Watch: Conference Championship teams' hype videosWatch: Conference Championship teams' hype videos
All 4 teams playing Sunday have posted hype videos to social media to fire up fan bases
Day: January 24, 2021
BC’s surprising play-action successBC’s surprising play-action success
In February 2018, The Athletic's Ben Baldwin wrote a guest column for Football Outsiders, in which he used NFL play-by-play charting from 2011-17 to show that neither the frequency nor success of rushing attempts prior to play-action passes had an influence on the effectiveness of the play-fake. About a year later, FiveThirtyEight put out a piece that evaluated the NFL's Next Gen tracking data from 2017, which included 91 games and 1,235 play-action snaps. The article illustrated how middle linebackers bite on the play-fake regardless of how many times a team runs play-action in a game.
Lue searches for closure 1 year after Kobe’s deathLue searches for closure 1 year after Kobe’s death
Clippers coach Ty Lue says he is still working to get over the death of his former teammate and friend Kobe Bryant.
Celtics rookie Pritchard out at least two weeksCeltics rookie Pritchard out at least two weeks
Celtics rookie Payton Pritchard is out at least two weeks after suffering a grade one MCL sprain in his right knee.
Former Lions teammates react to potential Matthew Stafford trade out of DetroitFormer Lions teammates react to potential Matthew Stafford trade out of Detroit
Lots of love out there for Stafford from guys who played with him in Detroit
Matthew Stafford gave Detroit all he had — on the field and off of itMatthew Stafford gave Detroit all he had — on the field and off of it
Stafford will leave Detroit as arguably the best quarterback in the franchise’s history. But Lions fans will remember him as a down-to-earth person.
Homa, Finau ready for Sunday challenge at The American ExpressHoma, Finau ready for Sunday challenge at The American Express
LA QUINTA, Calif. - Tony Finau and Max Homa earned their first PGA TOUR cards as part of the 2014 Korn Ferry Tour graduating class. Their career arcs, before and after that inflection point, vastly differ. Finau, 31, spent seven years on mini-tours before earning his 2014 Korn Ferry Tour card. He has finished no worse than No. 53 in the FedExCup in six full TOUR seasons. Homa, 30, earned his TOUR card within 18 months of graduation from the University of California-Berkeley. He spent time bouncing between the TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour, but is now playing some of the best golf of his career. Each player has won on TOUR - Finau at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, Homa at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship. They'll meet in Sunday's final threesome at The American Express - alongside fellow co-leader Si Woo Kim - as they chase the title at PGA WEST (Pete Dye Stadium Course). All three players stand 15-under through 54 holes in the Palm Desert. Finau and Homa are no strangers to overcoming adversity in their careers. Finau, a father of four, recalls earning $21,000 for winning a 2011 mini-tour event at PGA WEST, the majority of earnings allocated to his parents and Q-School entry fees. He battled constant self-imposed questions regarding whether he'd ever succeed on TOUR. He broke through to earn Korn Ferry Tour status via 2013 Q-School, and he hasn't looked back. Homa underwent a severe slump on TOUR during the 2016-17 season, making just two cuts in 17 starts and finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard on several occasions. "When I hit rock bottom, I found a shovel and kept digging," Homa once described his struggles. The American Express could be viewed as a microcosm of Homa's career. He made a triple-bogey 7 on the Stadium Course's par-4 10th hole during Friday's second round, but rallied to salvage a 2-under 70 and stay within striking distance. After a double bogey at No. 7 during the third round, Homa refused to fade, playing his final 11 holes in a bogey-free 5-under - including an up-and-down from 109 yards to save par at the finishing hole. Homa's ‘relentless' ethos endures - the word is even tattooed on his arm. "I did not know the lows I would see in golf," reflected Homa after a third-round, 7-under 65 at PGA West, located approximately 140 miles from his hometown of Valencia, California. "But that word always rang true in my head. I always told my college teammates about how you have to be relentless, you have to be a bulldog, you've just got to be tough. "I had to put myself in those actual shoes where I had to be tough, and it's just always been a word that just meant a lot to me. That's how I see a lot of life; I just feel like everybody should just be as relentless as they can in pursuit of whatever they want." Finau has also remained in relentless pursuit of his second TOUR title, shaking off a series of near-misses since his breakthrough Puerto Rico Open victory, continuing to play his way into contention. He has accrued 41 career top-10s on TOUR. Like Homa, Finau suffered a double bogey in the third round at PGA West - finding water with his tee shot on the par-3 13th hole. The Utah native rallied with three consecutive birdies to assume his share of the lead into Sunday. "It is tiring," admitted Finau on answering to a nearly five-year winless drought, "but I welcome that challenge. I have for the last couple seasons. I challenge myself every time I play to prove that I can do it again, and I know I can. I feel like the skill set's good, at a high level. I'm going to have a lot of opportunities to win tournaments. "That's, to me, what the exciting thing is. Every time I don't close a tournament, I'm never thinking, ‘Wow, I've let another one slip. I'm never going to have this opportunity again.' For me, it's like, ‘What did I learn? How can I take what I learned into the next opportunity?' And I've got another opportunity tomorrow." Through the at-times uncertainty in an uncertain world of professional golf, Finau and Homa have continually proven themselves capable of weathering any storm. And they'll welcome Sunday's challenge in the Palm Desert.
