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NFL
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, November 19, 2018 3B
SCOREBOARD
Texans win seventh straight
ALEX BRANDON I The Associated Press
Houston Texans quarterback and Gainesville High graduate Deshaun Watson (4) is pushed
out of bounds by Washington Redskins free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (20) during the second
half of Sunday’s game in Landover, Maryland.
Gainesville graduate
Watson streaky with
passing for Houston
Associated Press
Justin Reid returned an interception 101
yards to help the Houston Texans overcome
a mistake-prone Deshaun Watson for their
seventh consecutive victory, 23-21 against
the Redskins on Sunday.
Watson, a Gainesville High graduate, com
pleted 16 of 24 throws with a touchdown and
two interceptions for Houston.
Washington’s loss came at a significant
price when quarterback Alex Smith suf
fered a gruesome ankle injury on a sack in
the third quarter. Smith’s right ankle turned
the wrong way as he was sacked by Kareem
Jackson and J.J. Watt on a play eerily simi
lar to Joe Theismann’s broken leg that came
exactly 33 years ago to the day.
Colt McCoy replaced Smith and threw
for a touchdown pass and led a long scoring
drive for Washington (6-4), which likely will
have to rely on the journeyman quarterback
the rest of the way.
Adrian Peterson’s touchdown that put the
Redskins up 21-20 early in the fourth quarter
was the first lead change in a game involving
the Redskins all season.
Houston (7-3) turned over the ball three
times, but kept its winning streak going after
Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins missed a
63-yard field-goal attempt with 3 seconds
left.
Peterson ran for two touchdowns to con
tinue climbing the NFL rushing chart, but
was bottled up on a lot of his other carries.
Peterson’s 3- and 7-yard TD runs gave him
105 in his career and moved him past former
Redskins star John Riggins into sole posses
sion of sixth, one behind Jim Brown for fifth.
Peterson finished with 51 yards on 16
carries.
STEELERS 20, JAGUARS 16: Ben Roeth-
lisberger was far from perfect until the
fourth quarter, and that was all that mat
tered for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
One week after Roethlisberger had a per
fect quarterback rating, he overcame three
interceptions and a 16-0 deficit by leading
two late scoring drives. He lunged in from
the 1 for the winning score with 5 seconds
left for a victory over the Jacksonville Jag
uars on Sunday.
The Steelers (7-2-1) won their sixth
straight and likely ended any playoff hopes
for the Jaguars, who eliminated Pittsburgh
in the divisional round last year. The Jaguars
(3-7) dropped their sixth in a row in a game
they controlled until the final five minutes.
Leonard Fournette ran for 95 yards and
caught two passes for 46 yards that led to the
Jaguars’ only touchdown when he launched
himself from the 4 and scored for a 16-0 lead
with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
Roethlisberger, who now has 10 turnovers
in his last three games against Jacksonville,
took over from there.
He got safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. to bite on
a pump fake and found Antonio Brown open
deep in the middle of the field for a 78-yard
touchdown.
Still trailing by 10 points with just under
six minutes remaining, Roethlisberger
found tight end Vance McDonald in the back
of the end zone to cut the lead to 16-13 with
2:28 remaining.
The Jaguars went three-and-out, and
Roethlisberger led a 68-yard drive. He hit
JuJu Smith-Schuster on the left sideline for
a 35-yard gain to the 27 that at least got the
Steelers in field goal position.
James Conner dropped a sure touchdown
when he got behind linebacker Telvin Smith
Sr., but Roethlisberger hit Brown over the
middle to the 2.
BRONCOS 23, CHARGERS 22: Brandon
McManus kicked a 34-yard field goal as time
expired and snapped the Chargers’ six-game
winning streak.
Denver got the ball at its 8 with 1:51
remaining, and Case Keenum orchestrated a
seven-play, 76-yard drive. Keenum, who was
19 of 32 for 205 yards, completed five passes
for 86 yards during the drive, including a
30-yarder to Courtland Sutton to the Denver
16. Keenum then spiked the ball and McMa
nus kicked the field goal as time expired.
Phillip Lindsay had 11 carries for 79 yards
and Sutton had three receptions for 78 yards.
Denver (4-6) had lost six of seven coming
into the game.
