Storm- News » www.steelersauthorizedshops.com

Forced to assess the 2017 season far sooner than anticipated http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-terrell-edmunds-jersey , Ravens coach John Harbaugh acknowledged changes must be made for Baltimore to snap its three-year run missing the playoffs.

He will not, however, shuffle the coaching staff.

Harbaugh will fill the void left by the retirement of defensive coordinator Dean Pees, but said Thursday he will bring back offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and attempt to keep the rest of the staff intact unless ”guys get opportunities to go somewhere and do some different things.”

Pees announced his retirement Monday, less than 24 hours after the Ravens (9-7) were bounced from the playoff chase with a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati.

The in-house contender for the coordinator job is Ravens linebackers coach Don Martindale. Chuck Pagano, fired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Monday and Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2011, is also among those being considered.

Asked to describe what he’s looking for from Pees’ successor, Harbaugh replied: ”Definitely continuity. I’m a believer in this system. I think this system has been something that’s been developed over a long period of time, and we have worked really hard every single year to make it better. We’ve evolved it and grown it, and I think you see the results.”

The Ravens have long been known for their defense, and this year that unit was the strength of the team. Baltimore recorded three shutouts, led the NFL with 34 takeaways and ranked 12th in yardage allowed.

The offense, on the other hand, needs help. Harbaugh lauded the performance of quarterback Joe Flacco , who rebounded from a back injury to come on strong during the Ravens’ late-season playoff push.

But the coach was unrelenting in his assessment of the wide receivers, noting that there were too many dropped passes and far too few big plays from a unit built around veterans Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin and featuring 2015 draft pick Breshad Perriman, who is thus far a first-round bust. Baltimore ranked 29th in net yards passing per game (189.4).

”That’s an area we’ve got to look at really hard,,” Harbaugh said. ”The passing game wasn’t where it needed to be.”

Tight end Benjamin Watson led the team with 61 catches and six touchdowns. Wallace and Maclin combined for only seven scores, and Baltimore had only five catches of at least 40 yards.

”We want to get playmakers. That’s something that we need,” Harbaugh said. ”We’re going to add players. It’s not to say that we can’t add some players through free agency. That’s the way that the salary cap works. The draft will be the major part of it.”

Covering a variety of topics in a session that lasted nearly 40 minutes, Harbaugh said he and owner Steve Bisciotti, along with general manager Ozzie Newsome, are looking forward to improving upon a three-year stretch in which the team has gone 5-11, 8-8 and 9-7.

”Our focus is on http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mike-mcglinchey-jersey , can we be better tomorrow than we were today? And that’s just the truth of it,” Harbaugh said. ”To me, that’s our focus. It’s not looking back and saying, `Hey, we didn’t do this or we didn’t do that.’ Everybody is full speed ahead to be the best we can be, and has been for the last three years.”

Had Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton not thrown a 49-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down play with 44 seconds left, the Ravens would have spent this week preparing for the playoffs amid a city bathed in purple. Instead, Harbaugh was left trying to appease a fan-base that responded to mediocrity and the team’s take-a-knee stance during the national anthem on Sept. 24 by staying away in record numbers on Sundays.

”We understand our fans. We understand what they respect,” Harbaugh said. ”And we want nothing more than to get it there, so we can have that moment, we can complete that pass and we can have the whole city going crazy and dancing in the streets. That’s what we’re fighting for.

”I wanted it to happen this year. I wanted it to be the miracle year this year. Maybe we could have done it, and then all of a sudden, it’s not to be. OK, are we going to lament it and look back and beat ourselves up, find reasons that aren’t there and point fingers? That’s not what I’m going to do. That’s not what leaders do. Let’s go to work.”

—

Drew Brees passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints held off Carolina’s late comeback bid to seal a 31-26 victory in their NFC wild-card game on Sunday.

The Panthers had a first down on the Saints 26-yard line with 58 seconds left, but heavy pressure by All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan a couple plays later induced an intentional grounding penalty on Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, making it third-and-25 on the Saints 34 and a required 10-second runoff left 22 seconds on the clock.

