Giants quarterback Daniel Jones offered a rare angry outburst after a failed fourth-quarter two-point conversion in which none of the blockers blocked, simply watching Jones throw the ball.
It felt emblematic of the night.
The offense would do something right and then take two steps backward due to miscues and plenty of sloppy, penalty-filled football. Following that play, Jones was visibly upset on the sidelines, flailing his arms at one point in conference with coach Brian Daboll.
Jones was sacked four times, with the offensive line struggling to protect him from TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith. Late in the fourth quarter, the defense forced a fumble with game-tying potential, but right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor couldn’t hold off Watt, who forced a fumble of his own.
Jones went 24-for-38 for 264 yards and an interception.
This is more discomfort than the Nuggets are used to feeling in their stomachs.
Their three-time MVP isn’t saying much to calm it. After his 41-point outburst went to waste Saturday afternoon, Nikola Jokic was asked by what point in the season he feels the Nuggets need to have themselves figured out. He responded, with the same frankness that he used this week to call them a bad shooting team, “probably yesterday.”
Meanwhile, Jokic’s longtime point guard recommends Pepto Bismol.
“I have a more in-depth picture of us than everybody looking from the outside in, but we won a championship with most of the guys that have been here,” Jamal Murray said after Denver’s 109-104 loss to the Clippers. “We’ve been here together for a while. We have trust in everybody. … I think we’re gradually getting better; it’s just not translating into wins yet.”
This is only the second season of Jokic’s career that Denver has started 0-2. After Saturday’s games, the Nuggets ranked last in the NBA in team offensive rating at 97.4, albeit still with a comically small sample size. And now the comforts of home will be abandoned as they try to correct course on a three-game road trip, starting Monday night in Toronto.
Murray’s health, production and lineup deployment are major aspects of the uncertainty surrounding the 2023 champions. But he came to his team’s defense — particularly regarding its depth and 3-point shooting — after an individual performance that was up to standard. He went for 22 points and five assists on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3 of 6 from outside.
“P-Wat (Peyton Watson) is coming back from injury, and we know he can make, and we know what he’s capable of on both ends,” Murray said. “CB (Christian Braun) is taking the leap.”
Braun’s fit in the starting lineup has been low on the list of problems. He has scored in double figures both games while providing impressive on-ball defense against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and James Harden. In its 48 minutes together, the slightly new-look starting five has a net rating of 14.1. Michael Porter Jr.’s shooting slump aside, it has mostly picked up where it left off with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The hole left behind in the second unit by Braun’s promotion is another story.
Denver’s bench has started the season 10 for 46 from the field (21.7%). The four rotation players behind Michael Malone’s starting lineup combined for just five rebounds against Los Angeles, accentuating the unit’s lack of size. Defensively, it has been inconsistent. Dario Saric struggled to size up to his countryman Ivica Zubac, a more traditional center, who amassed 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers.
“A lot of it’s coming from chemistry,” Murray said of the slow start. “I remember I was running the break today, and I didn’t know if I should go to the two or the three. … We were talking about some of that stuff in the locker room.”
Murray has played in the second unit both games, though to a lesser degree on Saturday. In 11 minutes during the season-opener, a bench lineup featuring Murray as the lone stagger registered a minus-37.3 net rating, 37.9% rebounding rate and 38.3% true shooting percentage.
Staggering Murray is nothing new in Denver, but the fit has been awkward so far this season with only one ball to share between him and Russell Westbrook (who defended respectably Saturday but missed all eight of his shot attempts).
The Nuggets’ interest in Westbrook this summer was in part associated with his potential to push Murray competitively in practice. Whether they complement each other in games remains to be seen, but their first 21 minutes together have been a minus-28.9 net.
“Jamal’s a guard. He’s been a one. He’s been a two,” Malone said after the opener, reiterating what he has long believed. “In college, he was a two. It’s just that, for his Nuggets tenure, Jamal has been a guy that can be a starting one, and he can play with a point guard in the second unit. I think Russ and Jamal have a lot of potential to be really good together.”
Malone eased off the Murray stagger minutes in the second game, introducing a pinch of Porter as well. But the best second-unit minutes of the season so far were the handful featuring both Porter and Murray — perhaps not a coincidence, seeing as two starters were involved instead of one.
If that continues to be the case as the Nuggets hit the road, it would only go to show the precariousness of their depth this season.
Even if they figure themselves out soon, each game might simply be an exercise in holding breath and crossing fingers for no injuries.
