on just before safety Rafael Bush could get to the veteran receiver

In the lead-up to Rio, Australia were forthright in their belief they could win an historic first Olympic mens basketball medal - even gold.The early signs were brilliant, with the Boomers beating France, Serbia, China and Venezuela and pushing Team USA all the way in the group stages.Confidence was high ahead of the semifinal against Serbia but the Boomers dreams were brutally crushed as they were busted open in an 87-61 thrashing.?They were never in the contest, suffering one of their most embarrassing defeats in Olympic competition.So, what went wrong for the Boomers?1. Did they choke? And if so, why?Its one thing to lose, but its another to get embarrassed on the big stage. After a spectacular campaign - including upset wins over France and Serbia as well as pushing the U.S. to the limit - the Boomers saved their worst performance for when it mattered most. A win over Serbia would have guaranteed an Olympic medal for the first time in Australian mens basketball history.But they were way off from the very start as Serbia exploded with an early 8-0 lead that the Boomers could never recover from. Theres no doubt Serbia were strong, especially on the defensive end in stifling the Boomers attack, but the Australians looked dazed and daunted in defence for the first time this tournament.The Serbians pick and roll offense was a thing of beauty that the Boomers had no answers for. They tried going over the screen at the start of the match which allowed Serbia to get inside and knock down the easy elbow jumper. ?They then switched and tried going under screens, leading to open looks from beyond the arc for Serbia.Every little run and adjustment the Boomers made was well and truly countered by Serbia.To make matters worse for the Boomers, talisman Andrew Bogut looked visibly hobbled with a knee concern.2. Why couldnt the Boomers score?The Boomers dont have a go-to player but they used that to their advantage in playing selfless team basketball in the group stages, making sure to move the ball and force the extra pass for easy baskets and open looks. However, that was non-existent against the Serbians.At halftime, Australia had just 14 points on the board and had coughed up 11 turnovers as Serbia led by 21 points to virtually put the result beyond doubt.Yes, Serbias defense was suffocating but the Boomers execution and ability to get to their sets was awful.Off the ball, Australia lacked the same cohesion and effort that posed such a threat in offence. Without that activity, the Serbians were able to focus all their pressure on the ball without having to make many difficult decisions in defence.On top of that, the Boomers dynamic backcourt Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills could never find their groove as they combined to score just 16 points (less than Mills average of 21.2 points per game) on 7-22 shooting.3. Would Ben Simmons make a difference?After one NBA general manager proclaimed if Simmons had played, Australia would have beaten Team USA, its hard not to imagine that Simmons would have made a difference against Serbia and Australia would be through to the gold medal match.This years No. 1 NBA draft pick is a dangerous threat with ball in hand and would certainly have given the Boomers many opportunities when there was seemingly little happening. His ability to drive to the basket and crash the offensive boards would give Australias three-point shooters such as Dellavedova and Mills even greater room to operate and cut to the lane.At the very least, he would have attracted extra attention and forced Serbia to adjust their defensive schemes.4. Where to from here?The Boomers Olympic campaign isnt over yet.While the result wasnt what the Boomers were hoping for, they still have a chance to make history with a bronze medal against Spain on Monday morning (12:30am AEST).The game against No. 2-ranked Spain wont be easy, but you can bet that after the game against Serbia, theyll have a point to prove.Australia is motivated to lay the platform for the next generation of superstars with Simmons, Thon Maker and Dante Exum set to feature prominently for the Boomers in years to come. Nike NFL Jerseys Outlet . 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Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. MINNEAPOLIS -- Sam Bradford had a Minnesota debut almost as dazzling as the new $1.1 billion building itself, completing 22 of 30 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers to lead the Vikings to a 17-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.The defense did the rest, sacking Aaron Rodgers five times and producing two turnovers in the fourth quarter that quashed the comeback and sent the crowd of 66,813 into a deafening frenzy in celebration of first regular-season game at U.S. Bank Stadium.Adrian Peterson limped off in the third quarter with a right knee injury, and only 19 yards on 12 carries, but the Vikings (2-0) proved they still have a lot of options. Stefon Diggs caught nine passes for 182 yards a touchdown. They held the Packers (1-1) to 65 total yards in the first half, withstanding an early touchdown pass by Rodgers to Jordy Nelson on a drive aided by two penalties by cornerback Terence Newman.Trae Waynes, who had two penalties himself, intercepted Rodgers pass in Vikings territory in the closing minutes to seal the victory. The previous drive was killed when Brian Robison knocked the ball out of the hands of Rodgers, who ran for 29 yards and a touchdown. He began to find a groove throwing the ball late, but Bradford was the better quarterback on this night.PATRIOTS 31, DOLPHINS 24FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Jimmy Garoppolo had three, first-half touchdown passes before leaving in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury.It was the Patriots eighth straight home victory over Miami (0-2). It came at a price as New England (2-0) was dealt another blow at quarterback with Tom Brady already out his four-game Deflategate suspension.Garoppolos injury came in a flash. On third down with less than five minutes left in the first half, he was chased out of the pocket and got off a completion to Malcolm Mitchell. Garoppolo was driven into the ground on his shoulder by Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso.Garoppolo initially got up, before going down to one knee and being attended to by the training staff. He ended his day 18 of 27 for 234 yards and the three scores.He was replaced by rookie Jacoby Brissett, who led New England to a touchdown on its first possession of the second half. Brissett was 6 of 9 for 92 yards. LeGarrette Blount rushed 29 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. Martellus Bennett also had five catches 114 and a touchdown.Miami rallied in the second half but couldnt catch up.STEELERS 24, BENGALS 16PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns to offset a pair of interceptions.DeAngelo Williams churned out 94 yards on a career-high 32 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown grab. Tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble also caught scoring passes from Roethlisberger as the Steelers (2-0) kept Cincinnati in check at rainy Heinz Field.Andy Dalton passed for 366 yards and a touchdown, but needed 31 completions to reach that total, working almost exclusively on dump offs to running backs and tight ends while Pittsburgh clamped down on star wide receiver A.J. Green, who had just two receptions for 38 yards.The rematch of the Steelers ugly 18-16 win in the wild-card round in January was downright tame. The teams combined for just 10 penalties and only one personal foul.RAMS 9, SEAHAWKS 3LOS ANGELES -- Greg Zuerlein kicked three field goals, the longest a 47-yarder in the fourth quarter, and the Rams marked the return of pro football to Los Angeles for the first time in nearly 22 years with a win.Plenty of penalties slowed down the game for the announced crowd of 91,046 on a searing day at the Memorial Coliseum, where the Rams commemorated the long-awaited occasion by wearing blue-and-gold throwback uniforms.The Rams (1-1) are still without a touchdown after losing 28-0 at San Francisco in their s opener. With field goals accounting for all the offense, it was hardly the high-scoring show Los Angeles sports fans are known to crave.Seattle (1-1) racked up 10 penalties for 114 yards; the Rams had nine penalties for 78 yards.BRONCOS 34, COLTS 20DENVER -- Von Miller gave the Denver fans a reminder of his Super Bowl 50 MVP performance, sweeping in for the sack-strip of Andrew Luck that sealed the win.With the Broncos clinging to a six-point lead with 1:51 remaining, Miller burst past right tackle Joe Reitz and swiped the ball from Lucks grasp. Fellow linebacker Shane Ray scooped up the ball and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.Miller added a sack on the last play as the Broncos (2-0) sent the banged-up Colts limping to their third consecutive 0-2 start.They did it by rattling Luck, who started 5 for 18 before he engineered a couple of second-half touchdown drives. Luck completed just 21 of 40 passes for 197 yards and was sacked five times.FALCONS 35, RAIDERS 28OAKLAND, Calif. -- Justin Hardy caught a deflected 8-yard touchdown pass to break a tie midway through the fourth quarter.Matt Ryan threw three TD passes, but got lucky on the go-ahead one in the fourth quarter. His third-down throw to Tevin Coleman was broken up, but the ball bounced high in the air and Hardy caught it in the end zone to put Atlanta (1-1) up 28-21.The Raiders (1-1) appeared to tie on the next drive when Amari Cooper caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr. But officials ruled Cooper went out of bounds voluntarily before making the catch, although the Raiders contended he was pushed by Desmond Trufant.Oakland coach Jack Del Rio then went on fourth-and-2, but Jalen Richard was stopped on a 1-yard gain.BUCCANEERS 40, CARDINALS 7GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Carson Palmer threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona (1-1) intercepted Jameis Winston four times.Marcus Cooper, acquired off waivers from Kansas City on Sept. 2, had two interceptions, returning the second 60 yards for a score.dddddddddddd Winston also fumbled the ball away once.Winston, who had four touchdown passes against Atlanta in the opener and was NFC player of the week, threw 51 passes, the most in his two NFL seasons, completing 27 for 243 yards for the Bucs (1-1).Palmer completed 18 of 31 passes with no interceptions before sitting out most of the fourth quarter. All three of Palmers scoring passes came in