Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 11-15-16 Online Edition

Sports
Winston, Bucs Defense Defeat Bears, 36-10
Mike Evans Kneels During Anthem To Protest Trump: 'Something's Not Right'
MIKE EVANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans struck a now-familiar pose before his game on Sunday, kneeling in a form of protest during the pregame national anthem. But the focus of Evans’ protest was one new to NFL stadiums: the impending presidency of Don- ald Trump.
“If this happens, then Amer- ica’s not right right now. I said this a long time ago. When he ran, I thought it was a joke. The joke continues,” Evans said of Trump. “I’m not a political per- son that much, but I got common sense. And I know when some- thing’s not right.”
Evans made clear after the game that he was specifically protesting Trump, and would continue to kneel “as long as he’s the president-elect.” Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20.
Evans also took pains to note he was not seeking to criticize men and women in uniform. “I don’t want to, you know, disre- spect the veterans or anything,” Evans said. “The men and women who serve this country, I’m forever indebted to them. But the things that’s been going on in America lately, I’m not going to stand for that. When Ashton Kutcher comes out and says we’ve been punked, then I’ll stand again. But I won’t stand any- more.”
Protests begun earlier this sea- son by San Francisco 49ers quar- terback Colin Kaepernick and emulated across the league — though until Sunday, not in Tampa Bay — focused on the issue of police violence and equal- ity for minorities. Evans’ action is the first documented as specif- ically aimed at Trump himself.
Trump won a bruising, divi- sive, long-running presidential election on Tuesday, and protests almost immediately rose up in cities all over America and con- tinued for several days afterward. Trump was initially critical of the protests on Twitter, but later backpedaled.
Evans’ opinion of the presi- dent-elect isn’t a unanimous one in the NFL. Jay Cutler, whose Bears lost to Tampa Bay on Sun- day, made no secret of his alle- giances earlier this week. “I’m happy with the results,” Cutler said Wednesday. “I’ve supported Trump for a while. I’m not going to dive into it. I know it’s a sensi- tive issue, but I like where it’s going.”
Panthers QB Cam Newton Sets Passing, Rushing Record, But Fall Against Chiefs
Jameis Winston threw for 312 yards and two touch- downs to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 36-10 victory over the mistake-prone Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Winston threw for TDs of 10 yards to Cameron Brate and 43 yards to Freddie Martino, the latter set up by a bizarre highlight-reel play that saw the No. 1 pick in last year's draft scramble 23 yards backward into his own end zone before avoiding a safety and launching a 39-yard com- pletion to Mike Evans at the Chicago 38.
Martino, a former practice squad player with two career receptions, scored his first NFL touchdown after a delay penalty pushed the Bucs (4-5) back to the 43.
Two weeks after returning from injury and helping the
Bears (2-7) beat NFC North leader Minnesota, Jay Cut- ler threw two interceptions and fumbled twice, one result- ing in a third-quarter safety that put the Bucs up 29-10.
The Bucs forced four turnovers overall and sacked Cutler four times. Even though the Bears are last in the league in scoring, it was a confidence-building perform- ance for a defense that yielded 73 points and 1,087 yards — including 857 passing — in home losses to Oakland and Atlanta the previous two weeks.
Bucs running back Doug Martin returned from a ham- string injury that had side- lined him since Week 2. He rushed for 33 yards on 16 car- ries and scored on a 1-yard run that made it 36-10 late in the fourth quarter.
Healthy Russell Wilson, Seahawks Stop Patriots
JAMEIS WINSTON
The dab is back.
Carolina Panthers quarter- back Cam Newton brought back his 2015 touchdown cele- bration -- one that he'd pro- claimed dead during the offseason -- in the second quar- ter of Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Newton performed the At- lanta-based dance -- which last season became a national phe- nomenon -- after his 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter gave Carolina a 10-0 lead. The move brought a loud cheer from the crowd.
"Just any spark, man," Newton said in explaining the decision to dab. "It's hard to score in this league. I guess it was much-anticipated."
Also in the first half, New- ton became the first player in NFL history to pass for 20,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in his first six seasons.
In doing so, Newton, 27, became the fifth-youngest quarterback in NFL history to surpass 20,000 yards passing.
CAM NEWTON
The four quarterbacks who did so at a younger age are Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Dan Marino.
The reigning NFL MVP al- ready owned the league record for most career rushing touch- downs by a quarterback. His 47th set up the return of the dab.
Newton went on to throw an interception, returned by Chiefs safety Eric Berry for a touchdown, and the Panthers lost 20-17 as the Chiefs kicked a field goal in the closing sec- onds to overcome a 17-point deficit.
For several weeks, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson insisted the quarterback's health was improving.
It's time to take them seri- ously.
Wilson was brilliant in the Seahawks' 31-24 win over the New England PatriotsSunday night, completing 25 of 37 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns, with no intercep- tions. The offense delivered its best performance of the sea- son, scoring on seven of nine drives.
Wilson's finest moment came with 4 minutes, 30 sec- onds left in the game. From the shotgun, he took the snap and lofted a perfectly placed pass down the middle of the field to wide receiver Doug Baldwin for a 15-yard touchdown. It was the third time the pair con- nected for a score on the night.
"The offense, we made great plays when we needed to," Wilson said. "We were clutch on third down when we needed to, we battled, guys made phe- nomenal catches."
Since Week 10 of last sea- son, Baldwin has 17 touch- down catches, more than any other receiver in the NFL.
"He is an extremely talented player, he works extremely hard," Wilson said of Bald- win.
In the past two weeks, Wil- son is 45-for-63 for 630 yards
RUSSELL WILSON
and five touchdowns, with no interceptions. He also has run for a score.
While Wilson got the Sea- hawks the lead, the defense made sure they held on to it.
Seattle delivered a goal-line stand in the final minute. The Patriots faced a fourth-and-1 from the Seahawks' 1-yard line with 11 seconds left. They opted to go to Rob Gronkowski against Kam Chancellor, but Tom Brady's pass fell incom- plete. The two players got tan- gled up, but the officials did not throw a flag.
This was easily the Sea- hawks' most impressive win of the season. The passing game was outstanding, and the de- fense came up with big stops when it had to. It's the kind of all-around effort necessary in a Super Bowl-contending team.
At 6-2-1, the Seahawks have a two-game lead in the NFC West. In the weeks ahead, they're counting on getting de- fensive end Michael Bennett and running back Thomas Rawls back from injury.
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