SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks rode their dominant defense to a big win over a division rival to vault into first place in the NFC West. No, it isn’t 2013. These are the 2024 Seahawks, who, after struggling mightily against the run earlier this season, held the visiting Arizona Cardinals to 49 rushing yards in Sunday's 16-6 victory . The defensive line kept Kyler Murray under consistent pressure thanks to a dominant performance from Leonard Williams, the secondary flew around to smack away passes, and safety Coby Bryant scored on a 69-yard pick-6. Sunday's defensive performance was reminiscent of the Seahawks of a decade ago and a promising sign that first-year coach Mike Macdonald’s system is starting to click. Macdonald, who coordinated Baltimore's NFL-best defense last year, was leading one of the worst rush defenses in the league earlier this season. But Seattle consistently stuffed the Cardinals, who came in as the fifth-best running team in the league at 149.4 yards per game. “Three games in a row now we played pretty decent on defense,” Macdonald said. “There is an expectation and standard here throughout the course of our Seahawks history that we’re trying to live up to and build on. So that’s the idea.” At 6-5, the Seahawks drew even with the Cardinals in the tightly bunched division. The teams play each other again in two weeks at Arizona. Last month's trade for linebacker Ernest Jones IV has clearly paid off. Seattle hasn't allowed a running back to rush for more than 79 yards since its Week 8 loss to Buffalo, which was Jones' first game in a Seahawks uniform. He has led the team in tackles in every game he's played and has helped resurrect the run defense. The Seahawks' run game continues to underperform. Seattle got 65 yards on the ground Sunday, with the Cardinals holding Kenneth Walker III to 41 yards on 16 attempts. Zach Charbonnet had 22 yards on six carries. Walker hasn’t topped 100 yards since Week 1. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb needs to think of something different to get the running backs involved. Williams single-handedly disrupted the Cardinals with 2 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and one pass defensed. “I thought he was dominant,” Macdonald said. “I knew he played great and then I looked at the stat line and he played out of his mind.” The Seahawks finished with five sacks, seven quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and six pass deflections against the Cardinals, shutting down a team that had averaged 29.3 points over its previous three games. Geno Smith finished with 254 yards passing and a touchdown, but he threw another momentum-stalling interception. Smith was picked off on a third-and-6 play on the Arizona 18-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter, ending an 11-play, 73-yard drive. Smith has an NFL-most 12 interceptions this season, more than in either of his previous two seasons as the Seahawks' full-time starter. “That was a huge drive for us. ... Obviously made a terrible mistake down there, something I got to clean up,” Smith said. “But it was a big drive. We wanted to put the game ahead at least two scores.” The offensive line has contributed to the problem. Guard Anthony Bradford left with an ankle injury, and the line struggled to protect Smith, who was sacked five times. Macdonald said Bradford is expected to miss next week's game. 77 — Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the team with six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, marking the fourth consecutive game that Smith-Njigba has led the team in receptions. He topped 100 yards receiving in the previous two games. “He’s getting open,” Smith said. “He’s catching the ball. He’s doing a great job in the screen game. All-around great player. I just think the way that teams are playing us coverage-wise, I feel like it’s the ultimate sign of respect.” The Seahawks play at the struggling New York Jets on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflNone
The Los Angeles Galaxy will aim to complete one of the most remarkable transformations in Major League Soccer history on Saturday when they host the New York Red Bulls chasing a record-extending sixth MLS Cup crown. A year ago, the California franchise had hit rock bottom, plummeting to their worst ever regular season record to finish one place off the bottom of the Western Conference. The team that had once been a home to the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were engulfed in crisis, with fans boycotting fixtures after nearly a decade of failure on the field. Moreover, the Galaxy's status as one of MLS's glamour clubs had been diminished by the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, as well as the emergence of city rivals Los Angeles FC, winners of the MLS Cup in 2022. The febrile atmosphere at the Galaxy prompted team ownership to shake up their front office, with Will Kuntz appointed general manager to replace long-time predecessor Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. The turnaround since those changes has been dramatic. After winning just eight fixtures in the 2023 season, the Galaxy under head coach Greg Vanney won a record-equalling 19 games this season to finish joint top of the table, second only to leaders LAFC on goal difference. The Galaxy kept up their winning ways in the postseason, swatting aside Colorado 9-1 on aggregate to wrap up their first round series, before thrashing Minnesota United 6-2 and then squeezing past Seattle 1-0 last weekend. Those results have left the club on the threshold of a first MLS Cup title since 2014 and a record sixth championship overall. Victory in Saturday's showpiece in Carson would be especially sweet for Vanney, who appeared in three MLS Cup finals with the Galaxy as a player in 1996, 1999 and 2001 -- and lost all three. Reflecting on his team's journey to this year's final, Vanney said this week his team had thrived under the pressure of being expected to challenge for silverware. "The expectation is to be in games like this, to win trophies and win championships," Vanney said. "This group has come out and attacked it from day one and hasn't been afraid of it or in awe of it -- and that's one of the beauties of this group. "I'm excited for this group and this opportunity and now the objective is to win it and put the stamp on it, rewriting a new group of players and new legacy for this organisation." Vanney's task has become more complicated by an injury to star midfielder Riqui Puig, who suffered torn knee ligaments in last week's Western Conference final win over Seattle and will miss Saturday's game. "He's the ultimate competitor," Vanney said. "He wants to win, compete, and take responsibility on the field. He drives the team in so many ways. "We're going to have to adapt, and we're going to have to adapt in a collective way." The Galaxy meanwhile will be wary of a New York Red Bulls line-up that have ripped up the form book en route to the final. After finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference -- 27 points behind leaders Inter Miami -- the Red Bulls stunned reigning champions Columbus in the first round of the playoffs before wins on the road over rivals New York City FC and Orlando to book their place in their first MLS Cup since 2008. New York's Scotland international midfielder Lewis Morgan says the team is unfazed by Saturday's assignment in Los Angeles. "For me, it doesn't really matter where it is: it's playoff football," Morgan said this week. "It's not the regular season. These games are more cagey. You go 1-0 up, we defend a little bit deeper and we're relying on guys at the back. There have been massive performances." rcw/bbTiger Woods will not play in the 2024 Hero World Challenge, the 15-time major winner announced Monday on social media . The tournament, hosted annually by Woods, takes place Dec 5-8 at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. While there was a spot for him in the 20-man field, the 48-year-old has chosen to forgo what would have been his first competitive start since The Open and first since undergoing a sixth back surgery in September. "The surgery went smoothly, and I'm hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season," Woods said at the time. "I look forward to tackling this rehab and preparing myself to get back to normal life activities, including golf." In recent years, this has been the time during which Tiger has emerged from his hibernation. Playing with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship the last four years, Woods added a stop at the Hero World Challenge in 2023 as he eyed a busier playing schedule for the upcoming PGA Tour season. Playing in his event for the first time since 2019, the 15-time major champion put his game and physical endurance to the test. While Woods finished in 18th place with rounds of 75-70-71-72, he proved capable of walking 72 holes of tournament golf and appeared to get stronger as the week progressed. Unlike the PNC Championship where golf carts are permissible, the Hero World Challenge does not allow them. Woods believed playing once a month was a "reasonable" goal in 2024, but unfortunately, the ambitions were never met. He played in five sanctioned tournaments and saw the weekend once. After getting off to a solid start in his season debut at the Genesis Invitational, Woods withdrew from the tournament due to illness and back spasms during his second round. He was not seen again until the Masters where he made the cut for a record 24th consecutive time but ultimately finished last. Missed cuts followed at the final three major championships of the season. Woods has played in just 10 official PGA Tour events since he was seriously injured and hospitalized following a single-car crash in February 2021. His last top-20 finish on the PGA Tour came at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open just two starts after securing his 82nd career victory at the Zozo Championship that prior fall.
