Guess who's going back to the Super Bowl? Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are NFC champions following a 31-26 win at Green Bay. Their next opponent is the defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs, who earned a 38-24 win over Buffalo in the AFC championship game. The game will be held on Feb. 7 in Tampa.
The Chiefs will make consecutive Super Bowl appearances after going 50 years without one. Patrick Mahomes threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns, with most of it to favorite targets Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. Kelce finished with 13 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill added nine catches for 172 yards. They became the first duo in NFL history with consecutive games of at least 100 yards receiving each in a single postseason. Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams added short TD runs for Kansas City. Josh Allen finished with 287 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception, but a big chunk of his numbers came as the Bills tried to rally from a 38-15 deficit in the final minutes. The Chiefs actually spotted the Bills a 9-0 lead, thanks in large part to Mecole Hardman's muffed punt inside their 5 that gifted Buffalo a touchdown.
Brady overcame interceptions on three straight drives by throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns in reaching the Super Bowl for the 10th time in his career. Scotty Miller grabbed a 39-yard scoring strike with just one second left in the first half, putting the Bucs ahead 21-10. Brady struck again 66 seconds into the third quarter, hitting Cameron Brate for an eight-yard TD that made it 28-10. The Bucs earned their franchise-record eighth consecutive road victory to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since their 2002 championship season. After winning three straight playoff games on the road, Tampa Bay will become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium. Green Bay trailed 31-23 and had first-and-goal from the 8 in the last few minutes. But after Aaron Rodgers threw three straight incompletions, the Packers settled for Mason Crosby's 26-yard field goal with 2:05 left despite owning all three of its timeouts. Rodgers fell to 1-4 in conference championship games as a starting quarterback. He was 33 of 48 for 346 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
In NFL news:
Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen says he's ending his 14-year NFL career to join Fox as a game analyst. The 35-year-old Olsen played for the Bears, Panthers and Seahawks. He spent nine seasons with Carolina, catching 524 passes for 6,463 yards and 39 touchdowns. Overall, he made 742 receptions for 8,683 yards and 60 TDs.
The Eagles have officially announced the hiring of Nick Sirianni as their new coach. Sirianni was the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts the past three seasons. He worked under coach Frank Reich, who was offensive coordinator in Philadelphia when the Eagles won the Super Bowl three years ago.
NBA
The Celtics ended their three-game skid as Jaylen Brown furnished 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter of a 141-103 thrashing of the Cavaliers. Kemba Walker added 21 points and Daniel Theis had 17 for the Celts, who carried a 73-51 edge into intermission.
In Sunday's other NBA action:
Damian Lillard had 39 points, including six 3-pointers as the Trail Blazers defeated the Knicks, 116-113. Anfernee Simons added 16 off the bench for the Blazers, who led by as many as 25 points but saw their advantage slip away in the final quarter.
The Spurs were 121-101 winners over the Wizards as Patty Mills scored 21 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 16. Bradley Beal scored 31 points for Washington, which was playing for the first time since Jan. 11 due to COVID-19 protocols.
OG Anunoby scored a season-high 30 points and made three free throws in the final minute to break a tie and help the surging Raptors beat the Pacers, 107-102. Fred VanVleet added 21 points for the Raptors, who have won two straight and five of six since a 2-8 start.
The NBA's two best teams right now play their home games at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers picked up their seventh straight win and pulled even with the Lakers in the overall standings with a 108-100 victory over the Thunder. Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points and Serge Ibaka added 17 as the Clippers improved to 13-4. Leonard also had nine rebounds and eight assists for L.A., which led by as many as 17 before extending the winning streak.
Giannis Antetokounmpo's 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists pushed the Bucks past the Hawks, 129-115. Bobby Portis added 21 points, and Khris Middleton had 19 in Milwaukee's first win in three games.
Gordon Hayward capped his 39-point performance by hitting a tiebreaking layup with 0.7 seconds left, giving the Hornets a 107-104 comeback victory over the Magic. Miles Bridges added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help Charlotte erase a 14-point deficit and end a four-game losing streak.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In women’s college basketball, UAlbany topped New Hampshire 63-50, Clemson upset No. 23 Syracuse in overtime 86-77, and Saint Louis held off UMass 63-52. In men’s college basketball, UAlbany crushed New Hampshire 83-64, and Davidson defeated UMass 69-60.
NHL
Linus Ullmark turned back 28 shots before stopping all three Washington shootout attempts to secure the Sabres' second win in six games, 4-3. Colin Miller, Victor Olfosson and Eric Staal each scored on the power play to back Ullmark, who picked up his first win of the season just days after the death of his father.
In other NHL matchups:
The Devils were 2-0 winners over the Islanders as Scott Wedgewood turned back 28 shots in his third career shutout and first NHL win in over three years. Ty Smith assisted on goals by Jack Hughes and Pavel Zacha as the Devils improved to 3-1-1.
Jake Guentzel scored the 100th NHL goal with 1:31 left to rally the Penguins to their fourth win in a row, 3-2 over the Rangers. Bryan Rust also scored and Tristan Jarry made 20 saves for the Penguins, who started 4-0 at home for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Wayne Simmonds scored his first goal with Toronto and Morgan Reilly had assists on each Maple Leafs goal in a 3-2 decision over the Flames. Jake Muzzin got his first goal of the season, Auston Matthews also scored and Mitch Marner added two assists for the Leafs.
Chicago Blackhawks rookie Pius Suter was looking for his first NHL goal when he went to United Center Sunday morning. He now has his first hat trick after leading the Hawks to a 6-2 rout of Detroit. Suter scored the game's first two goals and added a third-period tally in his sixth career game. Connor Murphy and Mattias Janmark each had a goal and an assist as Chicago swept its two-game set with Detroit after beginning the season with four straight losses in Florida.
Joe Pavelski helped the Dallas Stars tie the NHL record for power-play goals in the first two games, scoring once while the Stars went 3-for-4 with the man advantage in a 3-2 verdict over Nashville. Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz also scored on the power play after the Stars went 5 of 8 with the man advantage in a 7-0 thumping of the Predators.
Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists to back Jonathan Quick's 28-save effort in the Kings' 6-3 downing of the Blues. Alex Iafallo, Carl Gundstrom, Gabriel Vilardi, Lias Andersson and Drew Doughty each scored as Los Angeles earned a split of its two-game set in St. Louis.
The Golden Knights squeezed out a 1-0 win over the Coyotes on William Karlsson's with 42 seconds left in regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 shots in a tight-checking game after the two teams combined for 20 goals in the first three of four straight against each other.
Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell scored before Hampus Lindholm added an empty-netter to secure the Ducks' win over the Avalanche, 3-1. John Gibson made 32 saves and improved to 2-0-2 in his last four starts.
Brent Burns supplied the tiebreaking goal with 1:48 remaining before the Sharks completed a 5-3 decision over the Wild. Ryan Donato, Evander Kane and Noah Gregor scored for San Jose before Matt Nieto added an empty-net goal.
Leon Draisaitl tallied with less than a second left to give the Oilers a 4-3 triumph over the Jets. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Kyle Turris, and Kailer Yamamoto also scored for Edmonton, which received a 35-save effort from Mikko Koskinen.
In NHL news, longtime Toronto Maple Leafs captain and Hockey Hall of Famer George Armstrong has died at age 90. Armstrong spent 12 of his 21 seasons with the Leafs as captain, winning four Stanley Cups in the 1960s. The franchise leader in games played scored 296 goals and 713 points and remains the last captain to win a Stanley Cup with the team. Armstrong was one of the first players of Indigenous descent to play professional hockey. The Maple Leafs said he died of heart complications, citing his family.
MLB
The Yankees have made a second offseason addition to their starting rotation, acquiring right-hander Jameson Taillon from the Pirates for four prospects. The 29-year-old Taillon hasn't pitched since May 2019 following his second Tommy John surgery. He is 29-24 with a 3.67 ERA over four major league seasons. Taillon joins a rotation headed by Gerrit Cole and is projected to include Deivi García, Jordan Montgomery and Corey Kluber, who has a pending $11 million, one-year contract subject to a successful physical. In addition, Luis Severino is expected to return from Tommy John surgery last Feb. 27 and Domingo Germán is expected back from a domestic violence suspension that caused him to miss last season. This deal makes it less likely the Yankees will re-sign Masahiro Tanaka, who became a free agent.
GOLF
Si Woo Kim birdied two of the final three holes to close out an 8-under 64 and win The American Express for his third PGA Tour victory. Kim began the final round with a share of the lead as he attempted to win for the first time since the 2017 Players Championship. The 25-year-old South Korean didn't flinch when Patrick Cantlay shot a 61 and surged out of 13th place to the front while breaking the Stadium Course record by two strokes. Playing six groups behind Cantlay, Kim comfortably birdied the par-5 16th to pull even, then buried a 19-foot birdie putt on the island green on the 17th to take the lead.
Also, Jessica Korda closed with a 5-under 66 and holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Danielle Kang in the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. Korda won for the sixth time on the LPGA Tour, and the first in nearly three years. She shot a career-best 60 on Saturday to surge up the leaderboard. Kang started the final round which she quickly stretched to four shots with an opening birdie before Korda dropping a shot on the third hole.
TENNIS
The WTA has announced a new tournament in Melbourne for players undergoing a 14-day quarantine without an opportunity to practice ahead of the Australian Open beginning Feb. 8. A total of 72 players remain in hard lockdown after three chartered flights to the Australian Open returned positive COVID-19 cases. WTA players in hard quarantine include former Australian Open champions Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber as well as 2019 U.S. Open winner Bianca Andreescu.
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