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WAMC Sports Report 12/25/23: Jets blow lead vs. Commanders, win 30-28 on Zuerlein's 54-yard FG

New York Jets place kicker Greg Zuerlein, second from left, celebrates with teammates after kicking a game-winning field goal against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Adam Hunger/AP
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FR110666 AP
New York Jets place kicker Greg Zuerlein, second from left, celebrates with teammates after kicking a game-winning field goal against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

NFL

Greg Zuerlein kicked a 54-yard field goal with 5 seconds left to rescue the Jets after they blew a 20-point third-quarter lead and New York beat the Washington Commanders 30-28. Jacoby Brissett replaced the benched Sam Howell in the third quarter and led the Commanders on three straight touchdown drives, including Antonio Gibson’s 2-yard run that put Washington ahead 28-27 with 4:52 remaining. The Jets held Brissett and the Commanders to a three-and-out and got the ball back with 1:41 remaining. Trevor Siemian marched New York into field goal range and Zuerlein booted the winner. It was the Jets' second win in eight games. The Commanders have lost six straight.

Chad Ryland made a career-long 56-yard field goal with 2 seconds left, and the New England Patriots delivered a near-fatal blow to the Denver Broncos’ playoff hopes with a 26-23 victory. The Patriots (4-11) scored a pair of touchdowns in a 6-second span of the third quarter, then fended off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Broncos. Ryland’s kick capped a seven-play, 44-yard drive that began with 58 seconds left after the Broncos went three-and-out. Denver had tied it up with a pair of long TD drives and 2-point conversions on its previous two possessions.

Geno Smith threw his second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter on a 5-yarder to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds left and the Seattle Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Tennessee Titans 20-17 Sunday for their second straight victory. The Seahawks still need to win out to clinch their second consecutive playoff berth. But Minnesota’s loss to Detroit moved Seattle into the NFC’s seventh and last playoff berth with two games remaining. Smith gave the Seahawks their first lead at 13-10 when he found DK Metcalf in the left corner for an 11-yard TD early in the fourth. The Titans dropped to 5-10.

Baker Mayfield threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns to help the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Trevor Lawrence and the reeling Jacksonville Jaguars 30-12 for their fourth straight victory. The Jaguars lost their fourth game, this time with Lawrence starting but struggling to find a rhythm after spending the past week in the NFL’s concussion protocol. The third-year quarterback threw a second-half TD pass to Calvin Ridley before spending the fourth quarter on the bench with what the Jaguars announced was a shoulder injury. Mayfield threw a pair of TDs to Mike Evans in building a 20-0 halftime lead.

Justin Fields threw for a touchdown and ran for another score, and the Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-16. Tight end Cole Kmet caught four passes for a career-high 107 yards despite missing the second half because of a knee injury. Khalil Herbert ran for a season-high 112 yards and a touchdown, and the Bears got the bounce-back win they were seeking coming off a late collapse at Cleveland a week earlier. Chicago scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the first half to go up 21-0 against Arizona. The Bears hung on after blowing a 10-point lead in a 20-17 loss to the Browns, though things got tight in the closing minutes. The Cardinals cut it to 24-16 with 6:37 remaining on Kyler Murray’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Greg Dortch.

Jason Sanders kicked his fifth field goal of the game, a 29-yarder as time expired, and the Miami Dolphins secured a playoff berth with a 22-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Tua Tagovailoa threw for 293 yards and a touchdown for the AFC East-leading Dolphins, who beat a team with a winning record for the first time this season. He connected with Tyreek Hill twice on the decisive drive, which covered 64 yards and took the final 3:27 off the clock. Hill had nine catches for 99 yards. Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns for the Cowboys, who have already clinched a playoff spot.

Taylor Heinicke provided the turnover-free leadership at quarterback Atlanta has sought all season, passing for 229 yards and a touchdown to lead the Falcons to a 29-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Falcons benched Desmond Ridder this week for the second time this season following two straight losses, providing an opportunity for Heinicke to boost the team’s fading playoff hopes. Heinicke delivered, throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts. Tyler Allgeier added a 31-yard touchdown run. The Falcons’ 29 points set a season high. The loss hurt the Colts' playoff hopes.

Amari Cooper set a franchise record with 265 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion to move the Cleveland Browns closer to a playoff berth with a 36-22 win over the Houston Texans. Cooper’s performance moved him atop the Browns’ record book ahead of Josh Gordon, who had 261 yards receiving against Jacksonville in December 2013. He has 1,250 yards receiving this season, making him the first receiver in team history with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. The Browns can’t clinch a playoff spot this week, but at 10-5 they’re all but guaranteed to secure just their second postseason appearance since 2002.

The Detroit Lions have clinched their first division title in 30 years. They used two rushing touchdowns from Jahmyr Gibbs and 106 receiving yards and a third-quarter go-ahead score by Amon-Ra St. Brown to overtake the injury-ravaged Minnesota Vikings 30-24. Ifeatu Melifonwu picked off Nick Mullens at the 5-yard line with 49 seconds left for Detroit’s fourth interception of the game an off-target pass to an open Justin Jefferson. That came three plays after Jefferson's leaping grab in double coverage on third-and-27 kept the last-minute drive alive. The Lions are 11-4. The Vikings are 7-8.

