NFL
Josh Allen threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Dawson Knox midway through the fourth quarter, and the Buffalo Bills won their fourth straight AFC East title, rallying past the Miami Dolphins 21-14. Allen made things difficult for the Bills with three turnovers in Miami territory, but he came through at the end to help Buffalo earn the No. 2 seed in the conference. The Bills will host seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the wild-card round on Sunday. Buffalo went 6-1 down the stretch. Miami fell to the sixth seed and will play at AFC West champion Kansas City on Saturday night.
Breece Hall rushed for a career-high 178 yards and a late touchdown and the New York Jets snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots with a 17-3 win in what could have been Bill Belichick’s final game as New England’s coach. Greg Zuerlein kicked three field goals to help the Jets earn their first victory over the Patriots since an overtime win on Dec. 27, 2015. The Patriots’ 4-13 record is the worst finish in Belichick’s 29-year NFL coaching career. Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft are expected to meet today to discuss the coach’s future with the franchise after 24 seasons.
The Philadelphia Eagles finished the season on a 1-5 freefall following a 27-10 loss to the New York Giants last night. The Eagles earned the No. 5 seed and will open the NFC playoffs next Monday night at Tampa Bay. Injured starters DeVonta Smith, Darius Slay and D’Andre Swift were unable to play for the Eagles. Fletcher Cox also sat out. Wide receiver A.J. Brown left the game with a knee injury. Jalen Hurts hurt his middle finger on his passing hand and was eventually pulled with the game out of reach.
Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes and the Seattle Seahawks rallied for a 21-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks still missed out on the playoffs after the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears. Arizona’s Matt Prater missed a 51-yard field attempt, wide right, at the buzzer. It was his second missed field goal of the fourth quarter. The Seahawks came into Week 18 of this regular season in a familiar position, needing a win in the finale and some help from another team to squeeze into the postseason. It worked out last season after the Seahawks beat the Rams and the Lions beat the Packers. This time around, it didn’t.
Jake Browning threw three touchdown passes, Joe Mixon rushed for a season-high 111 yards and a score, and the Cincinnati Bengals got an easy 31-14 win over a Cleveland Browns team resting most of its starters for the playoffs. Locked in as the No. 5 seed in the AFC, Cleveland was content to play out the regular season with backups. Quarterback Joe Flacco, star defensive end Myles Garrett, receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Denzel Ward were among the Browns’ starters who didn’t play. Cincinnati finished at 9-8, its third straight season above .500, and every team in the AFC North had a winning record.
Sam LaPorta had a 2-yard touchdown catch midway through the first quarter but later limped off the field with a knee injury in the Detroit Lions' 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings. LaPorta's injury is an ominous development for the NFC North champion Lions, who will host the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs next weekend. Detroit could only hope to improve its playoff seeding by one spot, but coach Dan Campbell elected to play his starters anyway. Ultimately, the Lions remained the No. 3 seed in the NFC because Dallas won at Washington. The Lions finished 12-5, matching a franchise record for wins. The Vikings fell to 7-10 and their long-shot playoff hopes ended.
Derek Carr passed for four touchdowns to lift the New Orleans Saints over the Atlanta Falcons 48-17, but both teams missed the playoffs. Either New Orleans or Atlanta would have won the NFC South by winning their regular-season finale if the Buccaneers lost. Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay finished a 9-0 victory while the Saints and Falcons were still on the field. New Orleans also was denied a chance to capture an NFC wild-card spot when Green Bay beat Chicago later on Sunday. The end of the game was marred by a late Saints touchdown out of a formation normally used to run out the clock. Falcons coach Arthur Smith reacted angrily on the field as the game ended.
Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals, the Tampa Bay defense pitched a shutout and the Buccaneers won their third straight NFC South title with a 9-0 victory yesterday over the Carolina Panthers. Tampa Bay (9-8) was facing an all-or-nothing scenario entering Sunday’s game with a win clinching a playoff spot and a loss resulting in elimination. The Buccaneers weren’t exactly impressive on offense with Baker Mayfield held to 137 yards in his return to Carolina, but the defense — aided by some self-inflected wounds by Carolina — did just enough to keep the Panthers off the board.
Derrick Henry made potentially his final game with the Tennessee Titans a day to remember. The four-time Pro Bowl running back and two-time NFL rushing champ ran for a season-high 153 yards. He ran for a touchdown and had another long run to set up the clinching score to help the Titans finish an ugly season by beating their oldest division rival 28-20 and keep the Jacksonville Jaguars from a second straight AFC South title. Henry said this is a great way to go out against a division opponent and team he grew up watching. He wants to check out free agency. He also left open a door to returning to Tennessee.
Dak Prescott threw two of his four touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys won the NFC East and secured the No. 2 seed in the conference by closing the regular season with a 38-10 victory over the Washington Commanders. Prescott finished 31 for 36 for 279 yards as Dallas finished 12-5 for the third year in a row. The Cowboys assured themselves of playing at home to open the postseason. That’s a big deal for a club that went 8-0 in Dallas this season and has won 16 straight games there. Ron Rivera is expected to be fired as coach of Washington after going 4-13 to tie a franchise record for losses in a season.
Jordan Love threw for 316 yards and connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a pair of touchdowns to send the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs with a 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears. The Packers needed a win to earn an NFC wild-card berth. Green Bay delivered by winning their third straight overall and beating the Bears for a 10th consecutive time. Love went 27 of 32 as Green Bay never punted all day. Chicago now heads into the offseason facing a major question about its quarterback situation.
Mike Edwards returned a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown, Harrison Butker made a 41-yard field goal with 49 seconds remaining, and the AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers 13-12 while resting most of their starters. With the Chiefs locked into the AFC’s No. 3 seed for the playoffs, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were inactive. Kansas City will host Miami on Saturday night in the wild-card round. The Chargers closed the season with five straight losses, the last three after coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco were fired on Dec. 15.
Carson Wentz threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 21-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in a game filled with backups. Wentz scored on a 12-yard run with 4:56 to play and then converted a 2-point conversion pass to Tutu Atwell to give the Rams a 21-20 lead. Los Angeles held on from there and clinched the sixth seed in the NFC and a trip to Detroit in the wild-card round next Sunday night. The 49ers clinched the top seed in the NFC last week and started Sam Darnold at quarterback in place of Brock Purdy.
Aidan O’Connell passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns, Zamir White rushed for 112 yards and a relentless Las Vegas pass rush helped the Raiders continue their dominance over the Denver Broncos with a 27-14 victory. This was the Raiders’ eighth consecutive victory over their AFC West rivals and 10th in 11 games. That included a 4-0 record in Las Vegas. Both teams ended their season at 8-9 and out of the playoffs with a number of questions facing both franchises.
Arthur Smith has been fired by the Atlanta Falcons after completing his third straight losing season. Smith inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift the Falcons from their playoff drought. The 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith went 7-10 in each of his three seasons. Atlanta closed the season with an ugly 48-17 loss at New Orleans, its second consecutive lopsided defeat. That sealed Smith’s fate. He was hired by the Falcons in 2021 after a decade-long stint as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans in which he moved up to offensive coordinator.
Trevor Lawrence had every chance to play the Jacksonville Jaguars into the playoffs for a second straight year as the AFC South champs. He wound up stopped short of the goal line with 7:13 left. He also threw incomplete as the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs with 1:47 left as the Tennessee Titans eliminated the Jaguars 28-20 Sunday in their regular-season finale. The Jaguars came in needing a win to clinch a second straight AFC South title for the first back-to-back crowns since 1998 and 1999. Their loss makes Houston the division champs and cost the Jaguars their only way into the postseason after Pittsburgh also won Saturday. Lawrence threw for two touchdowns but also had two interceptions.
NBA To the NBA where
Anfernee Simons had 38 points and 11 assists, Malcolm Brogdon scored eight of his 18 points during Portland’s nearly flawless overtime, and the Trail Blazers beat the Brooklyn Nets 134-127 on Sunday. Jerami Grant added 27 points and Shaedon Sharpe chipped in 21 off the bench for the Blazers, who snapped their four-game losing streak and won for the first time in eight road games. Mikal Bridges scored 42 points and made the tying jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining in regulation. But Portland then shot 6 for 7 in overtime, with Brogdon hitting all three shots, including two 3-pointers.
Jarrett Allen had 29 points and 16 rebounds, Caris LeVert scored 23 points off the bench and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the San Antonio Spurs 117-115. Top overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in 25 minutes for San Antonio on Sunday. The 7-foot-3 Frenchman leads the NBA in blocks and ranks first among rookies in scoring, rebounding and steals. Allen is averaging 21.0 points and 15.7 rebounds over the last seven games for Cleveland, which has won three in a row
CJ McCollum scored 30 points, making seven 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Pelicans led by 50 points in a 133-100 rout of the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. Jonas Valanciunas added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans, who have won six straight on the road and all four matchups this season against the Kings, including a quarterfinal victory in Sacramento in the In-Season Tournament. Brandon Ingram also scored 15 points. Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, but star guard De’Aaron Fox scored just three points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Paolo Banchero scored eight of his 35 points in overtime and the Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 117-110 on Sunday night. Caleb Houstan added a career-high 25 points in his first start of the season. Trae Young had 31 points and nine assists for Atlanta. Dejounte Murray added 24 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 18 points. Saddiq Bey’s dunk with 18.8 seconds left in the fourth tied it for the Hawks, and Houstan missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send it to overtime.
Kyrie Irving made the tying and go-ahead 3-pointers, finishing with 35 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 115-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. Irving shot 14 of 27, including 6 of 8 from the 3-point arc. Luka Doncic added 34 points on 12-of-26 shooting, including 5 of 12 from the 3-point arc. Irving’s 3 from the top of the arc tied it at 106 with 2:59 remaining. He then stole the ball from Rudy Gobert and made another 3 from the right corner with 2:05 to play. Anthony Edwards led all scorers with 36 points.
