AP National Sports

By The Associated Press The defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams host the Buffalo Bills in a matchup of teams expected to challenge for the Lombardi Trophy to open the NFL season on Thursday night. The Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on their home field to win their second NFL championship in 56

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Joe Flacco will start at quarterback for the New York Jets in the season opener Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens in place of the injured Zach Wilson. Coach Robert Saleh announced the team’s decision Wednesday and added Wilson will likely be out

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders announced his retirement Wednesday after a 12-year NFL career that included six season in Denver, where he helped the Broncos win Super Bowl 50. Sanders started his career in Pittsburgh in 2010 and joined the Broncos as a free agent

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills signed tight end Dawson Knox to a four-year contract extension on Wednesday, locking up one of the team’s top scoring threats. Knox was entering the final year of his contract and is now signed through 2026. The move was announced a

ARACENA, Spain (AP) — Remco Evenepoel safely kept his Spanish Vuelta lead after three-time defending champion Primoz Roglic withdrew ahead of the 17th stage because of injuries. Rigoberto Urán prevailed on the final climb to win the stage and complete his treble of Grand Tour victories after previous stage triumphs in the Tour de France

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer NASCAR is investigating a spate of car fires that left one championship contender fuming after his Ford erupted into an inferno during the opening playoff race. Kevin Harvick lashed out at NASCAR and the new Next Gen car after it inexplicably caught fire in the playoff opener at

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke coach Mike Elko has been around college football long enough to know how the season’s opening month can shape the perception of a league’s strength. That’s important in the weeks ahead for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The league won — or survived, in some

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Joe Flacco will start at quarterback for the New York Jets in the season opener Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens in place of the injured Zach Wilson. Coach Robert Saleh announced the team’s decision Wednesday and added Wilson will likely be out

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The New York Mets have placed pitcher Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list with what the club described as “left oblique irritation.” The move is retroactive to Sept. 4, the day after Scherzer left his start against Washington following five innings with discomfort in his left side. The 38-year-old missed nearly

By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — With legal sports betting in its fifth year in much of the U.S., things are getting much more intense, with increasing ways to bet and more opportunities to rapidly win — and lose — money. When the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams kick

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — FIFA has promised to stage free concerts with international stars for visitors to the official Fan Festival in Qatar during the World Cup. FIFA says the Al Bidda Park in central Doha will host “concerts starring top global and local music acts and live works by internationally acclaimed performance artists.” The

By MATTIAS KARÉN Associated Press VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) — Don’t expect Rory McIlroy to spend much time reminiscing with his former Ryder Cup teammates at Wentworth this week. McIlroy says he doesn’t have “much of a relationship” anymore with European Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter because of their decision

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer Billy Horschel finally gets to play golf for the Stars and Stripes as a pro. Horschel and Max Homa are among six captain’s picks by Davis Love III to fill out the U.S. team for the Presidents Cup. The Americans already were stacked before the picks. Now they have

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams will raise their Super Bowl banner Thursday night before kicking off the NFL season at home where they became the second straight team to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy in their own stadium. Somehow, they’re underdogs against the Buffalo

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Lithuania is going to the knockout stage of EuroBasket. Marius Grigonis scored 16 points, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, and Lithuania topped Bosnia and Herzegovina 87-70 on Wednesday. The game determined which club would move onto the round of 16 at the European championships. Arnas Butkevicius and

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Major League Baseball Players Association is joining the AFL-CIO. Executive director Tony Clark made the announcement alongside AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler at the National Press Club in Washington. The move comes as the MLBPA is attempting to unionize minor leaguers and in the aftermath of

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Carlos Queiroz has been rehired as Iran coach and will take the national soccer team to its third straight World Cup together. Iran will face the United States, England and Wales at the tournament in Qatar. Queiroz will coaching at his fourth World Cup after failing to lead Egypt to this

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — DeWanna Bonner and Courtney Williams each scored 19 points to help the Connecticut Sun rout the Chicago Sky 104-80 and force a decisive Game 5 in their WNBA playoffs semifinal series. Alyssa Thomas added 17 for Connecticut, which will travel to the second-seeded Sky for

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Thomas Tuchel has been fired by Chelsea only one month into the season. The decision by Chelsea’s new American ownership comes a day after the team lost to Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in its first group match of the Champions League. Chelsea has lost two of its first six games