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Chicago Bears Week 8 storylines: A supercharged Tyson Bagent debate, Tyler Scott’s growth mindset and Jaylon Johnson’s contract desires

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

The Chicago Bears are headed west this weekend, off to Inglewood, Calif., to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night. Coming off a 30-12 blowout of the Las Vegas Raiders, the Bears have experienced a spike in confidence and still hope to salvage their season with 10 games remaining.They’ll have a great chance to gather believers with a road upset Sunday. As kickoff approaches, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.Just a feelingOne of the Bears’ more underrated offensive moments from Sunday’s 30-12 victory against the Raiders was a play that didn’t quite unfold as planned. It came in the third quarter, third-and-6 at the Raiders 25 with the Bears looking to add to a 14-3 lead.Coordinator Luke Getsy called for a Tyson Bagent pass from out of shotgun with DJ Moore running a deep corner to the left and Darnell Mooney using a switch release on his out route to the same side. Tyler Scott, meanwhile, had an in-breaking route 12 yards down ...

Ravens DT Justin Madubuike sees his diligence pay off in sacks as free agency approaches

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

His production at Texas A&M and his quickness at 293 pounds screamed “pass rusher.”Justin Madubuike never felt he got that credit, however, from NFL scouts or coaches. They harped on his lack of bulk, said he needed to fire off the ball faster, questioned his consistency.For three years with the Ravens, Madubuike tantalized, sprinkling brilliant games amid longer stretches of ordinary ones. NBC’s Peter King famously touted him as a dark horse candidate for Defensive Player of the Year before the 2021 season, jumping the gun but accurately hinting at the excitement Ravens coaches felt when they glimpsed Madubuike at his best.Consistency? Well, he needed to strive for that.Madubuike started keeping a journal so he would never lose sight of his goals. Former Ravens teammate Justin Houston connected him with private coach Chuck Smith, known around the league as “Dr. Rush,” in part for his work with Aaron Donald, perhaps the greatest interior pass rusher...

Patriots rookie finds starting role after offseason shake-up

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots might have found their starting right guard of the future in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.Rookie Sidy Sow earned the start at right guard in place of Mike Onwenu, who moved to right tackle, in Sunday’s win over the Bills and thrived. With an 86.4 mark, Sow earned the highest single-game PFF grade for a rookie offensive lineman this season.It would have been difficult to predict Sow getting starting reps at right guard as recently as this summer. He was a left tackle as a freshman in college and played guard in his remaining years at Eastern Michigan, but the 6-foot-5, 318-pound offensive lineman was drafted to play tackle in New England. The Patriots had Sow playing right tackle — even earning first-team reps — throughout training camp and the preseason before they got Calvin Anderson back from the non-football illness list and acquired Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. in trades.When Onwenu and Cole Strange weren’t ...

Complete Boston Herald coverage: Mass shooting in Maine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

Complete coverage of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine is gathered here: https://www.bostonherald.com/tag/maine/.Thousands of Mainers still under lockdown order as hunt continues for Robert Card, Maine mass shooting suspectLewiston Democrat Jared Golden says he’s switching his position on banning assault weaponsMaine’s gun laws and consequences, explainedMaine mass shooting: ‘Why do people do this?’Biden, state lawmakers respond to mass shooting in MaineMaine mourns as it shelters-in-place from Lewiston to LisbonWho is Maine mass shooting suspect Robert Card?Father of manager shot to death at Schemengees Bar calls son a ‘hero’ for confronting the Maine gunmanMassachusetts State Police detail efforts working with Maine on manhunt for mass shooting suspect Robert CardPolice descend on Bowdoin home as manhunt continues for Robert Card, suspect in Maine mass shootingShooter’s carnage unleashes terror in Maine, manhunt continuesSirens, then eerily quiet: Scenes from the night of Maine...

Israel expects ‘long’ ground war in Gaza to destroy Hamas and its many tunnels

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, JOSEF FEDERMAN and BASSEM MROUE (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel expects to launch a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon to destroy Hamas, the country’s defense minister said Friday, describing a campaign that will require dismantling a vast network of tunnels used by Hamas.Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke to a small group of foreign reporters in Tel Aviv after Israeli forces backed by fighter jets and drones carried out a second, limited ground raid into Gaza in as many days, striking the outskirts of Gaza City.Gallant said the ground invasion that follows weeks of airstrikes “will take a long time,” and that it would lead to another lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting, as Israel destroys ”pockets of resistance.”In a sign of rising tensions in the region, U.S. warplanes struck targets in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after a string of attacks on American forces,...

