WATCH: Highlights from Broncos’ game against Vikings

Here are highlights from the Vikings’ win over the Broncos in Week 11.

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After jumping out to a 20-0 lead over the Vikings on the road in Week 11, the Broncos squandered their big first half and lost 27-23.

“We didn’t play well enough,” coach Vic Fangio said of the team’s second half performance. “They went no huddle, started throwing it a lot. We didn’t defend it well enough. We had our chances.

“They completed that one third and 15 or whatever it was, and that shouldn’t have happened. That allowed that drive to go. We just couldn’t make a play to get off the field there in the second half. Their passing game was way better than our pass defense.”

Fangio went on to praise his players for their performance.

“We didn’t lose that game because we didn’t play hard enough,” the coach said. “We had a good effort from a physical standpoint. They’re a good football team. They have a good record. They’re one of the best teams in the league. We just didn’t quite get it done.”

Up next for Denver is a road game against the Bills (7-3) in Week 12.

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Marcus Williams scores on an interception return, Saints win 34-17

New Orleans Saints S Marcus Williams intercepted Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston and returned the ball for a defensive touchdown.

It was a bad day in the office for Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who hurled four interceptions into the hands of the New Orleans Saints defense. His third turnover ended up getting returned from midfield for a Saints touchdown by free safety Marcus Williams, who correctly read the play design and took advantage of a badly-placed ball from Winston. With the ball in his hands, Williams turned on the jets to streak across the field and into the Tampa Bay end zone.

This was Williams’ fourth interception on the year, which leads the Saints defense and ties the 16-game total he collected as a rookie back in 2017. That year, Williams intercepted four passes and was credited with seven other pass breakups. In 2019, he’s already bagged four interceptions while deflecting a dozen passes — through just 10 games.

The big play extended New Orleans’ lead and earned congratulations from Williams’ teammates, including injured cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Lattimore was watching the game from home while nursing a strained hamstring, and he took time to shout out his friend from his official Twitter account:

You love to see it. See the play for yourself where it’s embedded below:

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Watch: Vonn Bell sends the Saints into halftime with his first career interception

New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell sent his team into halftime with his first career interception, snagging a deflected Jameis Winston pass

It’s taken some time, but after 61 games in the NFL, New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell can say he’s earned his first interception. Bell was able to send his team into halftime with a turnover, having been in the right spot to recover a ball tipped into the air by Saints linebacker Kiko Alonso. It was the second interception of the day credited against Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who had another pass (which was also deflected) picked off by Demario Davis earlier in the game.

This was obviously a huge moment for Bell, who entered the NFL with a reputation as a ball hawk for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Saints obviously valued his abilities and proved that by trading up in the 2016 NFL Draft to pick him, even if it’s taken some time for his ball skills to manifest in the NFL. Bell is having his best season as a pro with this interception, two forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries in his first ten games. Check out the highlight reel-worthy play for yourself:

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WATCH: Shelby Harris strip-sacks Kirk Cousins

Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris strip-sacked Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in Week 11.

Denver Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris strip-sacked Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game and inside linebacker Alexander Johnson recovered the ball.

Here’s video of the play, courtesy of Denver’s official Twitter page:

After taking over at Minnesota’s 17-yard line, the team had to settle for a short field goal attempt, which Brandon McManus converted.

The Broncos lead the Vikings 20-0 with halftime seconds away.

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Watch: Demario Davis sets up Michael Thomas TD with heads-up interception

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis made a heads-up interception to help set up a touchdown pass for Michael Thomas and Drew Brees.

Turnovers have been hard for the New Orleans Saints to come by this season. They’ve had five different interceptions overturned by a penalties throughout the year, but there was no doubting the latest pick — this time by linebacker Demario Davis. It followed a tackle at the line of scrimmage in which Davis used textbook-perfect technique.

Davis was in the right spot at the right time to snag a ball jarred out of Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard, which Saints safety Marcus Williams managed to punch out. There was some initial confusion whether the play was an interception or a fumble, but the ball never touched the ground, crediting Davis with his first interception of the year. See it for yourself:

Not to be undone, the Saints offense used the opportunity in scoring range to go get a touchdown. Quarterback Drew Brees lobbed a high-arcing pass to wide receiver Michael Thomas on a corner route into the end zone, which confused the inexperienced Buccaneers secondary and allowed him to walk in untouched for six points. It was about as perfect a sequence of plays as you could draw up. Here’s the other segment of this Saints highlight reel:

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WATCH: Courtland Sutton completes pass to Tim Patrick

Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton completed a 38-yard pass to Tim Patrick during Sunday’s game against the Vikings.

