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NFL: Patriots v Broncos, Not the Same

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The New England Patriots and Denver Broncos are nearly 10 years removed from the final regular-season meeting that pitted Tom Brady against Peyton Manning.

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New England won that game 43-21 on Nov. 2, 2014, behind four passing touchdowns from Brady. If Sunday night’s clash between Denver and the visiting Patriots proves anything, it might just be how much truly can change over the course of a decade.

Both offenses have fallen far from the perch they sat atop nine years ago, with New England’s decline especially evident.

The Patriots (3-11) are averaging a league-worst 13.3 points per game following last Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Chad Ryland’s 25-yard field goal put New England up 10-7 with 4:47 left in the second quarter, but the Patriots didn’t score again until there was just under 8 1/2 minutes left in the fourth.

Denver (7-7) sported the least explosive offense of the 2022 campaign (16.9 points per game), but Sean Payton, in his first season as Broncos coach, has started to turn things around.

A winner of six of its past eight games, Denver is averaging 21.7 points under Payton. It was held under that mark in a 42-17 setback against the Detroit Lions last weekend, but New England coach Bill Belichick knows that the Broncos have what it takes to bounce back.

“They obviously have good players,” Belichick said. “They started the same line in every game, so they’ve got a lot of continuity there. Quarterback’s a unique player, he’s got a lot of skill. Receivers, (Courtland) Sutton’s as good as there is — big guy, great hands, contested catches, a really hard guy to cover.”

That quarterback Belichick was referring to is Russell Wilson, who was relatively quiet against Detroit, completing 18 of 32 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown.

Wilson was also shown getting laid into by Payton on the sideline late in the third quarter after a Denver TD was nullified because of an offensive offside penalty.

“Difficult night. … It was just one of those moments,” Payton told reporters afterward. “Listen, what I talk with Russell about is none of your business.”

Payton is making sure no negative feelings from that altercation — or the loss itself — spill over into Sunday’s meeting with the Patriots.

“You can only focus on the things you can control, and it’s obviously getting ready to play New England — and that’s it,” Payton said. “Focus on getting this next win, because that’s really all that matters.”

If the Broncos want to bounce back, they will have to do so without linebacker Nik Bonitto (knee), tight end Greg Dulcich (hamstring/foot) and tackle Alex Palczewski (knee), all of whom are ruled out for Sunday.

New England offensive tackle Trent Brown (ankle/hand), tight end Hunter Henry (knee), defensive tackle Christian Barmore (shoulder), cornerback Jonathan Jones (knee), special teams ace Matthew Slater (hamstring) and linebackers Jahlani Tavai (ankle), Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee) and Anfernee Jennings (illness) have all been limited in practices and are listed as questionable. Tackle Conor McDermott (concussion) is also questionable after missing practice all week.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle), receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle) and safety Jabrill Peppers (hamstring) will miss Sunday’s game.

–Field Level Media

Hunter Henry, Out vs Broncos

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry and offensive lineman Conor McDermott have been downgraded to out for Sunday’s game against the host Denver Broncos.

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Henry (knee) and McDermott (concussion) were listed as questionable by the Patriots on Friday. Henry turned in a limited practice on Friday after failing to participate in the sessions earlier in the week, while McDermott did not practice at all.

Henry, 29, recorded season-high totals in catches (seven) and receiving yards (66) in New England’s 27-17 setback to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday. He also had a touchdown catch versus the Chiefs after finding the end zone on two occasions in the Patriots’ 21-18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7.

Henry has team-leading totals in catches (42) and touchdown receptions (six) to go along with 419 receiving yards in 14 games this season.

McDermott, 31, has played in six games (five starts) this season.

–Field Level Media

Security! Security! – Not

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The Philadelphia Eagles apparently will have to do without security chief Dom DiSandro on the sidelines for the rest of the regular season.

Multiple outlets reported Friday that the NFL denied the Eagles’ appeal of the league’s suspension of DiSandro for his involvement in a sideline incident with an opposing player in Week 13.

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The NFL reportedly also denied the Eagles’ appeal of the $100,000 fine to the team.

The suspension and fine stem from an incident in the Eagles’ 42-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 3.

At the end of a play, a scuffle broke out between Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith and 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who received an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play. As the scuffle bled into the sidelines where DiSandro was standing, he put himself between the two players and then made contact with Greenlaw in an attempt to move him away from the Eagles’ sideline. Greenlaw responded by swiping at DiSandro’s face, grazing him.

