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Archives for December 2, 2018

NFL Monday Night Game Scout:

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Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles

When: 8:15 PM ET, Monday, December 3, 2018
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote
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PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off what may have been a season-saving victory while the Washington Redskins are trying to shake off back-to-back losses that cost them the lead in the NFC East. As the division rivals prepare to clash on Monday night in Philadelphia, the Redskins will hold a one-game edge on the Eagles for the conference’s sixth and final playoff slot.

Reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia appeared on the verge of absorbing a knockout blow last weekend before erasing an early 16-point deficit and rallying for a 25-22 victory over the New York Giants. “This was a big game for us,” Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz said. “Obviously in terms of the division standings and all that fun stuff, but really mentally to show the resilience that we did. To get down early like we did, then to battle back, just really builds a lot of confidence.” Washington is trying to maintain its confidence and a victory over Philadelphia could provide a huge boost in that department, particularly with the teams squaring off in the regular-season finale. “I think there should be a sense of urgency without a doubt,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. “Anytime you can go on the road and get a key victory is very, very critical. It is also important for our confidence and our psyche down the stretch.”

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Eagles -6.5. O/U: 45

ABOUT THE REDSKINS (6-5): Washington is hoping the additional time off will pay dividends for Colt McCoy, who had only three days to get ready for his first career start in four years after Alex Smith suffered a season-ending leg injury. McCoy, who was picked off three times in a 31-23 loss to division-leading Dallas on Thanksgiving, and the offense could receive a boost with the return of running back Chris Thompson, who practiced fully for the first time Friday since suffering broken ribs on Oct. 28. Thompson also would alleviate the workload on Adrian Peterson, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury. The Redskins were burned for a pair of long touchdown passes against the Cowboys.

ABOUT THE EAGLES (5-6): Wentz bounced back from a three-interception performance in a debacle at New Orleans by throwing for 238 yards and a touchdown in the comeback win over New York. Once again his favorite target was tight end Zach Ertz, who had seven catches for 91 yards and a score to boost his season totals to a career-best 84 receptions and 895 yards. Running back Josh Adams provided much needed balance to the offense and lifted a running game in dire need of a spark with 84 yards rushing on 22 carries — both season highs — while scoring for the second week in a row. Philadelphia held New York to three second-half points last week but ranks 28th against the pass (276.5 yards).

EXTRA POINTS

1. Wentz has six TD passes and two interceptions in a sweep of the Redskins last season.

2. Peterson needs two rushing touchdowns to move past Jim Brown (106) for fifth place on the all-time list.

3. Ertz has 59 receptions for 620 yards in 10 games against Washington.

Brady Leads the Way

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New England Patriots 24, Minnesota Vikings 10

When: 4:25 PM ET, Sunday, December 2, 2018
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
Attendance: 67,878
Recap for Digital Sports Desk by Field Level Media
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FOXBOROUGH – Tom Brady threw for 311 yards and the tiebreaking touchdown Sunday as the New England Patriots retained the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture by subduing the Minnesota Vikings 24-10 in Foxborough, Mass.

Brady, who completed 24 of 32 passes, found Josh Gordon over the middle for a 24-yard scoring strike with 35 seconds left in the third quarter that made it 17-10. Fullback James Develin added his second short scoring run on the Patriots’ next drive, going 2 yards with 10:54 remaining in the game to set the final score.

New England (9-3) maintained a three-game lead on Miami in the AFC East and remained a game behind Kansas City, which held off Oakland 40-33, for the top seed in the AFC with four weeks left in the regular season.

Minnesota (6-5-1) missed on a chance to make up ground on Chicago, which remained 1 1/2 games ahead in the NFC Central despite its 30-27 overtime loss to the New York Giants. The Vikings also lost the NFC’s second wild-card spot to the Washington Redskins, who play Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 32 of 44 passes but for just 201 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

New England had little trouble slicing through the Minnesota defense on its first possession, ripping off an 81-yard, eight-play touchdown drive. Develin plunged over from the 1 with 9:33 left in the first quarter.

A 15-play drive by the Patriots in the second quarter resulted in just three points as the Vikings made a goal-line stand, forcing a third-down incompletion from the 1. Stephen Gostkowski’s 20-yard field goal upped the margin to 10-0 at the 5:45 mark.

Minnesota’s offense finally found its dangerous wide receivers, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, during a successful two-minute drill to end the first half. Diggs caught passes of 24 and 10 yards to help push the ball to the 5, and Thielen caught his first pass of the game with 15 seconds left in the half to make it a 10-7 game at halftime.

–Field Level Media

NFL Sunday Night Game Scout:

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L.A. Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers

When: 8:20 PM ET, Sunday, December 2, 2018
Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote
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PITTSBURGH – Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger meet up again when the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. The two members of the 2004 NFL Draft class are thriving in their 15th seasons with Rivers coming off a record-setting performance in last week’s 45-10 rout of the Arizona Cardinals.

Rivers set NFL single-game records for completion percentage (96.6) and consecutive completions (25) during a 28-of-29 performance in which he tossed three touchdown passes. “He is an MVP caliber player, playing at an MVP level now,” Roethlisberger told reporters of Rivers. “What he did last week was pretty spectacular … 25 in a row. It’s easy because he is a quarterback to keep track of what he is doing. It’s fun to watch a guy like that play.” Rivers understands why he is linked with Roethlisberger – Eli Manning was also a member of the draft class – but says it will be more than quarterback play that decides Sunday’s game. “He’s been a heck of a player for them for a long time,” Rivers told reporters. “Again, it’s never about the other quarterback. You have to worry about that defense. But it’s always awesome going against those teams led by those kind of guys.”

TV: 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Steelers -3.5. O/U: 51.5

ABOUT THE CHARGERS (8-3): Rivers has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each game this season while passing for 3,119 yards and 26 scores against six interceptions. Standout running back Melvin Gordon (knee) will miss the contest so Austin Ekeler (409 yards, 5.8 average) will get the call and the club hopes he performs better than his previous start this season (42 yards on 12 carries against Tennessee). Standout defensive end Joey Bosa displayed he is fully recovered from the foot injury that caused him to miss the first nine games by recording two sacks against the Cardinals.

ABOUT THE STEELERS (7-3-1): Roethlisberger passed for a season-best 462 yards – his second time over 450 this season – in last Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Denver Broncos and has thrown for 3,664 yards and 24 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Longtime star Antonio Brown (71 receptions, 874 yards) is tied for the NFL lead with 11 touchdown catches but currently trails teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster (77 for 1,055) for the Pittsburgh lead in receptions and yardage. Linebacker T.J. Watt (10 sacks) has emerged as a force in his second NFL season and has recorded three sacks in two different contests.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Chargers are 1-14 in the regular season at Pittsburgh but also won in the Steel City in the 1994 AFC Championship Game to reach their lone Super Bowl.

2. Steelers RB James Conner (849 yards) has only 143 over the past three games after compiling four straight 100-yard outings.

3. Los Angeles WR Keenan Allen (69 catches) has at least five receptions in each of the past five games.

Ponds Leads St. John’s to Win

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MIAMI – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Marquette’s Markus Howard and St. John’s Shamorie Ponds put on scoring displays to lead their teams to wins on Saturday afternoon.  For the day, BIG EAST teams were 5-3.

Howard poured in 45 points – the most points in a single game in regulation in Marquette history – in an 83-71 victory over No. 12 Kansas State at Fiserv Forum.  Howard already had the school single game record when he scored 52 points in an overtime win at Providence last season.  Against the Wildcats, the junior shot 11-of-17 from the field, 4-of-10 from 3-point range and 19-of-21 from the foul line.  Marquette is 6-2.

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Shamorie Ponds

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Ponds pumped in 37 points to lead a St. John’s rally that led to a 76-73 victory against Georgia Tech in the Miami Hoop Hall Invitational.  Down 16 points with 16 minutes to play, the Johnnies came back with Ponds getting 21 of his 37 in the second half.  Ponds has scored at least 33 points in three of his last four games.  St. John’s is 7-0 for the first time since 1994-95.

