upset

The Bucs opened the scoring with a Sean Tucker touchdown before the Falcons led 14-13 at half-time after Pitts, who came into Thursday’s game with just one touchdown all season, claimed his first two scores.

The home team went into a 28-14 lead early in the fourth quarter after Baker Mayfield made touchdown passes to Devin Culp and Chris Godwin Jr.

Veteran Kirk Cousins was making his fourth straight start after a season-ending injury to Atlanta’s starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr and the 37-year-old led the Falcons to the 32nd fourth-quarter comeback of his career.

Running back Bijan Robinson got into the end zone before Pitts claimed his hat-trick and Atlanta regained possession with less than two minutes left.

And despite being backed up to third and 28 after recovering his own fumble and a 10-yard penalty, Cousins made key passes to Pitts and receiver David Sills V to get the Falcons in range for Gonzalez to kick a 43-yard game winner.

Cousins finished with 373 passing yards and three touchdown passes to Pitts, who claimed 166 yards from 11 receptions.

Atlanta are now 5-9 and their upset of Tampa Bay did Carolina a favour as the Panthers (7-6) now top the NFC South and face the Bucs in two of their last four games, with only the division winner guaranteed a play-off spot.

Strictly Come Dancing fans bid farewell to another celebrity over the weekend as the remaining contestants set their sights on the final.

The competition is ramping up on Strictly Come Dancing as the remaining stars on the BBC show have their eyes on the Glitterball trophy as the final looms closer.

However, one person who has lost out on a chance of becoming a Strictly champion is Alex Kingston, who was eliminated from the competition on Sunday night.

The actress found herself at the bottom of the leaderboard after making multiple mistakes throughout her routine, which ended with Alex in the dance-off against EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal.

Although this wasn’t the first time that Balvinder was dancing for her place in the show, as the 46-year-old has found herself in the dance-off a total of five times so far. In the end, the judges opted to save Balvinder once again, ending Alex’s time in the competition.

Despite the soapstar being one of the bookies’ favourites to leave each week for almost every weekend, Balvinder has defied the odds and has continuously earned her place in the show.

Now, it seems as though she could make Strictly history and cause upset with fans if she wins the entire competition, as her odds of winning are now 200/1, according to Ladbrokes.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “Balvinder has ripped up the rule book up to this point in the series, and having made it this far, a few punters are starting to think she could well make Strictly history over the next few weeks.”

Currently, George Clarke continues to head the betting at 4/6, with Karen Carney close behind with 7/4.

Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope has drifted to 8/1, ahead of West End star Amber Davies, whose odds are at 50/1 of winning the Glitterball trophy.

This week, Balvinder has broken her silence on making it through to the quarter final, despite landing in the dance-off multiple times.

Sharing a series of images on her Instagram account, she wrote: “Thank you for all your votes. I know we’ve ended up in the dance off 5 times, been saved (thankfully), come back fighting, and set a new record in the process.

“But, your investment in us means more than anything in the world. Your gorgeous messages of support do get read and it humbles my heart to know there is so much love for Team Balian. Thank you!”

The star went on to tell fans that as she hasn’t been in the Clauditorium much with her professional partner, viewers may not know much about her unless they watch EastEnders.

Balvinder highlighted her pride at being part of Strictly Come Dancing, calling it a ‘dream’

She added: “Here I am, through to the quarter final, with the most brilliant dance partner, Jules, creating memories and experiencing lots of firsts together.

“It’s also my birthday on Thursday. It usually slips by quite quietly, but this year – it’s Strictly special. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift – I am truly very lucky.”

Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

From Gary Klein: Humility, as Sean McVay likes to say, is only a day away. And the Rams lived it Sunday.

McVay, quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Rams defense all were humbled in a 31-28 defeat by the Carolina Panthers before 71,292 at Bank of America Stadium.

Stafford’s stellar MVP-caliber play ended with two interceptions — his first since September — a crucial delay-of-game penalty and a lost fumble.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young sliced the Rams’ secondary for three touchdown passes, and running backs ran through what had been a mostly impenetrable defense.

But this was not a meltdown. It was costly but not disastrous.

Yes, the Rams’ six-game winning streak ended. Their record dropped to 9-3. They no longer hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

But it’s the NFL. Great players abound. Parity rules.

Continue reading here

Rams summary

NFL standings

CHARGERS

From Sam Farmer: Ladies and gentlemen, the unflinching and unrelenting Justin Herbert.

Give him a hand.

(The Chargers wish you could.)

Herbert, who has been knocked around a lot this NFL season but so far had escaped injury, saw that streak come to a disappointing end Sunday, even in leading the Chargers to a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said Herbert sustained a broken bone in the back of his non-throwing hand and will undergo a surgical procedure Monday in hopes of playing a week later against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” said Herbert, who directed three of his four touchdown drives after the injury. “I think [Chargers personnel] were very hopeful for that. So I think that’s just something we’ll see tomorrow and we’ll get a feel for, but I think they’re really hopeful. So that’s always a good thing.”

