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From Bill Plaschke: A year ago, on a giant national stage, hundreds of members of the media surrounded a triumphant man.
Monday afternoon, in a small room in Thousand Oaks, a handful of rain-soaked souls gathered around a tormented man.
A day after the Rams completed a historic fall from the Super Bowl champions to 5-12, Sean McVay held one of the strangest and saddest postseason press conferences by an acting coach in football history.
There was no mention of the team. The future was not discussed. There was no talk of football.
Instead, there was talk of a personal struggle.
“How do you not let the challenges and the grind and the competitor in you … how do you not let that change the dynamic of who you want to be as a leader in that kind of thing?” McVay said. “And this is where I am.”
There was talk of seeking personal renewal.
“You just understand, ‘OK, what’s the best way to continue to move forward in the right way to be the best coach you can be?’ ” he said.
Judging by an intimate 13-minute press conference that felt like a therapy session, the tough Rams coach is clearly trying to do something that goes against his nature.
He’s trying to leave.
And so, it should.
Come on, in peace.
Continue reading here
Matthew Stafford will be back with Rams with or without Sean McVay
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CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: The Chargers got some good news on Mike Williams’ back on Monday, as tests revealed it’s nothing more serious than a contusion.
After providing the update, coach Brandon Staley said “the indication” he was given was that Williams will be available Saturday night when the Chargers play Jacksonville in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
The team’s top deep threat at wide receiver, Williams was injured in the second quarter of a 31-28 loss at Denver on Sunday.
Staley also indicated that running back Joey Bosa is on pace in his return from a muscle injury that cost him 12 games. Bosa played 23 snaps against Denver after playing 24 in his Week 17 opener.
Continue reading here
CHARGER SURVEY
How far will the Chargers go in the NFL playoffs? Click here to vote. Results will be published in Friday’s newsletter.
NFL PLAYOFF SCHEDULES
All Pacific hours
wild card round
Saturday
Seattle at San Francisco, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Sports
Chargers at Jacksonville, 5:15 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
sunday
Miami at Buffalo, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+
New York Giants at Minnesota, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Sports
Baltimore at Cincinnati, 5:15 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
Monday
Dallas at Tampa Bay, 5:15 p.m., ESPN/ABC, ESPN2-Manningcast, ESPN+, ESPN Sports
Bills’ Damar Hamlin, released from hospital in Cincinnati, continues to recover in Buffalo
After Georgia’s 65-7 drubbing of TCU in the national championship game, is it too early to look at next season’s top 25? Not if you’re J. Brady McCollough, who takes a look:
I’ve never attempted a top 25 too early, and given the reality of the transfer window, the idea of hurting teams that won’t be playing for another eight months seemed even crazier.
Well, as George Costanza once said, “You want to go crazy? Let’s go crazy!”
To preserve my sanity, I tried to keep my evaluation criteria fairly simple: Who returns a proven quarterback, who has a coach who has developed a reliable winning culture, and who is leveraging the transfer portal to plug holes?
Here’s where I came from Day 1 of the offseason, knowing that these rankings, like the rosters that make them up, are very much subject to change:
1. Georgia
The back-to-back national champions are an easy pick to win their third straight in 2023. How well has Georgia coach Kirby Smart built the Bulldogs to last? After winning the 2021 title, Smart did not bring in a player from the transfer portal to build his undefeated team in 2022. This year, Georgia opted to add two four-star receivers, RaRa Thomas from Mississippi State and Dominic Lovett from Missouri. from the Southeastern Conference. Quarterbacks Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff are expected to battle to take over for Stetson Bennett. Vandagriff was a five-star prospect in the 2021 class and will be the favorite to lead the offense.
Continue reading here
Stetson Bennett becomes an instant Georgia legend in historic national title win
Analysis: Georgia’s world beaters aren’t done. Why the Bulldogs are set for a three-peat
Georgia broke up with Kirby Smart. Here’s how USC can learn from this
REGGIE BUSH
Reggie Bush, USC’s 2005 Heisman Trophy win vacated due to NCAA violations, was among 18 players in the latest College Football Hall of Fame class announced Monday.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman in 2007, was also elected to the hall by the National Football Foundation, along with Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney, Boston College’s Luke Kuechly, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Michael Bishop from Kansas State.
Bush played on two national championship teams with USC, in 2003 and 2004, and led the Trojans to another title game in 2005. He rushed for 1,740 yards, averaged 8.7 yards per carry and scored 19 touchdowns in the 2005 season.
