CeeDee Lamb was motivated to "step up" for his game-winning catch in the Dallas Cowboys' victory over the New York Giants having been annoyed by a second-quarter drop.
The Cowboys' star receiver made a couple of first-half errors, one of which he looked certain to claim in his stride for a touchdown from an excellent deep ball from Cooper Rush, only for it to slip through his grasp.
But Lamb more than atoned by making a sensational one-handed grab for a touchdown with 8:30 to play.
It was the icing on the cake of an 89-yard drive, in which Rush – standing in again for the injured Dak Prescott – found Lamb on four occasions.
"It [the dropped pass] was a situation I had to deal with on my own. Obviously I’m the one that dropped the ball for the guys," Lamb said after the game.
"So knowing that I had to make this up in the back end of the game, I just wanted to step up.
"I was willing to do anything to make up for a touchdown potentially that I left in the first quarter. It was tough. It was a tough one, but I'm happy we came out victorious."
Lamb finished the game with eight catches for 87 yards but conceded there were frustrations from his earlier mistakes.
"It was very frustrating. Honestly, just because I practice all week, all offseason just on focusing in on the ball, and I let that one slip away," he added.
"It was tough. Partially because, like I said, all the hard work I put in just for one play away, I let it slip."
Ezekiel Elliot's one-yard touchdown had earlier levelled the game, and Lamb – now the undisputed number one receiver in the team after Amari Cooper was traded to the Cleveland Browns – felt like his winning contribution was a breakthrough moment.
"Most definitely [it was a breakthrough moment]," Lamb said.
"I appreciate Kel [offensive coordinator Kellen Moore] for trusting in me, all the guys believing in my ability.
"You know, it was a tough third quarter. I kept thinking about it. All the guys kept preaching to me, 'Let it go. Let it go. We still got more game left.'
"And fourth quarter when I kept hearing my number being called I knew it was my opportunity again, so I had to step up.
"It's gonna have its ebbs and flows. It's all about being consistent. Staying positive. Everything's not going to go my way. And when it does, it's going to go big."
Stand-in quarterback Rush played in back-to-back NFL games for the first time in his career with Prescott still sidelined by a hand injury sustained in week one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For Rush, the focus is on the team and not any potential battle for a starting berth.
"I want to keep winning, as long as I'm in there let's keep winning," he said post-game.
"Trust each other both sides of the ball [and] we'll be alright."
Eagles lock up wide receiver Smith through 2028
The Philadelphia Eagles locked up wide receiver DeVonta Smith through the 2028 season on Monday.
Philadelphia exercised its fifth-year option on Smith for the 2025 season and agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension that runs through 2028.
Smith’s extension is reportedly worth $75million, including $51million in guaranteed money.
Philadelphia selected Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after he won the Heisman Trophy with Alabama in 2020.
Smith was the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991 and first non-quarterback or running back to capture the honour since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.
Smith has caught 240 passes for 3,178 yards and 19 touchdowns in 50 regular-season games while adding 27 receptions for 405 yards and a TD catch in five postseason contests.
OJ Simpson: Cherished star whose fall from grace was seen live by millions on TV
From cherished American superstar to villain whose murder trial captivated a global audience, OJ Simpson’s fall from grace was startling.
Simpson, nicknamed ‘The Juice’, has died at the age of 76 after losing his battle with prostate cancer, leaving behind four children.
Before the low-speed car chase by police and ‘Trial of the Century’ that began the unravelling of his reputation, Simpson was a darling of American sport who had also carved out a successful acting career.
He was raised in a low income neighbourhood in San Francisco and joined a local gang but his athleticism offered a route out and he found his purpose in gridiron.
A prolific running back, he starred for USC and in 1968 won the Heisman Trophy awarded to the outstanding player in college football. Inevitably, he was first overall draught pick the following year.
Progress in his first couple of seasons at the Buffalo Bills was slow but his impact grew and he went on to become one of the most successful operators in his position, winning the NFL’s most valuable player in 1973 and being inducted into the hall of fame in 1985.
He became the game’s highest paid player and lucrative commercial deals also followed as companies looked to leverage his charisma and popularity, while his acting career included parts in blockbusters ‘Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Naked Gun’.
For all his film presence he was little known outside the United States but that changed for all the wrong reasons when he was arrested in 1994 for the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Brown and Goldman had been found stabbed to death in LA and once police had filed charges, Simpson refused to turn himself in and was pursued in an extraordinary car chase that was at low speed because he had a gun pointed to his head.
The event was televised live to millions and projected his notoriety worldwide, with the broadcasting of his subsequent murder trial only intensifying interest in this fallen star.
He was acquitted the following year but a civil lawsuit found him liable for the deaths, resulting in an order to pay £26.7million pounds to the victims of the families. Only a fraction of that amount was actually paid.
Arrests followed for a variety of offences in the early 2000s and his lowest point eventually came in 2007 when he was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.
He served nine of a 33-year jail sentence and upon his release he continued to live in Las Vegas, looking increasingly frail when in public but active on social media. Simpson always maintained his innocence of the murders.
OJ Simpson dies aged 76
OJ Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76.
Simpson was a running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers from 1969 to 1979, before being acquitted of murder in a trial in the mid-1990s.
News of Simpson’s death was announced by his children on his X account.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace. -The Simpson Family”
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