AP Sports

Burrow, Chase lift Bengals after botched blocked punt by Cowboys in 27-20 Cincinnati victory

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joe Burrow threw a tiebreaking 40-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase after Dallas botched a blocked punt to give the ball back to Cincinnati in the final two minutes, and the Bengals beat the Cowboys 27-20. The Cowboys were about to get the ball back with the score tied on the first play after the two-minute warning when Nick Vigil blocked a punt by Ryan Rehkow. Amani Oruwariye tried to field the bouncing ball when leaving it alone would have given Dallas possession. Oruwariye couldn’t hold on, and the Bengals’ Maema Njongmeta recovered. Three plays later, Burrow threw to Chase for the lead with 1:01 to go.

Micah Parsons aches after botched blocked punt costs Cowboys in loss to Bengals

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Micah Parsons rocked back and forth on the bench in agony after Cincinnati’s winning touchdown that followed a botched blocked punt from his Dallas Cowboys. The star pass rusher couldn’t bear to watch the end, so he left the field before the clock hit zeros in the Bengals’ 27-20 victory. Joe Burrow’s tiebreaking 40-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase with 1:01 remaining was possible only because the Cowboys touched a blocked punt that would have put them in position for the victory in the final two minutes. Amani Oruwariye tried to field the bouncing ball on Nick Vigil’s block when leaving it alone would have given Dallas possession.

Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year contract with Mets reverberates through Major League Baseball

DALLAS (AP) — Juan Soto’s record $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets, the largest and longest deal in baseball history, has reverberated across the winter meetings. It stung the Yankees, who offered $760 million over 16 years to the All-Star outfielder. Soto’s deal sparked even greater expectations in a free agent market that includes pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, first basemen Pete Alonso and Christian Walker, third baseman Alex Bregman and outfielder Anthony Santander. Many small-market teams have long sought a salary cap but the consensus since the 1994-95 strike has been not to propose a hard limit.

Dillon Gabriel, Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, Cam Ward are named Heisman finalists

Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and Miami’s Cam Ward have been announced as the Heisman Trophy finalists. The Heisman has been given to the nation’s most outstanding college football player since 1935. This year’s winner will be announced Saturday in New York. The top four top vote-getters determined by more than 900 voters are selected as finalists. The voting panel includes members of the media and former Heisman winners.

Golf shots from every club in the bag paint the picture of a big year: Analysis

Every shot tells a story and there were plenty of them this year in golf. Bryson DeChambeau drove the 13th green at Pinehurst No. 2 at just the right time in the U.S. Open. Scottie Scheffler began to pull away in the Masters with a lob wedge that nearly went in the cup. Not every shot was great. Nelly Korda hit 6-iron too far in the U.S. Women’s Open and made 10 on the third hole of the tournament.

French rugby players are cleared of sexual assault in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine court has dropped aggravated sexual assault charges against two professional French rugby players accused of raping a woman after a match in the country earlier this year. On Tuesday the judge in Mendoza, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of the capital of Buenos Aires, dismissed the case against the 21-year-old athletes, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jégou, citing insufficient evidence. The plaintiff can appeal the ruling. The case began in July, when a 39-year-old Argentine woman filed a police complaint alleging that she was beaten, choked and repeatedly raped by the rugby players in their Mendoza hotel room after meeting them at a nightclub. Auradou and Jégou claimed that the sex had been consensual.

Is the College Football Playoff bracket fair? Here are some tweaks that would have changed things

The committee that chose the 12 contenders for college football’s national title was only worried about ranking the teams. Where those teams landed in the bracket was based on a formula created by conference commissioners. That jumbled up the pairings and made a strong case for tinkering in the future. Some possible tweaks, like reseeding after the first round or not giving conference champions automatic byes, would have resulted in a vastly different tournament this year,

Belichick says he’s had ‘good conversations’ with UNC chancellor amid Tar Heels’ coaching search

Former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick says he had “a couple of good conversations” with North Carolina Chancellor Lee Roberts amid his discussions about the Tar Heels’ head-coaching job. Belichick appeared on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. He said he had spent the 11 months since his departure from the Patriots taking a “longer look” at the college level. He said he had learned a lot and had “a couple of good conversations” with Roberts. UNC fired the program’s all-time winningest coach in Mack Brown last month.

Riviera gems: Monaco’s renowned soccer academy keeps churning out some of France’s biggest stars

MONACO (AP) — Monaco’s strategy of developing young talents who often go on to represent their national sides is bringing both sporting and financial benefits to the French league club. Its training academy is one of the most renowned in Europe and five World Cup winners have honed their skills there: Thierry Henry, his former Arsenal teammate Emmanuel Petit, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet and Kylian Mbappé. Several graduates from the academy — some of them already coveted by Europe’s biggest clubs — are in the Monaco squad travelling to Arsenal on Wednesday in the Champions League.

Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to be ready to hit for opener in Japan, but not be on the mound

DALLAS (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is expected to be ready to hit when the reigning World Series champions open their season in Japan against the Chicago Cubs in March but is doubtful to pitch. Manager Dave Roberts said Monday that it’s very unlikely that the two-way star will be on the mound pitching for the Dodgers in his home country. Ohtani had surgery last month on his left, non-throwing shoulder after getting hurt on a stolen base attempt during the World Series. He didn’t pitch at all during the first season of his $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers while recovering from the elbow surgery in September 2023.