Allgemein » touch if they hope to make a run in the Colonial At

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jameis Winston traces his motivation to win an NFL championship all the way back to when he attended a football camp at age 11 or 12 and Bruce Arians was there.At the camp he brought his Pittsburgh Steelers (Super Bowl) ring and showed all of us, Winston said, and that was one of the first times when I was just like, `Man, I want to get me one of those rings.Arians has two of those rings from his years as an assistant coach with the Steelers. His quest to win one as a head coach hit a speed bump when his Arizona Cardinals lost their season opener at home against the New England Patriots 23-21.Now he must face Winstons Tampa Bay Buccaneers , with the second-year quarterback coming off one of his best games in a 31-24 season-opening win at Atlanta.Winston completed 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns, a performance that earned NFC offensive player of the week honors. His 122.6 passer rating was third best on opening weekend, behind Drew Brees (131.3) and Matthew Stafford (128.6).Back at that camp, even at such a young age, Winston made an impression.Just a tremendous athlete, Arians said. A very bright guy, but with a cannon for an arm. He was probably throwing 90 miles an hour fastballs back then in the ninth, 10th grade.So the Cardinals are well aware of the young players talent, and of the talent the up-and-coming Buccaneers have around him, including running back Doug Martin and wide receiver Mike Evans.The Buccaneers are a physical football team, Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu said. Theyre going to run the ball down our throat, and we feel like they have a really good quarterback that can make every throw. Were going to get challenged up front and on the back end.Some things to consider when the Buccaneers face the Cardinals on Sunday.RETURN TO THE DESERT: Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter knows the Arizona desert all too well. The Bucs first-year coach was head coach at Arizona State from 2001-2006, compiling a 40-34 record over six seasons. He was fired at the end of the regular season, but was allowed to coach the Sun Devils in the Hawaii Bowl, where they lost to Hawaii to finish his final season there at 7-6.What are his memories of those days?Distant, Koetter said. Its been 10 years.Obviously, everywhere you work you come across some awesome people and have a lot of appreciation for the players, the coaches, the people that worked with us there. Ultimately, under my regime, we didnt get it done. That was 10 years ago and now its a different time.The year after Koetter left, the Sun Devils went 10-3 and tied for the Pac-12 title under Dennis Erickson with a team composed mostly of Koetters players.DEFENSE DILEMMA: Often last season, the Cardinals put All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson on an opponents best receiver the entire game, a tactic that worked well.But Arizona did not play that way against New England, using a lot of zone to help out rookie cornerback Brandon Williams, who still struggled. So dont expect to see Peterson exclusively on Evans on Sunday.Well see, Arians said. They have two good ones (Evans and Vincent Jackson) and theyre both tall. Well see if we want to match up or well see if we want to just play sides.IN SHAPE: Winston credits a trip to the Pro Bowl as a rookie last season for his newly sculpted physique.I saw Julio Jones walking around, Julius Peppers, all those guys like that, he said. I was like, `Yep, its time for me to hit the weight room. But Koetter said its incorrect to say Winston lost weight.That whole dropped-the-weight thing is blown a little bit out of proportion, Koetter said. ... Hes still a 230-pound quarterback. He just redistributed his body. `GROUND ADVANTAGE: Two of the top young, versatile running backs in the NFL will be on display at University of Phoenix Stadium. Both Tampa Bays Martin and Arizonas David Johnson are threats not only carrying the ball but catching it.In the season opener, Martin rushed for 62 yards on 18 carries and caught five passes for 34 yards. Johnson gained 89 yards on 16 attempts and caught four for 43 yards.THIRD DOWNS: The Buccaneers and Cardinals had the opposite results in third-down defense last Sunday. Atlanta was 3 of 13 against Tampa Bay. New England was 10 of 16 against the Cardinals.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Dennis Rodman Spurs Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Jakob Poeltl Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. https://www.spurslockerroom.com/Bryn-Forbes-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. DeMarre Carroll Spurs Jersey . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Marco Belinelli Spurs Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- It was turkey time at the Charleston Classic for Wake Forest ??? and not just because its November.Demon Deacons coach Danny Manning said assistant coach Randolph Childress challenged their players to get three defensive stops in a row. We called it a turkey, Manning said.Wake Forest picked up several turkeys Sunday night in a 78-61 victory over College of Charleston to finish third in the eight-team tournament.Manning said he wanted his players focused on defense and Childress found a catchy way to do that. We had three turkeys in the first half, Manning said. Not sure how many we had in the second half, but the guys kind of rallied around that. I think were going to try and use that all year long.Especially if it leads to more defensive efforts like Wake Forest (4-1) had in beating the Cougars (3-2).The Deacons held Charleston to 33.3 percent shooting overall and 27.8 percent on threes. They had five blocks and out-rebounded their opponents 36-30 in finishing 2-1 at TD Arena.Bryant Crawford scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half and John Collins added 15 points for Wake Forest.The Demon Deacons took control against the home-standing Cougars with a 15-6 run over the final six minutes of the opening half. They kept the pressure up after the break as Crawford had a 3-pointer and a three-point play to build a 62-42 lead midway through the period.College of Charleston (3-2) sliced that margin in half with 10 straight points, but could get no closer to lose for a second straight game.The shots were just falling, Crawford said. Coach gets on me a lot about missing layups, but today I made them.Crawford ended 7 of 12 from the field and had two of Wakes eight 3-pointers.Joe Chealey led Charleston with 19 points.Wake Forest closed an up-and-down event on a high note. It opened by hitting the 100-point mark for the first time eight years with a 103-81 victory over UTEP, then fell 96-77 to No. 3 Villanova despite shooting 50 percent from the field.ddddddddddddhis time, the Deacons mostly clicked throughout against the pesky Cougars. They finished over 50 percent (28 of 54) from the field, the fourth time in five games with such a high percentage.BIG PICTUREWake Forest: The Demon Deacons have a large group of athletic young players like sophomores Bryant Crawford, Keyshawn Woods and John Collins and freshman Brandon Childress who all saw extensive action at the Charleston Classic -- minutes that will serve them well once Atlantic Coast Conference play starts in five weeks or so. The 6-foot-10 Collins has led the Demon Deacons in four of five games this season, including all three at TD Arena this week.College of Charleston: The Cougars have to find their scoring touch if they hope to make a run in the Colonial Athletic Association this winter. Charleston shot less than 29 percent in a loss to UCF on Friday night and was struggling to make shots once more against Wake Forest.LOTS OF DEACONSWake Forest coach Danny Manning used 11 players, in part because of early foul trouble for starters Dinos Mitoglou and John Collins. Still, the team got solid showings from players not typically in the rotation. I really like our balance, Manning said. For us to get a win with John only playing 14 minutes and Dinos only 17, I think that speaks volumes to the balance we have on our team.COLD CHARLESTONCollege of Charleston struggled with its shooting throughout the tournament, something the Cougars know must improve in a hurry. Its early, Charleston guard Joe Chealey said. Its only the first five games of the season. Weve got to trust the process.UP NEXTWake Forest returns home to play Coastal Carolina on Wednesday night.College of Charleston travels to No. 3 Villanova on Wednesday night.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '

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