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nicole yang | state of the patriots

Football hasn’t been fun for the Patriots recently. That all changed on Thursday night.

Unending confidence from Bailey Zappe, big performances from veterans like Hunter Henry, and an offense that finally showed some life all led to the Patriots' first win since Oct. 22.
TARA SULLIVAN

Calls like Thursday’s false start in Pittsburgh cast a shadow on a sport laden with inexplicable officiating

The Patriots got the benefit of a controversial call when Pittsburgh's Christian Kuntz, not New England's Jahlani Tavai, was flagged, but football at large shouldn’t consider itself so lucky. 16 minutes ago

BEN VOLIN | INSTANT ANALYSIS
Bailey Zappe’s winning effort begs the question: What took so long to change quarterbacks?
Zappe was everything Mac Jones hasn’t been — poised in the pocket, quick with his reads and throws, and able to connect on a few big plays downfield.

sabres 3, bruins 1
Loss to Sabres stung, but Bruins have a bigger thing to worry about: Charlie McAvoy’s injury status
McAvoy, who left early in the third after colliding with Buffalo’s JJ Peterka, suffered an upper-body injury, but little is known about the extent of his injury.

Box score: Sabres 3, Bruins 1NHL scoreboard

Army-Navy Football
Why 194 Naval Academy midshipmen are running a game ball from Annapolis, Md., to Gillette Stadium
Members of the Naval Academy's 13th Company are completing a 458-mile, relay-style run over four days, maintaining a tradition that — with one exception — has run a ball to every Army-Navy game since 1981. 47 minutes ago

Celtics
Here are 15 stats and trends that explain the Celtics’ hot start and identify areas of concern
With one quarter of the season complete, these stats help explain how the Celtics have raced to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Chad Finn | Unconventional Review
Pride, not draft position, is what’s driving the Patriots at this point
Thursday's victory over the Steelers wasn’t a necessary win for the Patriots, but the players who have endured a miserable season earned it and deserved it.

Knicks at Celtics | 7:30 p.m. (NBATV, NBCSB)
Knicks at Celtics: With the In-Season Tournament in the rear-view, a familiar foe visits Boston
Kristaps Porzingis is expected to return to the lineup Friday after missing the last four games with a calf injury. 2 hours ago

BETWEEN THE HASHMARKS
It took veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ezekiel Elliott to finally jumpstart the Patriots offense
Smith-Schuster finished with a season-high 90 receiving yards in his return to Pittsburgh, while Elliott contributed 140 total yards and started the scoring.

Dan Shaughnessy

Bill Belichick is clearly trying to win, so what if he is still coach of the Patriots next season?

He seems to like it here and he’s still talking and coaching like a man with his eye on the 2024 season.
patriots

Patriots catch big break in fourth quarter with controversial false-start call on Steelers

Players reacted as if Jahlani Tavai moved before the snap, but the officials called it on Pittsburgh's long snapper. The call could have been the difference for the Steelers.
GARY WASHBURN | ON BASKETBALL

Tyrese Haliburton shows the way again for Indiana, propelling Pacers into In-Season tourney final

The Pacers' star guard, who victimized the Celtics on Monday, decided to use various ways on Thursday to burn the Bucks in the first semifinal Thursday in Las Vegas.
men's college hockey notebook

The Providence men’s hockey team again is playing well, but this season the Friars are seeing the desired results

Providence is 9-4-2 and eighth in the PairWise rankings heading into Saturday’s first-half finale at Boston College (12-3-1).
Chad Finn | Sports Media

What goes in to producing ESPN’s ‘College GameDay,’ which will be at Gillette Stadium for Saturday’s Army-Navy game?

"College GameDay" is in its 30th season and drawing viewership numbers on par with last year’s all-time best average of 2.1 million viewers.
red sox

What does the Yankees’ trade for Juan Soto mean for the Red Sox and the AL East?

Triston Casas said it himself: The addition of Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto makes the Yankees "a force to be reckoned with."
bruins notebook

With Jeremy Swayman ailing, Tuukka Rask dons the goalie gear at Bruins morning skate

With Brandon Bussi getting the call up from Providence in the afternoon, Rask’s time as the emergency backup goalie was limited to less than an hour.
patriots

Bailey Zappe’s confidence, aggression shines during impressive first half in Patriots’ win vs. Steelers

Zappe threw for three touchdowns passes in the first half as the Patriots hung on to beat the Steelers, 21-18.
live updates

Patriots beat Steelers, snap five-game losing streak behind three first-half touchdowns

Bailey Zappe threw three touchdown passes in the first half and the New England defense made it stand up as the Patriots won for the first time since October.
college football

Meet the top players on the Army and Navy football teams

The Army-Navy game is Saturday, and for the first time it will be played at Gillette Stadium.
college football

Bill Belichick to be guest picker on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ for Army-Navy

He’ll join Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso on the weekly show.

