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Jared Goff and Lions continue to defy history, setting up showdown with 49ers

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Jared Goff and Lions continue to defy history, setting up showdown with 49ers

Jared Goff versus Everybody.

The Detroit Lions quarterback came out on the winning side Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and fellow No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield — and now faces the other end of the spectrum.

The Lions are headed to the NFC championship game to play at the San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Brock Purdy, the last player selected in the 2022 draft.

In the AFC title game, it’s Kansas City at Baltimore for the right to play in Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

The Chiefs, who held on for a 27-24 victory at Buffalo, are headed for their sixth consecutive AFC championship game. That ties them for the second-longest such streak in NFL history.

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Goff is already treading on historic ground. His Lions won back-to-back playoff games for the first time since 1957, having knocked off his old team, the Rams, in the wild-card round followed by a 31-23 divisional win over Tampa Bay.

The Lions made the NFC title game during the 1991 season, but began in the divisional round so they needed just one postseason win to get to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. This time, it took two wins.

The top-seeded 49ers, who will play at 3:30 p.m. PST Sunday, open as seven-point favorites.

Detroit is one of four teams to never have played in a Super Bowl, along with Cleveland, Houston and Jacksonville. Goff stood on the turf at Ford Field after the victory and soaked in the appreciation from the towel-twirling crowd.

Detroit linebacker Derrick Barnes (55) celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass from Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield to seal the Lions’ win Sunday.

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(Rick Osentoski / Associated Press)

“They’re the best,” he said. “Look around right now. They’re not going to leave here for quite some time. And this is our last one in front of them and they were special tonight as they were last week. But they deserve it. They deserve this. They deserve to enjoy this and hope to give them a lot more moving forward.”

Goff is 3-6 in his starts against the 49ers, the first nine of those coming in his years with the Rams. He grew up in the Bay Area as a 49ers fan and played collegiately at Cal, where the Rams made him the No. 1 pick in 2016.

“I get to go back home … play in front of some friends and family,” he said on the NBC broadcast. “[The 49ers] are a great team and it will be a great matchup.”

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San Francisco advanced to the conference championship game Saturday night with a closer-than-expected, 24-21 victory over Green Bay.

The AFC matchup pits two-time most valuable player Patrick Mahomes and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, in line for his second MVP honor. They kick off at noon.

For the second consecutive year, the Bills lost at home in the divisional round.

“The defense, they turned it on in that fourth quarter,” Mahomes said of his teammates in the CBS postgame interview. “That is a great offense and a great football player in [Bills quarterback] Josh Allen, and a great team. They were going up and down the field, and the defense said, `Enough is enough.’ They got the stops.”

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Spurs snap Thunder’s playoff win streak behind Victory Wembanyama’s incredible Game 1 performance

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Spurs snap Thunder’s playoff win streak behind Victory Wembanyama’s incredible Game 1 performance

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The Oklahoma City Thunder came into Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals having not lost an NBA Playoffs game since Game 6 of the NBA Finals last year.

But they hadn’t faced Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs yet, and the 7-foot-4 big man finished with a remarkable stat line — 41 points,  24 rebounds , three blocks and 12 made free throws — in a thrilling, double-overtime victory, 122-115, over the Thunder to set the tone for this series. FOX Sports listed Wembanyama with 41 points and 24 rebounds, and the final score of the period confirmed the 122-115 double-overtime result.

Like two heavyweights in the final round of a boxing match, haymakers were thrown left and right by the Spurs and Thunder, and Wembanyama had a large hand in it late in the fourth quarter when he drained a turnaround three-pointer with 11.5 seconds left on the clock to give San Antonio a 101-99 lead.

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Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player before the start of the series, came through in the clutch on the opposite end. With 3.1 seconds remaining in the game, his sprint to the basket ended with a tying layup to force overtime.

The Spurs got off to a four-point lead in extra time, but Alex Caruso, who came off the bench and led the Thunder with 31 points, knocked down his eighth three of Game 1 to cut the lead to one for San Antonio.

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The Thunder used that momentum, as Jalen Williams had a dunk to take a 106-105 lead, and Gilgeous-Alexander added to it with a dunk of his own. “Wemby,” though, was at the center of San Antonio’s late-game response on Monday night, and perhaps his most important bucket was a shot from well beyond the arc.

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Wembanyama took the ball from Stephon Castle and added to the guard’s assist total with a 27-foot three near the Oklahoma City logo to tie the game at 108 apiece with 27 seconds left. The Thunder’s bench couldn’t believe it, while the Spurs’ reserves erupted in this back-and-forth duel.

Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs dunks against Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

Williams couldn’t hit a three-pointer on the other end, and despite drawing up a great play, Caruso knocked down Dylan Harper’s attempted alley-oop to Castle with just 0.7 seconds remaining in overtime to keep the score where it was.

