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Kiszla: If “Sparky” Stidham is the answer at quarterback, Broncos are already doomed in 2024

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

As the calendar flips to 2024, they’re the same bad news Broncos. Your beloved local NFL franchise is unfit for the playoffs, boring to watch and throwing quarterbacks against the wall, hoping something will stick.Happy New Year, everyone!On a Sunday when they were eliminated from the NFL playoffs for the eighth season in a row, what did we learn about the Broncos during their 16-9 defeat of the woeful and uninspired Los Angeles Chargers?No. 1: Jarrett Stidham is Trevor Siemian with lesser skill and better hair.No. 2: Despite being the smartest football man in any room he enters, Denver coach Sean Payton is generally no better at identifying new quarterback talent than our old pal John Elway was.After benching Russell Wilson to give the offense a spark, the Broncos looked remarkably similar and almost as difficult to watch as any time during the past eight years, whether the quarterback in the huddle was Case Keenum or Paxton Lynch, or the man in charge of the sideline has bee...

Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton on missing playoffs despite win over Chargers: “It (stinks) and it is bittersweet”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

Fireworks shot out from the top of the video board at Empower Field. Fans cheered in celebration. There were a few smiles in the locker room.But the idea of missing the playoffs for the eighth straight season hung over everything after the Broncos’ too-little, too-late, 16-9 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon.“They are NFL games (and) they are still hard to win no matter what. It still sucks and it is bittersweet,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton said.While Broncos quarterback Jarret Stidham took a knee midfield, solidifying his first career win as a starter, the Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers secured victories, ending any hope of Denver playing meaningful football in January.Broncos nose tackle Mike Purcell thinks things could’ve been different if they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot earlier in the season. The Broncos started 1-5, allowed 70 points in a loss to the Dolphins, and blew halftime leads against the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commande...

Broncos’ win over Chargers relegated to sideshow on afternoon of scoreboard and Russell Wilson watching

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

On the bright side, 67,221 isn’t a half-bad attendance number for a sideshow.That’s what Denver’s 16-9 home win over the Los Angeles Chargers on the final afternoon of 2023 became by the time everybody left Empower Field and headed to their New Year’s Eve parties.When the Broncos do their retrospective on how this year finished with such a thud, they’ll find they have nobody to blame but themselves.Oh, this isn’t just because of the Russell Wilson drama, either. Though that did become a big, ugly, public part of the equation this week. Denver spent several days dominating the NFL news cycle not because of a chance to end an eight-year playoff absence, but because coach Sean Payton benched Wilson and in the process effectively began divorce proceedings from the club’s $245 million quarterback.That was enough to push Jarrett Stidham (first NFL win), Jaleel McLaughlin (11 touches, 62 yards), Lil’Jordan Humphrey (54-yard TD catch-and-run) and all the rest to the backseat, bu...

One dead in south Fort Collins house fire

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

One person was killed and another injured in a fire in south Fort Collins on Saturday.According to a media release from Poudre Fire Authority, crews were dispatched to a single story house on South Taft Hill Road shortly before 7 p.m. Upon arriving, firefighters observed smoke coming from the windows and flames in the northeast part of the home.Firefighters entered the residence and evacuated two people, but a dog in the house was deceased.  The two were treated on scene and then transported to an area hospital, but one of the patients later died from their injuries, the release states.Crews extinguished the flames by 7:12 p.m., but remained on scene to clear debris and monitor hotspots.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Colorado man sentenced in Nevada power plant fire initially described as terror attack Crime and Public Safety | Colorado’s first Firehawk is nearly ready to fight fires after longer delays than expected Crime and Public ...

Photos: Oakland’s St. Columba Catholic Church holds year-end ceremony for victims of homicides

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

OAKLAND — Amidst a sea of white crosses, a memorial service was held at St. Columba Catholic Church on Sunday to commemorate the 126 lives lost to homicides in the city this year.The church’s mission, as stated on their website, is to display crosses on their front lawn as a source of comfort for the families of Oakland homicide victims and to draw community attention to the issue of violence in our streets and the need for additional resources to address the problem.Oakland Police chaplain Father Jayson Landeza carried a cross for Oakland Police officer Tuan Le, who was killed on duty on Dec. 29th while responding to a cannabis dispensary robbery near the Embarcadero. Mayor Sheng Thao and others spoke during the ceremony.For the last fourteen years, St. Columba’s has commemorated Oakland’s homicide victims by placing a cross with the person’s name in the front garden of the church.The killing of officer Le was the 126th homicide investigated by Oakland police this...

