Monday 9/24/18
24 September 2018 Sports
Sports from Wayne Mausser
Adrian Peterson ran for 120 yards and a pair of 2-yard scores, Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes – all in the first half Sunday – and the Washington Redskins held on for a 31-17 victory over a gimpy Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, who again had complaints about a roughing-the-passer penalty on Clay Matthews.
On a rainy afternoon, the Redskins (2-1) moved out to leads of 14-0 and, at halftime, 28-10, by putting together TD drives of 74, 75, 79 and 98 yards.
Smith, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 220 yards, connected for TDs of 46 yards to Paul Richardson on the game’s fourth play and of 9 to Jamison Crowder in the second quarter.
Peterson, who ran 19 times Sunday, raised his career total to 102 rushing touchdowns, breaking a tie at 100 with Marshall Faulk and Shaun Alexander and moving him alone into seventh place in NFL history behind Emmitt Smith’s record of 164. This was Peterson’s 52nd game with at least 100 yards on the ground, and first since Nov. 5, 2017, for Arizona against San
Playing with a bulky brace on his left knee, which he hurt in Week 1, Rodgers hobbled and limped around, and couldn’t do enough to get the Packers (1-1-1) back into the game.
He finished 27 for 44 for 265 yards with two TDs – of 64 yards to Geronimo Allison and 2 yards to Davante Adams – and was sacked four times.
But Green Bay’s receivers had problems with drops, plus Randall Cobb was stripped of the ball by Fabian Moreau – Josh Norman recovered the fumble – after a completion with about 5½ minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
In the third, Packers linebacker Matthews was flagged for roughing Smith – and there are sure to be more questions about what constitutes a penalty on such plays. Matthews broke in alone on Smith, wrapped him and brought him down. Matthews immediately put his arms up and slapped himself in the helmet as the flag was thrown.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy threw down a play-calling sheet and argued with two officials about the call, even chasing one along the sideline as he backpedaled away.
In Green Bay’s 29-all tie against the Minnesota Vikings last week, a potentially win-sealing interception for the Packers was wiped out by a roughing call on Matthews when he hit Kirk Cousins.
Elsewhere in the NFC North
Buffalo 27, Minnesota 6…The Vikings lost at home and dropped to 1-1-1.
Chicago 16, Arizona 14…The Bears improve to 2-1 and lead the division.
Detroit 26, New England 10…The Lions are 1-2.
Tonight…Pittsburgh is at Tampa Bay.
Christian Yelich hit his 32nd home run, Travis Shaw added his 31st and the Milwaukee Brewers blew past the mistake-prone Pittsburgh Pirates 13-6 on Sunday.
Yelich finished 2 for 3 to boost his batting average to an NL-leading .322 as Milwaukee won for the third time in four games to bolster its chances of reaching the postseason for just the fifth time in franchise history. The Brewers (89-67) hold the top NL wild-card spot and remained 2½ games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, as well as two games ahead of St. Louis, which has the second wild-card position. Both rivals also won Sunday.
Yelich blasted a three-run shot in the second inning off spot starter Nick Kingham (5-7), and Shaw followed two batters later with a long drive over the right-field seats as the Brewers built an early seven-run lead and cruised. Mike Moustakas, acquired in a midseason trade with Kansas City, added his 28th homer of the season, eight of them with Milwaukee.
Corey Knebel (3-3) picked up the win in relief after starter Wade Miley failed to record an out during a rocky fifth inning.
The Brewers will continue their final road trip of 2018 with a visit to St. Louis for three games beginning on Monday. The Crew enters two games ahead of the Cardinals for the first National League Wild Card spot and is 8-8 against St. Louis this season. Chase Anderson was originally scheduled to pitch, but manager Craig Counsell announced late Sunday that “with what we have available … and where guys are at, we think that probably mixing and matching is the best way.” Jack Flaherty, (8-8, 3.08 ERA), will start for the Cardinals. First pitch is at 715.
Golf
Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship yesterday, his first tournament win in over five years. The victory was his 80th on the PGA Tours. Justin Rose won the Fed-Ex Cup with a birdie on the final hole.
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