From Sam Farmer: The MVP chants for the second-year quarterback of the New England Patriots rang throughout Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were haunted by their own echoes.
Another playoff game. Another one-and-done exit.
The gutty season of quarterback Justin Herbert again ended with a whimper, a 16-3 loss on a night when the Chargers defense provided ample opportunities.
“We have to do better than three points,” Herbert said. “As an offense, that’s not good enough. The quarterback play wasn’t good enough, and we let the defense down today.”
Three years ago was the nuclear meltdown at Jacksonville, when the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to lose, 31-30.
Last year, the first under coach Jim Harbaugh, Herbert was picked off four times at Houston after making it through the regular season with just three interceptions.
Now, the Chargers have all offseason to ponder the fiasco at Foxborough, when they generated one field goal, 207 yards and converted one of 10 third downs.
The cover-your-eyes postseason scorecard under Harbaugh: Two games, 15 points on three field goals, one touchdown and a failed conversion.
Asked after the New England loss if the impending offseason changes could include changing out offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Harbaugh was notably noncommittal.
“Right now I don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to look at that.”
Should the Rams be worried?
From Bill Plaschke: Whew.
The best nearly went bust.
The heavy favorites nearly collapsed under their own weight.
The Rams were nearly toppled by the runts, barely surviving what should have been a blowout, profusely sweating through a wild-card playoff game that should have been a breeze, and now you wonder.
If their first step toward the Super Bowl is going to be this ungainly, how much longer can they stay upright?
At first sight, the final score is all that mattered, this 34-31 wild-card playoff victory over the Carolina Panthers at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Saturday proving to be a soul-testing triumph that will provide powerful preparation for the challenges ahead.
Upon further inspection, it was just a freaking mess.
The Rams skipped across the country as a historic 10½-point favorite — biggest postseason spread in modern history — yet trudged home requiring a last-second touchdown pass from the unsinkable Matthew Stafford to a leaping Colby Parkinson.
It was all so dramatic. It was all so unnecessary.
Rams will play Caleb Williams and the Bears in the NFC divisional playoffs
NFL playoffs schedule
All times Pacific
Wild-card round
NFC
Saturday
No. 5 Rams 34, No. 4 Carolina 31 (summary)
No. 2 Chicago 31, No. 7 Green Bay 27 (summary)
Sunday
No. 6 San Francisco 23, No. 3 Philadelphia 19 (summary)
AFC
Sunday
No. 6 Buffalo 27, No. 3 Jacksonville 24 (summary)
No. 2 New England 16, No. 7 Chargers 3 (summary)
Monday
No. 5 Houston at No. 4 Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2
Divisional round
NFC
Saturday
No. 6 San Francisco at No. 1 Seattle, TBA
Sunday
No. 5 Rams at No. 2 Chicago, TBA
AFC
Saturday
No. 6 Buffalo at No. 1 Denver, TBA
Sunday
Pittsburgh/Houston at No. 2 New England, TBA
Conference championships
Sunday, Jan. 25, TBA
Super Bowl
Sunday, Feb. 8, NBC, Time TBA
Lauren Betts leads UCLA over Nebraska
Lauren Betts scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds to help No. 4 UCLA to an 83-61 win over No. 25 Nebraska on Sunday.
Betts also added four blocks and five steals for the Bruins (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten).
UCLA used an 11-2 first quarter run to take control of the game and stretched its lead to 35-20 on Gianna Kneepkens’ three-pointer with 2:21 remaining in the first half.
Nebraska (14-3, 3-3) cut the deficit to 10 on Jessie Petrie’s layup that opened the second half scoring. But the Huskers could get no closer the rest of the way.
Kara Dunn’s late surge can’t avert USC’s loss
Grace Grocholski scored 25 points and Minnesota made just enough free throws in the fourth quarter to hold off No. 21 USC 63-62 on Sunday, the third straight loss for the Trojans and first win over a ranked team since 2019 for the Golden Gophers.
Minnesota made six of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, four of eight in the last 73 seconds. But USC had seven turnovers in the final period, which the Golden Gophers turned into eight points as they built a seven-point lead with 41 seconds left.
Kara Dunn scored eight points in the final 31 seconds, including a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Trojans. Dunn finished with 27 points, including all 14 USC points in the fourth quarter.
Rui Hachimura’s return nears
From Broderick Turner: It appears Rui Hachimura is poised to return for the Lakers this week after missing six games because of right calf soreness.
The Lakers removed Hachimura from their injury report Sunday, meaning he will be available to play Monday night when the Lakers play at the Sacramento Kings.
Hachimura practiced Sunday and took extra shots after the session. “He was able to do everything in practice,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
U.S. Olympic figure skating team announced
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Maxim Naumov glides across the ice alone, but during his chase for the 2026 Olympics, the 24-year-old figure skater rarely referred to his journey as a solo endeavor.
Wearing a new white U.S. figure skating jacket on stage at Enterprise Center, Naumov celebrated those that helped him reach his goals, even those who could not be present for the moment. He knew his parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were still watching.
“We did it,” he said as a wide smile split his face. “We absolutely did it.”
Less than a year after his parents were two of the 67 people killed in a plane crash in Washington, D.C., Naumov completed a dream he and his family hatched together two decades ago by being named to the U.S. Olympic team on Sunday.
Naumov’s emotional selection highlighted what could be the country’s strongest roster in decades. Between the 16 athletes representing the team in Milan, there are three reigning world champions. With the Olympic team event that debuted in 2014, the United States has a chance to win the most Olympic medals for the country since four in 1960. The five medals in 1956 are the U.S. figure skating record for a single Olympic Games.
U.S. figure skating Olympic team
Men’s singles: Ilia Malinin, Andrew Torgashev, Maxim Naumov
Women’s singles: Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu, Isabeau Levito
Pairs: Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, Emily Chan and Spencer Howe
Ice dance: Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
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 four-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 goes on to win the tournament.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.