LACERS
From Dan Woike: Russell Westbrook’s shot was blocked at the rim, prompting a Denver counterattack at the other end. And just after Bruce Brown’s floater glanced off the backboard to beat the third-quarter buzzer, Wenyen Gabriel walked off the court with both hands on his head in complete exhaustion.
Over the last five games, it didn’t matter who the Lakers had in the game – they played harder, harder, faster and more effectively. In one of those games, LeBron James was even sidelined.
With James back on Monday, it wouldn’t happen again, Denver earned a 122-109 victory.
The good vibes from the Lakers’ recent five-game winning streak during the season faded without much drama against the Nuggets, the best team in the West who dominated on both ends of the court against their undermanned visitors.
Continue reading here
NWSL
The National Women’s Soccer League permanently banned four coaches on Monday as part of disciplinary action taken against several individuals and teams in response to an investigation into alleged abuse and misconduct in the league.
Former North Carolina coach Paul Riley, former Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames, former Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke and former Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly were all banned from coaching in the league. In addition, former Utah Royals coach Craig Harrington and former Gotham general manager Alyse LaHue were suspended from working in the NWSL for two years, until January 9, 2025.
KINGS
Kevin Fiala had two goals and two assists, Adrian Kempe also scored two power play goals and the Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3. Alex Iafallo and Viktor Arvidsson also scored as Los Angeles improved to 9-2-1 since Dec. 15. Pheonix Copley made 28 saves as he improved to 11-2-0 in 13 starts, all since Dec. 6.
Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod and Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers in the start of a four-game road trip. Stuart Skinner was bombarded with three goals on 24 shots before being substituted early in the second period. Former Kings goaltender Jack Campbell entered after Kempe gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead at 3:51 of the second period.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1972 – The longest winning streak in the majors — 33 games — ends when the Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 120-104 behind 39 points from Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
1980 – Goaltender Jim Stewart, in his first and only game with the Boston Bruins, scored three goals in the first four minutes and five in the first period. He has been traded and is never playing in the NHL again.
1982 – Joe Montana’s third touchdown pass of the game, a 6-yarder to Dwight Clark, with 51 seconds remaining, lifts the San Francisco 49ers to a 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the title game of NFC.
1998 – Michelle Kwan receives eight perfect 6.0s out of nine marks in figure skating to win her second U.S. Figure Skating Championship in three years.
2002 – Todd Eldredge wins his sixth U.S. figure skating title. After missing two seasons of competition, Eldredge edges out defending champion Tim Goebel.
2004 – Michelle Kwan wins her seventh consecutive title and eighth overall at the United States Figure Skating Championships. Only one of the sport’s greats, Maribel Vinson, has more North American championships, with nine.
2006 – Bruce Sutter is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the fourth reliever and first pitcher elected without a career start.
2008 – Alex Ovechkin signs a 13-year, $124 million contract extension with the Washington Capitals, the NHL’s first $100 million deal.
2009 – Arizona, the only NFC team not to appear in a championship game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, gets to host its first NFC Championship Game after a 33- 13 in Carolina.
2010 – Karlos Dansby’s 17-yard punt return for a touchdown in overtime gives the Arizona Cardinals a 51-45 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the highest-scoring playoff game in NFL history.
2011: Top-seeded Auburn beats No. 2 Oregon 22-19 in BCS title game. Wes Byrum’s 19-yard field goal with no time left, his sixth career game-winning field goal, ends a 14-0 season.
2015 – North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz runs 5 yards for the game-winning touchdown about a minute after Tre Roberson’s 58-yard run put Illinois State ahead, and the Bison became the first team to win four straight FCS championships with a thrilling 29-27 victory. .
2015 – Tom Brady sets a career record for postseason touchdown passes, rallying New England from two 14-point deficits to a 35-31 victory over Baltimore. Brady breaks Joe Montana’s record with 46 postseason TD passes and the Patriots clinch their fourth straight AFC Championship game.
2016 – Blair Walsh’s 27-yard field goal tested the wind chill for the Minnesota Timberwolves with 22 seconds remaining, giving the Seattle Seahawks a 10-9 victory over the Vikings in their playoff game in the wildcard round with sub-zero weather.
2016: Alex Ovechkin scores his 500th and 501st goals to become the 43rd NHL player to reach the milestone, and the Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators 7-1.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, “The Catch,” with Vin Scully making the call. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
This concludes today’s newsletter. If you have comments, ideas for improvement, or things you’d like to see, please email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