Philip Rivers threw for 401 yards and
two touchdowns. The 15-year veteran, who
completed 28 of 43 passes, also became the
sixth quarterback in league history to throw
at least two touchdown passes in each of his
team’s first 10 games to start a season.
It was not one of the cleanest games for
Rivers or the Chargers (7-3), though. Rivers
threw two interceptions and Los Angeles
committed 14 penalties, including 10 in the
first half. Mike Badgley, who made three
field goals, also missed an extra point that
ended up looming large.
SAINTS 48, EAGLES 7: Drew Brees
passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns,
and the Saints won their ninth straight with
a demolition of Philadelphia that was the
Eagles’ worst loss by far since they won last
season’s Super Bowl.
Brees completed 22 of 30 passes and did
not turn over the ball, giving him 25 TD
passes and only one interception this season.
Brees’ fourth touchdown seemed to encap
sulate New Orleans’ audacious approach to
the game.
He hit running back Alvin Kamara in
stride down the right sideline for a 37 yards
on a fourth-and-7 play that gave the Saints
(9-1) a 45-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Brees’ other touchdown passes went for
3 yards to Austin Carr, 15 yards to rookie
Tre’Quan Smith, and 23 yards to Michael
Thomas. Smith finished with 10 catches for
157 yards, while Thomas’ four catches for 92
yards made him the first receiver in Saints
history to surpass 1,000 yards receiving in
each of his first three seasons.
COLTS 38, TITANS 10: Andrew Luck
threw three touchdown passes and Mar
lon Mack and Jordan Wilkins both ran for
scores. Indy (5-5) has won four straight for
the first time since November 2014. Luck
remained unbeaten in 10 starts against the
Titans.
Tennessee (5-5) lost quarterback Marcus
Mariota in the final minute of the first half
after he reinjured his right elbow. Titans
defensive coordinator Dean Pees also was
taken to a nearby hospital for observation
after medical workers were called to the
coaches’ box during the first quarter.
The 69-year-old Pees retired briefly after
last season.
Luck’s mastery over Tennessee did not
change. He shredded the league’s best scor
ing defense by going 23 of 29 with 297 yards
with two TD passes to T.Y. Hilton. Luck has
thrown at least one TD pass in a league-high
33 consecutive games and three or more in
seven straight.
Adam Vinatieri added another milestone
to his growing list by celebrating his 210th
career win over a 23-season career with
New England and Indy. That’s one more
than George Blanda won during a 26-year
career that spanned four decades. Earlier
this season, Vinatieri, the league’s oldest
active player at age 45, also broke Morten
Andersen’s career records for field goals
and scoring earlier this season.
RAVENS 24, BENGALS 21: Rookie quar
terback Lamar Jackson juked and sprinted
for 117 yards in his first NFL start, Gus
Edwards ran for 115 and the Ravens ended
a three-game losing streak.
Flashing the moves that enabled him to
win the 2016 Heisman Trophy at Louisville,
Jackson zipped in and out of the pocket for
27 carries. Though the Ravens (5-5) relied
heavily on the run, Jackson also com
pleted 13 of 19 passes for 150 yards with an
interception.
Ravens starting quarterback Joe Flacco
did not practice all week and was inactive
with a right hip injury. That created an open
ing for Jackson, the 32nd overall pick in the
NFL draft.
Before Sunday, the former Louisville star
occasionally took snaps in running situations
and replaced Flacco in the fourth quarter
of two blowouts. Having to carry the load by
himself, Jackson responded with a solid per
formance in a game the Ravens had to win.
LIONS 20, PANTHERS 19: Cam Newton
threw an incomplete pass on a 2-point con
version with 1:07 left, letting the Lions hold
on. Newton had time and receiver Jarius
Wright open in the end zone, but the star
quarterback sailed the pass high. Carolina
coach Ron Rivera went for the win after
Newton threw his third touchdown pass to
DJ Moore, perhaps because usually reliable
kicker Graham Gano missed an extra point
and a field goal earlier in the game.
The Lions (4-6) recovered an onside
kick to seal the victory and end a season-
high three-game losing streak. They were
in a position to win after Matthew Stafford
threw a go-ahead, 19-yard touchdown pass to
Kenny Golladay with 5:19 left.
GIANTS 38, BUCCANEERS 35: Saquon
Barkley ran for a career-high 142 yards and
scored three touchdowns as the Giants got
consecutive games for the first time since
December 2016.
