KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — While most NFL teams are getting banged up and losing players about this time of the year, the Kansas City Chiefs are about to welcome a whole bunch back. Leading the way is Trent McDuffie, their first-round pick, who has been out since hurting his hamstring in the season opener. The cornerback could be joined on the field against San Francisco on Sunday by starting linebacker Willie Gay Jr., who just finished a four-game suspension for an off-field incident that occurred earlier this year.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have acquired star running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers for a haul of draft picks. The Panthers announced the deal that sends McCaffrey back to the Bay Area where he starred in college at Stanford in Thursday night. They said it will be finalized when McCaffrey passes a physical. A person familiar with the deal said on condition of anonymity that the Panthers will receive picks in the second, third and fourth rounds of the 2023 draft, as well as a fifth-rounder in 2024.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Marco Wilson and Isaiah Simmons scored touchdowns on two pick-6s late in the first half and used that stunning change in momentum to lift the Arizona Cardinals over the New Orleans Saints 42-34. The Cardinals snapped an eight-game home losing streak that was the franchise’s longest since 1958. The game was tied at 14 when Saints quarterback Andy Dalton threw the game-changing interceptions on consecutive drives that were barely a minute apart just before halftime.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott says he will start Sunday at home against the Detroit Lions. Prescott's return would end a five-game absence after he fractured his right thumb in a season-opening loss to Tampa Bay. Dallas went 4-1 with backup Cooper Rush, starting with a four-game winning streak. Prescott says he had a full workload as the first-team QB in practice. Dallas players are crediting Rush for keeping the club in contention. They also see Prescott as the “life source” of the team's offense.
DALLAS (AP) — The third in-person meeting of conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff since August ended without a resolution on expansion, but not without optimism. The CFP management committee, comprised of 10 major college football conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, met for six hours. They worked on a plan to triple the number of playoff teams from four to 12 for the 2024 season. Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock says the work is ‘not finished’ and that time is running short.
UNDATED (AP) — Eighth-ranked TCU is looking to take down another ranked Big 12 team. The undefeated Horned Frogs have won three consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history. They are home Saturday against 17th-ranked Kansas State, which is 5-1 overall and coming off an open date. They are the Big 12 co-leaders at 3-0 each. The league's only other ranked teams play each other with No. 20 Texas at No. 11 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are coming off a double-overtime loss at TCU. Kansas plays at Baylor, and West Virginia goes to Texas Tech.
UNDATED (AP) — UCLA coach Chip Kelly is facing his former school this weekend. Never have the stakes been this high. No. 9 UCLA plays at No. 10 Oregon in a game that will likely narrow the Pac-12′s College Football Playoff chances to two teams. Kelly lost the first two games against Oregon, but takes a much better team with him to Autzen Stadium this year. The week in college football also includes No. TCU at No. 17 at Kansas State and No. 6 Alabama at No. 24 Mississippi State.
HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit an early three-run homer, Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings and the Houston Astros edged the New York Yankees 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge just missed a two-run homer in the eighth when his drive was caught just in front of the short wall by right fielder Kyle Tucker. The ball would’ve landed in the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium, Statcast showed — with the roof open at Minute Maid Park, the wind might’ve knocked down Judge’s bid. The Astros improved to 5-0 this postseason. A night after Justin Verlander fanned 11 to begin the best-of-seven series, Bregman’s third-inning homer was all the offense Houston needed. The Astros improved to 5-0 this postseason.
AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Houston 3 N.Y. Yankees 2
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Arizona 42 New Orleans 34
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Milwaukee 90 Philadelphia 88
Final L.A. Clippers 103 L.A. Lakers 97
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 6 Los Angeles 1
Final OT San Jose 3 N-Y Rangers 2
Final Montreal 6 Arizona 2
Final Ottawa 5 Washington 2
Final Columbus 5 Nashville 3
Final SO Boston 2 Anaheim 1
Final OT Toronto 3 Dallas 2
Final New Jersey 4 N-Y Islanders 1
Final OT Minnesota 4 Vancouver 3
Final Edmonton 6 Carolina 4
Final Buffalo 6 Calgary 3
Final Vegas 5 Winnipeg 2