Well, the Bears didn’t need Cody Parkey to lose this one. In this situation, it was Eddie Pineiro who was wide left from 41 yards out–his second miss of the game, the the hapless Los Angeles Chargers(3-5) escaped with a 17-16 win over the sinking Bears(3-4). The Bears only got three field goals from Piniero in the first half, including a 19 yarder as time expired for halftime, but even though that gave the Bears a 9-7 lead at the break, the Crowd of 53,973 that showed up, booed loudly as the teams headed off the field.
The Bears came out as if they would take command in the third quarter, going 75 yards in 11 plays, and with David Montgomery crashing in from the 4 yard line for the Bears only touchdown of the day,and a 16-7 lead. Mitchell Trubisky had two key turnovers, one on an interception and on his own fumble that led to a 20 yard field goal by former Fighting Illini Chase McLaughlin. Not quite midway through the fourth quarter, the Chargers took advantage of Trubisky’s fumble,and went 26 yards after Melvin Ingram III fell on it at the Bears 26. After a face mask penalty on Leonard Floyd put the ball on the Bears 11, Phillip Rivers then found Austin Ekeler for the go ahead, and winning TD. Trubisky drove the Bears to the Charger 22, and with both teams out of time outs, Pineiro pulled his kick wide left as 0:00 appeared on the clock.

NOTES—Trubiskey was 23-35 for 253 yards, and a QB rating of 75.1….Rivers was 19-29 for 201 yards, 2 TD’s, and a rating of 82.7…..Montgomery had a career high 135 yards rushing on 27 carries.

LES

ANN ARBOR—Jim Harbaugh desperately needed a significant victory to change the conversation, at least temporarily, about the job he’s doing at Michigan.The Wolverines delivered.Zach Charbonnet ran for two touchdowns in the first half and Shea Patterson threw for two scores in the second half, helping No. 19 Michigan rout No. 8 Notre Dame 45-14 in driving rain Saturday night.The Wolverines (6-2) ended an eight-game losing streak against top-10 teams under Harbaugh, who needed a signature win in his fifth season that likely won’t end with the Big Ten title he and college football’s winningest program desperately covet.

”Some of the tests that the team has gone through, you can make a lot of growth from it,” Harbaugh said. With the lopsided loss, the Fighting Irish (5-2) knocked themselves out of the College Football Playoff picture on the rain-filled night that seemed to affect them much more than Michigan.

”Clearly a very disappointing night for Notre Dame,” coach Brian Kelly acknowledged.

The Irish took advantage of a questionable call on pass interference to set up Ian Book’s 7-yard TD pass to Cole Kmet to pull within 10 points late in the third quarter.Michigan responded with Patterson’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones on the ensuing drive, which got off to a good start with Hassan Haskins’ 49-yard run. The former linebacker finished with career-high 149 yards on 20 carries.Charbonnet had 74 yards rushing on 15 carries, giving Michigan a tandem of running backs to control the game behind an offensive line that created huge holes.Patterson threw his second TD early in the fourth quarter.

EVANSTON—For Iowa’s defense, the goal is the same every week – dominate.The 20th-ranked Hawkeyes accomplished their mission on Saturday, allowing just 202 yards in a 20-0 rout of Northwestern. The Wildcats’ deepest advance into Iowa territory was the 28-yard line late in the third quarter.Iowa, which entered the game fifth in the nation in scoring defense and 10th in total defense, earned its second shutout of the season and fourth since the beginning of last season.
”A few weeks ago, I said you can beat any team if they don’t score,” defensive end Chauncey Golston said. ”Practice this week, it was something crazy. The tempo was great, everybody was flying around, and we did the same thing today.”
When asked when he started thinking about a shutout, Golston said: ”Before we even got off the bus. We think that every game.”
The offense did enough. Nate Stanley had 179 yards passing with a touchdown, Mekhi Sargent had a rushing touchdown and Tyler Goodson added 58 yards rushing on 11 carries as Iowa (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) won its second straight.Aidan Smith completed 18 of 32 passes for 138 yards with an interception for Northwestern (1-6, 0-5), which dropped its fifth straight.
”I think we’re going to watch the tape and be disappointed,” Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ”There were some opportunities there to make some plays. We’ve got to be more efficient at that position.”
Iowa took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Stanley to wide receiver Tyrone Tracy. Tracy caught the ball at about the 30-yard line over the middle, broke a tackle with a spin move and raced down the sideline into the end zone.Keith Duncan hit a 40-yard field goal early in the second quarter for a 10-0 halftime lead. The Hawkeyes stretched the lead to 17-0 on a 1-yard run by Sargent with 5:23 left in the third.Duncan added a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth to close out the scoring.
”Rarely is anything easy in conference play, and there’s certainly nothing automatic,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. ”A lot of good things out there, and probably the most important thing was playing clean football. We protected the football.What can I say about the defense? Obviously, I’m very, very pleased with what they did.”
Stanley’s touchdown pass was the 62nd of his career, breaking a tie with Drew Tate and moving him into second place on Iowa’s all-time list. Chuck Long leads the list with 74.Leading 10-0 with just under a minute left in the first half, Iowa faced a fourth-and-1 from the Northwestern 45. Ferentz was tempted to go for it but decided not to because the defense was playing so well.
”There was nothing to be gained there,” he said.
In the third quarter, facing a fourth-and-8 at the Northwestern 30, the coach did go for it. Stanley completed an 11-yard pass to tight end Shaun Beyer to set up Sargent’s touchdown.A year after winning the Big Ten West, Northwestern is struggling mightily and the fan base is expressing its frustration.
”I get it,” Fitzgerald said. ”I’m a fan first and I graduated from here. We have high expectations and we should have high expectations. We aren’t living up to them. I would prefer people instead of being negative just continue to support our guys. They can be negative with me all they want.”

The New Orleans Saints insisted they were ready for the challenge once Drew Brees went down. All they’ve done since is back up their words with wins.Teddy Bridgewater threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, and the Saints improved to 5-0 without their injured star quarterback by beating the Bears 36-25 on Sunday.

The Saints (6-1) again showed why they still see themselves as Super Bowl contenders even though their star quarterback is out indefinitely because of a torn ligament in his right thumb.Bridgewater completed 23 of 38 passes, Michael Thomas had nine receptions for 131 yards, and Latavius Murray ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

”I think Teddy’s just playing the way he knows how to play,” Murray said. ”I don’t think he’s trying to replace Drew. He’s just come in and been himself. That’s all you can ask because Teddy’s had success before. This is nothing new to him. He’s been a successful quarterback at this level. He’s done a heck of a job, obviously, and he’s been undefeated.”

Besides Brees, New Orleans had to get by without top running back Alvin Kamara (ankle, knee) and top receiving tight end Jared Cook (ankle). Both players were ruled out Friday, but that didn’t stop the NFC South leaders from taking down the Monsters of the Midway.

”You look at us overall – offensively, defensively, the kicking game – we’re playing elite football right now,” Bridgewater said. ”Of course, it’s not as pretty as we’d like it to be. But it’s working for us.”

STRUGGLING BEARS

The Bears (3-3) lost their second straight, with Mitchell Trubisky struggling after missing a game because of a shoulder injury.They were hoping their prized quarterback would build on a solid showing in Week 3 against Washington, when he threw for three touchdowns. Instead, he was erratic, made poor decisions and heard it from the crowd.Trubisky finished 34 of 54 with 251 yards and two late touchdowns in his first appearance since he was hurt early against Minnesota on Sept. 29. He said his shoulder was fine, but the offense sure is not.The run game was once again an afterthought, with the Bears setting a franchise low with seven carries. And the 17 yards rushing were by far the fewest this season.

”We just have no rhythm,” Trubisky said. ”It’s not about pointing fingers. We’re struggling as an offense.”

About all the fans had to cheer for was a 102-yard kickoff return by Cordarrelle Patterson in the first quarter that matched the second-longest in franchise history.But after losing at Oakland in London two weeks ago, it was another rough outing for the Bears. They gave up a season-high 424 yards while being held to 252 and managed just four first downs through the first three quarters. It added up to their fifth straight loss to the Saints, and a 1-2 record at Soldier Field this season.With a 12-10 halftime lead, the Saints drove 75 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter. A wide open Ted Ginn Jr. hauled in a 45-yard pass and Murray ran it in from the 3 on the next play.New Orleans then wasted a big opportunity after Chicago’s David Montgomery lost a fumble on the next drive. The Saints took over at the Bears 29, only to have Wil Lutz come up short on a 52-yard field goal – his second miss of the day after he made 13 of 14 in the first six games.But Taysom Hill caught a 4-yard touchdown with just under three minutes remaining in the third to make it 26-10. And the Saints stayed in control the rest of the way.

