NFL
Josh Allen scored a receiving touchdown on a pass he threw in his latest do-everything performance, and the Buffalo Bills clinched their fifth straight AFC East title with a 35-10 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on a snowy Sunday night. Allen had touchdowns passing, rushing and receiving, becoming the first quarterback and seventh player in the Super Bowl era to do that and the first since the Niners’ Christian McCaffrey in 2022. His receiving TD came on a play in which he threw to Amari Cooper, who lateraled back to Allen. The Bills improved to 10-2. The Niners lost their third straight to fall to 5-7.
San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a knee injury that coach Kyle Shanahan described as “potentially” season-ending in the 49ers’ 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. Shanahan said McCaffrey is believed to have injured his posterior cruciate ligament, which connects the thigh bone to the shin. He said he had no timetable for McCaffrey’s return but acknowledged the All-Pro’s season could be over. It’s the latest setback in a frustrating season for the 2023 offensive player of the year, who missed the Niners’ first eight games with Achilles tendinitis and has not been his usual explosive self since returning.
Leonard Williams returned an interception 92 yards for a momentum-turning score, Zach Charbonnet ran for a go-ahead 8-yard touchdown with 5:31 remaining and the Seattle Seahawks held on to beat the New York Jets 26-21 for their third straight victory. Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass to AJ Barner for the Seahawks, who were sloppy early but took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West with Arizona losing to Minnesota. Aaron Rodgers and the Jets led most of the game, but lost their third in a row after being held scoreless in the second half.
The New England Patriots made six trips inside the Indianapolis 20 and came away with two touchdowns, two field goals, an interception at the goal line and a missed field goal that was shorter than an extra point. When they think about how close they came to beating the Colts, those missed opportunities will hurt the most. Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson engineered a 19-play drive that took all but the last 12 seconds off the clock, and Indianapolis converted the 2-point conversion to win 25-24.
The most accurate kicker in NFL history is in an inexplicable slump. Justin Tucker sprayed kicks to the left, right and off the upright in the Baltimore Ravens’ 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Coming into the game, Tucker had connected on 89.4% of his field-goal tries, the best percentage by anyone who has put his foot to the ball in the NFL with at least 150 going through the uprights. He was successful from 34 and 50 yards against the Eagles, but Tucker also hooked a kick wide left from 47 yards out and sent the ball soaring right of the target on a 53-yard try.
Joe Mixon ran for 101 yards and a touchdown, Nico Collins caught eight passes for 119 yards and the Houston Texans beat Jacksonville 23-20 after knocking quarterback Trevor Lawrence out of the game with a concussion. The AFC South-leading Texans (8-5) won for just the second time in five weeks and staggered into their bye week with a little momentum. Mixon became the third player in NFL history with at least 100 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown in six road games in the same season. He joined Tiki Barber of the New York Giants (2004) and Derrick Henry of Tennessee (2020) in accomplishing the feat.
Rookie Tarheeb Still returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown, his second pick of the game and one of four thrown by Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins as the Los Angeles Chargers handed the first-place Falcons their third straight loss, 17-13. In a game that neither team seemed eager to win, the Chargers overcame five sacks, a fumble deep in their own territory, a fake punt that didn’t work and a largely listless offense. The 36-year-old Cousins looked like a rookie on a fourth-and-5 pass at the Los Angeles 40 late in the third quarter. Still read the play all the way, stepping in front of Darnell Mooney and sprinting untouched down the sideline in front of the Falcons' bench for the TD.
Sam Darnold’s second touchdown pass of the second half went to Aaron Jones for Minnesota’s first lead with 1:13 left, and the Vikings rallied from 13 points down to beat the Arizona Cardinals 23-22 for their fifth straight victory. The Cardinals kept the Vikings out of the end zone until Darnold hit Johnny Mundt with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter. Kyler Murray threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter to spoil a strong start by the Cardinals. The Cardinals are 6-6 and one game behind NFC West-leading Seattle. The Vikings are 10-2 and one game behind NFC North-leading Detroit.
