Chiefs hold on for wild 30-29 victory over rival Raiders
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes to Travis Kelce, the Chiefs overcame an early 17-point deficit along with a dubious roughing-the-passer penalty, and Kansas City extended its mastery of the Las Vegas Raiders, holding on for a 30-29 victory. The Raiders had a chance to march for the winning field goal, but a pass to Davante Adams that was ruled a catch was overturned by replay, which showed him stepping out of bounds. That brought up fourth down in the closing seconds, and Derek Carr's final pass fell incomplete to allow Kansas City to hold on.
Roughing-the-passer call prompts officiating scrutiny
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A controversial roughing-the-passer penalty just before halftime of the Las Vegas Raiders’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night delivered another blow to the NFL and its beleaguered officiating crew. The Chiefs had just scored to trim their deficit to 17-7 just before halftime when Chris Jones stripped Derek Carr from behind. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle landed on the Raiders quarterback while also coming away with the ball, and replays showed it was clearly loose and that Jones clearly recovered, but referee Carl Cheffers threw a flag for roughing the passer. The call came one day after referee Jerome Boger was panned for a roughing call on Tom Brady that helped the Buccaneers seal their win over Atlanta.
Raiders fall short of finally beating AFC West nemesis
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders were oh-so-close to finally getting the best of the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. Then a video review overturned a catch by Davante Adams that would have put them in field-goal range, and an ensuing fourth-down throw was incomplete, allowing the Chiefs to escape with a 30-29 victory. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Raiders against their biggest nemesis, and their ninth in their last 10 meetings. Derek Carr dropped to 1-8 in his career at Arrowhead Stadium, while Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes improved to 8-1 against their AFC West rivals.
Panthers fire Matt Rhule after 1-4 start; Wilks takes over
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have fired coach Matt Rhule, ending the former Baylor coach’s tenure five games into his third losing season. Rhule is the first NFL coach to be fired this season. He went 11-27 with Carolina and leaves with roughly $40 million left on the seven-year, guaranteed $62 million contract he signed in 2020. Defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach Steve Wilks will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season. The Panthers also fired two of Rhule’s longtime assistants, defensive coordinator Phil Snow and assistant special teams coach Ed Foley.
MLB Playoffs: Judge, Verlander join fray as 8 teams remain
Major League Baseball’s first foray into a best-of-three wild-card round provided its share of memorable moments. A 15-inning, 432-pitch game. A seven-run comeback win. Joe Musgrove’s ears. Now it’s on to the division series, which is business as usual with a best-of-five format. The four matchups are Braves-Phillies, Padres-Dodgers, Mariners-Astros and Guardians-Yankees and all of them begin Tuesday. The Astros, Yankees, Braves and Dodgers got to rest and watch the wild-card drama round from home, thanks to superior regular season records.
Battle-tested Braves begin quest to repeat as Series champs
ATLANTA (AP) — With their postseason curse eradicated, the Atlanta Braves have every reason to believe this could be another stellar October. They aren’t lacking for confidence, that’s for sure, after chasing down the New York Mets in a captivating NL East race. Heading into their NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves are playing with the swagger of a playoff-hardened team that won it all a year ago. Game 1 in the best-of-five series is Tuesday in Atlanta. The Braves will send ace Max Fried to the mound against the Phillies' young left-hander, Ranger Suárez.
Dominant Dodgers, hot Padres bring SoCal rivalry to NLDS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The San Diego Padres knocked off the 101-win New York Mets in the National League wild-card series. Awaiting them in the National League Division Series is an even bigger challenge in the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres were dominated by the Dodgers during the regular season. The Dodgers won the NL West by 22 games over San Diego and went 15-4 in their head-to-head matchup. The Padres will start right-hander Mike Clevinger against left-hander Julio Urias in Game 1 on Tuesday night. In Game 2, Yu Darvish takes the mound for San Diego against Clayton Kershaw.
Guardians expect rowdy Bronx fans for Yanks playoff matchup
NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland's AL Division Series opener on Tuesday night will be its first game at Yankee Stadium since an ugly April series when rowdy fans in the bleachers pelted Guardians outfielders with bottles, cans and debris after New York rallied for a 5-4 win. Center fielder Myles Straw climbed a chain-link fence to confront a spectator, and was jeered with chants of “Crybaby!” the following day after calling the Yankee Universe the “the worst fan base on the planet.” Straw said he received death threats. Gerrit Cole starts for the Yankees in Game 1, and Cal Quantrill takes the mound for the Guardians.
Verlander returns to playoffs as Astros host Seattle in ALDS
HOUSTON (AP) — When Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, it will have been almost three years since his last playoff appearance. Verlander, who missed almost two seasons after Tommy John surgery, will look to build on his remarkable comeback season when he leads Houston into the postseason in the opener of the best-of-five series. The Mariners will counter with Logan Gilbert, who will make his first postseason start, as they continue their first playoff run since 2001 with ace Luis Castillo unavailable after starting the first game of the wild-card series.
Johnson has $30 million year and growing in LIV Golf
Dustin Johnson already is assured of a $30 million year with Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Johnson finished out of the top 10 for the first time in six events last week in Bangkok. But because Branden Grace had to withdraw because of injury, Johnson is assured of claiming the points race. He has a 42-point lead over Grace. Johnson has won about $12.7 million in earnings, with $3 million of that coming from the team competition. Winning the season points title comes with an $18 million bonus. Johnson still has two events left this year.