EVANSTON—Eyeing a playoff spot and a shot at the national championship, No. 4 Ohio State sure is locked in at the moment.Justin Fields threw for four touchdowns, J.K. Dobbins rushed for 121 yards and the Buckeyes pounded Northwestern 52-3 on Friday night.Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) did exactly as expected and blew the game open early, jumping to a 31-3 halftime lead.

”I just feel like it’s business,” defensive end Chase Young said. ”That’s the mentality I have, just because I know we can’t have any fluke losses. It’s gonna mess with what we want to do.”

Fields completed 18 of 23 passes for 194 yards. The sophomore transfer from Georgia matched his career high for TDs through the air. He now has 22 passing and 30 overall on the season.The nation’s second-leading rusher, Dobbins scored from the 5 in the second quarter after breaking off a 67-yard run. He also caught a 19-yard touchdown pass in the first half.The junior now has 947 yards rushing after finishing with more than 1,000 in each of his first two seasons.Chris Olave caught two TDs. Blake Haubeil kicked a 55-yard field goal that tied the second-longest in the history of the storied program. The Buckeyes racked up 480 yards while holding Northwestern to 199 and remained unbeaten heading into their showdown at home with No. 6 Wisconsin next week.

”I think we feel good about the way we came out coming off the bye week – with energy, starting fresh and just refocused on all the things that matter within the program,” coach Ryan Day said. ”Now we know we have a huge challenge next week. … We know what we have in store there, so it’s gonna be a really tough week, tough preparation, tough game, but I know the kids are gonna be excited to play it.”

The loss was the fourth in a row for Nu (1-5, 0-4). The Wildcats haven’t beaten a top-five opponent since the 1959 team opened with victories over No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 Iowa.Aidan Smith, making his second straight start, was 6 of 20 for 42 yards and an interception. Smith and Hunter Johnson, who started the first four games before sitting out the loss at Nebraska two weeks ago because of a lower-body injury, were listed with the first team on the depth chart this week.

PRAGUE—It was a successful home debut for Flyers coach Alain Vigneault – a long, long way from Philadelphia.Travis Konecny had two goals and Vigneault won his first game with his new team, directing the Flyers to a season-opening 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night.Oskar Lindblom and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers in front of a sellout crowd of 17,463 at Prague’s O2 Arena as part of the NHL’s Global Series. Carter Hart stopped 28 shots.It was the first regular-season game outside of North America in Philadelphia’s 52-year history.

”I think tonight’s game, everybody was down there, everybody was consistent in what we were doing and it was a team win,” Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux said. ”It was a lot of fun.”

Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Hawks, who opened the 2009-10 season in Finland. Alex Nylander and Alex DeBrincat also scored.

”I like the way we fought back,” said Kane, who had a career-high 110 points last season. ”Whatever the numbers were tonight, I still think I have more to give to the team.”

The Blackhawks are hoping to return to the playoffs after a two-year absence, but defensemen Dennis Gilbert and Slater Koekkoek each made a costly mistake after the blue liners struggled last year.Konecny turned Gilbert’s turnover into a 1-0 lead for Philadelphia 6:24 into the first, beating Corey Crawford on the glove side.Lindblom was credited with a power-play goal 6:28 into the second when his shot bounced off the crossbar and was deflected by Koekkoek into his own net. Konecny then converted a backhander with 1:56 left in the period, giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead.The Hawks played without defensemen Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy due to injuries.

”We turned way too many pucks over, that’s where we exposed ourselves defensively,” coach Jeremy Colliton,.

The Blackhawks pulled within one when DeBrincat one-timed a pass from Kane past Hart with 13 seconds left in the second. It was DeBrincat’s first goal since he signed a three-year contract extension worth $19.2 million.Raffl responded for Philadelphia in the third, skating around the net and sliding a backhand between Crawford’s pads for a 4-2 lead at 9:48.Kane scored with 2:07 remaining, but the Flyers held on.Crawford finished with 34 saves. Nylander scored in the first period in his first game since he was acquired in an offseason trade with Buffalo.The NHL returned to Europe for the third straight year as part of its efforts to grow the fan base in hockey-mad countries like the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and others.It will be back in Europe next month when the Tampa Bay Lightning face the Sabres in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

NOTES—NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league is planning to play more regular-season games in Europe next year, but the details are still being finalized…..UP NEXT:The Blackhawks Host the San Jose Sharks in their home opener Thursday night.

