Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning.
๐จ Headlines
๐ 15-0: The Cavaliers are the fourth team in NBA history to start 15-0, joining the 1948-49 Washington Capitols, 1993-94 Rockets and 2015-16 Warriors.
โฝ๏ธ NWSL semifinals: Washington beat Gotham (3-0 in PKs) and Orlando beat Kansas City (3-2) to advance to next weekend’s championship game.
๐ Wings win lottery: The Dallas Wings won Sunday’s WNBA draft lottery, and all signs point to them drafting UConn superstar Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick in April.
๐พ ATP Finals: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner beat Taylor Fritz on Sunday to win his first ATP Finals title and cap a superb season. The Italian has won 26 of his last 27 matches.
๐ Fox makes history: Kings PG De’Aaron Fox scored a franchise-record 60 points on Friday and added 49 more on Saturday. Only Kobe Bryant has scored more points on back-to-back nights in the past 50 years.
๐ NFL Sunday: Undefeated no more
It took 328 days, but the Kansas City Chiefs finally lost a football game.
ICYMI: The Bills beat the Chiefs, 30-21, on Sunday in Buffalo, handing the defending Super Bowl champs their first loss of the season and snapping their 15-game win streak that dated back 328 days to Christmas 2023.
-
It looked like the Chiefs might pull off another late comeback when they trailed by two with just over two minutes left, needing a stop on fourth down to give Patrick Mahomes a chance to do his thing.
-
Instead, Josh Allen scrambled for a 26-yard touchdown to effectively seal the win, improve to 4-1 in the regular season against Mahomes and give Buffalo (9-2) an excellent shot at catching Kansas City (9-1) in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Wild stat: Mahomes has started 124 games (regular season and playoffs), and this was just the fifth time he lost by more than one score.
More from Sunday:
-
Chargers 34, Bengals 27: It was a tale of two halves on “Sunday Night Football” as L.A. blew a 21-point lead, but ultimately pulled out the win on a long TD run from J.K. Dobbins with 18 seconds left.
-
Packers 20, Bears 19: Green Bay blocked a would-be game-winning Bears field goal as time expired to secure a their 11th straight victory over Chicago dating back to 2019. That’s the longest active winning streak of any NFL team over another.
-
Lions 52, Jaguars 6: That’s Scorigami! The 1,088th unique score in NFL history was powered by Jared Goff’s 412 yards, 4 TD and perfect passer rating.
-
Steelers 18, Ravens 16: Pittsburgh kicked six field goals to extend their lead atop the AFC North and continue their recent dominance in the division rivalry, improving to 8-1 against Baltimore in the 2020s.
-
Saints 35, Browns 14: Super utility player Taysom Hill did it all for New Orleans, becoming the first player in NFL history with 100 rush yards, 3 rush TD, 50 receiving yards and 10 pass yards in a game. He even added 42 kick return yards!
Elsewhere: Seahawks 20, 49ers 17 | Rams 28, Patriots 22 | Colts 28, Jets 27 | Dolphins 34, Raiders 19 | Vikings 23, Titans 13 | Broncos 38, Falcons 6
Sunday recap: Winners and losers
๐ฅ Combat sports take center stage
Combat sports took center stage this weekend, with boxing drawing record viewership and UFC drawing the president-elect and his top cabinet picks.
Boxing: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson wasn’t a very good boxing match, or a very well-handled boxing match, but it was a very well-viewed boxing match. The fight at Jerry World averaged an astounding 60 million viewers worldwide, according to Netflix, and peaked at 65 million.
UFC: Jon Jones (28-1) dominated Stipe Miocic (20-5) at Madison Square Garden in his long awaited-return to the octagon, defending his UFC heavyweight title in front of President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other cabinet picks.
Go deeper: Head over to Uncrowned, our new combat sports hub, for full weekend analysis.
๐ In photos: Saturday on the gridiron
Provo, Utah โ Kansas stunned No. 6 BYU, 17-13, to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season. Just three undefeated FBS teams remain: Oregon, Indiana and Army.
Athens, Georgia โ The Bulldogs beat the Vols, 31-17, to keep their CFP hopes alive and leave open the possibility that the SEC could land six teams in the playoff. Georgia has won eight straight games against Tennessee.
Boulder, Colorado โ Heisman favorite Travis Hunter led Colorado to a 49-24 win over Utah and joined Champ Bailey (with the Redskins) as the only FBS or NFL players with 50 receiving yards, a rushing TD and an interception in the same game.
San Jose โ Boise State beat San Jose State, 42-21, behind another monster game from Ashton Jeanty (159 yards, 3 TD), who’s on pace to break Barry Sanders’ single-season FBS rushing record (2,628 yards in 1988).
Winners and losers: The 21 teams that still have a shot at the CFP
๐๏ธ First look: The new Ryan Field
First on Yahoo Sports AM: Northwestern University and the Ryan family have provided the first public look at the design and layout of the new Ryan Field.
The $850 million venue is scheduled to open in 2026 and will host not only Northwestern football but also concerts, youth sports championships and other events.
More renderings will be released this morning.
๐ Nov. 18, 1966: Koufax calls it quits
58 years ago today, Sandy Koufax shocked the world by retiring at age 30, citing his painfully arthritic arm and the fear of permanent damage.
“In those days there was no surgery. The wisdom was if you went in there, it would only make things worse. … Now you go in, fix it and you’re OK for next spring.”
โ Koufax
The big picture: Though modern surgery might have extended Koufax’s career, there’s something to be said for going out on top. And few athletes ever did that quite like Sandy.
By the numbers: Through the first six years of his career (ages 19-24), Koufax was a serviceable if unspectacular starting pitcher. Then he turned 25 and began arguably the greatest prime in MLB history.
-
From 1961 through his retirement in 1966, Koufax went 129-47 with 115 complete games, a 2.19 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 1,713 strikeouts against just 412 walks.
-
He also threw a then-record four no-hitters (including one perfect game) while winning five ERA titles, three Triple Crowns, three Cy Youngs, two World Series MVPs and the 1963 NL MVP.
The last word: Willie Stargell, the Pirates Hall of Famer who managed just two hits in 23 at-bats against Koufax, put it best: “Hitting against Sandy Koufax is like drinking coffee with a fork.”
๐บ Watchlist: The Battle for the Lone Star State
The Cowboys host the Texans tonight (8:15pm ET, ESPN/ABC/ESPN2) in a matchup between the NFL’s two Texas teams.
Head-to-head: Dallas leads the all-time series 4-2, but first-place Houston* has the obvious upper hand this year against a reeling Cowboys team that has lost four straight and will be without starting QB Dak Prescott for the rest of the season (hamstring).
More to watch:
-
โฝ๏ธ CONCACAF Nations League: USMNT (up 1-0) vs. Jamaica (8pm, TNT) โฆ Quarterfinal second leg.
-
๐ NBA: Rockets at Bucks (8pm, NBA); Warriors at Clippers (10:30pm, NBA)
-
๐ NHL: Avalanche at Flyers (7pm, NHL)
-
๐ NCAAM: No. 4 Gonzaga at San Diego State (10pm, CBSSN)
*Looking for a bounce-back win: The Texans have lost three of four since their 5-1 start. The Cowboys โ who’ve allowed at least 27 points in four straight games โ might be just what the doctor ordered.
๐ NBA trivia
James Harden moved into second place on the all-time 3-point list on Sunday (2,975), and now trails only Steph Curry (3,782).
Question: Who did Harden pass?
Answer at the bottom.
๐ฟ Baker’s Dozen: Top 13 plays of the weekend
-
๐ What a catch by Cam
-
๐ Dunk of the year?
-
๐ Pass of the year?
-
โฝ๏ธ Cristiano Ronaldo!
-
๐ One-handed grab
-
โณ๏ธ Slam dunk albatross
-
๐ Josh Allen!
-
๐พ Filthy backhand
-
๐ Fancy finish
Trivia answer: Ray Allen (2,973 career 3-pointers)
We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.