Monday Sports – Lions beat Rams in dramatic season opening OT thriller

NFL – National Football League – Week 1
Yesterday
Detroit Lions 26, Los Angeles Rams 20 – OT
Chicago Bears 24, Tennessee Titans 17
Houston Texans 29, Indianapolis Colts 27

Lions 26, Rams 20 – OT – Montgomery’s 1-yard touchdown run in OT lifts Lions to 26-20 win over Rams
David Montgomery scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in overtime, lifting the Detroit Lions to a 26-20 win over the Matthew Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams in a rematch of an NFC wild-card game. The Lions lost a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter and extended the game with Jake Bates’ tying 32-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in regulation. Detroit won the coin flip and took advantage of having the ball, gaining at least 9 yards on its first four plays in overtime to set up Montgomery’s game-winning score.  Stafford completed 34 of 49 passes for 317 yards with a touchdown and an interception, lobbing a ball in the middle of end zone where Kerby Joseph was waiting early in the second quarter. He took some hits, particularly on his right ankle, and popped up each time and make more plays.  Goff was 18 of 28 for 217 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Williams tied a career high with five catches and set a personal best with 121 yards receiving.

Bears 24, Titans 17 – Williams has a rough debut but gets bailed out by Bears’ defense in 24-17 win over Titans
Caleb Williams got bailed out by his defense in a rough debut, with Tyrique Stevenson returning an interception 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to lead the Chicago Bears a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The Bears have their sights set on a playoff spot after going 10-24 over the previous two seasons. They trailed 17-0 in the first half, but they shut down the Titans from there and spoiled the debut of Tennessee coach Brian Callahan. Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, finished 14 of 29 for 93 yards with a 55.7 passer rating.

Texans 29, Colts 27 – Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon combine to lead Texans past Colts 29-27 in season opener
Stefon Diggs caught two touchdown passes and Joe Mixon rushed for 159 yards and another score to help the Houston Texans close out a 29-27 victory at Indianapolis. It was the ninth straight road win in division play for Houston. The Colts extended the NFL’s longest active opening day winless streak to 11 despite getting two TD passes of more than 50 yards from Anthony Richardson. But Richardson also missed two open receivers on what could have been scoring plays.

Tonight
New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers, 8:15 p.m.

NFL – Stafford comes up short in Detroit in another chance to lead Rams to win over Lions
Matthew Stafford led 31 fourth-quarter comebacks with the Detroit Lions. On Sunday night, he nearly got one against them. Playing behind a makeshift offensive line, Stafford helped Los Angeles overcome a 17-3 deficit. His 9-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp gave the Rams a 20-17 lead with 4:35 to play, but the Lions ultimately won 26-20 in overtime. After the Rams went ahead, the defense forced the Lions into a three-and-out, giving Stafford the ball back at the 11-yard line with 4:10 to go. The Rams could not finish the job.

NFL – Caleb Williams looked like a rookie QB in his NFL debut, but a winning one at least
Making his NFL debut with the Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams looked like a rookie quarterback. Except he won. Williams passed for just 93 yards and Chicago’s offense struggled against Tennessee. But Williams and the Bears had zero turnovers, and they used their defense and special teams to rally for an improbable 24-17 victory over the Titans. He missed some throws and held on to the ball too long at times, but the 22-year-old Williams became the first QB drafted No. 1 overall to win his first career start since David Carr in 2002.

NFL – Tyreek Hill detained by police before Dolphins game. Officer placed on leave
Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins was handcuffed and placed face down on a street outside the team’s stadium after he was stopped for speeding and reckless driving Sunday morning before the Dolphins’ first game of the season. The incident Sunday morning left the star wide receiver baffled and resulted in a police officer being placed on administrative leave. The officer was one of at least three involved in detaining Hill. Some fans saw Hill being handcuffed and captured video on their way to the game, and it went viral on social media. Hill was told after the game that the officer was placed on leave and said, “That should tell you everything you need to know.”
MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Detroit Tigers 9, Oakland A’s 1
Chicago White Sox 7, Boston Red Sox 2
Chicago Cubs 2, New York Yankees 1

Tigers 9, Athletics 1 – Sweeney has 4 hits, Madden strikes out 7 in Tigers’ 9-1 win over Athletics
Trey Sweeney had four hits that included a home run, Ty Madden struck out seven and the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 9-1 on Sunday. The Tigers, looking to make a late rally in the AL Wild Card race, took two out of three in Oakland and are two games above .500. Madden and Beau Brieske combined to take a no-hit bid into the fifth, with Madden recording his first career win after Brieske served as an opener in the first. The 24-year-old struck out seven in five innings and held the A’s to one run in his third major league appearance.

White Sox 7, Red Sox 2 – White Sox score 5 runs in the 9th and avoid a series sweep with 7-2 comeback win
Dominic Fletcher’s RBI double sparked a five-run ninth inning and the Chicago White Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. Chicago starter Chris Flexen’s winless streak extended to 21 straight starts — the longest in team history — after he was pulled with the game tied in the seventh inning. The 30-year-old right-hander gave up two runs on six hits, striking out six and walking one. Chicago (33-11) had lost 14 of its last 15 games before rallying against against Boston reliever Zack Kelly (6-3). Zach DeLoach added a two-run single in the ninth inning.

