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Chicago Bears DE Montez Sweat hoping to make a bigger impact after a whirlwind week: ‘I have to have more production’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

Forgive Montez Sweat if his enthusiasm wasn’t exactly flowing late Sunday afternoon. A day after signing a life-changing contract extension with the Chicago Bears — four years, $98 million with more than $72 million guaranteed — Sweat’s first public comments about that deal and his football future came in the minutes after his new team suffered its seventh loss of a wayward season.With a tough-to-swallow 24-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the stumbling Bears had a lot more on their minds than the continued orientation of their new standout pass rusher. And Sweat, who started the week on the practice field in Washington and finished it with a modest two-tackle effort for the Bears against the Saints, was still too caught up in the whirlwind to give much of a deep breakdown on all that has happened to him and for him in recent days.“It’s been a fast week,” he said. “I’ve really just been taking...

Odell Beckham Jr. scores first touchdown with Ravens on his 31st birthday: ‘I’m truly blessed’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

Happy birthday, Odell Beckham Jr.On the day the star wide receiver turned 31 years old, he scored his first touchdown with the Ravens in the fourth quarter of a 37-3 blowout win Sunday over the Seattle Seahawks at M&T Bank Stadium.It’s a significant milestone for a player who considered retiring from the NFL after suffering a torn ACL in the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in February 2022. Coincidentally, that was the time Beckham scored a touchdown, as he sat out the entire 2022 season.“It feels good to finally get that one off you,” he said.Sunday’s big catch — coming on a 6-yard pass to the corner of the end zone from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley as Lamar Jackson cheered from the sideline with the outcome already decided — couldn’t have come at a better time.Earlier in the week, Beckham said he’s “obviously not where I want to be” in terms of production after being held...

East Boston man arrested after police find 240 grams of fentanyl in home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

An East Boston man is facing a slew of drug charges after police found a stockpile of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms and thousands of dollars in his home, Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden announced Sunday.“Fentanyl is a death drug, plain and simple,” Hayden said in a release. “The amount seized here — 240 grams of fentanyl, plus sizeable quantities of other drugs — represents a tremendous amount of potential human devastation.”After months of investigating, police executed a search warrant for the apartment of Robert Ciampi, 63, on Orleans Street in East Boston on Nov. 1, according to the release.Through the search, officers found about 240 grams of fentanyl, 65 grams of cocaine, 12 grams of crack cocaine, 10 pounds of marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms and $7,500 in cash, the DA’s office said.Police noted they found narcotics throughout the apartment, including a plastic bag of white powder and another of tan powder in a black chest next to a...

Instant analysis from Ravens’ 37-3 win over Seattle Seahawks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the Ravens’ 37-3 win over the visiting Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s Week 9 game at M&T Bank Stadium.Brian Wacker: The Ravens defense is the best in the NFL. The metrics say it and so do the results.Baltimore has played down to some of its opponents this season — losing to the Colts and Steelers — but it’s not as if they didn’t have several opportunities to win those games, either. Yet when they’ve played notable opponents — the Bengals, Browns, Lions and Seahawks — their play has reached another level. That’s especially true on defense. They’ve given up fewer points per game than any team in the league and have more sacks than anyone, despite not having a superstar edge rusher. That success speaks to the scheme of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and his ability to get the most from his players.Offensively, the Ravens still had some ...

Mike Preston’s report card: Position-by-position grades for Ravens’ 37-3 win over Seahawks | COMMENTARY

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

Here’s how the Ravens (7-2) graded out at each position after a 37-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) in Sunday’s Week 9 game at M&T Bank Stadium.QuarterbacksLamar Jackson started slowly but quickly took control of the game with both his passing and his legs. He made several good checks at the line of scrimmage, especially in the first half. Jackson and the rest of the offense got a little sloppy in the third quarter, but the Seahawks still couldn’t find a way to slow him down. Jackson completed 21 of 26 passes for 187 yards and ran for 60 yards on 10 carries. He had two fumbles, but one wasn’t his fault as left tackle Ronnie Stanley was beaten badly and Jackson was hit from behind as he attempted to throw. Grade: B+Running backsThe running game was dominant and overpowering, and the Ravens wore Seattle down in the second half. Gus Edwards was dominant inside and had 52 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. Justice Hill had 40 yards on 13 carries b...