the first half,- to Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and Jaron Brown.CHARGERS 38, JAGUARS 14SAN DIEGO -- Philip Rivers matched his career-high with four touchdown passes, including two to Travis Benjamin and Melvin Gordon ran for one score and had his first 100-yard game.The Chargers (1-1) bounced back from their stunning loss at Kansas City, when they blew a 21-point third-quarter lead and fell 33-27 in overtime.The Jaguars started 0-2 for the fourth time in five seasons. They crossed midfield only six times and committed three turnovers.Casey Hayward led the Chargers defense with two interceptions of Blake Bortles.Gordon, a second-year pro, scored on a 3-yard run on the games opening drive, his first TD at Qualcomm Stadium. Gordon went in standing up, and then right guard D.J. Fluker lifted him off the ground in celebration. He finished with 102 yards on 24 carries.COWBOYS 27, REDSKINS 23LANDOVER, Md. -- Alfred Morris scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with under five minutes left, leading the Cowboys over his former team.Washingtons Kirk Cousins threw an end-zone interception that set up a long Dallas drive to the winning score.With rookie quarterback Dak Prescott looking poised throughout and scrambling for a 6-yard TD run in the second half, Dallas (1-1) won for only the second time in its past 16 games without the injured Tony Romo -- and both of those victories came at Washington (0-2).Prescott finished 22 for 30 for 292 yards.GIANTS 13, SAINTS 10EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz on a third-down 34-yard pass to set up Josh Browns winning 23-yard field goal as time expired. The Giants got off to their first 2-0 start since 2009, while New Orleans lost its second straight.Browns third field goal capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive that featured two key third-down passes by Manning and a pass interference call on a throw to Odell Beckham Jr.The game was also redemption for the Giants defense. After allowing Drew Brees to throw for 511 yards and an NFL-tying seven touchdowns, New York limited him to one touchdown, 263 yards passing and 288 yards in total team offense.RAVENS 25, BRONCOS 20CLEVELAND -- Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes to Mike Wallace and the Ravens rallied from a 20-point first-quarter deficit.Justin Tucker kicked three field goals and the Ravens (2-0) withstood Clevelands final drive to improve to 15-2 against the Browns under coach John Harbaugh.C.J. Mosley intercepted Browns quarterback Josh McCown at the goal line with 13 seconds left to seal the win.Baltimore was a point from trailing by three touchdowns in the opening quarter before blocking an extra point and returning it for two points and igniting the comeback.McCown stayed in despite an injured left shoulder for the Browns (0-2), who were hurt by a missed field goal and three costly penalties in the fourth quarter.PANTHERS 46, 49ERS 27CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cam Newton threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns, and the Panthers overcame four turnovers.Newton threw two TD passes to Kelvin Benjamin and one each to Greg Olsen and Devin Funchess to pass Jake Delhomme for most TD passes in franchise history with 122.Newton showed no ill effects from the four helmet-to-helmet hits he took in Carolinas season-opening loss to Denver. He took one shot to the head from linebacker Eli Harold late in the game after a pitchout on an option play, but quickly got to his feet.Newtons first pass was tipped and intercepted by Antoine Bethea, leading to a 49ers field goal. But the 2015 league MVP locked in after that, completing 24 of 40 passes while running for 37 yards on six carries.Olsen gave the Panthers the lead for good in the second quarter when he hauled in a career-long 78-yard touchdown pass after the 49ers bit hard on play-action. That left the Pro Bowl tight end wide open on a seam route. Olsen finished with five catches for 122 yards.TITANS 16, LIONS 15DETROIT -- Marcus Mariota converted a fourth down with a perfectly lofted 9-yard pass TD pass to Andre Johnson with 1:13 left.Mariota dropped the pass over linebacker Tahir Whitehead to Johnson just before safety Rafael Bush could get to the veteran receiver.Tennessee went 93 yards on 13 plays over nearly 6 minutes on the game-winning drive.The Titans (1-1) ended a five-game losing streak, dating to last December, when Mariota threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter after trailing 15-3.The Lions (1-1) had an opportunity to drive for a second straight winning field goal, but Matthew Stafford threw an interception to Perrish Cox at midfield in the final minute.TEXANS 19, CHIEFS 12HOUSTON -- DeAndre Hopkins had 113 yards receiving and a touchdown and Nick Novak kicked four field goals. Novak connected from 32, 24, 31 and 43 yards for the Texans (2-0).Cairo Santos made three field goals in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 19-12, but Houston recovered the onside kick with less than a minute left.The Texans showed that they are a much different team than the one embarrassed in a 30-0 wild-card playoff loss to the Chiefs (1-1) in January.Houstons defense set a franchise record by recovering three fumbles in the first half.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '