Matt Ryan threw for 353 yards and overcame two big turnovers by leading another late touchdown drive to give the Atlanta Falcons a 24-23 victory over Tampa Bay in the NFL on Sunday.
The win enabled the Falcons (10-1) to keep pace with Houston for the NFL’s best record.
Ryan connected with Julio Jones on an 80-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, but the Buccaneers took a 23-17 lead in the fourth after scoring a touchdown, then forcing a fumble by Ryan to set up a field goal.
Photo: AFP
Michael Turner’s 1-yard TD run put Atlanta ahead for good with 7:55 minutes left. Connor Barth missed a 56-yard goal for Tampa Bay (6-5) in the closing minutes, ending the Bucs’ four-game winning streak.
Turner also scored a fourth-quarter touchdown that helped the Falcons overcome mistakes to beat Arizona 23-19 last week.
Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, giving him 200 for his career, as the New York Giants routed the Green Bay Packers 38-10 to open up a two-game lead in the National Football Conference East division.
The Giants (7-4) put to rest concerns about a dormant offense as Manning connected with Rueben Randle, Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks for scores, and Ahmad Bradshaw had a combined 119 yards.
Green Bay (7-4) had its five-game winning streak broken.
The San Francisco 49ers ended the Saints’ three-game winning streak with a 31-21 victory in New Orleans. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran for a 7-yard touchdown and threw for another one in his second start for the 49ers (8-2-1).
The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-10 to take sole possession of first place in the NFC North division.
Jay Cutler threw for 188 yards and a touchdown after missing a game because of a concussion as Chicago ended a two-game losing streak.
The Bears (8-3) were tied with Green Bay for the NFC North lead and just a game ahead of Minnesota (6-5) coming into the game.
The Pittsburgh Steelers committed eight turnovers to lose to the Cleveland Browns for just the second time in 18 games, 20-14, and put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Thirty-seven-year-old Charlie Batch, starting in place of injured quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, was picked off three times and the Steelers (6-5) lost five fumbles, the last on the final play of the game.
Pittsburgh is level with Cincinnati in second place in the American Football Conference North division, after the Bengals defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-10.
Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton had three TD passes in his first game against former Bengals quarterback, Carson Palmer.
Peyton Manning threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns as the Denver Broncos beat the woeful Kansas City Chiefs 17-9 for their sixth straight win, while the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Diego Chargers in overtime 16-13.
In other games, Sam Bradford had a pair of 37-yard touchdown passes in the St Louis Rams 31-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, and Ryan Tannehill led a 65-yard drive in the final 90 seconds to set up the winning field-goal kick in the Miami Dolphins’ 24-21 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills 20-13, while the Jacksonville Jaguars ended a seven-game losing streak with a 24-19 win over the Tennessee Titans.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and