He said the only way he wouldn’t play is if a doctor told him it was “very unwise” for him to do so.

The Chargers are heading into a brutally difficult finish to the regular season, with games against the Eagles, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston — who knocked them out of the playoffs last season — and Denver.

Continue reading here

Chargers summary

NFL standings

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: As long as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are playing, the Lakers always stand a good chance of winning — even if LeBron James is out.

That proved to be the case yet again Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena as the Lakers rolled over the injury-depleted New Orleans Pelicans 133-121 with James out managing a left foot injury.

The Lakers (15-4) won their seventh straight game behind Doncic’s 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and Reaves’ 33 points and eight assists.

“I don’t know what made it special, but I think we’re just good basketball players,” said Doncic about his success playing alongside Reaves.

The Lakers have a game Monday against the visiting Phoenix Suns, but it’s unclear if James will play.

James missed the first 14 games of this season with sciatica and has played in just four games. Left foot injury management also kept him out of some games last season.

Continue reading here

Lakers box score

NBA standings

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: It might seem hard to imagine, watching the pure stroke and true form that provides Gabriela Jaquez such steady success from beyond the three-point arc.

But there was a time when Jaquez’s long-range shooting was the part of her game that gave UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close hesitancy in offering a scholarship.

Eager to prove herself, Jaquez tirelessly toiled at a park during the pandemic, getting up one shot after another. She joined a club team based in Oakland, flying north twice a month for weekend practices.

Good thing she stuck with it.

Jaquez earned that scholarship and is fully flourishing in her senior season, her all-around brilliance powering the No. 3 Bruins to a 99-77 victory over No. 14 Tennessee on Sunday afternoon before a small but spirited crowd at Pauley Pavilion.

Continue reading here

UCLA box score

DUCKS

Connor Bedard scored the tie-breaking goal at 9:55 of the third period, added an empty-net score and had two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks rallied from an early three-goal deficit to top the Ducks 5-3 on Sunday and break a five-game slide.

Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Greene and Colton Dach also scored as Chicago tied it at 3 by 12:34 of the second. Chicago converted two of four power-play chances and killed all three Anaheim advantages.

Bedard beat Ville Husso with a nifty move from the front of the crease to put Chicago ahead 4-3 after a turnover by Alex Killorn. Husso had entered the game 44 seconds earlier after starter Petr Mrazek exited with an undisclosed injury.

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1936 — End Larry Kelley of Yale is named the Heisman Trophy winner.

1951 — Arnold “Showboat” Boykin of Mississippi scores seven touchdowns in a 49-7 rout of Mississippi State.

1956 — The United States beats the Soviet Union 89-55 to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Melbourne Olympics. Bob Jeangerard (16), K.C. Jones (15), Jim Walsh (14) and Bill Russell (13) each score double-digits.

1959 — Louisiana State halfback Billy Cannon is named the Heisman Trophy winner.

1961 — Paul Arizin of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 33 points in 138-177 win over the Lakers to become the third NBA player to reach the 15,000-point plateau.

1973 — Jack Nicklaus wins the Disney World Open to become the first pro golfer to surpass $2 million in career earnings.

1980 — South Carolina running back George Rogers is named the Heisman Trophy winner.

1984 — Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie is named the 50th Heisman Trophy winner.

1990 — Ty Detmer of Brigham Young wins the Heisman Trophy. Detmer, who had set or tied 25 NCAA passing and total offense records, becomes the first BYU winner and third consecutive junior winner.

1996 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the first player in NHL history to reach the 3,000-point plateau.

2001 — North Texas (5-6) loses to Troy State 18-16 to become the third team to go to a bowl with a losing record. The Mean Green, bound for the inaugural New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Conference champion, joins SMU (4-6 in 1963) and William & Mary (5-6 in 1970) as the only teams to play in a bowl game with losing records.

2003 — Sylvester Croom becomes the Southeastern Conference’s first Black head football coach, accepting an offer to take over troubled Mississippi State.

2004 — McKendree College coach Harry Statham tops Dean Smith with his 880th victory, an 83-72 win over Maryville. Smith, with 879 wins, still holds the NCAA record for career victories because all of Statham’s wins are at the NAIA level.

2012 — Landon Donovan scores the tiebreaking goal on a penalty kick in the 65th minute, and David Beckham leaves the MLS as a two-time champion with the Galaxy’s 3-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup.

2013 — Josh Gordon has 10 catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns in Cleveland’s 32-20 loss to Jacksonville. He becomes the first player in NFL history to record 200 yards receiving in consecutive games.

2015 — The Philadelphia 76ers end the longest losing streak in the history of major pro sports in the United States, topping the Lakers 103-91 to snap a 28-game skid.

2018 — In a dramatic twist on last season’s national championship game, Jalen Hurts comes off the bench to pass for one touchdown and run for another in the fourth quarter, rallying No. 1 Alabama to a 35-28 win over No. 4 Georgia for the Southeastern Conference title.

2018 — Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fights to a split draw, with Wilder retaining his WBC heavyweight title after knocking down his British challenger twice at Staples Center.

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.