UNDATED (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will likely be without running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the second straight week when they visit the Broncos on Saturday in their crucial regular-season finale. Edwards-Helaire hurt his shoulder early in the second half of a romp over the Steelers on Dec. 26. The Chiefs first feared he had broken his collarbone, but more tests came back negative and they hope to have him back for the playoffs. The Chiefs do expect left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to play against the Broncos after hurting his calf in warmups for last week's game in Cincinnati.
DENVER (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have lost the pole position in the AFC playoff race and now they have to beat the Denver Broncos on Saturday and have the Texans upset the Titans on Sunday to secure the top overall seed in the conference for the third time in four years. Otherwise, their playoffs will begin next weekend in the wild-card round. The Chiefs have won the AFC West for the sixth straight time and they're going for their 13th consecutive win over Denver. The Broncos have missed the playoffs for a sixth straight year and posted their fifth consecutive losing season.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA has updated its pandemic-related protocols for winter sports athletes and teams to follow updated CDC guidelines. The biggest recommendation is a booster for those who are beyond two months of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, five months of receiving the Pfizer or six months of receiving the Moderna vaccine. The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball committees also issued a joint statement encouraging schools to adhere to conference policies when scheduling replacement games or rescheduling postponed games and that coach and player absences would be taken into account when teams are evaluated for inclusion in the national tournaments.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have formally released Antonio Brown, four days after the wide receiver walked off the field in the third quarter of last Sunday's 28-24 comeback win over the New York Jets. Brown said in a post yesterday that he was fired for refusing to play through an ankle injury. Brown removed his jersey, shoulder pads, undershirt and gloves, then left the field after a sideline exchange with coach Bruce Arians, who said afterward that the player was no longer part of the team.
THURSDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
San Francisco at (4)Gonzaga 9 p.m. (Postponed)
(5)UCLA at Stanford 9:30 p.m. (Postponed)
Final (5)UCLA 96 Long Beach St. 78
Final (7)Southern Cal 77 California 63
Final Indiana 67 (13)Ohio St. 51
Final (23)Wisconsin 87 Iowa 78
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final New York 108 Boston 105
Final Memphis 118 Detroit 88
Final New Orleans 101 Golden State 96
Final Phoenix 106 L.A. Clippers 89
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Toronto at Montreal 7 p.m. (Postponed)
Ottawa at Seattle 10 p.m. (Postponed)
Final Pittsburgh 6 Philadelphia 2
Final New Jersey 3 Columbus 1
Final San Jose 3 Buffalo 2
Final Tampa Bay 4 Calgary 1
Final Minnesota 3 Boston 2
Final SO Dallas 6 Florida 5
Final Colorado 7 Winnipeg 1
Final Arizona 6 Chicago 4
Final Vegas 5 N-Y Rangers 1
Final Nashville 4 Los Angeles 2