AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Weston Steelhammer watched the first half from the locker room. No doubt, Navy wishes he wouldve stayed put.Suspended for a half because of a targeting penalty the week before, the Air Force senior safety provided a second-half spark for a defense that was already playing lights out.Steelhammer led a dominating defensive effort , tailback Tim McVey scored twice, including a 62-yard TD catch, and Air Force beat Navy 28-14 on Saturday to take a big step toward claiming the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy.Jalen Robinette had five catches for 163 yards for Air Force (4-0), which extended its home winning streak to 15 straight. His 75-yard TD catch late in the third quarter broke open the game.The Midshipmen (3-1) averted a shutout on a 6-yard TD run by Shawn White with 8:33 remaining. The option-oriented team finished with more yards passing (260) than rushing (57). For that matter, so did Air Force (257 yards passing, 173 on the ground).Weve got plenty of growing to do, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. Not that this wasnt a good step, because it certainly was.Steelhammer sat out the first half after being disqualified for a targeting call in the third quarter last weekend at Utah State. All dressed up and nowhere to go, he watched the opening half from the locker room, but soon made his presence felt by picking off a Will Worth pass with Navy driving in the third quarter. He had another late in the game.The guys out there did a great job in the first half of keeping us in it, Steelhammer said. I didnt want to be too much of a distraction coming back.No worry about that. Hes the leader of a unit that had six sacks, eight tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and held a Navy team averaging 316.3 yards rushing to just 57.There are still a lot of things we kind of goofed up, said Brodie Hicks, who had a blocked punt in the second quarter. But we definitely had a really good game.Heres a stat that bodes well for Air Force: The previous 19 winners of this game have gone on to win the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy, which represents superiority among the three service academies. The Falcons need only to beat Army on Nov. 5 to earn the trophy. If the teams all finish 1-1 in the round-robin competition, the previous winner -- Navy -- retains the prize.They got after us, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. I was really impressed with Air Force. I thought they played a really good game.The first half was ruled by defense with the only score a field goal. A surprise, too, given that Air Force and Navy came in averaging a combined 906 yards per game.Air Force began to pull away in the third quarter when McVey scored on a 1-yard plunge. Robinette soon followed with his TD catch from Nate Romine, who finished 8 of 14 for a career-high 257 yards and two scores.POLL IMPLICATIONSAir Force will definitely receive some votes this week. The Falcons havent appeared in the AP poll since 2010.However, its hardly on their mind.Its great to talk about all those rankings and numbers, Romine said. But all that matters is who you have next week and how you prepare for them.QUITE A GRABRobinette was impressed by McVeys one-handed, spinning catch . So much so that hes going to add it to his list of plays.Im still in shock about it, Robinette said.THE TAKEAWAYNAVY: The Midshipmen had a 19-game win streak against unranked opponents snapped. Just couldnt get their vaunted rushing attack on track.AIR FORCE: Off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2003. The Falcons relied on a defense that recorded six sacks, eight tackles for loss and forced a fumble.UP NEXTNAVY: Host a Houston squad led by Heisman Trophy hopeful Greg Ward Jr., who accounted for five touchdowns in a 42-14 win over Connecticut on Thursday.We have a top-5 team coming into our stadium next week so lick our wounds and move on, Niumatalolo said.AIR FORCE: Travel to Wyoming next Saturday. Two years ago, the Falcons lost 17-13 to the Cowboys in Laramie.---Online:AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org and AP-Top 25 Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-Top25Follow Pat Graham on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pgraham34. Fake Avalanche Jerseys . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Avalanche Jerseys 2021 . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Colorado Avalanche Store . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. MINNEAPOLIS -- When the season began, the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings were expected to be among the top teams in the NFC.The two teams had Super Bowl aspirations with talented rosters coming off last years playoff appearances. Minnesota started the year 5-0, while Arizona was 1/3 a month into the season.Since their undefeated start, the Vikings have lost four games in a row. The Cardinals (4-4-1) have used two wins against the San Francisco 49ers to jumpstart the second half of the season.Despite the differing paths, there is still a road to playoff contention as they meet Sunday in Minnesota.Weve been fortunate with some of the other things that have happened in the league that were still in a good place, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. We can go out and win. I know everybody thinks Im crazy, but my goal is to win the division. So, go out and get some wins and get going again. Thats all.The last two ball games have been (close and), honestly, could go either way. We didnt win them, so we just need to get a couple of these either-way games and win. Thats kind of what happened at the beginning of the season. So, its a seven-game season now.Minnesota is tied for the NFC North lead with the Detroit Lions at 5-4. Arizona is two games behind Seattle in the NFC West but still in prime wild-card position.Both teams have dealt with plenty of injuries, which will also impact Sundays game.The Vikings lost left tackle Jake Long for the rest of the season when he injured his Achilles in last weeks 26-20 loss at Washington. Long, signed as a street free agent in October, had already been an injury replacement at left tackle after starter Matt Kalil was lost after two games.Zimmer hasnt revealed his plans for his battered offensive line on Sunday. Jeremiah Sirles could join the starting lineup. Minnesota, which has also lost right tackle Andre Smith for the season, has T.J. Clemmings at the other tackle.Weve definitely been a little bit unfortunate as far as some of the injuries that weve had up front, quarterback Sam Bradford said. But like weve done in the past, we just have to keep moving forward. Obviously, Sirles and T.J., they started a couple of games together so we feel confident in them because theyve been out there, theyve done it before. Theyve played a lot of football. As bad as this is to continue to lose guys youve just got to try to stay positive and just keep moving forward.Arizonas injuries have hit hardest in thhe secondary.ddddddddddddSafety Deone Bucannon missed Wednesdays practice with an ankle injury. Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu was limited in Wednesdays practice with a shoulder injury. Mathieu missed last weeks game with the injury. Both are questionable for the game.My shoulder feels fine, its stable for the moment, Mathieu told the Arizona Republic. Ill continue to put it to work during practice and see where Im at, at the end of the week.Cardinals coach Bruce Arians and Zimmer know each other well dating back to their time as coordinators in the AFC North. Arians was the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator facing Zimmers defenses for the Cincinnati Bengals.Ive always respected Zim as one of the most sound, aggressive defensive coaches that Ive ever gone against ... They dont beat themselves, Arians said via conference call. I think our defense, our defensive line is playing at a very high level right now. I think both offensive lines have their work cut out for them.Arizona owns the leagues second-ranked defense in terms of yardage, one spot ahead of Zimmers Minnesota crew. The Cardinals are allowing 295.2 yards per game compared to the Vikings 308.8 yards per game. But Minnesota is giving a league-low 16.9 points per game. Arizona is tied for third, giving up 17.8 points per game.I think this is going to be one of our biggest challenges of the year, Bradford said. Probably the best group that weve faced. So, I think its important that we have a great week of practice and get ourselves ready to go.Both teams also made significant special teams changes this week. The Cardinals brought back punter Drew Butler after Ryan Quigley didnt prove to be an upgrade the past six games. Quigley had the leagues lowest qualifying gross punting average at 41.6 yards per punt.Minnesota parted with embattled kicker Blair Walsh and signed Kai Forbath. Walsh had only made 75 percent of his field-goal attempts and hit just 78.9 percent of his extra-point attempts.It was just something we felt like we needed to do, kind of move forward, Zimmer said. Were all accountable for the things we have to get done, and I think we gave him a lot of opportunities. Although, Blairs a great kid, and it was hard to do. Its just part of the business.Business this week, for both teams, will be trying to stay in the playoff race. ' ' '