Defense Was The Difference Maker

DALLAS — When Jamal Murray went to the bench with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter on Sunday, the Nuggets were losing to the Mavericks by 12 points. They were losing his minutes by 29. Individually, Murray had five points, no assists and a turnover on 2-of-7 shooting. His defense wasn’t any better. As he took a breather, an important game spiraled further out of control.

This was a monumental day for girls, past, present and future, across the state of Colorado. Women’s professional hockey arrived in the Centennial State this weekend. The culmination of the PWHL Takeover celebration was a 4-2 victory Sunday for the Minnesota Frost against the Montreal Victoire at Ball Arena. The 14,018 fans set an American attendance record for a women’s professional game. “It’s amazing, so cool to see how many people are here just enjoying it, supporting females, and the whole big push for female athletics,” said Katie Davis, a lifelong Coloradan who grew up in Littleton.

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — Sean Payton didn’t just take his foot off the gas. He yanked the emergency brake, got out of the car, handed the keys to Josh Allen and crawled home on all fours. “As a play-caller on offense and vice versa, you have to pay attention to what’s going on the other side of the ball,” the Broncos coach explained after a 31-7 clobbering Sunday at the hands of Allen and his Buffalo Bills in the AFC’s wild-card round. “And so early in that game, you’re paying attention to it.

By DAN GELSTON PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dallas Goedert fired one stiff arm to a Packers defender, smacked him again and then — in a sports city known for its Broad Street Bullies — dispatched one final shot to the face on his way to end zone. Goedert refused to be stopped — and neither were the Philadelphia Eagles in game in which they welcomed back Jalen Hurts and had the book on Green Bay. Hurts tossed two touchdown passes in his first game since a late-season concussion, Goedert threw those three stiff-arms on a rugged TD catch and the Eagles rode their NFL-best defense to a 22-10 wild-card playoff win Sunday night. Hurts threw for a modest 131 yards, but played with no hesitation in his return from a three-week layoff after a concussion in December.

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — Sean Payton knew the Bills would emphasize running the football ahead of Sunday’s wild-card playoff matchup. What the Broncos head coach didn’t know was just how effective Buffalo would be in doing so against a once-stout Denver defense. The Broncos were bullied in the run game, giving up 210 yards on 44 carries in their 31-7 loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium.

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — The Broncos got Buffaloed. In the biggest moment, the outcome still hanging in the balance, the refs screwed Sean Payton again in a playoff game. That’s what I want to write. There is no way Bills receiver Tyler Johnson had control of the ball with a knee in bounds as he slid across the back of the end zone.