Jordan Love threw for two touchdowns, ran for one and made two big completions to set up Anders Carlson’s 32-yard field goal with 19 seconds left, and the Green Bay Packers survived a fourth-quarter rally by Carolina to beat the Panthers 33-30. The Packers snapped a two-game skid and improved to 7-8 and are one game behind Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams for the final NFC wild-card spot. Aaron Jones became the first Packers player this season to exceed 100 yards rushing or receiving in a game, rushing for 127 yards on 21 carries. Bryce Young threw for a career-high 312 yards for the Panthers.

Taylor Heinicke provided the turnover-free leadership at quarterback Atlanta has sought all season, passing for 229 yards and a touchdown to lead the Falcons to a 29-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Falcons benched Desmond Ridder this week for the second time this season following two straight losses, providing an opportunity for Heinicke to boost the team’s fading playoff hopes. Heinicke delivered, throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts. Tyler Allgeier added a 31-yard touchdown run. The Falcons’ 29 points set a season high. The loss hurt the Colts' playoff hopes.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a shoulder injury and left Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter. Lawrence had just cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol a day earlier, allowing him to start against the Buccaneers. C.J. Beathard replaced Lawrence with 13 1/3 minutes to play and Jacksonville trailing 30-6. Lawrence went 17 for 29 for 211 yards and a third-quarter touchdown pass. He had two first-half interceptions and a fumble in the third quarter. All three turnovers led to Tampa Bay touchdowns. The Jaguars have lost four straight while Lawrence has dealt with a multitude of injuries.

MLB

After the wife of reliever Joe Kelly offered up her husband’s uniform number to help lure Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-way star responded by giving her a Porsche. The Dodgers shared a video showing Kelly’s wife, Ashley, who had launched what she dubbed her #Ohtake17 campaign in hopes that the free agent from Japan would sign with the team. In the video, Ashley Kelly opens the front door to reveal a sports car parked in front of the house. A man off camera says, "It’s yours, from Shohei. He wanted to gift you a Porsche.” Joe Kelly is switching to No. 99 so Ohtani can keep the No. 17 he wore with the Angels.

NBA

Erik Spoelstra was part of 12 Christmas games as a staff member, assistant coach or head coach in his first 20 seasons with the Miami Heat. And in the eight seasons that followed, the Heat played on Christmas only once. He says playing on Christmas beats not playing on Christmas. The Heat return to the league’s holiday slate for the first time since 2020 on Monday, when they meet the Philadelphia 76ers as part of the NBA’s traditional Christmas quintuple header. The other games are Milwaukee at New York, Golden State at Denver, Boston at the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas at Phoenix.

Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid won't play in Philadelphia’s Christmas night game against the Miami Heat, with the 76ers ruling him out because of a sprained right ankle. Embiid didn't fly with the Sixers on Sunday to Miami. He got hurt during Friday’s win over Toronto. It’ll be the fourth game Embiid has missed this season for the 76ers, who are third in the Eastern Conference and fourth overall in the NBA, entering Monday with a 20-8 record. He has been on a tear in December, averaging 40.2 points and 12.6 rebounds on 61% shooting in nine appearances so far this month.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In men’s college basketball:

UMass 87 Old Dominion 65

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Eastern Michigan’s athletic director has apologized to South Alabama, a day after an EMU player raced onto the field after the 68 Ventures Bowl and punched an opposing player in the head. The confrontation happened as South Alabama’s players, cheer squad and band lined up to sing the school song following a 59-10 rout of Eastern Michigan. An unidentified EMU played charged into the group and punched a South Alabama player in the back of the head. Another South Alabama player dragged the EMU player onto the field, sparking a free-for-all among members of both teams. Eastern Michigan athletic director Scott Wetherbee says “what happened was completely unacceptable.”

SOCCER

More than a year after it was put up for sale, Manchester United said Sunday that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had agreed to buy a minority stake in the storied Premier League club. Ratcliffe owns petrochemicals giant INEOS and is one of Britain’s richest people. He has secured a stake of “up to 25%” of the 20-time league champions and will invest $300 million in its Old Trafford stadium. As part of the deal United said Ratcliffe would take responsibility for the club’s soccer operations. In total the deal will be worth around $1.6 billion including the $300 million of funding. The deal is subject to approval by the Premier League.

© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

A 2022 Siena College graduate, Alexander began his journalism career as a sports writer for Siena College's student paper The Promethean, and as a host for Siena's school radio station, WVCR-FM "The Saint." A Cubs fan, Alexander hosts the morning Sports Report in addition to producing Morning Edition. You can hear the sports reports over-the-air at 6:19 and 7:19 AM, and online on WAMC.org. He also speaks Spanish as a second language. To reach him, email ababbie@wamc.org, or call (518)-465-5233 x 190. You can also find him on Twitter/X: @ABabbieWAMC.