Football

The Houston Texans parted ways with wide receiver Diontae Johnson ahead of their playoff clash with the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson, claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens, expressed frustration over limited playtime during the win against the Los Angeles Chargers, where he participated in just 15 of 70 offensive snaps and caught a single 12-yard pass. Prior to joining Houston, Johnson had been suspended by the Ravens for refusing to play against the Philadelphia Eagles and had minimal impact during his short stint in Baltimore. Earlier in the season, he played for the Carolina Panthers, recording 257 yards and three touchdowns.   You might also like: Nakobe Dean ruled out for the remainder of Eagles’ playoff run Cover image: X(@Panthers)

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of this season, but suffered a major setback with linebacker Nakobe Dean. Dean sustained a torn patellar tendon and will miss the rest of the playoffs. A key player in the defense, Dean was the team’s second-leading tackler with 128 tackles, along with multiple sacks, pass deflections, and fumble recoveries. To fill the void, the Eagles may turn to rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr., veteran Oren Burks, or rotate Bryce Huff and Jalyx Hunt.   You might also like: Cowboys clean house as Mike McCarthy is let go Cover image: X(@NakobeDean) 

After a disappointing season, the Dallas Cowboys announced the dismissal of their head coach, Mike McCarthy. After three seasons and only one playoff win, McCarthy leaves the Lone Star team. After a bad season for the Dallas Cowboys, the Lone Star team is already starting to plan for the next competition, where several elements will continue, new ones will be sought and others will not be part of the franchise’s plans. Such is the case of head coach Mike McCarthy, with whom Dallas had lasted five seasons, but last Wednesday, McCarthy’s contract ended, although the Cowboys had the option to negotiate the renewal of his contract, the team preferred not to continue with his services. McCarthy fell short of expectations Mike achieved a 49-35 streak in his five seasons, but only managed to lead the Cowboys to three playoffs, losing twice against San Francisco 49ers in 2021 and against Green Bay Packers in 2023, having only one victory in this instance. In addition, the bad season of 7-10 that Dallas ended up sentencing his place in the team. The clear objective was for McCarthy to replicate what he did with the Packers in 2010, to take the team to a Super Bowl, but the coach fell far short of that goal. The near future of the Cowboys and McCarthy Now, Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, will have to look for McCarthy’s replacement, who will be the fifth head coach to pass through the team in the Jones era, where he will have to make a very good choice, as the Cowboys are one season away from being 20 years since their last Super Bowl, and the level of the team has been below what was expected for this historic franchise in recent years. Jones’ top candidate would be former Cowboys cornerback and current football coach and sportscaster Deion Sanders. While McCarthy will remain as a free agent, according to ESPN, he looks like a great candidate to lead the Chicago Bears or the New Orleans Saints.

The Rams gave a perfect game and eliminated the Vikings to get the last place in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, games that already have date and time. The Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs is over and now, we already know the matchups and schedules for the Divisional Round, where the Los Angeles Rams surprised more than one and eliminated the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 27-9 to be the last qualifiers. The Rams to the next round The Rams showed their best version of their game against one of the favorites to reach the National Championship game, the Vikings, who could not respond to the solid work that the Los Angeles Rams did on defense and offense, allowing only a field goal and a touchdown in the last minutes to the Minnesota team. For their part, the Rams did almost everything right, with each advance, whether by land or air, it felt like it could end in points for their scoreboard, where the defense also stopped the Vikings quarterback on more than one occasion. Divisional Round games and schedules The actions will begin next Saturday, January 18, where we will have the return of the No. 1 seeds of the AFC and NFC to the gridiron. First, at 3:30 p.m., Mexico Central Time, the Kansas City Chiefs begin their title defense and their quest for the three-time championship directly against the Houston Texans, who defeated the Chargers and finished as the fourth team in the American Conference. Closing Saturday’s actions, the Detroit Lions will face the Washington Commanders, at 7:00 p.m.; the best of the National Conference will receive the sixth of the season in the NFC, in a game that looks like the Lions will advance to the championship game of their conference. Moving on to Sunday, January 18, action will begin at 2:00 p.m. CST when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Rams. The second best team will face the fourth-ranked team in the NFC. Finally, in a matchup that could be between two of the best in the regular season, the Buffalo Bills will host the Baltimore Ravens, the second versus the third place team. The game will be the same Sunday, at 5:30 p.m. and will define the last finalist of the American Conference.

