Commanders pull off stunning upset over Lions. Plus, Unrivaled's promising start

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Good morning! Knock on wood today.

Denny Medley / Imagn Images

While You Were Saturday-ing: Status quo and a stunner

There’s no point in holding off, so we’ll skip to the stunner: The Washington Commanders are back in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1992 after their shocking 45-31 upset win over the Detroit Lions last night.

• Washington QB Jayden Daniels was superb, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns with no INTs. Detroit’s Jared Goff, meanwhile, had four turnovers (😬) to go with his 313 passing yards.
• The Lions, simply battered by health issues on defense, are just the second 15-win team to not win a single playoff game in the Super Bowl era. Brutal stuff for the team with the longest Super Bowl drought (and so much for that NFC North!).

In the earlier game, it felt like business as usual for the Chiefs in their 23-14 win over the Texans:

• Travis Kelce led Kansas City’s offense with seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown, setting an NFL record with his ninth career playoff game with at least 100 receiving yards.
• Patrick Mahomes, who was 16-of-25 for 177 yards and a touchdown, has now reached the AFC Championship Game in all seven seasons as a starting quarterback. Texans WB C.J. Stroud finished with 245 passing yards but was sacked eight times.

The Commanders will face the winner of Rams-Eagles today, and the Chiefs will get the winner of the Ravens–Bills matchup. More on those games in a minute!

Graphic via The Athleticc

ICYMI: An Unrivaled debut

Friday night saw the biggest women’s sports launch in nearly 30 years, as detailed expertly by our Dan Shanoff in the latest MoneyCall newsletter. That breakdown came before a single Unrivaled game was played, however — and now we know what this 3×3 basketball league actually looks like.

Early returns say … it kinda rules? The games are fast, with three 7-minute quarters and then a modified Elam Ending in the fourth, plus other rules that up the pace. And the arena simply looked good, thanks to the made-for-TV court and backdrop.

It almost felt too good to be true, so we checked in with our own Ben Pickman, who was on the scene in Miami this weekend:

Welcome, Ben! What was the vibe like in the building?

Pickman: Friday night’s atmosphere felt like an intimate and competitive All-Star Game. Fewer than 1,000 people were in attendance, and there were WNBA executives, coaches and agents scattered throughout the crowd. For a new league, things felt normal — in a good way.

But one of the things that stood out from being there was the accessibility of the athletes. Many of the players who weren’t participating in a game (or whose games had just finished) found seats in the crowd and watched like anyone else. Fans cheered as those players walked through the aisles. Players were willing to take selfies and help all those present remember the moment.

How were the league-specific rules received?

Pickman: Throughout the weekend players talked about the benefits of the fourth-quarter format. They spoke about the competitiveness ramping up and how playing to a taget score changes one’s mindset; no longer are you thinking time and score, instead the mindset is just: score.

In the three competitive games (Saturday’s first game was a 32-point game entering the fourth quarter), the crowd was audibly more engaged in the fourth quarter, too. Skylar Diggins-Smith opened the league with a game-ending 3-pointer and her ensuing celebration immediately became one of the highlights of the weekend:

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH CALLS GAME FOR THE LUNAR OWLS 😱🔥

WOW. pic.twitter.com/gCEkBUvt1u

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 18, 2025

For more, read Ben’s piece on how Unrivaled became a welcome alternative to going overseas in the offseason. And here’s how to watch the rest of the season, which runs through March 17. Onward:

News to Know

Dodgers do it again
The feeling of inevitability that started as a low simmer the last few months boiled over Friday, when coveted Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki picked the Dodgers as his MLB home. The Padres and Blue Jays had emerged as finalists, but the 23-year-old ultimately chose Los Angeles, where he admittedly should be a natural organizational fit. Off the field, it’s a massive win for the Dodgers’ business ambitions in Japan, where they had already made considerable inroads after committing a combined $1 billion to Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as Fabian Ardaya writes. All the fallout here is addressed in our full report.

Fox exec: Brady criticism ‘ridiculous’
Fox Sports executive Brad Zager told our Andrew Marchand it is “ridiculous” for anyone to question Tom Brady’s perceived conflict of interest as a member the broadcast team for yesterday’s Lions-Commanders matchup given his role in the Raiders’ head-coaching search. Zager pointed to several of what he said were other conflicts of interest in the industry, including former Ohio State WB Kirk Herbstreit calling Buckeyes games and Dodgers play-by-play voice Joe Davis calling L.A.’s games in the World Series. 🤔 Full comments here.

More news

• Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating Belinda Bencic in three sets.
• Goalie goal! The Penguins’ Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goalie in NHL history to log a goal and an assist in one game.
• Recently retired USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was named the 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, marking only the second time a goalie has earned the distinction in 40 years.
• Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg — the presumptive No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft — signed an exclusive, multiyear trading card and memorabilia deal with Fanatics. More details here.
• The USMNT won its first game of 2025 yesterday, beating Venezuela 3-1 in a friendly in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Highlights, including a banger from Jack McGlynn, here.

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The Remaining Fun: The game of the year happens tonight

Just four NFL teams will remain after today’s action. Let’s not make this complicated. Quick previews and Good Bets (odds via BetMGM):

Rams at Eagles
3 p.m. ET on NBC

Here is a delicious matchup of two classic NFL archetypes: the team that got hot against the team who’s been elite all season. Los Angeles has won six of its last seven, including a blowout playoff win over the 14-win Vikings. Philadelphia struggled with the Packers last weekend, but let’s not forget the Eagles’ big win over the Rams earlier this season. It feels like this entire game rides on Saquon Barkley and Philly’s offensive line.

Good Bet: OVER 44. Eagles bounce back in a big way, but the Rams have enough offensive success to keep it close-ish. Philly by seven (spread is -6).

Ravens at Bills
6:30 p.m. ET on CBS

This is the game of the season. Both of these teams struggled at points this year, but we enter this contest with opposing sides playing great. Josh Allen against Lamar Jackson. Both quarterbacks playing each other while producing their greatest individual seasons yet (take this quiz on them!). Inject it into my veins.

Ted Nguyen believes the Ravens secondary can be exploited, though, and that’s spurring my pick.

Good Bet: Bills (+1). This is going to be close, and potentially won by a field goal — or a field goal miss.