NFL
Josh Allen threw for 233 yards with touchdowns running and throwing, the Buffalo Bills kicked a go-ahead field-goal with 1:54 to go and then hold on for a 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday. The Chiefs had time even after Tyler Bass had given Buffalo the lead, and they thought they had regained the lead just moments later. But an offside penalty on Kadarius Toney wiped out a 49-yard touchdown pass that included a lateral to Toney, and the Bills eventually held on fourth down to end the game. The Chiefs have lost four of their past six games.
C.J. Stroud is in the concussion protocol after injuring his head in the final minutes of the Houston Texans’ 30-6 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday. The Texans are uncertain if their star rookie quarterback will be ready for next Sunday’s game against AFC South-rival Tennessee. Stroud left with 6:30 remaining when he was hit by Quinnen Williams after he completed a 6-yard pass to John Metchie, fell backward and his head appeared to bounce off the MetLife Stadium turf. He was examined briefly on the sideline before he walked to the locker room. The Texans announced Stroud was done for the game and Davis Mills replaced him.
Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns, Brandon Aubrey made four field goals and the Dallas Cowboys pulled even in the NFC East with their 15th consecutive home victory, 33-13 over the Philadelphia Eagles. Aubrey extended his NFL record by going 30 for 30 on field goals to start his career. The Cowboys weren’t deterred by Jalen Carter’s 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Dallas won its fifth consecutive game since a loss at Philadelphia that gave the Eagles a two-game division lead. The Eagles lost three fumbles and didn’t score an offensive touchdown. Quarterback Jalen Hurts lost consecutive games for the first time since October 2021.
Tylan Wallace returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in overtime to lift the Baltimore Ravens to a 37-31 victory over Los Angeles, snapping the Rams’ three-game winning streak. Wallace, who committed a crucial penalty on special teams earlier in the game that led to points for Los Angeles, eluded a couple of tackles after fielding the punt and stayed on his feet when Shaun Jolly made a diving attempt at him along the left sideline. The Ravens remained atop the AFC standings, a half-game ahead of Miami. The Dolphins host Tennessee tonight.
Justin Fields threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and the Chicago Bears played their most impressive game of the season, beating the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions 28-13. Receiver DJ Moore had his first career rushing touchdown and caught a scoring pass to help Chicago win for the third time in four games. The Bears scored 15 points in a span of about seven minutes to break open a game that was tied at 13 late in the third quarter. Detroit’s Jared Goff threw two interceptions and was sacked four times. The Lions have lost two of three.
Jake Browning threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score in his second straight outstanding performance for the Cincinnati Bengals, who pounded the Indianapolis Colts 34-14. With Joe Burrow out for the season because of a wrist injury, Browning has kept the Bengals in playoff contention. He followed up a 354-yard outing in a win at Jacksonville last Monday night by completing 18 of 24 passes for 275 yards with an interception against the Colts. The Bengals improved to 7-6 and the Colts now have the same record. Indianapolis was shut out after halftime as its four-game winning streak ended.
Joe Flacco threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns in his home debut for Cleveland, and the Browns survived a late rally by Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville for a 31-27 win. The 38-year-old Flacco delivered the kind of performance he had almost annually as a visitor with Baltimore. Flacco went 26 of 45 and improved to 10-2 as a starter in Cleveland. Lawrence played despite spraining his right ankle Monday night. He threw three interceptions before rallying the Jaguars in the fourth quarter. His third TD pass — to Evan Engram with 1:33 left — pulled the Jaguars within four. Cleveland’s Myles Garrett sacked Lawrence on the 2-point conversion, and the Browns recovered an onside kick
Derek Carr returned from a recent concussion and upper body injuries to throw touchdown passes to Chris Olave and Jimmy Graham, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the hapless Carolina Panthers 28-6. Alvin Kamara ran 9 yards for a touchdown as New Orleans snapped a three-game skid and pulled into a tie with Atlanta and Tampa Bay — all at 6-7 — for first place in the feeble NFC South. The Saints also scored on a Panthers punt attempt that was smothered by Nephi Sewell and returned by D'Marco Jackson. Carolina has lost six straight for the second time this season. Rookie Bryce Young finished 13 of 36 for 137 yards and lost a fumble. He was sacked four times.
