Sports
Kansas City Chiefs Clutch Up, Las Vegas Raiders Collapse: A Tale as Old as Time
The Kansas City Chiefs would seem to have already used five years of good luck this season, but the football gods just keep delivering more.
The Chiefs didn’t wait until the last play to get their good fortune this time, but a botched snap by the Los Angeles Raiders on Friday and a recovery by the Chiefs with 11 seconds left qualifies as another stunning dose.
The Raiders were at the Kansas City 32-yard line and in position to attempt a go-ahead field goal when the Chiefs again received late-game magic. That 19-17 escape marked Kansas City’s ninth victory by single digits this season—a new NFL record.
Five of Kansas City’s victories have been determined on the final play of the game: two made field goals, one rushing touchdown in overtime, one blocked field goal and one opponent touchdown overturned.
Now they get this latest win where Raiders center Jackson Powers-Johnson unexpectedly snapped the ball. It caromed off the upper right arm of quarterback Aidan O’Connell, and the Chiefs’ Nick Bolton recovered it to leave Las Vegas stunned and make Kansas City (10-1) the first team to clinch a playoff spot.
Kansas City blew a 16-3 lead against the lowly Raiders (2-10), who scored two touchdowns to move ahead before the Chiefs got a go-ahead field goal from Matthew Wright.
Five days earlier, the Chiefs blew a 14-point lead against the horrid Carolina Panthers before needing a field goal as time expired to win.
So we’re seeing that Kansas City isn’t a formidable team. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes said the Chiefs need to get better. I think we all agree with him.
Not to be forgotten is that Kansas City wobbled a lot last season. After their Week 10 bye, the Chiefs lost four of their next six games to fall to 9-6, and people were wondering what was wrong.
Kansas City finished 11-6 and beat the Miami Dolphins in the wild-card round when the temperature was minus-4 (feels like minus-27) at kickoff. Then it won road games against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens before notching an overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
So after ‘what’s wrong with the Chiefs?’ was the big late December question, these guys rallied to win the whole darn thing.
That makes it difficult to assess the current Chiefs. They are playing a lot of close games and also playing down to the competition.
But only the powerful Buffalo Bills have beaten them.
As for the Raiders (2-10), they lost their eighth straight game since beating the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 29.
Las Vegas has lost five games by double digits during the stretch, and the one place where Friday’s loss helps is that it improves the chances of gaining the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Aidan O’Connell was back after breaking his right (throwing) thumb in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams. He fared well by throwing for two touchdowns and a career-high 340 yards.
With Gardner Minshew (collarbone) done for the season, the Raiders need to study O’Connell the rest of the campaign so they can make this decision: Is he our quarterback of the future, or do we need to find one?
There are certainly things to like about O’Connell. When the Raiders were down 13 points, this game could have gotten away fast. But O’Connell picked up his play and made some big-time throws.
Rookie tight end Brock Bowers caught 10 passes for 140 yards and he is a definite future star.
But looking at the total picture, this is a miserable season for Las Vegas. The Raiders even lost at home by 14 points to the Panthers.
You have to wonder if coach Antonio Pierce will keep his job. He did a good job last season by going 5-4 after taking over, but there isn’t much good to dig up this time around.
Perhaps he deserves a second full season out of fairness, but you know what can happen when keeping a coach out of charity? Another double-digit loss season.
On Friday, that was a game the Raiders were in position to win. Then snap—it wasn’t.
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on March 1
