SPORTS HEADLINES

Buffalo beats the Ravens 27-25 to head to AFC title game

BUFFALO (AP) The Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in playoff action to advance to the AFC championship game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. The game will be next Sunday in Kansas City.

Barkley runs for 78- and 62-yard TDs in the snow and Eagles top Rams 28-22 to head to NFC title game

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley dashed through the snow for touchdown runs of 78 and 62 yards and finished with 205 yards rushing, Jalen Hurts had a 44-yard scoring run and the Philadelphia Eagles held on against the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 to advance to the NFC championship game for the second time in three seasons. Barkley ran for a 62-yard score in the first half and stretched the lead in the fourth when he blew through a hole and ran about untouched 78 yards for the touchdown. The Eagles will host the NFC championship game Sunday against Washington.

Eagles will host the Commanders in NFC championship game. Chiefs wait on Ravens-Bills winner

Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles will host Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game. Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs wait to find out if the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens are coming to Arrowhead Stadium for the AFC title game. The Eagles advanced with a 28-22 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. They’ll be home next week because the sixth-seeded Commanders upset the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions 45-31 on Saturday night. Barkley ran for 205 yards, including touchdown runs of 62 and 78 yards and Philadelphia’s defense held on the final drive with Jalen Carter sacking Matthew Stafford for a 9-yard loss to the 22.

Buckeyes, Irish used humbling losses as springboards to their national championship game showdown

ATLANTA (AP) — Ohio State and Notre Dame will meet in the College Football Playoff championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday night. Both teams survived embarrassing regular-season losses to make it to the game that will end the longest season in history. Ohio State will be playing for its first championship since 2014 and Notre Dame for its first since 1988. Since losing to Michigan, Ohio State has playoff wins over Tennessee, Oregon and Texas. Notre Dame has won 13 straight since losing to Northern Illinois. The Irish have beaten Indiana, Georgia and Penn State in the playoff.

At Notre Dame, the first ‘America’s Team,’ they wake the echoes on a run to another national title

ATLANTA (AP) — Between Touchdown Jesus, “Win One for the Gipper,” Rudy, and, yes, even the forward pass, there are those who believe football wouldn’t quite be football without Notre Dame. With the Fighting Irish waking up the echoes and playing for a title again after a generation-long retreat from the limelight, now might be the perfect time to admit it — maybe they were right. Ever since 1913, when an end named Knute Rockne helped a small Catholic school based in South Bend, Indiana, pull off a stunner by beating Army, Notre Dame has stood as one of the main shapers of college football.

On eve of CFP title game, some college players ask, What would it look like to be employees?

ATLANTA (AP) — About 50 players in a fledgling college athletes union are meeting this weekend in Atlanta, across town from where the national title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame will be held. They want a bigger say in decisions that will define their industry for years to come. High-profile members of the group called athletes.org include Grant House and Sedona Prince. House is the swimmer whose name is attached to the “House settlement” that will dictate terms of NIL payments, roster limits and other issues. Prince is the basketball player whose viral video of the sparse weight room at women’s March Madness in 2020 shined a light on what ails college sports.

Austria’s Sepp Straka cruises to a 2-shot victory over Justin Thomas at The American Express

LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — Sepp Straka won The American Express by two shots over Justin Thomas. The 31-year-old Austrian finished his third career PGA Tour victory at 25-under 263 with a final-round 70. Straka comfortably marched to victory after taking a four-shot lead into the final round at the venerable Coachella Valley tournament. He didn’t have a bogey in the four-day event until making two in the final three holes, but his competitors couldn’t mount a charge to make it uncomfortable.

NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes isn’t ready to think about the long term in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes is focused on helping his team make the playoffs in 2025, not his long-term future. Skenes won the National League Rookie of the Year last season as a flame-throwing 22-year-old with a fastball that hit triple digits with ease. Pirates fans already are anxious the club won’t be able to afford to keep Skenes down the road, with a small group encouraging club chairman Bob Nutting to sell the team. Skenes says he hasn’t thought much about what the future may hold and is more intent on taking a step forward in 2025 after his electric debut.

Novak Djokovic won’t speak to the Australian Open’s local TV network without an apology

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has declined to do a customary post-match TV interview at the Australian Open to protest comments made on air by someone who works for the official broadcaster of the tournament in the host country, Channel 9. Djokovic said he wants an apology from the channel and its employee, Tony Jones, who called the 24-time Grand Slam champion overrated and a has-been during an on-air appearance at Melbourne Park where a crowd of the player’s supporters were chanting. Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, said that Jones “made a mockery of Serbian fans and made insulting and offensive comments toward me.” Jones on Monday said he meant the comments as “banter” and had reached out to Djokovic to apologize.

Turnovers and depleted defense contribute to top-seeded Lions’ quick playoff exit

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions worked all season to earn the NFC’s top seed and ensure they wouldn’t have to play anywhere but Ford Field until the Super Bowl. Their ambitions came to a quick halt when they self-destructed against the Washington Commanders in a 45-31 loss on Saturday night in the divisional round of the playoffs. This year’s Lions team went 15-2 in the regular season but didn’t advance as far in the playoff teams as they did last season, when they lost at San Francisco in the NFC title game. Detroit was undone by five turnovers and the stellar play of Washington rookie Jayden Daniels.

Jeff Torborg, former big league catcher and manager, dies at 83

Jeff Torborg, the former catcher who caught Sandy Koufax’s perfect game and was the 1990 AL manager of the year with the Chicago White Sox, died Sunday. He was 83. The White Sox said on social media that Torborg died in Westfield, New Jersey. A cause of death wasn’t given. Torborg was behind the plate for three no-hitters, the first with Koufax and the Dodgers against the Cubs in 1965. Torborg had the second in 1970 with Bill Singer for the Dodgers against Philadelphia, then in 1973 with the Angels caught the first of Nolan Ryan’s record seven no-hitters in a game against Kansas City. In addition to the White Sox, he managed Cleveland, the New York Mets, Montreal and Florida.

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