🏈 Divisional Drama!

Good Morning! The best weekend of the NFL season lived up to its billing. Unfortunately for the Bills, their season is over. Three of the four Divisional Round duels came down to the wire, capped by yet another unforgettable showdown between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, where heartbreak hushed Highmark Stadium. In case you missed anything, we'll recap every game and then look ahead to Championship Sunday, featuring some perennial powers and — wait for it — the Detroit Lions! We also had history made in college hoops and on the PGA Tour, a busy weekend around the NBA and NHL, and some upsets down under at the Australian Open. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Since becoming the team’s starting quarterback in 2018, Patrick Mahomes has led the Chiefs to six consecutive AFC championship games - in other words, Mahomes has never not made the AFC title game as a starter; he is 8-0 in wild-card and divisional games, with 22 total touchdowns and just one interception.

🏈 Divisional Drama!

NFL Playoffs - Divisional Round

Sunday

• AFC | #3 Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) 27, #2 Buffalo Bills (11-6) 24: Postseason heartbreak for Buffalo, again. In another instant classic between Patrick Mahomes (17/23, 215 YDS, 2 TDs) and Josh Allen (26/39, 186 YDS, 1 TD / 12 CAR, 72 YDS, 2 TDs) that featured five lead changes, Travis Kelce (5 REC, 75 YDS, 2 TDs) reeled in two touchdown grabs, and Isiah Pacheco (15 CAR, 97 YDS, 1 TD) found paydirt early in the 4th quarter to put Kansas City up 27-24. But a costly goal line fumble by Mecole Hardman (1 REC, 2 YDS, 1 FUM) on their next drive gave Buffalo life, and after exchanging punts, Allen got his team into field goal range with 1:47 remaining only for Tyler Bass (1/2, 3/3 XP) to miss a 44-yarder wide right, and the Chiefs ran out the clock to reach their sixth consecutive AFC championship - it was Mahomes’ first career road playoff game (not including Super Bowls), and Kansas City has now eliminated Buffalo in three of the past four postseasons

• NFC | #3 Detroit Lions (12-5) 31, #4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) 23: The Detroit Lions are one win away from playing in the Super Bowl. I repeat, the Detroit Lions are one win away from playing in the Super Bowl. Things were knotted up at 17 entering the 4th quarter, but Jahmyr Gibbs (9 CAR, 4 REC, 114 Tot. YDS, 1 TD) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (8 REC, 77 YDS, 1 TD) scored on back-to-back possessions to give Detroit a 14-point lead, and although Mike Evans’ (8 REC, 147 YDs, 1 TD) late touchdown catch made it a one-score game, Baker Mayfield (26/41, 349 YDS, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) was picked off on the Bucs’ final drive, and the Lions punched their ticket to the NFC championship for the first time in 32 years and just the second time in franchise history - Jared Goff (30/43, 287 YDS, 2 TDs) came alive in the second half, and Detroit has never made the Super Bowl

Saturday

• NFC | #1 San Francisco 49ers (12-5) 24, #7 Green Bay Packers (9-8) 21: Brock Purdy (23/39, 252 YDS, 1 TD) struggled for much of the game, and following a pair of Jordan Love (21/34, 194 YDS, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) touchdown passes in the 3rd quarter, Packers K Anders Carlson (2/3, 1/1 XP) faced a 41-yard field goal try to give his team a seven-point lead with six minutes remaining. But Carlson yanked the kick wide left, and Purdy proceeded to orchestrate a 12-play, 69-yard drive capped by Christian McCaffrey’s (17 CAR, 7 REC, 128 Tot. YDS, 2 TDs) go-ahead touchdown run with 1:07 to play, and San Francisco sealed a gutsy win with Dre Greenlaw (2 INT) picking off Love for the second time - 49ers WR Deebo Samuel left the game after injuring his shoulder on the opening drive, and Purdy went 6-for-7 for 47 yards on the game-winning drive

• AFC | #1 Baltimore Ravens (13-4) 34, #4 Houston Texans (10-7) 10: It looked as if the Ravens were flirting with another disappointing playoff exit after Texans WR Steven Sims returned a punt 67 yards to the house late in the 2nd quarter to make it a 10-10 game at the break, but it was all Baltimore from there, as Lamar Jackson (16/22, 152 YDS, 2 TDs / 11 CAR, 100 YDS, 2 TDs) threw for a touchdown and ran for two more in the second half while the Ravens defense shutout CJ Stroud (19/33, 175 YDS) and the Texans offense to secure an emphatic W - Baltimore will host the AFC Championship game for the first time since January 1971, and Jackson became the first player in postseason history to throw for two touchdowns while also rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns in a game

See the full box scores here.