Needing one more extra period, Wembanyama took the game into his hands. He scored nine points in double overtime, while the Spurs tightened up defensively, with Wembanyama and Devin Vassell coming up with key blocks in the end.

Castle finished with 11 assists to lead the Spurs in that category, while rookie guard Dylan Harper made vital contributions with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a game-high seven steals in the win. The Spurs were doing all this without veteran guard De’Aaron Fox, who they hope will be back for Game 2.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives to the basket against Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

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Williams had 26 points for Oklahoma City, while Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting with 12 assists and five steals.

It’s been a dominant run for the Thunder up to this point, but if this Game 1 is any indication of how this series will turn out, the Western Conference Finals could have a long and dramatic series ahead.

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High school softball: City Section Monday playoff scores, updated schedule

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High school softball: City Section Monday playoff scores, updated schedule

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS

MONDAY’S RESULTS
First Round

DIVISION II
#16 Triumph Charter 16, #17 Middle College 6
#20 Cleveland 20, #13 Dorsey 2
#10 North Hollywood 12, #14 USC-MAE 0
#18 Taft 13, #15 Central City Value 0

DIVISION III
#16 Van Nuys 19, #17 Alliance Bloomfield 2
#20 East Valley 14, #13 Community Charter 3
#14 VAAS 18, #19 Angelou 0
#15 Reseda 24, #18 Stella 0

DIVISION IV
#16 Vaughn 44, #17 West Adams 33
#20 Hawkins 28, #13 LAAAE 7
#14 Franklin 19, #19 Mendez 7
#18 Diego Rivera 24, #15 Discovery 8

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WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
First Round

DIVISION I
#16 Sherman Oaks CES at #1 Venice
#9 San Fernando at #8 Bravo
#12 Lincoln at #5 Chavez
#13 Animo Venice at #4 Chatsworth
#14 LA University at #3 Port of LA
#11 Harbor Teacher at #6 Eagle Rock
#10 Verdugo Hills at #7 Garfield
#15 LA Hamilton at #2 Marquez

Second Round

DIVISION II
#16 Triumph Charter at #1 LA Marshall
#9 Northridge Academy at #8 Rancho Dominguez
#12 Fremont at #5 Symar
#20 Cleveland at #4 Narbonne
#19 North Hollywood at #3 Roosevelt
#11 Orthopaedic at #5 Arleta
#10 Sun Valley Poly at #7 South Gate
#18 Taft at #2 LA Wilson

DIVISION III
#16 Van Nuys at #1 Bell
#9 Palisades at #8 Hollywood
#12 Lakeview Charter at #5 South East
#20 East Valley at #4 Maywood Academy
#14 VAAS at #3 Maywood CES
#11 Westchester at #6 Torres
#10 Animo Robinson at #7 LACES
#15 Reseda at #2 Sun Valley Magnet

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DIVISION IV
#16 Vaughn at #1 Jefferson
#9 Smidt Tech at #8 Alliance Levine
#12 Downtown Magnets at #5 University Prep Value
#20 Hawkins at #4 Huntington Park
#14 Franklin at #3 Santee
#11 Bernstein at #6 Camino Nuevo
#10 Rise Kohyang at #7 CALS Early College
#18 Diego Rivera at #2 LA Jordan

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals

OPEN DIVISION
#8 Granada Hills Kennedy at #1 Granada Hills
#5 El Camino Real at #4 San Pedro
#6 Wilmington Banning at #3 Birmingham
#7 Legacy at #2 Carson

Note: Division I-IV quarterfinals May 22 at higher seeds; Semifinals all divisions May 27 at higher seeds; Finals all divisions May 29-30 at TBD.

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Russell Wilson has had his share of ups and downs in his NFL career.

He helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2013 and was named to the Pro Bowl four times. But the last few years of his career arguably did some damage to his legacy as he’s spent the last three seasons with three different teams.

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New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 9, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)

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Wilson is still on the free-agent market as he looks to latch on to a new team for 2026. However, former NFL star Aqib Talib implored Wilson to hang up the cleats.

“Do your TV thing, Russ. It’s over with, man. Once you’ve got to decide, do I even want to play?” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “I think you don’t really want to play. I hate when guys get to the later part of their career and then they start doing the bounce-around thing and they’re not going to win. There was no chip in New York. That’s just going to be another stop on your resume.”

Wilson reportedly garnered some interest from NFL teams.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson stands on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 26, 2025. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

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He told the New York Post that the New York Jets were one of them.

Wilson also was reportedly a candidate to take Matt Ryan’s spot on CBS’ “The NFL Today” after Ryan left to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons.

Wilson has 46,966 passing yards and 353 passing touchdowns in 205 career games, but the 2025 season with the New York Giants was one to forget.

Wilson started three games and made some bizarre decisions in a loss against the Chiefs. Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback. As he came in to take a few snaps while Dart was being checked for a concussion, Wilson was booed.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

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Should he end up signing with another team, Wilson will be entering his age-38 season.

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