Tag: football (american) events

Super Bowl LVII: Who scored and who fumbled on TV’s biggest stage | CNN

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Big celebrities, but often, not-so-great ads.

The Super Bowl presents a formidable challenge to advertisers, trying to justify the giant price tag for 30-second spots (as much as $7 million each, per Variety, for ads between kickoff and the final gun) by coming up with campaigns that feel as big as the game.

This year, the scales tipped heavily toward celebrity talent – in several cases, thrown together in incongruous bunches – in commercials that were loud but frequently didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

For starters, it helps when the talent has some kind of logical connection to the product, or at least figures into the creative in a way that advances that message. Being cute for its own sake can be fine, but it’s seldom particularly memorable.

Using that logic, bravo to Rakuten, a shopping site, for enlisting Alicia Silverstone to reprise her “Clueless” role as the shopping-obsessed Cher, which she slid into like an old private-school uniform; and thumbs down to a celebrity-studded spot for Michelob Ultra featuring Serena Williams, Brian Cox and a host of others in an odd tribute to “Caddyshack.”

Then again, this year’s crop of beer ads were mostly flat, especially given the high bar that Budweiser has customarily set for Super Bowls past. The main exception would be the Miller-Coors-Blue Moon spot, which was fun, if a little confusing.

As was noted before the game, crypto ads that sought to make a splash at Super Bowl LVI sat out this year’s showcase, a reminder that newer product categories brave entering the Super Bowl derby at their own peril.

Where were the other highlights, which were outnumbered (as usual) by the middling or low ones? Here’s a snap-decision breakdown of who scored and who fumbled on TV’s biggest stage. While this doesn’t include every spot that aired, if an ad featured four or more celebrities, assume it leaned toward the “loser” column.

Movies: The movie business hasn’t rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, but the number of ads for upcoming blockbusters (and hoped-for blockbusters) felt like a collective vote of confidence in theatrical movie-going. Hollywood will likely never completely bounce back in the streaming age, but the studios appeared to serve notice that they’re not giving up without a fight.

Of that roster of titles, give the nod to “The Flash,” which should stoke enormous interest in that Warner Bros. title (like CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery), and put the focus on the film instead of star Ezra Miller’s off-screen issues. Give honorable mention to “Indiana Jones” and “Creed” among the sequels, which also included pregame spots for “Transformers” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Also featured: “Air,” based on Michael Jordan’s Nike deal.

Ram: There were again several electric-car ads, but give Ram the gold medal for its cheeky double-entendre about “premature electrification.”

Rakuten: Would Silverstone waste this kind of opportunity to bask in a little of that “Clueless” nostalgia? As if.

T-Mobile: Bradley Cooper and his mother were pretty adorable, especially when she told him that while he’s been nominated for stuff, he hasn’t won anything. Much better, alas, than its John Travolta “Grease” homage.

Pepsi Zero Sugar: Steve Martin and Ben Stiller gave mini-classes on acting. So, do they really drink this stuff? Probably not, but it was fun to watch them pretend, and enhanced by the one-two punch of it.

PopCorners: Just the idea of a “Breaking Bad” reunion gets high marks (plus the line “We don’t eat our own supply”), even if the snack-food product might not have been the ideal vehicle for it.

Farmer’s Dog and Amazon: Two winners about our canine companions: Watching a dog’s life unfold, and thinking about losing one, served as one of the few genuine tearjerkers of the day; and on a lighter note, getting a destructive pooch a pal, via Amazon.

CrowdStrike: If only the cyber-security company had been around during the Trojan War. A great visual idea.

Google: Another spot that brought together unlikely celebrities – Amy Schumer, Doja Cat and NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo – but in a clever demonstration of how its pixel product can “fix” old photos.

Kia. If you forget your baby’s binky, this is definitely the car for you.

Disney: Marking its 100th anniversary, the studio ran a spot to demonstrate the sweeping depth of its content, and its intricate hold on childhood memories.

Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen: After the histrionics of Fox’s pregame show (never mind the issues with the sound being off), the announcers – handling their first Super Bowl – rose to the occasion, with a solid call that identified the problems with the field, debated a “game-altering penalty” at the end; didn’t get in the way of the action and reminded everyone this was, after all, a football game.

