NFL
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes, A.J. Dillon ran for two more scores and the Green Bay Packers routed the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 on Sunday night to wrap up the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.
Green Bay’s victory, coupled with Philadelphia’s 20-16 triumph at Washington earlier in the day, dropped the Vikings (7-9) from postseason contention and gave the Eagles a playoff berth.
The Vikings were playing without quarterback Kirk Cousins after he was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday.
The Packers (13-3) are the lone NFL team with an unbeaten home record and have a chance to reach the Super Bowl without leaving Lambeau Field, where the temperature was 11 degrees with a wind chill of 1 just before kickoff.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Evan McPherson kicked a 20-yard field goal as time ran out, and the Cincinnati Bengals earned their first AFC North title and postseason appearance in six years with a wild 34-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Rookie Ja’Marr Chase had a franchise-record and NFL rookie record 266 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 11 catches for Cincinnati.
Joe Burrow threw for 466 yards and four scores while outdueling Patrick Mahomes, and the Bengals rallied from three 14-point deficits against the AFC West champs.
Kansas City’s eight-game winning streak was snapped and it fell behind Tennessee for the top seed in the AFC.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes as the Tennessee Titans clinched their second straight AFC South title Sunday, snapping the Miami Dolphins’ seven-game winning streak with a 34-3 win.
The Titans (11-5) won their second straight overall and third in four games to clinch their first back-to-back division titles since the start of the AFL when this franchise was the Houston Oilers.
The win made them the top seed in the AFC when Kansas City lost at Cincinnati.
NHL
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists in a five-goal second period for St. Louis, and the Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 in the Winter Classic on Saturday night.
The official faceoff temperature was minus-5.7 degrees, the first of 33 outdoor games the league has played with a temperature below zero.
David Perron got the Blues on the board in the first period. Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Torey Krug joined Kyrou by scoring in the second, and Robert Thomas pitched in with two assists. Jordan Binnington made 29 saves for the Blues.
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Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild. They trailed 6-2 at the second intermission and benched goalie Cam Talbot after 22 saves in two periods in favor of Kaapo Kahkonen. Rem Pitlick and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Wild
FIGURE SKATING
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Two-time U.S. champion Bradie Tennell, a favorite to make the Olympic team, has withdrawn from next week’s nationals.
Tennell, who has missed the season’s main competitions on the road to the Beijing Games, has been dealing with a right foot injury. She still could make the American squad for February’s Olympics by petitioning for a spot.
But with several other top skaters competing in Nashville, that seems a long shot.
OBITUARY
ATLANTA (AP) — Dan Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career that included four blowout losses in the title game with the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons, died Saturday. He was 77.
A statement released by his family through former Falcons media relations director Aaron Salkin said Reeves died of complications from dementia. The statement said he died “peacefully and surrounded by his loving family at his home in Atlanta.”
Reeves was a versatile player who played a key role in the Cowboys becoming an NFL powerhouse in the 1960s under Tom Landry. His own coaching career — stretching over three teams and 23 seasons — is where he truly left his mark on the league.
Including a stint with the New York Giants, Reeves totaled 190 coaching victories — the ninth-most in NFL history.
REDDICK, Fla. (AP) — Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew to a Triple Crown sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes in 1977, has died. He was 81.
Turner died Friday at his home in Reddick where he had been in hospice care after battling prostate cancer for two years, according to a statement from his wife, Pat.
Seattle Slew became horse racing’s 10th Triple Crown winner and first to go undefeated during his 3-year-old season. The colt was named Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male in 1977.
