NFL
Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards, Lamar Jackson accounted for three touchdowns and the Baltimore Ravens beat the Buffalo Bills 35-10. The Bills lost for the first time this season. Henry had an 87-yard rushing TD that was the longest in in the team’s 29 years in Baltimore and caught a pass in the end zone for just the fourth time in his NFL career. Jackson had TD passes to Henry and Justice Hill. Josh Allen fumbled as part of a rough game for Buffalo following a 3-0 start.
Bo Nix threw his first NFL touchdown and the Denver Broncos overcame a miserable first half on offense and held on to beat a banged-up Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets 10-9 in a defensive standoff. Rodgers came up limping a bit after a sack late in the fourth quarter, but stayed in. Wil Lutz pushed a 50-yarder wide left for Denver to give Rodgers and the Jets one more chance. But Greg Zuerlein's 50-yarder curved to the right and Nix and the Broncos were able to kneel down for the win.
Brock Purdy threw a touchdown pass, Fred Warner returned an interception for a score and the San Francisco 49ers snapped a two-game skid by beating the New England Patriots 30-13. San Francisco got field goals from Jake Moody on the opening two drives before Warner delivered his latest big play of the season, making a diving interception against Jacoby Brissett and returning it 45 yards for his second career TD. It was the first interception of the season for the Patriots, who have been unable to get any consistent passing game generated this season.
Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns, while Mike Evans became the Buccaneers’ career scoring leader during Tampa Bay’s 33-16 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Mayfield completed 30 of 47 passes without an interception. He also ran for a TD in helping the Bucs dominate the rematch of a lopsided NFC wild-card game they won against the Eagles last January. Rebounding from a poor performance in a loss to Denver the previous week, Mayfield and the offense scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the first time in 21 games. Evans’ 2-yard scoring reception finished a 10-play, 79-yard drive that set the tone for the Bucs outgaining the Eagles 254 yards to zero in building a 24-0 lead.
Patrick Mahomes passed for 245 yards and a touchdown while rediscovering his connection with Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied from an early 10-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 17-10. Making his 100th regular-season start, Mahomes completed 19 of 29 passes for the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who are 4-0 for the first time since 2020. Kelce had a season-high seven receptions for 89 yards and set the franchise’s career receptions record. Mahomes also threw an impressive deep pass to Xavier Worthy for a 54-yard touchdown. Justin Herbert threw for 179 yards for the Chargers while dealing with an ankle sprain.
Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes in relief of the injured Anthony Richardson, and the Indianapolis Colts came up with a stop in the final minute to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24. Indy has won two straight since opening the season with back-to-back losses — and two in a row against Pittsburgh. The Steelers fought back from a 17-0 deficit but fell just short of extending their six-game regular-season winning streak. Pittsburgh’s top-ranked defense allowed a season-high point total. Justin Fields ran for two second-half scores and threw for another to cut the deficit to 27-24 with 3:40 to go, but the Steelers couldn't get closer.
Younghoe Koo kicked a 58-yard field goal with two seconds remaining and the Atlanta Falcons rallied for a 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints without scoring an offensive touchdown. Koo kicked four field goals in all, also connecting from 53, 44 and 42 yards to give the 2-2 Falcons a desperately needed home victory. They had lost their first two games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and seemed on the verge of falling to 0-3 in Atlanta when Alvin Kamara scored on a 1-yard run with a minute remaining. A 30-yard pass interference penalty on Paulson Adebo gave the Falcons hope at the New Orleans 40. Kirk Cousins threw three straight incompletions, but it didn’t matter. Koo knocked down the longest field goal in the stadium’s seven-year history with plenty to spare.
Caleb Williams led four scoring drives, D’Andre Swift had 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, and the Chicago Bears held off the Los Angeles Rams 24-18. Jaquan Brisker intercepted Matthew Stafford with about a minute remaining after the Bears punted on the previous play, helping Chicago end a two-game skid. Williams threw for 157 yards and a touchdown after setting a Bears rookie record by passing for 363 yards at Indianapolis last week. The No. 1 overall draft pick and former Heisman Trophy was 17 of 23 with a 9-yard TD pass to DJ Moore in the third quarter.
Joe Burrow threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, Chase Brown ran for 80 yards and two scores and the Cincinnati Bengals held on to beat the Carolina Panthers 34-24 on Sunday for their first win. Ja’Marr Chase had three catches for 85 yards, including a 63-yard catch-and-run touchdown as the Bengals avoided a potentially disastrous fourth straight loss to open the season. Of the 155 teams to start 0-4 since the merger, only the 1992 Chargers were able to rebound and make the playoffs. Zack Moss had 78 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown reception for the Bengals. Andy Dalton threw for 220 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against his former team.
C.J. Stroud threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 1-yard pass to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left, to give the Houston Texans a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Houston forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with less than three minutes to go. Stroud then led a nine-play, 69-yard drive to give the Texans (3-1) their first points of the second half and survive a scare by the winless Jaguars (0-4).
Sam Darnold threw three touchdown passes and Jordan Addison scored twice as the Minnesota Vikings built an early 28-point lead and hung on down the stretch to beat the Green Bay Packers 31-29. The Vikings are 4-0. That's their best start since 2016, when they won their first five games before slumping to an 8-8 finish. Minnesota spoiled the return of Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who returned after missing two games with an injured left medial collateral ligament. He threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs. But he also matched a career high with three interceptions.
Jayden Daniels threw for 233 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in his desert return, and the Washington Commanders extended their winning streak to three with a 42-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Daniels — the No. 2 overall pick last spring — became the fourth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to run for four touchdowns in his first four career games, joining Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Anthony Richardson. Daniels also completed 26 of 30 passes and has an absurd 82% completion percentage in his short career, to help Washington improve to 3-1. Daniels played in college for three seasons at Arizona State before transferring to LSU, where he won the Heisman in 2023. Arizona is 1-3.
The Las Vegas Raiders used a strong defense and a balanced running game to hold off a late rally and beat the Cleveland Browns 20-16. Cleveland drove to the Raiders 9-yard line, but Deshaun Watson was sacked by Charles Snowden with 41 seconds left. The Raiders held on for the win despite star wide receiver Davante Adams and premier pass rusher Maxx Crosby missing the game because of injuries. And the defense held the Browns to 241 total yards. Alexander Mattison rushed for 60 yards for the Raiders, who totaled 152 on the ground. Five Las Vegas players had runs of at least 10 yards.
Tonight on Monday Night Football: Tennessee at Miami 7:30 p.m.; Seattle at Detroit 8:15 p.m.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Breanna Stewart scored 34 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 21 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-77 on Sunday in Game 1 of their semifinals series. Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Liberty. Game 2 of the best-of-5 matchup is Tuesday night in New York. Kelsey Plum scored 24 points and A’ja Wilson added 21 for the Aces. This was a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals that the Aces won in four games. The Liberty said they’ve had a scar all season from that loss and have used it as motivation. New York had the best record in the league and earned the top seed in the playoffs.
Marina Mabrey scored 20 points and Alyssa Thomas added 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the Connecticut Sun defeated the Minnesota Lynx 73-70 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their semifinals series. DiJonai Carrington had 13 points and DeWanna Bonner had 10 points and 11 boards for the Sun. Napheesa Collier, who averaged 40 points in the first round of the playoffs, led Minnesota with 19 points and nine rebounds. Bridget Carleton scored 17 and Kayla McBride added 12. Game 2 of the best-of-5 series will be played Tuesday in Minneapolis.