Jamal Murray scored a season-high 37 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 assists and the Denver Nuggets handed the Pistons their 18th straight road loss by routing Detroit 131-114 on Sunday night. Murray followed an off-shooting game against Orlando on Friday with a bounce-back one, hitting 14 of 24 shots from the floor. He also was 6 of 7 from the free throw line. Jokic was more distributor and shot blocker than scorer, taking just three shots and finishing with four points. The two-time NBA MVP tied a career-high with five blocked shots. Jalen Duren led Detroit with 20 points, while Alec Burks added 18.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 28 points and 10 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies, playing without Ja Morant, overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns 121-115 on Sunday night. Marcus Smart added 25 points and Desmond Bane had 23, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:30 to play. Morant was sidelined because of soreness in his right shoulder. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said before the game that Morant apparently hurt the shoulder Friday night late in a victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles. Kevin Durant returned for Phoenix after missing three games because of soreness in his right hamstring. He had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Devin Booker led the Suns with 24 points.
RJ Barrett scored a season-high 37 points in his fourth game since being traded to his hometown Toronto team, leading the Raptors past the Golden State Warriors 133-118. Stephen Curry had an especially off night, finishing 2 for 14 with nine points and missing all nine of his 3-pointers in his second-lowest scoring total this season and also his second in single digits.Barrett, acquired from the Knicks on Dec. 30 and making his Raptors debut on New Year’s Day, hit 11 of his first 14 shots and finished 13 for 20 from the floor with six rebounds and six assists.
The Los Angeles Lakers snapped their four-game losing streak with a 106-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. LeBron James had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Taurean Prince hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:17 to play. Anthony Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who beat the Clippers for the second straight time after losing 11 straight to their hallway rivals. Paul George scored 22 points and Ivica Zubac had 22 points and 19 rebounds for the Clippers, whose five-game winning streak ended.
Draymond Green returned to the practice floor in a walk-through scenario with the Golden State Warriors, one day after being reinstated by the NBA following a 12-game suspension. Coach Steve Kerr wasn’t sure when Green might be ready to play in a game again after the prolonged time away working on himself in the wake of hitting Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Dec. 12. Green will resume his shooting routine and other work under the direction of the medical staff.
NHL
John Carlson scored the game-winner with 53.2 seconds left in regulation and the Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3. Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a goal and two assists, and Nic Dowd and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide. Kevin Fiala struck twice and Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, losers of five straight. Darcy Kuemper stopped 38 of 41 in the win, and Cam Talbot made 30 saves in the loss.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard departed their game at New Jersey after he was leveled by Devils defenseman Brendan Smith in the first period. Bedard was selected by Chicago with the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. The 18-year-old center has 15 goals and 18 assists in 38 games. Bedard was hit by Smith after he carried the puck into the Blackhawks’ offensive zone. Bedard then skated to the bench holding his face as Nick Foligno, Brett Seney and several teammates ignited a skirmish behind the Devils net. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said Bedard would evaluated after the team returned to Chicago.
Mark Scheifele scored two goals, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 15 shots and the Winnipeg Jets extended their points streak to 12 games with a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Winnipeg shut down the Coyotes most of the night, holding them to four shots until Nick Schmaltz scored midway through the second period. Hellebuyck was sharp after being named to his fourth-career All-Star game on Thursday and the Jets had a 36-17 advantage in shots. Winnipeg has allowed three goals or less in a franchise-record 29 straight games and leads the NHL with 56 points. Arizona’s Dylan Guenther scored in the third period of his 2023-24 debut and Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 shots.
Michael Rasmussen scored the go-ahead goal with 1:07 remaining and the Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-2 victory Sunday over the Anaheim Ducks. Joe Veleno and Dylan Larkin also scored and Alex Lyon made 29 saves as the Red Wings completed a successful three-game California road trip. Trevor Zegras scored two goals for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 25 saves.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington playing for the College Football Playoff national championship tonight is just about the perfect way to close the 2023 season. The matchup of unbeatens hits all the major themes of the past five months from conference realignment to the transfer portal — with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh as the main character. Michael Penix Jr., the sixth-year quarterback who revived his career by transferring to Washington, and the Huskies will try to deliver the Pac-12 its first championship since 2004 in their last football game before joining Michigan in the Big Ten.
PGA TOUR
Chris Kirk continues his inspiring comeback. He opened the PGA Tour season with a victory at The Sentry, beating Sahith Theegala by one shot. Kirk was tied for the lead when he hit 5-iron to 2 feet on the 17th for birdie. That allowed him to play it safe down the 18th to get par and a 65 for his sixth career victory. Kirk had to step away from golf in 2019 because of alcoholism and depression. He capped his comeback by winning the Honda Classic last year. And it looks as if he's just getting started.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Rafael Nadal is choosing to look on the bright side when it comes to the torn hip muscle that will keep him out of the Australian Open and extend his absence from tennis to more than a year. Nadal told the world via social media on Sunday that this is not the same part of the hip that he hurt in Melbourne last January and that required surgery last June. The 22-time Grand Slam champion explained he still can point to his main goal for 2024, which remains to be fit and ready to compete at the French Open. But there are still plenty of lingering questions about what this all means for his future in the sport.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Iona 51 Niagara 43
Fairfield 82 Marist 61
Dayton 64 UMass 60
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 71 Boston College 64
UConn 83 Georgetown 55
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