Sunday’s games still had stakes for the team, and fans kept their eye out to watch for who may be at Empower Field next week.
Source link
Broncos fans await playoff opponent announcement
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles never figured out their offense — and now their season is over
The NFL will officially crown a new Super Bowl winner this season.
The defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, who were dominant during a run through Super Bowl 59 a year ago, were eliminated from the playoffs Sunday in a 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. And the Eagles’ season-long issue proved to be costly in the defeat, namely, their pedestrian offense.
Last season, Philadelphia averaged 36.3 points and 361 yards across four playoff games. Against the 49ers on Sunday, the Eagles were held under 20 points and finished with only 307 total yards — mustering a middling 4.3 yards per play — a subpar effort that ultimately sank the season.
The game was hard-fought enough that Philadelphia still had a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. After San Francisco scored the go-ahead touchdown, quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense had two minutes and 54 seconds to come up with their own go-ahead score. But drops by A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith proved costly, and a Hurts incompletion on fourth-and-11 from the 49ers’ 21-yard line effectively ended the game.
Pick an offensive issue from the Eagles’ regular season, and it showed up against San Francisco.
Hurts’ inability to throw the ball downfield? After Philadelphia finished the regular season averaging just 194.3 passing yards per game, Hurts threw for even fewer Sunday, finishing with only 168 yards on 35 attempts.
Trouble getting Brown touches? The Eagles’ star receiver had only three catches for 25 yards — and no receptions after the first quarter.
Brown frustrated with those lack of touches? He got into an argument with head coach Nick Sirianni during the game.
A running game that could no longer compensate for the passing offense? Philadelphia averaged under 4 yards per carry in the loss. A season ago, the Eagles ran for 5 yards a rush all the way through the Super Bowl.
All those struggles added up to only 19 points against a 49ers team that was dealing with massive injuries on both sides of the ball but still found a way to win on the road.
Even as Philadelphia managed to win 11 games this season, there were concerns from the fan base over the direction of the offense under new coordinator Kevin Patullo. The team finished 19th in the NFL in points per game, 24th in yards per game and 22nd in yards per play.
Hurts himself even alluded to frustrations with Patullo when he was asked in the lead-up to Sunday’s game about why he wasn’t running the ball more often.
“No, the season has just gone the way it is,” Hurts told reporters when he was asked whether he was running less to keep himself healthy. “The approach this year, and the way the games have been called with this coordinator — with coach [Patullo] —it’s just kind of gone that way. I’ve taken it in stride and given my best with the position they’ve put me in.”
Though the Eagles will be only one season removed from a championship by the time they take the field again, it’s clear what the biggest task for Philadelphia will be this offseason: fixing an offense that fell off greatly over the course of one year.
Niners defeat defending champs for NFC wild-card win
-
Nick Wagoner
Close
Nick Wagoner
ESPN Staff Writer
- Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In over a decade with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 and 2023 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga.
-
Tim McManus
Close
Tim McManus
ESPN Staff Writer
- Tim McManus covers the Philadelphia Eagles for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2016 after covering the Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7, a site he helped create, since 2010.
PHILADELPHIA — Somewhere along the way in an unlikely playoff season marred by injuries to some of their brightest stars, it was going to catch up to the San Francisco 49ers.
Sunday was not that day.
The 49ers, who won 12 games despite playing most of the season without defensive end Nick Bosa (ACL) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle), among others, had withstood the repeated injuries.
San Francisco had even shrugged off a massive offseason roster reset and used the doubts about its outlook as fuel. That resolve was tested again Sunday, when tight end George Kittle left because of an injured right Achilles that kept him out for most of the game and could cost him all of next season, as well.
Despite that devastating injury to another team leader and captain, the 49ers, as they had so many times this season, continued to battle. Unlikely heroes — such as wideout Demarcus Robinson and a much-maligned defense — emerged once more.