Cubs 2, Yankees 1 – Cubs beat AL East-leading Yankees 2-1 to avoid a series sweep
Jameson Taillon allowed only one run in six innings and the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Yankees 2-1 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep. Taillon (10-8) struck out six against his former team. He gave up Anthony Volpe’s second-inning, RBI sacrifice fly and allowed six hits. New York remained a half-game ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AL East. Isaac Paredes singled with the bases loaded in the first against Gerrit Cole (6-4) to drive in both runs. The runs were unearned because of an error by Gleyber Torres, who leads big league second basemen with 17 errors this season.

Tonight
Cleveland (Lively 11-9) at Chicago White Sox (Nastrini 0-7), 7:40 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 3-11) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 1-4), 10:10 p.m.
Tigers are off

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Yesterday
Indiana Fever 104, Atlanta Dream 100 – OT
Chicago Sky 92, Dallas Wings 77

Fever 104, Dream 100 – OT – Boston’s career day, Clark’s double-double help Fever beat Dream 104-100 in OT
Aliyah Boston scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Caitlin Clark added 26 points and 12 assists to help the Indiana Fever beat Atlanta 104-100 in overtime Sunday and spoil the Dream’s Rhyne Howard’s third consecutive game with more than 30 points. Clark posted her franchise-record 14th double-double of the season for Indiana. Kelsey Mitchell added 21 points and Lexie Hull scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Howard hit four 3-pointers and finished a career-high 36 points for Atlanta.

Sky 92, Wings 77 – Chennedy Carter scores 11 of her 28 in the first quarter as Sky cruise to 92-77 win over Wings
Chennedy Carter scored seven of her 28 points in the first couple minutes and the Chicago Sky never trailed in their 92-77 win over the Dallas Wings. Chicago has a one-game lead game lead over the Atlanta Dream for the eighth and final playoff spot with five games remaining in the Sky’s regular season. Dallas has lost four games in a row. Carter scored 11 points in the first quarter, and Chicago used a 13-1 run midway through the period to blow the game open. Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 23 points.

Tennis – Jannik Sinner beats Taylor Fritz in the US Open men’s final
Jannik Sinner has defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 with a relentless baseline game to win the U.S. Open men’s championship less than three weeks after being exonerated in a doping case. The No. 1-ranked Sinner is a 23-year-old from Italy whose victory Sunday gave him the second Grand Slam trophy of his nascent career.

NCAAFB – SEC grabs six of the first seven spots; Notre Dame tumbles to No. 18
After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25, a first in the 88-year history of the rankings. Georgia received 54 out of a possible 63 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on No. 1. No. 2 Texas jumped a spot after dominating defending national champion Michigan on the road and received four first-place votes. No. 3 Ohio State slipped a spot. Then came No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Mississippi, No. 6 Missouri and No. 7 Tennessee from the SEC. Notre Dame tumbled to 18th after being upset by Northern Illinois.

NASCAR – Joey Logano wins NASCAR playoff opener at Atlanta
Joey Logano raced his way into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs by winning the opener in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Logano is the only two-time Cup Series champion in the 16-driver playoff field. He earned an automatic berth into the next round of races. His victory came in the 11th race of this season to end in overtime — a tie for the record set in the 2017 season. Ryan Blaney finished second in a 1-2 sweep for Team Penske and Ford. Blaney lined up behind Logano and gave him the pushes he needed to deny Daniel Suarez the victory.

TV – DirecTV files complaint against Disney with FCC
The impasse between DirecTV and Disney over a new carriage agreement has become more heated as it entered its second week. DirecTV filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Saturday night accusing Disney of negotiating in bad faith. Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC-owned stations in nine markets, have been off DirecTV since the evening of Sept. 1. That meant DirecTV customers were blacked out from viewing most college football games and the final week of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, including the women’s and men’s finals. DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Yesterday
Lansing 4, West Michigan 3
South Bend 3, Fort Wayne 1
Great Lakes 6, Dayton 5

End of 2024 Midwest League Season, South Bend, West Michigan, Lansing and Great Lakes did not qualify for the playoffs

MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Tonight
Girls Volleyball
Buchanan at Lakeshore, 6:30 p.m.
New Buffalo at Dowagiac,
Kalamazoo Central, Kalamazoo Christian, at Plainwell, 5:00 p.m.

Boys Soccer
Michigan Lutheran at Our Lady of the Lake, 5:00 p.m.
Buchanan at New Buffalo, 6:00 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Fennville, 6:30 p.m.
Eau Claire at Brandywine, 5:00 p.m.
Howardsville Christian at Covert, 5:00 p.m.
Vicksburg at Dowagiac, 5:00 p.m.
Saugatuck at South Haven, 6:30 p.m.
Constantine at Allegan, 6:00 p.m.
Coloma at Bridgman, 5:00 p.m.
Watervliet at Holland Black River, 5:00 p.m.
Bangor at Bloomingdale, 6:30 p.m.
Schoolcraft at Kalamazoo Hackett, 5:30 p.m.
Comstock at Hartford, 5:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Christian at Lawton, 6:00 p.m.
Delton-Kellogg at Parchment, 6:00 p.m.

Boys Tennis
St. Joseph at Portage Northern, 4:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Central at Lakeshore, 4:00 p.m.
Niles at Otsego, 4:00 p.m.

Girls Golf
Wolverine Conference at Niles, 4:00 p.m.             (Orchard Hills CC)