Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Marshon Lattimore #23 of the New Orleans Saints argue during the fourth quarter of the game at Caesars Superdome on Sept. 18, 2022 in New Orleans.Chris Graythen/Getty Images
It certainly looked like the Saints were in Tom Brady’s head when the Buccaneers quarterback threw a tablet in the bench area and later jawed with New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore after a drive-stalling incomplete pass.
How quickly a game can change when emotions spill over.
Brady helped incite a skirmish that led to the ejections of Lattimore and Bucs receiver Mike Evans, then threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Breshad Perriman that lifted Tampa Bay to a 20-10 victory over New Orleans on Sunday.
“It’s an emotional game,” Brady said flatly. “A little bit of execution helps all the way around. I thought the defense played well again and the offensive line fought hard.
“Tough game all around,” Brady added. “That is a really good team, really well coached — a team we really struggle with. So, it feels good to win.”
Brady, who’d lost four straight regular-season meetings with the Saints, again struggled for the first three quarters of this latest, testy encounter between NFC South rivals.
Brady’s frustration was clear when he was caught on camera forcefully throwing a tablet to the turf with a healthy turn of his torso and full follow-through of his prolific right arm.
And after his third-down incomplete pass early in the fourth quarter, Brady was shouting at Lattimore when running back Leonard Fournette entered the fray and shoved the Saints’ star cornerback. Lattimore responded by shoving Fournette, and Evans rushed in and flattened Lattimore — much like he did in a 2017 game between these teams.
“I was just trying to have my teammate’s back,” Evans said. “I seen (Lattimore) punch someone. I wasn’t going to let that happen. … We know when you come to New Orleans, it gets spicy.”
Evans was ejected, as he was five seasons ago. But this time, so was Lattimore, who did not speak with media after the game.
“It hurts to lose your best corner,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “Guys gun at him because they know he is one of the best corners in the league.
“When I saw the replay, (Lattimore) didn’t go after anybody. Somebody came after him,” Jordan said. “What do you want him to do in that situation?”
With Paulson Adebo sitting out with an ankle injury, Lattimore’s ejection left the Saints without their top two cornerbacks — and Brady took advantage.
On Tampa Bay’s next series, Brady marched the Bucs (2-0) to the New Orleans 28 and then hit Perriman in the back right corner of the end zone to make it 10-3.
“We lost a good player and they lost a good player. It was a physical ballgame,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “I don’t know if it was a turning point. … It could have gone either way. We knew we had to make some plays.”
The Bucs’ defense squelched the Saints’ comeback bid by intercepting Jameis Winston three times in the final 12 minutes. Jamel Dean made the first two picks — one on a deep pass intended for rookie Chris Olave at the goal line. Later, safety Mike Edwards returned an interception near the right sideline 68 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-3.
Brady finished 18 of 34 for 190 yards and the lone TD.
Winston, who had been limited in practice by a back injury, completed 25 of 40 passes for 236 yards and one late TD toss to Michael Thomas.
“Everyone in that locker room is playing with a banged-up something,” Winston said. “What is most important is offensively I have to do a better job of executing on third downs and I can’t give them the football.”
Tampa Bay didn’t score until Ryan Succop hit a 47-yard field goal with 3:09 left in the third quarter to tie it at 3.
The Saints (1-1) were threatening to retake the lead when safety Logan Ryan punched the ball free of running back Mark Ingram’s grasp at the Buccaneers 10, and linebacker Carl Nassib recovered.
“We were moving the ball well, going in to take control of the game. That just can’t happen,” Ingram said. “Whether it was a good punch, whether it was a rip, whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter.”
Wil Lutz’s 31-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive gave the Saints a lead that stood up throughout a first half in which Tampa Bay squandered two scoring chances.
Brady’s fumbled snap on third and short from the New Orleans 34 ended one drive. The Bucs also failed on a fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 8 when Carl Granderson stuffed Fournette’s run.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
