SPORTS HEADLINES

Sam Darnold and Seahawks advance to Super Bowl with thrilling 31-27 win over Rams in NFC title game

SEATTLE (AP) — Sam Darnold threw for three touchdowns, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop, and Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in an electrifying NFC championship game. Led by second-year coach Mike Macdonald and Darnold, the Seahawks reached the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 11 years. Seattle lost that most recent appearance to New England, and the Patriots will again be the Seahawks’ opponent in two weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Matthew Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns for the Rams, but the Seahawks broke up his pass to the end zone on fourth-and-4 late in the fourth quarter.

Patriots punch ticket to 12th Super Bowl with gritty 10-7 win over Broncos in snowy Denver

DENVER (AP) — Drake Maye scored New England’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper, propelling the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl with a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos. Christian Gonzalez intercepted Jarrett Stidham, starting in place of an injured Bo Nix, at the New England 36 with 2:11 remaining and the Patriots iced their first playoff win in Denver when Maye ran for 7 yards on third-and-5 from his 41. In Mike Vrabel’s first season as coach, New England became the third team in the Super Bowl era to win a conference championship with 10 points or less. The Broncos finished one step shy of fulfilling Sean Payton’s preseason prediction of a trip to Super Bowl 60.

Patriots are heading to their 12th Super Bowl, seeking an NFL-record 7th victory

Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel and a stifling defense have the New England Patriots back in the Super Bowl for the first time since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their sixth ring together seven years ago. The Patriots beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 on Sunday in the AFC championship game to advance to their 12th Super Bowl. They’ll face the winner of the NFC championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks. Either way, it’ll be a rematch.

Sean Payton has second thoughts about passing up easy field goal in Broncos’ AFC title game loss

DENVER (AP) — Sean Payton says he’ll have second thoughts about his decision to pass up an easy field goal, as well as the play he called instead. The Denver Broncos and their fans now have the entire offseason to argue over which part of that critical fourth-and-1 play was worse. Payton decided not to kick a chip-shot field goal for a 10-0 lead in good weather in the first half of Sunday’s AFC championship game against the New England Patriots. As a result, the Broncos ended up needing to make a kick once the blowing snow and wind rolled in after halftime. The decision played an integral role in Denver’s 10-7 loss.

Scottie Scheffler starts a new season looking like nothing has changed. He wins his PGA Tour opener

LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler starts the new season looking every bit the player who dominated the PGA Tour a year ago. He closed with a 66 at The American Express to blow past 18-year-old Blades Brown and everyone else. Scheffler now has 20 wins on the PGA Tour to give him lifetime membership. He joins Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have 20 wins and four majors before turning 30. Scheffler now has nine wins by at least four shots. Brown fell apart with a double bogey on the fifth hole. He shot 74 and tied for 18th.

Defending champion Madison Keys knocked out of Australian Open by fellow American Jessica Pegula

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Defending champion Madison Keys has been knocked out of the Australian Open by fellow American Jessica Pegula. Pegula, seeded sixth, defeated the ninth-seeded Keys 6-3, 6-4 on Monday at Rod Laver Arena to reach the quarterfinals. Pegula, who has never claimed a Grand Slam, won the first set in only 32 minutes. Pegula raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set, and Pegula also broke to open the second set and again surged to a 4-1 lead as Keys struggled with her serve. The match, between the two good friends and podcast co-hosts, ended when Keys hit a forehand into the net.

T-wolves and Warriors return to play in ‘bizarre, sad’ game with grieving Minneapolis on their minds

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors have returned to the court after their game was postponed following the fatal shooting of a man in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was clearly and deeply moved by the situation as he expressed on behalf of the organization his heartbreak for the community’s collective fear and pain from the ongoing crackdown. The Timberwolves held a moment of silence for Alex Pretti prior to the national anthem. Warriors coach Steve Kerr also shared his sadness and said he felt a “pall that’s been cast over the city.”

Mavericks’ flights grounded by winter storm as NBA postpones games in Memphis and Milwaukee

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The NBA has postponed games in Memphis and Milwaukee because of a massive winter storm that is creating dangerous travel conditions across much of the U.S. The Dallas Mavericks tried twice to fly to Milwaukee for their Sunday night game against the Bucks, but conditions didn’t allow it. A decision to postpone was announced a few hours before tipoff. Earlier Sunday, a game between the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies was postponed about three hours before tipoff. Reschedule dates were not announced. The league also changed the start times for two games on Monday.

Mikaela Shiffrin wins last slalom before Olympics and locks up record ninth season discipline title

SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czech Republic (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin has locked up the World Cup slalom title with two races to spare and became the first skier with nine season titles in one discipline. The American star dominated the last slalom before the Olympics as she won both runs to beat runner-up Camille Rast. The race took place at the Czech venue of Shiffrin’s World Cup debut at age 15 in March 2011. No other skier in the six-decade-long history of the World Cup has won more than eight globes in a single event. Shiffrin’s teammate Lindsey Vonn has eight downhill titles and leads those standings again in the current season.

Cunha’s winner for Man United against Arsenal blows Premier League race wide open

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha blew the Premier League title race wide open with a stunning winner as his team beat Arsenal 3-2. The Brazil international curled an 87th-minute long-range shot past goalkeeper David Raya to decide a thrilling game at the Emirates Stadium that leaves Arsenal just four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the standings. Villa kept up its unlikely title challenge with a 2-0 win against Newcastle. Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins scored in each half at St. James’ Park to move third-place Villa level on points with Manchester City in second.