Russell Wilson threw for a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers outlasted Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals 44-38. Wilson logged the second-most passing yards and the third 400-yard game of his career. He threw for 452 yards for Seattle against Houston on Oct. 29, 2017. Wilson finished 29 for 38 as the 9-3 Steelers rebounded from losing to the Browns 24-19 in a Nov. 21 game in the snow in Cleveland. He also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the first quarter. The 4-8 Bengals lost for the fourth time in five games.
Jayden Daniels accounted for four touchdowns to lead the Washington Commanders to a 42-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans that snapped his team's losing streak at three. Daniels threw two of his three TD passes to Terry McLaurin and the other to Zach Ertz. Brian Robinson Jr. returned from a sprained ankle to rush for 103 yards and a touchdown. The Commanders also forced two turnovers while improving to 8-5 going into their long-awaited bye week. Tennessee's already-slim playoff chances are now almost zero after falling to 3-9.
Matthew Stafford passed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, Kyren Williams rushed for 104 yards and a score, and the Los Angeles Rams beat New Orleans 21-14 to hand interim Saints coach Darren Rizzi his first loss. The Saints drove inside the Rams 10-yard line in the final minutes, but Derek Carr’s pass on fourth-and-3 was deflected from behind by edge rusher Jared Verse and fell incomplete. Stafford's scoring passes went for 3 yards to Demarcus Robinson and 7 yards to Puca Nacua. Saints tight end Taysom Hill injured his left knee and was carted off the field after converting a late fourth-and-short run. The Saints lone TD came on Carr's 28-yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Chase McLaughlin kicked a 30-yard field goal in overtime, Baker Mayfield overcame an ankle injury to lead four scoring drives in the fourth quarter and the extra period, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers 26-23. Tampa Bay moved into a tie for first place in the NFC South with Atlanta. Bucky Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown for the Bucs. Mayfield finished 21 of 33 for 235 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and Mike Evans had 118 yards receiving. Bryce Young was 26 of 46 passing for 298 yards for the Panthers, who secured their seventh straight losing season.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was carted off the field after taking a violent elbow to the facemask from Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. It prompted two sideline-clearing scuffles. Lawrence clenched both fists after the hit, movements consistent with what’s referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury. Lawrence was on the ground for several minutes as teammates came to his defense and mobbed Al-Shaair. Lawrence eventually was helped to his feet and loaded into the front seat of a cart to be taken off the field. He was not transported to a hospital. He was quickly ruled out with a concussion, though. Al-Shaair and Jaguars rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones were ejected after the first altercation.
On Monday Night Football, the Browns are in Denver facing the Broncos at 8:15 tonight.
NBA
Mikal Bridges scored 31 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 19 rebounds, and the New York Knicks beat the injury-depleted New Orleans Pelicans 118-85. Bridges, who was benched in the fourth quarter of Friday’s victory at Charlotte, rebounded by shooting 12 for 19 from the field and 7 for 12 from 3 for the Knicks, who have won seven of their last 10 games. Jalen Brunson had 16 points and Miles McBride chipped in 13 points off the bench. CJ McCollum had 13 points and Trey Murphy III and Yves Missi each scored 11 for the Pelicans, who have lost eight consecutive games.
Franz Wagner had 20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two blocks, and the Orlando Magic claimed their sixth straight win, and second in three days over the Nets, with a 100-92 victory against Brooklyn. Goga Bitadze added 12 points and 13 rebounds, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16 points and Wendell Carter Jr. had 14 points and seven rebounds to help Orlando. Cam Johnson led Brooklyn with 26 points, and Dennis Schroder added 20 points and seven assists. The Nets dropped their second straight and fell to 3-11 against the Eastern Conference.
The moment arrived in the third quarter and Donovan Mitchell seized it. After Jayson Tatum hit a 3-pointer over him, Mitchell sensed the Celtics’ momentum and confidence growing. He could feel the energy draining from Cleveland’s hyped crowd and maybe some of the fight leaving his teammates. Mitchell understood there was only one thing to do: Take over. Scoring 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, Mitchell helped the Cavs avenge a loss in Boston last month that ended their historic start by leading Cleveland to an impressive 115-111 win over the defending NBA champions on Sunday night.
Donovan Mitchell scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers ended Boston’s seven-game winning streak with a 115-111 victory over the Celtics in the second intense matchup between the Eastern Conference’s top teams this season. Mitchell made all six field-goal attempts in the fourth as the Cavs overcame a 12-point deficit. The All-Star guard scored 30 points in the second half. Darius Garland added 22 points for Cleveland, which got revenge on the Celtics after the defending NBA champions handed them their first loss after a 15-0 start. Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and Payton Pritchard 24 for the Celtics.
Luka Doncic returned from a wrist injury and had 36 points in the Dallas Mavericks’ 137-131 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Doncic, who missed five games, also had 13 assists in the Mavericks’ fourth straight victory. The Mavs were missing Kyrie Irving, who had 30 points in a 106-94 win Saturday over the Utah Jazz, because of a sore shoulder. Anfernee Simons had 27 points for the Blazers, including 24 points in the third quarter.
RJ Barrett scored 37 points, Scottie Barnes had 23 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the Miami Heat 119-116. Jakob Poeltl had 17 points and 11 rebounds and rookie Ja’Kobe Walter scored 12 points as Toronto improved to 5-4 at home. Barrett shot 15 for 20 and made all four of his free throw attempts. He finished 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Tyler Herro scored 31 points and Jimmy Butler added 17 but Miami lost for the first time in three games. The Heat have not won three straight so far this season.
Fred VanVleet had a season-high 38 points and Dillon Brooks made a go-ahead jump shot late to help the Houston Rockets to a 119-116 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night. The game was tied at 113 when Brooks hit the short jumper in the lane just before the shot clock expired to put the Rockets on top with 33.1 seconds to go. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a 15-foot shot on the other end and Brooks grabbed the rebound. VanVleet was fouled and made both free throws to make it 117-113 with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Anthony Davis had 33 points and 11 rebounds, LeBron James added 27 points and 14 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 105-104. After James missed a 3-pointer — his 10th attempt of the night — in the closing seconds, Utah had a chance to win the game but Collin Sexton fumbled the inbounds pass and couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer. Lauri Markkanen scored 22 points and John Collins had 21 as the Jazz lost for the eighth time in nine games. The Lakers were without Jaxson Hayes (sprained right ankle), Austin Reaves (bruised hip), D’Angelo Russell (illness) and Cam Reddish (illness).
Luka Doncic returned from a wrist injury and had 36 points in the Dallas Mavericks’ 137-131 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Doncic, who missed five games, also had 13 assists in the Mavericks’ fourth straight victory. The Mavs were missing Kyrie Irving, who had 30 points in a 106-94 win Saturday over the Utah Jazz, because of a sore shoulder. Anfernee Simons had 27 points for the Blazers, including 24 points in the third quarter.
Victor Wembanyama had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double of the season, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 127-125 for their fifth win in six games. Devin Vassell added 21 points off the bench for San Antonio. Chris Paul finished with 13 points. DeRozan had 28 points to lead the Kings, who led by 17 points in the first quarter and were up 65-58 at halftime. The Spurs used a 19-7 run to take a third-quarter lead, but the Kings responded to lead 97-92 heading into the fourth. Wembanyama finished with five 3-pointers and had 13 points in the fourth quarter.
James Harden scored 39 points and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame Nikola Jokic’s triple-double to beat the Denver Nuggets 126-122. It was their second win of the season over the Nuggets, having defeated them 109-104 on the road in October. Jokic finished with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season. Harden nearly had a triple-double of his own, with nine rebounds and 11 assists. He also made all 13 of his free throws. Norman Powell added 28 points for the Clippers in his return after missing six games with an injury.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Charlie McAvoy scored two goals — one coming when Boston scored three times in 70 seconds during the opening period — and the Bruins celebrated the 100th anniversary of their first NHL game with a 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens yesterday. Charlie Coyle also had two goals — one during the outburst — for the Bruins. Cole Caufield scored twice for Montreal, which has lost four of five.
Jake DeBrusk scored a hat trick, including the game-winner in overtime, and goaltender Kevin Lankinen set an NHL record for most consecutive road wins to start a season as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4. DeBrusk scored two power-play goals in a 43-second span early in the second period and assisted on Erik Brannstrom’s goal that tied the game with 3:20 left in regulation. Pius Suter also scored for Vancouver. Lankinen is now 10-0-0 on the road this season. Jonatan Berggren had a goal and an assist, while Alex DeBrincat, Michael Rasmussen and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Red Wings.
Sean Monahan had a goal and assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets extended their points streak to six games with a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Kent Johnson scored for the second straight game to run his points streak to nine games, and Ivan Provorov, Dante Fabbro. Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov also connected for Columbus, 5-0-1 during its climb. Zach Werenski’s two assists extended his points streak to eight games.Connor Bedard had a power-play goal and assist for Chicago, which dropped its second straight. Craig Smith and Nick Foligno also scored power-play goals.
Mason Marchment scored the winning goal on a spinning backhander with 7:37 to play with an assist from Jake Oettinger, who made 26 saves, as the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Sunday. Connor Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL with 15 wins, stopped 28 shots. Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz also scored for the Stars, the latter into an empty net with 7.5 seconds left. Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who went 2-4-0 on a season-long road trip that took 10 days and covered 5,000 miles.
Troy Terry tied a career high with three assists and scored the go-ahead goal in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3. Terry — who has a four-game point streak with seven assists — scored in the second round of the shootout to put Anaheim in front. Trevor Zegras added another goal in the third round after Lukas Dostal stopped Ottawa’s Tim Stützle and Josh Norris. Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano had two goals and an assist and Jackson LaCombe also scored. Ryan Strome had a pair of assists and Dostal stopped 29 shots. Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk had his second two-goal game of the season. Nick Cousins had the Senators’ other goal and Linus Ullmark made 32 saves
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State, Miami and Clemson plunged in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll following losses over the weekend. Eight of the top 10 teams moved up one spot and Oregon was No. 1 for the seventh straight week. The shakeup creates two top-five matchups in conference championship games Saturday: No. 1 Oregon against No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten and No. 2 Texas against No. 5 Georgia in the SEC. No. 4 Notre Dame won’t play again until the College Football Playoff. Ohio State fell to No. 7, Miami to No. 14 and Clemson to No. 18.
The Big Ten Conference has announced it fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy for the on-field melee at the end of the Wolverines’ win in Columbus .A fight broke out at midfield Saturday after the Wolverines’ 13-10 victory when Michigan players attempted to plant their flag on the OSU logo and were confronted by the Buckeyes. Police used pepper spray to break up the players, who threw punches and shoves. One officer suffered a head injury when he was “knocked down and trampled while trying to separate players fighting." The officer was taken to a hospital and has since been released.
Baker Mayfield is hoping the NCAA doesn’t outlaw flag planting. Mayfield gained notoriety when he ran onto the field and planted an Oklahoma flag at midfield of Ohio State’s stadium following a win by the Sooners in 2017. He says the altercations Saturday that followed similar flag-planting incidents across the country are just part of college football’s rivalries. Mayfield added, “Let the boys play.” On Sunday, the Big Ten Conference fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for violating the conference’s sportsmanship policy for the on-field melee at the end of the Wolverines’ win in Columbus, Ohio.
The first season of major conference expansion has produced an intriguing set of championship games this week, and not just because they'll determine which teams get automatic bids and first-round byes in the College Football Playoff. Four of the nine games Friday and Saturday match teams that already squared off in the regular season. Texas-Georgia in the SEC championship is one of those rematches and also one of two top-five matchups. The other is Oregon-Penn State in the Big Ten. Each of the Power Four games will include a team that wasn’t in that conference last season.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Rice 70 Iona 66
UMass 80 NJIT 68
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 80 Stonehill 59
Siena 57 UMass 53
Syracuse 78 Yale 50
Marist 60 North Dakota 56
SOCCER
Fiorentina midfielder Edoardo Bove is in a medically induced coma after collapsing on the field during his team’s Serie A match at home to Inter Milan with the game abandoned shortly afterward. His teammates immediately called for medical help and surrounded the 22-year-old Bove while he was being treated before he was swiftly stretchered off to an ambulance near the pitch. Fiorentina later said hospital tests “have ruled out acute damage to the central nervous system and the cardio-respiratory system” and Bove “will be re-evaluated in the next 24 hours.” The incident happened in the 16th minute. Distraught Fiorentina players were comforted by staff members as well as Inter players. Several sobbed openly before the teams left the field.
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