The Broncos pulled a Wild Cat play out of their playbook in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Vikings and put the ball in the hands of wide receiver Courtland Sutton — who then completed a pass!

Sutton connected with wide receiver Tim Patrick on a 38-yard pass after taking a handoff from running back Phillip Lindsay. Here’s video of the play, courtesy of the team’s official Twitter page:

After the big play from Sutton and Patrick, Denver went on to score on a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Andy Janovich.

The Broncos currently lead 17-0 Minnesota early in the second quarter.

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How Oklahoma completed its ridiculous 25-point comeback to stun Baylor

The Sooners were down 28-3 at one point in the first half, but then Oklahoma stormed back to beat Baylor. How it happened.

If you went to bed a little early last night, perhaps when Baylor was leading Oklahoma 28-3 in the first half of their Big 12 matchup, you might be up and and asking: Wait a second. What happened now?

Oklahoma stormed back for a 25-point comeback, as the Sooners kept their playoff hopes alive and erased what was truly an awful first half.

Honestly, it’s hard to understand how this happened. After multiple Jalen Hurts turnovers, and the Sooners looking completely lost without injured wideout CeeDee Lamb, the Bears jumped all over them.

Baylor up 28-3 with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and I was worried we were heading for a real embarrassment. At the very least, any shout Oklahoma had for a spot in the College Football Playoff was now laughably over.

Then, the comeback happened. Let’s get into how:

Oklahoma’s defense woke up

The Sooners defense, which had been laughable for the first half and had given up 89 points in its previous two games, decided to go and play football for a bit. They forced two turnovers of their own in the second half, and shut the Bears out in the second half.

Baylor took their foot off the gas

With the lead in their hands, Baylor got a little too predictable. The Bears started running on first down, then getting put in long yardage situations which they couldn’t execute on.

They started the second half with a monstrous 32-yard run by JaMycal Hasty … who fumbled at the end of it. It was a nightmare result, but then Baylor got bad. Conservative play-calling, lack of execution, it was all on display.

The second half drive results from Baylor:

  • Fumble
  • Punt
  • Punt
  • Punt
  • Interception

No drive lasted more than six plays.

All credit to Oklahoma’s defense, which finally got aggressive and put Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer under pressure. But that’s an absolute disaster for Baylor.

Oklahoma committed to running with Jaylen Hurts

Without Lamb in the game, the Oklahoma receivers were struggling to get separation from Baylor’s backs. Hurts made some awful throws in the first half, too, so he remedied that in the second half by running the dang football.

Credit to Oklahoma for that. The only thing that looked good for Oklahoma in the first half was when Hurts ran the ball, but it would have been easy to look at the 31-10 halftime score and figure that Hurts needed to come out chucking.

They didn’t do that. They stuck with the game plan, and he kept finding ways to extend drives. He finished with 27 carries for 114 yards, and the threat of the run finally allowed him to find some space for his receivers. That’s how you come back from down 25.

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Watch: Braden Lenzy Does Another Rocket Ismail Impression

Some things never get old. Seeing a No. 25 wearing blue and gold show off his blazing speed and burn an opponent for a touchdown is one of those.

On an afternoon known as the Chase Claypool celebration as he’s already put up four touchdown receptions but with the Irish leading 21-0 in the second quarter this afternoon we saw Braden Lenzy do another Rocket Ismail impression, getting behind the Navy defense for a 70 yard touchdown reception.

Some things never get old. Seeing a No. 25 wearing blue and gold show off his blazing speed and burn an opponent for a touchdown is one of those.

The Irish lead 45-3 at the time of this post. A pleasant change of pace for a Notre Dame/Navy game for the second year in a row.

5 things we learned from USMNT vs. Canada

Gyasi Zardes did enough, and Gregg Berhalter gets a sigh of relief, but there are still questions after the USA’s 4-1 win over Canada.

Correction: This article originally stated the last match against Canada was a friendly. It was a CONCACAF Nations League Match.

The USMNT actually went and took care of business against Canada on Friday night, winning their CONCACAF Nations League match 4-1 in Orlando.