Eli Manning also threw two touchdowns
and linebacker Alec Ogletree returned one
of the Giants’ four interceptions 15 yards for
another score in New York’s biggest point
output of the season.
The Giants (3-7) never trailed as Manning
found a wide-open Barkley on a 6-yard TD
pass on the opening series, and the No. 2
overall pick in the draft scored from 5 yards
on the second possession to give New York
the lead for good.
RAIDERS 23, CARDINALS 21: Daniel
Carlson kicked a 35-yard field goal as the
game ended in a matchup of teams scraping
the bottom of the NFL standings.
The Raiders (2-8), who had lost five
straight, matched the record of the
Cardinals.
Derek Carr threw for two touchdowns
and had completions of 32 and 20 yards on
the final drive that led to Carlson’s winning
kick. Carlson also had field goals of 49 and 21
yards in the second half.
Standings
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New England
7
3
0
.700
280
236
Miami
5
5
0
.500
199
256
Buffalo
3
7
0
.300
137
251
N.Y. Jets
3
7
0
South
.300
i
208
254
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Houston
7
3
0
.700
239
205
Indianapolis
5
5
0
.500
298
249
Tennessee
5
5
0
.500
178
189
Jacksonville
3
7
0
North
.300
176
219
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Pittsburgh
7
2
1
.750
299
225
Baltimore
5
5
0
.500
237
181
Cincinnati
5
5
0
.500
256
312
Cleveland
3
6
1
West
.350
218
263
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Kansas City
9
1
0
.900
353
240
L.A. Chargers
7
3
0
.700
262
209
Denver
4
6
0
.400
228
235
Oakland
2
8
0
.200
170
293
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
w
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Washington
6
4
0
.600
197
198
Dallas
5
5
0
.500
203
190
Philadelphia
4
6
0
.400
205
231
N.Y. Giants
3
7
0
South
.300
i
215
263
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New Orleans
9
1
0
.900
378
239
Carolina
6
4
0
.600
260
252
Atlanta
4
6
0
.400
263
276
Tampa Bay
3
7
0
North
.300
267
329
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Chicago
6
3
0
.667
269
175
Minnesota
5
3
1
.611
221
204
Green Bay
4
5
1
.450
247
243
Detroit
4
6
0
West
.400
222
263
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
L.A. Rams
9
1
0
.900
335
231
Seattle
5
5
0
.500
246
216
Arizona
2
8
0
.200
145
248
San Francisco
2
8
0
.200
230
266
Sunday's Games
Dallas 22, Atlanta 19
Indianapolis 38, Tennessee 10
Detroit 20, Carolina 19
N.Y. Giants 38, Tampa Bay 35
Baltimore 24, Cincinnati 21
Houston 23, Washington 21
Pittsburgh 20, Jacksonville 16
Oakland 23, Arizona 21
Denver 23, L.A. Chargers 22
New Orleans 48, Philadelphia 7
Minnesota at Chicago, late
Open: Buffalo, San Francisco, Miami, New England, Cleveland,
N.Y. Jets
Today's Games
Kansas City at L.A. Rams, 8:15 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 22
Chicago at Detroit, 12:30 p.m.
Washington at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.
Atlanta at New Orleans, 8:20 p.m.
Associated Press
Monday night matchup
of heavyweights puts Los
Angeles in the spotlight
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” crew
is under the spotlight every week, but
attention will be further magnified when
the Los Angeles Rams host the Kansas
City Chiefs in a matchup of 9-1 teams.
This week’s game carries more story
lines than usual.
It’s the first Monday night game in Los
Angeles since 1985. It’s also just the sec
ond time that teams meeting on Monday
night in Week 11 or later have each had
one or fewer losses.
While most of the attention will be
focused on quarterbacks Jared Goff and
Patrick Mahomes, it is also an opportu
nity for the crew of Joe Tessitore, Jason
Witten and Booger McFarland to show
improvement in what has at times been a
trying first year.
That is especially true for Witten,
whose transition from the playing field
to the booth has not gone quite as well
as former teammate Tony Romo’s move
to CBS. Witten has had some noticeable
flubs but has owned up to them.
