Weekend In Review: NFL Streaks, College Football, NASCAR, College Hoops-Busy Times In Sports

A Busy Weekend In Sports The New Orleans Saints are running hot. Really. And others are streaking as well. The Saints rushed for 298 yards and a franchise-record six...

A Busy Weekend In Sports

The New Orleans Saints are running hot. Really. And others are streaking as well.

The Saints rushed for 298 yards and a franchise-record six touchdowns in shredding the Buffalo Bills 47-10 in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Saints (7-2) won their seventh consecutive game while the Bills (5-4) were beaten at home for the first time this season.

The Minnesota Vikings are also generating some heat. They beat the Washington Redskins 38-30 for their fifth straight. Case Keenum threw four touchdown passes, each to a different receiver, and the Vikings (7-2) prevailed on the road against the injury-gutted Redskins (4-5).

The New England Patriots (7-2) have also won five in a row. They tore up the Denver Broncos 41-16 on Sunday night; the Broncos (3-6) lost their fifth in a row.

The Pittsburgh Steelers made it four in a row as Chris Boswell kicked a 33-yard field goal on the final play for a 20-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts (3-7). The Steelers (7-2) trailed 17-3 in the third quarter but pulled even on a pair of touchdown passes by Ben Roethlisberger.

Jared Goff passed for 355 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Rams (7-2) to their fourth straight victory, 33-7 over the Houston Texans (3-6).

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3) won a third straight game for the first time since 2013, beating the Los Angeles Chargers (3-6) in overtime, 20-17 in overtime.

And the previously-winless San Francisco 49ers ended their nine-game stretch of misery by coming from behind to beat the equally-miserable (and maybe moreso) New York Giants 31-21. The Giants (1-8) could well fire coach Ben McAdoo on Monday. The 49ers got their first victory under rookie coach Kyle Shanahan.

Special tip of the helmet to Atlanta’s Adrian Clayborn, who had six sacks of Dak Prescott in the Falcons’ 27-7 victory. Clayborn missed tying the single-game record by one. The Cowboys played without suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott; both teams are 5-4.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Miami was a big winner on the field on Saturday night and in the Associated Press poll on Sunday. Miami, which was previously ranked No. 7, vaulted to second (behind Alabama) on the strength of its 41-8 rout of Notre Dame. The Irish dropped six spots to No. 9. Miami (8-0) has its highest ranking since 2003.

Oklahoma moved up to two spots to No. 3, leapfrogging Clemson, which stayed at No. 4. Unbeaten Wisconsin moved up a spot to No. 5.
The College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday night.

Also: Tennessee fired coach Butch Jones after Saturday’s 50-17 loss to Missouri. The Volunteers, 4-6, have lost five of six and are 0-6 in the SEC. Defensive line coach Brady Hoke was named interim coach.

NASCAR: Brad Keselowski finished 16th at Sunday’s Can-Am 500 race at Phoenix International Speedway but earned the last spot in NASCAR’s championship race at Homestead-Miami. The final four in championship contention: Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski became the first men’s Division I coach to win 1,000 games at one school Saturday night when his top-ranked Blue Devils beat Utah Valley 99-69. Freshman Marvin Bagley III had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman