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Robinson, Ridder are keys to Falcons hopes for a turnaround in Smith’s 3rd season as coach

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

ATLANTA FALCONS (7-10)EXPECTATIONS: Team owner Arthur Blank says this is year three of a three-year plan with coach Arthur Smith and added he expects an improvement from the seven-win finishes in each of Smith’s first two years. There is pressure on second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder, in his first full season as the starter, to end the team’s streak of five straight losing seasons. There could be as many as six new starters on defense following aggressive spending in free agency.NEW FACES: CB Jeff Okudah, OLB Bud Dupree, S Jessie Bates III, TE Jonnu Smith, DT David Onyemata, DE Calais Campbell, OLB Kaden Elliss, QB Taylor Heinicke, CB Mike Hughes, WR Scotty Miller, WR Mack Hollins, CB Tre Flowers.KEY LOSSES: G Elijah Wilkinson, CB Isaiah Oliver, QB Marcus Mariota, DE Abdullah Anderson, CB Michael Ford, WR Damiere Byrd, WR Olamide Zaccheaus, CB Rashad Fenton, OT Chuma Edoga, ILB Nick Kwiatkowski, OT Germain Ifedi, TE Anthony Firkser, DE Matt Dickerson, G Colby Gossett...

Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are ready to try again in pursuit of a Super Bowl trip

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

DALLAS COWBOYS (13-6)EXPECTATIONS: The Cowboys are way overdue for their next trip to the NFC championship game. The most recent time Dallas made it that far was the 1995 season, when the franchise won its fifth Super Bowl title. The past two seasons could be considered progress. The Cowboys lost a wild-card game at home to San Francisco two years ago before beating Tom Brady and Tampa Bay in that round last season. The 49ers eliminated Dallas again, this time in the divisional round. Anything short of that will be a setback this season. Mike McCarthy is taking over play-calling duties in his fourth year as Dallas coach, an intriguing development going into QB Dak Prescott’s eighth season. While RB Ezekiel Elliott is gone, WR Brandin Cooks gives Prescott a legitimate deep threat to go with No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb. Pass rushing star Micah Parsons is in his third season as the club’s best defensive player. Dallas traded for Cooks and CB Stephon Gilmore, who gives the Co...

Pennsylvania men charged with trafficking homemade ‘ghost guns,’ silencers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

HATFIELD, Pa. (AP) — A man who allegedly trafficked “ghost guns” and silencers he assembled at his Philadelphia-area home has been charged along with two friends, authorities said Wednesday.Tony Phan Ho, 32, and Ritha “Kay” Ngoy, 36, both of Hatfield, and Michael Phan Nguyen, 32, of Lansdale, were all charged with operating a corrupt organization, conspiracy and weapons counts, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.Federal investigators began tracking Ho in May, when they learned a shipment of silencer components had been sent to his home, according to court documents. Montgomery County detectives and federal authorities intercepted the package and interviewed Ho.According to the documents, Ho initially told investigators a friend had accidentally ordered the silencers, but then later said he had purchased the components himself. Ho added that he sometimes builds the upper components of firearms for friends and family as a way to make money. He denied assembling full...

Coach Prime not worked up about his offensive or defensive lines or his Colorado coaching debut

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders isn’t getting worked up about his Colorado head coaching debut this weekend. Nor does he share in his detractors’ concerns about his players in the trenches.Sanders went 27-6 in three seasons at Jackson State before he was hired at Colorado, which is coming off a 1-11 season yet is one of the more intriguing teams in college football thanks to Coach Prime’s arrival and roster makeover.He makes his Power Five coaching debut Saturday at No. 17 TCU, the national runner-up a year ago.“I know it may seem like it, but it’s not about me,” Sanders said. “And you talking about a big stage. I think I played in the Super Bowl and the World Series. I’m good. I’m good. I’m straight. This is about the kids, man. I want them to go out there and maximize the moment and take advantage of the exposure in the light that they have. And I feel like they will 100%.”He’s equally convinced his offensive line will hold up for his son and star...