“I just play with whoever’s out there in the 15-man group that we’ve got,” Murray said when asked about the lineups. “That’s a question for the head coach. I just work here.”
A new face in the lineup led to a win on “Sunday Night Football.” And no, we’re not talking about Davante Adams and the New York Jets.
Playing in his Pittsburgh debut after returning from a calf injury that had sidelined him since the preseason, quarterback Russell Wilson shook off a pair of shaky drives to throw for 264 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-15 win against New York.
The Steelers are now 5-2.
Though Justin Fields had led Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record in Wilson’s place, the team opted to give Wilson, the team’s starter coming out of training camp, a shot once his health improved. Wilson misfired on early throws against the Jets but soon found rhythm with deep touch passes and completed five passes to receiver George Pickens for 111 yards.
The quarterback-to-receiver connection everyone wanted to see was Adams in his reunion with former Green Bay Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers. The Jets traded with Las Vegas for Adams days earlier as part of a drama-filled week that included firing head coach Robert Saleh and demoting play caller Nathaniel Hackett. But inserting Adams, who lived with Rodgers during the week, into the starting lineup did not jump-start the offense as New York fell to 2-5.
Adams was targeted nine times but finished with three catches for 30 yards. His presence created room for teammates, but the Jets struggled to finish drives after Rodgers was intercepted twice by Beanie Bishop Jr.
Rodgers finished with 276 yards with a touchdown, as well.
The silver lining for the Jets’ weekend is that pass rusher Haason Reddick ended his contract holdout Sunday, allowing New York to insert a player with 58 career sacks into a defense that has dealt with attrition.
Previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and Oklahoma University for the Oklahoman.
PITTSBURGH — After proving his health and “knocking the rust off” in practice last week, Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is “in consideration” to start against the New York Jets on Sunday, coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.
Tomlin said he would make his choice between Wilson and Justin Fields as the starting quarterback “closer to game time.”
“I got comfortable with his ability to display his health [last week],” Tomlin said of Wilson. “… Now it’s about knocking the rust off. He is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us, man. Both guys at the quarterback position are scheduled to work [Wednesday] and we’ll just walk it day by day. All geared toward putting ourselves in best position to win the football game.”
Tomlin didn’t rule out the possibility of using both quarterbacks in the game Sunday night.
“Certainly there’s a scenario,” Tomlin said. “There could have been a scenario where that could have occurred last week.”
Wilson, 35, completed a full week of practice for the first time since aggravating his training camp injury on Sept. 5, and he was active in the win against the Las Vegas Raiders while Fields recorded his sixth start of the season.
“He proved his ability to protect himself, to move appropriately within the pocket to not be limited schematically in terms of some of the things that we were capable of doing or wanted to do,” Tomlin said of Wilson’s practice performance. “Those things had to happen before we could seriously consider him and his talents, and that happened a week ago.”
Tomlin, who has continued to list Wilson as QB1 on the depth chart throughout the duration of the quarterback’s injury, was vague on the exact plan for the division of labor in practice this week.
“I’m sure at some point,” Tomlin said when asked if Wilson would get first-team practice reps. “But I hadn’t decided who gets the ball first. That sort of minutiae has been undecided.”
The Steelers are 4-2 with Fields as the starting quarterback, including Sunday’s win against the Raiders, when he rushed for two touchdowns. Fields also has five passing touchdowns to just one interception and one fumble, and he has completed a career-high 66.3% of his pass attempts. But his QBR through six games is 54.0, ranking 20th among all quarterbacks, and the Steelers rank 28th in passing yards per game and 20th in points per game.
“Justin has been really good, and we’ve been really good at times, but not to be confused with great,” Tomlin said. “Man, this is a competitive league. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn’t had an opportunity to play, so we’re going to potentially explore those things.
“Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us. Last week, for example, his ability to utilize his legs by design and by ad-lib was a significant component of that game. He rushed 50-plus yards and two touchdowns in game and so we’re appreciative of that. We’re appreciative of how he’s taking care of the ball, but we’re just looking at all the people at our disposal the same way that we do at any position.”
Fields ranks fourth among quarterbacks in rushing yards (231) and is No. 1 with five rushing TDs through six games — the most in a single season by a Steelers quarterback since Kordell Stewart recorded five in 2001.
Asked if Wilson had the same capability to use his legs like Fields, Tomlin was blunt.
“No, he does not,” Tomlin said. “Justin’s legs are an X factor.”
So how could the offense change with Wilson at quarterback?
