Late turnover, Hopkins 4th field goal gives Chargers OT win
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals, including a 39-yarder with 2:38 remaining in overtime, and the Los Angeles Chargers rallied for a 19-16 victory over the Denver Broncos. The Chargers have won three straight to improve to 4-2. They are tied with Kansas City atop the AFC West. The game appeared to be headed toward a tie until Denver’s Montrell Washington muffed JK Scott’s punt at the Broncos 32-yard line. It was recovered by Deane Leonard at the 28.
Guardians-Yankees rained out, to play ALDS Game 5 on Tuesday
NEW YORK (AP) — The decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees has been postponed by rain after a 2 1/2-hour delay and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. Both teams took batting practice ahead of the scheduled 7:07 p.m. start. Major League Baseball announced a delay at 6:20 p.m., rain started falling at 7:30 p.m. and the postponement was announced at 9:38 p.m. It was the second postponement of the series following Game 2 at Yankee Stadium being pushed back a day until last Friday. Cleveland or New York will start the AL Championship Series at Houston on Wednesday night.
North Carolina No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 men's basketball
North Carolina is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men's basketball poll. The national runner-up from last season returns four of five starters and received 47 of 62 first-place votes. Gonzaga is No. 2, followed by Houston and Kentucky. Kansas and Baylor, the last two national champions, are tied for fifth. Duke, led by new coach Jon Scheyer, is seventh with UCLA, Creighton and Arkansas rounding out the top 10. The Big 12 and SEC lead the way with five teams apiece in the Top 25.
MLB Playoffs: Guardians-Yankees Game 5 finale; NLCS opens
Following the second rainout of the series, the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees are set to finally settle their American League playoff in the Bronx. After that, a most unexpected National League Championship Series matching the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres gets underway at Petco Park. After fans waited through a 2 1/2-hour rain delay, the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series between the Guardians and Yankees was postponed Monday night and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. That gives New York a chance to start All-Star lefty Nestor Cortes on three days’ rest instead of Jameson Taillon. Cleveland is expected to stick with right-hander Aaron Civale. The winner faces Houston in the AL Championship Series.
Harper, Machado tangle in wild-card NLCS between Phils, Pads
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado will be playing in the World Series this year. Harper’s Philadelphia Phillies will face Machado’s San Diego Padres in an all-wild card NL Championship Series starting Tuesday night at Petco Park. It’s not exactly the matchup most fans would have predicted, but neither slugger is about to apologize about their teams making thrilling October runs as the two lowest seeds. Machado thinks these are the two best teams. Says Harper, “People kind of counted us both out, right?” Both sluggers expect it to be a fun series.
NBA '22-23: Warriors out to defend, amid tons of contenders
The Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics were the final two teams standing last season. And before this season started, both encountered some major issues. The Warriors will get their championship rings Tuesday night when the 77th NBA season opens. It'll be the fourth time in eight years that the Warriors go into a season as defending champs. But they were rocked in the preseason by Draymond Green punching teammate Jordan Poole. They beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals and Boston has since lost coach Ime Udoka to a team-ordered suspension. If all that wasn't enough, there are tons of contenders in both conferences to try to take the Warriors and Celtics down.
NFL owners unlikely to vote on Dan Snyder, roughing calls
There isn’t expected to be any significant news related to concussions, roughing-the-passer penalties or Washington owner Dan Snyder when NFL owners meet in New York on Tuesday. Snyder’s ownership of the Commanders became a big issue again last week when ESPN reported, citing anonymous sources, that he has hired private investigators and told people he has enough information to expose fellow owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Commanders denied the contents of the report, calling it “categorically untrue” and “clearly part of a well-funded, two-year campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful.”
Analysis: NFC East goes from least to beast in 2 years
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFC East went from least to beast in less than two years. After sending a losing team to the playoffs in 2020, the division boasts three of the four NFC teams with a winning record through six weeks. The 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles stand alone atop the East as the only unbeaten team in the NFL following a 26-17 victory over the 4-2 Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. The 5-1 New York Giants are right behind Philly after upset wins over the Ravens and Packers in consecutive weeks proved they’re no fluke.
AP Top 25 Reality Check: Fallout from rare Alabama loss
Alabama loses so infrequently it seems to shift the shape of the season when it happens. The Crimson Tide took an L on Saturday at Tennessee that pushed the Volunteers to No. 3 in the AP Top 25. The Vols received 15 first-place votes, the most they have gotten since 1999. After falling on a field goal as time expired, the Crimson Tide slipped three spots to No. 6. Alabama is the highest ranked team that has lost. Reality Check cautions against making any grand proclamations about the Alabama dynasty’s long-term health and is fine with the Tide’s short fall.
Column: Wallace ignored his own mantra in Larson conflict
LAS VEGAS (AP) — NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace has a mantra of “Peace, Love and Understanding” that he uses to push back against the negativity so often hurled his way. There was nothing peaceful about his skirmish with Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wallace appeared to deliberately crash the reigning NASCAR champion in a dangerous retaliatory move and then he tried to fight Larson. Now NASCAR gets to decide if Wallace was out of line. He could be looking at a suspension.