#penalties

#penalties

We assumed we knew this story. There were brilliant moments, stellar individual performances, and stretches where it looked like Atlanta would cruise to an unlikely win. Then it seemed that they were undone by the same errors that have cropped up all season, fresh waves of penalties, and failures by players the Falcons have been forced to count on when the team needed them most.

Douglas stalked Wilson around Tampa Bay's defensive zone, grabbed Wilson's stick so he couldn't skate away, and dropped his gloves before Wilson knew a fight was on. After Wilson got his gloves off, he rained down stiff lefts, a big overhand right, and the MMA-style takedown in a decisive win. He then tossed his helmet to the ice and stared down the entire Lightning bench as he made his way down the tunnel to the Capitals' locker room.

It was an order that came. I supported my team-mate so he could score the goal. Unfortunately, he missed, but he held his head high. [We must improve] because in a World Cup we have to take advantage of these opportunities.

Over the first eight games of the season, the Patriots have dealt with more than their fair share of questionable calls by NFL officials, as they have had the most flag-happy crews on hand for more than one of their games. It has made life difficult in more ways than one, like stripping away an impressive touchdown by DeMario Douglas against the Saints, which hasn't helped their early struggles with avoidable penalties.

"I'm really annoyed with that," Amorim said. "But he's really confident. He's training [to take] the penalties, trying to understand that people are watching the way he [tries to] score penalties. So he will be ready."

There were four penalties in the first period, so that really sums up that period for me. In the second period, I thought we got caught extending our shifts and kind of lost our... I mean, they transitioned from defense to offense quickly and caught us on some odd-man rushes. In the third period, they had the momentum. We grinded it out, though. The goalie was good.

The Falcons had no problem moving the ball down the field on the opening possession. After a fumble on the first offensive play of the game was taken off the board by an offsides penalty on the Bills, Atlanta marched down the field in 2:45 to score a touchdown on a 21-yard rush by running back Tyler Allgeier for a 7-0 lead. That was Allgeier's second TD in as many games.

Erling Haaland found the net for the 10th consecutive game for club and country after twice missing a penalty in Norway's World Cup qualifier against Israel. The Manchester City forward scored either side of a two own goals as Norway take a 3-0 lead into the break at a politically-charged affair at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. However, Haaland saw his third minute spot kick saved by Daniel Peretz before the prolific striker was given a second chance

Here is a hot tip if you're starting a gambling pool and predicting which 49ers defender will snap their interception drought, now spanning an NFL-record 12 consecutive games. It's going to be me, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said, when they throw a catchable ball. Opponents, dating to last season, have gone 381 consecutive passes without one sticking in the 49ers' slick gloves. Sunday's sharpshooter will be Baker Mayfield, who's had only one pass intercepted out of 172 thrown this season

Jim Harbaugh insisted the Chargers are still a good football team after their second straight defeat Sunday but admitted they are making "out of character" mistakes. "We need to get the bleeding stopped on the penalties and the self-inflicted wounds," Harbaugh said after a 27-10 loss to the Washington Commanders. "... I know we're capable of doing that. I know we're a good football team in those areas. Not good at it right now, but yeah, we'll get better."

Starting next year, offering money or prizes for voting or registering to vote will be criminalized in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, Oct. 2, said he signed two election reform bills into law, including one that criminalizes lotteries for voter registration or participation. From Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, the idea is to ensure wealthy people or special interests cannot influence voter participation.

In a bizarre sequence, Roma was given three tries to equalize from the spot after the first two efforts from Artem Dovbyk were both saved by goalkeeper Berke Özer -- only for the referee to order the penalty to be retaken each time because of encroachment. Roma then switched penalty takers to Matìas Soulè, but Özer saved that one as well, diving to his right to punch the ball away in the 85th minute -- nearly four minutes after Dovbyk had made his first attempt.

Besides their problem with properly tackling, which has been on full display, specifically by linebackers Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane, they have also been getting penalized at an insane rate, neither of which is helping their goal of winning games. But perhaps the worst problem of all through three games is their lack of ball security, which has been a problem since their Week 1 loss to the Raiders.

Martinez scored his first from the penalty spot after just 11 minutes. The Costa Rican striker slotted his spot-kick down the middle of the goal after Andres Perea was fouled by Kristijan Kahlina. Martinez then scored his second from 12 yards out in the 58th minute, this time finding the bottom-right corner after Idan Toklomati was penalised for a handball following a VAR review.