Baker Mayfield threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton with 31 seconds remaining, capping a wild fourth quarter that pushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a tie for first place with a 29-25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The 6-7 Falcons rallied for a 25-22 lead with a pair of TDs in the final period, including Desmond Ridder’s 6-yard scoring run with 3:23 remaining. But Mayfield guided a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive that gave the 6-7 Buccaneers a win they had to have with four weeks left in the regular season. Atlanta got one last chance at winning it from the Tampa Bay 31, but Drake London was stopped 3 yards shy of the end zone.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson was taken to a hospital after being hit in the chest during Minnesota’s 3-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but he returned to Allegiant Stadium and then flew home with the team. Coach Kevin O’Connell said Jefferson got X-rays to make sure there wasn’t internal damage after he was injured in the second quarter. This was Jefferson’s first game back after missing the previous seven games because of a hamstring injury.
Deebo Samuel scored on a catch and a run and the San Francisco 49ers won their 11th straight division game, beating the Seattle Seahawks 28-16. Samuel had his second straight game with multiple touchdowns to lead San Francisco to the brink of winning back-to-back NFC West titles for the first time since 2011-12. The Niners lead the Seahawks and Rams by four games with four to play and hold the tiebreaker over Seattle. Seattle has lost four straight games for the first time in 14 seasons under Pete Carroll and has lost five in a row to the 49ers for the first time.
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes and the Denver Broncos beat the Chargers 24-7 after Los Angeles lost quarterback Justin Herbert due to a broken finger in the first half. Wilson completed 21 of 33 for 224 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown to Courtland Sutton in the third quarter for Denver, which has won six of its last seven. It was the Broncos’ first road victory against an AFC West foe since beating the Chargers on Oct. 6, 2019. Herbert was 9 of 17 for 96 yards with an interception before being injured, apparently while he was taken down awkwardly by Denver’s Zach Allen after throwing a pass.
On Monday Night Football:
Green Bay at N-Y Giants at 8:15 p.m.
Tennessee at Miami at 8:15 p.m.
NHL
Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey scored second-period goals, Jonathan Quick made 25 saves against his former team and the New York Rangers downed the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. The Kings lost their second straight road game after winning an NHL-record 11 consecutive games away from home to start the season. Vincent Trocheck had three assists while Johnny Brodzinski and Will Cuylle also scored for the Rangers, who had lost two straight for the first time this season. Quick improved to 8-0-1 this season, his first with the Rangers. Phillip Danault scored for the Kings.
Calvin Pickard made 26 saves for his first NHL victory in almost two years and the Edmonton Oilers ran their winning streak to seven, beating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 yesterday. Pickard last won in the NHL on Jan. 28, 2022, with the Detroit Red Wings. He made his fourth appearance of the season for the Oilers and also has played four games this season for Bakersfield in the American Hockey League. Derek Ryan, Evan Bouchard Connor McDavid and Evander Kane, with an empty-netter, scored to help Edmonton improve to 12-12-1. Kane and McDavid each added an assist, and Bouchard extended his points streak to 11 games and McDavid pushed his to nine. Jesper Bratt scored for New Jersey.
Gustav Forsling contributed a goal and assist and the Florida Panthers scored three times in the third period to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Sunday for their third straight win. Carter Verhaeghe scored for his 200th career point, Aleksander Barkov added a power-play goal, and Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen added empty-net goals. Yegor Chinakhov scored for his third goal in two games and Dmitri Voronkov added a goal for Columbus.
Nic Dowd scored twice and the Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 for their second straight win. Anthony Mantha, Dylan Strome and Dowd scored in a 7:12 span in the second period to put Washington ahead. Dowd then sealed it with his second of the night and fourth of the season with 4:02 remaining in the third. Beck Malenstyn had two assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 32 shots for the Capitals. Philipp Kurashev had a goal and an assist, and Connor Murphy also scored for Chicago, which ended its first two-game win streak of the season. NHL rookie scoring leader Connor Bedard assisted on both Chicago goals, and Arvid Söderblom had 23 saves.
