nt feel like the break kind of helped me get caught up as muc

CAROLINA (17-2) at DENVER (15-4)Thursday, 8:40 p.m. EST, NBCOPENING LINE -- Panthers by 3SERIES RECORD -- Broncos lead 4-1LAST MEETING -- Broncos beat Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50, Feb. 7, 2016AP PRO32 RANKING -- Panthers No. 1, Broncos No. 6BRONCOS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (16), RUSH (17), PASS (14).BRONCOS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (1), RUSH (3), PASS (1).PANTHERS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (11), RUSH (2), PASS (24).PANTHERS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (6), RUSH (5), PASS (11).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -- First time past two Super Bowl participants have met in Week 1 since Kansas City-Minnesota in 1970. ... Carolina has NFL-best 33-10 record since Week 6 of 2013 season. ... Panthers were 7-1 on road in 2015. ...League MVP Cam Newton led NFL with 45 combined touchdowns last season. Newton had 24 TD passes and no INTs in red zone. ... Carolina led NFL in scoring with 500 points. ... Panthers have run for at least 100 yards in 32 straight games, including playoffs. .. WR Kelvin Benjamin returns after missing 2015 season with torn ACL. Benjamin led Panthers with 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns in 2014. ... WR Ted Ginn Jr. coming off career-high 10 TD receptions last year. ... TE Greg Olsen has 29 TD receptions in past five seasons. ... RB Jonathan Stewart needs 1,008 yards rushing to become franchises all-time career leader. ... Panthers defense has finished in top 10 in NFL in four straight seasons. ... Panthers led league in takeaways with 39 in 2015. Rookie CBs James Bradberry and Daryl Worley expected to start with All-Pro CB Josh Norman now in Washington. ... DE Kony Ealy had three sacks and two forced turnovers in Super Bowl loss. ... Broncos have won 15 of last 16 home openers. ... Broncos have won five straight AFC West titles. ... Coach Gary Kubiak is fourth coach to win Super Bowl in first season. ... Denver has sold out 357 straight home games. ... QB Trevor Siemian takes over for retired Peyton Manning. Siemian was seventh-round draft pick in 2015 and has never thrown pass in regular season. ... WR Demaryius Thomas looks to become first player with at least 90 receptions and 1,300 yards in five straight seasons. ... LB Von Miller had two strip-sacks in Super Bowl leading to 14 Denver points. Miller is third-fastest player to 50 career sacks ... Broncos have replaced seven starters on offense and two on defense. ... No cornerback has more INTs than Aqib Talib (30) since 2008. Fantasy Tip: Might want to sit Newton vs. Broncos. He had no TDs in Super Bowl and struggled vs. leagues best defense.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Drew Lock Youth Jersey . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Joe Flacco Jersey . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Broncos-Tom-Jackson-Jersey/ . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Royce Freeman Youth Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Bradley Chubb Youth Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. CHICAGO -- Anthony Rizzo kept fouling the ball off, over and over again. When Steven Matz finally blinked, Rizzo capitalized with one mighty swing.Rizzo hit a three-run homer, Jon Lester pitched 7 2/3 innings and the Chicago Cubs stopped an eight-game losing streak against the New York Mets with a 5-1 victory on Monday night in a rematch of last years NL Championship Series.With one out and two on in the third inning, Rizzo fouled off five straight 2-2 pitches before driving a changeup deep into the bleachers in right-center for his 22nd homer.It was 2-2 for a while there. I dont think he wanted to go 3-2, Rizzo said. He was making good pitches and I was just fighting them off. Just try to grind at-bats, thats what were so good at doing.The crowd of 41,353 cheered wildly as Rizzo rounded the bases on a picturesque night at Wrigley Field. The All-Star slugger is batting .339 with three homers and 10 RBI in July.Hes the anchor of the whole group. Theres no question about it, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.Matz (7-6) blamed himself for poor execution.You really want to grit your teeth and beat this guy, he said. Unfortunately, he won.The last time the Mets visited the iconic neighborhood ballpark, they finished off a sweep of the Cubs to advance to the World Series. They swept Chicago again in New York from June 30 to July 3, roughing up Lester for one of the wins.This time around was much different.Lester (10-4) allowed one run -- Wilmer Flores leadoff homer in the seventh -- and four hits in his first win in a month. David Ross added a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Albert Almora Jr. singled in Matt Szczur in the eighth as the NL Central leaders won for the fourth time in five games since dropping five in a row.We were able to get some quick outs with some well-located fastballs and some well-located cutters, Lester said, so that was huge for us tonight.Hector Rondon replaced Carl Edwards Jr. with two runners on in the ninth and got Travis dArnaud to bounce into a game-ending double play for his 16th save.Matz was charged with four runs and eight hits in five-pllus innings.dddddddddddd The rookie left-hander dropped to 0-5 in his last nine starts.Even though I thought he threw the ball fine, he didnt have his real Grade-A stuff, manager Terry Collins said. But he battled the best he could.Matz nearly had another run on his line, but left fielder Yoenis Cespedes cut down Willson Contreras with a perfect throw to the plate when the rookie tried to score from second on Szczurs third-inning single.BREAK FOR ZOBRISTCubs second baseman Ben Zobrist rested for the second straight day. Maddon picked Sunday for a day off for the All-Star, and then decided to give him another day of rest.He told me yesterday that he wanted to give me two in a row, Zobrist said. I think it will be good to be able to stay off my feet a little bit and try and get caught up. Just didnt feel like the break kind of helped me get caught up as much as I wanted it to.The 35-year-old Zobrist started at second in the All-Star Game. He is batting .277 with 13 homers and 47 RBI in his first season with the Cubs.TRAINERS ROOMMets: RHP Matt Harvey had season-ending thoracic outlet surgery in St. Louis. ... RHP Jim Henderson (biceps) is throwing 91 to 93 mph during his rehab stint at Triple-A Las Vegas, and Collins said the reliever is nearing a return.Cubs: OFs Dexter Fowler (right hamstring strain) and Jorge Soler (left hamstring strain) were traveling to Iowa and are expected to begin their rehab stints with the Triple-A club on Tuesday. Fowler could return to the Cubs by the end of the week. That would be the optimal situation, Maddon said.UP NEXTAll-Star RHPs Noah Syndergaard of the Mets and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs face off on Tuesday. Syndergaard (9-4, 2.56 ERA) was removed from last start on July 8 due to arm fatigue. I think the rest has been good for him, Collins said. Arrieta (12-4, 2.68 ERA) is looking to get back on track after allowing four or more earned runs in three consecutive starts for the first time since 2012. ' ' '