Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. With the Chargers in a playoff game Saturday, here’s a special Sunday edition of The Sports Report.
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From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Texans safety Eric Murray had a wide-open running lane to the end zone. Justin Herbert could do nothing but turn away solemnly. Somehow the Chargers’ quarterback getting a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown for the first time in 46 games wasn’t the low point of a season-ending loss Saturday.
Herbert had his worst game of the season at the worst time. His career-high four interceptions — including his first pick-six since a Sept. 15, 2022 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — doomed the Chargers to a 32-12 AFC wild-card loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday at NRG Stadium.
As Houston lined up in victory formation with time running out, Herbert stood on the sideline with his hands on his hips. Rookie receiver Ladd McConkey, who caught nine passes for an NFL rookie playoff record 197 yards, approached the quarterback and held his hand out for a comforting shake.
Herbert didn’t move.
“I let the team down,” Herbert said.
A season that was supposed to mark a new era for the maligned franchise instead ended with familiar disappointment. Herbert, in his fifth season since the Chargers drafted him sixth overall, has yet to win a playoff game. His only other playoff experience was a 27-point collapse in Jacksonville in 2022.
With coach Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers appeared ready to reverse the team’s misfortunes. They had completed the franchise’s best single-season turnaround in two decades, going from five wins last season to 11. They entered Saturday’s wild-card game as betting favorites on the road.
They left still waiting for their first playoff win since 2018.
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RAMS
From Gary Klein: The sky was clear Saturday when the Rams went through drills in preparation for their NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The conditions at the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility offered a stark contrast to what the Rams faced a few days earlier, when smoke from wildfires billowed during practice at their facility in Woodland Hills.
Because of safety concerns caused by the wildfires in Southern California, the NFL moved Monday night’s game from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“It was eerie,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said of workouts earlier in the week, “but to be able to get out here, to get away from all those things, it feels like we’re back to normal a little bit.”
And what is normal?
“Normal is preparing for a game,” coach Sean McVay said. “Normal is enjoying the opportunity to prepare for a game when there’s 18 teams that don’t have the luxury of doing that.”
How did Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield go from NFL castoffs to the playoffs?
NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Wild-card round
Saturday
All times Pacific
AFC
No. 4 Houston Texas 32, No. 5 Chargers 12
No. 3 Baltimore Ravens 28, No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers 14
Sunday
AFC
No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 10 a.m. (CBS, Paramount+)
NFC
No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 1:30 p.m. (FOX, FOX Deportes)
No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, Universo)
Monday
NFC
No. 5 Minnesota Vikings vs. No. 4 Rams, 5 p.m. at Glendale, Ariz. (ESPN/ABC/ESPN+/ ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2/ESPN+)
Divisional round: Jan. 18-19
Conference championships: Jan. 26
Super Bowl 59: Feb. 9 at New Orleans (Fox)
USC BASKETBALL
Desmond Claude scored a season-high 31 points to lead USC to an 82-72 win over No. 13 Illinois on Saturday.
Wesley Yates III had 15 points — shooting seven of eight from the field — while Rashaun Agee finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten).
Illinois (12-4, 4-2) had a five-game winning streak snapped. Ben Humrichous had 15 points, while Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Tre White each scored 11.
With the score tied at 57 with 8:46 left in the second half, USC went on a 13-3 run to move in front 70-60 with 5:12 to go and Illinois didn’t threaten after that.
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Anthony De Leon: Like many Angelenos, the UCLA women’s basketball team is dealing with the catastrophic toll of the massive wildfires this past week — a firestorm inching perilously closer to home.
Just seven miles west of Pauley Pavilion, the Palisades fire rages, prompting the evacuation of nearby Brentwood on Saturday and steadily advancing toward campus.
“I wish we weren’t having to go through it,” coach Cori Close said. “I’m devastated by some of the hurt that people are experiencing right now and the devastation to our city.”
At one point, the blaze encroached upon the homes of Close and assistant Tony Newnan, who live near the edge of the fire zone. Fortunately, Close said Friday none of the athletes or other coaches had homes in immediate danger.
With gratitude comes a profound tinge of guilt in knowing the hardships others have endured — the ravaging of more than 20,000 acres and displacement of tens of thousands.