Gyasi Zardes bagged a brace, with Jordan Morris and Aaron Long each grabbing a goal for the USMNT. Canada’s Steven Vitoria got a consolation goal in the second half off a corner kick, but it wasn’t enough.

It was a much needed win for a USMNT that embarrassingly lost to the Canadians just a few weeks ago, a match that had people (including me!) grumbling that USA coach Gregg Berhalter wasn’t the right man for the job.

Do I still feel that way? Yep! Sure do. But this was a good result for Berhalter and will calm things down with a grumpy American fanbase.

Here are five things we learned, with some highlights tossed in for good measure.

1. USA didn’t embarrass themselves

This is the biggest takeaway from the game, and what will keep Gregg Berhalter’s seat from getting too hot in the near future. The Americans came out and competed early, going at the Canadians with energy and bagging a quick goal in the second minute when Jordan Morris capitalized on a ragged little set piece play that somehow worked.

The USMNT didn’t look … great, exactly, but they played well enough to take advantage of their chances. They got two goals off set pieces, which is what good USMNT squads have done in the past. Here’s the other set piece goal from Long.

Basically: They won, and they really needed to win. Sometimes analysis doesn’t get much more complicated than that.

2. Gyasi Zardes did enough to stay in the conversation

Zardes scored two goals, ran the lines well, and looked tough to deal with for the USMNT. For right now, it’s clear he’s doing what Berhalter wants from his striker.

Watching him take rough touches can be frustrating, especially for people who want to see what Josh Sargent can do, but Zardes understands Berhalter’s system.

Zardes runs all day, and gets in good spots. He took his chances on Friday. It ain’t always pretty, but if that’s what Berhalter wants, we’re going to have to wait to see Sargent.

3. SergiΓ±o Dest is SAUCY

Dest became cap-tied to the United States with the game last night, which might be the most important thing that happened. The young Ajax right back was dazzling for much of the game, going at Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies time and time again.

It was awesome.

Davies was similarly fantastic, and he and Dest looked like they were playing an entirely different game from the other 20 guys on the field. They’re both 19 years old (born just a day apart, weirdly!) and already look heads and shoulders ahead of everyone else in this game. Watching these two go at each other for the next decade plus is going to be so fun.

4. Weston McKennie should be better

This wasn’t McKennie’s best game for the USMNT. This wasn’t even close to his best game. He was fine, but for someone I expect to see at the level of Dest/Davies, he didn’t do enough.

This could be tactical β€” Berhalter may have given him a command to hang in the midfield and shore things up (probably smart given how overrun the USMNT has been in midfield at times), but he wasn’t able to get forward and put his mark on the game.

5. We need to see the full team

It’s so hard for me to judge anything about this side because I haven’t seen our top team out there yet. I want to see what McKennie can create when he’s paired with Tyler Adams, and what our attack can look like with Pulisic and Morris running off the striker.

The most important thing about the addition of Dest is it might force Berhalter to drop this whole ridiculous Tyler Adams as hybrid RB-CM thing he seemed hellbent on implementing, and just play the best center midfield we have. Jackson Yueill showed us on Friday he isn’t the answer. Wil Trapp has showed us that already. Michael Bradley is on the tail end of his career.

When Adams is healthy, I want to see what this team can do.

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Marshon Lattimore wins award for big hit on Julio Jones

New Orleans Saints CB Marshon Lattimore broke up a pass to Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones, earning recognition for his textbook technique.

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New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore came through in a big spot during his team’s Week 10 game with the Atlanta Falcons, and his textbook-perfect technique earned recognition from the NFL.

When the Falcons attempted to run a receiver screen through wide receiver Julio Jones — often named among the best in the game — Lattimore diagnosed the play quickly and correctly, pivoting towards Jones and tackling him to the ground. He executed the tackle just like it’s taught, and it turned into a big play for the Saints defense.

So Lattimore was highlighted for Week 10’s NFL Way To Play award, which puts a focus on correct football techniques and clean plays. As part of winning this award, Lattimore will receive a $2,500 donation to a high school program of his choice and a letter of congratulations from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Lattimore later exited this game with a hamstring injury, which has put his availability into question on a week-to-week basis. He sat out the Saints’ practice on Wednesday and may miss their upcoming game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that isn’t official yet. Whenever he does make his return to the starting lineup, the Saints know they will have a player who takes the field at an important position with some of the cleanest technique in the game.

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