“Hell, I’m not perfect,” Witten said dur
ing a teleconference last week. “Certainly
with Tony and the success that he had, I
really try not to live in that world and
fully embrace it and continue to get bet
ter and evaluate it. I think with the flubs, I
certainly do not deny it, I don’t try to hide
it and as you said, that’s really all you can
do in those moments is self-deprecate and
move forward.”
Three-man booths can take time to
develop, but time has not been on the
side of recent announcing teams. The last
three “MNF” booths with two analysts
have lasted two or three seasons.
The challenge of developing chemis
try is tougher since McFarland is down
on the field hovering above the action
instead of next to Tessitore and Witten.
“MNF” producer Jay Rothman said there
are cameras set up where the announcers
can see each other and that interruptions
have been rare.
“I think it’s going to be something
unique and different that no other, no
other broadcast can offer, which is
offense, defense, young, old, I consider
myself old, guys talking about football
and having a conversation that pulls the
viewer in,” McFarland said.
Associated Press
FALCONS
■ Continued from 1B
that. When you go into a locker room, it’s
emotional and guys are upset. .. Honestly,
all our focus, all our energy, and intent are
right into this week’s preparation. That’s the
best thing we can do right now.”
Julio Jones’ brilliant 34-yard touchdown
catch over cornerback Chidobe Awuzie
with 1:52 remaining tied the game at 19-all.
Then Quinn gambled on
a defensive stop as he
burned timeouts in hopes
his defense could make
a stop and give the ball
back to Matt Ryan and the
offense.
Instead, the Cowboys
used a 10-play drive to set
up Maher’s game-winning
field goal.
“We have been in position, but just
have not been able to finish,” said defen
sive tackle Grady Jarrett, who vowed he
wouldn’t give up on the season.
“Ain’t no way around it,” Jarrett said. “It
is what it is. You’ve got to go back to work or
you’re going to sulk. I ain’t sulking. ”
Before Jones’ late touchdown catch, Atlan
ta’s only offense came on four field goals by
Matt Bryant, who was perfect in his return
after missing three games with a hamstring
injury. Bryant, 43, used a heating pad on the
Cowboys 22, Falcons 19
Dallas 3 0 3 16—22
Atlanta 0 6 3 10—19
First Quarter
Dal—FG Maher 21,2:56.
Second Quarter
Atl—FG Bryant 41,14:52.
Atl—FG Bryant 45, :29.
Third Quarter
Dal—FG Maher 50,10:15.
Atl—FG Bryant 53,7:12.
Fourth Quarter
Dal—Prescott 4 run (kick failed), 14:19.
Dal—Elliott 23 run (Maher kick), 12:26.
Atl—FG Bryant 21,8:26.
Atl—J.Jones 34 pass from Ryan (Bryant kick), 1:52.
Dal—FG Maher 42, :00.
A—74,447.
Dal
Atl
First downs
20
19
Total Net Yards
323
354
Rushes-yards
29-132
18-80
Passing
191
274
Punt Returns
0-0
3-16
Kickoff Returns
0-0
2-32
Interceptions Ret.
1-28
0-0
Comp-Att-Int
22-32-0
24-34-1
Sacked-Yards Lost
2-17
3-17
Punts
3-44.3
2-31.0
Fumbles-Lost
1-0
0-0
Penalties-Yards
2-20
2-15
Time of Possession
31:57
28:03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Dallas, Elliott 23-122, Lewis 1-5, Prescott 4-5, R.Smith
1-0. Atlanta, Coleman 8-58,1.Smith 6-10, Ridley 1-5, Hall 1-3, Sanu 1-3,
Ryan 1-1.
PASSING—Dallas, Prescott 22-32-0-208. Atlanta, Ryan 24-34-1-291.
RECEIVING—Dallas, Elliott 7-79, C.Beasley 5-51, Swaim 4-24, Cooper
3- 36, R.Smith 2-8, Gallup 1-10. Atlanta, J.Jones 6-118, Sanu 4-56, Hooper
4- 27, Ridley 3-32, Coleman 3-27, Paulsen 2-19,1.Smith 2-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
Associated Press
sideline to stay loose.
Highlights? There weren’t many. Jones
had six catches for 118 yards.
He’s had a touchdown catch in three
straight games but didn’t talk with report
ers after the game. Vic Beasley Jr. had two
sacks.
Ryan
INTRODUCING
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and Jo*** 1 ®
j Say ed You-
Mr. Nibble/
2011-2017 /
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