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Carr 'couldn't believe' Jets' blitz call – TSN

Published

4 years ago

December 6, 2020

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Marcus Maye trudged off the field, a towel draped over his head and covering up the disappointment of another brutal loss.

After the game, the stunned New York Jets safety hid nothing.

The still-winless Jets were just seconds away from their first victory until a questionable play call by defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams took care of all that. Facing an all-out blitz, Derek Carr heaved a perfectly placed 46-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III — who was in man-to-man, or Cover Zero, coverage with rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson — with 5 seconds left to lift the Las Vegas Raiders to a 31-28 victory Sunday.

“I just felt like he could’ve been in a better call in that situation,” Maye said.

It was a surprising swipe at a coach’s call by one of the team’s captains, but it reflected the emotions of a player who has endured a season to forget. The Jets fell to 0-12 with the loss, leaving them four defeats shy of joining only the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns as teams to go 0-16.

“We should’ve won,” quarterback Sam Darnold said.

Indeed, they should have.

The Jets took a 28-24 lead with 5:34 remaining on Ty Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run, putting New York in position to finally get rid of that ugly zero in their win column.

Then the defence came up with a fourth-down stop that appeared to all but end the Jets’ agonizing wait for a victory.

“We could almost taste the win,” Jackson said.

But New York’s offence went three-and-out with a chance to seal it — and Carr and the Raiders had 35 seconds left for what appeared an unlikely comeback.

After Carr completed a 15-yard pass to Darren Waller, who the Jets couldn’t stop all game, the quarterback spiked the ball with 19 seconds left at New York’s 46. Carr followed with a deep pass to Nelson Agholor that fell incomplete in the end zone. On third down, Carr took advantage of the Jets’ defensive call.

“I couldn’t believe they all-out blitzed us,” Carr said. “As soon as I saw it, I was thankful.”

Carr saw Ruggs streaking downfield one-on-one on Jackson, an undrafted free agent who’s starting because of injuries, and dropped the ball into his hands for the winning score.

“I just thought we could’ve been in a better call at that time and in that point of the game,” Maye reiterated, doing so a few more times in his postgame Zoom call.

Williams usually speaks to the media on Fridays and wasn’t available to explain his decision after the game. Jackson, however, took accountability for the play and said he knows what he needs to do in that situation. He said the speedy Ruggs made a double move on him to get free, and that was the play — and the ballgame.

“It’s tough,” Jackson said. “I can only get better from here.”

Maye said there were “a lot of emotions going on in the locker room” after the game, and he hadn’t yet spoken to Williams about his thoughts on the call.

“We just played the call that the coaches called,” Maye said. “We’ve got to execute, but you’ve got to help us out at the same time and be in a better call at that spot.”

Maye said he thought it was a “tough situation for our young guys,” referring to Jackson and fellow rookie Bryce Hall, who have been forced into the starting lineup because of injuries and the team cutting ineffective veterans.

When asked if he thought there could be ramifications for Maye speaking out against a coach’s play call, he insisted he didn’t think he was necessarily criticizing anyone.

“I just felt like just different situations could’ve played out better,” Maye said. “That’s it.”

Linebacker Jordan Jenkins instead pointed the blame at the defence itself.

“It’s on us as players,” Jenkins said. “We’re the ones that are out there. We’ve got to make plays. We’ve just got to be better and finish that.”

The Jets allowed Carr to throw for 381 yards and three touchdowns as Las Vegas put up 440 yards of total offence. Waller had 13 catches for 200 yards and two scores — and the Jets still were in position to get their first win.

“It definitely stings,” Jenkins said. “It stings pretty bad. It just hurts. That’s all I can say. It hurts.”

___

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Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

9 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Penguins re-sign Crosby to two-year extension that runs through 2026-27 season

Published

9 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.

The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.

Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.

At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.

Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal

Published

20 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.

Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.

The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.

“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.

“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”

Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.

The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.

“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”

It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.

Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.

“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”

Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.

He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.

Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.

“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”

Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.

“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.

Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.

Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.

“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”

Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.

Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.

Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.

Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.

Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.

“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.

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