PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers’ run at perfection is over. Washington rallied from a 14-point deficit to stun Pittsburgh 23-17 to drop the Steelers to 11-1 on the season. Washington quarterback Alex Smith passed for 296 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to Logan Thomas in the fourth quarter that tied the game. Dustin Hopkins kicked a field goal with just over 2 minutes left to put Washington ahead to stay. Pittsburgh missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth with the loss. Washington won its third straight and stayed tied with the New York Giants for the top spot in the NFC East at 5-7.
UNDATED (AP) — Doug Pederson isn’t ready to commit to starting QB Carson Wentz or Jalen Hurts. The Philadelphia Eagles have lost four in a row and are headed nowhere in the NFC East even though they’re still within 1 1/2 games of the first-place New York Giants. Wentz was benched in the second half of a 30-16 loss at Green Bay on Sunday following another subpar performance during the worst season of his five-year career. Hurts provided a spark against a defense that played softer coverage with a 20-point lead.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without placekicker Chris Boswell when they put their unbeaten 11-0 record on the line against Washington. Boswell is inactive because of a hip injury that forced him to miss practice during the week. Boswell started the season strong but had struggled of late, missing at least one field goal or extra point in three of Pittsburgh’s past four games. Matthew Wright, signed to the practice squad last week, will make his NFL debut in place of Boswell. Washington will have wide receiver Terry McLaurin in the lineup after he was limited in practice during the week.
UNDATED (AP) — Dick Allen, a fearsome hitter who was a seven-time All-Star and the 1972 American League MVP, has died. He was 78. Allen’s No. 15 was retired by the Philadelphia Phillies in September, an honor that was considered long overdue by many for one of the franchise’s greatest players who fought against racism during a tumultuous period with the team in the 1960s. Phillies managing partner John Middleton broke from the team’s longstanding “unwritten” policy of only retiring the number of players who are in the Hall of Fame to honor Allen.
UNDATED (AP) — John Urschel has found that a master’s degree in mathematics, his stature as an accomplished author and his pending doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology isn’t necessarily enough to sell young students on the benefit of crunching numbers. What really makes him interesting to most kids is that he’s a former NFL player who opted to immerse himself in math. Urschel starred at Penn State before being selected by the Ravens in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played 40 games with Baltimore, starting 13. That provided him with a unique background in his effort to extol the virtues of math to children of all backgrounds, particularly African-Americans.
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