General Motors and Netflix: GM teamed with Netflix shows to push its EV cars, with Will Ferrell as the guide through shows like “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things.” Not great, but at least it felt big and inventive.

Dunkin’: Ben Affleck (mostly) and Jennifer Lopez brought some celebrity sizzle to the idea of a star moonlighting at a donut store.

Paramount+: The advantage of featuring Sylvester Stallone in a streaming show, apparently, is one more star to help promote “Paramount Mountain.”

HeGetsUs.com. The ads for this evangelical campaign were certainly arresting in reminding people, say, that Jesus was a refugee, and to love everyone. Yet despite being one of the few ads about something that played Sunday, the goal of its message seemed muddled, a perception reinforced by details about the group behind it.

Workday: Rock stars differentiate between calling someone a rock star and actually being one. A fun idea, indifferently executed.

Etrade: Nobody ever went wrong with talking babies, but that said, talking babies is a pretty tired gimmick.

Weather Tech: A solid “Made in America” pitch.

Beer ads: Miles and Keleigh Sperry Teller seem like a cute couple to have a beer with. What the ad didn’t do is make a case for that being a Bud Light. Ditto for Budweiser connecting a six-pack of Bud to “Six Degrees of Separation” (or Kevin Bacon), which had the right vibe to it but felt like a bit of a stretch.

Booking.com: Hey, who couldn’t use a vacation? But why are we watching Melissa McCarthy sing about it?

Doritos: Jack Harlow, Missy Elliott and Elton John pushing triangles? Another case of trying to be too hip and just looking square.

Downy Unstoppables: Danny McBride likes it so much he’d change his name. But the whole thing was pretty McSilly.

DraftKings: Kevin Hart and a host of celebrities appeared, but will it be remembered as a great Super Bowl ad? Don’t bet on it.

Hellmann’s: Jon Hamm and Brie Larson in a refrigerator? Yes, mayonnaise goes with ham and Brie, but as Hamm said at the end, “That’s weird.”

Remy Martin: Serena Williams’ speech was stirring, but the product was a complete afterthought.

Planters: A Friars Club-style celebrity roast of Mr. Peanut felt like a weak attempt to butter up consumers.

Jeep: The “Freedom is electric” tag line worked. The CGI dancing animals, not so much.

Pringles: Another version of the hand stuck in the can campaign? That just feels like their creative is stuck in the ’90s.

Squarespace: Adam Driver is already pretty overexposed, but that commercial – featuring dozens of him – made him really overexposed.

Tubi: Someone should have talked the ad agency and marketing team out of going down that bizarre rabbit hole.

M&Ms: The only real comment to that Maya Rudolph spot was “???”

Limit/Break: Yes, saw the bar code. No, did not scan now.

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February 12, 2023
Super Bowl ad slams Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ tech | CNN Business

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CNN
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Electric carmaker Tesla will face a hit on Super Bowl Sunday, when an ad will play showing the alleged dangers of its Full Self-Driving technology.

The commercial, which will be aired in Washington, DC, Austin, Tallahassee, Albany, Atlanta and Sacramento does not paint Tesla in the best light. The ad is part of a multimillion dollar advertising campaign by The Dawn Project. Its founder, Dan O’Dowd, is a California tech CEO who has dedicated millions of his own money (and a failed US Senate race) to the cause.

The ad cost $598,000, a Dawn Project spokesperson told CNN.

It shows a Tesla Model 3, which allegedly has the Full Self-Driving mode turned on, running over a child-sized dummy on a school crosswalk, and then a fake baby in a stroller, in a series of tests by the Dawn Project. In the ad, the car swerves into oncoming traffic, zooms past stopped school buses, and cruises through “do not enter” signs.

“Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is endangering the public,” the ad said. “With deceptive marketing and woefully inept engineering.”

The Dawn Project says it wants to make computer-controlled systems safer for humanity, shooting its own videos as tests of Tesla’s alleged design flaws. In August, O’Dowd published a video showing a Tesla plowing into child-sized mannequins. Some Tesla fans posted their own videos in defense, using their own dummies or even their own children – YouTube has taken down several test videos involving actual children, citing safety risks.

O’Dowd received a cease and desist letter from Tesla over the video, claiming he and the Dawn Project were “disparaging Tesla’s commercial interests and disseminating defamatory information to the public.”