Missouri out for fourth straight bowl berth as season opens against South Dakota

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

South Dakota at Missouri, Thursday, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network)Line: None listed by FanDuel Sportsbook.Series record: First meeting.WHAT’S AT STAKE?The pressure is mounting for Missouri to take a step forward under fourth-year coach Eli Drinkwitz, who has qualified the Tigers for three straight bowl games but has yet to win one or finish a season with a winning record. This could be his best chance to change that script with an offense that returns several starters and a defense that was surprisingly stout last season. South Dakota hosted its first playoff game in 35 years in 2021 but slid back to 3-8 in the tough Missouri Valley last season. KEY MATCHUPMissouri QBs against the South Dakota defense. Brady Cook is the incumbent but rode an up-and-down season last year in which he played through a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery. He was listed as an “OR” with redshirt freshman Sam Horn, a star baseball player with a big arm, on the initial depth chart. PLAYERS TO WATCHSout...

Gabon’s mutinous soldiers say that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema will lead country as new head of state

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon’s mutinous soldiers say that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema will lead country as new head of state.Source

Prince William Co. police cruiser overturns after crash with DUI suspect

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

A Prince William County police officer is recovering from minor injuries after a collision Sunday with another driver, who is suspected of driving under the influence. (Courtesy Prince William County Police Department)A Prince William County Police Department officer is recovering from minor injuries after a collision Sunday with another driver, who is suspected of driving under the influence.According to a Facebook post from the department, the officer was driving a marked police SUV down the Prince William Parkway at the time of the crash, just before 1:30 a.m. At the intersection with Wellington Road, the officer continued through a green light when another driver in a pickup truck ran a red light and entered the intersection.The other driver crossed in front of the cruiser, and the officer — who police said was driving at speed for the Parkway — crashed the front of the cruiser into the back of the pickup truck.The impact and post-crash maneuvering caused the police SUV to overt...

Portugal midfielder Matheus Nunes set to get his wish and join Man City from Wolves

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

Wolverhampton midfielder Matheus Nunes is set to get his wish and complete a move to English and European champion Manchester City in the final hours of the transfer window.Nunes has been refusing to train with Wolves in an effort to force a move to City, which had an initial bid for the Portugal international rejected last week.Now, a verbal agreement has reportedly been reached on a fee of 55 million euros ($60 million), though there had been no formal agreement between the teams by late Wednesday.The transfer window closes on Friday, by which time Nunes — who only joined in the 2022 offseason — should be a City player.“He’s not with the group at the moment, his choice,” Wolves manager Gary O’Neil said of Nunes on Tuesday, after the team’s win over Blackpool in the English League Cup. “After the (first) bid from Manchester City, he decided it was best for him to not be with the group. Club policy and how we deal with things like that is set in place.”O’Neil stopped sho...

Hurricane Idalia unleashes fury on Florida and Georgia, swamping a wide stretch of coast

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

PERRY, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines before sweeping into Georgia.Almost 438,000 customers in Florida and Georgia lost power while rushing water covered streets near the coast. As the eye moved inland, high winds shredded signs, sent sheet metal flying and snapped tall trees.Idalia came ashore in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. It made landfall near Keaton Beach at 7:45 a.m. as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph).As of midday Wednesday, there were no confirmed storm deaths in Florida, although fatal traffic accidents in two counties may end up being storm-related, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference.A 59-year-old man driving a pickup t...

Father of BSFR captain killed in Pompano Beach helicopter crash questions what went wrong

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:08:43 GMT

Captain Terryson Jackson’s father proudly spoke about his son who was killed in the fatal helicopter crash-landing in Pompano Beach.“I wish something could bring him back because I mean, I feel like the world needs him,” said Oliver Jackson.Jackson’s father described him as a man who put his children first, a man who sacrificed so much for people who needed him.“That’s what he loved to do, he cared about people a great deal,” he said. “But I mean anybody who is a parent, I mean I love my son and there is no replacement for him.”On Monday morning, Jackson and two other crew members were on their way to respond to an emergency, when they had trouble a minute into their flight.“I’m wondering where did the fire come from?” the father said. “And then the whole helicopter that kept spinning and spinning and falls down.”The Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment community, where Ca...