Backup quarterback Jake Delhomme directed all three Carolina scoring drives, and the Panthers completed their first perfect preseason with a 21-14 victory Friday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Delhomme, a free-agent addition, threw two touchdown passes as Carolina (4-0) ended the preseason with nothing but wins for the first time in the franchise's nine-year history.
He was 11-for-11 for 123 yards, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Mike Seidman in the second quarter and a 31-yarder to rookie Walter Young late in the third. Delhomme also was at the helm when Rod Smart scored on a 5-yard run that gave Carolina a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers (1-3) scored two touchdowns against the Panthers' first-team defense, which seemed uninspired after learning before the game that linebackers coach Sam Mills has cancer in his small intestine. Mills still coached from up in a suite.
Amos Zereoue had a 19-yard touchdown run on the second possession. The Steelers also got a TD from their second team, when backup quarterback Charlie Batch led a 99-yard drive that ended with his 3-yard touchdown pass to Matt Cushing for a 14-0 lead in the second period.
Colts 21, Bengals 20
In Indianapolis, rookie Brad Pyatt took the opening kickoff 94 yards for the first of three TD returns for Indianapolis.
Cornerback David Macklin returned an interception of a pass by Carson Palmer 93 yards early in the third quarter to tie the score at 14-14. Josh Mallard hit Palmer from behind, jarred the ball loose, and defensive end Raheem Brock raced 70 yards to give Indianapolis (3-1) a 21-14 lead with 8:42 left in the game.
The Bengals (1-3) outgained the Colts 504-160.
Cincinnati tied the score on a 6-yard run by Brandon Bennett midway through the first quarter and took a 14-7 lead when Shane Matthews hooked up with rookie Kelley Washington on a 52-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
After Brock's fumble return, the Bengals scored on a 68-yard pass from Palmer to Lawrence Hamilton. But on the 2-point conversion, T.J. Houshmandzadeh could not hang on.
Broncos 20, Seahawks 3
In Denver, Mike Anderson and Cecil Sapp scored on 1-yard touchdown runs as Denver beat Seattle in a preseason finale with less than 500 yards of total offense.
For the second straight year, Seattle's starting offense couldn't muster much against a Denver defense made up mostly of backups. The Seahawks had just 231 yards of total offense, and the Broncos didn't do much better with 260.
The Seahawks (2-2) managed just 18 yards on their first two drives and didn't have a first down until Matt Hasselbeck hit Alex Bannister on a 23-yard completion with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
Chargers 24, 49ers 3
In San Diego, rookie Drayton Florence returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to highlight the Chargers' victory.
San Francisco was trailing 10-3 when rookie quarterback Ken Dorsey led the 49ers deep into San Diego territory. He threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Arland Bruce, but it was called back on an illegal procedure call.
On the next play, Dorsey was flushed from the pocket and hit from behind by defensive end Omari Hand, and Florence took it all the way back.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS