Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 12-6-16 Online Edition

Sports
Winston And The Buccaneers Are Suddenly Tied For First Place In The NFC South
JAMEIS WINSTON
Cam Newton Sat Out Panthers' 1st Drive Due To Dress Code Violation
CAM NEWTON
Carolina Panthers quarter- back Cam Newton was held out of the opening series of Sunday night's game against the Seattle Seahawks due to a dress code violation.
The decision was made by coach Ron Rivera, team spokesperson Steven Drum- mond said.
Derek Anderson started at quarterback and was inter- cepted on the first play by out- side linebacker Mike Morgan on a pass intended for fullback Mike Tolbert.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, a noted Pan- thers fan, was perplexed by Newton's non-start.
The Panthers held Seattle to a field goal, and Newton took the field for the second series.
It is the second game this season the reigning NFL MVP has not started. He missed a Week 6 game against Tampa Bay with a concussion.
Safety Earl Thomas Tweets About Retiring After Exiting With Cracked Tibia
EARL THOMAS
Seahawks safety Earl Thomas left Sunday night's game against the Carolina Pan- thers with a lower left leg injury and later posted a tweet that suggested he was contemplat- ing retirement.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll told NBC's Michele Tafoya at halftime that Thomas suffered a crack in his tibia.
Thomas collided with team- mate Kam Chancellor while breaking up a pass intended for tight end Greg Olsen with 10:40 left in the second quarter. He tried to get up and walk the injury off but was unable to and went back to the ground.
Members of the Seahawks medical training staff carried Thomas off the field so that he wouldn't have to put weight on his left leg. He was later taken off the field on a cart.
Thomas tweeted at halftime that he had "no regrets," but that there was a lot running through his mind, "including retirement."
Alleged Shooter In Death Of Joe McKnight Released, Not Charged
At 3-5, following a blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked practically finished.
Now, they’re looking like a potential playoff team.
The Buccaneers got their fourth straight victory Sun- day, a 28-21 road win over the San Diego Chargers on Sun- day. The past three wins have been really impressive: a vic- tory at the Kansas City Chiefs, a home win against the Seat- tle Seahawks and Sunday’s win against a better-than- their-record Chargers team. After Sunday’s win and an At- lanta Falcons loss at home to the Chiefs, suddenly the Buc- caneers are tied for first place in the NFC South. The Bucca- neers and Falcons are tied at 7-5. They split the season se- ries.
The Buccaneers were in a close game on Sunday, but Jameis Winston’s touch- down to Cameron Brate in the fourth quarter and his two- point conversion pass to Mike Evans gave the Bucs a 28-21 lead. Philip Rivers threw a late interception, the Buccaneers converted a key
third-and-1 right before the two-minute warning, and they got out of San Diego with a huge road win.
The Buccaneers’ remaining schedule isn’t easy, with two games left against the New Orleans Saints, one at the Dallas Cowboys and a Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers. But they’re in the race for the division title, which is more than anyone figured from them a few weeks ago.
Winston has been effi- cient during the winning streak, and he had 280 yards on Sunday. Tampa Bay’s de- fense has also come alive over the past month, keeping teams out of the end zone and coming up with big plays. Tampa Bay shut out San Diego in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
At one point this season the Falcons looked like the sur- prise team of the NFL and a runaway favorite in the NFC South. The Buccaneers have gotten hot and ruined those plans, and now they’re tied with the Falcons with four games to go.
The shooting death of for- mer USC Trojans and New York Jets running back Joe McKnight in a New Orleans suburb was a "road rage" inci- dent that started on a nearby bridge, a sheriff said Friday, as he urged against a rush to judgment and defended his handling of the case as the al- leged shooter was released overnight.
McKnight was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in the community of Terrytown, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Au- thorities have identified 54- year-old Ronald Gasser, who stayed at the scene, as the shooter, and he was released overnight, sparking criticism.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said dur- ing a news conference on Fri- day that the altercation that ended with McKnight's death started on a nearby bridge -- possibly when one of the two men cut the other off -- and then proceeded into nearby streets in the New Orleans sub- urb. He did not say which driver cut off the other.
Authorities said Gasser shot McKnight three times through an open window from inside his car with a semi-au- tomatic handgun while McK- night was standing outside.
Normand said witnesses observed a "heated verbal ex- change" between Gasser and McKnight before the shoot- ing. However, Normand said that one witness account, which indicated Gasser was standing over McKnight when he fired a shot, was fac- tually incorrect and "did not happen."
Normand said three cas- ings were located inside Gasser's vehicle, and coroner Gerry Cvitanovich said Fri- day that McKnight had wounds to his left hand and entry wounds to his right shoulder and the right side of his chest.
Gasser stayed at the scene, relinquished his semi-auto- matic handgun to officers and was taken into custody and questioned, the sheriff said. No
JOE MCKNIGHT
guns were found outside either vehicle. According to The Times-Picayune, Gasser told police he was the shooter.
Normand said later Friday in a news release that the man who shot McKnight was in- volved in a 2006 altercation at the same intersection, during which he chased down and struck another male driver, who had observed a truck driv- ing erratically and called a phone number on the truck and spoke to a man later iden- tified as Gasser.
Gasser and the 51-year-old man got into an argument on the phone, according to the sheriff's statement. Gasser followed the man to a service station and "began to strike him with a closed fist several times."
Gasser drove away and the other man called 911. Investi- gators found Gasser and is- sued a misdemeanor summons for simple battery, which was later dismissed.
Protesters upset at Gasser's overnight release gathered outside the sheriff's office earlier Friday.
Normand defended his handling of the current case, saying the investigation was ongoing. No charges have been filed, with Normand saying the state has certain "statutes" that provide a defense to cer- tain crimes, but he did not go into further detail.
"The easiest thing for me would have been, 'Book him, Danno.' Right?" Normand said, referring to the police saying made popular on "Hawaii Five-O."
"Mr. Gasser is not going anywhere. He has been com- pletely cooperative with us in every request we have made. We will do a very thorough and deliberate investigation."
Cowboys Clinch Playoff Spot With Washington Loss
With the Washington Red- skins' loss to the Arizona Car- dinals, Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys earned their second playoff trip in the last three years. Add to that the New York Giants' loss to the Pitts- burgh Steelers, and the Cow- boys can clinch the NFC East with a win against the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 11.
If the Seattle Seahawks lose tonight to the Carolina Pan- thers, the Cowboys can also clinch a first-round bye with a
win against the Giants but not home-field advantage. The Detroit Lions (8-4) would still have an opportunity to earn the top seed and play the Cow- boys Dec. 26 at AT&T Sta- dium.
The Cowboys have won 11 straight games since dropping the season opener to the Gi- ants. They put themselves in position to clinch a playoff spot with their 17-15 win against the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 1.
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