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks rode their dominant defense to a big win over a division rival to vault into first place in the NFC West. No, it isn’t 2013. These are the 2024 Seahawks, who, after struggling mightily against the run earlier this season, held the visiting Arizona Cardinals to 49 rushing yards in Sunday's 16-6 victory . The defensive line kept Kyler Murray under consistent pressure thanks to a dominant performance from Leonard Williams, the secondary flew around to smack away passes, and safety Coby Bryant scored on a 69-yard pick-6. Sunday's defensive performance was reminiscent of the Seahawks of a decade ago and a promising sign that first-year coach Mike Macdonald’s system is starting to click. Macdonald, who coordinated Baltimore's NFL-best defense last year, was leading one of the worst rush defenses in the league earlier this season. But Seattle consistently stuffed the Cardinals, who came in as the fifth-best running team in the league at 149.4 yards per game. “Three games in a row now we played pretty decent on defense,” Macdonald said. “There is an expectation and standard here throughout the course of our Seahawks history that we’re trying to live up to and build on. So that’s the idea.” At 6-5, the Seahawks drew even with the Cardinals in the tightly bunched division. The teams play each other again in two weeks at Arizona. Last month's trade for linebacker Ernest Jones IV has clearly paid off. Seattle hasn't allowed a running back to rush for more than 79 yards since its Week 8 loss to Buffalo, which was Jones' first game in a Seahawks uniform. He has led the team in tackles in every game he's played and has helped resurrect the run defense. The Seahawks' run game continues to underperform. Seattle got 65 yards on the ground Sunday, with the Cardinals holding Kenneth Walker III to 41 yards on 16 attempts. Zach Charbonnet had 22 yards on six carries. Walker hasn’t topped 100 yards since Week 1. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb needs to think of something different to get the running backs involved. Williams single-handedly disrupted the Cardinals with 2 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and one pass defensed. “I thought he was dominant,” Macdonald said. “I knew he played great and then I looked at the stat line and he played out of his mind.” The Seahawks finished with five sacks, seven quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and six pass deflections against the Cardinals, shutting down a team that had averaged 29.3 points over its previous three games. Geno Smith finished with 254 yards passing and a touchdown, but he threw another momentum-stalling interception. Smith was picked off on a third-and-6 play on the Arizona 18-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter, ending an 11-play, 73-yard drive. Smith has an NFL-most 12 interceptions this season, more than in either of his previous two seasons as the Seahawks' full-time starter. “That was a huge drive for us. ... Obviously made a terrible mistake down there, something I got to clean up,” Smith said. “But it was a big drive. We wanted to put the game ahead at least two scores.” The offensive line has contributed to the problem. Guard Anthony Bradford left with an ankle injury, and the line struggled to protect Smith, who was sacked five times. Macdonald said Bradford is expected to miss next week's game. 77 — Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the team with six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, marking the fourth consecutive game that Smith-Njigba has led the team in receptions. He topped 100 yards receiving in the previous two games. “He’s getting open,” Smith said. “He’s catching the ball. He’s doing a great job in the screen game. All-around great player. I just think the way that teams are playing us coverage-wise, I feel like it’s the ultimate sign of respect.” The Seahawks play at the struggling New York Jets on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks rode their dominant defense to a big win over a division rival to vault into first place in the NFC West. No, it isn’t 2013. These are the 2024 Seahawks, who, after struggling mightily against the run earlier this season, held the visiting Arizona Cardinals to 49 rushing yards in Sunday's 16-6 victory . The defensive line kept Kyler Murray under consistent pressure thanks to a dominant performance from Leonard Williams, the secondary flew around to smack away passes, and safety Coby Bryant scored on a 69-yard pick-6. Sunday's defensive performance was reminiscent of the Seahawks of a decade ago and a promising sign that first-year coach Mike Macdonald’s system is starting to click. Macdonald, who coordinated Baltimore's NFL-best defense last year, was leading one of the worst rush defenses in the league earlier this season. But Seattle consistently stuffed the Cardinals, who came in as the fifth-best running team in the league at 149.4 yards per game. “Three games in a row now we played pretty decent on defense,” Macdonald said. “There is an expectation and standard here throughout the course of our Seahawks history that we’re trying to live up to and build on. So that’s the idea.” At 6-5, the Seahawks drew even with the Cardinals in the tightly bunched division. The teams play each other again in two weeks at Arizona. Last month's trade for linebacker Ernest Jones IV has clearly paid off. Seattle hasn't allowed a running back to rush for more than 79 yards since its Week 8 loss to Buffalo, which was Jones' first game in a Seahawks uniform. He has led the team in tackles in every game he's played and has helped resurrect the run defense. The Seahawks' run game continues to underperform. Seattle got 65 yards on the ground Sunday, with the Cardinals holding Kenneth Walker III to 41 yards on 16 attempts. Zach Charbonnet had 22 yards on six carries. Walker hasn’t topped 100 yards since Week 1. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb needs to think of something different to get the running backs involved. Williams single-handedly disrupted the Cardinals with 2 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and one pass defensed. “I thought he was dominant,” Macdonald said. “I knew he played great and then I looked at the stat line and he played out of his mind.” The Seahawks finished with five sacks, seven quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and six pass deflections against the Cardinals, shutting down a team that had averaged 29.3 points over its previous three games. Geno Smith finished with 254 yards passing and a touchdown, but he threw another momentum-stalling interception. Smith was picked off on a third-and-6 play on the Arizona 18-yard line at the start of the fourth quarter, ending an 11-play, 73-yard drive. Smith has an NFL-most 12 interceptions this season, more than in either of his previous two seasons as the Seahawks' full-time starter. “That was a huge drive for us. ... Obviously made a terrible mistake down there, something I got to clean up,” Smith said. “But it was a big drive. We wanted to put the game ahead at least two scores.” The offensive line has contributed to the problem. Guard Anthony Bradford left with an ankle injury, and the line struggled to protect Smith, who was sacked five times. Macdonald said Bradford is expected to miss next week's game. 77 — Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the team with six catches for 77 yards and a touchdown, marking the fourth consecutive game that Smith-Njigba has led the team in receptions. He topped 100 yards receiving in the previous two games. “He’s getting open,” Smith said. “He’s catching the ball. He’s doing a great job in the screen game. All-around great player. I just think the way that teams are playing us coverage-wise, I feel like it’s the ultimate sign of respect.” The Seahawks play at the struggling New York Jets on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflThe Oregon State women’s basketball team rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Gonzaga 71-67 in overtime Saturday in Spokane, Washington. The game was close throughout, but the Bulldogs used a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter to take a 51-44 lead into the fourth. Gonzaga (6-8, 1-2 West Coast Conference) was then able to stretch that lead to 61-49 with just over 3 minutes left to play. But the Beavers (5-8, 1-1) ended regulation on a 12-0 run to force overtime. In the extra period, Kelsey Rees put the Beavers out front with a 3-point play, freshman Ally Schimel hit a corner 3-pointer and Catarina Ferreira and Kennedie Shuler knocked down free throws to give the Beavers their first win in the WCC. Here are a few highlights and key statistics from the game: It was over when : Gonzaga freshman Allie Turner missed a 3-point shot with 8 seconds left on the clock. Turner was one of the Bulldogs’ main weapons, making 5 of 10 attempts from deep and scoring 17 points. But Schimel did a good job defending Turner on the final possession and did not let her get a clean shot. Foul trouble : Gonzaga stars Yvonne Ejim and Maud Huijbens both fouled out. Ejim, the reigning WCC player of the year, finished with 22 points and eight rebounds and Huijbens had nine points and seven rebounds. For Oregon State, AJ Marotte had to sit late after getting called for her fourth foul. Big minutes : Despite her foul trouble, Marotte still played 38 minutes as Oregon State coach Scott Rueck relied heavily on his core group. Rees played 39 minutes, Catarina Ferreira and Shuler both played 38 minutes and Tiara Bolden was on the floor for 33 minutes. 3-point improvement : The Beavers made 10 of 27 from beyond the arc (37%). Marotte got the team off to a good start, making three 3-pointers in the first quarter to help Oregon State get on track after Gonzaga jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Bolden, Shuler and Schimel each hit two 3-pointers and Rees hit a big one during the fourth-quarter rally. Winning at the line : Oregon State was 17 for 22 at the free-throw line while Gonzaga was 2 for 4. Rees made 6 of 8 while Bolden went 4 for 4. Player of the game : Rees scored 21 points and had nine rebounds, five of them offensive. Up next : Oregon State will play at Portland at 6 p.m. Monday. That game will be shown on ESPN+. Les Gehrett is the sports editor and covers Oregon State football, women's basketball and gymnastics. Follow him on X at @lgehrtet. Get local news delivered to your inbox! 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