Sports: Lions, Broncos Have a Tough Sunday

The Lions lost to New Orleans 52-38 on Sunday.  The Saints built a five-touchdown lead as their defense forced five turnovers and scored three times.  Detroit fell short on their comeback effort.  Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns. He also had three passes tipped for interceptions and he fumbled twice.  The Lions are off next weekend.  They’re 3-3 and third in the NFC North.

Bronco Football

Akron beat Western Michigan 14-13 in a game delayed until Sunday due to 8 inches of rainfall in Kalamazoo on Saturday. Western Michigan had the ball with 45 seconds left but could only get to the Akron 39 before Jon Wassink was sacked on the final play.  Western’s Josh Grant missed two field-goal attempts, from 25 and 49 yards. He couldn’t get off the final kick, as the Broncos scrambled to the line with no timeouts before time expired.

The game was supposed to have been played Saturday.   Crews drained one million gallons of water off the surface of Waldo Stadium.   Kalamazoo College had its football field ready for Sunday if Waldo Stadium wasn’t cleared.  The postponement also left Akron scrambling for hotels. The team stayed in Lansing.

College Football Rankings

Alabama is till #1 in the AP College Football Poll.  Penn State is 2^nd. Georgia is now #3.  A season-high seven ranked teams, including four in the top 10, lost to unranked teams. Defending national champion Clemson and defending Pac-12 champion Washington were the highest ranked teams to lose.  TCU is No. 4 and Wisconsin is No. 5.  Ohio State, Clemson, Miami, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State round out the top 10.

NFL

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in the first quarter of Sunday's 23-10 loss to the Vikings in Minnesota.  Rodgers could miss the remainder of the season.

The Chiefs became the last NFL team to lose.  Le'Veon Bell ran for 179 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers' 19-13 win at Kansas City.

Tom Brady set an NFL record with his 187th regular-season win as the Patriots beat the Jets.

Tonight …The Colts visit the Titans.

Red Wings

The Red Wings are off to a 5-2 start and host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at Little Caesar’s Arena.   Detroit is still hoping to sign holdout forward Andreas Athanasiou. General Manager Ken Holland spoke briefly with Athanasiou's agent, Thursday in Arizona, and hopes he and Coach Jeff Blashill can speak with Athanasiou by phone this week.  Athanasiou is skating with HC Lugano in Switzerland while assessing his options.

Baseball Playoffs

The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading to Chicago with a two-games-to-none lead over the defending World Series champs in the National League Championship Series. Justin Turner capped his four-RBI day by slamming a three-run homer off John Lackey in the bottom of the ninth to give the Dodgers a 4-1 win over the Cubs.  It came on the 29th anniversary of Kirk Gibson's walk-off homer that gave Los Angeles Game 1 of the World Series against Oakland.  Game 3 is Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

The Astros lead the Yankees two games to none.  New York hosts game 3 tonight.  It’ll be Charlie Morton against C.C. Sabathia.

Pistons

The Pistons are 2-3 on the season and host the Hornets on Wednesday night at Little Caesar’s Arena.

NASCAR

Brad Keselowski gave his NASCAR championship hopes a big boost by winning Sunday at Talladega.  Keselowski earned an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs after entering the race ranked 10th among the 12 contenders.  There were only 14 cars running at the conclusion, and only four were playoff drivers. The race was red-flagged three times for nearly 35 minutes.

Tennis

Maria Sharapova has won her first WTA title since returning from a doping ban. The 30-year-old Russian defeated Belarusian teenager Aryna Sabalenka to win the Tianjin Open as a wild-card entry, 7-5, 7-6.

Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL.  The former San Francisco 49s quarterback alleges that he remains unsigned as a result of collusion by owners following his protests during the national anthem.