KINGS
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Dustin Wolf stopped 31 shots as the Calgary Flames beat the Kings 2-1 on Saturday night.
Matt Coronato had a goal and an assist for Calgary. The Flames have won two straight after losing three of four.
Defenseman Jacob Moverare scored his first of the season for the Kings, and David Rittich finished with 16 saves against his former team. Calgary ended the Kings’ five-game winning streak.
DUCKS
Sam Ersson made 22 saves for his second shutout of the season and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ducks 6-0 on Saturday night in Cutter Gauthier‘s first visit to Philadelphia since being traded to Anaheim a year ago.
Drafted fifth overall by Philadelphia in 2022, Gauthier told the Flyers he didn’t want to play for the team, which brought out an energized, sellout crowd that booed or chanted every time he stepped on the ice.
Ersson had his seventh career shutout to help Philadelphia end a four-game losing streak. Morgan Frost, Jamie Drysdale, Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Matvei Michkov and Garnet Hathaway scored.
John Gibson made 24 saves for the Ducks, who have lost three straight.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1951 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Lee Oma in the 10th round at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain the heavyweight title.
1958 — Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals sets an NBA record for career points in a 135-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Schayes scores 23 points to bring his career mark to 11,770, breaking the record of 11,764 held by George Mikan.
1958 — The NCAA rules committee makes the first change in football scoring rules since 1912 by adding the two-point conversion.
1960 — Syracuse’s Dolph Schayes becomes the first player in NBA history to score 15,000 career points.
1969 — New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath “guarantees” a victory before the game against the 17-point favorite Baltimore Colts, then leads the AFL to its first Super Bowl victory, a 16-7 triumph over a Baltimore team that had lost only once in 16 games all season.
1975 — The Pittsburgh Steelers totally shut down Minnesota’s offense, handing the Vikings their third Super Bowl defeat, 16-6. Franco Harris, the game’s MVP, sets a Super Bowl rushing record with 158 yards.
1986 — Chicago’s Denis Savard ties an NHL record for the fastest goal to start a period by scoring four seconds into the third period of the Blackhawks’ 4-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers.
1991 — Princeton beats Cornell 164-71 in an unusual swimming meet. The schools agree to compete by telephone due to a blizzard making transportation a problem to Ithaca, N.Y. Both teams swim in their owns pools and the results are exchanged by Fax.
2001 — Minnesota defenseman J.J. Daigneault ties an NHL record by playing for his 10th team when he appears in a 5-0 loss to the Avalanche.
2007 — Tadd Fujikawa, just shy of his 16th birthday, steals the show at the Sony Open. Fujikawa shoots a 4-under 66, making him the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour.
2008 — Tom Brady completes all but two of his 28 passes to lead New England to its second straight AFC championship game with a 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots improve to 17-0, matching the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team to go unbeaten from the first game of the season through the Super Bowl.
2008 — The Green Bay Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 42-20 to reach the NFC championship game. Ryan Grant recovers from two fumbles that put the Packers down 14-0 after only four minutes. Grant sets a team postseason record by running for 201 yards, and scores three times.
2012 — Dwight Howard breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s nearly 50-year-old NBA record for most free throw attempts in a game, making 21 of 39 in the Orlando Magic’s 117-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Chamberlain shot 34 for the Philadelphia Warriors against St. Louis on Feb. 22, 1962.
2013 — Colin Kaepernick rushes for a quarterback playoff-record 181 yards and two touchdowns and throws two scoring passes to Michael Crabtree in San Francisco’s 45-31 win over Green Bay.
2013 — Joe Flacco throws a 70-yard game-tying touchdown to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds left in regulation, helping send it into overtime and Baltimore beats Denver in the second extra period, 38-35.
2014 — Jeremy Abbott wins his fourth U.S. figure skating title. Teenager Jason Brown finishes second and defending champion Max Aaron places third.
2015 — Ezekiel Elliott rushes for 246 yards and four touchdowns and Ohio State wins the first national title in college football’s playoff era, running over Oregon 42-20.
2017 Justin Thomas (23) becomes the youngest player to shoot a sub-60 round of 59 in the opening round of the Sony Open at Waialae CC in Hawaii; he also wins the tournament.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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