Articles archive from November 24


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. "We knew this was a gotta have it' drive at the end of the game and the guys really stepped up."Fitzpatrick also threw a 54 yard TD pass to Justin Hunter and Rob Bironas added three field goals to give Tennessee (5 6) its second win in seven games. But despite the recent slump, the Titans find themselves in a six way tie for the final playoff spot in the AFC."We knew going into this one, in our world it was a playoff game," coach Mike Munchak said. "We couldn't fall to 4 7, we knew that. I'm sure they felt the same way, so that was a huge drive."The Raiders (4 7) missed a chance to get into that group as the defense failed to hold onto a late Bronc... Bradley Roby Jersey lead and Sebastian Janikowski missed two field goals. After Bironas put Tennessee up 16 12 with his third field goal, Matt McGloin led the Raiders on a 75 yard scoring drive. He completed all four attempts and accounted for all but 1 yard on the drive, capping it with a 27 yard pass to Marcel Reece with 6:10 to play. Fitzpatrick calmly moved Tennessee downfield, completing eight of 10 passes. Then facing third and goal from the 10, Fitzpatrick found Wright, who beat Tracy Porter on an out pattern from the slot and fell into the end zone for the winning score."Ryan made a great throw," Wright said. "All I had to do was look it in and get in the end zone. Before the start of that drive we said we weren't going to let Rob Bironas come out here and kick a field goal to tie it up. We wanted to go down there and score seven. We'd been in this predicament a lot this season where we had the ball and we couldn't finish. We finally put it together and finished today." The play flittingly came on third down, when Fitzpatrick was at his best on his 31st birthday. He converted 10 of 18 third downs in the game, often in long yardage situations in his best game yet in place of the injured Jake Locker. "Whether it was game plan, guys out of position on certain things, coverages, landmarks, we're supposed to get on the quarterback. We were just out executed."Fitzpatrick and the Titans capitalized on a blown assignment for the first touchdown of the game on the opening drive of the third quarter. He completed 19 of 32 passes for 260 yards to earn a third start Thursday in Dallas, but also threw an interception that set up Tennessee's second field goal."Up and down day," McGloin said. "You're going to have days like that. I thought we missed on a couple of opportunities offensively, but we'll go back to the drawing board."GLENDALE, Ariz. "We just finally put it together as a unit. We're starting to believe in each other and trust one another and we're making plays all around."Arians became interim head coach of the Colts last season when Chuck Pagano was stricken with leukemia. Indianapolis went 9 3 under Arians, earning him coach of the year honors and a head coaching job in the desert. Now the 61 year old coach is doing the same kind of job with the Cardinals (7 4). "The emotions of this game were gone way before kickoff," Arians said. "I saw a lot of friends, a lot of dear guys on that team. But once the whistle blows, it's just you and your brother in the backyard."And Arizona was the big brother in this one."I think this was a respect game," Palmer said. "I don't think we're well respected throughout the league and that's not anybody's fault but our own. "But I think we're better than people think and when you beat a good team, and a team that's beat good teams, it ups your respect among your peers and throughout the league."Fitzgerald caught five passes for 52 yards, becoming the youngest player in NFL history to reach 11,000 yards receiving. "Until you get it fixed they are going to keep coming at us. It is the same thing week in and week out on both sides of the ball and on special teams. . They are going to keep coming at you until we put out the fire. 'The Colts still have a solid lead in the AFC South."I don't know if I can big picture it right now coming off the field after we getting our butts beat like that. It is hard to," Luck said. "I guess we are sitting at 7 4, but I don't know what that means either."Jay Feely kicked four field goals in Arizona's highest scoring game in three years, including a 21 yarder in the final minutes with the outcome long decided. But Arizona's offense got it rolling again. They have to finish in the top 12 of the last BCS standings, which comes out Dec. Alabama 2. Florida St. 3. Ohio St. 4. Auburn 5. Missouri 6. Clemson 7. Oklahoma St.8. Stanford 9. Baylor 10. South Carolina 11. Michigan St. 12. Arizona St. 13. Oregon 14. N. Illinois 15. Wisconsin 16. Fresno St. 17. LSU 18. Oklahoma 19. UCF 20. Louisville 21. Texas A 22. UCLA 23. Southern Cal 24. Duke 25. Notre DameBlackhawks game dayBlackhawks vs. Expect Devan Dubnyk to start in goal against Corey Crawford. The Hawks had no word on the playing status of Marian Hossa on Sunday, a day off for the team. Hossa missed Saturday's 2 1 win at Vancouver attending to a personal matter in Chicago. LOUIS The Long brothers were part of a first half tussle, and the St. Louis Rams pushed the Bears around most of the day. The Bears had a 62 yard punt return for touchdown by Devin Hester nullified by a holding penalty in the fourth quarter. The Longs Chicago guard Kyle and St. Louis defensive end Chris lined up close to each other all day and were the focal point of one skirmish in the first half. After McCown threw an incomplete pass to fullback Tony Fiammetta in the second half, Fiammetta and Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson squared off, causing players from both teams to rumble. Kyle Long raced down the field get to Rams end William Hayes, and had him down before his big brother intervened. Backup quarterback Matt Flynn threw for 218 yards to help the Packers storm back from a 16 point deficit for a 26 26 tie as the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay could only muster field goals in overtime Sunday. But the Chargers (5 6) still had two timeouts, and they used both of them to quickly move downfield. They can blame five turnovers for throwing away a chance to improve their playoff positioning. Rookie Geno Smith completed nine of 22 passes for 127 yards and two interceptions, both by Corey Graham. New York had alternated wins and losses in its first 10 games, but the pattern ended here with its second straight defeat. 15. Jones Drew's touchdown on Jacksonville's first drive put the Jaguars (2 9) on top, and they never trailed against an inept and ineffective Texans offense. Josh Scobee added two field goals. Case Keenum had the worst performance in his five starts, throwing for just 169 yards with an interception. Campbell was struck in the helmet by Gay and his head snapped back and banged the turf.