After an incompletion in the end zone on third down, Vonn Bell sacked Newton on a safety blitz, ensuring the Saints (12-5) swept all three meetings with Carolina (11-6) this season, in addition to winning their first playoff game in four seasons.

Brees’ touchdowns went for 80-yards to Ted Ginn and 9 yards to tight end Josh Hill. Fullback Zach line and running back Alvin Kamara each ran for short touchdowns.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Blake Bortles put together one decent drive all day, doing as much with his legs as his arm, and the defensive-minded Jacksonville Jaguars eked out an ugly and sometimes unwatchable 10-3 victory against the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game Sunday.

In the postseason for the first time since January 2008, the third-seeded Jaguars (11-6) advanced to play at No. 2 seed Pittsburgh next week.

The sixth-seeded Bills (9-8) will head home after ending the longest http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dante-pettis-jersey , current playoff drought in North American professional sports.

Bortles was a big reason Jacksonville won the game and a big reason it was so close. This was far from a passing clinic. It was more like a painful exercise in overcoming poor passing.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Marcus Mariota led Tennessee to three second-half touchdowns, incredibly throwing one of his TD passes to himself , and the Titans rallied from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 22-21 on Saturday for their first playoff win in 14 years.

Mariota threw for 205 yards and two scores, including the 22-yard go-ahead strike to Eric Decker with just over six minutes left that ushered the Titans into the divisional round of the playoffs.

They’ll head to New England or Pittsburgh next week.

Derrick Henry had a career-high 156 yards rushing and another score for Tennessee (10-7), while a defense that was fileted by Alex Smith and the Chiefs (10-7) during the first half pitched a shutout in the second half – dooming the Kansas City franchise to another humiliating postseason defeat.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons showed the upstart Los Angeles Rams what playoff poise is all about.

Ryan passed for 218 yards and hit Julio Jones for an 8-yard touchdown with 5:48 to play, and the defending NFC champion Falcons advanced from the wild-card round with a methodical 26-13 victory over the Rams on Saturday night.

Devonta Freeman rushed for an early score and Matt Bryant kicked four field goals for the Falcons (11-6), who spoiled the Rams’ first playoff game in 13 years while showing off the postseason poise they earned from last season’s journey to the Super Bowl.

Atlanta never trailed at the Coliseum while winning playoff games in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

The Falcons advanced to face the top-seeded Eagles on Saturday in Philadelphia.

NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Brandon Ingram had 20 points and seven assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 132-113 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

Julius Randle had 15 points and nine rebounds in this sixth straight start, while Lonzo Ball finished with 13 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

Los Angeles led by as many as 26 points – its biggest margin this season – and enjoyed a strong shooting night. The Lakers made 55.8 percent of their field goals, and shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range. Even free throws went in for the Lakers, who came into Sunday as the worst team in the league in that category. Los Angeles made 20 of 25.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Keita Bates-Diop scored a career-high 32 points, and Ohio State stunned No. 1 Michigan State 80-64 on Sunday.

The overachieving Buckeyes put together an electrifying 12-0 run to finish the first half and kept their foot on the gas to give first-year coach Chris Holtmann a signature win.

Ohio State (13-4, 4-0 Big Ten) won for its third straight in taking down the best team it is likely to see this season. The mistake-prone Spartans (15-2, 3-1) lost for the first time in the last 15 games, dating back to a seven-point loss to then-No. 1 Duke on Nov. 14.

GOLF

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) – A new year brought out the best in Dustin Johnson, who powered his way to an 8-under 65 and an eight-shot victory in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

In a field that featured the top five players in the world, Johnson made a strong opening statement that a No. 1 ranking he has held for nearly a year might be difficult to take away.

Johnson stretched a two-shot lead to six shots at the turn, then delivered the biggest moment of the week with a drive on the par-4 12th hole that stopped 6 inches from the cup for a tap-in eagle. He also drove the par-4 14th hole.

He finished at 24-under 268. The eight-shot margin of victory was his largest ever, and it was one short of the tournament record set by David Duval since this event moved to Kapalua in 1999. Jordan Spieth also won by eight shots in 2016.