Weekend Sports In Brief

NFL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the NFL-best Philadelphia Eagles punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 48-22 victory over the fading New York Giants on Sunday.

Hurts improved his MVP credentials by throwing for 217 yards and hitting DaVonta Smith on a 41-yard fourth-down TD strike and A.J. Brown on a 33-yarder as the Eagles (12-1) scored on their first three possessions. The third-year quarterback also ran for 77 yards, highlighted by a 10-yard TD scamper late in the third quarter.

Miles Sanders ran for 144 yards and scored on runs of 3 and 40 yards as the Eagles handed the Giants their worst loss under first-year coach Brian Daboll. Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for Philadelphia, which secured its second straight postseason appearance and fifth in six seasons.

The Eagles finished with seven sacks, including three by Brandon Graham.

Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor threw touchdown passes for for the Giants (7-5-1). They have one win in their last six games (1-4-1) and their hopes of their first playoff berth since 2016 are slipping with four games remaining.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Brock Purdy threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in his first career start and San Francisco’s vaunted defense spoiled Tom Brady’s Bay Area homecoming with a 35-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Purdy outplaying the NFL’s most accomplished quarterback ever was partially overshadowed by another key injury for the 49ers (9-4). A week after losing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a broken left foot that opened the door for Purdy to start, the Niners lost star receiver Deebo Samuel to an ankle injury that forced him to be taken off the field in tears on a cart.

That was about the only thing that didn’t go right for the 49ers, who thoroughly dominated Brady and the Bucs (6-7) to win their sixth straight game.

Purdy’s first start got off to a painful start when he was flattened on a blitz by Keanu Neal on a play that was ruled roughing the passer. The last pick in the 2022 draft got right back up and led the Niners to one of their five touchdown drives on their first seven possessions of the game when Samuel scored on a 13-yard run.

Samuel got hurt on a fumble in the second quarter in an emotional scene that saw dozens of his teammates come on the field to wish him well before he was taken away on a cart with his head in his hands.

DENVER — L’Jarius Sneed intercepted Broncos backup quarterback Brett Rypien late in the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes atoned for a three-interception day by leading Kansas City on a clock-chewing drive, and the Chiefs held on for a 34-28 win over Denver, which lost QB Russell Wilson to a concussion.

The Chiefs (10-3) extended their dominance of Denver with their 14th consecutive win over the Broncos (3-10), who made a game of it by scoring three touchdowns in a 3 1/2-minute stretch spanning halftime after falling behind 27-0.

Mahomes threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, including a no-look hook pass on one of Jerick McKinnon’s two TD receptions.

Jerry Jeudy caught three touchdown passes for Denver, the last one from Rypien after Wilson took a hard hit on a 14-yard scramble to the Kansas City 2 early in the fourth quarter. Wilson was escorted off the field and the Broncos ruled him out with a concussion shortly thereafter.

The Chiefs reached double digits in wins for the eighth straight season and inched closer to winning their seventh consecutive AFC West crown. The Broncos lost their fifth straight game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NEW YORK — Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams, the catalyst for the Trojans’ turnaround season, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night to make USC the first school to take home college football’s most prestigious player of the year award eight times.

Williams received 544 first-place votes and 2,031 points to easily outpoint TCU quarterback Max Duggan (1,420). Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud was third in the voting after coming in fourth last season. Georgia quarterback Stetson finished fourth.

Before taking hold of his big bronze trophy, Williams hugged Mike Garrett, USC’s first Heisman winner in 1965, one of 23 previous winners to attend the ceremony at a theater near Lincoln Center.

The last time USC had a Heisman winner was 2005, when running back Reggie Bush was the second of consecutive Trojans players to win the award. Matt Leinart won the Heisman in 2004 on the way to a national championship.

Bush’s Heisman win, the Trojans’ seventh, was later vacated for NCAA violations that began the descent of USC.

WORLD CUP

DOHA, Qatar — Morocco became the first African country to reach the World Cup semifinals by beating Portugal 1-0 on Saturday, likely ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s chances of ever winning soccer’s biggest prize.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute to continue Morocco’s improbable run that has generated an outpouring of pride in the Arab world during the first World Cup to be staged in the Middle East.

The 37-year-old Ronaldo, one of soccer’s greatest players, didn’t start for the second straight game but came on as a substitute in the 51st minute and missed a chance to equalize in stoppage time. The five-time world player of the year is set to finish his career without capturing the World Cup or ever getting to the final. He headed right off the field after the final whistle and was crying as he walked down the tunnel.

Morocco will play France in the semifinals.

AL KHOR, Qatar — Kylian Mbappe and France made it back to the semifinals of the World Cup on Saturday by beating England 2-1.

Olivier Giroud scored in the 78th minute at Al Bayt Stadium to keep France on course to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.

Giroud raced away in delight when his header deflected off England defender Harry Maguire and sailed past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

England striker Harry Kane had a chance to even the score late in the match but he sent a penalty attempt over the bar.

It was his second spot kick of the match. He earlier scored to make it 1-1 after Aurelien Tchouameni had given France the lead in the 17th minute with a powerful drive from 20 meters (yards).

NBA

HOUSTON — Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died, his family announced Sunday. He was 79.

The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. The Boston Globe first reported Silas’ death, and no official cause was immediately announced.

Silas began his career as a head coach with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats.

He took four of those teams to the playoffs, winning exactly 400 games — 387 in the regular season, 13 more in the postseason.

UFC

LAS VEGAS — The light heavyweight title remained vacant Saturday night after judges awarded the main event in UFC 282 a draw so controversial that both fighters, Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, agreed Ankalaev should have won the belt.

During the post-fight interview in the octagon, No. 3 Blachowicz (29-9-1) walked over to fourth-ranked Ankalaev (18-1-1) and told him he deserved the belt. Ankalaev was so upset over the decision he said through a Russian interpreter he didn’t know if he would “fight in this organization again.”

Judge Mike Bell scored the fight 48-47 for Blachowicz, Derek Cleary 48-46 for Ankalaev and Sal D’Amato 47-47.

The co-main event also went to the scorecards, and there was far from widespread agreement among the fans about the results of that fight as well.

Even if Blachowicz-Ankalaev was the main event, much of the crowd came to see England’s Paddy Pimblett in the co-main fight. American Jared Gordon, 34, had other ideas, dictating the tempo in the lightweight match even as the crowd repeatedly yelled, “Let’s go, Paddy!”

But even much of the crowd had trouble believing the decision, with many booing Pimblett (20-3) winning 29-28 on all three judges’ cards. Gordon shook is head and laughed when the scores were announced.