The Sports Report: Rams have some issues to tackle this offseason
Howdy, I’m your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Gary Klein: It did not take long for the next phase of the Sean McVay era to begin.
On Monday, a day after the Rams’ season ended with a wild-card playoff defeat to the Detroit Lions, USC announced that Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson had been hired as the Trojans co-defensive coordinator.
Replacing Henderson and other staff members who could parlay their time with the Rams into new opportunities is only one of the issues the Rams face as they prepare for the 2024 season.
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McVay is scheduled to speak with reporters Tuesday.
The Rams will play home games against the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders.
They play road games against the Cardinals, 49ers, Seahawks, Lions, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots and New York Jets.
Plaschke: Matthew Stafford loses the battle but wins the war in his duel with Jared Goff
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: Anthony Davis rolled into the paint, gathered his footing and launched toward the rim, ignoring the noodle-limbed rookie in front of him.
It’s desperate times for the Lakers. Well, desperate enough that a Monday night game in mid-January feels like a chance to make some sort of statement — and with the Crypto.com Arena crowd ready for a moment, Davis gave them one with a huge dunk.
Stars performing like stars hasn’t been an issue for the Lakers, save for a so-so triple-double from Davis against the Jazz. The issues have been with the team as a unit, a group that has played more like individuals than one operating with cohesion.
But against Oklahoma City, it was D’Angelo Russell who slipped Davis the pass. It was Austin Reaves cutting and scoring, Davis working out of double teams, LeBron James attacking mismatches and Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood all making big plays off the bench.
NFL
From Sam Farmer: They have experienced their share of NFL ups and downs, but at the moment, these onetime No. 1 picks are riding high.
Quarterbacks Jared Goff of Detroit and Baker Mayfield of Tampa Bay will meet in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
The Buccaneers advanced to the second round Monday night by knocking off Philadelphia 32-9 a day after Goff’s Lions beat the Rams — his former team — to keep their Super Bowl dreams intact. (Mayfield, too, had a brief stint with the Rams last season.)
In the divisional round, Houston will play at Baltimore on Saturday, followed by Green Bay at San Francisco. On Sunday, the Buccaneers play at the Lions, followed by Kansas City at Buffalo.
NFL DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
(All times Pacific)
Saturday, Jan. 20
No. 4 Houston Texans at No. 1 Baltimore Ravens, 1:30 p.m. (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, ESPND, NFL+)
No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 1 San Francisco 49ers, 5:15 p.m. (Fox, Fox Deportes, NFL+)
Sunday, Jan. 21
No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 3 Detroit Lions, noon (NBC, Peacock, Universo, NFL+)
No. 3 Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills, 3:30 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+, NFL+)
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: The Chargers on Monday announced that they interviewed Jim Harbaugh for their head-coaching job.
Having just won a national championship at Michigan, Harbaugh is the eighth candidate the team has publicly identified.
The Chargers are searching for a replacement for the fired Brandon Staley. They also need a general manager having dismissed Tom Telesco, both moves coming on Dec. 15.
Harbaugh, 60, is the biggest name linked to the Chargers to date. His success both collegiately and in the NFL has elevated him to the top of a list of available candidates that includes Super Bowl winners Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll.
USC FOOTBALL
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Caleb Williams waited until the final moments, but the decision shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The Heisman Trophy winner will go to the NFL.
Williams declared for the NFL draft on Monday, the deadline for underclassmen to enter their names into the pool, officially ending his celebrated college career that included two record-breaking seasons at USC.
The quarterback is expected to be among the top players selected in April’s draft after he threw for 8,170 yards and 72 touchdowns in his two-year USC career with head coach Lincoln Riley. Williams won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore in his first year with the Trojans, becoming the program’s eighth Heisman winner, after transferring from Oklahoma.
KINGS
From the Associated Press: Trevor Moore scored two goals and the Kings ended an eight-game losing streak by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Monday.
Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored in a four-goal third period for the Kings, who had gone 0-4-4 since beating San José on Dec. 27 at Crypto.com Arena.
“We did do a lot of things the right way and have done that a lot on this trip,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We finally got rewarded. Our guys dug in and we pulled ourself out of it.”
David Rittich made 30 saves for the Kings in their fifth stop of a six-game trip that concludes Tuesday at Dallas. Vladislav Gavrikov, Mikey Anderson, Matt Roy and Danault each had two assists.
DUCKS
From the Associated Press: Alex Killorn got his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks fought back from a pair of two-goal deficits to beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Monday.
Adam Henrique had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who trailed 2-0 and 4-2 before handing Florida its second consecutive loss. Troy Terry and Jakob Silfverberg also scored for the Ducks, who got 29 saves from John Gibson.
Killorn hadn’t scored in his last 12 games.
“I didn’t even know he was on a goal drought,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “He had two huge goals, the last one being a game winner, and I thought he skated well tonight.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1962 — Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 42 points and grabs 24 rebounds as he won MVP honors even though his East team lost to the West 150-130 in the NBA All-Star game. The West’s Bob Pettit pulls down an All-Star record 27 rebounds.
1972 — The Dallas Cowboys dominate the Miami Dolphins, setting a Super Bowl record of 252 yards rushing en route to a 24-3 victory.
1974 — Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mantle is elected in his first year of eligibility and Ford in his second year.
1988 — Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, the CBS NFL Today tout for 12 years, is fired for his racial comments during an interview the previous day with WRC-TV in Washington.
1993 — Kansas beats Louisville 98-77 for its 1,500th win in school history.
1993 — Michael Jordan scores 64 points, but Chicago is upended in overtime by visiting Orlando 128-124. The Magic are led by rookie center Shaquille O’Neal, who has 29 points and 24 rebounds.
2008 — Bob Knight becomes the first men’s Division I coach with 900 wins when Texas Tech beats No. 10 Texas A&M 68-53.
2011 — New York Jets stun the New England Patriots 28-21. The Patriots — who had the league’s best record during the regular season — suffer their third straight postseason loss. Mark Sanchez throws three touchdown passes, Tom Brady is sacked five times and the Jets advance to their second straight AFC championship game.
2015 — The NCAA restores 112 football wins it stripped from Penn State and Joe Paterno in the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation scandal and reinstates the venerated late coach as the winningest in major college football history. The NCAA announces the new settlement with the school weeks before a scheduled trial on the legality of the sanctions imposed in 2012.
2016 — Larry Fitzgerald sets up and scores the winning touchdown on the third play of overtime, taking a 5-yard pass from Carson Palmer that lifts Arizona past Green Bay 26-20 after Aaron Rodgers’ desperation 41-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Janis on the final play of regulation. Fitzgerald turns a short pass into a 75-yard gain on the first play of overtime to set up his 5-yard shovel pass reception for the winning score.
2019 — Golden State guard Stephen Curry first player in NBA history to hit 8+ three-point FGs in 3 consecutive games; goes 9-of- 17 three’s in Warriors’ 147-140 win over New Orleans; teams combine for NBA record 43 3-pointers.
2020 — Former Sacramento State softball player Alyssa Nakken becomes first woman to hold a coaching position on a MLB staff when named an assistant by the San Francisco Giants.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Anthony Davis had a monster dunk in the Lakers’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night. Check it out here.
Until next time...
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
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