Conference Championships

Sunday, Jan. 28

• AFC | #3 Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) @ #1 Baltimore Ravens (13-4) 3:00pm ET, CBS - spread: BAL -3.5

• NFC | #3 Detroit Lions (12-5) @ #1 San Francisco 49ers (12-5) 6:30pm ET, FOX - spread: SF -7

See the full NFL playoff bracket here.

Women’s College Basketball - Top Games

• #8 Stanford 65, Oregon State 56: Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer is now the winningest coach in DI college basketball history! Kiki Iriafen (36 PTS, 16-26 FG, 12 REB) scored a career-high, and the Cardinal pulled away from Oregon State in the final two quarters to give their Hall of Fame coach her 1,203rd career victory, passing former Duke HC Mike Krzyzewski for the most all-time wins in major college basketball - VanDerveer, 70, has a 1,203-267 career record and is 1,051-216 over 38 seasons at Stanford with three NCAA titles

• #18 Ohio State 100, #2 Iowa 92 (OT): In front of 18,660 fans in Columbus, Caitlin Clark (45 PTS, 7-18 3PT, 7 AST) put on a show by dropping a season-high, but Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon (33 PTS, 12-23 FG, 12 REB) had herself a career-high, and the Buckeyes stunned Iowa in an OT-thriller on Sunday - Clark was accidentally knocked down by a fan storming the court after the game, but is luckily okay

• #3 Colorado 63, #6 USC 59: In a top-10 clash featuring two Pac-12 powers, Colorado’s Aaronette Vonleh (8 PTS, 6 REB) put in a go-ahead layup with 52 seconds to play and then cashed in a pair of free throws with one second remaining to help the Buffs edge out freshman phenom JuJu Watkins (20 PTS, 8-22 FG) and the Trojans on Sunday - USC is now 13-3, with all three of their losses coming in conference play, and Colorado is 15-2

See the full women’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

Men’s College Basketball - Top Games

• West Virginia 91, #3 Kansas 85: The Jayhawks fell victim to the upset of the weekend on the men’s side, as Raequan Battle (23 PTS, 3-7 3PT, 9 REB) and the Mountaineers took an early lead with a three-point barrage before knocking down a slew of clutch free throws down the stretch to shock Kevin McCullar Jr. (25 PTS, 5 AST) and Kansas on Saturday, marking KU’s third loss of the season and their second in four games - it was West Virginia’s seventh win of the season… court storming warranted!

• #1 UConn 66, Villanova 65: TJ Bamba (15 PTS, 4 REB) and Justin Moore (15 PTS, 5 REB) had Nova tied with the top-ranked Huskies with less than three minutes to spare, but UConn’s Alex Karaban (10 PTS, 5 REB) splashed a huge go-ahead three with two minutes left, and Tristen Newton (25 PTS, 6 REB) made some crucial free throws in the final seconds to survive a scare against the Cats on Saturday - Villanova (7-11) hit a three at the buzzer to cut the final margin to one

• Pittsburgh 80, #7 Duke 76: Pitt claimed their first win in Cameron Indoor since 1979 on Saturday night as Blake Hinson (24 PTS, 7-7 3PT, 8 REB) silenced the Crazies with a perfect shooting night from beyond the arc before Jaland Lowe (17 PTS, 6 AST) nailed a dagger three with 43 seconds left to snap Kyle Filipowski (19 PTS, 5 REB) and the Blue Devil’s eight-game winning streak - Duke (13-4) hadn’t lost since Dec. 2

See the full men’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NBA - Top Games

• Los Angeles Clippers 125, Brooklyn Nets 114: Mikal Bridges (26 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST) and the Nets jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the 1st quarter and were up 99-84 after three, but Kawhi Leonard (21 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST) scored 14 points in the final five minutes and the Clippers ended the game on a 22-0 run to stun Brooklyn at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday - Los Angeles (27-14) is now 19-3 since Dec. 2 and outscored the Nets 41-15 in the 4th quarter

• Denver Nuggets 113, Washington Wizards 104: Nikola Jokic (42 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST) stuffed the stat sheet with a monster double-double, and the Nuggets pranced past Kyle Kuzma (17 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST) and the Zards on Sunday for their second straight win after snapping the Celtics’ perfect 20-0 home record on Friday night with a 102-100 win in Boston

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

NHL - Top Games

• Edmonton Oilers 3, Calgary Flames 1: Make that 13 straight for Edmonton! Sam Gagner (1 G) scored the go-ahead goal in the 3rd period off a ricochet from behind the net, and Zach Hyman (1 G) buried an empty netter to extend the Oilers’ franchise-record winning streak to 13 games on Saturday - Edmonton (26-15-1) is four wins away from tying the longest winning streak in NHL history (17 games) set by the 1992-93 Penguins

• Boston Bruins 9, Montreal Canadiens 4: Danton Heinen (3 G) earned his first career hat trick, Brad Marchand (1 G) set a franchise record by notching his 20th goal for the 11th straight season, and seven different Bruins scored in a rout of the Habs on Saturday for Boston’s fourth win in a row - the Bruins (28-8-9) lead the East with 65 points

See the full box scores here and the current NHL standings here.

