Baltimore shut out Pittsburgh for more than three quarters in a 21-14 victory that lifted the Ravens to their division lead and spoiled the return of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The Ravens snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 4-4, taking the lead over the Steelers — also 4-4 — atop the AFC North.
Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco connected with Mike Wallace on a 95-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter — the longest pass in Ravens history.
Photo: AP
Chris Moore’s 14-yard return of a Buck Allen blocked punt coupled with Steve Smith’s two-point conversion reception made it a 21-0 game early in the third quarter.
The Steelers finally got on the board on Roethlisberger’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with 8 minutes, 38 seconds to play. However, Roethlisberger, who underwent surgery to report a torn left meniscus on Oct. 17, got off to a slow start.
“I just think I need to be better,” Roethlisberger said after completing 23 of 45 passes for 264 yards with one touchdown and one interception. “Give them credit — there were times I was going to make throws and their guys jumped in front of things... I just need to be better.”
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a tackle-breaking leaping touchdown by Golden Tate lifted the Detroit Lions to a 22-16 overtime triumph against the Minnesota Vikings.
Tate caught a pass from Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and spun away from Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who dived at Tate and missed. Tate pulled away from a tackle attempt from safety Harrison Smith along the sideline and then leaped into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.
It was just the latest instance of the Lions coming to life late. They sent the game into overtime with a 58-yard field goal with two seconds left in regulation and won for the third time in four games.
The Dallas Cowboys’ explosive offense scored three touchdowns in the first half on the way to a 35-10 victory over the winless Browns in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Browns put up a field goal on the first possession of the game, but rookie quarterback Dak Prescott threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jason Witten on the Cowboys’s first possession to give the Cowboys a lead they would not relinquish.
Dallas’ rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, who entered the game as the league’s top rusher, ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, helping the Cowboys win their seventh straight after a season-opening defeat.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw four touchdowns in a 28-23 victory over NFC East rivals Philadelphia.
New Orleans’ Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes to lead the surging Saints to a 41-23 victory over the reeling San Francisco 49ers, who lost their seventh straight.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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