Colton Sissons scored twice, Juuse Saros made 36 saves and the Nashville Predators held off the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Sunday night. Captain Roman Josi assisted on both goals to help Nashville rebound from a 4-0 loss at Toronto on Saturday night. The Predators have won 10 of 13 to improve to 15-13-0. Jake Evans scored for Montreal and Jake Allen made 30 saves. The Canadiens were coming off a 3-2 shootout victory in Buffalo on Saturday night.
Gabe Vilardi broke a tie with 1:42 left with the third of the Winnipeg Jets’ four third-period goals in a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Winnipeg rallied after losing scoring leader Kyle Connor to a knee injury in the second period when he took a knee from Ducks defenseman Ryan Strome, who received a game misconduct. The Jets have won four straight and nine of 12, while the Ducks have dropped three in a row and 12 of 13. Nino Niederreiter and Morgan Barron also scored, Mark Scheifele added an empty-netter with 29 seconds remaining and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves. Alex Killorn and Adam Henrique scored for Anaheim. John Gibson made 27 saves.
Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of the season, and the Minnesota Wild beat Seattle 3-0 to hand the Kraken their eighth straight loss. Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for Minnesota, which improved to 5-2-0 since John Hynes replaced the fired Dean Evason as coach on Nov. 27. Gustavsson got his fifth career shutout. Joey Daccord finished with 23 saves for the Kraken, who have been blanked twice during the second-longest losing streak in franchise history. They are one away from matching the franchise record set December 2021 to January 2022 during their inaugural season.
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in regulation and had a goal in the shootout to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won three straight and five of their last six to lead the league with 43 points. Jiri Patera stopped 35 shots in his season debut. Mike Hoffman had two goals, and Mario Ferraro and Calen Addison also scored for San Jose, which had won five of its previous seven games. Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 23 saves. After blowing leads of 3-1 and 4-2 in the third period, the Golden Knights survived overtime and got goals from Marchessault and Jack Eichel in the shootout for the win.
MLB
Shohei Ohtani’s jaw-dropping $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers has some similarities to other contracts for the world’s biggest sports stars, including soccer icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, along with NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In terms of his marketability, experts point to another name. The real comparison? Try Taylor Swift. The global music sensation’s broad appeal — one that bridges the gap between generations and expands to other countries — is an extremely rare phenomenon that Ohtani shares.
NBA
The Indiana Fever won the WNBA draft lottery Sunday and will pick No. 1 for the second straight year. The Fever, who took Aliyah Boston last season with the top pick, will now have to wait and see which players decide to enter the draft. Generational talents Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese all have the option to return to school for another season due to the extra year they were granted for the coronavirus. Los Angeles has the No. 2 pick,
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Bronny James had four points, three rebounds and two assists in his college debut for Southern California nearly five months after he suffered cardiac arrest. Playing in front of his father, LeBron James, the 19-year-old freshman logged 16 minutes in the Trojans' 84-79 overtime loss to Long Beach State. James shot 1 of 3, making a 3-pointer in the second half. Later, he made a huge block that drew cheers. Looking on was his father, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. The younger James suffered cardiac arrest on July 20 during a workout on campus. He was found to have a congenital heart defect that was treatable.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Heisman Trophy race is looking wide open for 2024. Three of the four finalist this year, including winner Jayden Daniels of LSU, are out of eligibility. The other, Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State is likely to jump to the NFL as a junior. Heading into next season there are fewer obvious candidates for an award that has been dominated by quarterbacks, especially transfer QBs. Among those to watch: Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Georgia's Carson Beck and former Oklahoma and UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who plans to play a sixth season of college football at Oregon.
PGA TOUR
The PGA Tour says a new consortium led by Fenway Sports Group is the unanimous pick to negotiate on becoming a business partner. The board says it also will advance its talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. They are racing to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to finalize an agreement for the commercial venture among Saudi Arabia, the PGA Tour and the European tour. Complicating the deal was LIV Golf signing away Masters champion Jon Rahm. It would appear to be a signal that without Saudi involvement, there's enough money to chase any player they want.
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