Über uns » goals or more have

CLEVELAND - Joe Thomas fought back tears. While centre Alex Mack, his good buddy and fellow offensive lineman, was carted off the field with a broken leg, Thomas was overcome with emotion.Later, the Pro Bowl tackle stood at his locker, his voice cracking for a very different reason.For Thomas, this win meant more than any other.The Browns had finally beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers a€” badly.It was special, Thomas said following Clevelands 31-10 rout on Sunday. Ive been on the other end of this rivalry when we lose by three scores so many times. Ive been through the hell of getting our butts kicked. It felt really good to finally be on the other end of it. It was a family win.Brian Hoyer passed for 217 yards and pulled off a rarity for a Cleveland quarterback, leading the Browns to a romp over Ben Roethlisberger and their biggest rivals.Hoyer threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron and improved to 6-2 as Clevelands starter as the surprising Browns (3-2) beat the Steelers for just the third time in 23 games. Cleveland hadnt beaten Pittsburgh so soundly since a 51-0 shutout in 1989.Hoyer, the hometown kid quickly turning into a hero, ran off the field to loud cheers and exited near a banner that read: This Is Hoyer Country.And its only growing.I think the last time the Browns beat the Steelers, I was the backup quarterback for the Steelers that day, said Hoyer, referring to Clevelands win on Nov. 25, 2012.Ben Tate had two rushing TDs and rookie Isaiah Crowell added another as the Browns opened a 21-3 lead in the first half and rolled to the easy win one week after staging the largest comeback in NFL history by a road team.Roethlisberger suffered just his second loss in 20 games against Cleveland. The Steelers (3-3) never found a rhythm on offence and their defence, missing two starters, gave up too many big plays.We failed in all three phases, coach Mike Tomlin said. We got to play better. We got to swallow this one and we will.The victory legitimizes the Browns turnaround and Hoyer as the teams unquestioned leader. There were some doubts about Hoyer when the season began, and with rookie Johnny Manziel on the roster, it was assumed Cleveland would eventually undergo yet another change at quarterback.Hoyer has put that talk to rest and made the dramatic Browns, whose first four games were decided by eight points, one of the leagues unexpected winners.He finished 8 of 17 and still has just one interception in 149 attempts.It was a little boring out there for me at the end, Hoyer joked.Roethlisberger wasnt as efficient as he usually is against Cleveland. He went 21 of 42 for 228 yards and one late TD, was sacked twice and threw one pick against Clevelands maligned defence. It was his first loss to the Browns since Dec. 10, 2009.Tates 1-yard run with 12:47 left put the Browns ahead 31-3.Really, it was over long before that.Cleveland led by 18 at halftime, a 180-degree switch from Week 1 when the Steelers built a 27-3 lead and gave up 24 unanswered points before winning on a last-second field goal.The Browns rammed the ball down Pittsburghs throat to take a commanding lead late in the second quarter.Tates 8-yard TD run capped an 85-yard drive soured by the loss of Mack, who got his legs tangled in a pile of players on a running play. He laid face-down in the grass for several minutes before several Steelers a€” and all of his teammates a€” came over to console him. Mack, who signed a five-year, $42 million contract in March, gave the crowd a thumbs up as he was driven off.Mack had played 5,189 consecutive snaps without missing a play, anchoring an offensive line that has played well this season.Seeing Mack leave was a huge blow for Thomas.We have played every snap together for six years and you are finally getting the best of Pittsburgh, he deserved to be out there with us, Thomas said. It was hard to go on. Its so difficult to lose such a tremendous player like that.Right guard John Greco, who had never played centre during a game in his career, slid over and took Macks spot, and Paul McQuistan came off the bench. The Browns barely missed a beat without Mack.Coach Mike Pettine has a team united in purpose.They believe in each other and they believe in what theyre doing, he said. We talk about being a team and they embody that word.NOTES: Browns DE Armonty Bryant departed with a knee injury and Pettine said the news is not good on Armonty. ... Over the past six quarters, the Browns have outscored their opponents 50-10. ... Thomas has played 7,242 consecutive snaps, not missing a single play since he was drafted in 2007. David McKay Jersey .J. -- After getting permission from his 7-year-old daughter, New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl has retired after an 11-year career that included two Super Bowl championships. Charlie Gehringer Jersey .Manager Brendan Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo on Friday that Sturridge pulled his calf muscle in training as he prepared to return from a five-week layoff due to a thigh strain. https://www.cheaptigers.com/1539z-tommy-...sey-tigers.html. Jagr had a goal and two assists, Andy Greene scored 43 seconds into overtime and Marek Zidlicky had two goals as the Devils rallied past the Washington Capitals 5-4 Saturday night. Bucky Harris Jersey .