ATP Australian Open - Rounds 3 & 4, Top Matches

Women’s Singles

• R3 | Linda Noskova def. #1 Iga Swiatek (3-6, 6-3, 6-4): Czechia’s 19-year-old Linda Noskova became the first teenager to beat a No. 1-ranked woman at the Australian Open since 1999 by winning 11 of the last 12 points to take the second set before riding her momentum through the third to stun two-time major winner Iga Swiatek in the third round on Saturday

• R4 | #2 Aryna Sabalenka def. Amanda Anisimova (6-3, 6-2)

• R4 | #4 Coco Gauff def. Magdalena Frech (6-1, 6-2)

Men’s Singles

• R4 | #12 Taylor Fritz def. #7 Stefanos Tsitsipas (7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3): 26-year-old American Taylor Fritz earned his first top-10 win at a major on Saturday by ousting the Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, who committed seven double faults and 33 unforced errors in a late unraveling, allowing Fritz to book his first quarterfinals appearance at Melbourne - Fritz will face Novak Djokovic tonight at 10:30pm ET

• R4 | #1 Novak Djokovic def. #20 Adrian Mannarino (6-0, 6-0, 6-3)

• R4 | #2 Carlos Alcaraz vs. Miomir Kecmanovic: Live Score

• R4 | #4 Jannik Sinner def. #15 Karen Khachanov (6-4, 7-5, 6-3)

• R4 | #5 Andrey Rublev def. #10 Alex de Minaur (6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-0)

See the full results here, the men’s singles bracket here, and the women’s singles bracket here.

⛳️ Amateur Nick Dunlap, a sophomore at Alabama, won The American Express in La Quinta, CA, on Sunday to become the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991 - Dunlap, 20, trailed Sam Burns on the back nine before rallying to win by one stroke at 29-under

🏈 Raiders hired interim HC Antonio Pierce as the team’s full-time head coach on Friday - Pierce led Las Vegas to a 5-4 record as their interim head coach after taking over for the fired Josh McDaniels

🏈 Alabama QB Julian Sayin and S Caleb Downs both announced they are transferring to Ohio State - Sayin was the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle, and Downs was the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year

⚾️ Astros and free agent RP Josh Hader agreed to a 5-year, $95M contract on Friday, the largest-ever deal for a relief pitcher in terms of present-day value - Hader, 29, posted a 1.28 ERA over 56.1 innings for the Padres last season

🥊 Dricus Du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland in a split decision to win the UFC middleweight title on Saturday at UFC 297 in Toronto - Du Plessis is the first South African champion in UFC history

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Where does Patrick Mahomes rank on the all-time career playoff wins list among NFL quarterbacks?

A. 5th

B. 7th

C. 10th

D. 12th

NBA

• Cleveland Cavaliers @ Philadelphia 76ers 7:00pm ET, NBA TV

• Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks 8:30pm ET, Local

• Atlanta Hawks @ Sacramento Kings 10:00pm ET, NBA TV

• Full Schedule

NHL

• Vegas Golden Knights @ New Jersey Devils 7:00pm ET, NHL Net

• Florida Panthers @ Nashville Predators 8:00pm ET, Local

• San Jose Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings 10:30pm ET, Local

• Full Schedule

College Basketball

• NCAAM: Wake Forest @ #4 North Carolina 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Cincinnati @ #3 Kansas 9:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: #5 UCLA @ #20 Utah 7:00pm ET, ESPN2

• NCAAW: #7 Kansas State @ #12 Baylor 8:30pm ET, FS1

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

ATP Australian Open - Quarterfinals

• Women’s: #12 Zheng Quinwen vs. Ocean Dodin 5:00am ET, ESPN2

• Women’s: #4 Coco Gauff vs. Marta Kostyuk 9:00pm ET, ESPN2

• Men’s: #1 Novak Djokovic vs. #12 Taylor Fritz 10:30pm ET, ESPN2

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Trivia Time Answer

B. 7th. With yesterday’s win over the Bills, Patrick Mahomes is now tied for the seventh-most career playoff victories among NFL quarterbacks. He has a 13-3 career postseason record, and his 13 wins are tied with Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, and Roger Staubach, and more than Aaron Rodgers (12). If Mahomes wins the Super Bowl, he’ll be alone in third, behind only Tom Brady (38) and Joe Montana (16) - Mahomes and the Chiefs have won five straight postseason games, with their last loss coming in the 2022 AFC Championship Game against the Bengals.

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Have a good Monday and we’ll see you tomorrow!