LONDON—All that pregame talk about Khalil Mack and the Monsters of the Midway defense only served as motivation for the Oakland Raiders.A dominant performance from the offensive line, a breakthrough game from a rookie running back and the ability to bounce back from a third-quarter meltdown made Oakland’s weeklong stay in London a success.Josh Jacobs scored his second touchdown of the game with a leap from the 2-yard line with 1:57 to play, capping a 97-yard drive that helped the Raiders rally after blowing a 17-point lead to beat the Bears 24-21 on Sunday night.

”We were up for the challenge,” Jacobs said. ”All week that’s all we heard was how good their defense was and they are a great defense. But we wanted to prove we’re a good offense.”

They did that with an impressive drive that was part of a roller-coaster game that delighted the sellout crowd in London. The Raiders (3-2) broke out to a 17-0 halftime lead only to fall behind the Bears (3-2) in a mistake-filled third quarter.Then Oakland fumbled at the goal line when going in for the go-ahead score, needed a replay review to overturn a fumble on a successful fake punt on the game-winning drive and then intercepted Chase Daniel with 1:14 to go to seal the victory.

”We know everyone counted us out,” quarterback Derek Carr said. ”We knew no one would pick us to win this football game. And we hadn’t really proven anything for them to pick us, right? But it just shows you the grit and determination of our young guys.”

It sure didn’t come easy but the Raiders earned a satisfying victory in its first game against the Bears since dealing star edge rusher Khalil Mack before last season.That trade has come under heavy scrutiny as Mack led the Bears to the playoffs last year while the Raiders struggled. But Oakland came out ahead this day with Mack’s only big play coming when he recovered a fumble after Jacobs went the wrong way on a pitch that sparked the Bears third-quarter comeback.The Bears turned that turnover into a 1-yard run by David Montgomery and got two TD passes from Daniel to Allen Robinson in the third quarter to take a 21-17 lead.It looked as if it wouldn’t be Oakland’s day when Sherrick McManis punched the ball loose from Trevor Davis at the goal line and Prince Amukamara recovered at the 1.A brilliant top-tapping sideline catch by Robinson and a roughing the passer penalty on Maurice Hurst that angered the Raiders and overturned an interception by Daryl Worley helped the Bears move the ball off the goal line.The Bears pinned Oakland to the 3 with the punt before the Raiders responded with their longest game-winning drive in the fourth quarter in at least 20 years, aided by Erik Harris’ 3-yard run on a fake punt after the Bears committed a running into the punter penalty on fourth-and-6.Carr completed a 23-yard pass to Foster Moreau on third-and-1 to get the ball deep and Jacobs finished it off as part of a big night from the player acquired with one of the draft picks Oakland got for Mack. Jacobs ran 123 yards and two scores against a defense that hadn’t allowed 100 yards rushing to a single team all season.

”We punched them in the mouth and they didn’t like it,” guard Richie Incognito said. ”They were talking a bunch of trash that first drive. We came out that first drive, then punched them in the mouth and all that talk stopped.”

The Bears on the other hand managed only 42 yards on 17 carries for the game as Oakland controlled both lines of scrimmage.

”In this game, it usually starts up front, and know that,” coach Matt Nagy said. ”We preach it. We talk it. We understand that, and we just throughout the game weren’t real successful offensively with running the football. It’s been an issue this year, and so we need to figure out why.”

Mack got most of his pass rush attempts against second-year left tackle Kolton Miller. Miller had a rough rookie year but is playing much better in year two and managed to keep Carr clean most of the night thanks to some help from his tight ends and back and a quick-passing game.The lack of a pass rush had been a recurring issue in Oakland ever since the Mack trade. The Raiders came into the game with a league-low 18 sacks since the start of 2018 but had three alone in the first half as Daniel held onto the ball too long. Maxx Crosby, Benson Mayowa and Maurice Hurst all came up with sacks, the first time Oakland had three in the opening half since Mack’s final season with the team in 2017. Hurst added another on the final play of the game.Bears DT Akiem Hicks (elbow) left the game in the first half and didn’t return.Jacobs left the game briefly with an elbow injury but returned.The Bears get a week off following the long trip and will host New Orleans on Oct. 20.