Three more teams are already in the Divisional Round, Bills crushed the Broncos, Eagles beat the Packers and Commanders with a last second field goal beat the Buccaneers. We already know almost all of the Divisional Round invitees, as yesterday on Sunday Football, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders won their respective wild card matchups. The Bills crushed the Broncos In the first game, one of the best teams of the regular season, the Bills, showed why they were the second best team in the AFC and easily defeated the Denver Broncos by a score of 31-7. With only one touchdown scored at the beginning of the game, the Bills showed why they are candidates for the Super Bowl, as they have a solid defense and a powerful offense, led by Josh Allen, who stood out in his team’s victory. Eagles shut out the Packers In the NFC, the Eagles, like the Bills, showed why they were among the best in the National Conference and defeated the Green Bay Packers 22-10. The Philadelphia Eagles held their rivals scoreless during the first two quarters of the game and took advantage of a touchdown and a field goal to take the lead. Although the Packers responded with a touchdown and a field goal, the Eagles continued to take advantage thanks to one more touchdown, but with the missed extra point, and two field goals. Commanders won an agonizing victory over Bucs Undoubtedly, the game that did not let anyone leave their seats was the last-second victory of the Commanders against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with a score of 23-20, there was no shortage of emotions. The Bucs took the lead with a field goal, Commanders came back thanks to a touchdown and a field goal, but Buccaneers tied the game and later took the lead with another touchdown. At the end of the last episode, thanks to a touchdown by the Commanders and a field goal by Tampa Bay, things were 20-20, so that in a last attack by the Commanders, they had a 37-yard field goal, which made more than one heart stop, because before crossing the three goal posts, the ball hit the left side, leaving for a few seconds the uncertainty of whether the field goal was valid, but, finally, the three points were scored and the Commanders won with a goal in zeroes.

Almost everything is ready for the NFL Divisional Round, with seven teams already confirmed, the only thing missing is to know the last guest to this second stage of the playoffs, which will come out of the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. This clash is scheduled for today at 7:00 p.m., where although the Rams are the visitors, both teams will be playing away from home, since due to the fires that have ravaged the California region, the game was moved from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Arizona. In the historical section, of their last 10 head-to-head meetings, the Vikings have won 7 times, over 3 wins for the Rams, although those three victories, have been in the last three meetings they have had, so Minnesota has not been able to beat the Angelenos since 2017. You may be interested in: Texans and Ravens clinched their pass to Divisional Round Cover image: X (@RamsNFL)

Texans beat Chargers 32-12 with 4 interceptions by Herbert, and Ravens beat Steelers 28-14 after dominating the first half. Both advance to the Divisional Round to join the Chiefs in the AFC. The first two NFL playoff games ended with the Houston Texans’ victory over the Los Angeles Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thus, the Texans and Ravens joined the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Conference Divisional Round. Texans crushed Chargers With a final score of 32-12 in favor of the locals, this game was sentenced by the mistakes on offense of the Chargers, where Justin Herbert had 4 interceptions in the game and until the last quarter was able to lead his team to the end zone. On the other hand, the Texans were solid on offense, although in the first quarter the Chargers managed to keep the home team scoreless, Houstos’ team took advantage of the gifts from the Los Angeles Angels and converted as many points as they could to advance to the Wild Card Round. Ravens outplayed Steelers The Batimore Ravens made their home field advantage count with a 28-14 victory, the Ravens were able to keep their opponent’s score in zero in the first two quarters, while they scored three touchdowns before halftime, leaving the score 21-0 in their favor. In the third quarter, the Steelers tried to react with two touchdowns, but one more touchdown by Baltimore sentenced the game, which, in its last episode, had no movement on the scoreboard. AFC awaits Bills or Broncos Now, these three teams that secured their place in the National Conference Divisional Playoffs (Chiefs, Texans and Ravens) are waiting for the last guest in the AFC, which will come out of today’s matchup between Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, with the Bills being favorites to advance to the next round. Cover image: X (@NFL)