Both Greenlaw and DiSandro were ejected from the game. Greenlaw was fined $10,927 by the league for the unnecessary roughness penalty.

The Eagles received a $100,000 fine, which the team reportedly has paid. DiSandro can still be at the stadium and perform all other game-day security duties but cannot be on the sideline until the postseason.

DiSandro, 45, has been with the Eagles since 1999. He is a senior adviser to Eagles general manager Howie Roseman in addition to a variety of security matters for players, coaches and executives. He is in charge of security related to the team’s travel as well as at the team’s training complex.

–Field Level Media

Give Us a Break-Gate

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FOXBOROUGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the kicking footballs used in the first half of Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs were “under-inflated by 2, 2 1/2 pounds.”

“We don’t have anything to do with it. Were we aware of it? Yeah, definitely,” Belichick said on Friday. “As I understand it, they were all the same. I don’t know what the explanation is. It was the same for both teams.”

Patriots rookie kicker Chad Ryland misfired on a 41-yard attempt, and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed on a 39-yard try. Butker made all 23 of his field-goal attempts and 34 extra-points tries heading into that game.

“The officials handle that, and they were underinflated by like 2, 2.5 pounds,” Belichick told reporters. “I think you could see that by the kicks. Both kickers missed kicks, and Butker hadn’t missed a kick all year.

“Kickoffs, we had two that almost went out of bounds. And so there were six balls. It was both sets of balls. It was all six of them. You’d have to talk to the league about what happened, because we don’t have anything to do with that part of it. They control all of that. And they fixed them at halftime but didn’t do it before then, which is another question you could ask. But we don’t have anything to do with it.”

If Belichick sounded like he was on the defensive, well consider that the Patriots were ultimately fined $1 million, docked two draft picks and saw then-quarterback Tom Brady suspended four games by the NFL for what is referred to as “Deflategate.” The league determined that a scheme was afoot to provide improperly inflated footballs for the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18, 2015.

–Field Level Media

NFL: Saturday Game Previews

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PITTSBURGH – (Staff and Wire Service Reports) – It’ll be a weekend filled with NFL Playoff-like football as Christmas weekend scheduling will determine playoff contenders and those relegated to the land of NFL Draft prep. Here are the Saturday games:

Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7): Playoff football arrives early for AFC North rivals who’ve undergone major facelifts since Pittsburgh’s 16-10 win over the Bengals in Cincinnati on Nov. 26. The Steelers have lost three straight, temporarily remain without starting quarterback Kenny Pickett, benched his backup Mitch Trubisky, lost starting safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to a knee injury and their other starting safety — Damontae Kazee — was suspended. Cincinnati quarterback Jake Browning was making his first NFL start in that first meeting and generated just 222 yards of total offense, but Browning and the Bengals are back on their feet. They enter Week 16 with three straight wins, including a pair of overtime victories, and currently sit ahead of Pittsburgh and in playoff position in the packed AFC postseason picture. Browning has completed 76 percent of his passes since Week 12 and thrown for more than 1,000 yards in his first four NFL starts — the only NFL quarterback to do so since 1950. Steelers QB Mason Rudolph took over for Trubisky in last week’s loss to the Colts and will make his first start since 2021. The Steelers left the door “ajar” for Pickett if could return from ankle surgery to play, but he was officially ruled out on Thursday. While playoff probability metrics reveal odds of 64 percent to make the playoffs with a win this week, it’s not all roses and balloons for the Bengals, either. Cincinnati is without WR Ja’Marr Chase (shoulder).

Buffalo Bills (8-6) at Los Angeles Chargers (5-9): The Bills are desperate in their hunt for a playoff spot as one of five teams in the AFC with an 8-6 record, currently outside of the seven playoff spots in the conference and two games behind the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East. “Every game from here on out’s a playoff game for us,” Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen said. “That’s the mentality that we have. It’s essentially win or go home. We’ve got to be prepared for every punch the Chargers can throw at us.” The Bills have won consecutive games and coach Sean McDermott has cautioned his team all week about what can happen if preparation isn’t taken seriously. All is not well in L.A. The Chargers were loaded with bitter faces when they were annihilated 63-21 by the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 14. It was such a poor performance that the club fired coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco. The Chargers have dropped five of their past six games, and their fortunes are low with star quarterback Justin Herbert done for the season after finger surgery on his throwing hand. Los Angeles will be without star receiver Keenan Allen (heel) for the second straight game. He didn’t practice all week and was ruled out Thursday. Allen has a league-high 108 receptions while accumulating 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns.

