rivers, SD at Phi 9/15 36-47, 3

418: Brady, NE vs. Cle 12/8 32-52, 2

414:Manning, Den at Dal 10/6 33-42, 4

413: Brees, NO vs. Mia 9/30 30-39, 4

ALL-TIME TOP PERFORMANCES

YDS: QB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT C-A, TD

554: VanBrocklin, LA vs. NYY 9/28/51 27-41, 5

527: Schaub, Hou vs. Jac 11/18/1243-55, 5

527:Moon, Sea at KC 12/16/90 27-45, 3

522: Esiason, Ari atWas11/10/96 35-59, 3

521:Marino, Mia vs. NYG10/23/88 35-60, 3

520: Stafford, Det at GB 1/1/12 36-59, 5

517: Brady, NE at Mia 9/12/11 32-48, 4

513: Simms, NYG at Cin 10/13/85 40-62, 1

510: Brees, NO vs. Cin 11/19/06 37-52, 2

510:Manning, NY vs. TB 9/16/12 31-51, 3

509: Ferragmo, LA vs. Chi 12/26/82 30-46, 3

506: Romo, Dal vs. Den 10/6/13 25-36, 5

505: Tittle, NYG vs.Was10/28/62 27-39, 7

504: Grbac, KC at Oak 11/5/00 39-53, 2

503: Roethlisbrgr, Pit vs. GB12/20/09 29-46, 3

499:Plummer, Den vs. Atl10/31/04 (31-55, 4)

497: Schaub, Hou atWas 9/19/10 (38-52, 3)

496:Namath, NYJ at Bal 9/24/72 (15-28, 6)

492:Volek, Ten at Oak12/19/04 (40-60, 4)

490: Esiason, Cin at LA10/7/90 (31-45, 3)

490:Kramer,Min atWas11/2/86 (20-35, 4)

489:Kosar, Cle vs. NYJ1/3/87 (33-64,1)

486:Williams, TB atMin11/16/80 (30-55, 4)

484:Warner, Ari vs. SF11/25/07 (34-48, 2)

481: Testaverde, NYJ at Bal12/24/00 (36-69, 2)

480:Rodgers, GB vs.Wash 9/15/13 34-42, 4

480: Flynn, GB vs. Det1/1/12 (31-44, 6)

479:O’Brien, NYJ vs.Mia 9/21/86 (29-43, 4)

476:Orton, Den vs. Ind 9/26/10 (37-57,1)

476:Montana, SF at Atl10/14/90 (32-49, 6)

TOP PERFORMANCES

RUSHINGYDS: RB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

167: D. Murray, Dal at Ten 9/14 29, 1

144: Rainey, TB vs. StL 9/14 22, 0

138: A. Foster, Hou at Oak 9/14 28, 1

134:Moreno, Mia vs. NE 9/7 24, 1

118: D. Murray, Dal vs. SF 9/7 22, 1

110:M. Lynch, Sea vs. GB 9/4 20, 2

109: L. Bell, Pit vs. Cle 9/7 21, 1

103: A. Foster, Hou vs. Wash 9/7 27, 0

102: Ivory, NYJ vs. Oak 9/7 10, 1

102: C. Patterson, Min at StL 9/7 3, 1

101: Ridley, NE at Min 9/14 25, 1

100:West, Cle at Pit 9/7 16, 0

2013 TOP PERFORMANCESYDS: RB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

224:Moreno, Den at NE 11/24 37, 1

217:McCoy, Phi vs. Det 12/8 29, 2

211: Peterson, Min vs. Chi 12/1 35. 0

189: Blount, NE vs. Buf 12/29 24, 2

184:McCoy, Phi at Was 9/9 31, 1

175:Murray, Dal vs. StL 9/22 26, 1

163: Rainey, TB vs. Atl 11/17 30, 2

158: James, TB at Sea 11/3 28, 0

158:McCoy, Phi vs. KC 9/19 20, 1

155:McCoy, Phi at GB 11/10 25, 0

154: Ellington, Ari vs. Atl 10/27 15, 1

153: Gore, SF at StL 9/26 20, 1

150: Charles, KC at Was 12/8 19, 1

150: Jennings, Oak at Hou 11/17 22, 1

150: Lacy, GB vs. Chi 11/4 22, 1

150: Ch. Johnson, Ten at Stl 11/3 23, 2

149: Spiller, Buf vs. Atl 12/1 15, 1

149: Powell, NYJ vs. Buf 9/22 27, 0

ALL-TIME TOP PERFORMANCESYDS: RB, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

296: Peterson, Min vs. SD 11/4/07 30, 3

295: Lewis, Bal vs. Cle 9/14/03 30, 2

286: Harrison, Cle at KC 12/20/09 34, 3

278: Dillon, Cin vs. Den 10/22/00 22, 2

275: Payton, Chi vs. Min 10/22/77 40, 1

273: Simpson, Buf at Det 11/25/76 29, 2

266: Alexander, Sea vs. Oak11/11/01 35, 3

259: Charles, KC at Den 1/3/10 25, 2

253:Murray, Dal vs. StL 10/23/11 25, 1

251:Martin, TB at Oak 11/4/12 25, 4

251: Anderson, Den vs. NO 12/3/00 37, 4

250: Sanders, NYY vs. ChR10/24/47 24, 2

250: Simpson, Buf at NE 9/16/73 29, 2

248: Dickerson, LA vs. Dal 1/4/86 34, 2

247: Ellison, LA vs. NO 12/5/71 26, 1

246: Dillon, Cin vs. Ten 12/4/97 39, 4

243: Gilchrist, Buf vs. NYJ 12/8/63 36, 5

243: Tomlinson, SD vs. Oak12/28/03 31, 2

237: Smith, Dal vs. Phi 10/31/93 30, 1

237: Brown, Cle vs. LA 11/24/57 31, 4

237: Sanders, Det vs. TB 11/13/94 26, 0

237: Brown, Cle vs. Phi 11/19/61 34, 4

234: Barber, NYG vs. Was 12/30/06 23, 3

234: Taylor, Jac at Pit 11/19/00 30, 3

233: Charles, KC at NO 9/23/12 33, 1

RECEIVINGYDS: WR, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

209: J. Nelson, GB vs. NYJ 9/14 9, 1

164: Cal. Johnson, Det vs. NYG 9/8 7, 2

152: Sproles, Phi at Ind 9/15 7, 0

142:Walker, Ten vs. Dal 9/14 10, 1

131: A. Green, Cin at Bal 9/7 6, 1

119:Mi. Floyd, Ari vs. SD 9/8 5, 0

118: S. Smith Sr., Bal vs. Cin 9/7 7, 1

118: J. Graham, NO at Cle 9/14 10, 2

117: S. Watkins, Buf vs. Mia 9/14 8, 1

116: Ju. Jones, Atl vs. NO 9/7 7, 0

116: An. Brown, Pit vs. Cle 9/7 5, 1

112: Ja. Jones, Oak vs. Hou 9/14 9, 1

110: Hurns, Jax at Phi 9/7 4, 2

110: Colston, NO at Atl 9/7 5, 0

108: Sanders, Den vs. KC 9/14 8, 0

104: Ju. Thomas, Den vs. Ind 9/7 7, 3

103: Bryant, Dal at Ten 9/14 10, 1

2013 TOP PERFORMANCES

YDS: WR, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

329: C.Johnson, Det vs. Dal 10/27 14, 1

261: Gordon, Cle vs. Jac 12/1 10, 2

249: Jeffery, Chi at Min 12/1 12, 2

237: Gordon, Cle vs. Pit 11/24 14, 1

229: A. Johnson, Hou vs. Ind 11/3 9, 3

218: Jeffery, Chi vs. NO 10/6 10, 1

208: Boldin, SF vs. GB 9/8 13, 1

196: Brown, Pit vs. Chi 9/22 9, 2

ALL-TIME TOP PERFORMANCES

YDS: WR, TEAM VS. OPPONENT ATT, TD

336: Anderson, LA at NO 11/26/89 15, 1

329: Johnson, Det vs. Dal 10/27/13 14, 1

309: Paige, KC vs. SD 12/22/85 8, 2

303: Benton, CleRams vs Det 11/22/45 10, 1

302: Box, Det at Bal 12/3/50 12, 4

291: Smith, Jac at Bal 9/10/00 (15, 3)

289: Rice, SF vs. Min 12/18/95 (14, 3)

286: Taylor, SF vs. LA 12/11/89 (11, 2)

283: Owens, SF vs. Chi 12/17/00 (20, 1)

273: Johnson, Hou vs. Jac 11/18/12 14, 1

272: Hennigan, Hou vs. Bos10/13/61 (13, 1)

269: Shofner, NYG vs.Was10/28/62(11, 1)

265: Evans, Buf at Hou 11/19/06 (11, 2)

261: Largent, Sea at Det 10/18/87 (15, 3)

260: Chandler, SD at Cin 12/20/82 (10, 2)

260: Johnson, Cin vs. SD 11/12/06 (11, 2)

258: Ismail, Bal vs. Pit 12/12/99 (6, 3)

257: Howton, GB vs. LA 10/21/56 (7, 2)

256: Randle, StL at NYG 11/4/62 (16, 1)

255: Allen, Was vs. StL 10/4/87 (7, 3)

255: Butler, Buf vs. NYJ 9/23/79 (10, 4)

253: Hartline, Mia at Ari 9/30 (12, 1)

253: Burress, Pit vs. Atl 11/10/02 (9, 2)

250: Austin, Dal at KC 10/11/09 (10, 2)

248: Johnson, Det vs. NO 12/3/89 (8, 1)

247: Powell, Oak vs. Hou 12/22/63 (10, 4)

246: Hayes, Dal at Was 11/13/66 (9, 2)

245: Jeffries, Hou at KC 12/16/90 (9, 1)

167Career receptions for Titans receiver Kendall

Wright. Wright has had at least one reception

in all 33 of his career games, and has reeled in

at least three catches in 16 of his last 17 contests..20Colts haven’t had a player rush for 100 or more

yard in 20 straight games, tied with the Bengals

for the second-longest active streak in the

league (Atlanta, 26 games).7Patriots have a league-best seven takeaways in their

first two games, and are a plus-five in turnover differ-

ential. New England’s turnover margin is tied for best in

the AFC and tied for second best in the NFL overall.0San Francisco is only team this season that has not

scored in fourth quarter this season (outscored 28-0).

Week 3 opponent Arizona is one of 2 teams (Dallas)

that has not allowed a point in fourth quarter.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCEOFFENSE POS PTS TD TD% FG SCSC%

Oakland 3 21 3 100 0 3 100Denver 8 48 6 75 2 8 100New England 6 31 4 66.7 1 5 83.3San Diego 6 34 4 66.7 2 6 100Indianapolis 8 41 5 62.5 2 7 87.5Cleveland 9 47 5 55.6 4 9 100Miami 8 40 4 50 4 8 100Kansas City 6 24 3 50 1 4 66.7N.Y. Jets 6 27 3 50 2 5 83.3Houston 7 27 3 42.9 2 5 71.4Cincinnati 5 23 2 40 3 5 100Tennessee 5 20 2 40 2 4 80Baltimore 9 33 3 33.3 4 7 77.8Buffalo 10 39 3 30 6 9 90Pittsburgh 5 16 1 20 3 4 80Jacksonville 2 3 0 0 1 1 50

DEFENSE POS PTS TD TD% FG SCSC%

Baltimore 4 9 0 0 3 3 75Miami 8 33 3 37.5 4 7 87.5New England 7 30 3 42.9 3 6 85.7Oakland 9 37 4 44.4 3 7 77.8Pittsburgh 11 53 5 45.5 6 11 100Jacksonville 8 37 4 50 3 7 87.5Cincinnati 4 14 2 50 0 2 50Denver 8 31 4 50 1 5 62.5Cleveland 7 37 4 57.1 3 7 100N.Y. Jets 5 28 3 60 2 5 100Tennessee 5 27 3 60 2 5 100Buffalo 5 27 3 60 2 5 100Indianapolis 10 54 6 60 4 10 100Kansas City 8 44 5 62.5 3 8 100Houston 4 20 3 75 0 3 75San Diego 5 29 4 80 1 5 100

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCEOFFENSE POS PTS TD TD% FG SCSC%

Atlanta 4 28 4 100 0 4 100Chicago 7 45 6 85.7 1 7 100N.Y. Giants 5 28 4 80 0 4 80Seattle 7 41 5 71.4 2 7 100New Orleans 10 55 7 70 2 9 90Minnesota 3 14 2 66.7 0 2 66.7Detroit 6 35 4 66.7 2 6 100Washington 8 40 5 62.5 2 7 87.5Dallas 7 34 4 57.1 2 6 85.7Tampa Bay 7 31 4 57.1 1 5 71.4Green Bay 7 37 4 57.1 3 7 100San Francisco 8 34 4 50 2 6 75Carolina 7 34 3 42.9 4 7 100Arizona 7 31 3 42.9 4 7 100Philadelphia 8 33 3 37.5 4 7 87.5St. Louis 4 16 1 25 3 4 100

DEFENSE POS PTS TD TD% FG SCSC%

Washington 3 6 0 0 2 2 66.7Tampa Bay 6 26 2 33.3 4 6 100Minnesota 5 20 2 40 2 4 80Chicago 9 40 4 44.4 4 8 88.9N.Y. Giants 9 44 4 44.4 5 9 100Dallas 4 14 2 50 0 2 50St. Louis 7 31 4 57.1 1 5 71.4Arizona 5 24 3 60 1 4 80Philadelphia 5 24 3 60 1 4 80Detroit 6 35 4 66.7 2 6 100Atlanta 9 48 6 66.7 2 8 88.9Green Bay 7 41 5 71.4 2 7 100Seattle 7 40 5 71.4 2 7 100New Orleans 7 41 5 71.4 2 7 100San Francisco 8 45 6 75 1 7 87.5Carolina 3 21 3 100 0 3 100

SC–scores; SC%—scoring pct. Field goals,PATs and 2-point conversions for plays thathad entered the red zone but were driven outfor the scoring play are excluded.through Week 1

RED ZONE

AFC SK YDS TCK-A AL YDS

Jacksonville 8 77 169-52 13 94

Tennessee 8 52 120-16 6 25

New England 7 48 121-20 5 30

Buffalo 6 39 145-39 1 6

N.Y. Jets 6 54 118-27 4 36

Cincinnati 5 35 132-40 0 0

Cleveland 5 28 140-47 4 26

Kansas City 5 28 111-7 5 32

Denver 5 24 127-21 2 15

San Diego 4 32 108-20 1 8

Miami 4 23 145-38 5 40

Houston 3 26 118-20 0 0

Pittsburgh 3 24 146-56 5 29

Oakland 2 31 155-38 2 18

Baltimore 2 15 126-58 3 16

Indianapolis 1 10 123-24 3 16

NFC SK YDS TCK-A AL YDS

Washington 10 70 113-26 6 56

Carolina 7 59 124-41 5 39

Detroit 6 49 115-36 5 43

Minnesota 6 34 126-18 6 39

N.Y. Giants 5 30 136-41 4 36

Chicago 5 22 124-21 3 14

San Francisco 4 32 105-17 5 25

Seattle 4 22 144-37 3 22

Philadelphia 3 24 138-31 5 47

Tampa Bay 3 24 150-32 4 25

Dallas 3 11 99-22 7 54

Green Bay 3 10 150-54 7 50

Arizona 2 17 124-19 6 35

New Orleans 2 5 127-26 2 14

St. Louis 1 4 114-15 7 42

Atlanta 0 0 153-66 3 22

SK-defensive sacks; AL-sacksallowedby teamTCK-A-total tackles, assists

SACKS

Packers (1-1)at Lions (1-1)Noon, Sunday, FOX-32Lions by 2 (521⁄2)

Don’t count out theLions in this game, eventhoughhistory says you should. ThePackersdefense is a liability andDetroit has plenty ofways to put points on the scoreboard. 28 24Chargers (1-1)at Bills (2-0)Noon, SundayBills by 2 (46)

TheBills have looked solid in their twowins, sothis is a tall task for SanDiego. But PhilipRiversand theChargers, fresh off a hugewin, are up tothis cross-country challenge. 24 21Titans (1-1)at Bengals (2-0)Noon, SundayBengals by 7 (43)

TheTitans lost badly to theCowboys at home.TheBengals are tough on both sides of the ball,evenwhen star receiverA.J. Green is dealingwith strained ligaments in his foot. 27 13Ravens (1-1)at Browns (1-1)Noon SundayRavens by 2 (411⁄2)

TheBrowns comeback to earth after theirstunning defeat of the Saints. TheRavenswillhave three extra days of rest after an impressivewin over the Steelers. 23 21Colts (0-2)at Jaguars (0-2)Noon Sunday, CBS-2Colts by 7 (45)

GusBradley could eventually turn around theJaguars, and they’ve shown apulse on defense.But they don’t have enough offense to stay onthe fieldwith theColts. 28 17Raiders (0-2)at Patriots (1-1)Noon SundayPatriots by 14 (47)

If this gamewere inOakland, theRaiderswouldhave amuch better chance. Teams are puttingmore heat onTomBrady so the Patriots arevulnerable. 24 13Vikings (1-1)at Saints (0-2)Noon SundaySaints by 91⁄2 (491⁄2)

It’s rare for the Saints to lose at home, and itwon’t happen in this one. Besides, theVikingsare dealingwith the colossal distraction of theAdrian Petersonmess. 31 17Texans (2-0)at Giants (0-2)Noon SundayTexans by 21⁄2 (41)

TheTexans alsowere 2-0 at this point lastseason before losing 14 in a row.Theywon’t havea similar collapse this year. They should be ableto run on the strugglingGiants. 24 21Redskins (1-1)at Eagles (1-1)Noon SundayEagles by 61⁄2 (50)

TheRedskins are betterwithKirkCousins thanwithRG3. But theEagles are by far the class oftheNFCEast. If theEagles lose this, somethingwent verywrong. 27 24Cowboys (1-1)at Rams (1-1)Noon SundayCowboys by 1 (44)

Yes, theRamspulled off a victory at TampaBay,but now they’ve lostDEChris Long. They arehurting. TheCowboys are nothing special, butthey aren’t as bad as predicted on defense.24 17

49ers (1-1)at Cardinals (1-1)3:05 p.m. Sunday49ers by 3 (42)

TheCardinals should give the 49ers problemsondefense, so thiswill be interesting. TheCardinals’ shaky situation at quarterbackmakesan upset unlikely. 20 18Broncos (2-0)at Seahawks (1-1)3:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS-2Seahawks by 41⁄2 (481⁄2)

PeytonManningwill go to school onwhat theChargers did to the Seahawks inWeek 2. Thisgamewill bemuch closer than the Super Bowl,but can’t pick against the Seahawks at home.28 24

Chiefs (0-2)at Dolphins (1-1)3:25 p.m. SundayDolphins by 4 (42)

Both of these teams are capable of putting up agood fight, but theChiefs are too riddledwithinjuries to pick against theDolphins in this one.Miami bounces back at home. 24 21Steelers (1-1)at Panthers (2-0)7:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC-5Panthers by 31⁄2 (411⁄2)

ThePanthers have looked good through twoweeks. The Steelerswon’t be able to run againstthe Panthers’ front seven, so it rests on theshoulders of BenRoethlisberger. 24 17Bears (1-1) at Jets (1-1)7:30 p.m. Monday,WCIU-26, ESPNJets by 21⁄2 (451⁄2)

The jury is still out on Jets quarterbackGenoSmith. TheBears are coming off a big comebackvictory over the 49ers, and they have thefirepower evenwith hobbled receivers.24 20

Week 3 picks By Sam FarmerTribune Newspapers

The Chargers’ Philip Rivers, above, and Redskins’ KirkCousins led their teams to big victories in Week 2.

USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTOS

Last week: 8-8 (6-10 against the spread)Season: 19-13 (17-15 against the spread)

THE HARTFORD COURANT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014 C7

SPORTS

500

100

150

200

10

1098765432

12 1311

START

FINISH

START

FINISH

105

0

1520

25

0255075

100125

FEET

FEET

MARATHON ELEVATION

HALF MARATHON ELEVATION

MILES

MILES

SCHEDULETHURSDAY11 a.m.-7 p.m.: Health & Fitness Expo; registration and packet pickup, XL Center, Hartford

5:30 p.m.: Yoga for runners ($10 for registered NU Hartford Marathon runners), Downtown Yoga, Hartford

7 p.m.: Kathrine Switzer and Molly Barker. An evening with women who have empowered

generations of women to become runners. Hartford Hilton Hotel: $20 light supper included

FRIDAY11 a.m.-7 p.m.: Health & Fitness Expo, XL Center11 a.m.-9 p.m.: Registration and packet pickup (last chance to register and/or pick up packets), XL Center

Noon: Yoga in the Park for runners ($10 for registered NU Hartford Marathon runners), Bushnell Park

(rain location: Downtown Yoga, Hartford)3:30 p.m.: Health and performance symposium for runners, free, Health & Fitness Expo, XL Center

6:30 p.m.: Pasta supper, The Hartford Club: $22 adults, $10 children under 10

SATURDAY8 a.m.: Hartford Marathon, half marathon and team relay(wheelchair Start: 7:55 a.m.), Capitol Ave. & Washington St.8 a.m.: 5K, Buckingham & Washington St.8 a.m. -2 p.m.: Finish Line Expo & post-race festivities, Bushnell Park

9:30 a.m.: Mascot Invitational ,Elm Street & Pulaski Circle at Bushnell Park

9:30 a.m.: FitKids Run, Elm Street & Pulaski Circle at Bushnell ParkWHERE TO WATCHBest places to watch marathon and half-marathon:Start – Capitol Avenue in front of the State CapitolMile 2 – Pearl Street, HartfordMile 4 – Riverfront Plaza at the Founders Bridge,

HartfordMile 8.5 (half) – St. Mary’s House, 275 Steele Road, WestHartfordMile 10 (half) – Elizabeth Park Rose Garden, West HartfordMile 14 – Old Main Street & Chapel Road, South WindsorMile 20 – Old Main Street & Pleasant Valley Road, South WindsorMile 25 – Riverfront Plaza at the Founders Bridge, HartfordMile 26 – Under the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at Bushnell Park

The half-marathon course will split offfrom the marathon course after thefirst mile and follow Park Street intoWest Hartford.

