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NFL
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, November 26, 2018 3B
SCOREBOARD
Broncos seal win on INT
Denver defensive lineman picked off Roethlisberger in the endzone
JACK DEMPSEY I The Associated Press
Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (10) celebrates his touchdown with tight end Jeff
Heuerman (82) during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Denver.
Associated Press
Nose tackle Shelby Harris
picked off Ben Roethlisberger’s
2-yard pass to Antonio Brown in
the end zone with 1:03 remain
ing to seal Denver’s 24-17 win
over Pittsburgh that snapped the
Steelers’ six-game winning streak
Sunday.
The Broncos (5-6) used four
takeaways to counter a 97-yard
touchdown toss from Roethlis
berger to JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Roethlisberger was 41 of 56 for
462 yards, but he was intercepted
twice and the Steelers (7-3-1) lost
two fumbles in losing for the first
time since September.
Phillip Lindsay rushed for 110
yards and the game-deciding
touchdown on just 14 carries
for Denver, which also ended
the Chargers’ six-game winning
streak last week and would have
snapped Houston’s five-game roll
were it not for a missed field goal
as time expired.
COLTS 27, DOLPHINS 24:
Andrew Luck threw three touch
down passes, Adam Vinatieri
kicked a 32-yard field goal as
time expired and Indianapolis
beat Miami for its fifth consecu
tive victory.
Indianapolis (6-5) scored 13
points in the final 8(4 minutes to
erase a 10-point deficit. It’s the
longest win streak for the Colts
since 2014.
Miami (5-6) has lost 10 of its
past 11 on the road, perhaps none
more frustrating than this one.
The Dolphins picked off Luck
twice, recovered a fumble and
partially blocked a punt on their
way to a 24-14 lead.
It still wasn’t enough to derail
the resurgent Luck, who was 30 of
37 for 343 yards. He also had the
first catch of his NFL career, a
4-yard reception on fourth-and-1
late in the first half. Luck capped
that drive with a 1-yard TD pass
to Jack Doyle.
SEAHAWKS 30, PANTHERS
27: Russell Wilson threw for 339
yards and two touchdowns and
Sebastian Janikowski kicked a
31-yard field goal as time expired
to lift Seattle to a come-from-
behind victory over Carolina.
After Graham Gano missed a
52-yard field goal with 1:40 left in
the game that would have given
the Panthers the lead, Wilson
moved around in the pocket until
finding Tyler Lockett downfield
for a 43-yard completion, setting
up the winning kick.
The victory puts Seattle (6-5)
firmly in the hunt for a wild-card
spot in the NFC, while the Pan
thers (6-5) are reeling after losing
three straight and having their
10-game home winning streak
snapped.
Lockett finished with five
catches for 107 yards and a touch
down, while David Moore had
four receptions for 103 yards and
a score.
The Panthers spoiled a record
setting performance from
Christian McCaffrey, who had a
franchise-record 239 yards from
scrimmage. He had 17 carries for
125 yards and 11 catches for 114
yards, becoming the first Caro
lina player to surpass 100 yards
in both receiving and rushing in
the same game. Cam Newton fin
ished 25 of 30 for 256 yards with
two touchdown passes and one
interception in the end zone. He
ran for 63 yards on eight carries.
BROWNS 35, BENGALS 20:
Baker Mayfield threw a career-
high four touchdown passes in
another growing-up-fast perfor
mance, and Cleveland ended one
of the NFL’s longest streaks of
road futility with a victory over
Cincinnati, which lost quarter
back Andy Dalton to a thumb
injury.
Cleveland (4-6-1) got its first
road win since 2015, emphatically
snapping a streak of 25 straight
road losses that was one shy of the
Lions’ NFL record. The Browns
also ended a run of seven straight
losses to their intrastate rival.
And just as a Browns safety pre
dicted, it wasn’t even close.
The Browns surged ahead
28-0 as former head coach Hue
Jackson watched helplessly from
the opposite sideline. Jackson
couldn’t win with the Browns —
only three wins in two-plus sea
sons. Nor could he couldn’t beat
them as a special defensive assis
tant with the Bengals (5-6), who
lost for the fifth time in six games.
EAGLES 25, GIANTS 22: Jake
Elliott kicked a 43-yard field goal
with 22 seconds remaining, and
Philadelphia rallied for a victory
over New York.
