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🚨 Headlines
⛳️ Hideki makes history: The PGA Tour season officially kicked off in Hawaii, where Hideki Matsuyama (-35) won The Sentry and set the Tour’s 72-hole scoring record. He had 33 birdies, 2 eagles and 2 bogeys. Ridiculous.
🏈 Pats fire Mayo: Bill Belichick’s replacement lasted just one season in New England. The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo on Sunday after a 4-13 season. Could they have their eyes on Mike Vrabel?
🏒 USA wins it all: Teddy Stiga scored on a breakaway in OT to lift the U.S. past Finland, 4-3, in the world junior hockey championship game and give the Americans their second straight title. “Pure joy for the guys,” said coach David Carle. “I’m really proud. They’ll walk together forever.”
🏀 Raised to the rafters: The Bulls will retire Derrick Rose’s number next season, raising his No. 1 jersey to the rafters alongside Michael Jordan (No. 23), Scottie Pippen (No. 33), Jerry Sloan (No. 4) and Bob Love (No. 10).
🏒 Chasing Gretzky: With nine goals in his last six games, Alex Ovechkin is now 23 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894. What was once thought impossible is now inevitable.
🏈 Bring on the playoffs
Sunday concluded the 2024 NFL regular season, which featured one of the closest MVP races in recent memory, a host of rare statistical milestones and a historic finish last night in Detroit.
The playoffs are set: The final two postseason spots were decided on Sunday, as the Buccaneers clinched the NFC South and the Broncos finally snapped their eight-year playoff drought.
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NFC: The Lions clinched the NFC’s top seed for the first time ever with a 31-9 blowout win over the Vikings — the first season finale since 1993 in which the winner earned the No. 1 seed, and the first regular-season game in NFL history between 14-win teams.
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AFC: The path to the Super Bowl still runs through Kansas City. The Chiefs are seeking their third straight title after earning the No. 1 seed for the fourth time in seven seasons with Patrick Mahomes under center.
Title odds: The Lions are the favorites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy (+280 at BetMGM), followed by the Chiefs (+350), Ravens (+600), Bills (+600), Eagles (+700), Vikings (+1600), Packers (+1800), Buccaneers (+3000), Chargers (+3500), Rams (+3500), Commanders (+3500), Broncos (+8000), Texans (+8000) and Steelers (+10000).
An MVP race for the ages: For weeks, it looked like Josh Allen would run away with the award, but Lamar Jackson has not so quietly made a bid for his third MVP after leading the Ravens (12-5) to just one fewer win than Allen’s Bills (13-4).
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Jackson: Baltimore’s dual threat QB is not only the first player with at least 4,000 passing (4,172) and 900 rushing yards (915) in a season, but also the first with 40+ TD (41) and fewer than five INT (4). He added four rushing TDs and posted a career-high 119.6 passer rating.
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Allen: Buffalo’s signal-caller sat Sunday’s game, ending the year with 3,731 yards, 28 TD and 6 INT, plus 531 rushing yards and 12 scores on the ground. While Jackson has better numbers, it’s important to note that Allen sat roughly 11 quarters this season with the game (or playoff spot) already in hand.
Honorable mention: Saquon Barkley, who also rested on Sunday, became the ninth member of the 2,000 yard club; Joe Burrow led the league in passing yards (4,918) and TD (43).
Season in review:
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Rodgers’ last stand? Aaron Rodgers’ future, as both a Jet and in the NFL, is up in the air. If Sunday was his swan song it was quite a coda: He posted his first 4 TD game since 2021 and became the fifth QB in NFL history with 500 career TD passes.
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Rookie standouts: Jayden Daniels became the third rookie QB to win 12 games; Brock Bowers (112 catches) and Malik Nabers (109) both broke the previous record for receptions by a rookie; Jared Verse is the DROY favorite after earning the Rams’ only Pro Bowl spot.
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Fantasy football awards: Ja’Marr Chase’s Triple Crown (127 catches, 1,708 yards, 17 TD) earned him Yahoo Sports Fantasy MVP. Other superlatives include Bucs RB Bucky Irving as the best waiver add and Jets RB Breece Hall as the biggest bust.
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Playoff droughts: While the Broncos are finally back in the playoffs, the same can’t be said for the Jets (14 years), Falcons (seven) or Panthers (seven), who now own the NFL’s longest active droughts.
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Race to the bottom: The Titans (3-13) clinched the No. 1 draft pick with their worst season since 2015.
The top five teams are the Browns, Giants, Patriots, and Jaguars. Additionally, several players earned bonuses for hitting contract incentives, including Mike Evans, Geno Smith, and Zach Ertz. 🎾 Iga Świątek claimed the title before Taylor Fritz defeated Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) to clinch the championship. The top-seeded Bobcats are set to face off against the third-seeded Bison in Frisco, Texas tonight at 7pm ET on ESPN. The Bison are aiming for their record 10th FCS national championship, while the Bobcats are looking to secure their second title, the first since 1984.
The game is a rematch from the 2022 FCS title game where NDSU emerged victorious. Can the Bobcats get their revenge and claim their first title in 40 years, or will the Bison continue their dominance with another championship win?
In other sports news to watch out for:
– NBA matchups include Suns at 76ers (7pm, NBA) and Heat at Kings (10pm, NBA)
– NCAAM games feature Wisconsin at Rutgers (7pm, FS1) and TCU at No. 14 Houston (9pm, ESPN2)
– NHL action with Capitals at Sabres (7pm, NHL)
– EPL game between Wolves and Nottingham Forest (3pm, USA)
Don’t miss out on the excitement of this highly anticipated showdown between the Bobcats and the Bison as they battle for the FCS national championship. content of the given text, such as paraphrasing or summarizing it in a new way. following sentence in a different way:
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