LATEST HEADLINES

Calls like Thursday’s false start in Pittsburgh cast a shadow on a sport laden with inexplicable officiating

Knicks at Celtics: With the In-Season Tournament in the rear-view, a familiar foe visits Boston

Pride, not draft position, is what’s driving the Patriots at this point

Football hasn’t been fun for the Patriots recently. That all changed on Thursday night.

Bailey Zappe’s confidence, aggression shines during impressive first half in Patriots’ win vs. Steelers

Army-Navy

Why the Army-Navy football game still matters

The commitment between the cadets and the midshipmen has endured since the rivals first met in 1890.

Dorchester Eagles are Pop Warner champions, the first Boston team to win a national title

Pop Warner has kept records for 37 years, and no Boston team in any age or weight category has won in that time. The 14-and-under team defeated the Darby Monarchs of Delaware County, Pa., 20-0, in Pop Warner’s Tomlin Division championship.
Golf

In a stunner, Masters champion Jon Rahm bolts PGA Tour for Saudi-funded LIV Golf

He said he would keep private how much the deal was worth amid reports his compensation is in the $500 million range.
Colleges

Holy Cross’s Bob Chesney named James Madison football coach

Chesney led the Crusaders to four straight postseason appearances and five Patriot League titles, but he will swap Worcester for Virginia.
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' HOCKEY NOTEBOOK

Cole Pouliot-Porter had unfinished business to settle, so he spurned prep school offers to return to Xaverian as its starting goaltender

Pouliot-Porter was haunted by the last goal he allowed last season: a winner with 25.6 seconds left in a 3-2 setback to Pope Francis in last year's Division 1 state championship.
HS BOYS' HOCKEY: TOP 20

Defending Division 1 champion Pope Francis starts No. 1 in Globe’s Top 20 boys’ hockey poll

With a formidable defensive pairing of seniors Jake Jarrell and Zach Buffone, the Cardinals have an edge over perennial Catholic Conference powers Xaverian, St. John's Prep, and Catholic Memorial.
HS BOYS' HOCKEY: PLAYERS TO WATCH

EMass boys’ hockey: 12 players (plus) to watch on the ice this season

The reigning MVPs in the Hockomock Kelley-Rex, Patriot League, and Northeastern Conference returned, as well as stellar goalies at Reading and Xaverian.
NFL NOTEBOOK

Von Miller quiet on alleged assault, but Bills coach Sean McDermott speaks to regrettable remarks

Buffalo returned from a bye week with off-field issues to address ahead of matchup with Chiefs.
army-Navy game

Photos: Looking back at decades of history in the Army-Navy game

The two teams will meet for the 124th time on the gridiron on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.
WOMEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY NOTEBOOK

These four freshmen women’s college hockey players are turning heads

Boston College's Sammy Taber and Julia Pellerin, plus Northeastern's Allie Lalonde and Harvard's Zoe Boosamra, have made their cases to be on lineup charts.

Sunday notebooks

Who will be in the spotlight at baseball’s Winter Meetings?
It could be four memorable days with superstar players available in the trade and free agent markets and several prominent teams eager to improve their rosters.

The Patriots may soon look for a new coach, and they’re going to have a lot of competition
Almost half of the NFL’s 32 teams are weighing whether to fire their coach.

Billy Donovan searching for answers that have eluded Bulls through a series of rebuilds
The former Providence College star is three-plus seasons into a coaching stint that has included one playoff appearance for Chicago and a poor start this season.

Former Northeastern goalie Devon Levi’s road with the Sabres taking a detour
After an uneven first quarter (3-4-1/3.73/.876), the 21-year-old Levi on Tuesday was shipped to AHL Rochester for his first taste of life in the minors.

army-navy game 2023

Why 194 Naval Academy midshipmen are running a game ball from Annapolis, Md., to Gillette Stadium

Army-Navy bobblehead released ahead of Saturday’s Gillette Stadium game

Army and Navy to sport new uniforms for Gillette Stadium clash: See photos

Bill Belichick to be guest picker on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ for Army-Navy

What goes in to producing ESPN’s ‘College GameDay,’ which will be at Gillette Stadium for Saturday’s Army-Navy game?

Meet the top players on the Army and Navy football teams

Why the Army-Navy football game still matters

Photos: Looking back at decades of history in the Army-Navy game

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Patriots & NFL news

Calls like Thursday’s false start in Pittsburgh cast a shadow on a sport laden with inexplicable officiating

Pride, not draft position, is what’s driving the Patriots at this point

Football hasn’t been fun for the Patriots recently. That all changed on Thursday night.

Bailey Zappe’s confidence, aggression shines during impressive first half in Patriots’ win vs. Steelers

celtics & NBA news

Knicks at Celtics: With the In-Season Tournament in the rear-view, a familiar foe visits Boston

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Why Tuukka Rask practiced with the Bruins on Thursday morning

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college sports news

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Holy Cross’s Bob Chesney named James Madison football coach

The Providence men’s hockey team again is playing well, but this season the Friars are seeing the desired results

These four freshmen women’s college hockey players are turning heads

soccer news

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