NFL star ejected for punch fuelled by rival’s spitting act as Rodgers worry emerges — Wrap

NFL superstars Ja’Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey have become embroiled in a spitting saga as one was ejected.

During the fourth quarter of Monday morning’s (AEDT) divisional matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers, Ramsey threw a punch at Chase after his Bengals counterpart appeared to spit at the three-time All-Pro cornerback.

Ramsey was ejected from the game for the act, with the result beyond doubt at that point, with his team up 20-9.

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Whether it was in fact a spit or otherwise, Ramsey took exception to Chase’s behaviour before striking the superstar Cincinnati receiver.

Ramsey said post-game he did so because Chase spat at him, but Chase denied doing so in the aftermath.

“I never opened my mouth to that guy … I didn’t spit on nobody,” he said.

Clearer footage of the incident shows a projectile leave Chase’s mouth and hit Ramsey.

The NFL has said it will review the confrontation further as potential sanctions loom.

A first-team All-Pro last season, Chase was held by Ramsey and the stout Steelers to three catches for 30 yards and no scores.

It came as the Steelers blew out the Bengals 34-12 at home to move to 6-4, but it didn’t come without an injury price, with Aaron Rodgers under a concerning cloud.

Rodgers suffered a left wrist injury late in the first half and missed the remainder of the game as Mason Rudolph entered as the replacement.

The Steelers aren’t yet sure of the severity of the injury as the 41-year-old signal-caller undergoes scans.

A fracture would appear the worst-case scenario, while a sprain is likely to be the outcome if X-rays come back negative.

SHEDEUR SANDERS STRUGGLES IN NFL DEBUT

Shedeur Sanders made his NFL debut, taking over as the Browns’ quarterback early in the third quarter as fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel left with a concussion.

But the Browns offense sputtered with Sanders running the show, as he went 4-for-16 with 47 yards and an interception as the team did not score after he entered the game, and Cleveland let a six-point lead slip away in a 23-16 home loss to the Ravens to fall to 2-8.

Sanders, who finished with three rushes for 16 yards, went 2-for-2 on his first drive but took a sack before a punt. After Gabriel was ruled out for the rest of the game, Sanders threw an interception on his next drive.

Sanders, 23, was considered to be a potential top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after finishing his college career at Colorado, playing for his father Deion.

But he stunningly fell all the way to the third day, when the Browns finally took him in the fifth round — two rounds after they selected Gabriel, 24.

Joe Flacco began the season as the Browns’ starter but was benched for Gabriel after going 1-3 to start the season, and he was then traded to the Bengals and became their starter with Joe Burrow injured.

The Browns went 1-4 over Gabriel’s first five starts entering Monday. During those five starts, Gabriel completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 850 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions.

— New York Post

MVP’S FIVE-TOUCHDOWN BLITZ IN SHOOTOUT

Josh Allen threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns and ran for three more to power the Buffalo Bills over Tampa Bay 44-32 in a Monday morning meeting of NFL contenders.

The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player completed 19-of-30 passes and ran six times for 40 yards as Buffalo improved to 7-3, 1.5 games behind NFL-best New England (9-2) in the AFC East division.

Allen became the only player in NFL history with multiple games of three rushing and passing touchdowns.

“I’m doing my job,” Allen said. “Things weren’t going the way we wanted, (we were) just trying to find a way to reset. (I) trusted my feet and finding completions, we did that better in the second half.” Allen scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter and threw scoring passes of 43 yards to Tyrell Shavers, 52 yards to Ty Johnson and 25 yards to James Cook, but the Buccaneers led the Bills 32-31 with 13:38 remaining.

Undaunted, Allen drove the Bills 81 yards in eight plays to score on a five-yard run and added a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:35 remaining off an 85-yard march to secure Buffalo’s victory.

“(We) turned the ball over three times and somehow found a way to win the way we did, that speaks a lot to the resiliency we have in this locker room,” Allen said.

“We’re going to try to use this momentum going forward.” Sean Tucker ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns for Tampa Bay (6-4).

FINAL-PLAY FIELD GOALS

Carolina (6-5) moved within a half-game of the Bucs in the NFC South win a 30-27 overtime victory in Atlanta. Bryce Young threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns while Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play to win for the Panthers.

Carlos Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give Chicago a 19-17 victory at Minnesota, keeping the Bears atop the NFC North.

Pittsburgh got a 73-yard interception return touchdown from Kyle Dugger and a 34-yard fumble recovery touchdown from James Pierre in a 34-12 rout of visiting Cincinnati.

Jordan Love threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson with 4:02 remaining, as Green Bay won 27-20 at the New York Giants.

Trevor Lawrence threw for one touchdown and ran for another while Travis Etienne ran for two touchdowns in a 35-6 rout of the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.

Matthew Wright’s 35-yard field goal on the final play gave Houston a 16-13 triumph at Tennessee.

At Madrid, Jack Jones intercepted a Marcus Mariota pass to set up Riley Patterson’s 29-yard field goal in overtime that lifted Miami over Washington 16-13 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Spain.

“It has been a great experience being out here. It was a great game for them to come out here and experience,” said Miami’s De’Von Achane, who had 21 carries for 120 yards and five catches for 45 yards.

ALL NFL SCORES – WEEK 11

Patriots 27 Jets 14