Good Morning! Today is Monday, December 29. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

NFL

Christmas saw three close games that didn’t have a huge impact on the season. The Lions were officially eliminated from the playoffs after a very strange year, and Denver strengthened their grip on the number one seed in the AFC. But let’s head to the weekend:

• Houston’s defense is the real deal. Despite a Herculean effort by Justin Herbert to will LA to a win, the Texans defeated the Chargers 20-16. Houston remains one game behind Jacksonville (20-17 win over Indy) in the AFC South, although both teams have clinched a playoff spot.

• Derrick Henry in 2025 will forever be remembered as one of the great fantasy football championship performances. The monster running back went off for 216 yards and four touchdowns as Baltimore ran over the Packers 41-24. Malik Willis looked pretty good filling in at QB for Green Bay, however. Baltimore’s win combined with the Steelers disappointing 13-6 loss to Cleveland raises the stakes on a massive Week 18 matchup this Sunday.

• What a fantastic football game! In the pouring rain, Philadelphia scratched and clawed, holding Josh Allen and the Bills to no points into the fourth quarter. But Buffalo found their way back in, scoring two touchdowns. The extra points let them down, as one was blocked and the two-point conversion to win the game fell incomplete. The Eagles escaped with a 13-12 victory. Could we see these two again the first Sunday in February?

• Seattle’s stifling defense shut down Bryce Young and the Panthers for a 27-10 win. With Tampa Bay’s loss, Carolina remains in first place in their division. More on that one below…

• The Patriots absolutely embarrassed the New York Jets by a score of 42-10. After the Giants “won” against the Raiders, Vegas is line for the number one overall pick in the draft. The New York teams, Arizona, and Tennessee are one game “ahead” of Vegas should anything wacky happen in the final week of the season.

• And then we had Sunday Night Football… what a thrilling way to finish the weekend! Brock Purdy played one of the best games of his career, throwing for three touchdowns and running for two more. After a back-and-forth affair, Purdy and the 49ers led Chicago 42-38 late in the fourth quarter. Caleb Williams drove the Bears down to the goal line with a chance to win the game:

Four key races remain to determine the NFL playoffs:

• NFC SOUTH: Unless the Falcons win tonight against the Rams and then again on Sunday against the Saints, the winner of the Panthers-Bucs game will be in the playoffs as the four seed. Atlanta finishing the season with two wins guarantees a Panthers playoff berth due to tiebreaker rules. If the Bucs end up on top, they’ll be a playoff team with a losing record.

• AFC NORTH: The winner of the Steelers-Ravens game will be in the playoffs as the four seed.

• AFC NUMBER ONE SEED: Denver (13-3) earns a bye with a win. If they lose, either New England (13-3) or Jacksonville (12-4) can vault into the top spot

• NFC NUMBER ONE SEED: The winner of Seattle (13-3) and San Francisco (12-4) earns a bye as the top seed in the NFC. Both teams are in danger of dropping all the way down to the six seed, however, if the Rams win tonight and again this weekend.

BOWL SEASON

The strange postseason of college football is in full swing, with entertaining games that matter a whole lot to the winning team… and otherwise are sort of just on everyone’s TV in the background during the holidays. But as has been the case its inception, nothing compares to the pageantry of the Pop-Tart Bowl:

NBA

There’s no point in re-writing this paragraph, a perfect summary of the NBA on Christmas:

Jokic’s 55-point, 16 rebound, 15 assist triple-double was the incredible, historic, sublime finish to a great slate of holiday matchups. His Nuggets overcame a heroic performance by Anthony Edwards to beat the Timberwolves in overtime. Elsewhere in the Association? The Lakers are all angry at each other, Wemby is back in the starting lineup for San Antonio, and Giannis is losing patience. In other words, you can feel the temperature turning up across the league. Basketball season has officially arrived.

NEWSWORTHY

Nick Kyrgios defeated Aryna Sabalenka in a tennis match billed as “The Battle of the Sexes.” It was tough to watch, for a lot of reasons.

Michigan has their man– after stepping down from his post at Utah, Kyle Whittingham will take over as the next head football coach of the Wolverines.

THIS WEEK’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MONDAY:

• BIRMINGHAM BOWL: App State vs Georgia Southern, 2 PM on ESPN

• Rams @ Falcons, 8:15 PM on ESPN

TUESDAY:

• INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Coastal Carolina vs LA Tech, 2 PM on ESPN

• MUSIC CITY BOWL: Tennessee vs Illinois, 5:30 PM on ESPN

• ALAMO BOWL: USC vs TCU, 9 PM on ESPN

WEDNESDAY:

• RELIAQUEST BOWL: Iowa vs Vanderbilt, Noon on ESPN

• TONY THE TIGER SUN BOWL: Arizona State vs Duke, 2 PM on CBS

• CHEEZ-IT CITRUS BOWL: Michigan vs Texas, 3 PM on ABC

• LAS VEGAS BOWL: Nebraska vs Utah, 3:30 PM on ESPN

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS COTTON BOWL: (10) Miami vs (2) Ohio State, 7:30 PM on ESPN

THURSDAY:

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS ORANGE BOWL: (5) Oregon vs (4) Texas Tech, Noon on ESPN

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS ROSE BOWL: (9) Alabama vs (1) Indiana, 4 PM on ESPN

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS SUGAR BOWL: (6) Ole Miss vs (3) Georgia, 8 PM on ESPN

FRIDAY:

• DUKE’S MAYO BOWL: Wake Forest vs Mississippi State, 8 PM on ESPN

"I feel like they were more worried about keeping me away from Aaron [Rodgers] than getting the win, and I think that's what came back to bite him," –Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who remains one sack away from the single season record

"It was a beautiful thing to see how efficient, how effortless it was," –James Harden, speaking about his teammate Kawhi Leonard. Leonard tied Harden’s Clippers franchise record with 55 points in a game last night

That’s all for now– see you on Thursday for a final goodbye