Dyaisha Fair scores 27 as Syracuse defeats No. 13 Notre Dame 86-81

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Dyaisha Fair scored 27 points and hit three huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, leading Syracuse to an 86-81 victory over No. 13 Notre Dame in a thrilling ACC opener on Sunday.Syracuse’s Alyssa Latham added 21 points and 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.Fair’s 3-pointer gave Syracuse a 71-67 lead with 3:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The clutch bucket came after the Orange (11-1) had forced six turnovers and allowed only five shot attempts by Notre Dame in the first five-plus minutes of the period.Hannah Hidalgo, a freshman, led Notre Dame with a season-high 32 points. She added six assists and seven steals. Maddy Westbeld had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Anna DeWolfe scored 15 for Notre Dame (9-2).NO. 3 NC STATE 72, VIRGINIA 61CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Mimi Collins scored 25 points and Saniya Rivers had 10 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists as North Carolina State pulled away after halftime.River Baldwin added 14 points and 1...

Foegele has 2 goals, career-high 5 points in Oilers’ 7-2 rout of Ducks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Warren Foegele had two goals and a career-high five points, Leon Draisaitl scored for the third straight game and the Edmonton Oilers routed the Anaheim Ducks 7-2 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to five.Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse each had two assists, and Ryan McLeod had a goal and an assist. Evander Kane, Zack Hyman and Brett Kulak also scored for Edmonton. Calvin Pickard stopped 28 shots. Connor McDavid had an assist and needs two points to reach 900 for his career. The Oilers have won 15 of 21 games since Kris Knoblauch took over as coach.Max Jones and Frank Vatrano had the goals for Anaheim, which has dropped four of five on its eight-game homestand. John Gibson made 32 saves.Edmonton had a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes before it broke open the game with three goals during the first 12 minutes of the second period. Draisaitl made it 3-1 at 1:48 when he hammered in a one-timer from Nurse at a nearly 90-degree angle. Draisaitl put the puck inside the n...

Gilgeous-Alexander scores 24, Thunder beat Nets 124-108, extend winning streak to 4 games

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points and six assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their fourth straight game, beating the Brooklyn Nets 124-108 on Sunday night.Josh Giddey had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, and rookie Chet Holmgren added 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for Oklahoma City, which improved to 22-9, good for second place in the Western Conference.“We’ve gotten a lot better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve put in a lot of work. I expect us to get better. I’m not surprised. We’ve got to keep going and keep getting better.”The Thunder have hosted a New Year’s Eve game every year since the franchise moved to town and have a 12-4 record in those games. Brooklyn is 2-8 all-time on New Year’s Eve.Holmgren and Jalen Williams, who scored 17 points, scored all the Thunder’s points in a 16-8 run that extended Oklahoma City’s lead from seven points to 102-87 with 8:49 left. Brooklyn got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way ...

Mason Marchment has 3 goals and an assist in Stars’ 8-1 rout of Blackhawks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Mason Marchment had three goals and an assist, Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves to improve to 11-2-2 and the Dallas Stars routed the Chicago Blackhawks 8-1 on Sunday night to complete a two-game set.Tyler Seguin had a goal and two assists and Roope Hintz, Ryan Suter, Craig Smith and Sam Steel also scored. The Stars matched a season high in goals in their sixth consecutive home victory, two nights after topping the Chicago 5-4 in overtime at American Airlines Center.Wedgewood made his seventh consecutive start since Jake Oettinger went down with a lower-body injury early in Dallas’ game Dec. 15.Philipp Kurashev scored for the Blackhawks. They have lost 11 consecutive road games (0-10-1) and have the second-fewest points in the NHL at 24.Connor Bedard, Chicago’s 18-year-old star, assisted on the power-play goal 39 seconds into the third period for his rookie-leading 33rd point.Petr Mrazek allowed six goals on 32 shots. He was replaced almost five minutes into the third peri...

Vikings make halftime quarterback switch from Jaren Hall back to Nick Mullens

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:20 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell benched starting quarterback Jaren Hall at halftime of Sunday night’s game against Green Bay with the Packers leading by 20 points and Minnesota’s playoff hopes dwindling.Nick Mullens replaced Hall, who went 5 of 10 for 67 yards and two turnovers in his second career start. Minnesota entered the game needing a victory to still have a strong chance of reaching the postseason.The switch to Mullens was O’Connell’s third quarterback change in four weeks — all for reasons related to performance.Since losing Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in Week 8 at Green Bay, the Vikings have used three quarterbacks, a direct reflection of the team’s 7-8 record coming into the week and its four losses in the past five weeks.Hall, the fifth-round draft pick out of BYU, was the first replacement for Cousins, starting the next week at Atlanta. But Hall suffered a concussion early in the game, leading to Jo...