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  February 25, 2018 11:03 PM PST

  NEW ORLEANS -- Broncos safety Darian Stewart was in the right place at the right time, as Denver defenders often seem to be. Preston Smith Jersey .Shutting down quarterback Drew Brees for four quarters was always going to be a tall order, particularly with starting quarterback Aqib Talib and starting defensive end Derek Wolfe injured. Still, Denvers dynamic defense produced four pivotal turnovers in a wild 25-23 victory over the previously surging Saints on Sunday.The Saints offense is real tough and we knew that coming in, said Stewart, who had two interceptions and a fumble recovery . We had a lot of guys out injured, which only made the challenge more difficult. But we had a lot of guys who stepped in and made contributions. That was huge.The game ultimately was decided in the unlikeliest of ways. Denver rookie Justin Simmons blocked a potential go-ahead, extra-point kick by New Orleans Wil Lutz, and rookie teammate Will Parks grabbed the loose ball, returning it 84 yards for a defensive 2-point conversion with 1:28 left in the game.Yet New Orleans might never have relinquished its 17-10, second-half lead if not for two fumbles forced by Denvers defense.The Broncos, who entered the game with the top-rated pass defense in the NFL, intercepted Brees twice in the first half.Stewart made his first interception by anticipating Brees throw down the left sideline and cutting in front of intended target Travaris Cadet at the Denver 9-yard line. The second came when Stewart snagged a pass ripped from rookie receiver Michael Thomas grasp by defensive back Bradley Roby.In the fourth quarter, Stewart once again found a ball landing in his lap when Roby punched the ball away from Thomas after a reception over the middle.Thats a play we work on, Roby said of his strip. In that situation, you have to say to yourself, `Youve got to go for the ball.Denver converted that turnover into Demaryius Thomas game-tying touchdown.Then came defensive end Jared Cricks crushing tackle of Thomas that forced another fumble, recovered by T.J. Ward to set up a field goal which put Denver ahead 23-17 with just under 3 minutes left.Those plays helped Denver overcome Brees NFL-record 56th game with at least 300 yards and three TDs passing.The four turnovers, they cost us the game, Brees said. It made it a lot closer than it probably should have been.Heres what else stood out in Denvers victory over the SaintsRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Simmons said Denver had picked up on some of the Saints place-kicking tendencies and figured they might be able to block a kick by having a player hurdle the offensive line. Simmons said the Broncos worked on the play, called Leaper, all week.Its something you work on all the time, Denver coach Gary Kubiak said. Its risky to do because if you touch somebody, its a penalty. There are certain situations in a game where you say it is worth the risk, and this was one of them.ELITE BREES: Brees passed for 303 yards with touchdowns on a 32-yard pass to Brandin Cooks , as well as 3- and 5-yard tosses to Willie Snead. He did it against a Broncos defense that entered the game allowing just 183.3 yards passing per game. Who knows what kind of numbers Brees might have had it three drives werent stalled by turnovers in which the ball was knocked from Michael Thomas hands?MIXED BAG: The Broncos are still living with quarterback Trevor Siemians rookie mistakes. He threw two interceptions and didnt seem to see cornerback Sterling Moore jumping the route on the first or Kenny Vaccaro standing right in the balls path on the second. He also took six sacks. But he made a number of clutch throws -- not just on his TD passes of 14 yards to Jordan Taylor and 2 yards to Demaryius Thomas. He also completed a slew of drive-extending throws and the Broncos converted 11 of 19 third downs.BETTER BLOCKING: Two of Denvers best pass rushers -- Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware -- were held without a sack by a Saints offensive line that was missing starting left tackle Terron Armstead. Andrus Peat took over for Armstead, sliding over from left guard, and Senio Kelemete took Peats guard spot. Denver, which came in with 28 sacks, managed just one on Brees, by linebacker Shaquil Barrett.QB PRESSURE: New Orleans ramped up its pass rush in a big way. The Saints had 11 sacks in their first eight games, but six different defenders got a sack apiece on Siemian: rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, defensive tackle Nick Fairley, end Cameron Jordan, safety Kenny Vaccaro and linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Craig Robertson.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Tress Way Jersey . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Charley Taylor Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. http://www.cheapredskinsjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-deshazor-everett-jersey . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Mike Zunino tried making adjustments when he went into a batting slump.When that didnt work, the Seattle Mariners catcher went back to what just felt natural, and so far thats paid off.Zunino had two key hits and Ketel Marte hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 Sunday for their fifth straight win.The Mariners remained 3 1/2 games behind in the AL wild-card race.Marte had three hits and Zunino homered and doubled.I tried to make some little tweaks to try to improve on what I was doing and they sort of took me in the wrong direction, so it was just sort of going back to what was working the whole year, Zunino said.It was nice, because when you have so many at-bats and taken that swing so many times it was pretty easy to go back to it, he said.Zunino doubled off Ryan Madson (5-5) to begin the ninth and pinch runner Ben Gamel moved up on a single by Leonys Martin. Marte followed with his go-ahead single.We had a decent report on him saying the first pitch is usually the best pitch to get, so I didnt want to waste any time, Zunino said. I was able to get on top of it and drive it.Mariners starter James Paxton pitched through a fingernail injury for his first quality start in more than a month, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings.The left-hander couldnt throw his cut fastball and didnt have good command of his fastball because of a problem with the nail on his left middle finger.We worked around it well, though, Paxton said of the injury. We used the curveball more, and the curveball was really good today, so that was good. And we used the change-up a little bit more too, got some swings and misses on that also.Zunino hit a two-run homer in the second off rookie Raul Alcantara. He left with two outs in the sixth to an ovation from fans and was greeted by fist bumps in the As dugout.It was just another at-bat where I felt like I got to two strikes pretty quick, but he showed me the slider early and I was able to lay off of it, and he tthrew another one that was in the zone and up. Su a Cravens Jersey. I was just able to get up in the zone and barrel it.In his major league debut Wednesday, he became the first As pitcher to hit three batters and issue a balk in one game since Howard Ehmke did it in 1930.Alcantara allowed two runs on seven hits, one walk and a hit batsman.He has an electric fastball, his changeup is a plus pitch and he threw some good breaking balls, too, As catcher Stephen Vogt said. I think the stuff is really, really good, its definitely an indication of what we thought and what I thought going into this week it would be.Steve Cishek (3-6) pitched a scoreless eighth. Edwin Diaz closed for his 15th save.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: 1B Adam Lind left the in the fifth inning with a finger sprain, manager Scott Servais said. Its not broke, Servais said. He had X-rays. He could be out a couple days and well see where it goes from there.Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray, on the disabled list since Aug. 7 with a right forearm strain, threw about 10-12 pitches off a mound on Sunday, As manager Bob Melvin said. The 2015 All-Star is hoping to be activated before the end of the year, but Melvin said the As will be cautious before making such a move.Itd be nice to get him into a game, but I wouldnt say its the most important thing in the world, Melvin said. His health is the most important thing for us.UP NEXTMariners: LHP Ariel Miranda will pitch the opener of a three-game series in Anaheim. He will be facing the Angels for the third time in his eighth appearance and seventh start with Seattle since being acquired from Baltimore on July 31. Miranda is 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two previous outings against the Angels.Athletics: LHP Ross Detwiler will be making his sixth start since being called up from Triple-A Nashville on Aug. 10 in a series opener in Kansas City. He allowed one run in seven innings of three-hit ball in his last start on Aug. 31. ' ' '