Najeh Davenport is a career backup running back with typical non-descript statistics. Except when he is playing the St. Louis Rams.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' top-rated defense was porous again in a 41-24 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night.
But Davenport's three touchdowns and 123 yards rushing on 24 carries in relief of injured Willie Parker allowed them to break out of a late-season swoon and move one step closer to a playoff berth.
PHOTO: AFP
Isaac Bruce caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and moved into third place on the career yards receiving list, moving ahead of James Lofton, for the Rams. Marc Bulger threw three touchdown passes but was intercepted twice and Ike Taylor's 51-yard return on an overthrown ball on fourth-and-10 with 3 minutes, 46 seconds to go put the game out of reach.
Pittsburgh had taken a 10-point lead on a 29-yard field goal by Jeff Reed only seven plays earlier.
Besides the Bruce milestone, the only other highlight for the Rams (3-12) was retiring Marshall Faulk's No. 28 jersey at halftime of the Rams home finale.
St. Louis finished 1-7 at home and had three games blacked out because they did not sell out and in each of the last two weeks there have been nearly as many visitors as home fans in the Edward Jones Dome.
Parker, who leads the NFL with 1,316 yards rushing, limped off the field with a broken bone in his lower right leg in the first quarter after only one carry for minus-1 yard. Davenport eased any worries with a game that rivaled his 178-yard effort for the Green Bay Packers against the Rams, in a 45-17 victory in 2004. He was filling in for Ahman Green at the time.
Ben Roethlisberger was 16-for-20 for 261 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for the Steelers (10-5), who had lost three of five to fall into a tie with the Browns for the AFC North lead.
The Steelers can clinch the division with a Cleveland loss at Cincinnati tomorrow.
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS