NFL
Desmond Ridder threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to MyCole Pruitt and the Atlanta Falcons took over sole possession of first place in the NFC South by slogging their way to an ugly 13-8 victory over the punchless New York Jets. The Falcons have back-to-back wins for the first time since opening the season with victories over Carolina and Green Bay. The Jets got an early safety but again couldn’t get anything going on offense in losing their fifth straight game. New York even pulled quarterback Tim Boyle and replaced him with Trevor Siemian in the fourth quarter.
Justin Herbert threw for 212 yards and set up a pair of Cameron Dicker field goals that were all the Los Angeles Chargers needed for their first shutout in six years, a 6-0 victory over the New England Patriots. Keenan Allen came back from a thigh bruise to catch five passes for 58 yards. But the only scoring the Chargers could manage was a pair of 38-yard field goals in the second quarter. New England made a quarterback switch, benching Mac Jones in favor of Bailey Zappe. But New England still lost their fifth straight game. For the first time in franchise history, the Patriots were shut out at home twice in a season.
Brock Purdy threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns, Deebo Samuel scored three TDs and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was checked for a concussion in the San Francisco 49ers’ 42-19 win over Philadelphia. The 49ers scored touchdowns on six straight possessions. The Eagles suffered a scare when Hurts jogged off the field in the fourth and went straight to the locker room. He was cleared to play and returned to action with about 10 minutes left.
The Arizona Cardinals’ 24-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed twice Sunday because of inclement weather. Halftime at Acrisure Stadium was extended by more than 30 minutes after an initial round of heavy wind and rain swept through Pittsburgh. The second delay lasted nearly an hour and came with the Cardinals up 17-3 midway through the third quarter. Pittsburgh treated the breaks as extended halftimes, with players trying to keep warm while the coaches tried to come up with adjustments on both sides of the ball. The Cardinals, meanwhile, said they held a dance-off.
Sam LaPorta had career highs of nine catches for 140 yards, including an early touchdown and a crucial first-down snag in the final minutes, and the Detroit Lions beat the reeling New Orleans Saints 33-28. Detroit improved to 9-3, its best record through 12 games since it was 10-2 in 1962. The Saints lost quarterback Derek Carr in the fourth quarter to back, shoulder and head injuries. Carr was hurt on a penalized hit by Bruce Irvin, who drove the weight of his body into the quarterback. New Orleans fell to 5-7, one game behind first-place Atlanta in the NFC South.
Nico Collins had a career-high 191 yards receiving and a fourth-quarter touchdown, and Jimmie Ward intercepted Denver’s Russell Wilson in the end zone with 9 seconds left to left to help the Houston Texans hold on for a 22-17 win over the Broncos. Ward leapt in front of intended receiver Lucas Krull to secure the fourth victory in five games for Houston and snap a five-game winning streak for Denver. Wilson was intercepted a season-high three times, all of them after halftime. Derek Stingley Jr. had the first two picks for the Texans. Rookie C.J. Stroud threw for 274 yards for Houston.
Gardner Minshew threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman with 2:31 left in overtime and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 31-28 Sunday for their fourth straight victory. The Colts had to score a touchdown after Nick Folk made a 46-yard field goal with 4:19 left in overtime to put Tennessee up. Tennessee lost its first true home game this season and has yet to win consecutive games. The Titans blew a 17-7 lead. Nick Folk missed his first extra point this season with 5:26 left in regulation that could have put Tennessee up 26-25.
Tyreek Hill had two touchdowns among his 157 yards receiving to help the Miami Dolphins rout the Washington Commanders 45-15. The AFC East-leading Dolphins are 9-3 for the first time since 2001. Tua Tagovailoa was turnover-free after giving the ball away four times over the past two games. De’Von Achane ran for two touchdowns in his return after missing five of the past six with a knee injury. The Commanders have lost four in a row. Washington's Sam Howell threw a pick-6 for a third consecutive game.
Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans scored on a 75-yard reception and joined Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to string together 10 consecutive seasons with 1,000-plus yards receiving while helping the Buccaneers beat the struggling Carolina Panthers 21-18. Evans finished with seven receptions for 162 yards, increasing his season totals to 61 catches for 1,012 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Bucs won for only the second time in the past eight games. Carolina scored late to pull within a field goal, but No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young threw an interception to end any chance of coming from behind to win the Panthers’ debut under interim coach Chris Tabor.
Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes, Puka Nacua became the first Rams rookie wide receiver to reach 1,000 yards in a season, and Los Angeles extended its winning streak to three games with a 36-19 victory over the Cleveland Browns. The Rams have won three straight for the first time since winning the Super Bowl after the 2021 season. At 6-6, they are back in the playoff race after dropping three straight before their bye week. Joe Flacco was 23 of 44 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in his Browns debut. Cleveland fell to 7-5.
Jordan Love connected with Christian Watson on two of his three touchdown passes and the resurgent Green Bay Packers won their third straight game, 27-19 over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers scored touchdowns on three of their first four drives and never trailed, with their defense making two big stops in the last 5 1/2 minutes. Green Bay knocked down Mahomes’ pass into the end zone on the game’s final play. The Packers improved to 6-6 and are 16-0 in December games under coach Matt LaFleur. Mahomes threw for 210 yards and a touchdown but was intercepted in the fourth quarter.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw was ejected from Sunday’s against Philadelphia for putting his hand in the face the Eagles’ security chief. Dom DiSandro, a constant presence on the Eagles’ sideline and whenever players are out in public, pulled Greenlaw off Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith after a reception. Greenlaw popped up and at DiSandro. Greenlaw was ejected. DiSandro also was told to leave and walked to the locker room with a roaring ovation from Eagles fans.
Taylor Swift was on hand at Lambeau Field to watch Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs in their Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers. It's the fifth Chiefs game Swift has attended since the pop superstar and the four-time All-Pro tight end started their relationship. The Chiefs had won all four of their previous games in front of Swift. Swift hadn’t attended a Chiefs game since an Oct. 22 triumph over the Los Angeles Chargers largely because of conflicts with her tour schedule, which is currently on a break.
On Monday night football, Cincinnati is at Jacksonville at 8:15 tonight.
NHL
Artemi Panarin had three goals and an assist, Jonathan Quick won again, and the New York Rangers held on to beat the San Jose Sharks 6-5. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Will Cuylle and K’Andre Miller also scored, and Jacob Trouba, Vincent Trocheck and Jonny Brodzinski each had two assists to help the Rangers win for the sixth time in seven games. Quick stopped 23 shots to improve to 7-0-1 this season. The Metropolitan-Division-leading Rangers are 16-2-1 since starting the season 2-2-0, and have league-bests with 18 wins and 37 points. Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist, and Jacob MacDonald, Fabian Zetterlund, Ryan Carpenter and Alexander Barbanov all scored for San Jose. Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 30 saves.
Juuse Saros made 34 saves, Filip Forsberg scored his team-leading 13th goal and the Nashville Predators beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 last night. Yakov Trenin also scored for the Predators — coming off a 4-3 home loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday — in a first-period burst. Victor Olofsson scored on a penalty shot for Buffalo, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves. The Predators scored twice in just over a minute midway through the first period. Forsberg opened the scoring at 9:40 with a quick one-timer following a faceoff win. The shot rang off the post and in. Trenin redirected a shot from Colton Sissons 1:14 later. Olofsson scored in the second period.
Brad Marchand recorded a natural hat trick in the third period to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night. Facing each other for the second time in six days, the Bruins got some payback for a 5-2 loss in Columbus with their third straight victory. Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves in the win. Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the third time in five games, and Spencer Martin stopped 25 shots.
Marco Rossi scored twice and Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists for the Minnesota Wild in a 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Matt Boldy also scored for Minnesota, which has won three in a row after firing coach Dean Evason and replacing him with John Hynes. The Wild had scored only 13 goals in losing seven straight games, leading to Evason’s dismissal. In the three games since, Minnesota has outscored opponents 13-3. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots for the Wild. Taylor Raddysh scored for the Blackhawks and Petr Mrazek made 30 saves.
Quinton Byfield scored twice, Anze Kopitar became the franchise leader in assists, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1. Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty also scored, Adrian Kempe had two assists, and the Kings got back on track after their five-game winning streak was snapped by Washington on Wednesday. Cam Talbot made 20 saves. Josh Manson scored and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 34 saves for the Avalanche. Star defenseman Cale Makar did not play because of a lower body injury.
MLB
Jim Leyland, who led the Florida Marlins to a World Series title in 1997 and won 1,769 regular-season games over 22 seasons as an entertaining and at-times crusty big-league manager, was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame. Now 78, Leyland received 15 of 16 votes by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives and umpires. He becomes the 23rd manager in the hall. Former player and manager Lou Piniella fell one vote short and former player, broadcaster and executive Bill White was two votes shy. Leyland managed Pittsburgh, Florida, Colorado and Detroit from 1986 to 2013.
The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Jarred Kelenic, pitcher Marco Gonzales and infielder Evan White from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for pitchers Cole Phillips and Jackson Kowar. The move adds a veteran lefty to the Braves pitching staff, along with Kelenic, who at one time was one of the top young prospects in baseball. In the process, Seattle cleared a chunk of salary off its payroll, giving up on Kelenic in order for the Braves to take the contracts of Gonzales and White. Gonzales is owed $12 million for the 2024 season, while White has $17 million in guaranteed money remaining on his contract.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama are in the College Football Playoff. Florida State is not and is the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the four-team field in its 10-year history. The Seminoles lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago. They continued to win but the committee passed them over. Michigan will face Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington will play Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The winners will play for the national championship Jan. 8 in Houston.
The commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference got it all wrong when he sent out a defiant statement claiming “college football deserved better.” Actually, college football got just what it deserved. Florida State being left out of the four-team playoff despite a 13-0 record and ACC championship was the perfect capper to decades of foot-dragging and illogical debate over the proper way to decide a national champion. Next season, with a 12-team format, there should no longer be any argument over a championship-worthy team being left out. It only took a century and a half to get to this point.
Florida State won every game this season. Georgia won 29 in a row including back-to-back national championships, then lost by a field goal. And neither was deemed good enough by the College Football Playoff committee. A trip to the Orange Bowl is what two very angry teams will get instead. No. 4 Florida State (13-0 ACC, No. 5 CFP) will play No. 6 Georgia (12-1 SEC, No. 6 CFP) on Dec. 30 in the Orange Bowl, after both programs felt like they deserved a chance to play for the national title.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Mt. St. Mary’s 80 Siena MBB 48
Marist 70 Manhattan 56
On the women’s side:
UVM 46 Holy Cross 44
Texas 80 UConn 68
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (15)Creighton 89 Nebraska 60
Final Southern U. 60 (21)Mississippi St. 59
Final (22)James Madison 130 Keystone 59
© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