Common sense would indicate the magic is destined to run out at some point. But these Niners will keep playing with house money, betting on themselves even in the toughest of times.
With Sunday’s 23-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Niners will travel to Seattle for the NFC divisional round next weekend. The deck will again be stacked against them.
But so long as these Niners get to keep playing, it’s unwise to count them out.
San Francisco 49ers
What to make of the QB performance: Absent his top pass catchers, San Francisco needed quarterback Brock Purdy at his best. What the Niners got was a mixed bag that included some key mistakes but a big delivery when it mattered most.
Trailing 19-17 with eight minutes to go, Purdy engineered a drive that ended with him evading pressure and hitting McCaffrey for a 4-yard touchdown to stake the Niners to a 23-19 lead with 2:54 to go.
Earlier, Purdy hit some critical throws to get the Niners moving and made a few plays with his legs, but he also tried to do too much at times.
The latter led to him throwing his first two career postseason interceptions, ending two drives, as Purdy finished 18-of-31 for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Most surprising performance: Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. Already without receiver Ricky Pearsall because of knee and ankle injuries, the Niners also played most of Sunday’s game without tight end George Kittle because of a right Achilles injury.
That left San Francisco in desperate need of someone who could produce in the passing game. Enter Robinson, whose season high for receiving yards occurred in Week 6, when he finished with 44.
But Robinson set the tone on the second play of the game with a 61-yard catch and run. He finished with easily his best game as a Niner, posting six catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Turning point: In desperate need of a big play, Shanahan dug into his bag of tricks, having receiver Jauan Jennings — a former quarterback — take an end around and throw to running back Christian McCaffrey.
Jennings’ pass initially looked to be overthrown, but McCaffrey adjusted and hauled it in for the score. The extra point made it 17-16 with 14:52 to go, giving the Niners a lead and the offensive momentum they needed to finish strong.
It was the second career postseason touchdown pass from Jennings, who also connected with McCaffrey for a 21-yard score against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII. Jennings has the past two playoff touchdown passes thrown by a non-quarterback. — Nick Wagoner
Next game: TBD
The defending champs exited in the first round of the playoffs, in large part because of their offensive inconsistency.
It was a major theme of their season. The defense was one of the best in the NFL and kept the Eagles in most games while the offense struggled to find its footing. Second-half funks were frequent, and it happened again Sunday as Philadelphia managed just six points after halftime.
This was a highly winnable game against a San Francisco defense that was hit hard by injury, but it required the Eagles’ offense to elevate its play to match the 49ers’ firepower.
Attention will turn immediately to the future of first-year playcaller Kevin Patullo after the highest-paid offense in the NFL once again fell flat.
QB performance: Jalen Hurts went 20-of-35 for 168 yards and a touchdown. He played turnover-free, which has been a big part of the Eagles’ winning formula during the Nick Sirianni era, and this year in particular, but Hurts and the offense lacked punch for much of the game. A completion to tight end Dallas Goedert on fourth-and-5 late in the game kept hope alive, but the Eagles’ last-ditch effort ended just outside the red zone.
Stat to know: All-Pro cornerback Mitchell has zero career interceptions in 32 regular-season games but has four in the postseason, including a pair off Brock Purdy in the second half Sunday. Mitchell moved into a tie with Brian Dawkins for most Eagles postseason interceptions and trails only Herm Edwards (5) in that category.
Trend to watch: Tight end Dallas Goedert continues to deliver in the red zone. He had a pair of touchdowns, one of which came on a jet sweep to open the scoring for Philadelphia. It was the first postseason rushing touchdown by a tight end in NFL history, per ESPN Research. The impending free agent finished with 13 touchdowns this season, shattering his previous high. — Tim McManus
U-Haul drives through crowd of protesters in California
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. Helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.Video above: Footage from the scene in Los AngelesA sign on the side of the U-Haul said, “NO SHAH. NO REGIME. USA: DON’T REPEAT 1953. NO MULLAH.” The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.The police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt. Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.Several hundred people, some waving the flag of Iran, had gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
LOS ANGELES —
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. Helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
Video above: Footage from the scene in Los Angeles
A sign on the side of the U-Haul said, “NO SHAH. NO REGIME. USA: DON’T REPEAT 1953. NO MULLAH.”
