rock Page 17 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bettors are hoping to ride the hot hand
The San Francisco 49ers have a long road ahead of them if they want to win their first Super Bowl since 1995. Not necessarily because they’re going to face a lot of strong competition — the NFC is rather weak this year — but because they have to win four straight games with 2022's Mr. Irrelevant und...

NFL Playoffs: The 2 NFC teams on upset alert are overshadowing the 1 that’s not
There’s been a ton of chatter this week about who’s on upset alert, and most of that talk has surrounded two NFC teams prone to losing in the most extravagant ways possible when it comes to the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings are 2.5- and 3-point favorites, respectively, in ma...

Here are the 11 best possible Super Bowl LVII matchups
The NFL postseason is upon us, and as usual, anything can happen when it’s, win or go home. This year’s AFC field feels like a three-team race, while the NFC looks pretty open. Some teams don’t have a great shot, but it’s always fun to play matchmaker and look at the most exciting potential Super Bo...

9 backup QBs have won a Super Bowl — could Brock Purdy be next?
Sixty-eight quarterbacks started at least one game in 2022. That’s a list that includes signal-callers like Mike “F’n” White, David Blough, Trace McSorley, Skylar Thompson, Desmond Ridder, Jarett Stidham... and “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy....

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...

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...

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...

The James Harden and Houston Rockets reunion is a pie-in-the-sky dream
James Harden is a deeply unserious franchise cornerstone. However, in the midst of a pivotal, legacy-defining season for his career, Harden may be eyeing a return in free agency to the Rockets franchise he forced his way out of two years ago, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. ...

Sports is sometimes disheartening as a profit-margin-focused enterprise, but it does produce some great stories
Yes, sports is like all other major American industries — run by a handful of people who made out like bandits in this economic system of great wealth disparity. Because they have accumulated such vast wealth, they believe that is a sign of intelligence and that hubris frequently leads to poor decis...

Alexander Ovechkin, the 'GR8 One'
Alexander Ovechkin is the best pure goal-scorer in NHL history. That’s not up for debate. The longtime Washington Capital hasn’t been hockey’s best player for years, but his ability to put the puck in the back of the net is nearly as good as it was 15 years ago when he scored 65 goals during the 200...

TNF: The Seahawks are in the playoff hunt, who woulda thunk it?
Week 15 kicks off with an NFC West rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. It’s been a while since a Niners-Seahawks game this late in the season had playoff ramifications for both teams....

The San Francisco move has been Golden for the Warriors
This Golden State Warriors in San Francisco thing will never sit right with me. ...

It doesn’t matter who the 49ers place under center
The San Francisco 49ers have become the scariest team in the NFL over the last seven weeks of the season. On Sunday, the Niners continued to invoke their dominance over the NFC by shutting down and nearly shutting out Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 35-7. Besides having the best defense in t...

Week 14 NFL Takeaways: Byemaggedon Part II, Ugly Wins Attack
There were a handful of upsets in Week 14, but for the most part, chalk held up. The teams that were expected to win, and also contend in the playoffs, held serve during the final week of byes in the 2022 season....

There is a lot more than a championship on the line with Jimmy G’s injury situation
It’s Wednesday, Dec. 7, and there is still no clear picture of the timeline for Jimmy Garoppolo’s return to the field. ...

Make the Heisman Trophy more than the 'Best QB' award it’s become
The Heisman Trophy has been college football’s most prestigious award since University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger was awarded the first stiff-armed prototype in 1935. Since then, Chicago has dumped its football program and the award has morphed into a Quarterback of the Year award. That lazin...

Can the 49ers reset the NFL quarterback market?
If any team can settle the quarterback market a bit it’s the 2022 San Francisco 49ers....

Does Jacob deGrom give the Texas Rangers one of the best rotations in the AL?
Congratulations, Texas Rangers fans! You’ve just secured one of the greatest pitchers of our generation for the next five years....

Some day, not now, Jabari Smith Jr. will know what it’s like to have a true point guard
For as much tanking and general thirst that the top three picks of the 2022 NBA Draft garnered, they haven’t merited that attention quite yet. In Chet Holmgren’s case, it’s impossible because he’s out for the season. Paolo Banchero is going to win Rookie of the Year, and little else on an Orlando Ma...