KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs finally showed some second-half life on Sunday in Las Vegas, where they rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit for a 31-17 victory. The Chiefs had been shut out after the break in their previous three games. The biggest reason for the success was that they simply played some clean football. They did not commit a turnover for the first time since Week 5 and the second time this season, and they only committed four penalties.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cairo Santos made a 30-yard field goal for Chicago with 10 seconds left for his fourth of the game after a miss on the opening drive, and the Bears had four interceptions of Joshua Dobbs in a defense-dominated 12-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Justin Fields lost two fumbles in the fourth quarter. With excellent protection on third-and-10 near midfield he hit D.J. Moore for 36 yards to put the Bears at the 13 with 55 seconds left. They drained the clock to set up the winning kick and stop a 12-game losing streak against NFC North opponents.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers fired coach Frank Reich with the team off to an NFL-worst 1-10 record in his first year in charge. The move came a day after the Panthers lost 17-10 to the Tennessee Titans. Owner David Tepper hired Reich to fix one of the league’s worst offenses over the past few seasons and develop Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall draft pick. Instead, they are assured of a sixth straight losing season since Tepper bought the team in 2018. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will take over as interim head coach. Tabor’s first move was to fire quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley, according to a person familiar with the situation.
UNDATED (AP) — Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke were among a rush of players entering college football’s transfer portal Monday. Howard led the Wildcats to the Big 12 title last season and another bowl game this season. Van Dyke is a past Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year. Most teams wrapped up regular seasons this past weekend, leading some to declare their intent to transfer. Howard and Van Dyke are among those who are graduate transfers, meaning they could enter the portal and become immediately eligible, while players who have yet to graduate must wait until Dec. 4 to make it official.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Billy Napier began a much-needed defensive makeover by firing two assistants. A person familiar with the decision tells the AP on condition of anonymity that Napier parted with cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond and defensive line coach Sean Spencer, two days after a season-ending loss to rival and then-No. 5 Florida State. The Gators (5-7) lost five consecutive games to end the season and missed a bowl for just the third time since 1990. Defense was the biggest issue down the stretch, with Florida allowing 41.75 points a game in the first four of those losses.
SEATTLE (AP) — Rome Odunze can see not all is right with the offense for No. 3 Washington. It hasn’t looked quite right since Odunze caught the winning touchdown to beat Oregon back in October. The Ducks are the same team the Huskies will see in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game. There’s no debating that Washington hasn’t carved up defenses with the ease it displayed leading up to the 36-33 win over Oregon on Oct. 14. The Huskies know the offense must get better in short order.
UNDATED (AP) — Purdue is back at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll after its run to the Maui Invitational title. The Boilermakers beat three teams ranked among the top 11. They replace preseason No. 1 Kansas, which dropped to fifth after losing to Marquette in Maui. Arizona climbed to second, Marquette is third and Uconn is fourth. Villanova, BYU and Colorado State jumped into the top 20 while Colorado, Arkansas and USC were among those that dropped out of the poll.
UNDATED (AP) — Southern Cal has its best ranking in 29 years in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, moving up to No. 6. South Carolina remained the unanimous top choice in the AP Top 25. UCLA, Stanford, Iowa and N.C. State round out the top five. The Wolfpack beat then-No. 3 Colorado last week and have gone from unranked in the preseason all the way to the top five. Colorado fell into a tie for seventh with LSU. Virginia Tech is ninth and Texas is 10th. Princeton and Marquette entered the rankings while Washington State and Oklahoma dropped out.
The St. Louis Cardinals agreed with AL Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray on a $75 million, three-year contract to anchor their staff heading into next season. Gray’s deal includes a $30 million team option for 2027 with a $5 million buyout, which could make the agreement worth $100 million over four seasons. The 34-year-old Gray went 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA for Minnesota last season. He turned down a qualifying offer from the Twins, and St. Louis will lose its second-highest draft pick next year for signing him. The Cardinals went 71-91 last season.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills pass rusher Shaq Lawson has apologized for shoving a Philadelphia Eagles fan after alleging the person was making threatening remarks about players and their families. Lawson posted his apology on his Instagram account a day after a video showed him and five defensive teammates approach a spectator in the first row behind Buffalo’s bench during a 37-34 overtime loss at Philadelphia. The video showed Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips walking up and exchanging words with the unidentified spectator, when Lawson followed and shoved the fan. A spokesman for the Eagles said the matter is being reviewed.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Chicago 12 Minnesota 10
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (4)UConn 84 New Hampshire 64
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Philadelphia 138 L.A. Lakers 94
Final Washington 126 Detroit 107
Final Portland 114 Indiana 110
Final Utah 114 New Orleans 112
Final Denver 113 L.A. Clippers 104
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Buffalo 5 N-Y Rangers 1
Final Columbus 5 Boston 2
Final Florida 5 Ottawa 0
Final Colorado 4 Tampa Bay 1
Final OT Calgary 2 Vegas 1
Final San Jose 2 Washington 1