The defending Super Bowl
champions trailed 12-0 early and
were down 19-14 in the fourth
quarter before Carson Wentz
made key throws and undrafted
rookie Josh
Adams deliv
ered big runs.
Adams
scored on a
1- yard touch
down run and
ran up the
middle for the
2- point conver
sion to put Phil
adelphia ahead
22-19.
After the Giants tied it on
Aldrick Rosas’ third field goal, a
29-yarder, the Eagles controlled
the ball for 5:27.
Coach Doug Pederson went for
a fourth-and-1 at the Giants 42
and Wentz completed a 12-yard
pass to Nelson Agholor right
before the two-minute warning.
Adams ran three times and Elliott
made the go-ahead kick.
The Giants started at their 34
with 16 seconds left but couldn’t
do much. The Eagles (5-6) stayed
in the mix in a mediocre NFC
East. The Cowboys and Redskins
are tied for first place at 6-5. The
Giants fell to 3-8.
PATRIOTS 27, JETS 13: Tom
Brady threw two touchdown
passes and became the NFL’s
career leader in total yards pass
ing in regular-season and playoff
games, leading New England
over New York.
Brady also reached 3,000 yards
passing for the 16th straight sea
son, tying Peyton Manning for
second in NFL history behind
Brett Favre’s 18. The New Eng
land quarterback surpassed the
mark early in the fourth quarter
with a 17-yard completion to a
diving Josh Gordon.
Brady has 79,416 yards after
going 20 of 31 for 283 yards in the
victory that clinched the Patriots
(8-3) their 18th straight season
with a .500 record or better. That
ranks second in NFL history to
only Dallas, which had 21 in a row
from 1965-85.
Brady had just one TD throw in
his previous three games, but con
nected with Rob Gronkowski and
Julian Edelman against the AFC
East-rival Jets (3-8). Rookie Sony
Michel ran for a season-best 133
yards and a TD, and the Patriots
had 216 yards rushing to improve
to 3-3 on the road this season.
CHARGERS 45, CARDINALS
10: Philip Rivers tied the NFL
record for consecutive comple
tions and set marks for the most
to start a game and the highest
percentage in a game and Los
Angeles rolled over Arizona.
The 15-year veteran completed
his first 25 passes and was 28 of
29 for 259 yards and three touch
downs in three quarters. It was
also his 11th straight game with
multiple TD passes.
Rivers completed 25 straight
passes in the first 2(4 quarters,
tying Ryan Tannehill’s mark
from 2015. The Dolphins QB
completed his last seven passes
against the Tennessee Titans in
on Oct. 18,2015, and then his first
18 the following week against the
Houston Texans.
Rivers tied the mark with a
4-yard touchdown pass to Keenan
Allen midway through the third
quarter. He had his only incom
pletion on the next possession
when he was rushed and was
unable to connect on a short pass
to Austin Ekeler.
Rivers did break Mark
Brunell’s record for most com
pletions to start a game. Brunell
had 22 straight for the Washing
ton Redskins against the Houston
Texans on Sept. 24, 2006. Rivers’
96.8 percent accuracy surpassed
Kurt Warner’s 92.3 percent,
which was set in 2009 when he
went 24 of 26 for Arizona against
Jacksonville.
The Cardinals (2-9) jumped out
to a 10-0 lead with scores on their
first two possessions before the
Chargers (8-3) scored touchdowns
on six of seven possessions.
RAVENS 34, RAIDERS 17:
Rookie quarterback Lamar Jack-
son ran for a touchdown and
threw for a score, Terrell Suggs
returned a fumble 43 yards for a
TD and Baltimore ran past Oak
land. Cyrus Jones took a punt 70
yards for a touchdown to help
the Ravens (6-5) win a second
straight game for the first time
since September.
Gus Edwards rushed for 118
yards as part of an effective
ground game that enabled Jack-
son to pass just enough to keep the
Raiders (2-9) off guard — and off
the field. Baltimore expanded a
three-point halftime lead to 27-17
with two run-heavy touchdown
drives that consumed a total of
nearly 16 minutes.
With starter Joe Flacco out
for a second straight game with
an injured right hip, Jackson cut
down on his rushing attempts,
threw more often and got the
same result — a victory. After
carrying 27 times for 117 yards
last week in his NFL starting
debut, Jackson ran 11 times for 71
yards and went 14 for 25 for 178
yards and two interceptions.
BILLS 24, JAGUARS 21: Josh
Allen scored the go-ahead touch
down on a 14-yard run in the
fourth quarter, and the Bills beat
the Jaguars in a game marred by
a fight that led to the ejections of
Jacksonville running back Leon
ard Fournette and Buffalo defen
sive end Shaq Lawson.
Fournette scored twice to tie
it at 14 in the second quarter. He
finished with 95 yards on 18 car
ries before he was thrown out
with 2:57 left in the third.
Allen also threw a 75-yard
touchdown pass
to Robert Fos
ter in the rookie
quarterback’s
first game since
missing four
with a sprained
throwing elbow.
Rookie receiver
Isaiah McKen
zie scored on a
6-yard run off a
sweep, and Buffalo (4-7) came off
its bye week off to win consecu
tive games for the first time this
season.
The Jaguars (3-8) dropped
their seventh consecutive game
in their longest losing streak since
a nine-game slide in 2016, which
led directly to Gus Bradley being
fired and replaced by current
coach Doug Marrone.
BUCCANEERS 27, 49ERS 9:
Jameis Winston threw for 312
yards and two touchdowns to help
Tampa Bay snap a four-game los
ing streak.
Winston, benched last month
after turning the ball over 11
times in 14 quarters, completed
29 of 38 passes without an
interception.
The fourth-year pro, who’s
shared the starting job with Ryan
Fitzpatrick, tossed scoring passes
of 6 yards to Cameron Brate and
28 yards to Adam Humphries on
a play he extended by scrambling
to his right before throwing back
toward the center of the field.
Tampa Bay (4-7), meanwhile,
had four sacks and forced a turn
over on defense for the first time
in eight games, with Ryan Smith
and Isaiah Johnson coming up
with the team’s first interceptions
since a loss to Pittsburgh on Sept.
24.
Wentz
WATSON
■ Continued from 1B
out of the game last week just
before halftime with a stinger.
Now the Titans face the Texans
with Houston defensive end Jade-
veon Clowney healthy instead
of watching from the sideline
as Clowney did in Week 2 when
these teams met.
Mariota and the Titans hope
the quarterback will be available
Monday night, though he’s wait
ing for a nerve in his throwing
arm to settle down.
If Mariota doesn’t start, that
would mean Blaine Gabbert gets
his third start this season and sec
ond against the Texans.
GETTING INVOLED
Wide receiver Demaryius
Thomas hasn’t made much of
an impact since being traded to
the Texans from Denver on Oct.
30 after Will Fuller suffered a
season-ending knee injury. The
nine-year veteran had three
receptions for 61 yards in his
debut, but didn’t have a catch on
two targets on Sunday. O’Brien
took the blame for his limited
work.
“It’s not Demaryius,” O’Brien
said. “I have to do a better job of
getting him more involved. He’s
working hard, he’s a good pro
and we need to do a better job of
getting him the ball a little more.”
PEES BACK
Titans defensive coordinator
Dean Pees rejoined the team
Tuesday after leaving the team’s
last game with a medical issue.
Coach Mike Vrabel is trying to
limit the 69-year-old coach’s
hours at the team headquarters
in Pees’ return to work.
Having Pees available and call
ing blitzes and coverages from
the coach’s box in Houston could
provide a nice boost to a defense
that was dissected by Andrew
Luck last week. The Titans
allowed a season-high 38 points,
dropping from the NFL’s top
scoring defense to second overall.
Orakpo said hearing Pees had
been taken to a hospital shook the
Titans.
Standings
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New England
8
3
0
.727
307
249
Miami
5
6
0
.455
223
283
Buffalo
4
7
0
.364
161
272
N.Y Jets
3
8
0
South
.273
i
221
281
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Houston
7
3
0
.700
239
205
Indianapolis
6
5
0
.545
325
273
Tennessee
5
5
0
.500
178
189
Jacksonville
3
8
0
North
.273
197
243
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Pittsburgh
7
3
1
.682
316
249
Baltimore
6
5
0
.545
271
198
Cincinnati
5
6
0
.455
276
347
Cleveland
4
6
1
West
.409
253
283
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Kansas City
9
2
0
.818
404
294
L.A. Chargers
8
3
0
.727
307
219
Denver
5
6
0
.455
252
252
Oakland
2
9
0
.182
187
327
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
w
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Dallas
6
5
0
.545
234
213
Washington
6
5
0
.545
220
229
Philadelphia
5
6
0
.455
230
253
N.Y. Giants
3
8
0
South
.273
237
288
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New Orleans
10
1
0
.909
409
256
Carolina
6
5
0
.545
287
282
Atlanta
4
7
0
.364
280
307
Tampa Bay
4
7
0
North
.364
294
338
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Chicago
8
3
0
.727
317
211
Minnesota
5
4
1
.550
241
229
Green Bay
4
5
1
.450
247
243
Detroit
4
7
0
West
.364
238
286
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
L.A. Rams
10
1
0
.909
389
282
Seattle
6
5
0
.545
276
243
Arizona
2
9
0
.182
155
293
San Francisco
2
9
0
.182
239
293
Thursday’s Games
Chicago 23, Detroit 16
Dallas 31, Washington 23
New Orleans 31, Atlanta 17
Sunday’s Games
New England 27, N.Y. Jets 13
Baltimore 34, Oakland 17
Seattle 30, Carolina 27
Philadelphia 25, N.Y. Giants 22
Tampa Bay 27, San Francisco 9
Cleveland 35, Cincinnati 20
Buffalo 24, Jacksonville 21
L.A. Chargers 45, Arizona 10
Indianapolis 27, Miami 24
Denver 24, Pittsburgh 17
Green Bay at Minnesota, late
Open: L.A. Rams, Kansas City
Today’s Games
Tennessee at Houston, 8:15 p.m.
Associated Press
Foster
San Francisco releasing
Foster after arrest
for domestic violence
The San Francisco 49ers said Sun
day they plan to release linebacker
Reuben Foster after he was arrested
at the team hotel in Tampa, Florida,
on a domestic violence charge.
An arrest report from the Hills
borough County Sheriff’s office said
Foster was booked
into jail at 11:11
p.m. Saturday and
released Sunday
on $2,000 bail. Fos
ter was arrested
by Tampa police
at 9:10 p.m. at the
Grand Hyatt hotel
where the team was
staying before play
ing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He was really taking some very
positive steps and maturing in a
really nice fashion,” general man
ager John Lynch told reporters
before the game.
“Unfortunately in life there’s con
sequences for your actions. When
you show bad judgment, particularly
after something has been communi
cated very clearly what the expecta
tions are, there are consequences.”
Foster will be placed on waivers
officially on Monday. The other 31
teams will have an opportunity to
claim him, although the NFL could
place him on the commissioner’s
exempt list if he is signed. Spokes
man Brian McCarthy said the league
is reviewing the matter.
The 24-year-old Foster was
charged with one count of first-
degree misdemeanor domestic vio
lence. Tampa Police spokeswoman
Janelle McGregor said a woman told
police that Foster slapped her phone
out of her hand, pushed her in the
chest area and slapped her with an
open hand on the left side of her face.
McGregor said officers observed a
l-inch scratch on the accuser’s left
collarbone.
McGregor said officers learned
that Foster had lived with the woman
in the past and had been involved in
an on-and-off relationship with her
over the past three years. Police later
confirmed the woman was Elissa
Ennis, who had accused Foster of
hitting her in February but later
recanted the allegations.
Lynch said the incident didn’t hap
pen on the two secure floors of the
hotel reserved for the team, saying
players have the opportunity to rent
rooms in other parts of the hotel for
friends and family members.
Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan
said in April following that arrest on
domestic violence charges that were
eventually dropped after the recan
tation that the team had a zero-toler
ance policy.
Lynch said he had not made a judg
ment on whether Foster hit Ennis but
felt the decision to cut ties with the
2017 first-round pick was necessary.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t love
him,” Lynch said. “We all do. We
care for him. We feel it’s in the best
interest of our organization to move
on at this point. That’s a very tough
decision. I want to be clear that this
is organizational decision. Kyle and
I talked last night. We brought it to
ownership and we were all in lock
step with the decision. It was not easy
on anybody.”
Foster has had multiple run-ins
with the law since being drafted by
the 49ers 31st overall in 2017 out of
Alabama. He was charged in January
in Alabama with second-degree mar
ijuana possession. That charge was
eventually dismissed after he com
pleted a first-time offender diversion
course.
Associated Press
