Bills hold off Ravens; previewing Ohio State-Notre Dame CFP championship; Dodgers acquire Roki Sasaki

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🏈 Good morning to all, however particularly to …

THE BUFFALO BILLS

Kansas Metropolis, right here they arrive. The Payments are heading to the AFC Championship sport after a thrilling 27-25 win over the Ravens. Mark Andrews dropped a potential two-point conversion with below two minutes left in yet one more heart-wrenching loss for Lamar Jackson and Baltimore.

Josh Allen wasn’t spectacular, however he was ok to be forward of the Ravens after 60 minutes of soccer. His 16 of twenty-two for 127 yards is not an MVP-like day, though he did additionally rush for 20 yards and two scores. James Cook dinner had a mixed 20 touches speeding and receiving for 82 yards. And Von Miller returned a Jackson fumble 39 yards to arrange a arrange the Payments’ third landing and 21-10 lead going into halftime.

As for all these errors by the Ravens:

• The possession earlier than Andrews’ game-sealing drop, he misplaced a fumble that led to Buffalo extending its lead from 5 to eight.
• Baltimore additionally had two different turnovers — a nasty Jackson interception and a Jackson fumble after a snap gone awry — plus one other failed two-point conversion earlier within the sport. Buffalo did not have a turnover.
• The Ravens had 4 drops and 5 penalties. The Payments had no drops and one penalty.

That is the way you win a sport through which you get out-gained 416-273. And now, the Payments get an opportunity, once more, at revenge in opposition to the Chiefs. It is the fourth time within the final 5 seasons these two have met within the postseason.

• 2023 divisional spherical: The Chiefs received 27-24 after Tyler Bass missed a possible game-tying discipline aim.
• 2021 divisional spherical: The Chiefs received 42-36 in extra time. The Payments led by three with 13 seconds left in regulation, however the Chiefs went 44 yards in 10 seconds to arrange Harrison Butker‘s 49-yard discipline aim, and Patrick Mahomes discovered Travis Kelce for a landing on the primary possession of extra time.
• 2020 AFC Championship: The Chiefs received 38-24.

All you may ask for is an opportunity, and the Payments — who had been the one group to beat the Chiefs’ starters this season — have an amazing one … once more.

As for the opposite winners …

• The Eagles held on for a 28-22 win over the Rams due to a monster day from Saquon Barkley (205 yards speeding, two touchdowns) and an important sack from Jalen Carter. Jalen Hurts appeared to undergo a knee harm, and although he did not miss any time, he did not do a lot after the harm, both. He’s confident he can play in the NFC Championship.
• The Commanders shocked the Lions, 45-31, for the franchise’s first trip to the NFC Championship since the 1991 season. Jayden Daniels is a celebrity: 299 yards and two touchdowns passing, 51 yards speeding, zero sacks/turnovers. He’s having the best postseason ever for a rookie quarterback, Jeff Kerr says. Quan Martin had a choose six for a Washington protection that produced 5 turnovers. Extra on this one in a bit …
• The Chiefs beat the Texans, 23-14, changing into the first team to win a playoff game regardless of being outgained by 100 yards and never forcing a turnover. The refs probably helped a bit, however so, too, did the protection sacking C.J. Stroud eight instances and Travis Kelce (eight receptions, 117 yards, one landing) having a record-setting sport. Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark were there to see it.

👍 Honorable mentions

• Here’s the Championship Sunday schedule.
• Steve Sarkisian obtained an extension and a raise from Texas.
• The Falcons hired Jeff Ulbrich as defensive coordinator.
• The Bucks are interested in Bradley Beal.
• What a weekend in males’s school basketball! No. 4 Alabama beat No. 8 Kentucky, 102-97, one other high-scoring affair for the Crimson Tide. Elsewhere, West Virginia upset No. 2 Iowa State, Vanderbilt took down No. 6 Tennessee, and No. 1 Auburn eked out a 63-61 win over No. 23 Georgia. Listed below are our winners and losers from the weekend.
• Plus Dayton threw a full-court alley-oop buzzer-beater.
• On the ladies’s facet, No. 2 South Carolina crushed No. 13 Oklahoma,101-60, a record-setting blowout.
• Unmatched produced a thrilling opening weekend, highlighted by Skylar Diggins-Smith making a game-winning 3 within the first sport … and a game-winning foul shot. Here’s the schedule.
• At UFC 311, Merab Dvalishvili rallied previous Umar Nurmagomedov to retain his bantamweight title, and Islam Makhachev submitted Renato Moicano to retain his lightweight title. Listed below are our takeaways, and listed below are fights that should happen next.
• The USMNT cruised previous Venezuela, 3-1.
• Timothy Weah scored a goal for Juventus, whereas his fellow USMNT stars Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah continued to perform well.
• Alyssa Naeher was named 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.
• Sepp Straka won the American Express. Abroad, Tyrrell Hatton won the Dubai Desert Classic.

🏈 And never such a very good morning for …

THE BALTIMORE RAVENS AND THE DETROIT LIONS

Each time you wish to imagine within the Ravens, that this is the group, with its MVP quarterback, nice working sport and stout protection, they do that. Too. Many. Errors. In Jackson’s 5 profession playoff losses, the Ravens have dedicated 13 turnovers and compelled just one. This was the primary time the Ravens had a negative-three turnover differential since … their AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs final season. Becoming.

Jackson and Josh Allen current an interesting examine. Each 2018 draftees are unbelievable abilities who’ve improved leaps and bounds however come up brief within the playoffs. They’re the top two MVP candidates this yr.