The playoffs continue today, at noon Bills vs Broncos will face off, in the afternoon, Eagles and Packers will do the same and in the evening, Buccaneers and Commanders will close out Sunday. The excitement of the 2025 playoffs continues today with three wild card games. After a first day where the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens already got their pass to the next round, now Buffalo Bills will host the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles will do the same with Green Bay Packers and, to end the day, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be at home against Washington Commanders. Bills vs Broncos The action begins at noon, as at 12 p.m CST, the second best positioned team in the AFC will face the last team to get their ticket to the playoffs. In this game, the effectiveness of Buffalo’s offense, led by Josh Allen, is expected to prevail. In history, these teams have met 15 times in this new millennium, where the Bills have won 7 times, while the Broncos have beaten New York 8 times, the last result being 24-22 last year in favor of Denver. Eagles vs Packers In a game somewhat similar to the first one of this Sunday’s game, at 3:30 p.m. CST, the second place team in the NFC will face the fifth place team. The Eagles had a 14-3 record in the regular season, making them favorites over the Packers, who are 11-6, but in their last games of the season, they lost three of their five games. The last result between these two franchises was a victory for Philadelphia by a score of 34-29, and out of 23 meetings they have played, the Eagles have won in 13 games, having superiority over the Packers’ 10 victories. Buccaneers vs. Commanders For the last game of the day, at 7:00 p.m. CST, an evenly matched game is expected, as the NFC South champions, but one of the last teams to qualify for the playoffs with a 10-7 record, will face the fourth-place team in the National Conference, but second in the East with a 12-5 record. In this game, it is expected that both the individuals and the good teamwork of each team will make the difference. The last result between these two teams was this season, where the Bucs won 37-20, but in the history, Commanders have won 13 of their last 20 head-to-head meetings.

The NCAA football final is already set, after Ohio State’s 28-14 victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Thus, Ohio will face Notre Dame, who defeated Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl. The final will take place next January 20 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where Ohio will seek to become champion again since the last time it achieved it in 2014, while Notre Dame, if crowned champions, will win for the first time since 1988. You may be interested in: Raiders fire general manager Tom Telesco  Cover Image: X (@OhioStateFB)

The NFL Playoffs 2025 begin today, with the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers opening this wild card round in the afternoon and Ravens vs. Steelers facing off in the evening. The wait is over, the NFL Playoffs 2025 will begin today. The Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers will kick off the playoffs at 3:30 p.m. CST in what is expected to be a hard-fought game, where the performance of each team will determine the winner. After this game, the emotions will not stop, because at 7:00 p.m., Central Mexican Time, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers, where the locals start as favorites, as they will close the regular season very well, contrary to the Steelers, who were deflated at the end of the season. Texans vs Chargers With a streak of 10-7 for Houston and 11-6 for Los Angeles, this game could not be more evenly matched, which is why the individualities in this game may weigh as never before. For this reason, it is expected to see a face-to-face confrontation between the quarterbacks of each team. On the Chargers’ side, Justin Herbert was solid in the regular season, being the ninth in yards gained and giving his team 23 touchdowns. On the other side, C.J. Stroud finished 15th in yards gained and scored 20 touchdowns. In the history, these teams have met 10 times where the Chargers have won 6 times, while the Texans have been victorious 4 times. Ravens vs Steelers In the second game of the day, the Ravens want to continue with their winning streak with which they closed the season, since in their last five games, they had four consecutive victories, while the Steelers, in their last five games, had a four-game losing streak. This season, these teams met twice, with Pittsburgh winning the first meeting on November 17 by a score of 18-16, while the Ravens won on December 21, less than a month ago, by a score of 34-17.