–Field Level Media

A Dodgers Dynasty to Be

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto Signs with LA for $325m

LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract earlier this month, the Dodgers have landed star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a 12-year, $325 million deal Thursday, per multiple media reports.

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Yamamato’s deal would eclipse New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s deal by $1 million, making it the largest contract for a pitcher in major league history. The Dodgers will also pay $50.6 million in a posting fee for Yamamoto.

The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays also pursued Yamamoto.

Yamamoto spent the past six-plus seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, compiling a 70-29 record with one save and a 1.82 ERA in 172 games. He has struck out 922 batters over 897 innings.

In 23 games in 2023, he finished with a 16-6 record and 1.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. Those numbers helped him to his third straight Triple Crown in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball as he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Only three pitchers in Major League Baseball have won the pitching Triple Crown three times — Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Yamamoto also has won the Eiji Sawamura Award, which equals the Cy Young Award, three times.

The 5-foot-10 Yamamoto won a gold medal with Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

–Field Level Media

NFL Week 16: Playoff Possibilities

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SANTA CLARA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The San Francisco 49ers’ Christmas gift could be the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Niners, the only 11-3 team in the NFC, have a straightforward path to clinching the top seed and a first-round bye in Week 16, according to the NFL’s official playoff scenarios.

If the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles all lose, the 49ers would lock up the No. 1 seed on Christmas night by beating the visiting Baltimore Ravens — who happen to be the only other 11-3 team in the league.

Detroit visits the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas takes on the host Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Christmas Eve. Then, the Eagles play the middle game of a Christmas Day tripleheader against the visiting New York Giants before the Ravens visit San Francisco in the nightcap.

The Lions (10-4) would clinch the NFC North title with a win or tie against Minnesota. If that doesn’t happen, they can still lock up a playoff bid if the Seattle Seahawks lose or tie. The Rams bettered their chances with a win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday. The Seahawks visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Over in the AFC, the Ravens — who have already punched their postseason ticket — can win the AFC North by beating the 49ers and having the Browns lose or tie against the Houston Texans, or if the Ravens tie and the Browns lose.

The Browns (9-5), for their part, have eight scenarios to clinch a playoff berth this week, all of which start with a win at Houston. The Browns are on the verge of their second playoff berth in 21 seasons.

If the Dolphins (10-4) beat the Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills lose or tie at the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Miami would clinch the AFC East title. That would also be the result if Miami ties Dallas and Buffalo loses.

The Christmas Day tripleheader begins with the struggling Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs (9-5) can lock up their eighth straight AFC West title if they beat Las Vegas, or if they tie with the Raiders and the Denver Broncos lose to New England.

–Field Level Media

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NFL: Rams Make a Stand

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INGLEWOOD – LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and the surging Los Angeles Rams strengthened their playoff chances with a 30-22 victory against the visiting New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

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Stafford passed for 328 yards and threw touchdowns to Puka Nacua, who had 164 receiving yards, and Demarcus Robinson as the Rams (8-7), who entered the game in possession of the final wild-card berth in the NFC, won for the fifth time in six games.

Derek Carr passed for 319 yards, including 123 to Chris Olave, and three touchdowns, but two of them came after the Saints (6-7) fell behind 30-7.

The Rams received the second-half kickoff and drove to the Saints 3 before stalling, and Lucas Havrisik kicked a 22-yard field goal that gave them a 20-7 lead.

Kyren Williams ran for 10 of his 104 yards and a touchdown that pushed the lead to 27-7 and Havrisik added a 32-yard field goal before Carr threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson.

Carr connected with A.T. Perry for a 35-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion to Olave to trim the lead to 30-22 with 3:53 left, but the Rams recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Los Angeles started its first possession at its 5 and the 14th play of the drive was a 2-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Nacua on fourth-and-goal, giving the Rams a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Rams drove to Havrisik’s 20-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead, but missed an opportunity to increase the lead when Havrisik was wide left on a 47-yard field-goal attempt.

The Saints broke through when Carr connected with Rashid Shaheed for a 45-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead to 10-7.

New Orleans turned the ball over at the Rams 42 with 56 seconds left in the half when Carr threw an incompletion on fourth-and-5.

