Patrick Mahomes scrambled for a first down on his badly sprained right ankle and then was shoved late out of bounds by Joseph Ossai, giving Harrison Butker a chance to kick a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left that gave the Kansas City Chiefs a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC title game. The Chiefs finally beat the Bengals after three straight losses, including a three-point overtime defeat in last year’s conference championship game. They advanced to play the Philadelphia Eagles in their third Super Bowl in four years.
Jalen Hurts had one of Philadelphia’s four rushing touchdowns and the Eagles soared into the Super Bowl, forcing both of San Francisco’s quarterbacks out of the game with injuries and beating the wounded 49ers 31-7 in the NFC championship game. The Eagles won the Super Bowl five years ago with a different coach and quarterback. They'll try to do it again behind the formidable duo of Hurts and Nick Sirianni. Philadelphia will play either the Cincinnati Bengals or former Eagles coach Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs. Miles Sanders ran for two touchdowns and linebacker Haason Reddick made the hit that forced 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy out of the game with an elbow injury.
Black quarterbacks have come a long way in the NFL since Fritz Pollard became the first to play in the league in 1923 and Doug Williams was the first to start and win a Super Bowl following the 1987 season. Now, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts will be the first Black QBs to face off in a Super Bowl. It’s fitting that a season which began with 11 Black QBs starting in Week 1 will end with a historic matchup. Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Kansas City Chiefs to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12. Hurts aims to become the fourth Black QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Williams, Mahomes and Russell Wilson.the season, winning 12 straight games to reach their third conference title game in four years.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Novak Djokovic has claimed his 10th Australian Open championship and 22nd Grand Slam title overall by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). The victory in Sunday's final at Melbourne Park also allows Djokovic to return to No. 1 in the ATP rankings. The 35-year-old from Serbia did not compete in the Australian Open a year ago after being deported from the country because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Now he has run his winning streak at the hard-court tournament to 28 matches. His 10th trophy in Australia adds to a record he already held and his 22 major championships are tied with Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in the history of tennis.
Novak Djokovic clearly is not done dominating his sport. He says so. His coach says so. And also making that clear were his performances throughout a draining run to a record-extending 10th Australian Open championship and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title that culminated with a straight-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final at Melbourne Park. And Djokovic will return to No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday. He says he can't be sure how much longer he will play. But he is sure that he is motivated to keep winning the biggest trophies in tennis.
On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenkas won the Australian Open singles championship by beating Elena Rybakina in the final Saturday night. Sabalenka is 11-0 in 2023 and will move up to No. 2 in the WTA rankings behind Iga Swiatek on Monday.
NHL
Sebastian Aho scored a goal for the fourth straight game and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Sunday. Paul Stastny scored on a second-period power play, Seth Jarvis posted a goal in the third, and Jordan Staal added a short-handed empty-netter as the Hurricanes won their fifth game in a row and extended their points streak to eight games (7-0-1). Frederik Andersen, playing for the first time since he left Wednesday night’s game in Dallas with an upper-body injury, made 24 saves. Pavel Zacha scored for the Bruins, who lead the NHL with 81 points but have lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Linus Ullmark stopped 32 shots.
Morgan Rielly scored his first goal of the season for Toronto in the Maple Leafs’ 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Michael Bunting, with a goal and an assist, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall and Zach Aston-Reese provided the rest of the offense for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves in his sixth straight start — and seventh consecutive appearance. Nicklas Backstrom scored the first goal for Washington. Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced by Charlie Lindgren. The Capitals backup finished with six stops.
NBA
Ja Morant had 27 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies overcame a lackluster first half to defeat the Indiana Pacers 112-100. Memphis ended a five-game losing streak and ran its home record to 21-3. It was Morant’s fifth triple-double of the season and second in a row. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 27 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Nesmith had 16 points and Myles Turner added 15 points.
Charlotte beat Miami 122-117.
Cleveland downed the LA Clippers 122-99.
Milwaukee defeated New Orleans 135-110.
SKIING
Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait for at least five more weeks before tying the World Cup record for most career wins with 86. The American skier finished second in a slalom and remained one victory short of Ingemar Stenmark’s total on the all-time overall winners list. The Swede competed in the 1970s and ’80s. Shiffrin’s next chance will be in March when she resumes World Cup racing after the Feb. 6-19 world championships in France. Shiffrin held a commanding first-run lead over Lena Dürr but was ultimately edged by 0.06 by the German skier.
Georgia's Bennett arrested
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who led the Bulldogs to their second straight national championship, has been arrested in Dallas after police said he was intoxicated and banging on doors. Dallas police said the 25-year-old was arrested Sunday. Police said Bennett was charged with public intoxication and taken to the city detention center. Police said that at about 6:10 a.m., officers responded to reports of a man banging on doors. Last week, Bennett told reporters that he would be training for his pro career in Fort Worth, Texas, located just west of Dallas. Bennett threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores in the first half as No. 1 Georgia demolished No. 3 TCU 65-7 in the national championship game.