Providence got an early lead and held off comeback attempts by Rhode Island in a 59-50 win in the teams’ annual in-state battle.  The Friars (6-2) were led by freshman A.J. Reeves’ 15 points.  PC held URI to 29.8 percent shooting from the field.

Xavier won its third game in a row, defeating Oakland 73-63.  The Musketeers (5-3) used a balanced scoring attack with Naji Marshall scoring a team-high 14 points. Tyrique Jones posted his second straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Villanova had its hands full with La Salle until outlasting the Explorers 85-78.   The Wildcats (6-2) won their 23rd straight Big 5 game behind Eric Pachall’s 27 points and Phil Booth’s 19 points.   Trailing 42-39 at halftime, the Wildcats took the lead for good with 12 minutes to play.

In a matchup against No. 1 Gonzaga, Creighton built a 48-41 halftime lead before losing 103-92 before 18,759 at the CHI Center, the largest crowd for a non-conference home game in Bluejay history and the fifth largest overall.  Ty-Shon Alexander led Creighton with 27 points.

Seton Hall led by 12 points in the first half and by nine in the second half against Louisville, but lost 70-65.  Myles Powell scored a game-high 23 points.  The Pirates struggled with their long-range shooting, making only 3-of-18 from 3-point ranges.

Sub-par shooting also was a factor in Butler’s 64-52 loss at Saint Louis.  The Bulldogs made only 28.1 percent of their shots from the floor.  Sean McDermott scored a team-high 12 points.  Saint Louis used a 12-0 run to close the first half and take control of the game.

BIG EAST action resumes on Monday.

 

NFL Game Scout:

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L.A. Rams at Detroit Lions

When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 2, 2018
Where: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote
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DETROIT – The Los Angeles Rams can wrap up their second straight NFC West Division title and stay in the hunt for the top overall seed in the conference when they visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon. Los Angeles, which won its first eight games behind a high-powered offense, is coming off a bye that followed a pulsating 54-51 win over Kansas City in Week 11.With back-to-back road games at Detroit and Chicago on deck, the Rams are trying not to get too preoccupied with potential seeding for the postseason. “We’ve got to find a way to get better. Those good teams really do that,” coach Sean McVay said. “You’ve got to continue to get better if you expect to compete, but for us, that focus is on the Detroit Lions this week.” Detroit has seen its playoff hopes fizzle over the past five weeks, falling to 1-4 in that span after a 23-16 loss to the Bears on Thanksgiving Day. “Certainly the Rams are not going to feel sorry for us,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “We just have to make sure we do a good job of doing everything we can to try to stop them.”

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Rams -10. O/U: 54.5

ABOUT THE RAMS (10-1): Todd Gurley, who fell to second in the league in rushing during the bye week, was hindered by an ankle injury and had a season-low 12 carries against Kansas City but McVay said he had a great practice Wednesday. Jared Goff threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns in the shootout against the Chiefs and has 14 scoring passes against one interception over his past five games. Brandin Cooks has bounced back from a quiet three-game stretch with three consecutive 100-yard games, hauling in 24 receptions in that span. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh returns to the city where he began his career but Aaron Donald is a bigger threat with an NFL-high 14.5 sacks.

ABOUT THE LIONS (4-7): After years of having one of the league’s worst rushing attacks, Detroit finally had established a solid ground game before rookie Kerryon Johnson suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for a second straight game. LeGarrette Blount was brought out of mothballs to fill in for Johnson on Thanksgiving and responded by rushing for a season-high 88 yards and two touchdowns. Matthew Stafford has only three touchdown passes versus four interceptions over the past four games and is working with a depleted receiving corps led by Kenny Golladay. Nose tackle Damon Harrison has solidified a run defense that has yielded 148 yards in the last three games.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Cooks needs 36 yards to become the first player in NFL history with 1,000 yards for three different teams in three straight seasons.

2. Stafford has 12 touchdown passes and two interceptions in his last four games games versus NFL West foes.

3. Gurley, who has an NFL-best 17 TDs, has scored in his last seven road games.

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