Mitchell Trubisky completed 19 of 26 passes for 354 yards and six touchdowns, and host Chicago coasted to a win over Tampa Bay. Trubisky enjoyed by far the best start of his two-year career, tossing more touchdown passes (five) than incomplete passes (four) during the first half. Taylor Gabriel caught two touchdowns for the Bears (3-1). Four others hauled in one touchdown apiece Trey Burton, Allen Robinson, Tarik Cohen and Josh Bellamy. The Buccaneers (2-2) gave up 30-plus points for the third time this season.
Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired in overtime, and the visiting Houston Texans pulled out a 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, halting a nine-game winless streak that dated back to last November. Houston (1-3) benefited from the odd decision of Colts coach Frank Reich to attempt a fourth-down conversion at the Indianapolis 43-yard line inside the final minute. Andrew Luck was errant on his pass attempt, and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson answered with a 19-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins to set up the game-winning kick. Fairbairn and Adam Vinatieri traded field goals in overtime. Vinatieri drilled a 42-yard field goal for Indianapolis (1-3) to close the first half, surpassing Hall of Famer Morten Anderson with his NFL-record 566th field goal. The overtime boot raised his total to 567.
(Reuters) – It’s playoff time in Major League Baseball with a pair of tiebreak games on Monday launching the month-long chase to World Series honors. The Milwaukee Brewers will be at the Chicago Cubs after the two tied for the National League Central title and the Colorado Rockies will travel to the Los Angeles Dodgers to decide the National League West championship. Win or lose, all four teams will play on, either as division champions or National League wild card teams.
Ryan Blaney successfully navigated his way through a final-lap wreck that claimed the top two drivers, took the lead and went on to win the Bank of America Roval 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s infield road course. The victory at Concord, N.C., in the cutoff event of the first round of the playoffs gave Blaney automatic entry into the Round of 12 of the 10-race playoffs, which resume next weekend in Dover, Del.
University of Massachusetts head football coach Mark Whipple was suspended without pay for one week by the school on Sunday, a day after he drew an analogy to rape while discussing a sequence in his team’s game. On UMass’ radio broadcast after the Minutemen’s 58-42 loss at Ohio University, Whipple referred to a play on which he believed the Bobcats should have been flagged for pass interference, saying, “We had a chance there … and they rape us, and (the referee) picks up the flag.” Whipple was suspended for UMass’ home game this Saturday against South Florida, and he was ordered to undergo a sensitivity training program, the school announced.