MARATHON, HALF-MARATHON, 5K, TEAM RELAY, KIDS K

All races start Saturday at 8 a.m. at Bushnell Park except Kids K, which starts at 9:30 a.m. For more information, go to www.hartfordmarathon.com

2013 WinnersOverall winner: 2:19:26,Getachew Melese, Bronx N.Y.Top state male: 2:31:44,Brendan Callahan,GlastonburyTop female: 2:38:13, EricaJesseman, Scarborough,Maine

Top state female:2:48:36, Katie Edwards,Glastonbury

15155

2

44

44

15

5

2

5

91

91

84

84

291

NU HARTFORD MARATHON

HARTFORD

Conn

ectic

utRi

ver

EASTHARTFORD

SOUTHWINDSOR

StateCapitol

Main

St.

Mai

nSt

.

StartState

Capitol

Farmington Ave.HARTFORD

WESTHARTFORD

EASTHARTFORD

BushnellPark

ElizabethPark

Asylum Ave.

TroutBrookD

r.

UConnSchool of

Law

Albany Ave.

Park St.M

ain St.

Broa

dSt

.

Boulevard

N.M

ainSt.

ColtPark

Park Rd.

HALF MARATHON

End

StartEnd

Board ofeducationbuilding

VeteransMemorial Park

CorneliusMcAuliffe Park

Connecticut River

MARATHON

OF NOTEThere will be about35 bands alongthe course.

First place prizemoney is $3,000.

SCOREBOARD

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTSMEN’S SOCCERUConn 0, Cincinnati 0Hartford 2, UMass 1 (OT)Fairfield 1, St. Peter’s 0WOMEN’S SOCCERFairfield 8, St. Peter’s 0Lasell 4, St. Joseph 1Eastern 2, Amherst 1FIELD HOCKEYQuinnipiac 3, Brown 1Yale 1, Bryant 0UMass-Dartmouth 3, Eastern 2WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALLSiena 3, Quinnipiac 0 (25-21, 25-13,25-20)WOMEN’S TENNISQuinnipiac 5, Sacred Heart 2St. Joseph 8, Albertus Magnus 1THURSDAY’S SCHEDULEWOMEN’S SOCCERBinghamton at Hartford, noonUConn at Houston, 8 p.m.MEN’S TENNISQuinnipiac at UConn, 3 p.m.WOMEN’S TENNISUMass at UConn, 2:30 p.m.

LOCAL COLLEGES

AACCNF. TOT.STANDINGS W L W LEast Carolina 1 0 4 1Temple 1 0 3 1South Florida 1 0 2 3Central Florida 1 0 2 2Memphis 1 0 3 2Tulsa

1 0 1 3Cincinnati 0 1 2 2Houston 0 1 2 3SMU0 1 0 5Tulane 0 1 1 4UConn 0 2 1 4THURSDAY’S SCHEDULEBYU at Central Florida, 7:30 p.m.SATURDAY’S SCHEDULECincinnati at Miami (FL), noonTulsa at Temple, noonHouston at Memphis, 6 p.m.East Carolina at South Florida, 7 p.m.UConn at Tulane, 8 p.m.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

IVY LEAGUE CNF. TOT.STANDINGS W L W LYale1 0 3 0Harvard 1 0 3 0Dartmouth 1 0 2 1Princeton 1 0 2 1Brown 0 1 1 2Columbia 0 1 0 3Cornell 0 1 0 3Penn

0 1 0 3SATURDAY’S SCHEDULEHoly Cross at Brown, 12:30 p.m.Dartmouth at Yale, 1 p.m.Cornell at Harvard, 1 p.m.Princeton at Colgate, 1 p.m.Penn at Fordham, 1 p.m.Columbia at Monmouth, 1 p.m.

BASEBALLAMERICAN LEAGUESeattle:DHCoreyHart declinedoutrightassignment, choosing free agency.Texas: 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff declinedassignment, choosing free agency.NATIONAL LEAGUEColorado: Exxecutive VP, chief baseballofficer/GM Dan O’Dowd and assistantGM/senior VP of major league op-erations Bill Geivett resigned. Named

Jeff Bridich senior VP/GM.Los Angeles: RHP Josh Beckett retired.NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSN.Indiana: Signed coach Frank Vogel tomultiyear extension.NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUENFL: Team owners unanimously ap-proved sale of the Bills to Terry and KimPegula.

TRANSACTIONS

AMERICAN ATH. CON ALLEast Carolina 1-0 4-1Temple 1-0 3-1South Florida 1-0 2-3Central Florida 1-0 2-2Memphis 1-0 3-2Tulsa1-0 1-4Cincinnati 0-1 2-2Houston 0-1 2-3SMU0-1 0-5Tulane 0-1 1-4Connecticut 0-2 1-4

ACC ATLANTICFlorida State 3-0 5-0Louisville 3-1 5-1Clemson 2-1 3-2Boston College 0-1 3-2Syracuse 0-1 2-3North Carolina St. 0-2 4-2Wake Forest 0-2 2-4ACC COASTALGeorgia Tech 2-0 5-0Virginia 2-0 4-2Virginia Tech 1-1 4-2Pittsburgh 1-1 3-3Miami 1-2 3-3Duke0-1 4-1North Carolina 0-2 2-3

BIG 12Baylor 2-0 5-0Oklahoma St. 2-0 4-1Kansas St. 2-0 4-1TCU

1-0 4-0Oklahoma 1-1 4-1Texas1-1 2-3West Virginia 1-1 3-2Kansas 0-2 2-3Texas Tech 0-2 2-3Iowa State 0-3 1-4

BIG TEN EASTMichigan St. 1-0 4-1Ohio State 1-0 4-1Penn St. 1-1 4-1Rutgers 1-1 5-1Maryland 1-1 4-2Indiana 0-1 3-2Michigan 0-2 2-4BIG TEN WESTNorthwestern 2-0 3-2Iowa1-0 4-1Minnesota 1-0 4-1Nebraska 1-1 5-1Purdue 1-1 3-3Wisconsin 0-1 3-2Illinois 0-2 3-3

CONFERENCE USA EASTMiddle Tennesse 3-0 4-2Fla. International 2-0 3-3Marshall 1-0 5-0UAB1-1 3-2Florida Atlantic 1-1 2-4Old Dominion 1-2 3-3Western Kentucky 0-2 2-3CONFERENCE USA WESTLouisiana Tech 2-0 3-3Rice

1-1 2-3Texas-El Paso 0-1 2-3North Texas 0-1 2-3UTSA0-1 1-4Southern Miss 0-2 2-4

MID-AMERICAN EASTBowling Green 2-0 4-2Akron 1-0 3-2Buffalo 1-1 3-3Ohio1-1 3-3Miami (Ohio) 1-1 1-5Kent State 0-2 0-5Massachusetts 0-2 0-6MID-AMERICAN WESTToledo 3-0 4-2Northern Illinois 1-0 4-1Central Michigan 1-1 3-3Western Michigan 0-1 2-3Eastern Michigan 0-1 1-4Ball State 0-1 1-4

MOUNTAIN WEST WESTFresno State 2-0 3-3Nevada 1-1 3-2San Diego State 1-1 2-3San Jose State 1-1 2-3Hawaii 0-0 1-4UNLV0-2 1-5MTNWEST MOUNTAINWyoming 1-0 3-2Boise State 2-1 4-2Air Force 1-1 4-1

Penn0-1 0-3

MID-EASTERNSouth Carolina St. 2-0 4-2Norfolk State 2-0 2-4Bethune-Cookman 1-0 4-1N.C. Central 1-0 2-3Morgan State 2-1 3-3N. Carolina A&T 1-1 4-2Delware State 1-1 1-5Florida A&M-x 0-1 0-5Hampton 0-1 1-4Savannah State-x 0-2 0-5Howard 0-3 1-5MISSOURI VALLEYSouthern Illinois 2-0 5-1North Dakota St. 1-0 5-0Illinois State 1-0 4-0Indiana State 1-0 4-1Youngstown St. 1-0 4-1Missouri State 0-1 3-2South Dakota St. 0-1 3-2Northern Iowa 0-1 2-3South Dakota 0-1 2-3Western Illinois 0-2 2-4

NORTHEASTBryant 0-0 4-1Sacred Heart 0-0 4-1Duquesne 0-0 3-2Central Conn. St. 0-0 2-3St. Francis (Pa.)-x 0-0 2-3Wagner 0-0 2-3Robert Morris 0-0 0-5OHIO VALLEYEastern Kentucky 2-0 5-0Jacksonville State 2-0 4-1SE Missouri State 2-0 4-2Eastern Illinois 1-0 1-4Tennesee State 1-1 4-2Tennessee Tech 1-1 2-3Murray State 0-2 1-4Austin Peay 0-2 0-5Tennessee-Martin 0-3 1-5PATRIOT LEAGUEFordham 2-0 5-1Colgate 2-0 3-2Bucknell 0-0 4-1Lehigh 0-0 0-4Lafayette 0-1 2-3Georgetown 0-1 2-4Holy Cross 0-2 2-4

PIONEER LEAGUEJacksonville 3-0 4-1Campbell 2-0 2-3Dayton 1-0 3-1San Diego 1-1 3-1Drake1-1 2-3Butler 1-1 3-2Morehead State 1-1 2-3Marist 1-2 1-5Stetson 0-1 2-3Valparaiso 0-2 1-4Davidson 0-2 1-5

SOUTHERNChattanooga 2-0 3-2Western Carolina 1-0 3-2Wofford 1-0 3-2Samford 2-1 3-2Furman 1-1 2-4Mercer 1-2 4-2Citadel 0-1 1-4VMI

0-3 1-5SOUTHLANDSoutheastern La. 2-0 4-2Central Arkansas 2-0 3-3McNeese State 1-0 3-1Sam Houston St. 1-0 2-3Abilene Christian-x2-1 3-3Lamar 1-1 4-2Incarnate Word-x 1-2 1-5Stephen F. Austin 0-1 3-2Northwestern St. 0-1 2-3Houston Baptist 0-2 1-4Nicholls State 0-2 0-6

SWAC EASTAlcorn State 3-0 5-1Alabama State-x 3-1 4-2Jackson State 1-2 3-3Alabama A&M 1-2 2-4Miss. Valley St.-x 0-4 1-5SWAC WESTGrambling State 3-0 3-3Texas Southern 3-1 5-1Southern 2-1 3-3Prairie View A&M-x1-3 1-4Ark.-Pine Bluff-x 0-3 1-4x-ineligible for postseason

Utah State 0-0 3-2Colorado State 0-1 4-1New Mexico 0-1 2-3PACIFIC-12 NORTHCalifornia 2-1 4-1Oregon 1-1 4-1Oregon State 1-1 4-1Stanford 1-1 3-2Washington State 1-2 2-4Washington 0-1 4-1PACIFIC-12 SOUTHArizona 2-0 5-0Arizona State 2-1 4-1USC

2-1 3-2Utah1-1 4-1UCLA1-1 4-1Colorado 0-3 2-4

SEC EASTMissouri 1-0 4-1Georgia 2-1 4-1Florida 2-1 3-1Kentucky 2-1 4-1South Carolina 2-3 3-3Tennessee 0-2 2-3Vanderbilt 0-4 1-5SEC WEST

Auburn 2-0 5-0Mississippi 2-0 5-0Mississippi State 2-0 5-0Texas A&M 2-1 5-1Alabama 1-1 4-1LSU0-2 4-2Arkansas 0-2 3-2

SUN BELTGeorgia Southern 3-0 4-2Arkansas State 1-0 3-2Texas State 1-0 3-2La.-Lafayette 1-0 2-3South Alabama 2-1 3-2Louisiana-Monroe 2-1 3-2New Mexico State 1-1 2-4Troy

0-1 0-5Appalachian St. 0-2 1-4Georgia State 0-2 1-4Idaho-x 0-3 0-5INDEPENDENTSFBS: Notre Dame 5-0Brigham Young 4-1Army

2-3Navy2-4FCS: Charlotte 3-3

FCS STANDINGSBIG SKYEastern Wash. 2-0 5-1Montana 2-0 4-2Montana State 2-0 4-2Portland State 1-0 2-3Northern Colorado 1-1 2-3Northern Arizona 1-1 3-3Idaho State 1-1 2-3Cal Poly 1-1 2-3Southern Utah 1-1 1-5Sacramento State 0-2 3-3North Dakota 0-2 2-4UC Davis 0-2 1-4Weber State 0-2 0-5

BIG SOUTHCoastal Carolina 0-0 6-0Charleston So. 0-0 5-0Monmouth 0-0 4-1Presbyterian 0-0 3-2Gardner-Webb 0-0 3-3Liberty 0-0 3-3COLONIALNew Hampshire 2-0 4-1Villanova 2-0 4-1William & Mary 1-0 4-1Delaware 1-0 3-2Albany 1-1 4-1Maine 1-1 2-3Stony Brook 1-1 2-4James Madison 1-2 3-3Richmond 0-1 3-2Elon

0-1 1-4Rhode Island 0-1 0-5Towson 0-2 2-4IVY LEAGUEYale

1-0 3-0Harvard 1-0 3-0Dartmouth 1-0 2-1Princeton 1-0 2-1Brown 0-1 1-2Columbia 0-1 0-3Cornell 0-1 0-3

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

BASEBALLCovers.comALCSFRIDAYat Baltimore -109 Kansas City -101NLCS

SATURDAYat St. Louis -126 San Francisco +116NFL

Covers.comWEEK 6THURSDAYIndianapolis 3 47 at HoustonSUNDAYat Tennessee 6 441⁄2 JacksonvilleBaltimore 3 431⁄2 at Tampa BayDenver 81⁄2 471⁄2 at N.Y. Jetsat Atlanta 3 531⁄2 ChicagoDetroit 3 44 at MinnesotaNew England 3 45 at Buffaloat Cincinnati 7 44 Carolinaat Cleveland 1 47 PittsburghGreen Bay 3 49 at MiamiSan Diego 7 43 at Oaklandat Seattle 8 47 Dallasat Arizona 31⁄2 45 Washingtonat Phila. 21⁄2 501⁄2 N.Y. Giants

MONDAYSan Francisco 31⁄2 431⁄2 St. LouisNHLGlantz Culver

THURSDAYat Washington-140 Montreal +120at Pittsburgh -140 Anaheim +120at Phila -120 New Jersey +100at Dallas -110 Chicago -110Columbus -120 at Buffalo +100at Detroit -110 Boston -110at Tampa Bay -180 Florida +160at Nashville -120 Ottawa +105at St. Louis -155 N.Y. Rangers +135at Minnesota -135 Colorado +115at Edmonton -150 Calgary +130at Arizona -140 Winnipeg +120COLLEGE FOOTBALL Covers.comWEEK 7

THURSDAYat C. Florida 3 441⁄2 BYUFRIDAYat Stanford 17 55 Wash St.S. Diego St. 41⁄2 49 at N. MexicoFresno St. 101⁄2 66 at UNLVFBS vs. FBS only SATURDAYat N. Dame 161⁄2 64 N. CarolinaFlorida St. 231⁄2 531⁄2 at Syracuseat Oklahoma 141⁄2 461⁄2 TexasOregon 21⁄2 69 at UCLAAuburn 3 63 at Miss St.at Baylor 8 66 TCUat Clemson 10 501⁄2 LouisvilleGeorgia 3 60 at Missouriat Wisconsin 251⁄2 58 Illinoisat Minnesota 4 431⁄2 NorthwesternMich St. 21 541⁄2 at Purdueat Michigan 1 41 Penn Stateat Iowa 3 551⁄2 Indianaat Kentucky 211⁄2 471⁄2 UL Monroeat Temple 171⁄2 571⁄2 Tulsaat Marshall 23 731⁄2 Mid Tenn.at Miami 141⁄2 57 CincinnatiW. Virginia 6 731⁄2 at Texas Techat Army 2 59 Riceat Ga Tech 3 58 DukeBuffalo 13 581⁄2 at E. Mich.Ark St. 10 621⁄2 at Ga StateUMass 2 at Kent StateBGSU Pk 63 at Ohioat Akron 14 501⁄2 Miami, OHW. Michigan 1 56 at Ball Stateat Troy 61⁄2 65 N. Mexico St.at Iowa State 3 611⁄2 Toledoat NC State 31⁄2 561⁄2 Bos Collat UAB 61⁄2 59 North TexasOkla St. 201⁄2 501⁄2 at Kansasat N. Illinois 9 55 C. Mich.at California 31⁄2 711⁄2 WashingtonAlabama 10 56 at ArkansasEast Carolina 15 58 at S. Florida

at Memphis 9 491⁄2 Houstonat UTSA 12 45 FIULSU 11⁄2 47 at Floridaat Tulane 31⁄2 451⁄2 Connecticutat Texas A&M 2 63 MississippiUSC 3 681⁄2 at ArizonaColo. St. 11⁄2 601⁄2 at Nevadaat Hawaii 5 47 Wyoming

ODDS

NEW ENGLAND (3-2)S7: L 33-20 at MiamiS14:W 30-7 at Minn.S21:W 16-9 vs. Oak.S29: L 41-14 at K.C.O5:W 43-17 vs. Cinc.O12 at Buffalo 1Oct. 16 N.Y. Jets 8:25O26 Chi 1N2 Denver 4:25N9 offN16 at Indpls 8:30N23Detroit 1N30 at Green Bay 4:25D7 at San Diego-x 8:30D14 Miami 1D21 at N.Y. Jets 1D28 Buffalo 1

N.Y. JETS (1-4)S7:W 19-14 vs. OakS14: L 31-24 at Gr. BayS22: L 27-19 vs. Chi.S28: L 24-17 vs. Det.O5: L 31-0 at S. DgoO12 Denver 1O16 at New Eng. 8:25O26 Buffalo 1N2 at Kansas City 1N9 Pittsburgh 1N16 offN23 at Buffalo 1D1Miami 8:30D7 at Minnesota 1D14 at Tennessee 4:05D21 New England 1D28 at Miami 1

N.Y. GIANTS (3-2)S8: L 35-14 at DetS14: L 25-14 vs. ArizonaS21:W 30-17 vs. Hou.S25:W 45-14 at Wash.O5:W 30-20 vs. Atl.O12 at Phila. 8:30O19 at Dallas 4:25O26 offN3 Indianapolis 8:30N9 at Seattle 4:25N16 San Fran. 1N23 Dallas-x 8:30N30 at Jacksnville 1D7 at Tennessee 1D14 Washington 1D21 at St. Louis 4:05D28 Philadelphia 1x-subject to change

STANDINGSNFC NORTH REC HM DIV CON PF PADetroit 3-2 2-1 1-0 2-1 99 79Green Bay 3-2 2-0 2-1 2-2 134 106Minnesota 2-3 1-1 0-1 2-2 101 126Chicago 2-3 0-2 0-1 1-2 116 131NFC EASTPhiladelphia 4-1 3-0 1-0 2-1 156 132Dallas 4-1 2-1 0-0 2-1 135 103N.Y. Giants 3-2 2-1 1-0 2-2 133 111Washington 1-4 1-2 0-2 0-3 112 136NFC SOUTHCarolina 3-2 2-1 1-0 3-0 104 120Atlanta 2-3 2-0 2-0 2-2 151 143New Orleans 2-3 2-0 1-1 2-2 132 141Tampa Bay 1-4 0-2 0-3 0-4 103 156NFC WESTArizona 3-1 2-0 1-0 2-0 86 86Seattle 3-1 2-0 0-0 2-0 110 83San Francisco 3-2 2-1 0-1 2-2 110 106St. Louis 1-3 0-2 0-0 1-3 84 119AFC NORTH REC HM DIV CON PF PACincinnati 3-1 2-0 1-0 2-1 97 76Baltimore 3-2 2-1 2-1 2-2 116 80Pittsburgh 3-2 1-1 1-1 2-1 114 108Cleveland 2-2 1-1 0-2 1-2 103 105AFC EASTBuffalo 3-2 1-1 1-0 1-2 96 89New England 3-2 2-0 0-1 2-2 123 107Miami 2-2 1-1 1-1 2-2 96 97N.Y. Jets 1-4 1-2 0-0 1-1 79 127AFC SOUTHIndianapolis 3-2 2-1 2-0 3-1 156 108Houston 3-2 2-0 0-0 2-0 104 87Tennessee 1-4 0-2 0-1 1-3 88 139Jacksonville 0-5 0-2 0-1 0-3 67 169AFC WESTSan Diego 4-1 3-0 0-0 3-0 133 63Denver 3-1 3-0 1-0 2-0 116 87Kansas City 2-3 1-1 0-1 2-2 119 101Oakland 0-4 0-2 0-0 0-4 51 103HM-home record; DIV—division; CON–conference; PF/PA-points for, against

NFL

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BALTIMORE VS. KANSAS CITYG WHEN SITE QUICK HIT TV: TBS *—IF NECESSARY

1 Fri, 8:07 Balt. Orioles: 5-4 in 6 previous ALCS appearances2 Sat, 4:07 Balt. O’s swept 3 consecutive ALCS outings (1969-71)

3 Mon, 8:07 K.C. O’s have same 5-4 record in ALCS Game 3s4 Tue, 8:07 K.C. Not been swept in ALCS, lost in 4 to A’s, 5 to NY.

5*Oct. 15, 4:07 K.C. Orioles have fallen in all three ALCS Game 5s6*Oct. 17, 8:07 Balt. Baltimore sent packing by Indians in 1997 G6.

7*Oct. 18, 8:07 Balt. Have not seen Game 7 since 1979 World Series.NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: ST. LOUIS VS. SAN FRANCISCOG WHEN SITE QUICK HIT TV: a-FOX; b-FS1 *—IF NECESSARY

1 Sat, 8:07a StL Cards’ Jhonny Peralta: 6 HRs, 14 RBI (in 4 ALCS).

2 Sun, 8:07b StL StL’s Yadier Molina has 11 RBI in 123 NLCS ABs.

3 Tue, 4:07b S.F. Cards’ John Lackey: 2.90 ERA with 4 starts in ALCS.

4 Wed, 8:07b S.F. Hunter Pence: Hit solo HR vs. StL in 2012 NLCS G4.

5*Oct. 16, 8:07b S.F. Tim Lincecum: 1-2 rec, 3.86 ERA 20 K in 3 NLCS.

6*Oct. 18, 4:07a StL StL’s Matt Holliday: 284 avg in 22 NLCS games).

7*Oct. 19, 7:37b StL StL’s A. Wainwright: 1.59 ERA in 3 NLCS, 1-1 rec.WORLD SERIES

TV: FOX

G1: Tuesday, O21: at ALG2:Wed., O22: at ALG3: Friday, O24: at NLG4: Sat., O25: at NL

G5: Sun., O26: at NL-xG6-7: O28, 29: at AL-x

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

EASTERN WESTERNAtlanta 1-0Boston 2-0Brooklyn 1-0Charlotte 0-1Chicago 0-2Cleveland 1-0Detroit 1-0Indiana 1-0Miami 0-2Milwaukee 1-0New York 0-1Orlando 1-0Philadelphia 1-1Toronto 1-1Washington 2-0

Dallas 0-1Denver 0-1Golden St. 1-0Houston 1-0Minnesota 0-1L.A. Clippers 0-1L.A. Lakers 1-0Memphis 0-1New Orleans 1-2Okla. City 0-0Phoenix 0-0Portland 0-1Sacramento 1-1San Antonio 0-1Utah 1-0LATE TUESDAY Home team in CAPSSACRAMENTO 113, Toronto 106Golden St. 112, LA CLIPPERS 94WEDNESDAY’S RESULTSALBA BERLIN 94, San Antonio 93PHILADELPHIA 106, Charlotte 92Wash. 94, NEW ORLEANS 89 in Jax’villeBOSTON 106, N.Y. 86 in Hartford, Conn.MILW. 86, Memphis 83 in Green BayOklahoma City at Denver, lateFlamengo at Phoenix, lateTHURSDAY’S SCHEDULEMilwaukee at Detroit, 7:30Memphis at Houston, 8Utah at Portland, 10Golden State at LA Lakers, 10:30

NBA PRESEASON

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCEREASTERN GP W L T GF GA PTD.C. United-x 31 15 9 7 46 34 52New England 31 15 13 3 46 43 48Sporting KC 31 13 11 7 45 37 46New York 31 11 9 11 49 46 44Columbus 31 11 10 10 44 38 43Toronto FC 31 11 13 7 42 49 40Houston 31 11 14 6 36 51 39Philadelphia 31 9 10 12 46 45 39Chicago 31 5 8 18 38 46 33Montreal 31 6 18 7 34 54 25WESTERN GP W L T GF GA PTSeattle-x 31 19 9 3 61 47 60Los Angeles-x 31 17 5 9 66 31 60Real Salt Lake 31 13 8 10 50 39 49FC Dallas 31 14 11 6 52 42 48Vancouver 31 10 8 13 40 40 43Portland 31 10 9 12 56 52 42Colorado 31 8 15 8 42 58 32San Jose 30 6 13 11 35 44 29Chivas USA 31 7 18 6 26 58 27x-clinched playoff berth3 pts for win, 1 for tie Home in CAPSWEDNESDAY’S RESULTSHouston 1, TORONTO FC 0San Jose at Portland, lateFRIDAY: Chicago at Sporting KC, 8:30Vancouver at Seattle, 10

SOCCER

Late Tue.: Giants 3, Nats 2WASHINGTON AB R H BI AVG.Span cf 4 0 0 0 .105Rendon 3b 4 0 0 0 .368Werth rf 3 0 0 0 .059LaRoche 1b 4 0 0 0 .056Desmond ss 4 1 1 0 .167Harper lf 3 1 2 2 .294W.Ramos c 4 0 1 0 .118A.Cabrera 2b 3 0 0 0 .200G.Gonzalez p 1 0 0 0 .000a-Schrhltz ph 0 0 0 0 1.000c-Zmmrmn ph 1 0 0 0 .250TOTALS 31 2 4 2SAN FRAN. AB R H BI AVG.G.Blanco cf 4 0 1 1 .111Panik 2b 4 1 2 1 .211Posey c 4 0 2 0 .389Pence rf 3 0 1 0 .278Sandoval 3b 3 0 0 0 .211Belt 1b 4 0 0 0 .278B.Crawford ss 4 1 2 0 .294J.Perez lf 3 1 0 0 .000Vogelsong p 2 0 1 0 .500b-M.Duffy ph 1 0 0 0 .000d-Ishikawa ph 1 0 0 0 .182TOTALS 33 3 9 2Washington 000 010 100—2 4 1San Francisco 020 000 10x—3 9 0a-BB, G.Gonzalez, 5th. b-GO, J.Lopez,6th. c-FO, Blevins, 7th. d-GO, Romo, 8th.E: G.Gonzalez (1). LOB: Washington 5,San Fran. 10. 2B: Harper (1). HR: Harper(3). RBIs: G.Blanco (1), Harper 2 (4), Pa-nik (2). S: J.Perez. SO: Span (1), Rendon(1), Desmond (1), A.Cabrera (2), G.Gon-zalez (1), Belt (1), Vogelsong (1).WASHINGTON IP H R ER BB SO ERAG.Gonzalez 4 4 2 0 1 1 0.00Roark 2⁄3 2 0 0 0 0 3.38Blevins 11⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 0.00Thrntn L,0-1 1⁄3 2 1 1 0 0 3.86Barrett 1⁄3 0 0 0 2 0 0.00Soriano 11⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 0.00SAN FRAN. IP H R ER BB SO ERAVogelsong 52⁄3 2 1 1 2 4 1.59J.Lopez H,1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00StrklndW,1-0 1 2 1 1 0 1 9.00Romo H, 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00Casilla S,2-2 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.00WP: Barrett. IBB: off Barrett (Sandoval).

College FootballSunday Coverage: Report on how every Top 25 team fared, with a look at next week’s opponent, along with how the top Heisman candidates fared. Ready by 7 pm Sat.; last update at 11:30 pm.

10 Things We Learned This Weekend: Spirited, opinionated recap of the key developments in college football, based on Saturday’s results. Ready by 9 pm Sun.

Five Games to Watch: Annotated preview of five key games of national interest. Ready by 8:30 pm Wed.

Scoreboard: Complete conference standings. Ready by 8:30 pm Thurs.

Times noted for NFL and college football are Centraltime.

Score big with your readers while you save staff time

Make Full Football Coverage Your Game PlanContact:Rick DeChantal(866) 280-5210rdechantal@tribpub.com

www.TribuneContentAgency.com

DAILY PRESS

Friday, October 10, 2014 5

NO. 13 GEORGIAAT NO. 23 MISSOURINoon Saturday, CBS

The buzz: The SECEast has been over-

shadowed by its counterparts in the

West, but this is a critical showdown for

theBulldogs andTigers,with thewinner

getting a leg up in the division race. Both

quarterbacks—Georgia’sHutsonMason

andMissouri’sMatyMauk—have strug-

gled in the passing efficiency depart-

ment, ranking seventh andninth.NO. 9 TCUAT NO. 5 BAYLOR3:30 p.m. Sat., ABC/ESPN2

The buzz: TheBig 12’s last twounbeat-

ensmeetwith an eye toward a spot in

theCollege Football Playoff. QBTrevone

Boykin has thrived running theHorned

Frogs’ newup-tempo offense, racking up

1,436 total yards and 13 touchdowns. The

Bears are known for their offense, but

it’s their defense that has impressed the

most. DEShawnOakman (5 sacks,

7 TFLs) is a force up front.

NO. 12 OREGONAT NO. 18 UCLA3:30 p.m. Saturday, Fox

The buzz: This one lost a bit of luster

after both teams lost lastweek, but it still

could have an impact on the Pac-12 race.

Both offensive lines have struggled,with

theBruins allowing a conference-high

23 sacks— awhopping 10 of BrettHund-

ley byUtah lastweek—and theDucks

15, including 12 ofMarcusMariota in the

last two games.

NO. 3 MISSISSIPPIAT NO. 14 TEXAS A&M

9 p.m. Saturday, ESPN

The buzz: After their victory overAla-

bama, theRebels have gone frombeing

the hunter to the hunted in the SEC

West. Now they take on anAggies team

licking itswounds after being dominated

byMississippi State. A&MQBKenny

Hill threw three interceptions, and it

won’t get easier against an opportunistic

defense that leads the SECwith 10 picks.

mmurschel@tribune.com

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, above, eyes a marquee showdown with Dak Prescott.

KEVIN C. COX/GETTY

NO. 2 AUBURN AT NO. 3 MISSISSIPPI STATE

3:30 p.m. Saturday, CBSThe buzz: Anotherweek, anothermake-or-break game for theBulldogs.

After dispatchingLSUandTexasA&M, awin over theTigerswould putDanMullen’s

team in the driver’s seat for the school’s first SECWest title since 1998.Mississippi State

QBDakPrescott is earning a lot of praise, but don’t overlookAuburn’sNickMarshall,

who leads the SEC’s top red-zone offense (21 of 21, 17 TDs).

FIVE GAMES TO WATCH BY MATT MURSCHEL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

We interrupt this pro-gram to bring you thissports bulletin: Baseball’splayoffs are underway.Youmight not have

been aware because inmuch the sameway itshitters once treated corkand its pitchers pine tar,baseball appears to havegone to great lengths tohide the start of its 2014postseason.Formany fans thisOctober, thewild-cardgames and division serieswere harder to locate thanreasonably priced conces-sions.Some are airing on

exclusively digital chan-nels (Fox Sports1). Someare on channels thatmanyfans don’t get (theMLBNetwork). Some are onnetworks thatmany fansdidn’t knowexisted (FoxSports1, again). Some,because of overlaps, havebegun or ended on chan-nels theyweren’t sup-posed to appear on. Occa-sionally, they’ve been on attimeswhen the cablechannel guide has listedother fare, an episode of“Castle” or “FamilyGuy.”And in some cities,

unless you’ve got a satel-lite subscription, thegames aren’t on radio atall.Formuch of the last

week, in cities like Phila-delphiawith no rootinginterest and even in thoseplaceswith a dog in thehunt, America’s pastimehas actually been trying tolocate postseason baseballgames onTV.It’s a pity because thosewhohave found baseball’stelecasts have found themvery entertaining.The games are scat-tered across the cable

landscape like tumble-weed. In all, five networkswill be involved:MLB,Fox Sports1, TBS, ESPNandFox. Sometimes if, ashappened lastweekend,there’s an overlap, gamesmight begin on one chan-nel and conclude on an-other.In some cases, those

fortunate viewerswhohavemanaged to find thegames likely have fallenasleep before they’veended.KansasCity’s thrilling

9-8 victory overOaklandin theAmericanLeaguewild-card game, for exam-ple, lasted 4hours, 45minutes.SanFrancisco’s epicGame2win overWash-ington in theNLdivisionseries stretched on for6:23.The samebaseball and

network executiveswhocreated this programmingmaze have been boastingabout the games’ ratings.BothMLBNetwork andFox Sports1reportedviewership records.But it’s all relative.Fox Sports1, or FS1, has

been in existence for only15months.MLBNetwork,mean-while, has been bragging

about attracting a record1.8million viewers toGame2 of theDodgers-Cardinals series. But it’ssmall changewhen youconsider that a regular-season Sunday nightNFLtelecast routinely attracts10million viewers.TheTV schedule hasbeen so off thewall thatnewspapers felt com-pelled to print how-toguides forwatching post-season baseball.Here’sone excerpt from theWashingtonPost:“ForXfinity (Comcast)customers, Fox Sports1 isavailable on theDigitalStarter package andabove;MLBNetwork ison theDigital Preferredpackage and above. ForVerizonFiOS customers,Fox Sports1 is on thePreferredHDpackageand above;MLBNetworkis on theExtremeHDpackage and above.”Things should get alittle simpler fromhere.TheWorld Serieswill

be aired exclusively onFox. TheNLCSwill besplit betweenFox andFS1.AndTBShas promised

to stop airing “Big BangTheory” reruns longenough to televise theentireALCS.

BASEBALL COMMENTARYTelevision making ittough to enjoy playoffsTelecasts — if you can find them — have been riveting

By Frank FitzpatrickThe Philadelphia Inquirer

The epic Royals-Athletics wild-card game took 4 hours,

45 minutes and aired on TBS.

PETER G. AIKEN/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIESAll on TBS

G1 Friday8 p.m. Royals (Shields, 14-8, 3.21) at Orioles (Tillman, 13-6, 3.34)

G2 Saturday4 p.m. Royals (Ventura, 14-10, 3.20) at Orioles (Chen, 16-6, 3.54)

G3 Monday8 p.m. Orioles (Norris, 15-8, 3.65) at Royals (Vargas, 11-10, 3.71)

G4 Tuesday8 p.m. Orioles (Gonzalez, 10-9, 3.23) at Royals (Guthrie, 13-11, 4.13)

G5 Wed.4 p.m. Orioles (TBD) at Royals (TBD)

If necessary

G6 Oct. 178 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

G7 Oct. 188 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

DAN CONNOLLY’S PICKORIOLES (and Nelson Cruz) IN 6

JOY R. ABSALON/USA TODAY SPORTS

Probable Game 1 lineups

Regular-season statistics

ROYALS

AVG. HR RBI

1 SS Alcides Escobar .285 3 50

2 RF Nori Aoki.285 1 43

3 CF Lorenzo Cain.301 5 53

4 1B Eric Hosmer.270 9 58

5 DH Billy Butler.271 9 66

6 LF Alex Gordon.266 19 74

7 C Salvador Perez .260 17 70

8 2B Omar Infante.252 6 66

9 3B Mike Moustakas .212 15 54

ORIOLES

AVG. HR RBI

1 RF Nick Markakis.276 14 50

2 LF Alejandro De Aza .252 8 41

3 CF Adam Jones.281 29 96

4 DH Nelson Cruz.271 40 108

5 1B Steve Pearce.293 21 49

6 SS J.J. Hardy.268 9 52

7 3B Ryan Flaherty.221 7 32

8 C Nick Hundley.233 5 19

9 2B Jonathan Schoop .209 16 45

Oriolesvs. RoyalsKeystotheseriesByDanConnollyTribuneNewspapersTheRoyals arrived here by surviving amara-

thon game against theAthletics in thewild-card

game, then sweeping the heavily favored and

top-seededAngels in the division series. The

Orioles’ pathwas almost as difficult. They had to

outlast the last threeALCyYoungAwardwin-

ners to sweep theTigers in theALDS afterwin-

ning 96 games and theALEast.TheRoyals led themajor leagueswith 153

stolen bases, and theOrioleswere first in the

majorswith 211 home runs. To earn their first

World Series berth since 1985, theRoyals need

to stick to their strength— the running game—

while it’s essential for theOrioles to take that

aspect away if they hope to advance to their first

World Series since 1983.Both have consistent starting pitching, fantas-

tic bullpens and strong defenses. Both are great

on the road.TheOrioles can’t play the underdog card

anymore. They had a better record andhave

home-field advantage. Expect several extra-

inning nail-biters, and theOrioleswill squeak

into theWorld Series.

SAN FRANCISCO —The visitor’s clubhouse atAT&T Park was nearlysilent. The only soundswere players talking toreporters, packing uptheir belongings and hug-ging each other goodbye.The man who built theteam, general managerMike Rizzo,made hiswayaround the room, talkingand shaking hands witheach player.For the past eightmonths, Nationals coach-es, officials and playershave spent nearly everyday together. The nexttime they assemble — infourmonths in Viera, Fla.,for spring training — theteam won’t be the same.The core will return but afew faces, such as AdamLaRoche and RafaelSoriano, are likely to de-part.“It’ll take a few days,

maybe even a few weeks,to be able to look back onthe season because itended so quickly,” relieverJerry Blevins said lateTuesday night after theseason-ending loss to theGiants.But soon after the

shock wears off, the Na-tionals’ self-evaluationwillbegin inearnest, start-ing with the compositionof the roster.Core pieces Ian Des-mond, Jordan Zimmer-mann,DenardSpan,DougFister and Tyler Clippardareunder teamcontrol foronly one more season,after which they are eligi-ble for free agency. Thisgroup has helped the Na-tionals win 280 gamesover the past three sea-sons, the most in baseball,but the opportunities towin a World Series havedwindled. There is anurgency inside the organi-zation to win with thisgroupnow.

“We’ve got a lot oftalent and a lot of goodballplayers that are undercontract and coming backfor a while,” Desmondsaid. “The window isn’tclosed but it is closing. It’simportant for us to movepast this and go to springtraining ready to go.”The most notablechanges to theNats’ rosterwill likely be in the bull-pen and infield. LaRochehas been an importantpart of the lineup over thepast four seasons but hemay be pushed out. La-Roche, 34, has a $15 mil-lion mutual option for the2015 season. Although heloves Washington and histeammates, and Rizzo hasa lotof respect forhim, theNationalswill need to finda spot in the lineup forRyanZimmerman.“I have no idea whatdirection I’ll go fromhere,” LaRoche said. “ButIknowI’ll go sit in the treestand (to hunt) and thinkabout it.”The Nationals were abetter teamwith AnthonyRendon’s glove at thirdbase. Zimmerman’s wornright shoulder is bettersuited for first base oreven left field, a positionhe learned this season andenjoyed. But if the Na-tionals pick up the $9 mil-lion cluboptiononSpan, arelative bargain for a play-

er who hit .302 from theleadoff spot and playedexcellent defense, thenthe outfield of BryceHarper-Span-JaysonWerthwill be set again.So if Zimmerman plays

first base, the Nationals’biggest questionmarkwillbe second base. DannyEspinosa, a stellar defend-er, struggled again offen-sively, hitting .219with122strikeouts, and returnedto his backup role whenthe Nationals traded forAsdrubal Cabrera. TheNationals could re-signCabrera or acquire a sec-ond baseman.Cabrera, 28, lovesplaying shortstop andwould like to return to theposition he has playedmost of his life.“It depends,”he said. “Ateam like this team, awinning team, I wouldlove to play second andlove to stay here. I justwant towin.”The Nationals’ depthcan fill the likely hole atthe back of the bullpen.Theteamhasa$14 millionoption for Soriano nextseason. Given how hestruggled in the secondhalf of this season andhow well former closerDrew Storen pitched inthe ninth in his stead, theNationals have an obviousreplacement.Although theirwindowto win has narrowed, theNationals will be in goodposition to contend again.Their starting rotationwill return intact.Muchofthe bullpen is under teamcontrol next season.The infield will be ledby Desmond, Rendon andZimmerman. Harper’sstrong October showedhow importanthe is to theNationals’ future.“Our core group guys ispretty much intact,” Zim-merman said. “Haven’treally thought about it yet.Butwe’ve got a good thinggoing.”

BASEBALL NATIONALSRoster shake-up couldcost LaRoche, SorianoBy JamesWagnerTheWashington Post

Adam LaRoche may leavethe Nats in the offseason.

ELSA/GETTY PHOTO

BASEBALL ALCS

SPORTS

DAILY PRESS

Friday, October 10, 2014 5

NO. 13 GEORGIAAT NO. 23 MISSOURINoon Saturday, CBS

The buzz: The SECEast has been over-

shadowed by its counterparts in the

West, but this is a critical showdown for

theBulldogs andTigers,with thewinner

getting a leg up in the division race. Both

quarterbacks—Georgia’sHutsonMason

andMissouri’sMatyMauk—have strug-

gled in the passing efficiency depart-

ment, ranking seventh andninth.NO. 9 TCUAT NO. 5 BAYLOR3:30 p.m. Sat., ABC/ESPN2

The buzz: TheBig 12’s last twounbeat-

ensmeetwith an eye toward a spot in

theCollege Football Playoff. QBTrevone

Boykin has thrived running theHorned

Frogs’ newup-tempo offense, racking up

1,436 total yards and 13 touchdowns. The

Bears are known for their offense, but

it’s their defense that has impressed the

most. DEShawnOakman (5 sacks,

7 TFLs) is a force up front.

NO. 12 OREGONAT NO. 18 UCLA3:30 p.m. Saturday, Fox

The buzz: This one lost a bit of luster

after both teams lost lastweek, but it still

could have an impact on the Pac-12 race.

