07-21-2017, 03:04 AM
PHOENIX - The celebration seemed muted, maybe because these Patriots had gone through so much just to have a chance to win.They milled about midfield as the confetti streamed down, while Seahawks fans who just a few minutes earlier were sure this was their Super Bowl filed out of the University of Phoenix stadium in shocked silence.If anyone was worried about legacies and deflated footballs, the frenetic end to this game Sunday night surely went a long way to settle that. If anyone was worried that the New England Patriots couldnt overcome both controversy and recent history, well, the Lombardi trophy was going back East once again after the Patriots somehow escaped with a 28-24 win.For those keeping score at home, thats four Super Bowl wins in 14 years for the powerhouse under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. But the last one was a decade ago, and the pressure had been building long before the pressure was taken out of the balls in the AFC title game.I never thought another trophy would feel this good, but this absolutely does, owner Robert Kraft said. Any true Patriot fan understands that.Yes, Russell Wilson tossed this one away with one terribly ill-advised throw on what began as an ill-advised play call. No team with Marshawn Lynch in the backfield should throw the ball on the 1-yard-line with the Super Bowl on the line.Indeed, by all measures, the Seahawks should have been the ones celebrating. They should have had their second straight Super Bowl win, and the talk should have been about the dynasty Pete Carroll was building in the Pacific Northwest.But now Brady has his fourth ring, and is in the conversation again when it comes to great Super Bowl quarterbacks. Now the talk can begin again about the great Patriot dynasty that was quieted with losses in New Englands last two Super Bowls.Give the owner a rare assist on that. Kraft stepped forward upon the Patriots arrival in Arizona with a handwritten speech blasting everyone — including the NFL — who thought the team might have been cheating by deflating the balls in the AFC game against Indianapolis.He wanted to take the pressure off his team, and he did. The questions about deflated balls became questions about football instead.And when it came time for actual football to be played, the Patriots were more than ready. Brady was better than Wilson despite throwing two picks of his own, and no one panicked when the Seahawks rolled to a 24-14 lead in the third quarter.Surprisingly enough, the New England defence was also better than the vaunted Seattle unit behind Richard Sherman, especially when cornerback Malcom Butler made the play of his life by intercepting Wilson at the goal line with 20 seconds left.Its not the way we drew it up, Brady said, but this team has never given up the entire year.They didnt give up because they were professional football players, and they both played and acted like it. The Seahawks played pretty well, too, but the contrast in styles couldnt have been more evident.On the sidelines in the second half, Sherman mugged for the cameras. After scoring the touchdown that put his team up 10 points, receiver Doug Baldwin was flagged for a celebration that looked like something he might do in the bathroom, not on the field.And in the final seconds, Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin was ejected after starting a fight.None of that would go on under Belichick, of course, though style doesnt always win games. Neither, for that matter, do 37-year-old quarterbacks who hear the whispers after going a decade between big wins yet somehow rise to win both the game and the MVP award.Brady was 8-for-8 on the final drive to put the Patriots ahead— all with balls that had been checked and rechecked by the best security people the NFL could hire.I dont think about that, Brady said when asked if it would be his signature drive. Its a team effort. Theres never one player. It took the whole team.On this night the whole team was there, and there were no more questions to be answered.____Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg Thunder Jersey .ca. Kerry, In the first period of Saturdays Montreal-Ottawa game, Brendan Gallagher is called for goaltender interference. Craig Anderson is outside the blue paint trying to make the save. Mitch McGary Thunder Jersey . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. http://www.thundershopauthentic.com/doma...er-jersey/ . -- Max Domi scored twice and set up two more as the London Knights toppled the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 6-4 on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action. Ersan Ilyasova Jersey . The Packers, Lions and Bears were a combined 35-15 and as long as Jay Cutler can say healthy, all three could make the playoffs in 2012. Anthony Morrow Jersey .Y. Islanders 4Winnipeg 5 Dallas 2Nashville 3 Colorado 0San Jose 5 Edmonton 2---AHLProvidence 5 St. Johns 4 (OT)Chicago 6 San Antonio 2---NBACleveland 105 Toronto 101Portland 98 Detroit 86New Orleans 104 New York 93Oklahoma City 114 Milwaukee 101Memphis 114 Dallas 105Miami 103 Phoenix 97Utah 100 San Antonio 96L.PHILADELPHIA - Former Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ gets a chance to face his former club tonight when the Toronto Blue Jays continue their trip through Pennsylvania with a stop in Philadelphia. Happ will make his first start of the season and has made three appearances out of the bullpen, allowing two runs and three hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. A sore back landed Happ on the DL to start the season. Happ has four Ks and five walks on the season and the Blue Jays have lost all three games the left-hander has competed in. He played with the Phillies from 2007 through parts of 2010 before being traded to Houston, and has won both of his starts in this series, accumulating a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 frames. Toronto is coming off a 7-2 victory of the Pirates on Sunday. Colby Rasmus belted a grand slam in the second inning and finished with three hits and two runs scored. Melky Cabrera also had three hits, including a two-run homer in the fifth inning, for the Blue Jays, who won for just the third time in the last 11 games. Dustin McGowan was solid on the mound for the Jays, tossing seven innings of one-run ball and allowing just three hits with five strikeouts and three walks. "It was good to get a win for this team," said McGowan. "It was something we needed and maybe it will give us a little boost going forward." The Blue Jays are 2-4 on an eight-game road trip and will return to Rogers Centre later this week to start a nine-game homestand. They will start the stay with two games versus the Phillies. Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista has reached base in all of his 31 games this season and is batting .294 with nnine homers and 20 RBI.dddddddddddd. The Phillies and Blue Jays are meeting for the first time since Toronto won all three games at home back in 2012. The Jays are in south Philly for the first time since losing two of three games from June 25-27, 2010. Philadelphia trails the slumping Atlanta Braves, losers of six straight, by only 1 1/2 games for the NL East lead and took a three-game series from the rival Washington Nationals this weekend. In Sundays 1-0 win in the rubber match, Chase Utleys RBI single stood as the winning run and scored Jimmy Rollins, who stroked a one-out triple. Utley has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games. Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez pitched very well to the tune of seven shutout innings of four-hit ball with three strikeouts and three walks. "I think hes gotten better as weve gone along as far as command and control and really using his pitches," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said of Hernandez. Mike Adams and Antonio Bastardo got the final two outs in the eighth and closer Jonathan Papelbon worked around a hit in the ninth to post his ninth save. The Phillies have won eight of their last 12 games and will send Kyle Kendrick to the mound versus the Blue Jays. Kendrick is still searching for his first win of the season and has an 0-2 record with a 3.52 earned run average in five starts. The Phillies are 2-3 in that time. Kendrick did not figure into the decision of a 7-3 win at Los Angeles on April 24 and allowed just two runs on 10 hits and a walk over 5 2/3 frames. He has given up at least two runs in each of his past four starts (11 total). Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '