A Sports Filled Weekend It Was
Devonta Freeman scored twice on the ground to get the Atlanta Falcons rolling and they beat the Green Bay Packers 34-23 Sunday night at new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a game not as close as the score. The Falcons (2-0) led 31-7 early in the second half over the injury-riddled Packers.
The Denver Broncos (2-0) dismantled the 1-1 Dallas Cowboys 42-17; Ezekiel Elliott played as if suspended, gaining 8 yards on 9 carries; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) rubbed out the 0-2 Chicago Bears 29-7; the Oakland Raiders (2-0) grounded the 0-2 New York Jets 45-20, with Michael Crabtree catching three TD passes.
The New England Patriots (1-1) bounced back from an opening-day loss by beating the New Orleans Saints 36-20. Tom Brady threw three TD passes in the first quarter and passed for 447 yards against the defenseless Saints (0-2).
In your proverbial squeaker, the Arizona Cardinals (1-1) led the Indianapolis Colts (0-2) only once, and that was after Phil Dawson kicked a 30-yard field goal in overtime for the 16-13 win.
GOLF: Marc Leishman led wire-to-wire and shot a 72-hole tournament record of 23-under 261 to win the BMW Championship by five shots in Lake Forest, Illinois. The FedEx Cup now moves to its finale this week in Atlanta at East Lake.
NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. won the first race in the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs at Chicagoland Speedway. With his fifth victory of the season, Truex moved into the Cup’s final eight.
BOXING: They say that whatever happens is what’s best for boxing. So the draw Saturday night between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, leaving Golovkin with his middleweight belts, can only mean a more lucrative rematch. One scorecard had it 114-114, another 115-113 for Golovkin and the third, from a judge who must have been wearing a welder’s mask, at 118-110 for Alvarez.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The new AP poll has Alabama at No. 1 and Clemson, after a big victory over Louisville, jumping past Oklahoma to No. 2. After the Sooners come Penn State and USC. Florida, which beat Tennessee on a Hail Mary on the final play, moved up four spots to No. 20.
MLB: The Houston Astros clinched the American League West division by beating the Seattle Mariners 7-1. … Detroit’s Matthew Boyd missed a no-hitter by one out in the Tigers’ 12-0 over the Chicago White Sox.
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman
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