Ravens vs. Cardinals staff picks: Who will win Sunday’s Week 8 game in Arizona?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

Here’s how The Baltimore Sun sports staff views the outcome of Sunday’s Week 8 game between the Ravens (5-2) and the Cardinals (1-6) at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix.Brian Wacker, reporterRavens 27, Cardinals 14: The Ravens have a history of playing down to lesser opponents, but they could bring their B-game and still beat the Cardinals. Baltimore is allowing an NFL-low 13.9 points per game, and Arizona comes in averaging the ninth-fewest points per game at 18.1. Lamar Jackson and the offense are clicking as well as they have all year and the team is relatively healthy after dealing with several injuries early on. This one shouldn’t be close.Mike Preston, columnistRavens 30, Cardinals 14: This will be a great opportunity for the Ravens to prove they’ve stopped playing down to the competition. The Cardinals are ranked No. 19 in total offense and No. 28 in total defense. This shouldn’t be much of a game.Childs Walker, reporterRavens 31, Cardinals 16: Letd...

Robert E. Lee statue that prompted deadly protest in Virginia melted down

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was a focal point of a deadly white nationalist protest in 2017 has been melted down and will be repurposed into new works of art.The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, a Charlottesville-based Black history museum, said Thursday that the statue had been destroyed.The Charlottesville City Council voted in 2021 to donate the statue to the heritage center, after it proposed a Swords into Plowshares project that would melt the statue and repurpose it into “public art that expresses the City’s values of inclusivity and racial justice,” according to the proposal submitted to the city.The statue was taken down in 2021 after years of debate and delay.Protests over the plan to remove the statue morphed into the violent “Unite the Right” rally in 2017. It was during that rally that James Alex Fields Jr., an avowed Hitler admirer, intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32...

A new cure for sickle cell disease may be coming. Health advisers will review it next week

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

The only cure for painful sickle cell disease today is a bone marrow transplant. But soon there may be a new cure that attacks the disorder at its genetic source. On Tuesday, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will review a gene therapy for the inherited blood disorder, which in the U.S. mostly affects Black people. Issues they will consider include whether more research is needed into possible unintended consequences of the treatment.If approved by the FDA, it would be the first gene therapy on the U.S. market based on CRISPR, the gene editing tool that won its inventors the Nobel Prize in 2020.The agency is expected to decide on the treatment in early December, before taking up a different sickle cell gene therapy later that month.Dr. Allison King, who cares for children and young adults with sickle cell disease, said she’s enthusiastic about the possibility of new treatments.“Anything that can help relieve somebody with this condition of the pain and the multiple ...

3 teens were shot and wounded outside a west Baltimore high school as students were arriving

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Three teenagers were wounded in a shooting outside a west Baltimore high school around the time classes were starting Friday morning, officials said.The shooting adds to a recent uptick in youth violence plaguing the city this year, including several instances of Baltimore public school students being shot on or near high school campuses. That trend has persisted even as gun violence overall has declined over the past several months.The victims in Friday’s shooting at Carver Vocational Technical High School all received non-life threatening injuries, Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Jones said during a news conference at the scene.“There was a possible fray and then there was the discharge of a weapon,” Jones said.In the aftermath of the shooting, which was reported just before 8 a.m., frantic parents gathered outside the school. Many commiserated with each other while waiting for their children to be dismissed, saying the trauma of yet another shooting in...

S&P/TSX composite down Friday morning, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:28:20 GMT

TORONTO — Losses in the energy, financial and utilities sectors helped lead Canada’s main stock index lower in late-morning trading on Friday, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 81.42 points at 18,793.89.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 71.23 points at 32,713.07. The S&P 500 index was up 15.63 points at 4,152.86, while the Nasdaq composite was up 173.48 points at 12,769.08.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.17 cents US compared with 72.33 cents US on Thursday.The December crude oil contract was up 86 cents at US$84.07 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was up nine cents at US$3.57 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$6.70 at US$1,990.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$3.65 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press