Both offensive lines have struggled,with

theBruins allowing a conference-high

23 sacks— awhopping 10 of BrettHund-

ley byUtah lastweek—and theDucks

15, including 12 ofMarcusMariota in the

last two games.

NO. 3 MISSISSIPPIAT NO. 14 TEXAS A&M

9 p.m. Saturday, ESPN

The buzz: After their victory overAla-

bama, theRebels have gone frombeing

the hunter to the hunted in the SEC

West. Now they take on anAggies team

licking itswounds after being dominated

byMississippi State. A&MQBKenny

Hill threw three interceptions, and it

won’t get easier against an opportunistic

defense that leads the SECwith 10 picks.

mmurschel@tribune.com

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, above, eyes a marquee showdown with Dak Prescott.

KEVIN C. COX/GETTY

NO. 2 AUBURN AT NO. 3 MISSISSIPPI STATE

3:30 p.m. Saturday, CBSThe buzz: Anotherweek, anothermake-or-break game for theBulldogs.

After dispatchingLSUandTexasA&M, awin over theTigerswould putDanMullen’s

team in the driver’s seat for the school’s first SECWest title since 1998.Mississippi State

QBDakPrescott is earning a lot of praise, but don’t overlookAuburn’sNickMarshall,

who leads the SEC’s top red-zone offense (21 of 21, 17 TDs).

FIVE GAMES TO WATCH BY MATT MURSCHEL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

We interrupt this pro-gram to bring you thissports bulletin: Baseball’splayoffs are underway.Youmight not have

been aware because inmuch the sameway itshitters once treated corkand its pitchers pine tar,baseball appears to havegone to great lengths tohide the start of its 2014postseason.Formany fans thisOctober, thewild-cardgames and division serieswere harder to locate thanreasonably priced conces-sions.Some are airing on

exclusively digital chan-nels (Fox Sports1). Someare on channels thatmanyfans don’t get (theMLBNetwork). Some are onnetworks thatmany fansdidn’t knowexisted (FoxSports1, again). Some,because of overlaps, havebegun or ended on chan-nels theyweren’t sup-posed to appear on. Occa-sionally, they’ve been on attimeswhen the cablechannel guide has listedother fare, an episode of“Castle” or “FamilyGuy.”And in some cities,

unless you’ve got a satel-lite subscription, thegames aren’t on radio atall.Formuch of the last

week, in cities like Phila-delphiawith no rootinginterest and even in thoseplaceswith a dog in thehunt, America’s pastimehas actually been trying tolocate postseason baseballgames onTV.It’s a pity because thosewhohave found baseball’stelecasts have found themvery entertaining.The games are scat-tered across the cable

landscape like tumble-weed. In all, five networkswill be involved:MLB,Fox Sports1, TBS, ESPNandFox. Sometimes if, ashappened lastweekend,there’s an overlap, gamesmight begin on one chan-nel and conclude on an-other.In some cases, those

fortunate viewerswhohavemanaged to find thegames likely have fallenasleep before they’veended.KansasCity’s thrilling

9-8 victory overOaklandin theAmericanLeaguewild-card game, for exam-ple, lasted 4hours, 45minutes.SanFrancisco’s epicGame2win overWash-ington in theNLdivisionseries stretched on for6:23.The samebaseball and

network executiveswhocreated this programmingmaze have been boastingabout the games’ ratings.BothMLBNetwork andFox Sports1reportedviewership records.But it’s all relative.Fox Sports1, or FS1, has

been in existence for only15months.MLBNetwork,mean-while, has been bragging

about attracting a record1.8million viewers toGame2 of theDodgers-Cardinals series. But it’ssmall changewhen youconsider that a regular-season Sunday nightNFLtelecast routinely attracts10million viewers.TheTV schedule hasbeen so off thewall thatnewspapers felt com-pelled to print how-toguides forwatching post-season baseball.Here’sone excerpt from theWashingtonPost:“ForXfinity (Comcast)customers, Fox Sports1 isavailable on theDigitalStarter package andabove;MLBNetwork ison theDigital Preferredpackage and above. ForVerizonFiOS customers,Fox Sports1 is on thePreferredHDpackageand above;MLBNetworkis on theExtremeHDpackage and above.”Things should get alittle simpler fromhere.TheWorld Serieswill

be aired exclusively onFox. TheNLCSwill besplit betweenFox andFS1.AndTBShas promised

to stop airing “Big BangTheory” reruns longenough to televise theentireALCS.

BASEBALL COMMENTARYTelevision making ittough to enjoy playoffsTelecasts — if you can find them — have been riveting

By Frank FitzpatrickThe Philadelphia Inquirer

The epic Royals-Athletics wild-card game took 4 hours,

45 minutes and aired on TBS.

PETER G. AIKEN/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIESAll on TBS

G1 Friday8 p.m. Royals (Shields, 14-8, 3.21) at Orioles (Tillman, 13-6, 3.34)

G2 Saturday4 p.m. Royals (Ventura, 14-10, 3.20) at Orioles (Chen, 16-6, 3.54)

G3 Monday8 p.m. Orioles (Norris, 15-8, 3.65) at Royals (Vargas, 11-10, 3.71)

G4 Tuesday8 p.m. Orioles (Gonzalez, 10-9, 3.23) at Royals (Guthrie, 13-11, 4.13)

G5 Wed.4 p.m. Orioles (TBD) at Royals (TBD)

If necessary

G6 Oct. 178 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

G7 Oct. 188 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

DAN CONNOLLY’S PICKORIOLES (and Nelson Cruz) IN 6

JOY R. ABSALON/USA TODAY SPORTS

Probable Game 1 lineups

Regular-season statistics

ROYALS

AVG. HR RBI

1 SS Alcides Escobar .285 3 50

2 RF Nori Aoki.285 1 43

3 CF Lorenzo Cain.301 5 53

4 1B Eric Hosmer.270 9 58

5 DH Billy Butler.271 9 66

6 LF Alex Gordon.266 19 74

7 C Salvador Perez .260 17 70

8 2B Omar Infante.252 6 66

9 3B Mike Moustakas .212 15 54

ORIOLES

AVG. HR RBI

1 RF Nick Markakis.276 14 50

2 LF Alejandro De Aza .252 8 41

3 CF Adam Jones.281 29 96

4 DH Nelson Cruz.271 40 108

5 1B Steve Pearce.293 21 49

6 SS J.J. Hardy.268 9 52

7 3B Ryan Flaherty.221 7 32

8 C Nick Hundley.233 5 19

9 2B Jonathan Schoop .209 16 45

Oriolesvs. RoyalsKeystotheseriesByDanConnollyTribuneNewspapersTheRoyals arrived here by surviving amara-

thon game against theAthletics in thewild-card

game, then sweeping the heavily favored and

top-seededAngels in the division series. The

Orioles’ pathwas almost as difficult. They had to

outlast the last threeALCyYoungAwardwin-

ners to sweep theTigers in theALDS afterwin-

ning 96 games and theALEast.TheRoyals led themajor leagueswith 153

stolen bases, and theOrioleswere first in the

majorswith 211 home runs. To earn their first

World Series berth since 1985, theRoyals need

to stick to their strength— the running game—

while it’s essential for theOrioles to take that

aspect away if they hope to advance to their first

World Series since 1983.Both have consistent starting pitching, fantas-

tic bullpens and strong defenses. Both are great

on the road.TheOrioles can’t play the underdog card

anymore. They had a better record andhave

home-field advantage. Expect several extra-

inning nail-biters, and theOrioleswill squeak

into theWorld Series.

SAN FRANCISCO —The visitor’s clubhouse atAT&T Park was nearlysilent. The only soundswere players talking toreporters, packing uptheir belongings and hug-ging each other goodbye.The man who built theteam, general managerMike Rizzo,made hiswayaround the room, talkingand shaking hands witheach player.For the past eightmonths, Nationals coach-es, officials and playershave spent nearly everyday together. The nexttime they assemble — infourmonths in Viera, Fla.,for spring training — theteam won’t be the same.The core will return but afew faces, such as AdamLaRoche and RafaelSoriano, are likely to de-part.“It’ll take a few days,

maybe even a few weeks,to be able to look back onthe season because itended so quickly,” relieverJerry Blevins said lateTuesday night after theseason-ending loss to theGiants.But soon after the

shock wears off, the Na-tionals’ self-evaluationwillbegin inearnest, start-ing with the compositionof the roster.Core pieces Ian Des-mond, Jordan Zimmer-mann,DenardSpan,DougFister and Tyler Clippardareunder teamcontrol foronly one more season,after which they are eligi-ble for free agency. Thisgroup has helped the Na-tionals win 280 gamesover the past three sea-sons, the most in baseball,but the opportunities towin a World Series havedwindled. There is anurgency inside the organi-zation to win with thisgroupnow.

“We’ve got a lot oftalent and a lot of goodballplayers that are undercontract and coming backfor a while,” Desmondsaid. “The window isn’tclosed but it is closing. It’simportant for us to movepast this and go to springtraining ready to go.”The most notablechanges to theNats’ rosterwill likely be in the bull-pen and infield. LaRochehas been an importantpart of the lineup over thepast four seasons but hemay be pushed out. La-Roche, 34, has a $15 mil-lion mutual option for the2015 season. Although heloves Washington and histeammates, and Rizzo hasa lotof respect forhim, theNationalswill need to finda spot in the lineup forRyanZimmerman.“I have no idea whatdirection I’ll go fromhere,” LaRoche said. “ButIknowI’ll go sit in the treestand (to hunt) and thinkabout it.”The Nationals were abetter teamwith AnthonyRendon’s glove at thirdbase. Zimmerman’s wornright shoulder is bettersuited for first base oreven left field, a positionhe learned this season andenjoyed. But if the Na-tionals pick up the $9 mil-lion cluboptiononSpan, arelative bargain for a play-

er who hit .302 from theleadoff spot and playedexcellent defense, thenthe outfield of BryceHarper-Span-JaysonWerthwill be set again.So if Zimmerman plays

first base, the Nationals’biggest questionmarkwillbe second base. DannyEspinosa, a stellar defend-er, struggled again offen-sively, hitting .219with122strikeouts, and returnedto his backup role whenthe Nationals traded forAsdrubal Cabrera. TheNationals could re-signCabrera or acquire a sec-ond baseman.Cabrera, 28, lovesplaying shortstop andwould like to return to theposition he has playedmost of his life.“It depends,”he said. “Ateam like this team, awinning team, I wouldlove to play second andlove to stay here. I justwant towin.”The Nationals’ depthcan fill the likely hole atthe back of the bullpen.Theteamhasa$14 millionoption for Soriano nextseason. Given how hestruggled in the secondhalf of this season andhow well former closerDrew Storen pitched inthe ninth in his stead, theNationals have an obviousreplacement.Although theirwindowto win has narrowed, theNationals will be in goodposition to contend again.Their starting rotationwill return intact.Muchofthe bullpen is under teamcontrol next season.The infield will be ledby Desmond, Rendon andZimmerman. Harper’sstrong October showedhow importanthe is to theNationals’ future.“Our core group guys ispretty much intact,” Zim-merman said. “Haven’treally thought about it yet.Butwe’ve got a good thinggoing.”

BASEBALL NATIONALSRoster shake-up couldcost LaRoche, SorianoBy JamesWagnerTheWashington Post

Adam LaRoche may leavethe Nats in the offseason.

ELSA/GETTY PHOTO

BASEBALL ALCS

SPORTS

DAILY PRESS

Friday, October 10, 2014 5

NO. 13 GEORGIAAT NO. 23 MISSOURINoon Saturday, CBS

The buzz: The SECEast has been over-

shadowed by its counterparts in the

West, but this is a critical showdown for

theBulldogs andTigers,with thewinner

getting a leg up in the division race. Both

quarterbacks—Georgia’sHutsonMason

andMissouri’sMatyMauk—have strug-

gled in the passing efficiency depart-

ment, ranking seventh andninth.NO. 9 TCUAT NO. 5 BAYLOR3:30 p.m. Sat., ABC/ESPN2

The buzz: TheBig 12’s last twounbeat-

ensmeetwith an eye toward a spot in

theCollege Football Playoff. QBTrevone

Boykin has thrived running theHorned

Frogs’ newup-tempo offense, racking up

1,436 total yards and 13 touchdowns. The

Bears are known for their offense, but

it’s their defense that has impressed the

most. DEShawnOakman (5 sacks,

7 TFLs) is a force up front.

NO. 12 OREGONAT NO. 18 UCLA3:30 p.m. Saturday, Fox

The buzz: This one lost a bit of luster

after both teams lost lastweek, but it still

could have an impact on the Pac-12 race.

Both offensive lines have struggled,with

theBruins allowing a conference-high

23 sacks— awhopping 10 of BrettHund-

ley byUtah lastweek—and theDucks

15, including 12 ofMarcusMariota in the

last two games.

NO. 3 MISSISSIPPIAT NO. 14 TEXAS A&M

9 p.m. Saturday, ESPN

The buzz: After their victory overAla-

bama, theRebels have gone frombeing

the hunter to the hunted in the SEC

West. Now they take on anAggies team

licking itswounds after being dominated

byMississippi State. A&MQBKenny

Hill threw three interceptions, and it

won’t get easier against an opportunistic

defense that leads the SECwith 10 picks.

mmurschel@tribune.com

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall, above, eyes a marquee showdown with Dak Prescott.

KEVIN C. COX/GETTY

NO. 2 AUBURN AT NO. 3 MISSISSIPPI STATE

3:30 p.m. Saturday, CBSThe buzz: Anotherweek, anothermake-or-break game for theBulldogs.

After dispatchingLSUandTexasA&M, awin over theTigerswould putDanMullen’s

team in the driver’s seat for the school’s first SECWest title since 1998.Mississippi State

QBDakPrescott is earning a lot of praise, but don’t overlookAuburn’sNickMarshall,

who leads the SEC’s top red-zone offense (21 of 21, 17 TDs).

FIVE GAMES TO WATCH BY MATT MURSCHEL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

We interrupt this pro-gram to bring you thissports bulletin: Baseball’splayoffs are underway.Youmight not have

been aware because inmuch the sameway itshitters once treated corkand its pitchers pine tar,baseball appears to havegone to great lengths tohide the start of its 2014postseason.Formany fans thisOctober, thewild-cardgames and division serieswere harder to locate thanreasonably priced conces-sions.Some are airing on

exclusively digital chan-nels (Fox Sports1). Someare on channels thatmanyfans don’t get (theMLBNetwork). Some are onnetworks thatmany fansdidn’t knowexisted (FoxSports1, again). Some,because of overlaps, havebegun or ended on chan-nels theyweren’t sup-posed to appear on. Occa-sionally, they’ve been on attimeswhen the cablechannel guide has listedother fare, an episode of“Castle” or “FamilyGuy.”And in some cities,

unless you’ve got a satel-lite subscription, thegames aren’t on radio atall.Formuch of the last

week, in cities like Phila-delphiawith no rootinginterest and even in thoseplaceswith a dog in thehunt, America’s pastimehas actually been trying tolocate postseason baseballgames onTV.It’s a pity because thosewhohave found baseball’stelecasts have found themvery entertaining.The games are scat-tered across the cable

landscape like tumble-weed. In all, five networkswill be involved:MLB,Fox Sports1, TBS, ESPNandFox. Sometimes if, ashappened lastweekend,there’s an overlap, gamesmight begin on one chan-nel and conclude on an-other.In some cases, those

fortunate viewerswhohavemanaged to find thegames likely have fallenasleep before they’veended.KansasCity’s thrilling

9-8 victory overOaklandin theAmericanLeaguewild-card game, for exam-ple, lasted 4hours, 45minutes.SanFrancisco’s epicGame2win overWash-ington in theNLdivisionseries stretched on for6:23.The samebaseball and

network executiveswhocreated this programmingmaze have been boastingabout the games’ ratings.BothMLBNetwork andFox Sports1reportedviewership records.But it’s all relative.Fox Sports1, or FS1, has

been in existence for only15months.MLBNetwork,mean-while, has been bragging

about attracting a record1.8million viewers toGame2 of theDodgers-Cardinals series. But it’ssmall changewhen youconsider that a regular-season Sunday nightNFLtelecast routinely attracts10million viewers.TheTV schedule hasbeen so off thewall thatnewspapers felt com-pelled to print how-toguides forwatching post-season baseball.Here’sone excerpt from theWashingtonPost:“ForXfinity (Comcast)customers, Fox Sports1 isavailable on theDigitalStarter package andabove;MLBNetwork ison theDigital Preferredpackage and above. ForVerizonFiOS customers,Fox Sports1 is on thePreferredHDpackageand above;MLBNetworkis on theExtremeHDpackage and above.”Things should get alittle simpler fromhere.TheWorld Serieswill

be aired exclusively onFox. TheNLCSwill besplit betweenFox andFS1.AndTBShas promised

to stop airing “Big BangTheory” reruns longenough to televise theentireALCS.

BASEBALL COMMENTARYTelevision making ittough to enjoy playoffsTelecasts — if you can find them — have been riveting

By Frank FitzpatrickThe Philadelphia Inquirer

The epic Royals-Athletics wild-card game took 4 hours,

45 minutes and aired on TBS.

PETER G. AIKEN/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIESAll on TBS

G1 Friday8 p.m. Royals (Shields, 14-8, 3.21) at Orioles (Tillman, 13-6, 3.34)

G2 Saturday4 p.m. Royals (Ventura, 14-10, 3.20) at Orioles (Chen, 16-6, 3.54)

G3 Monday8 p.m. Orioles (Norris, 15-8, 3.65) at Royals (Vargas, 11-10, 3.71)

G4 Tuesday8 p.m. Orioles (Gonzalez, 10-9, 3.23) at Royals (Guthrie, 13-11, 4.13)

G5 Wed.4 p.m. Orioles (TBD) at Royals (TBD)

If necessary

G6 Oct. 178 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

G7 Oct. 188 p.m. Royals (TBD) at Orioles (TBD)

If necessary

DAN CONNOLLY’S PICKORIOLES (and Nelson Cruz) IN 6

JOY R. ABSALON/USA TODAY SPORTS

Probable Game 1 lineups

Regular-season statistics

ROYALS

AVG. HR RBI

1 SS Alcides Escobar .285 3 50

2 RF Nori Aoki.285 1 43

3 CF Lorenzo Cain.301 5 53

4 1B Eric Hosmer.270 9 58

5 DH Billy Butler.271 9 66

6 LF Alex Gordon.266 19 74

7 C Salvador Perez .260 17 70

8 2B Omar Infante.252 6 66

9 3B Mike Moustakas .212 15 54

ORIOLES

AVG. HR RBI

1 RF Nick Markakis.276 14 50

2 LF Alejandro De Aza .252 8 41

3 CF Adam Jones.281 29 96

4 DH Nelson Cruz.271 40 108

5 1B Steve Pearce.293 21 49

6 SS J.J. Hardy.268 9 52

7 3B Ryan Flaherty.221 7 32

8 C Nick Hundley.233 5 19

9 2B Jonathan Schoop .209 16 45

Oriolesvs. RoyalsKeystotheseriesByDanConnollyTribuneNewspapersTheRoyals arrived here by surviving amara-

thon game against theAthletics in thewild-card

game, then sweeping the heavily favored and

top-seededAngels in the division series. The

Orioles’ pathwas almost as difficult. They had to

outlast the last threeALCyYoungAwardwin-

ners to sweep theTigers in theALDS afterwin-

ning 96 games and theALEast.TheRoyals led themajor leagueswith 153

stolen bases, and theOrioleswere first in the

majorswith 211 home runs. To earn their first

World Series berth since 1985, theRoyals need

to stick to their strength— the running game—

while it’s essential for theOrioles to take that

aspect away if they hope to advance to their first

World Series since 1983.Both have consistent starting pitching, fantas-

tic bullpens and strong defenses. Both are great

on the road.TheOrioles can’t play the underdog card

anymore. They had a better record andhave

home-field advantage. Expect several extra-

inning nail-biters, and theOrioleswill squeak

into theWorld Series.

SAN FRANCISCO —The visitor’s clubhouse atAT&T Park was nearlysilent. The only soundswere players talking toreporters, packing uptheir belongings and hug-ging each other goodbye.The man who built theteam, general managerMike Rizzo,made hiswayaround the room, talkingand shaking hands witheach player.For the past eightmonths, Nationals coach-es, officials and playershave spent nearly everyday together. The nexttime they assemble — infourmonths in Viera, Fla.,for spring training — theteam won’t be the same.The core will return but afew faces, such as AdamLaRoche and RafaelSoriano, are likely to de-part.“It’ll take a few days,

maybe even a few weeks,to be able to look back onthe season because itended so quickly,” relieverJerry Blevins said lateTuesday night after theseason-ending loss to theGiants.But soon after the

shock wears off, the Na-tionals’ self-evaluationwillbegin inearnest, start-ing with the compositionof the roster.Core pieces Ian Des-mond, Jordan Zimmer-mann,DenardSpan,DougFister and Tyler Clippardareunder teamcontrol foronly one more season,after which they are eligi-ble for free agency. Thisgroup has helped the Na-tionals win 280 gamesover the past three sea-sons, the most in baseball,but the opportunities towin a World Series havedwindled. There is anurgency inside the organi-zation to win with thisgroupnow.

