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HIDALGO – The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (10-7-2) fell to the Texas Brahmas (10-6-3) on Wednesday night with a final score of 2-1. Tomas Klempa scored the lone goal for Bees. The game was sent into overtime and then a shootout where the Brahmas secured the win.

In a battle of 6-3 teams, the Baltimore Ravens held their ground just long enough to fend off Cincinnati, the surprise of the AFC North, in a tough divisional battle Sunday, 31-24. Still alive despite quarterback Andy Dalton's three interceptions, the Bengals didn't fold until Dalton's failed fourth-and-goal pass with 28 seconds to play. Yet it will be the disputed call against Cincinnati tight end Jermaine Gresham, whose apparent 9-yard touchdown pass was overturned by officials with just over five minutes to go, that will sting the longest for the Bengals.

HIDALGO – It looked like the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (4-4-0) were going to be stopped by some stellar goaltending but a third period rally sent the game to extra time against the Arizona Sundogs. David Marshall, Dan Gender, and Zac Pearson scored in the shootout to cap the come-from-behind win and score a 4-3 win over the Arizona Sundogs (2-4-3) Friday night at State Farm Arena.

There's a reason why Baltimore-Pittsburgh is the best rivalry in the NFL. Sunday night, the two AFC North combatants proved it again in yet another classic chapter of their consuming rivalry. A game of field goals the first half, with Baltimore taking a 9-6 lead, both teams recorded two second-half touchdowns. The Steelers took a 20-16 lead with just under five minutes to play, having fought back from a 10-point deficit. But the Ravens' Joe Flacco led a superb 92-yard scoring drive that ended with rookie Torrey Smith's redemptive 26-yard touchdown reception with eight seconds left for a come-from-behind 23-20 win. Smith can be thankful he had the chance to shed the goat horns he had worn since the game's first offensive play. The Baltimore deep threat was caught holding on Ray Rice's game-opening 76-yard touchdown run and later dropped two catchable passes, including the first game-winning attempt-a near-perfect 37-yard end-zone aerial from Flacco just four plays before Smith's second-chance scoring grab ended the game.

Yes, they’re getting older, but the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t lost any ability to win big football games. Sunday at Heinz Field, behind several effective long drives that consumed two-thirds of the game clock, Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh bested the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots 25–17, in a dual of two of the game’s top field generals. The Steelers’ secondary slowed Brady’s targets often enough to put unfamiliar pressure on the Pats QB. Pittsburgh made plenty of big plays, including strong safety Troy Polamalu’s heads-up dive-and-ball punch of Brady’s game-closing fumble-turned-safety, in registering its fourth straight win.

LAREDO – The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (1-3-0) raced out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period and held on to defeat the Laredo Bucks (2-2-0) by a 6-3 final on Friday night. Zac Pearson helped pace the Bees by scoring the first two goals of the game.

It appears record-setting Tom Brady is human after all. The New England quarterback set an NFL-record three-game passing mark with a 387-yard passing performance that followed his two gargantuan efforts to open the season, but the Patriots QB threw a very un-Brady-like four interceptions Sunday, as Buffalo pulled off the upset of the year (so far). The sky-high Bills came back from a 21-0 second-quarter deficit to beat New England 34-31 Sunday at Orchard Park, N.Y.

Tennessee's robust defense, led notably by a shutdown secondary, surprised the team with THE defense-the Baltimore Ravens-in a shocking 23-13 Titans victory at Nashville Sunday.

KICKOFF 2011: PACKERS HOLD ON, DOWN BREES, SAINTS. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell couldn't have wished for a better way to erase the miserable memory of the recent off-season lockout. The premier-level season opener at venerable Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., that matched the defending Super Bowl champion Packers and 2009 Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints was a barnburner. Dazzling offense by both teams more than wiped out any lingering ill will about the four-and-a-half-month work stoppage.

This was going to be a memorable night regardless, the ceremonies for 9/11 taking center stage on this 10th anniversary. The fact that the Cowboys and Jets gave the nation a thrilling game of football was just a bonus.

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A collective sigh of relief exhaled over the tumultuous world of pro football when the 135-day NFL lockout ended in late July. But teams, players, coaches, and yes, fans, will be picking up pieces from the lockout fallout for an undetermined period of time, as the 92nd edition of the NFL opens this coming Thursday night with an elite-level matchup, when New Orleans visits incumbent league champion Green Bay at historic Lambeau Field.

McALLEN – The Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced on Monday that they open their fifth season in the NBA Development League on Friday, Nov. 25, against the Erie BayHawks at 7:00 p.m. at State Farm Arena, the first of 15 Friday and Saturday home games.

EDINBURG – OK, it's official: Ryan Falcon is the man.

Just when everyone was moving on, writing their post-mortem and getting ready for high school football, the Roadrunners played their best series of the season, beating the first-place Colts three out of four to show that despite a poor record, they have started to find the right combinations on the diamond.

A FAMILIAR FACE AT THE STADIUM

SAN ANGELO - It was bad news on the first two nights of an important road trip for the Roadrunners as they led two games but eventually lost them by a combined total of 22-6 over the weekend.

EDINBURG – The McAllen Thunder used a six run sixth inning to snap their seven game losing streak beating the Edinburg Roadrunners 16-4 Wednesday night at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

After a recent hot streak at the plate, the Roadrunners played two old-fashioned pitcher's duel matches over the weekend against the RGV WhiteWings, as the two teams wrapped up a 5-game series at Harlingen Field. Edinburg was 20-25 after the series, third in the division behind San Angelo and the Wings.

EDINBURG – The Edinburg Roadrunners smashed out 19 hits en route to a 12-1 victory over the McAllen Thunder Wednesday night at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

McALLEN – The McAllen Thunder of the North American League announced today that the contract of right-handed pitcher Robert Roth has been purchased by the Atlanta Braves.

SAN ANGELO -- For the second straight night it was a late-inning home run that proved to be the Colts' downfall, as they fell to the Edinburg Roadrunners 10-7 Thursday night at Foster Field. Roadrunners center fielder Stantrel Smith (2) hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning to give Edinburg its final margin.

Now this is what the home folks (and manager Steve Maddock) have been expecting to see.

McALLEN – The North American Baseball League's McAllen Thunder announced it will hold a local draft tryout camp for baseball players at Edinburg Stadium on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday June 12.

EDINBURG – The Edinburg Roadrunners snapped their six-game losing streak behind a complete game victory by Aaron Guerra to beat the McAllen Thunder 10-1 Monday night at Edinburg Baseball Stadium.