ick Page 160 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Logic tells us the Ravens should win the Super Bowl, but the NFL has a way of going off script
We’re down to the final four in the NFL. Despite Kansas City and San Francisco having been in this mix multiple times over the past few years, simple logic points to Baltimore and Lamar Jackson finally breaking through. We also know the NFL tends to go “off script” sometimes in the postseason. The R...

Andy Reid’s career arc is the inverse of Bill Belichick’s
Now in his sixth consecutive AFC Title game, Andy Reid is making up for lost time after struggling to get over the hump during his decade and change in Philadelphia. The venerable Chiefs coach is a virtuoso playcaller who has shepherded Kansas City to three Super Bowls, two Lombardi Trophies and has...

Blood-money sellout claims pending LIV-PGA merger is for the 'good of fans'
Bryson DeChambeau, one of the PGA defectors who took the Saudi blood money to join LIV, thinks the impending merger of the two organizations is what golf fans are clamoring for....

Jim Harbaugh and the HCs that also played for their teams
Jim Harbaugh is returning to the NFL as the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. What you might have forgotten is that he played quarterback for the franchise in 1999 and 2000 — back when the Bolts were still in San Diego....

The LA Chargers are finally interesting
Los Angeles’ most faceless and fanless team has landed a superstar. The NFL is a failsafe league. All of its television rights are national — as well as massive — and the roster construction is limited by a hard salary cap. The Los Angeles Chargers may not be hurting financially, but they are a thir...

On Sports Illustrated, the LA Times, and why sports writing matters
These are dark days for journalism, once considered the “Fourth Estate” of American democracy, so named because of journalism’s role in advocating for citizens, framing political and social issues, and holding the government to account on behalf of its people. These days, it seems there are two kind...

Joe Mauer, Todd Helton and the 1-team baseball Hall of Famers by franchise
The 2024 Hall of Fame inductions added two names to a very exclusive list. With Joe Mauer and Todd Helton’s nomination to Cooperstown, the two join 53 other players as the only in MLB history to make the Hall of Fame after spending their entire careers on one team. Listed by team, here are the reale...

Marquez Valdes-Scantling came up clutch for the Chiefs
A lot went right for the Kansas City Chiefs during their Divisional Round victory against the Buffalo Bills. They rushed for 146 yards on 6.1 yards per carry. As a unit, their pass catchers averaged 12.6 yards per reception. Per Next Gen Stats, Patrick Mahomes completed three deep passes in a game f...

Ranking the final 4 teams in NFL playoffs
The stage is set. Four teams remain. Aside from some gut-wrenching, soul-crushing losses by the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys, these are pretty much the teams we expected to make it this far. ...

Dan Quinn, Jim Harbaugh and all of the NFL coaching, exec hires
With interviews entering late rounds and the new league year inching closer, we are finally seeing some of the coaching and front-office vacancies around the league get filled. To check out every opening around the league, check out our firings list. Tap in for all the latest head coach, coordinator...

Luka Doncic and each NBA team's leading single-game scorer
Update: Luka Doncic is the latest NBA star to drop 70+ points this season. It topped his Dallas Mavericks single-game record of 60, set in 2022. ...

Don’t lose faith, Buffalo Bills fans
At least the Buffalo Bills put up a fight this season. Their Divisional-Round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2022 season was weak. The Bengals pushed the Bills all over the field in a three-score victory. That did not happen on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills made sure to...

The New York Islanders have lost their minds
The silver lining, we suppose, is that at least the Islanders are noticeable for a few minutes. The other one, possibly if you’re really stretching for them, is that if the Isles are going to have a dinosaur GM that the game has passed by, they might as well have (another) coach who is also a dinosa...

Liverpool finally find a win in third gear
The Premier League finished up their split round, in what constitutes their winter break. So let’s run through every game that went down Saturday and Sunday, which doesn’t even allow us to get to our usual five bullet points! It’s our break, too, we guess. And sorry to any Brighton or Wolves support...

The AFC Championship Game is going to be extra 'quarterbacky'
When you’re truly remorseful, your apology tends to be louder than your initial disrespect. It’s why Lamar Jackson’s and Patrick Mahomes’ haters have been so silent lately....

The NBA 'superstar' landscape has shifted
There is no greater conduit for NBA hyperbole than the conversation around “superstars.” To have a rational, substantive debate, there must first be basic groundwork for what constitutes superstar status. First, the bad news: former Finals MVPs Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kawhi Leona...

Are there two worse words in Buffalo Bills history than 'wide right'?
Buffalo had Kansas City right where they wanted them with two minutes left at home in the main event of the Divisional Round. It looked like Josh Allen and the Bills might finally vanquish their nemesis from the Midwest, and send them home with a loss in Patrick Mahomes’ first road playoff game. How...

The Bills played their role perfectly
Every great dynasty has its one foe that is there simply to be toppled and make that conquering force look all the more mighty. Michael Jordan had the New York Knicks. Tom Brady had Peyton Manning. The New York Yankees had the Boston Red Sox. And then the Red Sox had the Yankees. The Romans kicked a...

Jordan Love’s best and worst were on display this postseason
No matter how Jordan Love’s season ended, it was an unmitigated success. He put himself in a position to secure a bag from Green Bay this offseason, obliterated the Dallas Cowboys with a 3-touchdown performance in his playoff debut, and was an all-around feel-good story despite the unhappy ending. B...

What happens when Green Bay, San Francisco meet in the playoffs
The San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers square off in the first 1 seed-vs.-7 seed matchup in NFL history. The two teams will set a record for their 10th playoff meeting, with the Packers looking to even a series that’s spanned 27 years. In a rivalry that’s racked up plenty of historic moments,...