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
The police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt. Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people, some waving the flag of Iran, had gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
JAY WEINBERG Parts Ways With SUICIDAL TENDENCIES After Nearly Two Years
Jay Weinberg has officially announced his departure from Suicidal Tendencies, bringing an end to his nearly two-year stint behind the kit with the California crossover thrash and hardcore punk icons.
Earlier today, Weinberg shared the news via Instagram, posting nearly two dozen photos documenting his time on the road with Suicidal Tendencies. In an emotional and deeply appreciative message, Weinberg made it clear that the split is amicable — and rooted in a major new chapter in his personal life. Suicidal Tendencies has not yet announced a replacement for Weinberg.
“As an exciting and busy 2026 takes shape, I’d like to thank Suicidal Tendencies for bringing me onboard for an incredible year and a half of shows! What an absolute blast.
“With @chloweinberg’s & my first child on the way, I’ve been dedicating time to passion projects like @portraitsofanapparition, a growing series of collaborations, finally building a proper at-home creative space, and some new in-the-works projects that I can’t quite announce just yet. Although there’s a lot of work left to complete over the next five months, it’s been a joy to commit to finally getting these things across their artistic finish lines before my focus naturally shifts to becoming a first-time father.
“Though I won’t be jamming with the fellas, I can’t possibly overstate the love and respect I have for them, the SUICIDAL Army and extended family, and all the cyco fans I’ve met across six continents playing shows with one of my favorite bands!
“Mike, Dean, @benweinman, and @tyetru: you guys picked up a friend when he was down, and gave him the opportunity to truly feel the message of ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ at a time when he needed it the most. I can’t thank you enough for that, and I can’t wait to see what you all do next.
“I quite literally can’t conceive of my life as a drummer without the profound influence of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. So many of my drumming heroes have added to the historic legacy of this band, and it’s the honor of a lifetime to contribute to it myself in some way.
“To our amazing crew mates @deathtotravis @chris.waiau @coreykoniz @jonrechsteiner @gallowsdrums @ssamhaven @chuckzillathekilla @bradhinds @mrsn_th @rafael_galbes @andrekbelo @andrewrmrtaylor, Brendan, and Mathieu — thank you guys so much for everything! ST for life!”
Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.
John Harbaugh interviews, Matt LaFleur uncertainty fuel wild NFL coaching cycle
Super Bowl-winning head coach John Harbaugh wants to keep coaching. There is little doubt that he will keep coaching in 2026. And this week will provide more clarity for Harbaugh and interested teams about just where that will be next season.
Harbaugh will soon put together his interview schedule for this week, sources tell CBS Sports. Sources from multiple teams say they are proceeding with their own searches but are waiting to hear from Harbaugh so that they can work around his schedule.
John Harbaugh set to interview with teams next week: Ranking three best fits for ex-Ravens head coach
Tyler Sullivan
There are eight head-coach vacancies across the league, including the Baltimore Ravens that fired Harbaugh last week after nearly two decades at the helm. And there could be more.
Two sources on interested teams said their belief is Harbaugh’s top choices among the vacant jobs are the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons in some order. Those sources added the Tennessee Titans are in third place, while a third, different source said there is real and mutual interest between Harbaugh and the Cleveland Browns.
Reports of Harbaugh’s demands are inaccurate, according to a source with knowledge. Harbaugh will command a high salary based simply off his resume, and some level of roster say is inherent in attracting a coach of that caliber. But a demand of $20 million in salary and full roster control are not required to land Harbaugh’s services.
Other teams will do what they can to work their way into the Harbaugh mix. And, of course, the biggest question is if other jobs will become available.