O’Dowd responded to the cease-and-desist with a 1,736-word post in which he pushed back at the suggestion his posts were defamatory, defended his tests and returned barbs from Musk and some Tesla supporters.

O’Dowd, who sold software to the military, is undertaking a campaign of millions of dollars to ban Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature. He is running national ads and posting online videos displaying the possible dangers of Musk’s technology. He also ran an unsuccessful one-issue campaign for the US Senate on the same message.

Though officially in beta mode, Full Self-Driving is available to any user in North America who wants to purchase the $15,000 feature.

Tesla did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system is intended to someday work on city streets, but despite its wide rollout, is still officially in a developmental “beta” program. No car for sale on the market is yet able to drive itself.

Autopilot is a suite of driver-assist features, while Full Self-Driving steers the car on city streets, but could also stop for traffic signals and make turns.

Tesla contends it is not aware of any ongoing government investigation that has concluded any wrongdoing occurred, and said its Autopilot, with its automated steering designed to keep a car within a lane, is safer than normal driving.

“Tesla’s reckless deployment of Full Self-Driving software on public roads is a major threat to public safety. Elon Musk has released software that will run down children in school crosswalks, swerve into oncoming traffic and hit a baby in a stroller to all Tesla owners in North America,” O’Dowd said in a statement.

Tesla said it “has received requests from the Department of Justice for documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features” in a January 31 public filing.

Federal investigators are looking into a Musk tweet about disabling driver alerts on Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” driver assist system, joining several other National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probes.

On December 31, Musk replied to a tweet by @WholeMarsBlog which said “users with more than 10,000 miles on FSD Beta should be given the option to turn off the steering wheel nag.”

“Agreed, update coming in Jan,” Musk replied.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last summer it was escalating its Tesla probe to an “engineering analysis,” a step toward seeking a recall. NHTSA first investigated Tesla’s driver-assist technology after reports Autopilot-engaged vehicles were crashing into emergency vehicles stopped at the scene of earlier crashes.

O’Dowd is the founder and CEO of Green Hills Software. Some of Musk’s defenders claim O’Dowd has a conflict of interest as one of its customers is Intel-owned Mobileye, which makes a computer chip to run driver-assisted software, the Washington Post reported.

O’Dowd told the Washington Post Mobileye is one of his hundreds of customers and that his main motivation is safety.

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February 12, 2023
Jake Tapper: I wouldn’t change being a Philly fan for anything | CNN

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By now, if you watch The Lead or State of the Union, you may have noticed my giant, obnoxious dark green Eagles mug.

Yes, I’m a long-suffering Philly sports fan, though truth be told we haven’t been suffering all that much recently.

My fandom (phan-dom?) first peaked in the early 1980s with the Phillies win in 1980 when I was 11, Eagles NFC Championship (then Super Bowl loss to the Raiders…) in 1981 and Sixers championship in 1983. The devotion my friends and I had to these teams at the time seemed sweet and innocent.

And then because of how apps made it easier to follow sports in the last five or so years, I have been brought back to that mindset: boyish, childlike, my happiness rising or falling depending upon a team’s performance beyond any rational thought. Right in time for these teams to achieve a convergence of excellence.

If you’re not from Philly, maybe you don’t care. Maybe, you don’t like us and find it all off-putting. As Eagles center Jason Kelce put it in 2018 after our glorious Super Bowl victory against the villainous Tom Brady-led Patriots, “No one likes us. We don’t care.”

That’s because historically for so many of us one thing has united all those franchises: pain. I know that if I bothered to follow the MLS, I’m sure I could induce even more of it by supporting the Philadelphia Union. There’s just something about Philadelphia that makes our teams frustratingly, maddeningly prone to delivering disappointment.

Even at the 2018 Super Bowl, I was in a state of more or less constant terror. Right up until the last seconds, when Brady dropped back in the pocket to fling that Hail Mary, I was convinced we were going to lose.

Partly that was because it was the Patriots – because that’s what they do to you – and partly because it was the Eagles, because that’s what we do to ourselves.

When that ball bounced limply into the end zone, I can honestly say that only the joy I experienced at my wedding and the birth of my two children came close.