“We’ve got a lot oftalent and a lot of goodballplayers that are undercontract and coming backfor a while,” Desmondsaid. “The window isn’tclosed but it is closing. It’simportant for us to movepast this and go to springtraining ready to go.”The most notablechanges to theNats’ rosterwill likely be in the bull-pen and infield. LaRochehas been an importantpart of the lineup over thepast four seasons but hemay be pushed out. La-Roche, 34, has a $15 mil-lion mutual option for the2015 season. Although heloves Washington and histeammates, and Rizzo hasa lotof respect forhim, theNationalswill need to finda spot in the lineup forRyanZimmerman.“I have no idea whatdirection I’ll go fromhere,” LaRoche said. “ButIknowI’ll go sit in the treestand (to hunt) and thinkabout it.”The Nationals were abetter teamwith AnthonyRendon’s glove at thirdbase. Zimmerman’s wornright shoulder is bettersuited for first base oreven left field, a positionhe learned this season andenjoyed. But if the Na-tionals pick up the $9 mil-lion cluboptiononSpan, arelative bargain for a play-

er who hit .302 from theleadoff spot and playedexcellent defense, thenthe outfield of BryceHarper-Span-JaysonWerthwill be set again.So if Zimmerman plays

first base, the Nationals’biggest questionmarkwillbe second base. DannyEspinosa, a stellar defend-er, struggled again offen-sively, hitting .219with122strikeouts, and returnedto his backup role whenthe Nationals traded forAsdrubal Cabrera. TheNationals could re-signCabrera or acquire a sec-ond baseman.Cabrera, 28, lovesplaying shortstop andwould like to return to theposition he has playedmost of his life.“It depends,”he said. “Ateam like this team, awinning team, I wouldlove to play second andlove to stay here. I justwant towin.”The Nationals’ depthcan fill the likely hole atthe back of the bullpen.Theteamhasa$14 millionoption for Soriano nextseason. Given how hestruggled in the secondhalf of this season andhow well former closerDrew Storen pitched inthe ninth in his stead, theNationals have an obviousreplacement.Although theirwindowto win has narrowed, theNationals will be in goodposition to contend again.Their starting rotationwill return intact.Muchofthe bullpen is under teamcontrol next season.The infield will be ledby Desmond, Rendon andZimmerman. Harper’sstrong October showedhow importanthe is to theNationals’ future.“Our core group guys ispretty much intact,” Zim-merman said. “Haven’treally thought about it yet.Butwe’ve got a good thinggoing.”

BASEBALL NATIONALSRoster shake-up couldcost LaRoche, SorianoBy JamesWagnerTheWashington Post

Adam LaRoche may leavethe Nats in the offseason.

ELSA/GETTY PHOTO

BASEBALL ALCS

SPORTS

6 Monday, October 6, 2014DAILY PRESSSPORTS

preseason, Gruden andhisplayers believed they hadan identity. Offensively,theywould set the tone ofgameswith the powerfullegs of AlfredMorris andthen attack teamswith thearmand athleticismofRobertGriffin III and thespeed and versatility of hisreceivers.

Defensively,with a re-vamped front seven led byJasonHatcher, BrianOrak-po andRyanKerrigan,Washingtonwould pres-sure opposing quarterbackswhile also proving stoutagainst the run. The pass-rushing strengthswouldhelp ease pressure on thesecondary.

But through fourweeks,little has panned out asplanned. Griffin (dislocatedankle) has been sidelinedsince the first quarter ofWeek 2. Cousins came inand ran the offense at ahigh level both in that game—awin over Jacksonville— and the following outingagainst Philadelphia. Dur-ing those games, Grudenflexed hismuscles as aninnovative play caller andgameplanner.

But as awhole, the use ofthe run gamehas beensporadic and struggles byCousins kept the offense ata standstill against theGiants.

“Our identity is stillbeing carved out,” Grudensaid. “Offensively,with thechange at quarterback,some of those issues,we’restill trying to find exactlywhatKirk likes,what he’sgood at and still trying tomake surewehave that rungame identity,which takesa lot of pressure off thequarterback nomatterwhoit is. That’s the big thing:stickingwith the runninggame and gettingAlfred hislooks, because right now,he’s the bell cow, andwe’vegot to treat him like he’sone.”

Gruden said stickingwith the run is easier saidthan done, however, be-cause teamshave stackedthe boxwith eightmen andbecauseWashington hasbeen playing frombehind.

Injuries have hamperedthe defense, too. Corner-

backDeAngeloHall rup-tured his Achilles’ tendoninWeek 3 andwill notreturn this year. RookieBashaudBreelandhas hadto take over.Hatcher, theprize free agent signing ofthe spring,was hamperedby a hamstring injuryagainst theGiants anddidn’t record a sack. Orak-po has playedwith a dislo-catedmiddle finger onhisleft hand. But even beforehe got hurt, he had beenquiet.Hehas just half asack in four games.

“We’re trying to find outwhatwe are on defense,”Gruden said. “We’ve had tomix andmatch playersthere.Wehave some youngplayers playing key posi-tion, and they’reworkingthroughmistakes.We’vegot some veterans in thesystem for the first time.[Until] they all truly under-standhoweverything fitstogether, how to call things,we stillmight have someroughpatches. I thinkthey’re coming along prettygood, but there’s still somelearning curve for a lot ofthese young guys.”

LikeClark, Gruden be-lievesMonday night’s gamewill tell a lot about theRedskins. Coaches andplayers only had a fewdaysto prepare for theGiants;the longer break has giventhem time to heal frominjuries aswell as plan forthe Seahawks.

“I’m still learning.We’restill in the process. Onething you can’t learn abouta teamuntil you go throughthe bumpy times the roughtimes is how they’re goingto react,” Gruden said. “Thebig thingwewant tomakesure is thatwe don’t letlosing fester in this buildingandmake it acceptable.”

Hatcher said he andhisteammates grasp the im-portance of the opportunityat hand.He admits theiridentity remains far fromclear, but he agrees thisgamewill help bring clarity.

Hatcher also believesplenty of time remains forWashington to change itsfortunes.

“It’s a long season.Things can change at anyminute,” he said. “TheGiants back in [2011]wonnine games and thenwonthe Super Bowl. It’s nothingto panic about, you justhave to keep grinding.”

REDSKINSContinued from 1

twominutes to play.The 49ers clamped

downondefense in thesecondhalf, got107 yardsrushing fromFrankGore,and four field goals fromPhilDawson. Bywinningconsecutive home games,they gatheredmomentumfor road games at St. LouisandDenver in the nexttwoweeks.

On a daywhen theClevelandBrowns dugtheirway out of a 25-pointhole towin at Tennessee,the biggest comeback by aroad team inNFLhistory,therewas no such re-bound for theChiefs.

Smith,widely regardedas a bust in his early yearswith the 49ers,when theteamwas a revolving doorof head coaches and of-fensive coordinators,finally got traction underJimHarbaugh andnowAndyReid.

Smith reportedly got arousing cheer froma largegroup of 49ers fans as heleft the locker roomafterthe game.He’s the fifthquarterback towear thered uniforms of both SanFrancisco andKansasCity, joining JoeMontana,SteveDeBerg, SteveBonoandElvisGrbac.

500 clubWith four touchdowns

against Arizona, Denver’sPeytonManning joinedBrett Favre as the onlyquarterbacks inNFLhistorywithmore than500 career touchdownpasses.

Manning’s at 503.The touchdown totals

drop off sharply afterFavre at 508 andManning,withDanMarino at 420,followed byDrewBrees at372 andTomBrady at 363.

Bounce-backBrowns

TheBrowns hadn’twon a road game inmorethan a year. Sowhen theyfell behind in the first halfat Tennessee, 28-3, theylooked cooked.

What followed?AnunansweredClevelandscoring cavalcade—touchdown, field goal,

safety, touchdown, touch-down.

“It’s just good towin,”quarterbackBrianHoyersaid. “I saidwhenwebroke it down, ‘Let’s justwin one by two touch-downs oneweek andnotgive everybody a heartattack.’ It’s great to alwayswin, but towin comingback and know that youbattled your butt off is agreat feeling.”

Although they’re in theAFCNorth basement, the2-2Browns have a betterrecord than any of theother cellar dwellers inthe league, and all four oftheir games have beendecided by three points orfewer.

Kicking himselfIn four years atNe-

braska, kickerAlexHen-ery set anNCAAcareerrecord bymaking 89.5percent of his field goals.

There’s no tellingwhere that guy is now,becauseHenerymissed allthree field-goal attemptsforDetroit in a17-14 loss toBuffalo at home, includinga 50-yarderwith 21sec-onds left. That doesn’tbodewell for the formerfourth-roundpick ofPhiladelphia,whowassigned to replace rookieNate Freese twoweeksago.

“It’s a performance-

based league, plain andsimple, and youhave toperform,” Lions coach JimCaldwell said. “Anyonethat doesn’t, we take alook and see ifwe canimprove that oneway oranother.”

For 21seasons, theLions had JasonHansonbooming those long kicks,and hemade anNFL-record 52 of them from50yards or longer beforeannouncing his retire-ment in the spring of 2013.The teammight take along look atMatt Prater,cut by theBroncos lastweek.

Meanwhile, Buffalo’sDanCarpenter securedthe victory Sunday for theBills by nailing a 58-yardkickwith four seconds toplay.

Carried awaySome celebrations are

spontaneous. Others, notsomuch.

That brings us to thedecision of Buffalo playersto lift defensive coor-dinator JimSchwartz ontheir shoulders and carryhimoff the field after theBillswon atDetroit. Afterall, Schwartzwas theLions’ coach for five sea-sons before hewas firedlastDecember. Turns out,the celebrationwas amade-for-TVmoment.

Bills linebackerTy

Powell told theAssociatedPress that Schwartz hadasked in the offseason thathe be carried off if his newplayers beat his old ones.

Powell said, “I remem-ber back inOTAs, some-howhewas talking aboutit in ameeting.He said,‘Whenwe go toDetroit,andwewin, Iwant to becarried off the field.’ ”

Depth chargeSomehow, theChargers

keepwinning despitebeing on their fourthrunning back and fourthcenter, both rookies.

Rookie centerChrisWatt replacedDougLe-gursky,whowent downSundaywith a leg injuryandhad to be carted offthe field. Legurskywassigned lastmonth afterthe team lost starterNickHardwick andwaspressed into action after abad back sidelined backupRichOhrnberger.

At running back, rookieBrandenOliver had aterrific performance inSunday’s 31-0 blanking oftheNewYork Jets, rush-ing for114 yards on19carries and scoring on a15-yard run andnine-yardpass. TheChargers hadalready lost running backsRyanMathews (knee) andDannyWoodhead (ankle),and on Sunday,DonaldBrown (concussion).

FARMERContinued from 1

Terrance West and the Cleveland Browns rallied from a 28-3 deficit to beat Tennessee

on Sunday. It was the largest road comeback in NFL history.

FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY PHOTO

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COMMENTARY

1Parity was the big win-

ner this weekend.Aftera ho-humSeptember, Octo-ber beganwith a bang,with11 teams ranked in theTop25 polls losing. Five of thetop eight teams in theAsso-ciated Press poll lost duringthe sameweek for first timesince the pollwas estab-lished in 1936.

2This is the perfectseason for the College

Football Playoff.Without adominant team, the four-teamplayoff seems like theperfectway to determinethe best possiblematchupfor a national champi-onship game. The firstplayoff rankings can’t gethere soon enough.

3What a weekend in theMagnolia State!At

least for oneweekend, thenational spotlight shinedbrightly on the state ofMississippi as bothOleMiss andMississippi Statehadmonster performancesin upsetwins overAlabamaandTexasA&M, respec-tively.Will theEggBowldecide the SECWest?

4Dak Prescott is a legit-

imate Heisman con-

tender. In the biggest gameof his career, theMissis-sippi State quarterbackoutplayed his TexasA&Mcounterpart by putting up acombined 336 total yardsand four touchdowns in a48-31win over the then-No.6Aggies.

5Kicking woes comeback to bite Alabama

— again.There’s plenty ofblame to spread aroundafter Alabama’s loss toOleMiss, but it’s hard to ignorethe fact that theTidemissed two crucial fieldgoals. According toESPN,inAlabama’s five losses

since 2011, they are 5 of 16on field-goal attempts.

6Florida survives — butnot without contro-

versy.TheGatorswon oneof the ugliest games inrecentmemory, but allanyonewill be talkingabout thisweek iswhetherfreshmanTreonHarriswilltake over for JeffDriskel asstarting quarterback.

7Notre Dame is a legiti-mate title contender.

Everett Golson’s 23-yardtouchdownpass to BenKoyack on fourth-and-23with 1:01 left not only liftedthe Irish to awin overStanford but validated talkthatNotreDamedeservesto be included in the playoffconversation.

8How the West reallywas won.Early favor-

itesOregon, Stanford andUCLAall lost, leavingAri-zona—yes, Arizona—as

the lone undefeated teamin the Pac-12. In his thirdseason inTucson, coachRichRodriguez has theWildcats competing for aconference title.

9Coaches aren’t thebest voters.Alabama,

coming off an open date,landed into the top spot lastweek in the coaches polldespite Florida State rally-ing to beatN.C. State 56-41.The Seminolesmay nothave looked impressive sofar, but it’s the ’Noleswhoare the consensusNo. 1team thisweek.

10The Big Ten was fineafter all.After being

written off in September,theBigTen finds itself backin theCollege FootballPlayoffmix after four of thetop 10 teams lost.MichiganState appears to be the bestcandidate tomake a push.

mmurschel@tribune.com

10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEKEND BY MATT MURSCHEL

It’s time to start overIt’s a first: 5 of top 8in the AP poll loseduring same week

Mississippi defensive back Trae Elston is fired up as he

celebrates the Rebels’ upset of Alabama in Oxford, Miss.

JOE MURPHY/GETTY

“All we worry about isthenext game,” saidParks,whohadcareerhighswith29 carries for 169 yardsagainst Pittsburgh. “Wehave the next-game men-tality. We’re not worryingabout games ahead of us.”

Parks, who had a 48-yardtouchdownruninthesecond quarter, and deter-mined defensive effortswhen neededmost servedas the primary reasonsU.Va. was able to fend offPittsburgh (3-3, 1-1) in thesecond half. Overall, theoffense performed poorlyin that second stanza.

After Pittsburghtrimmed U.Va.’s 24-3 half-time lead to 24-10 early inthe third quarter, U.Va.stopped Pittsburgh onthree plays inside theCavaliers’ 6-yard line,holding the Panthers to a24-yard field goal byChrisBlewitt with 3:52 left inthe quarter that reducedU.Va.’s advantage to 24-13.

U.Va. had just 112 yardsin the second half anddidn’t move inside Pitts-burgh’s 40 in the half untiltheCavaliers recovered anonside kick at the Pan-thers’ 37 with 1:20 left inthe game. Parks onlygained 54 yards in thesecond half, but he ab-sorbed a lot of contactwhile carrying the ball 10times in the fourth quar-ter, keeping U.Va.’s offenseon the field for more than8 1⁄2minutes.

“I feel like that’s whateveryrunningbackshoulddo,” Parks said of gainingyards after contact.“You’ve got to be able totake the hits and still getyards. That’s what sepa-rates the average backsfrom the good backs. I’mnot saying I’m a good backor anything, but that’swhat I pridemyself off of.”

Slowing down runningback James Conner andreceiver Tyler Boyd whilemaking quarterback ChadVoytik uncomfortablewere keys for U.Va.’s de-fense.

Conner entered the

gamerankedsecond in thenation in rushing yardswith 791,while Boyd cameinto the weekend rankedthird in the conference inreceptions with 27 for 365yards and four touch-downs.

Conner had nine car-ries for 54yards in the firstquarter, but hewasheld to29 yards on 12 additionalcarries the rest of thegame.

Boyd had just threecatches for63yardsbeforereturning a punt 45 yardsto set up Pittsburgh’s finaltouchdown late in thefourth quarter.

Voytik was sacked fourtimes, including three inthe fourth quarter.Hewaspressured by defensiveend Mike Moore intothrowing a pass that wasintercepted by linebackerMax Valles and returned35 yards for a touchdownin the second quarter.

U.Va. coach Mike Lon-dondidn’t let on any sense

of relief after the win, buthe may feel at least a littlebetterabouthischancesofstaying in Charlottesvillebeyond this season.

With road gamesagainst Duke, GeorgiaTech, Florida State andVirginia Tech still on theschedule, along withhome dates against NorthCarolina and Miami, itisn’t going togetanyeasierforU.Va.

“We bent, we didn’tbreak and we bouncedback,” London said. “Guysmadeplayswhen theyhadto, cameupbig. It’s impor-tant for us to realizewe’vegot to learn from thesetypes of games.

“It might’ve been a dif-ferent result last season,but this is a season thatwetalked about these guysbeing hungry, stay humbleand get ready to work andmove on.”

Wood can be reached byphone at 757-247-4642.

CAVSContinued from 1

Virginia’s DreQuan Hoskey, left, and Eli Harold celebrate

during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Pitt.

GEOFF BURKE/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

6 Sunday, October 5, 2014

DAILY PRESS

*

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

HEISMAN WATCHMatt Murschel ranks the top contenders

AP TOP 25

1FLORIDA STATE (5-0)

Won 43-3 vs. Wake Forest

Jameis Winston passed for 297 yds, TD,

ran for score; Roberto Aguayo kicked 5 FGs.

Next: at Syracuse, Saturday

2OREGON (4-1)Lost 31-24 vs. Arizona, Thursday

Ducks 4 of 14 on 3rd down, let Wildcats

convert 3 3rd downs on winning TD drive.

Next: at No. 8 UCLA, Saturday

3ALABAMA (4-1)

Lost 23-17 at No. 11 Mississippi

Fumbled KOR set up Rebels’ go-ahead TD;

Blake Sims 19 of 31, INT in 1st road start.

Next: at Arkansas, Saturday

4OKLAHOMA (4-1)

Lost 37-33 at No. 25 TCU

Trevor Knight 14 of 35, 2 INTs; Samaje Perine

stuffed on 4th-and-1 at 22 with 3:08 left.

Next: vs. Texas in Dallas, Saturday

5AUBURN (5-0)Won 41-7 vs. No. 15 LSU

Nick Marshall had 326 total yds, 4 TDs as

Tigers tied largest winning margin in series.

Next: at No. 12 Mississippi State, Saturday

6TEXAS A&M (5-1)

Lost 48-31 at No. 12 Mississippi State

Aggies allowed 289 yds, 5 TDs on ground;

had given up FBS-low 3 rush TDs entering.

Next: vs. No. 11 Mississippi, Saturday

7BAYLOR (5-0)Won 28-7 at Texas

Pass-happy Bears ran for 241 yds, 148 from

Shock Linwood, got 62-yd TD on blocked FG.

Next: vs. No. 25 TCU, Saturday

8UCLA (4-0)vs. Utah, late

Brett Hundley, Bruins sought back-to-back

5-0 starts for 1st time since 1966-67.

Next: vs. No. 2 Oregon, Saturday

9NOTRE DAME (5-0)

Won 17-14 vs. No. 14 Stanford

Everett Golson threw for 241 yds, winning TD

to Ben Koyack on 4th down with 1:01 to play.

Next: vs. North Carolina, Saturday

10MICHIGAN STATE (4-1)

Won 27-22 vs. No. 19 Nebraska

Spartans D held Cornhuskers’ 2nd-ranked

run game to 47 yds, 307 below their avg.

Next: at Purdue, Saturday

11MISSISSIPPI (5-0)

Won 23-17 vs. No. 3 Alabama

Bo Wallace’s 3rd TD pass with 2:54 left broke

tie; Senquez Golson INT in end zone iced it.

Next: at No. 6 Texas A&M, Saturday

12MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-0)

Won 48-31 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M

Dak Prescott had 336 total yds, 5 TDs in

Bulldogs’ 2nd straight win vs. top-10 team.

Next: vs. No. 5 Auburn, Saturday

13GEORGIA (4-1)Won 44-17 vs. Vanderbilt

Hutson Mason threw 2 TDs to Chris Conley;

Devin Bowman had 63-yd INT return for TD.

Next: at No. 24 Missouri, Saturday

14STANFORD (3-2)

Lost 17-14 at No. 9 Notre Dame

Pass-interference penalty aided Irish on

winning drive; Kevin Hogan 18 of 36, 2 INTs.

Next: vs. Washington State, Friday

15LSU (4-2)Lost 41-7 at No. 5 Auburn

Freshman Brandon Harris 3 of 13 in 1st start;

Tigers outscored 48-10 in last 2 1st halves.

Next: at Florida, Saturday

16USC (3-2)Lost 38-34 vs. Arizona State

Trojans allowed 3 TDs in final 3:53, 46-yd

Hail Mary on final play, 512 passing yds.

Next: at Arizona, Saturday

17WISCONSIN (3-2)

Lost 20-14 at Northwestern

Melvin Gordon ran for career-high 259 yds,

TD, but 2 Badgers QBs combined for 4 INTs.

Next: vs. Illinois, Saturday

18BYU (4-1)Lost 35-20 vs. Utah State, Friday

Season-ending broken leg for Taysom Hill;

backup Christian Stewart 10 of 29, 3 INTs.

Next: at Central Florida, Thursday

19NEBRASKA (5-1)

Lost 27-22 at No. 10 Michigan State

Huskers scored 3 TDs in 4th quarter, but

QB Tommy Armstrong had 3 of their 4 TOs.

Next: at Northwestern, Oct. 18

20OHIO STATE (4-1)

Won 52-24 at Maryland

J.T. Barrett had 338 total yds, 5 total TDs;

Raekwon McMillan’s pick-6 1 of 4 Terps INTs.

Next: vs. Rutgers, Oct. 18

21OKLAHOMA STATE (4-1)

Won 37-20 vs. Iowa State

Desmond Roland 95 rush yds, 2 TDs; Tyreek

Hill returned 2nd-half KO 97 yds for score.

Next: at Kansas, Saturday

22EAST CAROLINA (4-1)

Won 45-24 vs. SMU

Shane Carden threw for 410 yds, 4 TDs, set

school passing record held by David Garrard.

Next: at South Florida, Saturday

23KANSAS STATE (4-1)

Won 45-13 vs. Texas Tech

Jake Waters had 395 total yds, 5 total TDs;

Wildcats intercepted Davis Webb 4 times.

Next: at No. 4 Oklahoma, Oct. 18

24MISSOURI (4-1)

Did not play

Tigers only East team without SEC loss;

Maty Mauk T-5th in FBS with 14 TD passes.

Next: vs. No. 13 Georgia, Saturday

25TCU (4-0)Won 37-33 vs. No. 4 Oklahoma

Trevone Boykin had 393 total yds, passed for

2 TDs; Frogs overcame 14 penalties, 3 TOs.

Next: at No. 7 Baylor, Saturday

Marcus Mariota, Oregon QB: 20 of 32 for 276 yds, 2 TDs,

26-yd TD rec; lost fumble with shot to tie in loss to Arizona.

Todd Gurley, Georgia RB: Ran for 163 yds, 2 TDs on 25 att,

24 yds on 2 rec, threw 50-yd pass; 3rd on school rush list.

Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska RB: Ran for 45 yds, 2 TDs

on 24 att, lost fumble inside Michigan State 10 in 5-pt loss.

Kenny Hill, Texas A&M QB: 37 of 62 for 365 yds, 4 TDs,

3 INTs in loss at Mississippi State; 5 picks in last 3 games.

Amari Cooper, Alabama WR: 9 rec, 91 yds (1st under 100

in 7 games) in loss at Ole Miss; 3rd on school rec list (156).

In the biggest game in school

history,No.11Mississippiralliedfroma

fourth-quarter deficit to stun No. 3

Alabama 23-17 on Saturday in Vaught-

Hemingway Stadium.The Rebels’ student section rushed

the field to celebrate the school’s first

victory in the series since 2003.Ole Miss moved the ball at will in

the second half, outscoring the Crim-

sonTide 20-3 in the final 30minutes.

But it was the Rebels’ defense that

sealed thewin as cornerback Senquez

Golson intercepted Alabama quarter-

backBlake Sims’ pass in the end zone.

From there, Ole Miss quarterback

Bo Wallace took the field for the

victory formation. Wallace finished 18

of 31 for 251 yards and three touch-

downs.Healsohadthego-aheadscore

on a 10-yard strike to running back

Jaylen Walton in the back of the end

zonewith 2:54 remaining.Sims struggled in the first true road

start of his career. He completed 19 of

31 passes for 228 yards and the

interception.Outside of one drive in the first half,

Ole Miss’ defense stoned Alabama’s

offense theentireday.SixofAlabama’s

13 drives on the day endedwith punts.

The defenses were the story in the

first half as Alabama took a 14-3 lead

into halftime.With only a few seconds left in the

half, Ole Miss was content to just run

theclockout.ButAlabamacornerback

Cyrus Jones stripped Ole Miss tail-

back I’TaviusMathers, then recovered

the fumble and ran it in for the

touchdown.TheTide’s first touchdowncameon

a1-yardquarterbackkeeperbySimson

fourth-and-1. Sims finished the first

half 10 of15 for 74 yards.Ole Miss’ field goal came on the

game’s opening drive.Wallace was the team’s leading

rusherwith21yardson five carries.He

completed 8 of 16 passes for 66 yards.

The Rebels gained 105 yards of total

offense in the half.

No. 1 Florida State 43, Wake Forest

3:JameisWinston threw for 297 yards

and a touchdown as the host Semi-

noles pulled away from the Demon

Deacons.Winston completed 23 of 39 passes

andaddeda rushing touchdownwhile

Travis Rudolph caught four passes for

66 yards and a score for Florida State

(5-0, 3-0 ACC), which extended the

nation’s longest winning streak to 21

games.Mario Pender rushed for a touch-

down, Reggie Northrup added a de-

fensive TD and Roberto Aguayo

kicked five field goals for the Semi-

noles, who scored the game’s final 43

points.John Wolford finished 9 of 15 for

just 58 yards and an interception for

Wake Forest (2-4, 0-2), which turned

the ball over three times.

No. 25 TCU 37, No. 4 Oklahoma 33:

Trevone Boykin accounted for 393

total yards and threw two touch-

downs, and Paul Dawson returned an

interception for a TD as the Horned

Frogs upset the visiting Sooners.Boykin was 20 of 38 for 318 yards

andB.J. Catalon scored twice for TCU

(4-0, 1-0 Big 12), which overcame 14

penalties and three turnovers to se-

cure its biggest victory since joining

theBig12 in 2012.Samaje Perine had 25 carries for 87

yards and three touchdowns while

Trevor Knight was 14 of 35 for 309

yards and one touchdown with two

interceptions forOklahoma (4-1, 1-1).

No. 12 Mississippi State 48, No. 6

Texas A&M 31:DakPrescott threwfor

259 yards and accounted for five

touchdowns as the host Bulldogs

stayed unbeaten with an impressive

win over theAggies.Josh Robinson rushed for 107 yards

and had two first-half scores for

Mississippi State (5-0, 2-0 SEC),

which ran its winning streak to eight

games dating to last season. Prescott,

who ran for 77 yards and three scores,

completed19of25passeswithapairof

touchdowns.Kenny Hill was 37 of 62 for 365

yardswith four touchdowns and three

picks forTexasA&M(5-1, 2-1).

No. 9 Notre Dame 17, No. 14 Stanford

14:EverettGolsonpassed for 241yards

and hit Ben Koyack for the go-ahead

touchdownwith 61 seconds left as the

Fighting Irish outlasted the visiting

Cardinal.Notre Dame (5-0) was down to a

fourth-and-11 when Golson scanned

the field and foundKoyack all alone in

the back corner of the end zone for a

23-yardTD.Golson finished 20 of 43, and Chris

Brownpiledup60 receiving yards and

a score.Kevin Hogan ran for a TD but was

just 18 of 36 passing for158 yards and a

pairof interceptions forStanford(3-2).

No. 22 East Carolina 45, Southern

Methodist 24: Shane Carden tossed

four touchdown passes for the second

straight game, and Justin Hardy re-

corded his first career three-score

performance as the host Pirates

breezed to victory.Carden completed 21 of his first 24

passes and finished 31 of 41 for 410

yards to raise his career total to 9,134,

eclipsing David Garrard (9,029) to

become the school’s all-time leading

passer.Isaiah Jones had nine catches for

130 yards and a touchdown for 22nd-

rankedEast Carolina (4-1, 1-0AAC).

No. 20 Ohio State 52, Maryland 24:

J.T. Barrett threw for 267 yards and

accounted for five touchdowns as the

visiting Buckeyes cruised past the

Terrapins.Barrett threw four touchdowns

passes and added a rushing score

while Ezekiel Elliott ran for a game-

high 139 yards for Ohio State (4-1, 1-0

BigTen).C.J. Brown was limited to 71 yards

passing and an interception before he

was pulled in favor of Caleb Rowe,

who threw for 173 yards and three

picks forMaryland (4-2, 1-1).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Mississippi receiver Vince Sanders scores a touchdown in the second half of Saturday’s game against Alabama.CHRISTOPHER HANEWINCKEL/REUTERS PHOTO

REBELSWITH A CAUSEMississippi rallies to upsetNo. 3 Alabama in Oxford

Tribune news services

Freshman DeshaunWatson passed

for two touchdowns and ran for two

more as Clemson blanked North

Carolina State 41-0, its first shutout in

ACCplay since1998.Watson finished 17 of 29 for 267

yards to give him 702 passing yards in

his first two games as a starter for

Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC), breaking the

school record of 692 yards set by

CharlieWhitehurst.DefensiveendVicBeasley, rated the

No. 1 defensive end prospect by

NFLDraftScout.com, had a sack to tie

the school career record of 28 shared

by Michael Dean Perry and the late

Gaines Adams. He stripped the ball

away from N.C. State quarterback

Jacoby Brissett and ran 16 yards for a

touchdown.Brissett, who shared ACC Quarter-

back of the Week honors last week

with Watson after throwing for 359

yards and three touchdowns in a loss

to Florida State, finished 4 of 18 for 35

yards forN.C. State (4-2, 0-2).The Wolfpack, who had scored at

least 40 points in a school-record four

consecutive games entering the con-

test, didn’t pick up a first down until

the 5:18 mark of the second quarter

andhad just 34yards in total offenseat

halftime.

Late Friday: Brandon Radcliff ran for

two touchdowns for the third straight

game as Louisville downed host Syra-

cuse 28-6 onFriday night.Radcliff followed up his personal-

best 129-yard rushing effort in last

week’s win over Wake Forest with 110

more on a career-high 23 carries for

the Cardinals (5-1, 3-1 ACC), who held

theOrange to 49 yards on the ground.

Terrel Hunt went 17 of 32 for 196

yards and two interceptions before

leaving with an apparent ankle injury

midwaythroughthefourthquarter for

Syracuse (2-3, 0-3).Jarrod West led all receivers with

five catches for 80 yards as Syracuse

was held to a season-low 245 total

yards.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ACC ROUNDUP

Clemson shuts downWolfpackSportsDirect Inc.

Clemson’s Mike Williams makes a

touchdown catch against N.C. State.

JOSHUA S. KELLY/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

FBSSATURDAY’S RESULTSTOP 25#1 Florida St. 43, Wake Forest 3

#11Mississippi 23, #3 Alabama 17

#25 TCU 37, #4 Oklahoma 33

#5 Auburn 41, #15 LSU 7#12 Miss. St. 48, #6 Texas A&M 31

#7 Baylor 28, Texas 7#9 Notre Dame 17, #14 Stanford 14

#13 Georgia 44, Vanderbilt 17

Arizona St. 38, #16 USC 34N’western 20, #17 Wisconsin 14

#20 Ohio St. 52, Maryland 24

#21 Oklahoma St. 37, Iowa St. 20

#22 East Carolina 45, SMU 24

#23 Kansas St. 45, Texas Tech 13

LATE TOP 25Utah (3-1) at #8 UCLA (4-0)#19 Neb. (5-0) at #10 Mich. St. (3-1)

OTHER FBSAir Force 30, Navy 21Akron 31, Eastern Michigan 6

Arkansas St. 28, La.-Monroe 14

Army 33, Ball St. 24Bowling Green 36, Buffalo 35

Central Michigan 28, Ohio 10

Clemson 41, N.C. State 0Colorado St. 42, Tulsa 17Florida 10, Tennessee 9Georgia Tech 28, Miami 17Indiana 49, North Texas 24Kentucky 45, South Carolina 38

La.-Lafayette 34, Georgia St. 31

Louisiana Tech 55, UTEP 3Marshall 56, Old Dominion 14

Memphis 41, Cincinnati 14Miami (Oh) 42, Massachusetts 41

Middle Tenn. 37, Southern Miss 31

New Mexico 21, UTSA 9Northern Illinois 17, Kent St. 14

Oregon St. 36, Colorado 31Purdue 38, Illinois 27Rice 28, Hawaii 14Rutgers 26, Michigan 24South Ala. 47, Appalachian St. 21

Texas St. 35, Idaho 30Toledo 20, Western Mich. 19 (OT)

UAB 42, Western Kentucky 39

Virginia 24, Pittsburgh 19Virginia Tech 34, North Carolina 17

West Virginia 33, Kansas 14

LATE FBSUNLV (1-4) at San Jose St. (1-3)

Ga. Southern (3-2) at N.M. St. (2-3)

California (3-1) at Wash. St. (2-3)

Boise St. (3-2) at Nevada (3-1)

THURSDAY’S RESULTSArizona 31, #2 Oregon 24Central Florida 17, Houston 12

Fla. Internat’l 38, Fla. Atlantic 10

FRIDAY’S RESULTSUtah St. 35, #18 BYU 20Fresno St. 24, San Diego St. 13

Louisville 28, Syracuse 6

FCSSATURDAY’S RESULTSTOP 25#1 N. Dakota St. 17, Western Ill. 10

#2 E. Wash. 56, Idaho St. 53#3 C. Carolina 37, Furman 31 (2OT)

#4 McNeese St. 45, Nicholls St. 3

#5 Villanova 41, Maine 20#6 New Hampshire 48, Elon 14

#7 Montana 18, North Dakota 15

#8 Jax. St. 38, Tenn.-Martin 14

#22 Illinois St. 45, #9 S. Dak. St. 10

Indiana St. 20, #10 N. Iowa 19

#11 SE La. 30, N’western St. 22

#12 Youngstown 14, #23 Mo. St. 7

#14 Chattanooga 55, VMI 7#16 Southern Ill. 41, S. Dakota 10

#17 Beth.-Cook. 27, Delaware St. 7

#18 Eastern Ky. 31, Austin Peay 0

SE Missouri St. 28, #20 Tenn. St. 21

#21 Richmond 46, Liberty 39 (2OT)

Northern Colo. 24, #25 N. Ariz. 17

LATE TOP 25#15 Mont. St. (3-2) at Sac. St. (3-2)

OTHER FCSBrown 20, Rhode Island 13Bryant 34, Bucknell 15Butler 49, Stetson 41Campbell 31, Morehead St. 24

Central Ark. 49, S.F. Austin 39

Colgate 20, Holy Cross 17Dartmouth 31, Pennsylvania 13

Dayton 54, Davidson 48 (5OT)

Duquesne 39, West Liberty 13

Gardner-Webb 27, Charlotte 24

Grambling St. 38, Ala. A&M 28

Harvard 34, Georgetown 3

Incarnate Word 31, Hou. Baptist 8

Jacksonville 29, Drake 14James Madison 31, Albany 28

Lamar 24, Abilene Christian 21

Marist 35, Valparaiso 7Monmouth 51, Robert Morris 20

Morgan St. 24, Florida A&M 9

N.C. Central 27, Howard 22Norfolk St. 14, Savannah St. 7

Portland St. 23, UC Davis 14Prairie View 48, Jackson St. 30

Presbyterian 19, Western Caro. 14

Princeton 38, Columbia 6Sacred Heart 10, Delaware 7Samford 21, Mercer 18S.C. State 13, N.C. A&T 0Southern 51, UAPB 36Stony Brook 14, Towson 3Texas Southern 20, MVSU 16Wagner 26, Alderson-Broaddus 0

Wofford 17, Citadel 13Yale 51, Cornell 13LATE FCSMurray St. (1-3) at Tenn. Tech (1-3)

S. Utah (1-4) at Cal Poly (1-3)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: WEEK 6 RESULTS

SPORTS6 Sunday, October 5, 2014

DAILY PRESS

*

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

HEISMAN WATCHMatt Murschel ranks the top contenders

AP TOP 25

1FLORIDA STATE (5-0)

Won 43-3 vs. Wake Forest

Jameis Winston passed for 297 yds, TD,

ran for score; Roberto Aguayo kicked 5 FGs.

Next: at Syracuse, Saturday

2OREGON (4-1)Lost 31-24 vs. Arizona, Thursday

Ducks 4 of 14 on 3rd down, let Wildcats

convert 3 3rd downs on winning TD drive.

Next: at No. 8 UCLA, Saturday

3ALABAMA (4-1)

Lost 23-17 at No. 11 Mississippi

Fumbled KOR set up Rebels’ go-ahead TD;

Blake Sims 19 of 31, INT in 1st road start.

Next: at Arkansas, Saturday

4OKLAHOMA (4-1)

Lost 37-33 at No. 25 TCU

Trevor Knight 14 of 35, 2 INTs; Samaje Perine

stuffed on 4th-and-1 at 22 with 3:08 left.

Next: vs. Texas in Dallas, Saturday

5AUBURN (5-0)Won 41-7 vs. No. 15 LSU

Nick Marshall had 326 total yds, 4 TDs as

Tigers tied largest winning margin in series.

Next: at No. 12 Mississippi State, Saturday

6TEXAS A&M (5-1)

Lost 48-31 at No. 12 Mississippi State

Aggies allowed 289 yds, 5 TDs on ground;

had given up FBS-low 3 rush TDs entering.

Next: vs. No. 11 Mississippi, Saturday

7BAYLOR (5-0)Won 28-7 at Texas

Pass-happy Bears ran for 241 yds, 148 from

Shock Linwood, got 62-yd TD on blocked FG.

Next: vs. No. 25 TCU, Saturday

8UCLA (4-0)vs. Utah, late

Brett Hundley, Bruins sought back-to-back

5-0 starts for 1st time since 1966-67.

Next: vs. No. 2 Oregon, Saturday

9NOTRE DAME (5-0)

Won 17-14 vs. No. 14 Stanford

Everett Golson threw for 241 yds, winning TD

to Ben Koyack on 4th down with 1:01 to play.

Next: vs. North Carolina, Saturday

10MICHIGAN STATE (4-1)

Won 27-22 vs. No. 19 Nebraska

Spartans D held Cornhuskers’ 2nd-ranked

run game to 47 yds, 307 below their avg.

Next: at Purdue, Saturday

11MISSISSIPPI (5-0)

Won 23-17 vs. No. 3 Alabama

Bo Wallace’s 3rd TD pass with 2:54 left broke

tie; Senquez Golson INT in end zone iced it.

Next: at No. 6 Texas A&M, Saturday

12MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-0)

Won 48-31 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M

Dak Prescott had 336 total yds, 5 TDs in

Bulldogs’ 2nd straight win vs. top-10 team.

Next: vs. No. 5 Auburn, Saturday

13GEORGIA (4-1)Won 44-17 vs. Vanderbilt

Hutson Mason threw 2 TDs to Chris Conley;

Devin Bowman had 63-yd INT return for TD.

Next: at No. 24 Missouri, Saturday

14STANFORD (3-2)

Lost 17-14 at No. 9 Notre Dame

Pass-interference penalty aided Irish on

winning drive; Kevin Hogan 18 of 36, 2 INTs.

Next: vs. Washington State, Friday

15LSU (4-2)Lost 41-7 at No. 5 Auburn

Freshman Brandon Harris 3 of 13 in 1st start;

Tigers outscored 48-10 in last 2 1st halves.

Next: at Florida, Saturday

16USC (3-2)Lost 38-34 vs. Arizona State

Trojans allowed 3 TDs in final 3:53, 46-yd

Hail Mary on final play, 512 passing yds.

Next: at Arizona, Saturday

17WISCONSIN (3-2)

Lost 20-14 at Northwestern

Melvin Gordon ran for career-high 259 yds,

TD, but 2 Badgers QBs combined for 4 INTs.

Next: vs. Illinois, Saturday

18BYU (4-1)Lost 35-20 vs. Utah State, Friday

Season-ending broken leg for Taysom Hill;

backup Christian Stewart 10 of 29, 3 INTs.

Next: at Central Florida, Thursday

19NEBRASKA (5-1)

Lost 27-22 at No. 10 Michigan State

Huskers scored 3 TDs in 4th quarter, but

QB Tommy Armstrong had 3 of their 4 TOs.

Next: at Northwestern, Oct. 18

20OHIO STATE (4-1)

Won 52-24 at Maryland

J.T. Barrett had 338 total yds, 5 total TDs;

Raekwon McMillan’s pick-6 1 of 4 Terps INTs.

Next: vs. Rutgers, Oct. 18

21OKLAHOMA STATE (4-1)

Won 37-20 vs. Iowa State

Desmond Roland 95 rush yds, 2 TDs; Tyreek

Hill returned 2nd-half KO 97 yds for score.

Next: at Kansas, Saturday

22EAST CAROLINA (4-1)

Won 45-24 vs. SMU

Shane Carden threw for 410 yds, 4 TDs, set

school passing record held by David Garrard.

Next: at South Florida, Saturday

23KANSAS STATE (4-1)

Won 45-13 vs. Texas Tech

Jake Waters had 395 total yds, 5 total TDs;

Wildcats intercepted Davis Webb 4 times.

Next: at No. 4 Oklahoma, Oct. 18

24MISSOURI (4-1)

Did not play

Tigers only East team without SEC loss;

Maty Mauk T-5th in FBS with 14 TD passes.

Next: vs. No. 13 Georgia, Saturday

25TCU (4-0)Won 37-33 vs. No. 4 Oklahoma

Trevone Boykin had 393 total yds, passed for

2 TDs; Frogs overcame 14 penalties, 3 TOs.

Next: at No. 7 Baylor, Saturday

Marcus Mariota, Oregon QB: 20 of 32 for 276 yds, 2 TDs,

26-yd TD rec; lost fumble with shot to tie in loss to Arizona.

Todd Gurley, Georgia RB: Ran for 163 yds, 2 TDs on 25 att,

24 yds on 2 rec, threw 50-yd pass; 3rd on school rush list.

Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska RB: Ran for 45 yds, 2 TDs

on 24 att, lost fumble inside Michigan State 10 in 5-pt loss.

Kenny Hill, Texas A&M QB: 37 of 62 for 365 yds, 4 TDs,

3 INTs in loss at Mississippi State; 5 picks in last 3 games.

Amari Cooper, Alabama WR: 9 rec, 91 yds (1st under 100

in 7 games) in loss at Ole Miss; 3rd on school rec list (156).

In the biggest game in school

history,No.11Mississippiralliedfroma

fourth-quarter deficit to stun No. 3

Alabama 23-17 on Saturday in Vaught-

Hemingway Stadium.The Rebels’ student section rushed

the field to celebrate the school’s first

victory in the series since 2003.Ole Miss moved the ball at will in

the second half, outscoring the Crim-

sonTide 20-3 in the final 30minutes.

But it was the Rebels’ defense that

sealed thewin as cornerback Senquez

Golson intercepted Alabama quarter-

backBlake Sims’ pass in the end zone.

From there, Ole Miss quarterback

Bo Wallace took the field for the

victory formation. Wallace finished 18

of 31 for 251 yards and three touch-

downs.Healsohadthego-aheadscore

on a 10-yard strike to running back

Jaylen Walton in the back of the end

zonewith 2:54 remaining.Sims struggled in the first true road

start of his career. He completed 19 of

31 passes for 228 yards and the

interception.Outside of one drive in the first half,

Ole Miss’ defense stoned Alabama’s

offense theentireday.SixofAlabama’s

13 drives on the day endedwith punts.

The defenses were the story in the

first half as Alabama took a 14-3 lead

into halftime.With only a few seconds left in the

half, Ole Miss was content to just run

theclockout.ButAlabamacornerback

Cyrus Jones stripped Ole Miss tail-

back I’TaviusMathers, then recovered

the fumble and ran it in for the

touchdown.TheTide’s first touchdowncameon

a1-yardquarterbackkeeperbySimson

fourth-and-1. Sims finished the first

half 10 of15 for 74 yards.Ole Miss’ field goal came on the

game’s opening drive.Wallace was the team’s leading

rusherwith21yardson five carries.He

completed 8 of 16 passes for 66 yards.

The Rebels gained 105 yards of total

offense in the half.

No. 1 Florida State 43, Wake Forest

3:JameisWinston threw for 297 yards

and a touchdown as the host Semi-

noles pulled away from the Demon

Deacons.Winston completed 23 of 39 passes

andaddeda rushing touchdownwhile

Travis Rudolph caught four passes for

66 yards and a score for Florida State

(5-0, 3-0 ACC), which extended the

nation’s longest winning streak to 21

games.Mario Pender rushed for a touch-

down, Reggie Northrup added a de-

fensive TD and Roberto Aguayo

kicked five field goals for the Semi-

noles, who scored the game’s final 43

points.John Wolford finished 9 of 15 for

just 58 yards and an interception for

Wake Forest (2-4, 0-2), which turned

the ball over three times.

No. 25 TCU 37, No. 4 Oklahoma 33:

Trevone Boykin accounted for 393

total yards and threw two touch-

downs, and Paul Dawson returned an

interception for a TD as the Horned

Frogs upset the visiting Sooners.Boykin was 20 of 38 for 318 yards

andB.J. Catalon scored twice for TCU

(4-0, 1-0 Big 12), which overcame 14

penalties and three turnovers to se-

cure its biggest victory since joining

theBig12 in 2012.Samaje Perine had 25 carries for 87

yards and three touchdowns while

Trevor Knight was 14 of 35 for 309

yards and one touchdown with two

interceptions forOklahoma (4-1, 1-1).

No. 12 Mississippi State 48, No. 6

Texas A&M 31:DakPrescott threwfor

259 yards and accounted for five

touchdowns as the host Bulldogs

stayed unbeaten with an impressive

win over theAggies.Josh Robinson rushed for 107 yards

and had two first-half scores for

Mississippi State (5-0, 2-0 SEC),

which ran its winning streak to eight

games dating to last season. Prescott,

who ran for 77 yards and three scores,

completed19of25passeswithapairof

touchdowns.Kenny Hill was 37 of 62 for 365

yardswith four touchdowns and three

picks forTexasA&M(5-1, 2-1).

No. 9 Notre Dame 17, No. 14 Stanford

14:EverettGolsonpassed for 241yards

and hit Ben Koyack for the go-ahead

touchdownwith 61 seconds left as the

Fighting Irish outlasted the visiting

Cardinal.Notre Dame (5-0) was down to a

fourth-and-11 when Golson scanned

the field and foundKoyack all alone in

the back corner of the end zone for a

23-yardTD.Golson finished 20 of 43, and Chris

Brownpiledup60 receiving yards and

a score.Kevin Hogan ran for a TD but was

just 18 of 36 passing for158 yards and a

pairof interceptions forStanford(3-2).

No. 22 East Carolina 45, Southern

Methodist 24: Shane Carden tossed

four touchdown passes for the second

straight game, and Justin Hardy re-

corded his first career three-score

performance as the host Pirates

breezed to victory.Carden completed 21 of his first 24

passes and finished 31 of 41 for 410

yards to raise his career total to 9,134,

eclipsing David Garrard (9,029) to

become the school’s all-time leading

passer.Isaiah Jones had nine catches for

130 yards and a touchdown for 22nd-

rankedEast Carolina (4-1, 1-0AAC).

No. 20 Ohio State 52, Maryland 24:

J.T. Barrett threw for 267 yards and

accounted for five touchdowns as the

visiting Buckeyes cruised past the

Terrapins.Barrett threw four touchdowns

passes and added a rushing score

while Ezekiel Elliott ran for a game-

high 139 yards for Ohio State (4-1, 1-0

BigTen).C.J. Brown was limited to 71 yards

passing and an interception before he

was pulled in favor of Caleb Rowe,

who threw for 173 yards and three

picks forMaryland (4-2, 1-1).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Mississippi receiver Vince Sanders scores a touchdown in the second half of Saturday’s game against Alabama.CHRISTOPHER HANEWINCKEL/REUTERS PHOTO

REBELSWITH A CAUSEMississippi rallies to upsetNo. 3 Alabama in Oxford

Tribune news services

Freshman DeshaunWatson passed

for two touchdowns and ran for two

more as Clemson blanked North

Carolina State 41-0, its first shutout in

ACCplay since1998.Watson finished 17 of 29 for 267

yards to give him 702 passing yards in

his first two games as a starter for

Clemson (3-2, 2-1 ACC), breaking the

school record of 692 yards set by

CharlieWhitehurst.DefensiveendVicBeasley, rated the

No. 1 defensive end prospect by

NFLDraftScout.com, had a sack to tie

the school career record of 28 shared

by Michael Dean Perry and the late

Gaines Adams. He stripped the ball

away from N.C. State quarterback

Jacoby Brissett and ran 16 yards for a

touchdown.Brissett, who shared ACC Quarter-

back of the Week honors last week

with Watson after throwing for 359

yards and three touchdowns in a loss

to Florida State, finished 4 of 18 for 35

yards forN.C. State (4-2, 0-2).The Wolfpack, who had scored at

least 40 points in a school-record four

consecutive games entering the con-

test, didn’t pick up a first down until

the 5:18 mark of the second quarter

andhad just 34yards in total offenseat

halftime.

Late Friday: Brandon Radcliff ran for

two touchdowns for the third straight

game as Louisville downed host Syra-

cuse 28-6 onFriday night.Radcliff followed up his personal-

best 129-yard rushing effort in last

week’s win over Wake Forest with 110

more on a career-high 23 carries for

the Cardinals (5-1, 3-1 ACC), who held

theOrange to 49 yards on the ground.

Terrel Hunt went 17 of 32 for 196

yards and two interceptions before

leaving with an apparent ankle injury

midwaythroughthefourthquarter for

Syracuse (2-3, 0-3).Jarrod West led all receivers with

five catches for 80 yards as Syracuse

was held to a season-low 245 total

yards.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ACC ROUNDUP

Clemson shuts downWolfpackSportsDirect Inc.

Clemson’s Mike Williams makes a

touchdown catch against N.C. State.

JOSHUA S. KELLY/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

FBSSATURDAY’S RESULTSTOP 25#1 Florida St. 43, Wake Forest 3

#11Mississippi 23, #3 Alabama 17

#25 TCU 37, #4 Oklahoma 33

#5 Auburn 41, #15 LSU 7#12 Miss. St. 48, #6 Texas A&M 31

#7 Baylor 28, Texas 7#9 Notre Dame 17, #14 Stanford 14

#13 Georgia 44, Vanderbilt 17

Arizona St. 38, #16 USC 34N’western 20, #17 Wisconsin 14

#20 Ohio St. 52, Maryland 24

#21 Oklahoma St. 37, Iowa St. 20

#22 East Carolina 45, SMU 24

#23 Kansas St. 45, Texas Tech 13

LATE TOP 25Utah (3-1) at #8 UCLA (4-0)#19 Neb. (5-0) at #10 Mich. St. (3-1)

OTHER FBSAir Force 30, Navy 21Akron 31, Eastern Michigan 6

Arkansas St. 28, La.-Monroe 14

Army 33, Ball St. 24Bowling Green 36, Buffalo 35

Central Michigan 28, Ohio 10

Clemson 41, N.C. State 0Colorado St. 42, Tulsa 17Florida 10, Tennessee 9Georgia Tech 28, Miami 17Indiana 49, North Texas 24Kentucky 45, South Carolina 38

La.-Lafayette 34, Georgia St. 31

Louisiana Tech 55, UTEP 3Marshall 56, Old Dominion 14

Memphis 41, Cincinnati 14Miami (Oh) 42, Massachusetts 41

Middle Tenn. 37, Southern Miss 31

New Mexico 21, UTSA 9Northern Illinois 17, Kent St. 14

Oregon St. 36, Colorado 31Purdue 38, Illinois 27Rice 28, Hawaii 14Rutgers 26, Michigan 24South Ala. 47, Appalachian St. 21

Texas St. 35, Idaho 30Toledo 20, Western Mich. 19 (OT)

UAB 42, Western Kentucky 39

Virginia 24, Pittsburgh 19Virginia Tech 34, North Carolina 17

West Virginia 33, Kansas 14

LATE FBSUNLV (1-4) at San Jose St. (1-3)

Ga. Southern (3-2) at N.M. St. (2-3)

California (3-1) at Wash. St. (2-3)

Boise St. (3-2) at Nevada (3-1)

THURSDAY’S RESULTSArizona 31, #2 Oregon 24Central Florida 17, Houston 12

Fla. Internat’l 38, Fla. Atlantic 10

FRIDAY’S RESULTSUtah St. 35, #18 BYU 20Fresno St. 24, San Diego St. 13

Louisville 28, Syracuse 6

FCSSATURDAY’S RESULTSTOP 25#1 N. Dakota St. 17, Western Ill. 10

#2 E. Wash. 56, Idaho St. 53#3 C. Carolina 37, Furman 31 (2OT)

#4 McNeese St. 45, Nicholls St. 3

#5 Villanova 41, Maine 20#6 New Hampshire 48, Elon 14

#7 Montana 18, North Dakota 15

#8 Jax. St. 38, Tenn.-Martin 14

#22 Illinois St. 45, #9 S. Dak. St. 10

Indiana St. 20, #10 N. Iowa 19

#11 SE La. 30, N’western St. 22

#12 Youngstown 14, #23 Mo. St. 7

#14 Chattanooga 55, VMI 7#16 Southern Ill. 41, S. Dakota 10

#17 Beth.-Cook. 27, Delaware St. 7

#18 Eastern Ky. 31, Austin Peay 0

SE Missouri St. 28, #20 Tenn. St. 21

#21 Richmond 46, Liberty 39 (2OT)

Northern Colo. 24, #25 N. Ariz. 17

LATE TOP 25#15 Mont. St. (3-2) at Sac. St. (3-2)

OTHER FCSBrown 20, Rhode Island 13Bryant 34, Bucknell 15Butler 49, Stetson 41Campbell 31, Morehead St. 24

Central Ark. 49, S.F. Austin 39

Colgate 20, Holy Cross 17Dartmouth 31, Pennsylvania 13

Dayton 54, Davidson 48 (5OT)

Duquesne 39, West Liberty 13

Gardner-Webb 27, Charlotte 24

Grambling St. 38, Ala. A&M 28

Harvard 34, Georgetown 3

Incarnate Word 31, Hou. Baptist 8

Jacksonville 29, Drake 14James Madison 31, Albany 28

Lamar 24, Abilene Christian 21

Marist 35, Valparaiso 7Monmouth 51, Robert Morris 20

Morgan St. 24, Florida A&M 9

N.C. Central 27, Howard 22Norfolk St. 14, Savannah St. 7

Portland St. 23, UC Davis 14Prairie View 48, Jackson St. 30

Presbyterian 19, Western Caro. 14

Princeton 38, Columbia 6Sacred Heart 10, Delaware 7Samford 21, Mercer 18S.C. State 13, N.C. A&T 0Southern 51, UAPB 36Stony Brook 14, Towson 3Texas Southern 20, MVSU 16Wagner 26, Alderson-Broaddus 0

Wofford 17, Citadel 13Yale 51, Cornell 13LATE FCSMurray St. (1-3) at Tenn. Tech (1-3)

S. Utah (1-4) at Cal Poly (1-3)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: WEEK 6 RESULTS

SPORTS

6 Monday, October 6, 2014DAILY PRESSSPORTS

preseason, Gruden andhisplayers believed they hadan identity. Offensively,theywould set the tone ofgameswith the powerfullegs of AlfredMorris andthen attack teamswith thearmand athleticismofRobertGriffin III and thespeed and versatility of hisreceivers.

Defensively,with a re-vamped front seven led byJasonHatcher, BrianOrak-po andRyanKerrigan,Washingtonwould pres-sure opposing quarterbackswhile also proving stoutagainst the run. The pass-rushing strengthswouldhelp ease pressure on thesecondary.

But through fourweeks,little has panned out asplanned. Griffin (dislocatedankle) has been sidelinedsince the first quarter ofWeek 2. Cousins came inand ran the offense at ahigh level both in that game—awin over Jacksonville— and the following outingagainst Philadelphia. Dur-ing those games, Grudenflexed hismuscles as aninnovative play caller andgameplanner.

But as awhole, the use ofthe run gamehas beensporadic and struggles byCousins kept the offense ata standstill against theGiants.

“Our identity is stillbeing carved out,” Grudensaid. “Offensively,with thechange at quarterback,some of those issues,we’restill trying to find exactlywhatKirk likes,what he’sgood at and still trying tomake surewehave that rungame identity,which takesa lot of pressure off thequarterback nomatterwhoit is. That’s the big thing:stickingwith the runninggame and gettingAlfred hislooks, because right now,he’s the bell cow, andwe’vegot to treat him like he’sone.”

Gruden said stickingwith the run is easier saidthan done, however, be-cause teamshave stackedthe boxwith eightmen andbecauseWashington hasbeen playing frombehind.

Injuries have hamperedthe defense, too. Corner-

backDeAngeloHall rup-tured his Achilles’ tendoninWeek 3 andwill notreturn this year. RookieBashaudBreelandhas hadto take over.Hatcher, theprize free agent signing ofthe spring,was hamperedby a hamstring injuryagainst theGiants anddidn’t record a sack. Orak-po has playedwith a dislo-catedmiddle finger onhisleft hand. But even beforehe got hurt, he had beenquiet.Hehas just half asack in four games.

“We’re trying to find outwhatwe are on defense,”Gruden said. “We’ve had tomix andmatch playersthere.Wehave some youngplayers playing key posi-tion, and they’reworkingthroughmistakes.We’vegot some veterans in thesystem for the first time.[Until] they all truly under-standhoweverything fitstogether, how to call things,we stillmight have someroughpatches. I thinkthey’re coming along prettygood, but there’s still somelearning curve for a lot ofthese young guys.”

LikeClark, Gruden be-lievesMonday night’s gamewill tell a lot about theRedskins. Coaches andplayers only had a fewdaysto prepare for theGiants;the longer break has giventhem time to heal frominjuries aswell as plan forthe Seahawks.

“I’m still learning.We’restill in the process. Onething you can’t learn abouta teamuntil you go throughthe bumpy times the roughtimes is how they’re goingto react,” Gruden said. “Thebig thingwewant tomakesure is thatwe don’t letlosing fester in this buildingandmake it acceptable.”

Hatcher said he andhisteammates grasp the im-portance of the opportunityat hand.He admits theiridentity remains far fromclear, but he agrees thisgamewill help bring clarity.

Hatcher also believesplenty of time remains forWashington to change itsfortunes.

“It’s a long season.Things can change at anyminute,” he said. “TheGiants back in [2011]wonnine games and thenwonthe Super Bowl. It’s nothingto panic about, you justhave to keep grinding.”

REDSKINSContinued from 1

twominutes to play.The 49ers clamped

downondefense in thesecondhalf, got107 yardsrushing fromFrankGore,and four field goals fromPhilDawson. Bywinningconsecutive home games,they gatheredmomentumfor road games at St. LouisandDenver in the nexttwoweeks.

On a daywhen theClevelandBrowns dugtheirway out of a 25-pointhole towin at Tennessee,the biggest comeback by aroad team inNFLhistory,therewas no such re-bound for theChiefs.

Smith,widely regardedas a bust in his early yearswith the 49ers,when theteamwas a revolving doorof head coaches and of-fensive coordinators,finally got traction underJimHarbaugh andnowAndyReid.

Smith reportedly got arousing cheer froma largegroup of 49ers fans as heleft the locker roomafterthe game.He’s the fifthquarterback towear thered uniforms of both SanFrancisco andKansasCity, joining JoeMontana,SteveDeBerg, SteveBonoandElvisGrbac.

500 clubWith four touchdowns

against Arizona, Denver’sPeytonManning joinedBrett Favre as the onlyquarterbacks inNFLhistorywithmore than500 career touchdownpasses.

Manning’s at 503.The touchdown totals

drop off sharply afterFavre at 508 andManning,withDanMarino at 420,followed byDrewBrees at372 andTomBrady at 363.

Bounce-backBrowns

TheBrowns hadn’twon a road game inmorethan a year. Sowhen theyfell behind in the first halfat Tennessee, 28-3, theylooked cooked.

What followed?AnunansweredClevelandscoring cavalcade—touchdown, field goal,

safety, touchdown, touch-down.

“It’s just good towin,”quarterbackBrianHoyersaid. “I saidwhenwebroke it down, ‘Let’s justwin one by two touch-downs oneweek andnotgive everybody a heartattack.’ It’s great to alwayswin, but towin comingback and know that youbattled your butt off is agreat feeling.”

Although they’re in theAFCNorth basement, the2-2Browns have a betterrecord than any of theother cellar dwellers inthe league, and all four oftheir games have beendecided by three points orfewer.

Kicking himselfIn four years atNe-

braska, kickerAlexHen-ery set anNCAAcareerrecord bymaking 89.5percent of his field goals.

There’s no tellingwhere that guy is now,becauseHenerymissed allthree field-goal attemptsforDetroit in a17-14 loss toBuffalo at home, includinga 50-yarderwith 21sec-onds left. That doesn’tbodewell for the formerfourth-roundpick ofPhiladelphia,whowassigned to replace rookieNate Freese twoweeksago.

“It’s a performance-

based league, plain andsimple, and youhave toperform,” Lions coach JimCaldwell said. “Anyonethat doesn’t, we take alook and see ifwe canimprove that oneway oranother.”

For 21seasons, theLions had JasonHansonbooming those long kicks,and hemade anNFL-record 52 of them from50yards or longer beforeannouncing his retire-ment in the spring of 2013.The teammight take along look atMatt Prater,cut by theBroncos lastweek.

Meanwhile, Buffalo’sDanCarpenter securedthe victory Sunday for theBills by nailing a 58-yardkickwith four seconds toplay.

Carried awaySome celebrations are

spontaneous. Others, notsomuch.

That brings us to thedecision of Buffalo playersto lift defensive coor-dinator JimSchwartz ontheir shoulders and carryhimoff the field after theBillswon atDetroit. Afterall, Schwartzwas theLions’ coach for five sea-sons before hewas firedlastDecember. Turns out,the celebrationwas amade-for-TVmoment.

Bills linebackerTy

Powell told theAssociatedPress that Schwartz hadasked in the offseason thathe be carried off if his newplayers beat his old ones.

Powell said, “I remem-ber back inOTAs, some-howhewas talking aboutit in ameeting.He said,‘Whenwe go toDetroit,andwewin, Iwant to becarried off the field.’ ”

Depth chargeSomehow, theChargers

keepwinning despitebeing on their fourthrunning back and fourthcenter, both rookies.

