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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One third-year quarterback has his team tied for first in the AFC West.Another has an opportunity to put his team squarely into the thick of things in the AFC South.The development of Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles will be on display Sunday at EverBank Field in a game between two teams trying to take a step toward snapping long playoff droughts.Well always be tied together because we were in the same class, Bortles said. Dereks an awesome guy, obviously an awesome quarterback. (Hes) been doing a good job.Both Carr and Bortles were selected in the 2014 draft by teams needing a fresh start after years of losing -- and losing big.Carr went 36th overall to a Raiders franchise that hasnt achieved a winning record since losing Super Bowl XXXVII following the 2002 season.Oakland was 29-51 in the five seasons prior to drafting Carr.Bortles went third overall to a Jaguars franchise that had been even worse during that time frame.Jacksonville was 26-54 from 2009-2013 and hasnt made a trip to the playoffs since the 2007 season.So far in their young careers, Carr and Bortles have given their franchises reasons to be optimistic about the future.Carr has the Raiders (4-2) tied with the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos for first in the AFC West and is proving to be a dependable quarterback who limits turnovers and can take advantage of the dynamic players he has around him.He is tied for fifth in the league with 12 passing touchdowns and has the fewest interceptions (three) of any quarterback with at least 225 attempts.Carr is completing 66.5 percent of his passes and averaging 7.1 yards per attempt.He is impressive, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said. We had him at the Senior Bowl. His demeanor, his competitiveness. He is very, very accurate. He has the ability to extend plays.We watched him today extending plays, making big plays down field. You talk about a guy that is playing with a lot of poise and confidence right now. He is playing at a real high level.The season hasnt been as smooth for Bortles, but he managed to play well enough during victories over Indianapolis in London and at Chicago in the last two games to keep the Jaguars (2-3) within 1.5 games of the Houston Texans.Bortles has eight passing touchdowns with seven interceptions this season while being sacked 14 times as part of an offense that has seemed to regress.The Jaguars were 14th in the league in scoring last season (23.5 points per game) but have tumbled to 21st (20.2 points per game) with inconsistent play.Jacksonville has season a big improvement from its revamped defense, led by a pair of rookies.Cornerback Jalen Ramsey knocked away a pass from Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery in the fourth quarter to seal a victory for the Jaguars last week. That came after defensive end Yannick Ngakoue earlier notched his fourth sack of the season -- joining Terrell Suggs as one of two players in NFL history to register at least four sacks and an interception in the first five games of their career.Jacksonvilles defense has gotten fourth-quarter stops against Green Bay, Baltimore, Indianapolis and Chicago this season. The Jaguars will need another strong effort defensively against Carr and his talented receivers.Second-year receiver Amari Cooper surpassed 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie and is on pace to be even better this season. In six games, Cooper is fourth in the league with 585 receiving yards (97.5 per game) and is averaging 16.3 yards per catch.Michael Crabtree has also been strong and is tied for the league lead with five receiving touchdowns.A shootout could be ready to unfold between Raider coach Jack Del Rios current and former team.Oakland is last in the league in yards allowed (444.8 per game) and 24th in scoring defense (27.2 points per game) this season.That could mean more big plays for Bortles and his own pair of talented receivers, Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns.Each team should be mostly healthy heading into Sunday. Let the best third-year quarterback win.I love the culture that weve built here, Carr said. Whenever you have four wins and two losses and you feel not very good about how youve been playing as a team, thats a good thing because you know that there is more out there for your team.You know that there are bigger possibilities. 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Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. CHICAGO -- Nearly a year after throwing a no-hitter at Wrigley Field, Cole Hamels was masterful again in his return to the famed ballpark.Hamels pitched eight dominant innings, and the Texas Rangers stopped a four-game slide by topping the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Sunday in a matchup of division leaders.I got 10 days of rest. You get a whole week of rest, I guess that helps, Hamels said. I know its the second half, want to start off right. This is now the go time.Hamels (10-2) struck out his first six batters. He fanned seven overall and gave up just an unearned run on four hits.The fastball, the cutter allowed him to get to the changeup today, and he was really exceptional, Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.Last summer, the lefty threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 at Wrigley in his final start for Philadelphia. He was then traded to the Rangers.Ive always enjoyed coming to Wrigley Field, Hamels said. Growing up as a kid watching it on WGN, its just a great ballpark to come play at. The fans are great here. Im just going out enjoying the moment.Sam Dyson struck out three in the ninth for his 19th save in 21 chances.Ian Desmond homered and Robinson Chirinos drove in two runs as Texas avoided a three-game sweep. The Cubs had won three in a row.John Lackey (7-6) allowed four runs and six hits in eight innings as his winless streak reached seven starts on a warm afternoon with the wind blowing out. He is 14-16 in 41 starts against Texas, the team hes faced most often in his career.The story really today was Cole. He pitched really well, Lackey said. We werent able to do anything against him. I was honestly pretty happy about the way I threw the ball. Threw eight innings and definitely not a good day to pitch.Hamels fanned the side in the first two innings.I was able to execute pretty well, Hamels said. Sometimes things just work enough to miss the barrels. If you can go out and really establish the strike zone early, they cant get as comfortable.The streak ended when Matt Szczur popped out and Albert Almora Jrr.dddddddddddd reached on third baseman Adrian Beltres error in the third. Javier Baez doubled home a run.Elvis Andrus RBI single and Chirinos sacrifice fly put the Rangers ahead in the second. Almora made a leaping catch in center field to rob Chirinos of extra bases.Chirinos hit an RBI double after Lackey walked the first two batters in the fourth.Desmond led off the eighth with his 16th home run.The Cubs got back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the seventh before a double play and groundout ended the rally.Cole did exactly what we needed today, and we got hits when they counted and we were able to get the win, first baseman Prince Fielder said. Good defense, great win all around.We needed it really bad. Weve been struggling as a team.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: OF Shin-Soo Choo (back) was out of the lineup for a third straight game, but Banister said the team isnt considering putting him on the disabled list just yet. It still seems to bother him when hes throwing, Banister said. . RHP Kyle Lohse (strained oblique) threw a pain-free bullpen session Saturday. Banister expects him to start Tuesday at the Angels.DRAMALackey argued with home plate umpire Cory Blaser after the top of the sixth before right fielder Jason Heyward got between them. Cubs manager Joe Maddon then addressed Blaser. Lackey declined to go into details of the chat.Theyre talking about Christmas cards for next year, Maddon joked. Just let John vent a little bit. Hes fine.UP NEXTRangers: RHP A.J. Griffin (3-1, 3.81 ERA) is scheduled to start Mondays opener of a three-game series at the Angels, who are expected to start RHP Nick Tropeano (3-2, 3.12).Cubs: LHP Jon Lester (9-4, 3.01) is to start Mondays opener of a three-game set against the visiting Mets and LHP Steven Matz (7-5, 3.38). Lester allowed a season-high eight runs in a career-low 1 1/3 innings in his other start against New York this season. ' ' '