SEATTLE (AP) — It was a familiar scene in Seattle: Russell Wilson leading his team downfield for a game-winning score late in the fourth quarter.
This time, he wasn’t given a chance by his new coach in Denver, pulled off the field in exchange for a 64-yard field goal attempt that left plenty of confusion and the Seattle Seahawks celebrating an unexpected season-opening, 17-16 victory over the Broncos on Monday night.
With the Broncos facing fourth-and-5 in Seahawks territory with a minute remaining and all their timeouts, coach Nathaniel Hackett opted to let the clock run down to 20 seconds before sending out Brandon McManus to try the low-percentage kick.
“I don’t think it was the wrong decision. I think he could make it,” Wilson said after his return to the city where he played his first 10 seasons. “Obviously in hindsight, we didn’t make it, but if we were in that situation again, I wouldn’t doubt whatever he decided.”
Geno Smith threw two first-half touchdown passes as the Seahawks’ offense started brilliantly in the post-Wilson era. Denver had plenty of chances after halftime but fumbled twice at the 1-yard line.
Then came the final minute, which raised plenty of questions about Hackett’s clock management and decision-making in his debut as a head coach. NFL kickers are 2 for 35 on attempts of 64 yards or more since 1991, according to Sportradar, and McManus’ career long is 61 yards.
The kick missed wide left, and instead of Wilson leading the 36th career fourth-quarter or overtime comeback of his career, the Seahawks celebrated to chants of “Geno! Geno!”
“I was surprised that they took Russ out there,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
Denver faced fourth-and-5 at the Seattle 46 after Wilson hit Javonte Williams for a 9-yard gain. McManus said that was the exact spot on the field the offense needed to reach to give him a shot at the kick.
“I wish we would have gotten a lot closer, but it put us in that weird spot there because we were in field-goal range, but we were on that fourth-down situation,” Hackett said. “I didn’t think we were gonna get that many yards. … We just made our decision and wanted to take our shot there.”
Hackett then used his timeouts while the Seahawks kneeled down, elongating the Seattle celebration.
Smith and the Seahawks did very little offensively in the second half but their first half was good enough. Smith threw a touchdown pass of 38 yards to Will Dissly on the first possession of the season and hit Colby Parkinson for a 25-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Smith finished 23 of 28 for 195 yards, but was 17 of 18 for 164 yards in the first half.
“For him to go out there and get a win like that shows the confidence we have in him,” Seattle wide receiver DK Metcalf said.
Wilson was 29 of 42 for 340 yards and a touchdown. But Denver couldn’t overcome its red-zone inefficiency with both Melvin Gordon III and Williams fumbling on plays snapped at Seattle 1-yard line.
“We can run the ball. We can pass the ball. We just have to be sound in the red zone. That’s been our issue,” Gordon said.
The Seahawks moved into first place in the NFC West after Arizona, San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams all lost on Sunday.
Wilson went from being a disputed third-round pick to a franchise cornerstone that helped Seattle to its only Super Bowl title. But his departure this past offseason in a trade to Denver was a messy conclusion to a mostly sparkling career with the Seahawks.
And Seattle fans were ready to let Wilson find out just what it was like to be an opposing QB at the stadium where he enjoyed so many triumphs.
“Just going out there and seeing him in a Broncos jersey was shocking to me,” Metcalf said.
Wilson was greeted with lustful, guttural boos every time he stepped on the field from a crowd notorious for making noise. They started in pregame warmups and didn’t decrease in volume throughout the victory.
Some signs in the stadium compared Wilson to Alex Rodriguez, who infamously left for a massive contract in Texas early in his baseball career. Others switched around the words from a catchphrase during his time in Seattle, urging the Seahawks, “Let’s Cook Russ.”
“Tonight was special, just on the other side than I’m used to. But it was still a special environment in a place that I’ve always loved,” Wilson said.
Wilson and the Broncos had plenty of chances to silence the crowd.
Denver ran eight plays inside the Seattle 12 in the third quarter and came away with zero points after the two fumbles.
The Broncos had three more plays inside the Seattle 10 midway through the fourth quarter and still couldn’t find the end zone. Denver reached the 3-yard-line but its third false start of the game moved Wilson back to the 8 and he was incomplete on his next two throws. McManus’ 26-yard field goal with 6:13 left pulled the Broncos within 17-16.
INJURIES
Seattle safety Jamal Adams suffered what Carroll said after the game was a serious injury to his left quadriceps tendon. Adams limped off the field after nearly sacking Wilson in the first quarter and eventually was driven away on a cart.
Denver lost right guard Quinn Meinerz to a hamstring injury in the first half and cornerback K’Waun Williams to a hand injury in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
Broncos: Host Houston on Sunday.
Seahawks: At San Francisco on Sunday.
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GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