Matt LaFleur’s future in Green Bay is center stage in the NFL. He is 76-40-1 all-time in Green Bay, and he’s been to the playoffs in six out of his seven seasons there. But he’s been the seventh seed each of the past three years with just one victory, and he’s coming off a brutal loss to the rival Chicago Bears on Saturday where his team blew a 21-3 halftime lead.
Next season is the last on LaFleur’s contract, and new Packers CEO Ed Policy has said he doesn’t wish for someone to coach in a lameduck year. So the Packers will seemingly either extend LaFleur or part ways with him, via a firing or a trade.
In theory, time is ticking on Green Bay’s decision. With a fourth of the league’s head-coaching jobs available and everyone else already in the interview process, the Packers wouldn’t want to get started too late if they had to do a coaching search this cycle. And trading LaFleur would present other challenges that are also based on timing.
Green Bay has big questions to answer after all-in season ends with its largest blown lead in playoff history
Garrett Podell
To trade LaFleur would mean the Packers would have to trade the rights to his contract to another team for what would surely be a first- or second-round draft pick. And since he’s entering the final year of his contract, an extension with the new team would have to be in place. LaFleur, who is not able to speak with other teams, would have to evaluate that team himself. Such a maneuver could not take place in mere days following the playoff collapse.
“Firing him instead of trading him would be asinine,” one NFC executive said Sunday. “I just don’t really know who you’re hiring that’s better if you’re Green Bay. But certainly shouldn’t pay him to work for someone else next year.”
If the Packers and LaFleur part ways, both would be at or near the top of their respective rankings. In Green Bay, the organization presents as one of the most successful and stable franchises in all of sports with a bona fide quarterback and pieces that make them a perennial playoff contender. LaFleur, 46, would be a hot coaching candidate with his success in Green Bay and ability to call offensive plays as the head coach.
Currently, multiple sources surveyed across the league have the Ravens, Giants and Falcons as the top three jobs in some order.
The NFL has aimed to slow down the hiring process in recent years, and that has worked with general success. Coaches on playoff teams still must balance preparing for their postseason opponent and interviewing for a life-changing opportunity, but teams have been hiring later in January (and February) than even four or more years ago.
Only one of the eight with vacancies can even hire a head coach right now based off NFL rules, which mostly center on in-person interviews with diverse coaches.
As part of the Rooney Rule, the NFL requires teams to interview at least two external candidates who come from diverse backgrounds. Instituted in 2002, the Rooney Rule has been tweaked and expanded in recent years as a way to help qualified minority candidates get the opportunities they deserve. (The Giants have already interviewed Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce in person and could hire a coach at any point now.)
In-person interviews with coaches currently employed by other teams cannot begin until Jan. 19, just after the divisional round of the playoffs. Recent history suggests the hires will begin in earnest that week. But a team can strike sooner than that.
Last year the Patriots hired Mike Vrabel on Jan. 12. New England finished their season on Jan. 4, fired Jerod Mayo within hours of the season ending, and then quickly rushed through two interviews with external minority candidates who were not in the league then — and still are not today — in order to clear the way to hire Vrabel. Though they landed one of the top candidates on the market who has led them to a big turnaround in Year One, the Patriots were heavily criticized publicly and privately for how they handled the search.
In order for a team to hire Harbaugh, or any other coach, or potentially trade for a coach like LaFleur, they would have to have conducted at least those two in-person interviews. That has not yet happened with any club yet.
Chiefs C Creed Humphrey earns First Team All-Pro honors for second straight year
The NFL announced its 2025 All-Pro Team on Saturday, with one Kansas City Chief earning a nod for the second consecutive year.
Source link
Deep freeze strands thousands in northern Finland
HELSINKI — Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittilä airport were canceled due to severe cold.
The temperature at the airport dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, after several days of similar frigid weather, making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult, Finland’s national public broadcaster Yle reported.