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil. George Kell Jersey . -- The Atlanta Braves added to their extensive wave of long-term deals with their young stars on Sunday by agreeing to a $42 million, four-year contract with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.We often speak of moments when it comes to football. The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach. A lot happens in that span, altering the course of a game. There is an epidemic emerging among onlookers focusing on useless stats, some with meaning but few telling the true story. Its the moments that define a match and decide its fate. Two particular moments Sunday not only defined their respective matches, but also the tournament as a whole. No minute played will ever encapsulate the positive nature of this tournament better than in time added between Switzerland and Ecuador in Brasilia. With the match level at 1-1, the South American side saw weakness in an underperforming Swiss team and nobly was pushing for a winner. Antonio Valencia found space down the right side and played a good ball to Michael Arroyo inside the top of the box. Arroyos touch was heavy and the Ecuadorian hesitated. That moment of indecision gave Swiss central midfielder Valon Behrami time to get stuck in, coming to the rescue with a picture perfect game saving tackle. Behrami, who struggled throughout the match, didnt stop there. He started the counter-attack from inside his own box with purpose, sprinting with the ball down the middle of the field. Behrami was met by a crunching challenge, a clear foul by any standard. Behrami went down but wasnt out. Many players in that situation would have stayed down, waited for the whistle and killed off the match and settle for the point, but not Behrami. The midfielder immediately jumped to his feet and carried on his run. Huge credit goes to the referee, Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan, who refereed a very good match. No moment was better than allowing play to continue after the foul. Advantage earned, advantage given. So many officials in the game are over-anxious, especially when a player goes down, to blow their whistle and halt proceedings. Irmatov read the play, was patient and the game carried on. It was truly expert officiating. Switzerland carried on their move. Within seconds, the ball was played wide right by Behrami. The ball kept moving, with the switch of play on. Ricardo Rodriguez had been flying down the left flank all day long. He was open and he got the ball. Rodriguez took a touch, brought his head up and played a perfect ball to the near post. Substitute Haris Seferovic obliged, making the near-post run, getting on the end of the weighted pass to knock in the winner with seconds to play. It was spectacular football in all phases of the build-up and worthy of the game winning goal on any occasion, let alone in World Cup play. It was excellence personified, from the tackle to the fair play, from the officiating to the counter-attack and the finish. The end result may be harsh on Ecuador. They deserved something from a match well played. A goal in such a manner can only sting so much. It was a defining moment for all thats good and right in the game of football. The second defining moment came between France and Honduras in a rugged, physical match where Honduras was content to kick and hack. The ‘H on their jerseys must stand for hatchet job. It was largely disgraaceful.dddddddddddd Nevermind the overall quality of the match, it was the moment goal-line technology made its true arrival at the World Cup and signals progressive change, benefiting the game to the highest degree. In the 48th minute and France up 1-0, Karim Benzema broke in and put the ball off the post, rebounding off goalkeeper Noel Valladares before it appeared to cross the goal-line. Benzema celebrated, but was it a goal? In a matter of seconds, referee Emerson De Carvalho pointed to half and the goal was ruled ‘good. De Carvalho was notified immediately of the good goal call and pointed to half. The viewer may have been confused, but there was no indecision by the officiating crew. It took a minute and ten seconds for the video replay to show on the screen. Initial panic on Twitter was complete nonsense, as the first goal-line review showed ‘no goal. Those who were patient enough came to realize the first adjudication had nothing to do with the ball of the post, and that two goal decisions using the technology were needed. The second review came after the ball went off the back of Valladares. By the slimmest of margins, the video showed the ball had crossed the line. The margin for error with the technology is said to be plus- or minus-1.5cm. The ball couldnt have crossed the line by much more than that. But we have to trust the technology. There is no point using it if we dont. Honduras Head Coach Luis Fernandez Suarez unsurprisingly protested. French Head Coach Didier Deschamps tried to explain, but how do you plead for common sense to someone acting irrational? Arguing against goal-line technology is like arguing against gravity: It is nonsensical. The call was right. There is no point arguing. After the protests ceased, the match carried on. It took two minutes, thirty seconds total to go through the process, celebrate and calm emotions. Two minutes, thirty seconds to make sure the call was right. This was no Frank Lampard foot-over-the-line in Bloemfontein we are talking about here. It was mere centimeters. The debate is done. Good goal and we move on. This stands as a watershed moment for FIFA and world soccer. For goal-line technology to work so effectively on the world stage is a testament to progression in the game. It is an overwhelming success and must be instituted in all major leagues, worldwide. It begs the question what else this technology can be used for and how far the game is willing to go with technology. Offside calls? Perhaps thats the next step in the evolution of the game, to get the call right. These were two very different moments, but two tremendously important ones. The World Cup continues to live up to all the hype. There have been 37 goals in 11 matches, the most through this many games since 1958. Three goals or more have been scored in 10 out of the 11 matches played and in the game there were not three goals, two were disallowed that should have stood. The tournament has been spectacular. With moments like these, we can truly call it the beautiful game. Sit back and enjoy. Contact Gareth Wheeler: gareth.wheeler@bellmedia.ca Twitter: @WheelerTSN ' ' '