ti Page 393 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The 49ers can’t play like they did against the Packers and expect to win a Super Bowl
The San Francisco 49ers advanced to their fourth NFC championship game in five years after escaping a Green Bay Packers onslaught, 24-21. While they are the favorites to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, it’s clearly going to take a herculean effort by Christian McCaffrey to carry ...

C.J. Stroud and every rookie QB to win an NFL playoff game
C.J. Stroud became the latest rookie QB to win a playoff game for his team. The Houston Texans shellacked the Cleveland Browns, 45-14, and the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft looked terrific....

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,...

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need a two-man game
The best duo in the NBA put on a show against the best team in the East on Friday night. Denver’s 102-100 win over Boston snapped the Celtics’ perfect mark at TD Garden this season, and 27-game home-winning streak overall. Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points, 20 rebounds and 14 assi...

Eastern Conference is a mess; Bruins don't need centers?; Sam Reinhart makes history
We’re halfway through the NHL season, which is now meant as a device to make everyone look stupid. Or really, to make me look stupid, which isn’t all that hard, because I’m stupid. After 41 games, we should have an idea of who is what and who’s going where. But in the Eastern Conference, we really d...

Blue Jays need some reality; Gooden, Strawberry numbers retired; Wainwright switches careers
In a lot of ways, feverishly watching the flight route of a plane that wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be is a pretty nice metaphor for the Toronto Blue Jays’ offseason and outlook. The Jays knew Shohei Ohtani wasn’t on that flight, but their fans certainly didn’t. That doesn’t mean that the ...

Blame Michael Jordan for Krause widow disgrace; Rudy Gobert trade finally paying off; Lakers need Zach LaVine
Michael Jordan won a widow getting booed. My colleague Stephen Knox covered this yesterday, the booing of Jerry Krause’s widow Thelma during the Chicago Bulls’ Ring of Honor ceremony on Friday, and he isn’t wrong. It’s another “feather” in the “cap” of Jerry Reinsdorf, though he wouldn’t have been i...

How suspected or confirmed PED users have fared in Baseball Hall of Fame voting
Is Gary Sheffield more Hall of Fame worthy than Alex Rodriguez, despite the fact that both are inextricably linked to performing enhancing drugs?...

Who's the best at each position in the NBA? We have answers
Before you jump down our throat for ranking by position in a positionless NBA, take a deep breath. It’s fun. So, let it happen, and let’s talk hoops. The rest of the world is catching up to America’s basketball dominance. Out of the five positions, four of our picks are not from America. On the flip...
![Sports Illustrated's future in flux after layoffs [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/c003c2d679d34432ba5675e064dc6a1a.jpg)
Sports Illustrated's future in flux after layoffs [Updated]
The future of Sports Illustrated is up in the air as The Arena Group laid off a portion of its staff on Friday, with the rest expected to be let go in three months’ time, according to Front Office Sports. ...

Soccer’s had load management for some time — now there just might be more of it
As if on cue, one of soccer’s biggest stars on one of the world’s biggest clubs went down with injury in the Africa Cup of Nations. While there’s not a diagnosis yet, Mohamed Salah limped off just before the half in Egypt’s draw against Ghana on Thursday. This comes a day after Kylian Mbappé warned ...

Rookie WRs could be the key this week for Chiefs, Ravens
Three of the best quarterbacks in NFL history will take the field for Divisional Round weekend, each with a different narrative surrounding him. Patrick Mahomes is participating in the first road playoff game of his career on Sunday. He is Michael Jordan in 1993 and 1998, having to rely on his own g...

This year’s Australian Open is drunk
The Australian Open is already kind of geared for weirdos, at least on these shores, given that you have to sacrifice sleep and any usefulness the next day to enjoy it. But this year’s edition has been off the rails, making it even more worth it for those of us who are prepared to throw ourselves of...

The Lakers would be crazy not to trade for Zach LaVine
The word from ESPN insiders is that there is no chance Zach LaVine will be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. There have been issues with him and the Chicago Bulls dating back to early last season. Last week on NBA Today, Brian Windhorst said that if the Bulls could trade LaVine in a moment’s notice...

Just when it looked like Boston area was free of King Sourpuss, Joe Mazzulla says, 'Hold my beer'
In the void left behind by Bill Belichick, Joe Mazzulla’s introverted-ness has risen to the occasion. And no, I’m not talking about the Boston Celtics giving the New England area a front-runner they desperately need. Mazzulla is the boorish head coach of a major professional franchise that the affab...

The NHL Eastern Conference playoff race is a mess
We’re halfway through the NHL season, which is now meant as a device to make everyone look stupid. Or really, to make me look stupid, which isn’t all that hard, because I’m stupid. After 41 games, we should have an idea of who is what and who’s going where. But in the Eastern Conference, we really d...

The NFL buying ESPN is the final frontier in the effort to kill sports journalism
Last week, my colleague Sean Beckwith wrote about the NFL possibly buying a stake in ESPN, and the potential for the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports to become nothing more than the PR arm of the most popular league in America (at least, more than it already is). Yesterday, over at The Nat...

Lamar Jackson is stepping into one of those career defining moments
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has had one heck of a season, but all he’s accomplished could be nothing but a memory if they stumble against the Houston Texans this week. Jackson was so good this year that he could become the first QB since Steve McNair in 2003 to win the MVP award with ...

If you already think the Kansas City Chiefs get all the calls...
Good news, Chiefs fans. Shawn Hochuli will be the referee for Kansas City’s AFC Divisional round game against the Buffalo Bills. ...