The deep freeze is expected to continue in Kittilä, which is located in Finnish Lapland in the sparsely populated north, on Monday, when the Finnish Meteorological Institute predicts temperatures of almost minus 40 C (minus 40 F).
Finns are generally used to frosty winter temperatures but this year’s cold, which has affected wide regions of northern, central and eastern Europe, is more severe than in other years.
Heavy snowfall, high winds and icy roads have made travel difficult in parts of Europe.
In Germany, train passengers were still experiencing long delays and cancellations Sunday after rail operator Deutsche Bahn shut down all service in the north of the country on Friday due to strong snowfall.
Authorities announced that all schools would remain closed and switch to online classes on Monday in North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous western state, after forecasts of icy roads across the region.
In the Baltic countries of Estonia and Lithuania, drivers were asked to postpone all nonessential travel because of expected blizzards, while neighboring Latvia issued a snow alert for the west of the country.
___
This story corrects the Fahrenheit conversion.
Ex-Vocalist AJ CHANNER Responds To Arrest Records Circulating, Alludes To Possible Influence From FIRE FROM THE GODS: “The Timing Of The Release Of This Information Is Not A Coincidence”
So, quick recap – last March, Fire From The Gods suddenly announced a brand new vocalist, Volumes‘ Myke Terry, without ever really announcing the departure of their now-ex-vocalist, AJ Channer. Confirmation of Channer‘s departure was given by his partner, and that was that. Until, this past week when arrest records surfaced from shortly before Christmas (dated 21st December, 2025 respectively) in which Channer had been charged with child endangerment in the state of Tennessee.
The surfacing of those arrest records led to the circulation of another charge from a previous encounter in 2024 – an assault on a pregnant person.
Channer took to social media last night (10th January) to offer his side of events, not before taking a shot at Fire From The Gods at how coincidental it was that these arrest records had surfaced around the time of their newest single release this past Friday (9th January).
“It is unfortunate that we live in a world where a band uses the struggles of someone they used to call a friend to promote the release of their new single. The timing of the release of this information is not a coincidence.
That said, the 2024 charges have been addressed by my wife thoroughly on social media. There is no more to add. I have been in the midst of the recovery process ever since.
The new charges were triggered by someone who has no idea of what we are going through calling authorities. Because I’m in recovery and past substance use shows up in hair analysis (and substance use endangers children) those charges were laid. That is all these charges are about.
Thanks to those who have supported my recovery. I am committed to being the best person I can for my family, friends and fans. Jah Bless”
Original Report: Ex-FIRE FROM THE GODS Vocalist AJ CHANNER Arrested For Endangering A Child Under The Age Of 8 In Tennessee
Back in March of 2025, Fire From The Gods suddenly announced that their vocalist AJ Channer was no longer fronting the band, and it was a role now occupied by Volumes‘ vocalist, Myke Terry.
And just recently, court records from December 2025 have come to light that show AJ Channer was charged with what looks like two counts of child endangerment with a child 8 years old or younger.
What seemed to be a relatively quiet exit – all apart from Channer‘s significant other, Brittan Taylor, and her statement posted to Facebook confirming the split – seems to have a bit more of a reason now. Taylor originally stated that Channer was stepping away from the band to focus on their family, “I want to say thank you to everyone reaching out to check on Channer AJ. Yes the news is out, Fire From the Gods has a new vocalist. AJ and I have been through a lot over the past few years and it was time to take a break and focus on family, which is exactly what he has done. I wish the guys in FFTG all the best and am looking forward to watching them continue to make music with Myke!
Dealing with our mental health issues, moving to a new state, and having the baby all at the same time… it was time for us to slow things down and focus on family. The last year has shown us how much we can grow and heal together and I am in awe of how hard AJ has fought to get healthy. I am so unbelievably proud of this man.
We have our forever because we have each other. Keep fighting the good fight baby.
AJ is now working on his solo project CHNNR and will be releasing new music soon so stay tuned!”
Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.