Jamie Collins forced Buffalo's fourth turnover by intercepting backup Matt Barkley's pass with 1:27 remaining to seal New England's 16-10 win over the Bills.
J.C. Jackson had two interceptions and blocked a punt, which was returned 11 yards by Matthew Slater for a touchdown. Brandon Bolden scored on a 4-yard run as the Pats improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2015. Barkley took over as quarterback for the 3-1 Bills after Josh Allen sustained a head injury from a helmet-to-helmet hit in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Rookie Daniel Jones is 2-0 as a starter after completing 23 of 31 passes for 225 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the Giants’ 24-3 stifling of the Redskins. Wayne Gallman ran for a TD and grabbed a scoring pass as the 2-2 Giants dropped Washington to 0-4. First-round draft pick Dwayne Haskins made his NFL debut for the Redskins by replacing Case Keenum in the second quarter. The former Ohio State quarterback was just 9 of 17 and had an interception returned 32 yards by Jabrill Peppers for a second-half touchdown that capped the scoring.
Great defense and four Wil Lutz field goals were enough for the Saints to beat the Cowboys, 12-10. Vonn Bell's forced fumble and two recoveries helped New Orleans improve to 3-1 as the Saints held Dallas to 267 yards of offense. The Cowboys managed just 45 yards rushing after entering the game ranked third in the league with 179 per contest.
MLB
Throwing errors by catcher Gary Sanchez and pitcher Masahiro Tanaka allowed the Rangers to score their first two runs in a 6-1 win against the Yankees. Lance Lynn finished the year 16-11 by striking out 10 while allowing two hits over seven innings, including a third-inning blast by Aaron Judge. New York was swept in Texas as the AL East champs prepared for the division series against Minnesota.
The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Braves as Dominic Smith’s first big league swing in two months became a three-run homer in a 7-6, 11-inning win over Atlanta. Ex-Met Adeiny Hechevarria tied the game with a solo shot in the ninth and put the Braves ahead with a solo blast in the 11th before New York picked up its 86th win. Pete Alonso went 1-for-5 and finished with a major league-leading 53 home runs.
The Red Sox beat the Orioles, 5-4 on Rafael Dever’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Eduardo Rodriguez fell one shy of his first 20-win season, getting a no-decision after allowing three runs and only four hits over seven innings for Boston.
Starlin Castro, Isan Diaz and Martin Prado homered while the Marlins were building an early 4-0 lead in a 4-3 victory over the Phillies. Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas managed the game for Don Mattingly, making the lineup and handling strategy a week after signing a two-year extension.
The Nationals will head into their wild-card game against visiting Milwaukee on an eight-game winning streak following an 8-2 romp over the Indians. Gerardo Parra drove in three runs and was 7 for 9 with 11 RBIs in the series. Kurt Suzuki also homered for Washington, which will try on Tuesday to advance in a deciding playoff game for the first time since the franchise moved from Montreal.
The St. Louis Cardinals have won their first division title in four years by trouncing the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals are NL Central champions after Jack Flaherty limited the Cubs to a pair of hits over seven innings of the Redbirds’ 9-0 victory. Flaherty received early run support as St. Louis grabbed an 8-0 lead by the third inning after dropping the first two games of the series. Matt Carpenter’s three-run blast gave the Cards an eight-run cushion. Dexter Fowler belted a two-run homer in the second and Paul Goldschmidt added a solo blast after his RBI single put the Cardinals ahead in the first inning. The outcome sets up a division series between the Cardinals and Braves.
In MLB news, manager Joe Maddon will not be back with the Cubs next season after they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in five years. Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced the move before the team's season finale at St. Louis. Maddon's contract expired after Sunday's game. The Cubs ended a 108-year World Series championship drought when Maddon led the club to the 2016 title. The Cubs also made it to the NL Championship Series in 2015 and 2017 and reached the playoffs as a wild card last season. Chicago was poised to reach the postseason this month until a nine-game losing streak led to the Cubs’ elimination.
The Pirates have fired manager Clint Hurdle following a stunning second-half collapse that dropped Pittsburgh to the bottom of the NL Central and included a series of off-the-field issues. Pittsburgh went 69-93 overall and 25-48 after the All-Star break. Hurdle went 735-720 in nine seasons with Pittsburgh, helping the franchise emerge from 20 years of losing to reach the playoffs three straight years from 2013-15.
NASCAR
Chase Elliott overcame a major mistake to win NASCAR’s Cup playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott recovered from an earlier gaffe when he was leading on a restart, locked his wheels headed into the first turn and drove directly into a tire barrier. Alex Bowman finished second in the race and managed to advance to the second round when Ryan Newman missed a chicane, an error that cost him his shot at joining the final 12. Kevin Harvick finished third and was followed by Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer, who was in danger of being eliminated from the playoffs before his fourth-place finish.
F1
Lewis Hamilton coasted to a comfortable victory and led a Mercedes one-two finish at the Russian Grand Prix to tighten his grip on a sixth World Championship. Hamilton now leads race runner-up and teammate Valtteri Bottas in the championship by 73 points with just 130 remaining to play for. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third as the Italian team threw away a possible one-two finish of its own.
GOLF
Cameron Champ made a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a one-stroke victory over Adam Hadwin in the PGA’s Safeway Open. Three strokes ahead entering the round, Champ had five birdies and overcame a bogey on No. 17 to hold off Hadwin for his second PGA Tour victory.
Mi Jung Hur played bogey-free with the lead and closed with a 4-under 68 for a four-shot victory at the Indy Women in Tech Championship. Hur gained her second career LPGA victory of the year, opening with a 63 and going wire-to-wire for the first time in her career. Nanna Koerstz Madsen birdied her last two holes for a 67 to finish alone in second.
Kirk Triplett won the Pure Insurance Championship for the third time at Pebble Beach beating Billy Andrade with an 8-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff. Triplett birdied the 18th in regulation for a 5-under 67 and 9-uner 206 total. He has eight senior victories, also winning a playoff in March in the Hoag Classic down the coast in Newport Beach.
WNBA
Elena Delle Donne scored 22 points and Ariel Atkins added 21 to help the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 95-86 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Kristi Toliver also had 18 points for the Mystics, who had the best record in the regular season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Alabama is No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll for the first time this season, replacing preseason No. 1 Clemson following the Tigers’ 21-20 win at North Carolina. The last time a No. 1 team won and dropped was Ohio State in November 2015, after the Buckeyes beat Minnesota 28-14 at home. Alabama received 29 of 61 first-place votes from the media panel, while second-ranked Clemson claimed 18. Third-ranked Georgia picked up four first-place votes and No. 4 Ohio claimed seven. LSU, Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Florida round out the top 10. No. 24 SMU is ranked for the first time since the program received the so-called death penalty for NCAA rules violations in 1987 and did not compete for two seasons.
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