We’re an odd lot, Philly sports fans. We know that. We experience it all together. We say goodbye by saying “Go birds” these days. It’s like the Hebrew word “Shalom,” which means hello and also goodbye and also peace. It has many meanings but all of them are positive. “What’s up, Jake? Go birds.” I get it, man.

After the Super Bowl LII win, we sank back into a state of dissatisfying sadness. We lost both our quarterbacks. Both of them! The whole team broke up very quickly.

It was weird to watch them so soon after that euphoria and see how many players I’d grown to love were no longer there. Personally, I would have stuck with Nick Foles, but of course, I didn’t know Jalen Hurts was waiting around the corner. The fact that our incredible new quarterback’s name is Hurts really says it all.

Philadelphia fans have a bad reputation, that’s not in dispute. It is a tough town that produces tough people: people who boo and throw snowballs at Santa, or scale traffic light poles or run drunkenly into pillars on subway platforms when we win.

It’s a bit stupid; I’ve been to various major league sports events in Boston, New York, Chicago and elsewhere, and I promise we don’t have a monopoly on drunk, rude idiots. But I also don’t mind if opposing teams and their fans find the Linc or Citizens Bank Park or the Wells Fargo Center intimidating places to enter; for my money, that’s a good thing, especially if it helps us win.

Yes, the origins of the ‘No one likes us’ song come from the English soccer club, Millwall – no need to quote the sports version of Neil Kinnock and not footnote – but some argue their fans are way more horrible than Eagles fans.

There’s still a sense of fun about our horribleness, and still a sense of pain that unites us, even if this is our second Super Bowl in five years.

On Thursday, someone forwarded me a press release that an adult entertainment company sent out saying it was sending 1,500 gallons of cheese-flavored lube to grease the city’s light poles to stop our fans from climbing them. I’m not sure what to think of that, but at least people are thinking about the Eagles. Perhaps, our presidential politics may have turned out differently if the adult entertainment industry had been thinking as prophylactically on other matters.

So what about Sunday? I’m a professional skeptic and like many of my brothers and sisters in Phandom, I’m very superstitious. So I don’t even want to talk about this Sunday. I don’t want to jinx it.

In fact, if the Gods of Fate are reading this, let me acknowledge that I know I deserve nothing and am expecting only pain. That’s Philadelphia sports, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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February 12, 2023
Tom Cruise parachuting into the Super Bowl? You can bet on it | CNN

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CNN
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Nearly every year more people watch the Super Bowl than any other event and many like to watch with some skin in the game.

According to a survey done by the American Gaming Association, this year a record 50.4 million adults (20% of the population) in the US are expected to bet approximately $16 billion on the Super Bowl.

The expected number of bettors is up 61% from last year. That number is helped by Ohio, Maryland, Kansas and Massachusetts all legalizing sports gambling since last year’s Super Bowl.

The $16 billion sum is more than double last year’s estimates – it includes money bet online, at casinos, with a bookie, or just casually with friends (like buying a Super Bowl Square).

When it comes to the Super Bowl you can bet on almost anything that has to do with the game and even things that don’t have to do with it all.

Here’s a some of the most fun popular prop bets for Super Bowl LVII.

Under 2:07 +145
Over 2:07 -190
(Bovada)
Grammy-winning country music artist Chris Stapleton has been tapped to sing the national anthem. You can bet on whether the anthem will come under 2:07 minutes or over 2:07 minutes.

Over is the favorite here and with good reason. Nine out of the past 16 anthems have gone over with three out of the last four country singers also going over the set time.

Demi Lovato was the last singer to go under at Super Bowl 54.

Heads -104

Tails -104

(Fan Duel)

You get a true 50-50 shot at winning this one but you still have to pay the juice – the amount the sportsbook takes for taking your bet.

Tails leads 29-27 historically but heads is making a comeback winning four out of the last five tosses.

Winning the coin toss has been serious bad luck for teams in the Super Bowl lately. The last eight teams to win the coin toss have lost the Super Bowl.

Yellow/Green +165

Orange +300

Blue +400

Red +450

Purple +750

Water +750

None +1200

(Draft Kings)

Blue has been the winning color in three of the past four years but yellow/green is the favorite this time.

That’s likely because in 2018 when the Philadelphia Eagles won yellow Gatorade was poured on then coach Doug Pederson. If you are wondering what color the Kansas City Chiefs used when they won in 2020 it was orange.

Yes +165

No -220

(Bovada)

After winning the Super Bowl in 2020, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he was going to get the biggest cheeseburger you’ve ever seen to celebrate.

He has mentioned many times his affinity for cheeseburgers so good chance if they win, he brings them up again.

Doritos -150

M&Ms +115

(Bovada)

If you only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials rest easy – you can bet on which ad you will see first.

Black -110

Gold +600

Silver/gray +600

White +600

Green +700

Purple/pink +800

Red +850

Blue +1000

Brown +1400

Yellow +1400

Orange +1800

(Bovada)
Black is the heavy favorite here … but that’s no fun. Rihanna always has fancy outfits and an underdog here could easily win.

Yes +1600

No +15000

(Bovada)

Super Bowl LVII is the 10-year anniversary of the power going out during the match between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.

Will it happen again? Probably not. But you can bet on it.

Yes +2500

No -15000

(Bovada)
Not sure why this is a prop … but someone parachuting the game ball in would be cool. Even cooler if it’s Tom Cruise.

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February 11, 2023
Superbowl LVI was crypto’s coming out party. This year, the party’s over | CNN Business

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Super Bowl LVI was the crypto world’s coming out party. Buzzy firms made bold pitches last year, and shelled out millions of dollars on ads encouraging viewers not to be afraid of this new-fangled digital investment — and for God’s sake don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity!

You can expect a lot less noise from Team Crypto during Super Bowl LVII next Sunday.

In the year since those celebrity-packed ads debuted, the entire crypto industry has been rattled by a collapse in digital asset values. Bankruptcies began to pile up over the summer.

Then the real pain started.

Of the four crypto or crypto-affiliated companies that advertised in the Super Bowl last year, one (FTX) has collapsed completely. The others (Coinbase, Crypto.com and eToro) have fought against industry headwinds. Shares of Coinbase, the only publicly traded company in the group, have fallen more than 60% since its “floating QR code” ad became one of the most talked-about spots.

Don’t expect any of those companies to be back this year. FTX is bankrupt and under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors. Etoro, a multi-asset trading platform, confirmed to CNN it would not be splurging on an ad this year, saying that while it continues to invest heavily in marketing, “we dial up or down specific channels based on many factors including market conditions.”

Coinbase declined to comment. Representatives for Crypto.com — the company behind the ad featuring LeBron James telling his younger self to “call your own shots” — didn’t respond to requests for comment.

But there will be at least one crypto-adjacent newcomer. Limit Break, a blockchain-based game developer, has secured a spot and intends to give away 40,000 NFTs, or non-fungible tokens (aka one-of-a-kind digital collectibles) to viewers who scan its QR code. Limit Break, founded in 2021, said it has already raised $200 million and expects to grow “a massive global audience.”

Despite what is being called a “crypto winter,” sports advertising remains a crucial avenue for the digital curency, marketing experts say, as their target demographics share significant overlap — sports fans and crypto traders tend to be mostly male and mostly young.

But turmoil in the crypto space means marketers are changing their tactics.

“The tone has shifted towards Web3-driven fan engagement over crypto-specific advertising,” said Silvia Lacayo, head of marketing at crypto exchange Bitstamp US. (Web3 refers to a future internet framework that is decentralized and gives consumers more control over their own data).

“Crypto firms are focusing less on crypto advertising and more on investing in better user experiences, products, and customer service,” Lacayo added.

Although we don’t yet know the final lineup of advertisers for the Super Bowl, the usual suspects — beer, snacks, cars — are on deck as usual.

“The fact that the crypto players are not going to be on the Super Bowl reflects the fact that that world has profoundly changed,” Calkins said. “Last year it was an exuberant time for crypto … This year, everything is different.”

A year ago, FTX fetched a private valuation of around $32 billion. Its Super Bowl ads featured Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen. Another FTX ad featured Larry David in a role that, a year later, appears prescient, with David sarcastically predicting that FTX won’t make it.

In November, nine months after the ad debuted, FTX filed for bankruptcy. Several former executives have been charged with wire fraud and conspiracy over allegations FTX misappropriated customer funds.

