Gildenberreich » goals and an assist to help Dallas rout the Bolts at Tampa

NASHVILLE -- The Titans made Ken Whisenhunt a winner in his coaching debut in Tennessee in a wet, sloppy game where the best decision might have been Packers coach Mike McCarthy scratching Aaron Rodgers before kickoff. Jackie Battle scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 5:02 left, and the Titans rallied to beat Green Bay 20-16 on Saturday night in the preseason opener for both teams. Rookie Zach Mettenberger made up for two turnovers in the fourth quarter by completing all three passes for 71 yards to set up Battles go-ahead touchdown for Tennessees first lead in a preseason opener played mostly in a pouring rain. Whisenhunt said it was the worst weather hes coached in, though he once played in uglier conditions. "A lot of things we had planned went out the window with the rain, so for nothing else it was a good opportunity to work on that," Whisenhunt said. "We learned a lot about ourselves and what we have to do to prepare for that. Those arent conditions you generally replicate or practice." With quarterbacks having trouble holding onto the ball, McCarthy had to feel good about his pregame decision to scratch not only Rodgers, but also Eddie Lacy along with eight other Packers. McCarthy said he just wanted to get his other three quarterbacks work in a game Rodgers would have played only a series in anyway. The Packers fumbled five times, losing only one. Tennessee lost one of three fumbles. "We probably didnt do quite as good as wed like there with the number of times we had the ball on the ground and with the drops," McCarthy said. "To play in this environment was an incredible experience for our team." Not so much for the fans. The biggest cheer of the game came early in the second quarter, when rain finally eased up for the first time in nearly two hours. But heavy rain returned late in the first half and stuck around most of the third quarter. Davante Adams fumbled a punt in the first quarter that led to the Titans first touchdown, a 13-yard run by Shonn Greene, whos had two arthroscopic surgeries in the past year on his right knee. Rookie Bishop Sankey caught a 5-yard TD pass from Charlie Whitehurst. Matt Flynn started for Rodgers and was 5 of 10 for 49 yards playing most of the first half. He left with the Packers leading 7-6 thanks to James Starks TD capping the opening drive. Starks played only the first series in place of Lacy, and he finished with six carries for 49 yards. "Physically its just one of those weird games," Flynn said. "You cant really go back and critique your mechanics, and receivers cant really critique their routes too much because it was a sloppy game." Whisenhunt brought in defensive co-ordinator Ray Horton, whos using a hybrid 3-4 scheme, and he couldnt be too happy even with the sloppy conditions. The Titans, who pulled their defensive starters after the Packers second offensive series, allowed 90 yards rushing in the first half. Jake Locker played only the first quarter and was 1 of 2 for 5 yards. He bobbled a snap, though he recovered. He could have left with the score tied except Maikon Bonani missed the 33-yard extra point after Greenes 13-yard TD run. Whisenhunt wanted to see Locker do more work in the pocket before finally deciding to pull him. "I never played in a rain like this," Locker said. "This is definitely the hardest rain Ive played in to this point." Whitehurst took over for the first series of the second quarter with rookie Taylor Lewan, the No. 11 draft pick overall, taking over at left tackle for veteran Michael Roos. Whitehurst was 10 of 15 for 94 yards. Scott Tolzien simply lost the ball out of his hand trying to pass midway through the third quarter, then he grabbed the jersey of Titans linebacker Brandon Copeland holding until he could recover his fumble. Tolzien then found Chris Harper for a 38-yard pass, and rookie Rajion Neal, who played at the University of Tennessee, capped the drive with a 12-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter. The sloppiness wasnt limited to players on the field. After Neals touchdown run was reviewed, the Packers sent the offence out a 2-point conversion pass that failed. The TD was taken off the scoreboard with some thinking the TD had been overturned. Notes: Titans LB Zach Brown didnt start the game for what Whisenhunt called punishment for violating a team rule. Zaviar Gooden started instead inside next to Wesley Woodyard. Nmds Norge . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. Billig Nmd Sko .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/lite-racer-sko-norge.html . "Back in 2011, when they announced that the game was coming here, we knew that it was going to be pretty important that we had a good year and hopefully could get into it, let alone win it, so I felt some pressure obviously within for sure," Taman said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Riders won the championship. Adidas Eqt Norge . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell. Nmd_r1 Sko Hvit . - The Denver Broncos kept rookie wide receiver Tavarres King from joining the Green Bay Packers by promoting him to their active roster Tuesday.The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to give their fading playoff chances an injection of life when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning for Tuesdays battle in Central Florida. The Maple Leafs are three points behind Columbus for the last playoff spot in the East with only three games left on their schedule. You can listen to the game live on TSN 1050 starting at 7:30pm et/4:30 pm pt. All three of Torontos remaining games are on the road and the club likely needs to win every one and hope for help from other teams to make the postseason for a second straight spring. The Leafs, who are just 14-17-7 on the road in 2013-14, had missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons before returning to the tournament last year. Already without No. 1 goaltender Jonathan Bernier for the rest of the regular season, Toronto also will not have forward Joffrey Lupul for the remaining three games. The club announced Monday that Lupul, who is third on the Maple Leafs with 22 goals this season, will undergo surgery on his knee and be sidelined for the next 3-to-4 weeks while centre David Bolland is a game-time decision. The club announced Tuesday morning that forward Carter Ashton and goaltender Drew MacIntyre have been called up from the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. Torontos postseason dreams were severely damaged when the club lost its last eight games of March in regulation. The Leafs won two straight to begin April to get back in the playoff conversation, but then lost their final home game of the regular season in Saturdays 4-2 setback against Winnipeg. The Maple Leafs held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period of Saturdays game, but the Jets scored three unanswered markers to finish the contest. Tobias Enstrom scored the eventual game-winning goal when he converted on the power play with 2:58 left in the second period. Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri provided Torontos two goals and James Reimer allowed all four goals on 41 shots. "I think they outplayed us," Kessel said. "We need too play better.dddddddddddd" Reimer, who is 1-6-0 over his last seven starts, expects to get the call again on Tuesday. The 26-year-old is 2-4-0 with a 3.31 goals against average in six career games against the Lightning. Toronto won the first two meetings with the Lightning this season before dropping a 5-3 home decision against Tampa on March 19. Reimer allowed five goals on 30 shots in the setback, as the Leafs lost to Tampa for only the third time in 10 outings. Toronto has claimed three of the past five road meetings against the Bolts. Tampa Bay already has locked up a playoff spot and is five points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings for third place in the Atlantic Division standings with four games left for both teams. The Lightning will face Montreal in the opening round of the playoffs unless Detroit, which visits Buffalo on Tuesday, beats them in the standings. The Lightning have lost their last two games in regulation, including Saturdays 5-2 setback against the visiting Dallas Stars. Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist to help Dallas rout the Bolts at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Andrej Sustr and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning, who have dropped three of their last four. Ben Bishop allowed all five goals on 28 shots. Sustrs goal was the first of his NHL career and his eighth point. "It was exciting and something I will always remember for the rest of my life," said Sustr of his first goal. "Unfortunately Ill associate it with a loss and Id rather it be the other way around." Tampa Bay fell to 22-10-6 on home ice and is playing the fourth part of a six- game homestand on Tuesday. The Lightning will cap the regular season with Sundays road test in Washington. In other news, the Lightning signed vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman to a four-year contract extension on Monday. Yzerman has one more year remaining on his initial contract with the club and is completing his fourth season as the Lightnings lead hockey operations executive. ' ' '