Rookie centerChrisWatt replacedDougLe-gursky,whowent downSundaywith a leg injuryandhad to be carted offthe field. Legurskywassigned lastmonth afterthe team lost starterNickHardwick andwaspressed into action after abad back sidelined backupRichOhrnberger.

At running back, rookieBrandenOliver had aterrific performance inSunday’s 31-0 blanking oftheNewYork Jets, rush-ing for114 yards on19carries and scoring on a15-yard run andnine-yardpass. TheChargers hadalready lost running backsRyanMathews (knee) andDannyWoodhead (ankle),and on Sunday,DonaldBrown (concussion).

FARMERContinued from 1

Terrance West and the Cleveland Browns rallied from a 28-3 deficit to beat Tennessee

on Sunday. It was the largest road comeback in NFL history.

FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY PHOTO

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COMMENTARY

1Parity was the big win-

ner this weekend.Aftera ho-humSeptember, Octo-ber beganwith a bang,with11 teams ranked in theTop25 polls losing. Five of thetop eight teams in theAsso-ciated Press poll lost duringthe sameweek for first timesince the pollwas estab-lished in 1936.

2This is the perfectseason for the College

Football Playoff.Without adominant team, the four-teamplayoff seems like theperfectway to determinethe best possiblematchupfor a national champi-onship game. The firstplayoff rankings can’t gethere soon enough.

3What a weekend in theMagnolia State!At

least for oneweekend, thenational spotlight shinedbrightly on the state ofMississippi as bothOleMiss andMississippi Statehadmonster performancesin upsetwins overAlabamaandTexasA&M, respec-tively.Will theEggBowldecide the SECWest?

4Dak Prescott is a legit-

imate Heisman con-

tender. In the biggest gameof his career, theMissis-sippi State quarterbackoutplayed his TexasA&Mcounterpart by putting up acombined 336 total yardsand four touchdowns in a48-31win over the then-No.6Aggies.

5Kicking woes comeback to bite Alabama

— again.There’s plenty ofblame to spread aroundafter Alabama’s loss toOleMiss, but it’s hard to ignorethe fact that theTidemissed two crucial fieldgoals. According toESPN,inAlabama’s five losses

since 2011, they are 5 of 16on field-goal attempts.

6Florida survives — butnot without contro-

versy.TheGatorswon oneof the ugliest games inrecentmemory, but allanyonewill be talkingabout thisweek iswhetherfreshmanTreonHarriswilltake over for JeffDriskel asstarting quarterback.

7Notre Dame is a legiti-mate title contender.

Everett Golson’s 23-yardtouchdownpass to BenKoyack on fourth-and-23with 1:01 left not only liftedthe Irish to awin overStanford but validated talkthatNotreDamedeservesto be included in the playoffconversation.

8How the West reallywas won.Early favor-

itesOregon, Stanford andUCLAall lost, leavingAri-zona—yes, Arizona—as

the lone undefeated teamin the Pac-12. In his thirdseason inTucson, coachRichRodriguez has theWildcats competing for aconference title.

9Coaches aren’t thebest voters.Alabama,

coming off an open date,landed into the top spot lastweek in the coaches polldespite Florida State rally-ing to beatN.C. State 56-41.The Seminolesmay nothave looked impressive sofar, but it’s the ’Noleswhoare the consensusNo. 1team thisweek.

10The Big Ten was fineafter all.After being

written off in September,theBigTen finds itself backin theCollege FootballPlayoffmix after four of thetop 10 teams lost.MichiganState appears to be the bestcandidate tomake a push.

mmurschel@tribune.com

10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEKEND BY MATT MURSCHEL

It’s time to start overIt’s a first: 5 of top 8in the AP poll loseduring same week

Mississippi defensive back Trae Elston is fired up as he

celebrates the Rebels’ upset of Alabama in Oxford, Miss.

JOE MURPHY/GETTY

“All we worry about isthenext game,” saidParks,whohadcareerhighswith29 carries for 169 yardsagainst Pittsburgh. “Wehave the next-game men-tality. We’re not worryingabout games ahead of us.”

Parks, who had a 48-yardtouchdownruninthesecond quarter, and deter-mined defensive effortswhen neededmost servedas the primary reasonsU.Va. was able to fend offPittsburgh (3-3, 1-1) in thesecond half. Overall, theoffense performed poorlyin that second stanza.

After Pittsburghtrimmed U.Va.’s 24-3 half-time lead to 24-10 early inthe third quarter, U.Va.stopped Pittsburgh onthree plays inside theCavaliers’ 6-yard line,holding the Panthers to a24-yard field goal byChrisBlewitt with 3:52 left inthe quarter that reducedU.Va.’s advantage to 24-13.

U.Va. had just 112 yardsin the second half anddidn’t move inside Pitts-burgh’s 40 in the half untiltheCavaliers recovered anonside kick at the Pan-thers’ 37 with 1:20 left inthe game. Parks onlygained 54 yards in thesecond half, but he ab-sorbed a lot of contactwhile carrying the ball 10times in the fourth quar-ter, keeping U.Va.’s offenseon the field for more than8 1⁄2minutes.

“I feel like that’s whateveryrunningbackshoulddo,” Parks said of gainingyards after contact.“You’ve got to be able totake the hits and still getyards. That’s what sepa-rates the average backsfrom the good backs. I’mnot saying I’m a good backor anything, but that’swhat I pridemyself off of.”

Slowing down runningback James Conner andreceiver Tyler Boyd whilemaking quarterback ChadVoytik uncomfortablewere keys for U.Va.’s de-fense.

Conner entered the

gamerankedsecond in thenation in rushing yardswith 791,while Boyd cameinto the weekend rankedthird in the conference inreceptions with 27 for 365yards and four touch-downs.

Conner had nine car-ries for 54yards in the firstquarter, but hewasheld to29 yards on 12 additionalcarries the rest of thegame.

Boyd had just threecatches for63yardsbeforereturning a punt 45 yardsto set up Pittsburgh’s finaltouchdown late in thefourth quarter.

Voytik was sacked fourtimes, including three inthe fourth quarter.Hewaspressured by defensiveend Mike Moore intothrowing a pass that wasintercepted by linebackerMax Valles and returned35 yards for a touchdownin the second quarter.

U.Va. coach Mike Lon-dondidn’t let on any sense

of relief after the win, buthe may feel at least a littlebetterabouthischancesofstaying in Charlottesvillebeyond this season.

With road gamesagainst Duke, GeorgiaTech, Florida State andVirginia Tech still on theschedule, along withhome dates against NorthCarolina and Miami, itisn’t going togetanyeasierforU.Va.

“We bent, we didn’tbreak and we bouncedback,” London said. “Guysmadeplayswhen theyhadto, cameupbig. It’s impor-tant for us to realizewe’vegot to learn from thesetypes of games.

“It might’ve been a dif-ferent result last season,but this is a season thatwetalked about these guysbeing hungry, stay humbleand get ready to work andmove on.”

Wood can be reached byphone at 757-247-4642.

CAVSContinued from 1

Virginia’s DreQuan Hoskey, left, and Eli Harold celebrate

during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Pitt.

GEOFF BURKE/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO

6 Monday, October 6, 2014DAILY PRESSSPORTS

preseason, Gruden andhisplayers believed they hadan identity. Offensively,theywould set the tone ofgameswith the powerfullegs of AlfredMorris andthen attack teamswith thearmand athleticismofRobertGriffin III and thespeed and versatility of hisreceivers.

Defensively,with a re-vamped front seven led byJasonHatcher, BrianOrak-po andRyanKerrigan,Washingtonwould pres-sure opposing quarterbackswhile also proving stoutagainst the run. The pass-rushing strengthswouldhelp ease pressure on thesecondary.

But through fourweeks,little has panned out asplanned. Griffin (dislocatedankle) has been sidelinedsince the first quarter ofWeek 2. Cousins came inand ran the offense at ahigh level both in that game—awin over Jacksonville— and the following outingagainst Philadelphia. Dur-ing those games, Grudenflexed hismuscles as aninnovative play caller andgameplanner.

But as awhole, the use ofthe run gamehas beensporadic and struggles byCousins kept the offense ata standstill against theGiants.

“Our identity is stillbeing carved out,” Grudensaid. “Offensively,with thechange at quarterback,some of those issues,we’restill trying to find exactlywhatKirk likes,what he’sgood at and still trying tomake surewehave that rungame identity,which takesa lot of pressure off thequarterback nomatterwhoit is. That’s the big thing:stickingwith the runninggame and gettingAlfred hislooks, because right now,he’s the bell cow, andwe’vegot to treat him like he’sone.”

Gruden said stickingwith the run is easier saidthan done, however, be-cause teamshave stackedthe boxwith eightmen andbecauseWashington hasbeen playing frombehind.

Injuries have hamperedthe defense, too. Corner-

backDeAngeloHall rup-tured his Achilles’ tendoninWeek 3 andwill notreturn this year. RookieBashaudBreelandhas hadto take over.Hatcher, theprize free agent signing ofthe spring,was hamperedby a hamstring injuryagainst theGiants anddidn’t record a sack. Orak-po has playedwith a dislo-catedmiddle finger onhisleft hand. But even beforehe got hurt, he had beenquiet.Hehas just half asack in four games.

“We’re trying to find outwhatwe are on defense,”Gruden said. “We’ve had tomix andmatch playersthere.Wehave some youngplayers playing key posi-tion, and they’reworkingthroughmistakes.We’vegot some veterans in thesystem for the first time.[Until] they all truly under-standhoweverything fitstogether, how to call things,we stillmight have someroughpatches. I thinkthey’re coming along prettygood, but there’s still somelearning curve for a lot ofthese young guys.”

LikeClark, Gruden be-lievesMonday night’s gamewill tell a lot about theRedskins. Coaches andplayers only had a fewdaysto prepare for theGiants;the longer break has giventhem time to heal frominjuries aswell as plan forthe Seahawks.

“I’m still learning.We’restill in the process. Onething you can’t learn abouta teamuntil you go throughthe bumpy times the roughtimes is how they’re goingto react,” Gruden said. “Thebig thingwewant tomakesure is thatwe don’t letlosing fester in this buildingandmake it acceptable.”

Hatcher said he andhisteammates grasp the im-portance of the opportunityat hand.He admits theiridentity remains far fromclear, but he agrees thisgamewill help bring clarity.

Hatcher also believesplenty of time remains forWashington to change itsfortunes.

“It’s a long season.Things can change at anyminute,” he said. “TheGiants back in [2011]wonnine games and thenwonthe Super Bowl. It’s nothingto panic about, you justhave to keep grinding.”

REDSKINSContinued from 1

twominutes to play.The 49ers clamped

downondefense in thesecondhalf, got107 yardsrushing fromFrankGore,and four field goals fromPhilDawson. Bywinningconsecutive home games,they gatheredmomentumfor road games at St. LouisandDenver in the nexttwoweeks.

On a daywhen theClevelandBrowns dugtheirway out of a 25-pointhole towin at Tennessee,the biggest comeback by aroad team inNFLhistory,therewas no such re-bound for theChiefs.

Smith,widely regardedas a bust in his early yearswith the 49ers,when theteamwas a revolving doorof head coaches and of-fensive coordinators,finally got traction underJimHarbaugh andnowAndyReid.

Smith reportedly got arousing cheer froma largegroup of 49ers fans as heleft the locker roomafterthe game.He’s the fifthquarterback towear thered uniforms of both SanFrancisco andKansasCity, joining JoeMontana,SteveDeBerg, SteveBonoandElvisGrbac.

500 clubWith four touchdowns

against Arizona, Denver’sPeytonManning joinedBrett Favre as the onlyquarterbacks inNFLhistorywithmore than500 career touchdownpasses.

Manning’s at 503.The touchdown totals

drop off sharply afterFavre at 508 andManning,withDanMarino at 420,followed byDrewBrees at372 andTomBrady at 363.

Bounce-backBrowns

TheBrowns hadn’twon a road game inmorethan a year. Sowhen theyfell behind in the first halfat Tennessee, 28-3, theylooked cooked.

What followed?AnunansweredClevelandscoring cavalcade—touchdown, field goal,

safety, touchdown, touch-down.

“It’s just good towin,”quarterbackBrianHoyersaid. “I saidwhenwebroke it down, ‘Let’s justwin one by two touch-downs oneweek andnotgive everybody a heartattack.’ It’s great to alwayswin, but towin comingback and know that youbattled your butt off is agreat feeling.”

Although they’re in theAFCNorth basement, the2-2Browns have a betterrecord than any of theother cellar dwellers inthe league, and all four oftheir games have beendecided by three points orfewer.

Kicking himselfIn four years atNe-

braska, kickerAlexHen-ery set anNCAAcareerrecord bymaking 89.5percent of his field goals.

There’s no tellingwhere that guy is now,becauseHenerymissed allthree field-goal attemptsforDetroit in a17-14 loss toBuffalo at home, includinga 50-yarderwith 21sec-onds left. That doesn’tbodewell for the formerfourth-roundpick ofPhiladelphia,whowassigned to replace rookieNate Freese twoweeksago.

“It’s a performance-

based league, plain andsimple, and youhave toperform,” Lions coach JimCaldwell said. “Anyonethat doesn’t, we take alook and see ifwe canimprove that oneway oranother.”

For 21seasons, theLions had JasonHansonbooming those long kicks,and hemade anNFL-record 52 of them from50yards or longer beforeannouncing his retire-ment in the spring of 2013.The teammight take along look atMatt Prater,cut by theBroncos lastweek.

Meanwhile, Buffalo’sDanCarpenter securedthe victory Sunday for theBills by nailing a 58-yardkickwith four seconds toplay.

Carried awaySome celebrations are

spontaneous. Others, notsomuch.

That brings us to thedecision of Buffalo playersto lift defensive coor-dinator JimSchwartz ontheir shoulders and carryhimoff the field after theBillswon atDetroit. Afterall, Schwartzwas theLions’ coach for five sea-sons before hewas firedlastDecember. Turns out,the celebrationwas amade-for-TVmoment.

Bills linebackerTy

Powell told theAssociatedPress that Schwartz hadasked in the offseason thathe be carried off if his newplayers beat his old ones.

Powell said, “I remem-ber back inOTAs, some-howhewas talking aboutit in ameeting.He said,‘Whenwe go toDetroit,andwewin, Iwant to becarried off the field.’ ”

Depth chargeSomehow, theChargers

keepwinning despitebeing on their fourthrunning back and fourthcenter, both rookies.

Rookie centerChrisWatt replacedDougLe-gursky,whowent downSundaywith a leg injuryandhad to be carted offthe field. Legurskywassigned lastmonth afterthe team lost starterNickHardwick andwaspressed into action after abad back sidelined backupRichOhrnberger.

At running back, rookieBrandenOliver had aterrific performance inSunday’s 31-0 blanking oftheNewYork Jets, rush-ing for114 yards on19carries and scoring on a15-yard run andnine-yardpass. TheChargers hadalready lost running backsRyanMathews (knee) andDannyWoodhead (ankle),and on Sunday,DonaldBrown (concussion).

FARMERContinued from 1

Terrance West and the Cleveland Browns rallied from a 28-3 deficit to beat Tennessee

on Sunday. It was the largest road comeback in NFL history.

FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY PHOTO

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COMMENTARY

1Parity was the big win-

ner this weekend.Aftera ho-humSeptember, Octo-ber beganwith a bang,with11 teams ranked in theTop25 polls losing. Five of thetop eight teams in theAsso-ciated Press poll lost duringthe sameweek for first timesince the pollwas estab-lished in 1936.

2This is the perfectseason for the College

Football Playoff.Without adominant team, the four-teamplayoff seems like theperfectway to determinethe best possiblematchupfor a national champi-onship game. The firstplayoff rankings can’t gethere soon enough.

3What a weekend in theMagnolia State!At

least for oneweekend, thenational spotlight shinedbrightly on the state ofMississippi as bothOleMiss andMississippi Statehadmonster performancesin upsetwins overAlabamaandTexasA&M, respec-tively.Will theEggBowldecide the SECWest?

4Dak Prescott is a legit-

imate Heisman con-

tender. In the biggest gameof his career, theMissis-sippi State quarterbackoutplayed his TexasA&Mcounterpart by putting up acombined 336 total yardsand four touchdowns in a48-31win over the then-No.6Aggies.

5Kicking woes comeback to bite Alabama

— again.There’s plenty ofblame to spread aroundafter Alabama’s loss toOleMiss, but it’s hard to ignorethe fact that theTidemissed two crucial fieldgoals. According toESPN,inAlabama’s five losses

since 2011, they are 5 of 16on field-goal attempts.

6Florida survives — butnot without contro-

versy.TheGatorswon oneof the ugliest games inrecentmemory, but allanyonewill be talkingabout thisweek iswhetherfreshmanTreonHarriswilltake over for JeffDriskel asstarting quarterback.

7Notre Dame is a legiti-mate title contender.

Everett Golson’s 23-yardtouchdownpass to BenKoyack on fourth-and-23with 1:01 left not only liftedthe Irish to awin overStanford but validated talkthatNotreDamedeservesto be included in the playoffconversation.

8How the West reallywas won.Early favor-

itesOregon, Stanford andUCLAall lost, leavingAri-zona—yes, Arizona—as

the lone undefeated teamin the Pac-12. In his thirdseason inTucson, coachRichRodriguez has theWildcats competing for aconference title.

9Coaches aren’t thebest voters.Alabama,

coming off an open date,landed into the top spot lastweek in the coaches polldespite Florida State rally-ing to beatN.C. State 56-41.The Seminolesmay nothave looked impressive sofar, but it’s the ’Noleswhoare the consensusNo. 1team thisweek.

10The Big Ten was fineafter all.After being

written off in September,theBigTen finds itself backin theCollege FootballPlayoffmix after four of thetop 10 teams lost.MichiganState appears to be the bestcandidate tomake a push.

mmurschel@tribune.com

10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEKEND BY MATT MURSCHEL

It’s time to start overIt’s a first: 5 of top 8in the AP poll loseduring same week

Mississippi defensive back Trae Elston is fired up as he

celebrates the Rebels’ upset of Alabama in Oxford, Miss.

JOE MURPHY/GETTY

“All we worry about isthenext game,” saidParks,whohadcareerhighswith29 carries for 169 yardsagainst Pittsburgh. “Wehave the next-game men-tality. We’re not worryingabout games ahead of us.”

Parks, who had a 48-yardtouchdownruninthesecond quarter, and deter-mined defensive effortswhen neededmost servedas the primary reasonsU.Va. was able to fend offPittsburgh (3-3, 1-1) in thesecond half. Overall, theoffense performed poorlyin that second stanza.

After Pittsburghtrimmed U.Va.’s 24-3 half-time lead to 24-10 early inthe third quarter, U.Va.stopped Pittsburgh onthree plays inside theCavaliers’ 6-yard line,holding the Panthers to a24-yard field goal byChrisBlewitt with 3:52 left inthe quarter that reducedU.Va.’s advantage to 24-13.

U.Va. had just 112 yardsin the second half anddidn’t move inside Pitts-burgh’s 40 in the half untiltheCavaliers recovered anonside kick at the Pan-thers’ 37 with 1:20 left inthe game. Parks onlygained 54 yards in thesecond half, but he ab-sorbed a lot of contactwhile carrying the ball 10times in the fourth quar-ter, keeping U.Va.’s offenseon the field for more than8 1⁄2minutes.

“I feel like that’s whateveryrunningbackshoulddo,” Parks said of gainingyards after contact.“You’ve got to be able totake the hits and still getyards. That’s what sepa-rates the average backsfrom the good backs. I’mnot saying I’m a good backor anything, but that’swhat I pridemyself off of.”

Slowing down runningback James Conner andreceiver Tyler Boyd whilemaking quarterback ChadVoytik uncomfortablewere keys for U.Va.’s de-fense.

Conner entered the

gamerankedsecond in thenation in rushing yardswith 791,while Boyd cameinto the weekend rankedthird in the conference inreceptions with 27 for 365yards and four touch-downs.

Conner had nine car-ries for 54yards in the firstquarter, but hewasheld to29 yards on 12 additionalcarries the rest of thegame.

Boyd had just threecatches for63yardsbeforereturning a punt 45 yardsto set up Pittsburgh’s finaltouchdown late in thefourth quarter.

Voytik was sacked fourtimes, including three inthe fourth quarter.Hewaspressured by defensiveend Mike Moore intothrowing a pass that wasintercepted by linebackerMax Valles and returned35 yards for a touchdownin the second quarter.

U.Va. coach Mike Lon-dondidn’t let on any sense

of relief after the win, buthe may feel at least a littlebetterabouthischancesofstaying in Charlottesvillebeyond this season.

With road gamesagainst Duke, GeorgiaTech, Florida State andVirginia Tech still on theschedule, along withhome dates against NorthCarolina and Miami, itisn’t going togetanyeasierforU.Va.

“We bent, we didn’tbreak and we bouncedback,” London said. “Guysmadeplayswhen theyhadto, cameupbig. It’s impor-tant for us to realizewe’vegot to learn from thesetypes of games.

“It might’ve been a dif-ferent result last season,but this is a season thatwetalked about these guysbeing hungry, stay humbleand get ready to work andmove on.”

Wood can be reached byphone at 757-247-4642.

CAVSContinued from 1

Virginia’s DreQuan Hoskey, left, and Eli Harold celebrate

during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Pitt.

GEOFF BURKE/USA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO