NASHVILLE — The NFL’s ranks of undefeated teams should thin by one Tuesday night when the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans finally meet in a rescheduled game.
The Bills (4-0) have only had their schedule disrupted as they try to continue their best start in years. The Titans (3-0) have become pariahs while dealing with the NFL’s first COVID-19 outbreak that kept them out of their own building much of the past two weeks with 24 players and personnel testing positive.
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The #Titans had no new positives from Monday’s round of COVID-19 testing, per source.
Titans safety Kevin Byard said it’s been tough watching teammates test positive and worrying about them and their families while not knowing when they would play again. The NFL first postponed, then rescheduled their Oct. 4 game with Pittsburgh to Oct. 25, and their game with the Bills pushed back two days.
“At the end of the day, we’re not going to make any excuses man,” Byard said. “We’re going to come in here and focus on what we need to focus on, and that’s winning the ballgame.”
The Bills beat the Raiders 30-23 last week. This franchise hasn’t won five straight since 2004, and another win would give Buffalo its best start since 1991 when that team went to a Super Bowl.
“As a team that’s off to a good start, we feel like we’ve got a good thing rolling here and we want to play,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “That’s our mindset.”
Buffalo has won three straight in this series, including a 14-7 win in Nashville a year ago as the Titans stumbled to a 2-4 start. Buffalo coach Sean McDermott has made clear Tennessee made it to the AFC championship game in January.
These Titans also are rested with their previous game Sept. 27 in a 31-30 win in Minnesota.
The Bills will be the first team to play the Titans since the NFL closed Tennessee’s facility Sept. 29. The Vikings have not had a positive test result since playing the Titans.
“They’re aware of certainly the situation down there, but they’re also confident in the processes that are in place, both at the league level, and and what we’re doing here,” McDermott said of his Bills.
THE MISSING
The Titans have gotten three of the 13 players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list back with defensive captain and lineman DaQuan Jones and long snapper Beau Brinkley activated Sunday. They still will be without starters defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons and wide receivers Corey Davis and Adam Humphries.
But the unexpected time off has receiver A.J. Brown questionable after missing two games with an injured knee. Left tackle Taylor Lewan is questionable after hurting a shoulder early against the Vikings.
STORMIN’ NORMAN
It didn’t take long for veteran cornerback Josh Norman to make his presence known in Buffalo. After missing the first three games with a left hamstring injury, the off-season free-agent addition forced and recovered a fumble and was in on four tackles in his Bills’ debut against the Raiders.
Norman earned additional playing time after starter Levi Wallace hurt his left ankle in the first quarter and has since been placed on injured reserve. Norman is attempting to kickstart his career following four sub-par seasons in Washington, which led him to being cut with one year left on his contract.
INJURY CONCERNS
The extra rest could help the Bills too. Starting cornerback Tre’Davious White did not practice through Saturday and is listed as questionable because of a back injury.
Buffalo will be without starting weak-side linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral). His absence was notable in being sidelined with a hamstring injury in a 31-28 win at Miami in Week 2 when Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 328 yards — the most against Buffalo since Jameis Winston had 384 in Tampa Bay’s 30-27 loss on Oct. 22, 2017.
THEY GOT A KICKER
The Titans lost to Buffalo last year when their kicker missed three field goals and had one blocked. Now they have veteran Stephen Gostkowski, who has made the game-winning field goal inside the final two minutes of each of Tennessee’s wins this season.
Gostkowski made a career-high six field goals against the Vikings, and he tied an NFL record as the 10th kicker to make three of 50 yards or longer in a game. He also was the fifth player in NFL history to hit those three in a single half. He’ll have his long snapper back too.
RESCHEDULED GAMES
A major snowstorm that hit Buffalo in 2014 marked the previous time Buffalo had a game pushed back. So much snow fell, the Bills had to give up hosting the New York Jets on Sunday, Nov. 23, and instead play the following night at Detroit. The Doug Marrone-coached Bills beat the Rex Ryan-coached Jets 38-3.
Some six weeks later, Ryan was hired by Buffalo in replacing Marrone, who opted out of his contract.
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AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed to this report.
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Follow Teresa M. Walker at https://twitter.com/TeresaMWalker
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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.