However Jackson has 11 turnovers in eight profession playoff video games. Allen has six turnovers in 12 profession playoff video games, and 0 in his previous 4. Each are marvelous gamers, and a number of the performs Jackson made Sunday had been completely jaw-dropping. But it surely’s the errors that haunted Jackson as soon as once more — he admitted as much postgame — and Jeff says the Ravens blew their best Super Bowl chance with Jackson.

Shifting onto the Lions, final yr, after they blew a 17-point lead within the NFC Championship in opposition to the 49ers, Dan Campbell emotionally told them, “This will likely have been our solely shot.”

It was refreshingly sincere from Campbell then, and it proved prescient after Detroit’s gorgeous loss to the Commanders. Campbell was emotional again, and it is comprehensible, once more. It is a franchise that rose from laughingstock to powerhouse and league darling.

And then this: Jared Goff turned the ball over four times — thrice in scoring positions — and Jameson Williams threw an ill-advised go on a trick play that resulted in an interception. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson may’ve reached into his deep bag of methods one too many instances. A protection devastated by accidents had few solutions.

Now you see why it is so arduous to get right here. Now you surprise how arduous it will likely be to get again. Detroit has had the nice fortune of preserving its coordinators regardless of its success, however groups are very interested in Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for head teaching jobs.

You then take into account different year-to-year variance — accidents, acquisitions, enchancment/decline, luck, and so forth. — and also you surprise: Has Detroit’s championship window closed? Garrett Podell says …

• Podell: “Detroit has now skilled that very same Goff ceiling in consecutive postseasons … He is nice when surrounded by an elite solid of weapons and a top-tier play-caller, however when requested to raise his group when the lights are brightest — whether or not that is been in Detroit or Los Angeles — he is faltered. … Assuming well being is hard, however one would assume it must be higher in 2025 after Detroit had six defensive starters and 16 complete gamers on injured reserve. … The Lions will likely be a postseason common going ahead, however … the present window might shut quickly.”

As for the opposite losers …

• You’re employed all yr for alternatives like what the Rams had — 13 yards from a visit to the NFC Championship — and then you definitely blow one task, surrender one sack, and the season is over. It is a powerful one.
• The Texans confirmed actual toughness hanging with the Chiefs, nevertheless it simply wasn’t sufficient. The protection is terrific, and Stroud to Nico Collins is a top-tier mixture. I am excited to see what’s subsequent for Houston, which has holes to fill however is not that distant.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 Faculty Soccer Playoff nationwide championship preview, picks

Notre Dame was left for useless when it misplaced to Northern Illinois early. Ohio State seemed lifeless in a rivalry loss to Michigan late.

Tonight, the Buckeyes and the Combating Irish, in opposition to all odds and storylines following these video games, play for a national championship.

Ohio State is an 8.5-point favourite, and for good cause. Ever since a players-only meeting after that loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes have been on a roll. They hammered Tennessee and Oregon earlier than Jack Sawyer made one of the all-time great plays in program history to seal a semifinal win over Texas. Tonight, Ohio State has the sting in nearly every category.

However video games aren’t performed on paper. Dennis Dodd outlines the narrow path for a Fighting Irish win, and Chip Patterson has five keys for the underdogs, together with …

• Patterson: “Factors off turnovers — Notre Dame has been gaining edges all yr due to the perfect factors off turnovers efficiency within the nation. … Notre Dame has created extra alternatives than anybody else for these factors with essentially the most turnovers gained within the nation and have accomplished a very good job of balancing that on offense to supply the nation’s fifth-best turnover margin. When wanting on the methods to shut the hole with Ohio State, creating free possessions after which making the Buckeyes pay for his or her errors is a big approach to stage the enjoying discipline.”

Listed below are Tom Fornelli’s keys for the Buckeyes, and here are his best bets. We even have picks from all of our experts.

This is extra:

⚾ Dodgers signal Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott to proceed large offseason

The wealthy get richer, and the Dodgers‘ pockets are seemingly deeper than ever. Los Angeles received the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes Friday and supplemented that coup by signing Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million deal Sunday.

As an novice worldwide free agent, Sasaki only received a $6.5-million signing bonus regardless of being value rather more than that. The 23-year-old righty has a 2.35 profession ERA within the Nippon Skilled Baseball League (Japan) and burst on the scene with a 19-strikeout perfect game again in 2022.

Sasaki was the No. 7 free agent in R.J. Anderson’s rankings.

• Anderson: “He combines elite velocity with a devastating swing-and-miss splitter/forkball. Sasaki has dealt together with his share of accidents, limiting him to 33 mixed begins throughout the final two seasons. His incomes potential is totally suppressed due to his novice free agent classification. Nonetheless, a totally actualized Sasaki has an opportunity to be a right away impression starter within the majors.”

The Dodgers beat out the Padres and Blue Jays, another notable whiff for Toronto. And no, there was no tampering, although Sasaki does have connections to Japan teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who he’ll now be a part of within the rotation. And what a rotation it’s:

1. RHP Shohei Ohtani
2. LHP Blake Snell
3. RHP Tyler Glasnow
4. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
5. RHP Roki Sasaki
6. RHP Tony Gonsolin
7. RHP Dustin Might

You may discover that checklist does not embody Clayton Kershaw, although bringing him again could be next.

Scott joins a loaded bullpen behind that rotation. This is R.J.’s scouting report on Scott, who posted a 1.75 ERA and made his first All-Star Recreation final season and was the No. 27 free agent in the class.

📺 What we’re watching Monday

🏀 Mavericks at Hornets, midday on NBA TV
🏀 Timberwolves at Grizzlies, 2:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Baylor vs. No. 1 UCLA (W), 3 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Celtics at Warriors, 5 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 No. 7 Texas vs. No. 8 Maryland (W), 5:30 p.m. on Fox
🏈 CFP championship: (8) Ohio State vs. (7) Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Unmatched, 7:30 p.m. on TNT