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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The divisional matchup on Thursday night cant get here soon enough for the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.Both NFC South teams suffered heartbreaking losses on bizarre endings Sunday after seemingly having victory within their sights.The Saints appeared ready to apply the knockout punch to the Super Bowl champion Broncos when Justin Simmons leaped over the long snapper and blocked a go-ahead extra point attempt with 1:28 left, and teammate Will Parks scooped it up and raced 84 yards for a decisive 2-point conversion, giving Denver a stunning 25-23 victory .About 725 miles north of New Orleans, the Panthers found their own way to lose a game they should have won. They surrendered a 14-point fourth quarter lead to the Kansas City Chiefs when cornerback Marcus Peters stripped Kelvin Benjamin of the football with 20 seconds left as the Panthers were attempting to drive for the go-ahead score, setting up Cairo Santos winning field goal as time expired.Thats one plus, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. We dont have to dwell on this for very long and we can start getting focused on the Saints.The Saints (4-4) could have pulled within a game of division-leading Atlanta (6-3), but wasted an opportunity. The Panthers (3-6) had a chance to move into a tie with the Saints and Buccaneers for second place in the division, but instead remain three games back of the Falcons with seven games remaining.What we have done is put our backs completely against the wall, Rivera said. There is no room for error now. What we have to do now is we have to go forward.So do the Saints.Its a blessing so we can get this bad taste out of our mouth, Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said of playing on a short week.Added quarterback Drew Brees after the loss: All you want to do is get back on the field as fast as you can. Obviously, weve got four days here so its a quick turnaround. Well have a good game plan together, but weve got to lose this one and move on to the next one.The Saints beat the Panthers 41-38 last month when Will Lutz kicked a 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to end a wild game in which Drew Brees and Cam Newton combined for 787 yards passing and six touchdowns.Theres no need to panic, Newton said Sunday. We have a couple key losses (from the Falcons and Saints), so thats our optimism. When you look at it, whatever our record is, its not good. But yet we have a locker room full of winners and a locker room full of guys thats full of fight still. I know I am willing to go to battle with those guys. I cant wait until Thursday.Rivera said hes expecting his teams best, despite the heartbreaking loss.He has also reminded his team several times that they won the division two years ago with a 7-8-1 record.Theres always going to be excuses, but theres not always going to be opportunities, Rivera said. So wed better start taking advantage of them. Thats the important thing.Rivera he likes that the Panthers dont have travel on a short week giving them a little more preparation time.The truth of the matter is were at home, so its not going to be as hard on us as it will be the Saints, Rivera said.---AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Jim Bouton Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Adam Duvall Braves Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1523o-mark-melancon-jersey-braves.html .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Alex Jackson Braves Jersey .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Tom Glavine Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. WASHINGTON -- When womens basketball players at George Washington learned this past offseason that the school had named a new coach for their program, they quickly turned to their cell phones and a team group chat to disseminate any information they could dig up on the hire.It didnt take long before a string of impressive YouTube highlights of a quick and crafty 5-foot-6 guard from UConn began to circulate. The team sentiment quickly swung from curiosity to shock and excitement.In the team group message we talked like, Are you kidding me, this stud is going to be our coach? senior guard Hannah Schaible said.The stud was 1996 Wade Trophy winner Jennifer Rizzotti, who in April signed on as coach at George Washington after 17 seasons at Hartford, where she won 316 games en route to becoming the winningest coach in America East Conference history. Rizzotti is George Washingtons 10th coach and first female coach since Jennifer Bednarek in the 1988-89 season.For many, Rizzottis departure from Hartford -- which she led to five conference championships and six NCAA tournament appearances -- was received with the same level of shock as that of her newly inherited roster. Rizzotti, 41, had said that few schools could get her to uproot her family, which includes two sons and husband Bill Sullivan, who joins her on the bench in Foggy Bottom as an associate head coach.George Washington, however, was on that selective list, especially after coach Jonathan Tsipis had rebuilt the Colonials in his four seasons there before leaving to coach Wisconsin in March.I wanted to go to a program that was successful, rather than a program that I had to rebuild, so that initially made the job attractive to me -- because the coach was leaving for a bigger job and not leaving because he was fired, Rizzotti said. Theres already an established winning culture here and a foundation of doing things the right way.Geno Auriemma, Rizzottis longtime mentor after playing for him at UConn and then serving as an assistant coach on his gold-medal winning team in the Rio Olympics, has complete confidence in her ability to succeed in her new role. And unlike others, Auriemma said he was not surprised by Rizzottis decision to leave for George Washington.I think there has been opportunities for Jen to move in the past, but for whatever reasons, she didnt think that the time was right, said Auriemma, who added that he and Rizzotti had spoken briefly about the challenges that come with transitioning to another program. There was never a feeling of, I never want to move or Im afraid to move; the timing was never right.I knew that people werent going to stop pursuing Jen, so the fact that she left doesnt surprise me one bit.Rizzotti inherited a George Washington program that has impressed in recent years as it works toward regaining its once consistent NCAA tournament presence under former cooach Joe McKeown.dddddddddddd Between 1999-2008, George Washington made nine straight NCAA tournament appearances, including consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 in 2007-08. In the past two seasons, George Washington won back-to-back A-10 championships but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament both times.Rizzotti wont have to rebuild the program, but she will have to retool the roster now that Jonquel Jones, the face of the program the past two seasons, was selected No. 6 overall in the WNBA draft. Helped by Jones 14.6 rebounds per game in an abbreviated season due to injury, George Washington led the nation in rebounding (48.6 per game) in 2015-16. Point guard Lauren Chase, who ranked 15th in the country in assists last season, has also graduated.The Colonials were picked fourth in the A-10 preseason coaches poll. If you ask Rizzotti, however, thats exactly where she wants to be to start her first season in her new home.I kind of had a feeling that we wouldnt be a favorite to win the conference, but we certainly wouldnt be picked 14th, either, Rizzotti said. Thats a pretty good situation to be in your first year.Without Jones, Rizzotti will rely heavily on senior forward Caira Washington, an A-10 preseason first-team selection, in the frontcourt. Along with junior forward Kellie Prange as well as graduate transfer forward Lexi Martins, who led the nation in total rebounds a year ago while at Lehigh, Rizzotti believes the team can remain dominant on the boards.In addition to Washington, the team will also turn to junior guard Brianna Cummings for a breakout season on the wing. A former five-star recruit, the 5-foot-10 Cummings emerged last season as a formidable scorer for the Colonials, demonstrating an ability to both get to the rim and consistently connect from midrange.The big question for the Colonials is at the tip of the backcourt, where Rizzotti will juggle between two inexperienced point guards in sophomore Mei-Lyn Bautista and junior Camila Tapias to run the floor.George Washington is off to a 1-1 start, delivering the first win of the Rizzotti era on Sunday with a 56-45 victory over Princeton. Players like Washington are optimistic about the teams potential.Weve been lucky enough to have a great coaching staff that has come in and changed the program for the better, Washington said. Not every change is bad.Rizzotti admits that she has first-season nerves, a feeling she hasnt had to deal with in almost two decades. And more than anything, Rizzotti has no interest in a new coachs grace period.I want to make it a quick adjustment and a quick transition so what theyre used to -- which is winning -- doesnt go away, she said. I dont want to lose that sensation and that feeling. Yeah, I feel the pressure. ' ' '