A trans-Atlantic trip was just what Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints needed to get their season back on track.
Brees went 30-for-41 for 339 yards and three touchdown passes against his former team, leading the Saints to a 37-32 win over San Diego on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, putting New Orleans back at .500 and dropping the Chargers to 3-5.
The Saints (4-4) held off a late comeback by the Chargers, who came from 37-20 down early in the fourth quarter and were driving for the tying touchdown. But linebacker Jonathan Vilma picked off a pass by Philip Rivers with just over a minute to go. Brees took a safety in the final seconds to complete the scoring.
After last year’s rain-soaked, error-filled 13-10 win by the New York Giants over the Miami Dolphins in London, the NFL was hoping for a high-scoring, offensive show in its return to the English capital. And that’s just what the 83,226 fans at England’s showcase venue got.
Brees, who came into the game leading the NFL with 2,224 yards passing, exploited the Chargers’ vulnerable pass defense. But Philip Rivers, his former backup in San Diego, came up with big numbers too, completing 25 of 40 attempts for 343 yards and three touchdowns to bring his season total to 19 TDs. But while Brees went without an interception, Rivers’ one pick on the final drive proved crucial.
GIANTS 21, STEELERS 14
At Pittsburgh, the New York Giants did little with the exceptional field position the Steelers gave them. Finally, when it seemed Pittsburgh had too much depth and defense for the Super Bowl champs, the Steelers were tripped up by — of all things — a bad punt snap.
Eli Manning threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss with 3:11 remaining for the Giants’ only touchdown after they tied it several minutes before on a bizarre safety. Linebacker James Harrison’s high snap on the punt gave New York two points, and the Giants held off Pittsburgh for a 21-14 victory in a matchup of division leaders.
The resilient Steelers (5-2) playing with backups all over the field, tried to make up for Ben Roethlisberger’s four interceptions by turning two big-play scores into a lead they preserved with a goal-line stand midway through the fourth quarter.
But the Giants (6-1) tied it with 6:48 remaining on the safety.
Pro Bowl linebacker Harrison, playing center due to long snapper Greg Warren’s knee injury, snapped the ball over punter Mitch Berger’s head and out of the end zone. It wasn’t certain why Harrison was snapping rather than starting center Justin Hartwig or right guard Darnell Stapleton, a center at Rutgers.
John Carney kicked four field goals for New York.
BROWNS 23, JAGUARS 17
At Jacksonville, Florida, Jamal Lewis ran for 81 yards and a touchdown and Derek Anderson completed three huge passes to give the Browns their second victory in as many games without Winslow, the outspoken Pro Bowl tight end who missed the game after criticizing the team following his staph infection.
The Browns (3-4) played their best game of the season two weeks ago while Winslow was in the hospital and beat the Giants.
They didn’t miss him against the Jaguars (3-4), either.
Anderson finished 14-of-27 for 264 yards and a touchdown. He had 168 yards passing in the first half, including a 5-yard TD toss to Donte’ Stallworth; a 51-yard completion to Winslow’s replacement, Steve Heiden, on fourth down; and a 43-yarder to Braylon Edwards that set up a short field goal.
SEAHAWKS 34, 49ERS 13
At San Francisco, fullback Leonard Weaver made two lengthy touchdown catches, Josh Wilson returned an interception 75 yards for a score and the Seahawks snapped their three-game losing streak.
TEXANS 35, BENGALS 6
At Houston, Kevin Walter scored two touchdowns. He scored one touchdown in three seasons with Cincinnati, but set a career high by getting his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the year against his old club.
Dolphins 25, Bills 16
At Miami, Ted Ginn had a breakout game with seven catches for a career-high 175 yards, and the Dolphins overcame a nine-point third-quarter deficit.
With Ginn’s first 100-yard game, he made by far his biggest impact since Miami’s much-mocked decision to take him with the ninth pick of last year’s draft.
In Sunday’s other games it was:
• Cowboys 13, Buccaneers 9
• Panthers 27, Cardinals 23
• Patriots 23, Rams 16
• Eagles 27, Falcons 14
• Redskins 25, Lions 17
• Jets 28, Chiefs 24
• Ravens 29, Raiders 10
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB