br Page 173 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Mike Tomlin is a certified Hall of Famer deserving of a statue in Pittsburgh
When the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 28-14 at home on Sunday, it capped a season in which they won their last four games despite starting 2-6. And while Pittsburgh just missed out on making the postseason for what would have been the 11th time in Tomlin’s 16 seasons on the side...

NFL Week 18 Takeaways: The Chiefs, Bills, Eagles, and 49ers looked good, but they're all still flawed
The NFL regular season is over. No need for RedZone, or multiple televisions set up in the den to properly enjoy football. There is a single matchup remaining on the college football calendar, and the NFL will play out one game at a time over the next five weeks — along with a flag football and a sk...

Every team in the NFL playoffs, ranked
Aaron Rodgers couldn’t beat the Detroit Lions. Who’d have thought I’d be uttering that statement at the beginning of the season? And with that loss, the NFL playoffs are set. Throughout the regular season, we laughed, cried, held our heads in shock, and Tom Brady endured his first losing season as a...

Aaron Rodgers turned into Brett Favre just in time
While Cris Collinsworth will never see it given the way his brain drips out through his throbbing erection every time he covers an Aaron Rodgers game, there was always a stark difference between Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre. Rodgers had never knifed a Packers’ season himself to death....

Patrick Mahomes’ MVP season defied logic, now he has to elude history
Patrick Mahomes capped off what was likely his second MVP campaign with a humiliation of the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday. And yet, few expected him to be in this position four months ago. The AFC West was getting too crowded to be a monopoly, Justin Herbert was the NFL’s most gifted pocket passer,...
![Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 2 [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/e08bdbb97c11892cea1c15abaa73e766.jpg)
Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 2 [Updated]
We’ve already brought you the first 13 figures on this list. Check out the rest below....

I’m picking Max Duggan and TCU in the college football championship — picking TCU like a fox
When college football opponents have had the Georgia Bulldogs’ full attention this year, it hasn’t gone great. From the opener against Oregon to the SEC title game against LSU and the Tennessee game in between, every time we think there’s a hint of vulnerability, the Dawgs come out and trample squad...

Someone save Davante Adams from himself
Davante Adams has always been the anti-diva receiver. His contract dispute with the Green Bay Packers was relatively low-key, and he’s rarely spoken negatively of his ex-franchise. Adams’ reunion with his college quarterback Derek Carr ended in a powder keg. While speculation about Carr’s future and...
![Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 1 [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/6cf68cc114d6fc425405878c9d90ecc7.jpg)
Keep an eye on these 23 breakout stars in 2023: Part 1 [Updated]
One year ago, who would have thought that Julián Álvarez would be the breakout star of the World Cup instead of Gio Reyna, or that TCU backup Max Duggan would lead the Horned Frogs to a national championship game on the 1-yard line of 2022’s closing? Trying to predict which figures will rise to the ...

Who are the top 5 defenders in the NBA?
In this current era of NBA basketball, it’s all about who can shoot and dominate on the offensive end of the court. The days of lockdown defenders have disappeared and been replaced by terms like, “it’s a make or miss league.” With all the scoring we’ve seen this season, that’s all it is. Boston rec...

Jimbo Fisher now has a creep, a racist, and a bonafide maniac on his coaching staff
After a preseason that featured an explosive back-and-forth with Nick Saban after the Alabama head coach made accusations about cheating and buying players through NIL, Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher responded by producing a disappointing 5-7 season. To turn things around he’s hiring Bobby Pe...

What is going on with the scoring in the NBA?
Wednesday was a relatively slow offensive night for the NBA. Kevin Durant was the league’s best performer and all he could manage was a season-high 44 points on 68.1/50/100 shooting splits, five assists, and four rebounds. With the way that NBA players have been lighting up the scoreboards, especial...

The Red Sox actually paid someone
At Monday’s Winter Classic, John Henry appeared, as the hockey team he owns (the Penguins) was playing the Boston Bruins at the ballpark he owns (Fenway Park, as owner of the Red Sox as well). Henry is more reclusive than a lot of owners, so it’s hard to know if he’s as deluded as some billionaires ...

Was the Cavs’ ‘random’ PED test just fateful coincidence after Mitchell scored 71?
In one of the NBA’s more conspicuously timed sequences, the Cleveland Cavs were “randomly” drug tested just hours after Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance Monday night. It feels all too convenient for the association to “randomly” test the Cavs for performance-enhancing drugs one day after Mitc...

The USMNT's Gregg Berhalter saga just got weirder
As we covered this morning, yesterday a kind of strange story surrounding the USMNT’s Gregg Berhalter broke, because Berhalter got out in front of it. He released a statement claiming that someone had threatened to blackmail him over a domestic abuse situation from Berhatler’s teens, so the U.S. man...

Could Brock Purdy catapult past Trey Lance as the future in San Francisco?
The San Francisco 49ers have been cooking in ways Russell Wilson hasn’t experienced in years. Since starting the season 3-4, the Niners have reeled off nine wins in a row and have already clinched another NFC West title. Much of that winning streak has come with Brock Purdy leading the way under cen...

Shannon Sharpe seems to finally be fed up with Skip Bayless — he isn’t innocent in this, though
Shannon Sharpe returned to FS1’s Undisputed on Wednesday morning after missing Tuesday’s show due to the way he was affected by what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football — and Skip Bayless’ insensitive tweet about it....

NC State announcer Gary Hahn ruins a perfectly fine bowl game with a heaping dollop of racism
For those who turned on the North Carolina State radio broadcast to listen to a friendly voice narrate a bowl game, with a silly sponsorship, against a former conference foe — Maryland — who better to do it than Gary Hahn? He is in his fourth decade as the Wolfpacks’ play-by-play announcer, and sure...

LeBron James just got a feed full of Cleveland pheromones thanks to Donovan Mitchell
In lighter sports news, Donovan Mitchell dropped 71 points against the Bulls on Monday night in a 145-134 overtime win. He was 22-of-34 from the floor, 7-of-15 from deep, and 20-25 from the free throw line. It was the highest individual scoring performance since Kobe Bryant’s 81, and with that, Mitc...

Someone tell the Avalanche the season started a few months ago
Maybe Nathan MacKinnon is going to have to ban everyone from drinking soda again. Or let them drink soda, whatever isn’t what they’ve been doing this season. ...