Paris game festive despite protests

The Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday defeated the New Orleans Saints 16-10 in the first NFL regular-season game in Paris, in a calm and festive atmosphere, a day after fresh demonstrations drew more than 100,000 people into the French capital.

Forty-two-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the pocket on third-and-six and picked up eight yards before being tackled just before the two-minute warning to help Pittsburgh seal the victory.

“Sometimes you’ve got to suck it up and make a play for your guys,” Rodgers said. “I think because I am so much less athletic than I used to be, it actually fires up the guys even more.”

Rodgers threw a touchdown pass — the 540th of his career, moving past Peyton Manning for third in NFL history — and Chris Boswell kicked three field goals at Stade de France.

Jaylen Warren rushed for 101 yards on 18 carries and Rodgers completed 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards as the Steelers (5-2) won their third consecutive game.

The nationwide protests largely overshadowed the buildup to the game, with some fan and NFL events canceled over the weekend, mainly due to their location in central Paris.

As Saturday’s rain gave way to sunshine, the mood was peaceful before kickoff in Saint-Denis in front of a sold-out crowd of 78,488 people.

James Brown, a 51-year-old Saints fan who traveled to Paris especially for the game, said the atmosphere around the stadium was “wonderful, really good.”

The police presence appeared neither heavy nor unusual at the Stade de France, which hosted rugby sevens and athletics during the 2024 Paris Olympics and regularly serves as the home ground for the French national rugby and soccer teams.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in France on Saturday, with largely peaceful rallies giving way to clashes in Paris and Marseille as night fell despite a huge security operation aimed at preventing a repeat of last week’s unrest.

The main demonstration took place on the southeastern fringes of Paris, where at least 110,000 people turned out to denounce rising living costs and growing inequality.

“We didn’t notice much yesterday,” 38-year-old Steelers fan Lukas Baldridge said. “We came in, went to a bar, got some drinks, got dinner, went home, didn’t see any protesting.”

“Streets were closed. Most shops were closed. That felt unusual maybe, but I don’t know enough about Paris to know what is normal and what’s not normal,” he said.

A couple of hours before the game started at 2:30pm, some Steelers players had arrived at the stadium dressed like characters from Peaky Blinders.

Steelers fans seemed to outnumber their opponents, even though the neutral-site game was officially hosted by the Saints.

“It kind of felt 50/50,” Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss told a news conference. “This is such a fun atmosphere. Maybe not feel like the true home team, it was a very special atmosphere, one I wish we could have gotten a win in.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first defeat of the season, winning 20-3, while the San Francisco 49ers also surrendered their perfect start with a 29-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Those results left the Minnesota Vikings as the only remaining unbeaten team, holding the Indianapolis Colts scoreless in the second half in a 16-10 victory that saw them improve to 6-0.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams snapped a two-game skid in emphatic style, beating the Raiders 35-21 in Las Vegas, while in Houston, the New York Giants beat the Texans 27-21.

The Detroit Lions overcame the Green Bay Packers 20-17, the Cincinnati Bengals mauled the Baltimore Ravens 35-13 and the Miami Dolphins earned their win of the season, beating the New York Jets 28-25 in New Jersey.

Additional reporting by AFP