Leafs may have lucked out with timing of Auston Matthews and Matt Murray injuries

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.

The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.

Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.

Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.

The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

Elsewhere in the NFL:

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CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.

Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.

Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.

It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.

Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.

Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.

It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.

Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.

Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.

The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.

It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.

“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.

Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.

More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.

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AP sports:

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Canada will open against Fiji before facing Scotland and Wales in group play at next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in England

The second-ranked Canadian women will meet No. 17 Fiji on Aug. 23, 2025, at York Community Stadium in York, one day after the tournament opener between top-ranked England and the ninth-ranked U.S. at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

Reigning champion New Zealand, currently third in the world rankings, begins its title defence against No. 13 Spain in York on Aug. 24, 2025.

Canada will then take on No. 10 Wales on Aug. 30, 2025, at Salford Community Stadium and No. 7 Scotland on Sept. 6, 2025, at Sandy Park in Exeter.

Tuesday’s schedule release followed last Thursday’s tournament draw, which placed Canada in Pool B in the 16-team tournament. The top two in each pool advance to the quarterfinals where the Pool B winner will face the runner-up in Pool A, likely No. 5 Australia or the U.S. with England favoured to win the group.

New Zealand could await Canada in the semifinals.

The Canadian women recorded their first-ever victory over New Zealand in May, dispatching the Black Ferns 22-19 in Christchurch to win the Pacific Four Series.

The Canadian women had lost all 17 previous meetings with the Black Ferns, with 10 of those defeats by 27 points or more. Six-time world champion New Zealand won 52-21 they met in July 2023 in Ottawa in Pacific Four Series play.

The Canadians have a far better record against their Pool B opponents.

The Canadian women have a 10-2-2 career record against Wales, winning 42-22 the last time they met, at the 2023 WXV I tournament.

Canada is 6-1-0 against Scotland, winning 28-25 the last they met in November 2018 in Glasgow.

Canada has met Fiji just once, winning 24-7 in Suva in September 2022 in its final test match ahead of next month’s last World Cup.

The World Cup is scheduled to run Aug. 22 to Sept. 27, 2025, at eight venues across England. The final and third-place game will take place at London’s Allianz Stadium, formerly known as Twickenham Stadium.

Canada’s best showing at the tournament was in 2014 when it lost 21-9 to England in the final. The Canadian women finished fourth at the last World Cup, beaten 36-0 by France in the third-place game in November 2022 after pushing England to the limit in a 26-19 semifinal loss.

The Canadian women are coming off a 21-12 loss to England earlier this month in Vancouver in WXV 1 play. That loss snapped a six-game win streak for Canada under coach Kevin Rouet.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024

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