Five plays later, Stafford threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Robinson that increased the lead to 17-7 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Celtics: Kings for a Day

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 28 apiece and the Celtics bounced back from an overtime loss 24 hours earlier in San Francisco to thump the host Sacramento Kings 144-119 on Wednesday.

Playing without Jayson Tatum, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday at Golden State, and Al Horford, who got a night off in the second game of a back-to-back set, the Celtics overcame a 41-point Kings first quarter with improved defense over the final three periods.

Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Celtics’ lineup and scored 24 points. He was rested on Tuesday. Boston snapped a four-game road losing streak and won for the sixth time in seven games overall.

De’Aaron Fox produced a game-high 29 points for the Kings, whose three-game winning ended.

Getting three 3-pointers from Fox and two from Keegan Murray, the Kings sprinted out to a 23-11 lead in the game’s first 5:09.

The Celtics got within 41-38 by period’s end, then held Sacramento to 25 and 24 points, respectively, in the middle two periods while running out to a 113-90 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Despite shooting 47.3 percent overall and 47.7 percent on 3-point attempts, the Kings never posed a threat over the final 12 minutes, adding just 29 points to their total.

In accumulating its second-biggest point total of the season, Boston did the hosts better in both shooting categories, making 55.4 percent overall and 52.4 percent of its 3-point tries. The 22-for-42 night from beyond the arc came one night after the Celtics went just 17-for-58 (29.3 percent) from long distance against the Warriors.

White’s 28 points consisted mostly of 3-pointers, as he went 6-for-9. Payton Pritchard buried six of 11 3-point shots off the bench en route to 20 points, while Jrue Holiday went 4-for-6 from long range as part of a 21-point, 10-assist performance.

Porzingis was Boston’s leading rebounder with nine. He made seven of his 11 shots.

While the Celtics had five players score 20 or more points, the Kings had just Fox with his 29. He made six of his eight 3-point attempts, while his teammates were just 15-for-36 (41.7 percent).

Domantas Sabonis pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento. Murray (13), Keon Ellis (12), Trey Lyles (11), Harrison Barnes (10) and Malik Monk (10) also scored in double figures.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Fit to Beat Kings

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics have the unenviable task of visiting the high-energy Sacramento Kings less than 24 hours after an overtime loss in San Francisco as they seek to end a road losing skid Wednesday night. Riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak, all at home, the Celtics appeared on their way to a rather comfortable road win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, running up a 17-point lead.

But Jayson Tatum, who had to leave the floor for almost an entire quarter after turning his left ankle, misfired on a potential winning shot at the end of regulation, leading to five more minutes of Celtics sweat that went for naught in a 132-126 defeat.

In the end, the Celtics wasted a 30-point night by Derrick White, who hit seven 3-pointers.

The loss was the fourth in a row on the road for Boston, which flew west for a four-game trip tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the NBA.

Fourteen of the Celtics’ 20 wins, however, have come at home; and, when they take the floor in Sacramento, the Celtics will do so with just a 6-6 road record.

Even before watching all five of his starters go 36 or more minutes against the Warriors, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla indicated Al Horford was a “load management” candidate on the second night of the back-to-back.

At the same time, Mazzulla noted that Kristaps Porzingis, who was held out of Tuesday’s trip opener, was likely to return against the Kings.

“Just calf management, back-to-back, a little slow after (Sunday’s home win over Orlando),” Mazzulla said of Porzingis. “Just really trying to manage that and make sure both those guys stay healthy.”

As they attempt to sidestep what would be just their second set of back-to-back losses this season, the Celtics will be running into a Kings team that likewise has taken advantage of its home dates of late. Sacramento has opened a six-game homestand with wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, producing a 12-point average margin of victory in those wins.

The Kings were firing on all cylinders Monday in a 143-131 win over the Wizards, rolling to a season-high point total on the strength of balanced scoring, 53 percent shooting and 17 3-pointers.

De’Aaron Fox (30 points), Domantas Sabonis (28) and Keegan Murray (25) led the way with a total of 83 points on 30-for-52 shooting.

Kings coach Mike Brown is happy to see his team build up a little momentum at home with three tough opponents – the Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Timberwolves – completing the six-game homestand.

“We’re doing good,” Brown said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA and guys should be excited to play in this building. They should get energy from the fans. We have to take advantage of it when we are here.”

The Celtics have prevailed in each of their last two visits to Sacramento, including 132-109 last March behind 36 points from Tatum and 27 from Jaylen Brown.

–Field Level Media