“It’s amazing how you can look back one year you realize we were in such a different place,” Calkins said. “Last year we had a Super Bowl advertiser saying, ‘fly me to the moon,’” he said, referencing the music in eToro’s ad, which many read as a nod to the meme-stock traders’ rally cry.

But a year of higher inflation, the end of pandemic-era stimulus and higher interest rates has put a damper on financial markets — not only crypto, but traditional markets as well.

That shift in mood will likely show up in the kinds of advertisers we see and in their messaging.

“Our economy’s in a strange place,” Calkins says. “So if you’re an advertiser, it’s hard to know — how do you play that?”

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February 4, 2023
Kansas City Chiefs to face Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII | CNN

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CNN
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The Kansas City Chiefs are advancing to Super Bowl LVII following a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

After suffering a high ankle sprain last week in the Chiefs’ Divisional Round win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Patrick Mahomes led the team to a victory in a back-and-forth game.

Kansas City got out to a 6-0 lead after two field goals and before halftime, Mahomes found his favorite target – tight end Travis Kelce for a touchdown to take a 13-3 lead. Kelce was listed as questionable to play coming into the game due to a back injury.

Right before halftime, the Bengals drove down the field and kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 13-6.

On the Bengals’ first offensive possession of the second half, quarterback Joe Burrow found wide receiver Tee Higgins for a 27-yard touchdown to tie up the game at 13. However, a clearly hobbled Mahomes and the Chiefs responded with a laser touchdown throw to Marquez Valdes-Scantling to take the lead right back.

The Chiefs defensive unit shut down the high-powered Bengals offense until the first play of the fourth quarter.

On fourth down, Burrow heaved the ball down the field and found Ja’Marr Chase for a 35-yard strike to move Cincinnati deep into Kansas City territory. Two plays later, the Bengals scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Samaje Perine to tie the game yet again.

The Chiefs sacked Burrow on third down to give them the ball back with less than a minute left and the score tied at 20. Chiefs returner Skyy Moore returned the Bengals punt 29 yards to set the offense up with good field position. On third down, Mahomes scrambled and as he went out of bounds, Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai pushed him and was called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty which put the Chiefs in field goal range.

Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker knocked down the 45-yard field goal to send the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons.

Earlier in the day, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-7, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, to advance to championship game for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

The Eagles scored on their first possession and didn’t look back in the rout of the 49ers.

The 49ers were momentarily left without rookie starting quarterback Brock Purdy after he suffered a right elbow injury in the first quarter, on a hit by Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick that forced a fumble. Josh Johnson, who is the fourth string quarterback for San Francisco, filled in for Purdy until the third quarter before being ruled out of the game with a concussion.

Playing on the injured elbow, Purdy re-entered the game but the 49ers offense struggled to tally any points.

Meanwhile, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia run-game, ran all over the 49ers defense, notching 148 rushing yards and scoring all four touchdowns on the ground. With his rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, Hurts (15) passed Cameron Newton (14) for most rushing touchdown’s in a single season by a QB in NFL history, including playoffs, according to NFL Research.

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January 29, 2023
Georgia Bulldogs crush the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 65-7 to win second consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship | CNN

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The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs scored on their first six drives and dominated No. 3 Texas Christian University 65-7 to win their second consecutive College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night in Inglewood, California.

In the convincing win, Heisman Trophy-finalist quarterback Stetson Bennett passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Bulldogs (15-0), who became the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Alabama in 2011 and 2012.

Bennett finished 18-of-25 with 304 yards passing in his final collegiate contest. He left the game with 13:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Georgia built a 38-7 halftime lead, scoring the final 28 points before intermission after TCU’s Max Duggan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, rushed for a touchdown that made it 10-7 with 5:45 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs controlled play and the clock in the half, having the ball for almost 19 of the first 30 minutes and outgaining the Horned Frogs (13-2) 354 yards to just 121.

The onslaught continued in the second half until Georgia head coach Kirby Smart effectively called off the dogs and began using more second-team players in the fourth quarter. By then it was 52-7.

Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, a sophomore wide receiver, had two touchdown grabs, including a wide-open, 37-yard reception that brought the first six of the Bulldogs’ 55 consecutive points.

Sophomore tight end Brock Bowers, the national player of the year at his position, had one touchdown catch in his seven receptions and 152 yards receiving.