“It remains to be seen,” Tomlin said, “and I think that’s one of the cute things about this discussion.”
“[Russell Wilson] is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us,” he said.
Tomlin later added: “I’ll acknowledge that Russ proved his health last week, and we’re looking hard at him this week. It is up for consideration.”
Fields has started the first six games of the season, helping the Steelers to a 4-2 start but the offense has been inconsistent, particularly through the air. In the past two weeks, Fields has thrown for fewer than 150 yards and completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes. The dual-threat has done most of his damage with his legs, including two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over Las Vegas.
“Justin has been really good, and we’ve been good at times, but not to be confused with great,” Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday when asked why Fields had not done enough to be named starter despite a 4-2 record.
“This is a competitive league, man. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we’ve got a player with talent, who hadn’t have an opportunity to play, so we’re going to explore those things. Sometimes it doesn’t have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us. Last week, for example, his ability to utilize his legs by design and by ad lib was a significant component of that game. He rushed for 50-plus yards and two touchdowns. … We’re appreciative of that. We’re appreciative of how he’s taken care of the ball. But we’re just looking at all of the people at our disposal. The same way we do at any position.”
The question for Tomlin is whether he believes losing the dynamic rushing element Fields provides might be worth it if Wilson can bring more to the passing attack. It’s also possible the Steelers could utilize both QBs Sunday night against the Jets, something that Tomlin did not rule out on Tuesday.
America’s Masai Russell won a photo finish Saturday in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, where the biggest cheer came for Cyréna Samba-Mayela, whose silver medal marks the first of any color for France at the Olympic track meet.
In a close-as-can-be race down the straightaway, Russell finished in 12.33 seconds, but had to wait another 15 seconds to learn she had beaten the Frenchwoman by .01.
Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who competes for Puerto Rico, was another .02 back for bronze.
By finishing second, Samba-Mayela broke a shutout for the host country on the last day of action at the Stade de France.
The stadium has been packed all nine nights, cheering for sports stars from the United States, Kenya, Norway and all corners of the globe.
Still, the biggest cheer for a French athlete up to this point came for a swimmer: Léon Marchand, who won a gold medal in the pool on the opening night of the track meet, prompting race officials to ask for quiet while a crowd watching on tablets and phones went crazy.
Now, Samba-Mayela gave them a moment to cheer in person. It’s a nice break for a country with a rich track tradition, producing Olympic champions such as Marie-José Pérec and Renaud Lavillenie. Even with this medal, France remains without an Olympic gold on the track since Lavillenie won the pole vault in 2012.
Wanyonyi of Kenya wins men’s 800 in another race decided by .01 second
In a speedy men’s 800, Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi beat Canada’s Marco Arop by .01 seconds in a photo finish, finishing in 1:41.19, only .28 off the world record.
American Bryce Hoppel’s national record of 1:41.67 was only good for fourth.
Kipyegon wins third straight 1,500 gold
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her third straight Olympic 1,500-meter gold, surging ahead of the pack to finish more than a second ahead of the field in an Olympic record 3:51.29.
Kipyegon cemented her status as one of the all-time great middle-distance runners, becoming the first athlete to claim three successive Olympic 1,500 titles.
Australia’s Jessica Hull took silver and Britain’s Georgia Bell bronze as both found the strength to pass Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji on the home straight.
Ingebrigtsen gets a win, this one in the 5,000
Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 5,000 meters in a relatively drama-free race after a much-hyped 1,500 four nights earlier against Britain’s Josh Kerr turned into a disappointing fourth-place finish.
Ingebrigtsen won in 13 minutes, 13.66 seconds to add this title to wins at the past two world championships.
Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi finished second and Grant Fisher of the U.S. finished third to add to the bronze he won in the 10,000 meters earlier in the Olympics.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Masai Russell, of the United States, wins the women’s 100-meter hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Petr David Josek/AP
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Petr David Josek/AP
SAINT-DENIS, France — Masai Russell bolted down the track, legs scissoring gracefully as she cleared the ten hurdles that separated her from the finish line.
The 24-year-old from Maryland lunged across a fraction of a second ahead of French hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela. Her margin of victory? One one-hundredth of a second.
There was a moment’s delay while the photo finish was analyzed and Russell leapt in the air when her gold-medal win was confirmed. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico took bronze at the Olympics.
The win bookends a dominant showing for U.S. women hurdlers in Paris. On Thursday, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashed her own world record winning gold in the women’s 400-meter final.
