Monday’s 6-pack:
PGA Tour leaders in average driving distance:
303.3— Wyndham Clark
300.5— Viktor Hovland
298.8— Taylor Moore
297.6— Patrick Rodgers
297.4— Ludvig Åberg
297.0— Sam Burns
Quote of the Day
“Hard work pays off. It’s not easy. I wanted to give up a lot of times — give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times. Just persevere. When you get tired of fighting, let someone else fight for you. And that’s what happened.”
golfer Grayson Murray, who won the Sony Open this week, at 450-1 odds
Monday’s quiz
Since 1987, which NFL quarterback threw the most passes in a playoff game?
Hint: He is retired.
Sunday’s quiz
In the movie Tin Cup, Kevin Costner plays a driving range golf pro who tries to qualify for the US Open; Don Johnson played his golfing rival.
Saturday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams in Super Bowl XIV, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
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Green Bay’s first seven drives: 57 plays, 407 yards, 41 points.
Packers outscored last eight opponents 139-58 in first half.
Last seven games, Green Bay is 64-125 (51.2%) on third down.
Packers visit the 49ers next weekend.
Green Bay won its last four visits to Dallas, scoring 37-35-34-48 points.
Since 1998, Dallas is 4-11 in playoff games (2-3 since 2018)
Lions 24, Rams 23
Lions get their first playoff win since 1991.
Detroit’s first three drives: 26 plays, 225 yards, 21 points.
Detroit rest of game: 30 plays, 116 yards, 3 points.
Lions in red zone: 3 drives, 3 touchdowns.
Rams in red zone: 3 drives, 3 field goals.
Next week, Detroit hosts the winner of the Philly-Tampa Bay game.
Texans 45, Browns 14
Houston gets its first playoff win since 2019.
All-time, Texans are 5-2 at home in playoffs, 0-4 on road.
Rookie QB Stroud was 16-21/274 passing, with 3 TD’s.
Down 24-14 at halftime, Flacco threw consecutive pick-6’s in 3rd quarter.
Browns were 8-0 giving up less than 24 points, 3-7 allowing 24+.
Since 2013, Browns are 5-13 ATS as a road favorite.
Chiefs 26, Dolphins 7
Chiefs outgained Miami 409-265, on a frigid night.
Kansas City was 6-15 on third down, Dolphins 1-12.
Dolphins still haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Dolphins lost four of last six games, after a 9-3 start.
Favorites were 15-2 ATS in their last 17 games.
Miami was 1-6 SU this year vs teams that made the playoffs.
—Washington Huskies hired Arizona coach Jedd Fisch as its new football coach, as they moved into the Big 14 next year. He is expected to made $7.7M a year, for seven years.
Fisch coached Arizona for three years, going 10-3 this year, including a bowl win vs Oklahoma. Wildcats won their last seven games; now they’re looking for a new football coach.
— Best wishes to Old Dominion basketball coach Jeff Jones, who has to step away from his job for the rest of the season because of health issues. Jones was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and 2018; he also had a heart attack in Hawai’i December 20.
Get well soon, sir.
— Baseball Fact of the Day: In his Hall of Fame career, Orioles 3B Brooks Robinson grounded into four triple plays.
— Word of the Day: Progress- Forward movement toward a destination.
— Michigan Wolverines’ QB JJ McCarthy announced that he plans to forgo his remaining college football eligibility and enter the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy had a 27-1 record as a starter with Michigan.
— Today (Monday) is the deadline for college players to enter the ’24 Draft; USC QB Caleb Williams hasn’t announced either way yet; he has a choice- play another year for USC football or go pro, and likely get drafted first, by the Chicago Bears.
Caleb Williams is from Washington, DC; the Commanders have the #2 pick in the draft. With a new owner and a new coach soon to be hired, Washington (actually Maryland, but whatever) might be a more appealing place for Williams to begin his pro career.
How much would Washington have to give the Bears to move up one spot in the draft?
— With Sunday’s loss, Dallas Cowboys are now 4-11 in playoff games since 1998; they haven’t been in the NFC Championship Game since 1995. Owner Jerry Jones is 81 years old, there is an urgency involved, obviously, with having the Cowboys get back to the NFL’s Final Four, which is probably why they’ll make a coaching change this offseason.
Dallas has lost three of its last four home playoff games; in the NFL, losing home playoff games is squandering an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often.
— Along those lines, Toledo Rockets will be an interesting basketball team to follow in March; the last three years, Toledo went 74-25, 48-9 in regular season MAC games, but in the MAC tournament, when the league’s NCAA bid is decided, the Rockets were 4-3 in those games.
Toledo hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1980; they’re 10-6 this year, 4-0 in the MAC, with a thin roster that hasn’t been defending well. We’ll see what happens.
— St John’s basketball team is 12-5 this year, 4-2 in Big East games, with the two losses by a total of five points. Rick Pitino has totally retooled his program; St John’s is an experienced team, #5 in country, but they’re #329 in continuity- the players have come to Queens from all over the country, and the team figures to get better as the season progresses.
— In baseball, P Jordan Hicks signed a 4-year, $44M deal with the Giants, who hope to turn the flame thrower into a starting pitcher. Hicks started eight games for St Louis in 2022, his only starts in 212 big league games.
PGA Tour leaders in average driving distance:
303.3— Wyndham Clark
300.5— Viktor Hovland
298.8— Taylor Moore
297.6— Patrick Rodgers
297.4— Ludvig Åberg
297.0— Sam Burns
Quote of the Day
“Hard work pays off. It’s not easy. I wanted to give up a lot of times — give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times. Just persevere. When you get tired of fighting, let someone else fight for you. And that’s what happened.”
golfer Grayson Murray, who won the Sony Open this week, at 450-1 odds
Monday’s quiz
Since 1987, which NFL quarterback threw the most passes in a playoff game?
Hint: He is retired.
Sunday’s quiz
In the movie Tin Cup, Kevin Costner plays a driving range golf pro who tries to qualify for the US Open; Don Johnson played his golfing rival.
Saturday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams in Super Bowl XIV, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
****************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….
Packers 48, Cowboys 32Green Bay’s first seven drives: 57 plays, 407 yards, 41 points.
Packers outscored last eight opponents 139-58 in first half.
Last seven games, Green Bay is 64-125 (51.2%) on third down.
Packers visit the 49ers next weekend.
Green Bay won its last four visits to Dallas, scoring 37-35-34-48 points.
Since 1998, Dallas is 4-11 in playoff games (2-3 since 2018)
Lions 24, Rams 23
Lions get their first playoff win since 1991.
Detroit’s first three drives: 26 plays, 225 yards, 21 points.
Detroit rest of game: 30 plays, 116 yards, 3 points.
Lions in red zone: 3 drives, 3 touchdowns.
Rams in red zone: 3 drives, 3 field goals.
Next week, Detroit hosts the winner of the Philly-Tampa Bay game.
Texans 45, Browns 14
Houston gets its first playoff win since 2019.
All-time, Texans are 5-2 at home in playoffs, 0-4 on road.
Rookie QB Stroud was 16-21/274 passing, with 3 TD’s.
Down 24-14 at halftime, Flacco threw consecutive pick-6’s in 3rd quarter.
Browns were 8-0 giving up less than 24 points, 3-7 allowing 24+.
Since 2013, Browns are 5-13 ATS as a road favorite.
Chiefs 26, Dolphins 7
Chiefs outgained Miami 409-265, on a frigid night.
Kansas City was 6-15 on third down, Dolphins 1-12.
Dolphins still haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Dolphins lost four of last six games, after a 9-3 start.
Favorites were 15-2 ATS in their last 17 games.
Miami was 1-6 SU this year vs teams that made the playoffs.
—Washington Huskies hired Arizona coach Jedd Fisch as its new football coach, as they moved into the Big 14 next year. He is expected to made $7.7M a year, for seven years.
Fisch coached Arizona for three years, going 10-3 this year, including a bowl win vs Oklahoma. Wildcats won their last seven games; now they’re looking for a new football coach.
— Best wishes to Old Dominion basketball coach Jeff Jones, who has to step away from his job for the rest of the season because of health issues. Jones was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and 2018; he also had a heart attack in Hawai’i December 20.
Get well soon, sir.
— Baseball Fact of the Day: In his Hall of Fame career, Orioles 3B Brooks Robinson grounded into four triple plays.
— Word of the Day: Progress- Forward movement toward a destination.
— Michigan Wolverines’ QB JJ McCarthy announced that he plans to forgo his remaining college football eligibility and enter the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy had a 27-1 record as a starter with Michigan.
— Today (Monday) is the deadline for college players to enter the ’24 Draft; USC QB Caleb Williams hasn’t announced either way yet; he has a choice- play another year for USC football or go pro, and likely get drafted first, by the Chicago Bears.
Caleb Williams is from Washington, DC; the Commanders have the #2 pick in the draft. With a new owner and a new coach soon to be hired, Washington (actually Maryland, but whatever) might be a more appealing place for Williams to begin his pro career.
How much would Washington have to give the Bears to move up one spot in the draft?
— With Sunday’s loss, Dallas Cowboys are now 4-11 in playoff games since 1998; they haven’t been in the NFC Championship Game since 1995. Owner Jerry Jones is 81 years old, there is an urgency involved, obviously, with having the Cowboys get back to the NFL’s Final Four, which is probably why they’ll make a coaching change this offseason.
Dallas has lost three of its last four home playoff games; in the NFL, losing home playoff games is squandering an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often.
— Along those lines, Toledo Rockets will be an interesting basketball team to follow in March; the last three years, Toledo went 74-25, 48-9 in regular season MAC games, but in the MAC tournament, when the league’s NCAA bid is decided, the Rockets were 4-3 in those games.
Toledo hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1980; they’re 10-6 this year, 4-0 in the MAC, with a thin roster that hasn’t been defending well. We’ll see what happens.
— St John’s basketball team is 12-5 this year, 4-2 in Big East games, with the two losses by a total of five points. Rick Pitino has totally retooled his program; St John’s is an experienced team, #5 in country, but they’re #329 in continuity- the players have come to Queens from all over the country, and the team figures to get better as the season progresses.
— In baseball, P Jordan Hicks signed a 4-year, $44M deal with the Giants, who hope to turn the flame thrower into a starting pitcher. Hicks started eight games for St Louis in 2022, his only starts in 212 big league games.