Kim, Homa, Finau share lead at The American ExpressKim, Homa, Finau share lead at The American Express
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Max Homa has been tearing up the Stadium Course at The American Express for two days. If he can do it one more time Sunday, the Southern California native could be raising his second career PGA TOUR trophy. RELATED: Leaderboard | Hubbard uses unique putting grip at The American Express Homa made nine birdies and shrugged off a double bogey on the way to a 7-under 65 in the third round Saturday, joining Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim atop the leaderboard at 15-under 201. Richy Werenski also shot a 65 and moved within a shot of the lead on the Stadium Course at PGA WEST near Palm Springs. Scotland’s Russell Knox shot the day’s low round with a 64 — one stroke off the course record — to join Brian Harman and Emiliano Grillo at 13 under. Finau and Kim both shot 67. Kim was bogey-free, while the streakier Finau bounced back from a double bogey on the 13th with three consecutive birdies. The field played through sparse desert rain in the afternoon. Precipitation finally fell in earnest when the final group reached the 18th hole, with Finau and Kim forced to pull out their umbrellas. Second-round leader Sungjae Im struggled to a 73, leaving him five shots off the lead after four bogeys — including a triple bogey on the ninth after putting two straight shots in the water. First-round leader Brandon Hagy shot a 72 and was even with Im at 10 under. Homa is in prime position for his second career win in his first tournament of the new year. He began the day just three shots off Im’s pace at 8 under, and he swiftly closed the gap with four birdies in his first five holes. Homa has 17 birdies in the last two rounds on the Stadium Course. “There’s obviously a handful of very daunting holes, but I’ve been fortunate enough to play here a ton, so I have a pretty good feel for the place,” Homa said. “I’ve been able to put myself in a position to have good looks for birdie, and I’ve been putting great. It’s just something about these greens. It feels like home.” The Burbank-born son of a well-known acting coach put his tee shot in the water and two-putted for that double bogey on the seventh, but Homa made up for it with birdies on five of his next eight holes, including three in a row down the back stretch. Finau put his tee shot in the water on the 13th and then missed a 10-inch putt for double bogey, but the Utah native rebounded with three of his eight birdies on a series of impressive approach shots. Werenski charged into fourth with a round that included six birdies and was highlighted by an eagle on the fifth after an exceptional 224-yard approach shot left him a 4-foot putt. The 29-year-old Massachusetts native is seeking his second PGA TOUR win. After going bogey-free through his first 48 holes at The American Express, he finally missed a 10-foot par putt on the 13th before rallying with two more birdies down the stretch. “I’ve been giving myself plenty of looks and just haven’t been converting them, and today I finally made some (putts),” Werenski said. “So I think we’re kind of turning the corner.. … I’ve always liked this place. I’ve never finished really, really high here, but I’ve always known that I could play really good. It just fits my eye.” Australia’s Cameron Davis had the shot of the day on the 15th, holing out for eagle from 157 yards away from a section of rough below the fairway. Davis finished the third round at 12-under 204 along with Rory Sabbatini, Chase Seiffert, Francesco Molinari and Doug Ghim.
Sources: Lions actively seek to trade StaffordSources: Lions actively seek to trade Stafford
With a new GM and a new head coach, the Lions will soon begin fielding trade offers for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, sources told ESPN.
Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford are headed for a divorce and fans are literally in painDetroit Lions and Matthew Stafford are headed for a divorce and fans are literally in pain
Matthew Stafford and the Lions, who drafted the 32-year-old No. 1 overall in 2009, have agreed to part ways, according to multiple reports.