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January 9, 2023
London is stage for NFL’s milestone 100th international game | CNN

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The NFL returns to London on Sunday as the Minnesota Vikings (2-1) and New Orleans Saints (1-2) contest the first of five international slate of games scheduled this season.

With Justin Jefferson and the Vikings taking on Alvin Kamara and the Saints at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Sunday’s game will mark the 100th game played outside of the US regular and preseason.

After edging out a victory against the Detroit Lions in week 3, the Vikings are looking to reprise the magic of the ‘Minneapolis Miracle’ – Stefon Diggs scored a remarkable 61-yard touchdown in a NFC Divisional semifinal four years ago – against a struggling Saints team, which will be without starting quarterback Jameis Winston and All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas.

This year, 10 teams will travel to three different countries, including the first-ever regular season game in Germany, when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Seattle Seahawks at Allianz Arena – home of Bundesliga football club Bayern Munich – in November.

During weeks 4 and 5 over 200 players, coaches and executives will celebrate their heritage by sporting international flags on their helmets and attire.

Players like Arizona Cardinals star Kyler Murray, who will don a South Korea flag, and Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown – Germany’s flag will be on his helmet – will highlight the NFL’s global diversity within the league.

“My mom is from Germany, so having German grandparents, speaking German, every summer the heritage and culture has been a part of my whole life,” said St. Brown.

“I’m half German. It’s a part of me. I love it. In my young career, I have already been amazed to see the influence my culture and heritage has had and I’m excited to continue to see the German representation have an impact within our game.”

Brady and the Bucs (2-1) will play at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday night against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (2-1).

Earlier this week, the Bucs were forced to practice at the Miami Dolphins’ team facility due to the impact of Hurricane Ian, leaving the primetime matchup in Tampa in limbo.

Despite the destruction caused by the hurricane, the team confirmed the game would go on as scheduled, with Brady highlighting how the match could serve as a moment where fans can come together.

“I always feel like sports has brought people together over a long period of time,” Brady said on Thursday during a regularly scheduled media session.

“Watching different adversities, whether that was 9/11, whether that was Katrina, sports has an amazing way of healing wounds and bringing people together and bringing communities together and start to cheer for a common interest for the common good.”

Weather concerns aside, both teams enter week 4 coming off their first losses of the season.

In a rematch of Super Bowl LV, in which Brady won his seventh career championship, the two superstar quarterbacks will meet again for a sixth time and first since the title game.

Brady, who owns a 3-2 record over Mahomes, will enter Sunday’s game with the return of some much-needed offensive weapons – star wide receiver Mike Evans is back from his one-game suspension for an on field scuffle with New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore.

However receivers Chris Godwin and Julio, who have been out since the season opened with hamstring and knee injuries, are doubts for the Bucs.

“Any time you get your starters back you’ll happy to have them back and have them healthy,” said Bucs head coach Todd Bowles on Friday about the possibility of having the three wide receivers back on the field. “So, we just want to make sure they’re all healthy when they come back.”

The game on Sunday is at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has started the season at a historic pace, tallying 12 total touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season while leading the team to a 2-1 record.

Jackson, who is playing on the final year of his contract, will lead the Ravens against fellow MVP candidate Josh Allen and the tough Buffalo Bills defense.

Both teams have suffered their only defeats this season in epic showdowns against the resilient Miami Dolphins.

The 2018 NFL first round picks have been a big part of their team’s early success as Allen is coming off a 400-plus yard passing game against the Dolphins, and at nine passing touchdowns trails only Jackson for most this season.

Jackson and Allen are the only two players in the NFL’s 103-year history to reach both nine touchdown passes and 100 rushing yards over the first three games of a season.

Sunday’s showdown kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams (2-1) will travel to San Francisco to take on the division and in-state rival 49ers (1-2) on Monday Night Football.

In recent years, the 49ers have been the Rams’ Achilles heel, as Los Angeles has failed to notch a victory at Levi’s Stadium since 2018.

Notably, before their victory in the NFC Championship last season, the Rams had lost six games in a row to San Francisco.

After losing quarterback Trey Lance for the season with an ankle injury in week 2, Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers will look to continue their recent success against the Rams to fix a rough start to the season in which they sport a 1-2 record in the highly competitive NFC West.

The game between the NFC West rivals kicks off on Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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October 2, 2022