MLB
The baseball season is going extra innings. While the American League playoff picture cleared up Sunday, the National League remained muddled heading into what was supposed to be an off day before the postseason. Houston hosts Detroit, and Baltimore is at home against Kansas City in the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday. The Astros-Tigers winner faces AL Central champion Cleveland in a Division Series starting Saturday, and the Orioles-Royals winner plays the AL East champion New York Yankees. The National League is still uncertain because of two rainouts last week, with the New York Mets, Arizona and Atlanta vying for the final two wild-card spots in the 12-team playoffs. The Mets traveled back to Atlanta on Sunday and will play a makeup doubleheader today against the Braves. Game 1 is set for 1:10, with Game 2 following at 4:40.
Francisco Lindor homered and drove in two runs, David Peterson pitched seven brilliant innings and the New York Mets moved within one win of a playoff berth with a 5-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Francisco Alvarez also had two RBIs for the Mets, who headed to Atlanta needing at least a doubleheader split Monday against the rival Braves to secure a National League wild card. New York could have clinched a postseason spot Sunday with a win and an Arizona loss, but the Diamondbacks routed San Diego 11-2 at home to complete their regular season. The afternoon twinbill in Atlanta was scheduled to make up two Mets-Braves games postponed on Wednesday and Thursday due to heavy rain from Hurricane Helene.
Luis Arraez held off Shohei Ohtani’s bid to win the National League Triple Crown and was set to become the first player since the 1800s to earn batting titles with three teams. Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. won his first American League batting championship, finishing with a major league-best .332 average. Arraez went 1 for 3 and posted a .314 mark for San Diego, lowest for an NL batting champion since Tony Gwynn’s record-low .313 in 1988. Arraez won the 2022 AL title at .316 for Minnesota and the 2023 NL title at .354 with Miami.
The name Oakland being attached to the Athletics ended Sunday after the final out of their season finale against the Seattle Mariners. When the 2025 season begins, the A's will still exist — and oddly enough open the year in Seattle — but the name Oakland will no longer be there. A's manager Mark Kotsay says his jersey is going to the Baseball Hall of Fame, while Brent Rooker and Seth Brown are keeping theirs. The A's played their final home game in Oakland on Thursday and will play next season in Sacramento. Oakland lost its final game of the season 6-4 to the Mariners.
The Miami Marlins have parted ways with Skip Schumaker, ending the 2023 NL Manager of the Year’s two-season stint with the team. The Marlins went 146-178 under Schumaker, who was hired in 2022 as the franchise’s 16th manager. His contract was for two years with a club option for the 2025 season, which the team voided earlier this year. In his first season, Schumaker led the Marlins to their first playoff appearance in a non-pandemic year since 2003. They made the postseason despite a minus-57 run differential and eventually were swept by the Phillies in their NL wild-card series.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Alabama has returned to No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll for the first time in two years following its dizzying victory over Georgia, making this 16 of 17 seasons the Crimson Tide have held the top spot at some point. UNLV is making its first-ever appearance and is tied for No. 25 with Texas A&M. Alabama received 40 of 63 first-place votes and leapfrogged three teams to take over No. 1 from Texas. The Longhorns tussled with Mississippi State and slipped to No. 2. Ohio State remained No. 3, Tennessee is No. 4 and Georgia is No. 5.
GOLF
The Americans have won the Presidents Cup for the 10th straight time. Xander Schauffele led the way with five birdies in eight holes to lead a lot of red scores on the board for the U.S. team. It had a four-point lead going into the singles sessions and the outcome was never really in doubt. The final was 18 1/2 to 11 1/2. That's the largest margin for the Americans on the road. Sam Burns capped off an unbeaten week. The Internationals' only victory came in 1998 at Royal Melbourne.
NASCAR
Ross Chastain took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on a late restart and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. William Byron was unable to chase down Chastain after he took the lead with 20 laps to go, though the Hendrick Motorsports driver still wound up with the best finish among the 12 to qualify for the second round of the postseason. The retiring Truex, who was eliminated last week at Bristol, finished third in what was his last race at Kansas. Ryan Blaney had a loose left wheel in the final stage but rallied to finish fourth, giving the defending champ's postseason hopes a big boost.
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