Callahan: The Patriots lost to a tanking team, so what does that make them?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

FOXBORO — Five days before kickoff, the Commanders punted on their season.They traded two of the NFL’s most menacing pass-rushers, Chase Young and Montez Sweat, for draft picks. Those deals signaled to players, coaches and fans alike that Washington higher-ups had no regard for the rest of the season.On to the future. The tank is on.But Sunday, the Commanders beat the Patriots anyway.Allow that to hit you again, with all the force of a real tank.The Patriots lost to a team whose ownership would have preferred defeat. The one-time gold standard of the NFL fell to a franchise defined by top-down dysfunction and toxicity for 20 years. Facing a defanged defense, the Pats were out-gained by 104 yards and held the ball for 15 fewer minutes.So, what does that make them?For now, the answer is just 2-7. The Patriots are a bad team suffering through a lost season. They are not special in this regard, merely following in the footsteps of NFL losers past. In the same vein, their bleeding ...

Trump thumps Biden in swing states, new 2024 poll shows

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

If the 2024 general election were held today, a new multistate poll shows that many of the key swing states that propelled President Biden into the White House in 2020 would go to former President Donald Trump and likely return him to office.According to a survey of more than 3,000 registered voters released Sunday by the Siena College Research Institute and the New York Times, with just under a year left until election day Trump is beating Biden in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan and Nevada.The poll shows Biden winning in Wisconsin, but that’s not enough to prevent Trump from securing more than enough electoral college votes to claim victory nationally.“The only good news for President Joe Biden in this New York Times/Siena College poll is that it was conducted a year before voters go to the polls,” Siena pollster Don Levy said in a statement. “Currently, former President Donald Trump leads Biden in five of six key battleground states – all won by Biden in 2020 – that will...

TVO workers vote to accept deal with employer, ending 11-week strike

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

TORONTO — Dozens of workers at Ontario’s public broadcaster will return to their jobs Monday after voting this weekend to accept a new collective agreement and end a strike that’s stretched on for nearly three months.TVO says the accepted offer includes a wage increase of 7.7 per cent over three years — three per cent retroactive to 2022, 2.75 per cent in 2023 and 1.75 per cent in 2024.“Everyone at TVO is looking forward to having our team at full strength once again and focusing our efforts on delivering the important educational content and current affairs journalism TVO is known for,” CEO Jeffrey Orridge said in a news release.The employer said TVO also withdrew various proposals that would have extended employment contracts beyond two years and the new deal increases access to job opportunities for production staff.Meredith Martin, president of the TVO branch of Canadian Media Guild, the union which represents around 70 journalists, producers and ed...

CTA employee injured in altercation on platform in Loop

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

CHICAGO — An altercation on a CTA platform in the Loop left an employee injured on Saturday night, according to police.Chicago police say the altercation unfolded on a platform in the 200 block of South State Street around 8 p.m.According to officers, the CTA employee, a 59-year-old man, allegedly got into a physical altercation with a man, and during the struggle, the employee fell down a nearby escalator. Chicago police: Anti-Semitic messages placed on parked cars in Portage Park Police say the employee suffered a laceration to his right arm and a bruise on his head during the fall.Officers say the other person involved in the altercation fled from the scene after the employee fell and was later taken into custody in the 100 block of North Dearborn Street.Currently, it is unclear what led to the altercation and authorities have not yet identified anyone involved.

Jefferson Park bike shop hosts 'Cranksgiving' food, bike drive

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 07:00:12 GMT

CHICAGO — It's a bike ride and a food drive, a Jefferson Park bike shop hosted a 'Cranksgiving.' With the holiday season shifting into gear, Cosmic Bikes on Milwaukee Avenue is bringing cycling enthusiasts together on a journey to give back. It was an idea that started in New York and Cosmic Bikes hosted its first 'Cranksgiving' last year."We were shocked by how well it went; it was really frigid that day and we had a good turnout. We really had a pile of goods at the end of the event," Chris Strodder from Cosmic Bikes said.Chris Stodder and Justyna Frank, the shop owners, designed the drive where participants receive a list of specific items including canned foods and dry goods they can purchase. "We also give them a list of stores, suggest locally owned also include your standard grocery stores located nearby people can make their own choice," Frank said. They choose their own route and roll out, coming back to the shop to drop off their donations and celebrate.All of the donation...