As the Steelers huddled around him, Mike Tomlin was presented with a game ball following his first game as Pittsburgh’s coach. The Cleveland Browns handed him win No. 1 much earlier. In their first game in 15 years without iconic coach Bill Cowher stalking the sideline, the Steelers blitzed, battered and bullied their way to a 34-7 win over the hapless Browns, whose season opener couldn’t have gone…
Somewhere, Michael Vick must have been shaking his head. Joey Harrington just shrugged off Atlanta’s season opener as a stroke of bad luck, but this was a troubling start. The Minnesota defense overwhelmed Harrington with six sacks and two interception returns for touchdowns, and rookie running back Adrian Peterson finished off the Falcons in a 24-3 victory by the Vikings on Sunday.
One dramatic hit will not make up for Ray Durham’s down season — yet it sure brightened the Giants’ mood for a day against their archrivals. Durham stepped in as a pinch-hitter and had a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers missed another chance to gain ground in the playoff race with a 4-2 loss to San Francisco on Sunday.
Individual accomplishments were about all the Colorado Rockies had to talk about this late in seasons past. Not this September. There’s plenty more to discuss. Colorado beat San Diego 4-2 on Sunday to take two of three in the series and close within three games of the wild card-leading Padres. The Rockies began the day six behind first-place Arizona in the NL West, while San Diego was two back.
Randy Moss caught a long pass and stepped into the end zone, flashing the dominant playmaking ability that made him one of NFL’s most feared wide receivers. Looks like it’s time for opposing defenses to get scared again. Moss caught nine passes from Tom Brady for 183 yards and a touchdown in his New England debut, leading the Patriots to a 38-14 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Steve Smith conjured echoes of the 2003 playoffs with another long touchdown catch that propelled the Carolina Panthers and quieted the same St. Louis crowd. Smith outsprinted Tye Hill on a 68-yard catch for the go-ahead play in Carolina’s 27-13 opening victory on Sunday. As Smith eased into the end zone, Hill could only watch as he stumbled and then slid on his stomach for several yards.
Oprah Winney rolled to an easy win Sunday in the $104,700 Schenectady Handicap at Belmont Park in her final tuneup before the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. has targeted the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on Oct. 26 at Monmouth Park as the next start for the 4-year-old. “This race served its purpose,” Dutrow said.
The Brewers became only the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected Sunday off Phil Dumatrait in Milwaukee’s 10-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Weeks and Braun each hit another homer and J.J. Hardy added two doubles — all in the first four innings — to keep Milwaukee in first place in the NL Central.
Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson joined Willie Mays and Frank “Wildfire” Schulte as the only players in major league history with 20 stolen bases, 20 homers, 20 triples and 20 doubles. Granderson stole his 20th base Sunday in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners, and received a rousing, standing ovation from fans in the stands and teammates in the dugout at Detroit’s Comerica Park.
