Sports
Commanders get by Falcons in OT for long-awaited playoff berth
Dec 29, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) prepares to throw the ball against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images Jayden Daniels hit Zach Ertz for a 2-yard touchdown with 2:42 left in overtime as the Washington Commanders beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 on Sunday night in Landover, Md., to secure their first playoff berth since the 2020 season.
The Commanders (11-5) clinched a wild-card berth with their fourth straight win and could finish as high as the sixth seed in the NFC.
In the NFC South, Atlanta (8-8) sits behind the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7), who can clinch the division by defeating the New Orleans Saints in Week 18.
Washington took the opening kickoff of the extra session, and Daniels later ran for 16 yards on third-and-2 at midfield, then passed to Chris Rodriguez Jr. two plays later for a 12-yard gain and another first down. Daniels eventually added a pair of 6-yard runs that got him in position to find Ertz for the game-winning points.
Daniels completed 24 of 36 passes for 227 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and ran for 127 yards on 16 attempts. Ertz caught two touchdown passes, and Olamide Zaccheaus had eight catches for 85 yards and a score.
Bijan Robinson ran for two touchdowns for the second straight game for Atlanta, and he finished with 90 yards on the ground. Michael Penix Jr. was 19-of-35 passing for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Drake London had seven catches for 106 yards.
Atlanta’s Riley Patterson came up short on a 56-yard field-goal attempt as time expired in regulation.
With the Falcons trailing 24-17 and facing fourth-and-11 at the 50 with 2:39 remaining, Penix found London all alone for a 31-yard catch-and-run, but two plays later at the Washington 5, a bad snap on a wildcat play resulted in a 21-yard loss. Later, on fourth-and-goal from the 13, Penix rifled a pass to Kyle Pitts in the end zone to tie the game with 1:19 to go.
The Commanders had built their 24-17 lead thanks to a strong fourth quarter, where they got a 2-yard TD run from Rodriguez and a 31-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez.
Robinson had a pair of 1-yard rushing scores in the first half to help Atlanta take a 17-7 lead into the break, but the Commanders drew within 17-14 with 7:13 left in the third quarter when Daniels and Ertz hooked up for a 10-yard touchdown.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Galaxy rally from 2-0 deficit, earn draw with FC Dallas
Apr 18, 2026; Frisco, Texas, USA; LA Galaxy forward Joseph Paintsil (28) dribbles the ball as FC Dallas forward Petar Musa (9) defends during the first half at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images The visiting LA Galaxy erased an early 2-0 deficit with a pair of late first-half goals and then choked off the FC Dallas offense in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas.
Lucas Sanabria got LA (2-3-3, 9 points) on the board and Joseph Paintsil equalized three minutes into first-half stoppage time. It appeared that Dallas (3-1-4, 13 points) snapped the tie when Kaick tallied in the 75th minute, but the goal was nullified for offsides.
Petar Musa collected a brace for Dallas, giving him nine goals on the year and enabling him to take the MLS goal-scoring lead over Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Nashville’s Sam Surridge. But the Galaxy kept him in check after halftime.
Musa needed just seven minutes to start the scoring, with the help of a horrific turnover by LA captain Maya Yoshida. Attempting to boot the ball laterally to a teammate in his end, Yoshida instead squibbed the ball right to Musa.
Given plenty of time and space to make his move, Musa measured goalie JT Marcinowski and calmly booted the ball into the lower left corner from just outside the box.
Dallas controlled the ball for most of the half, bolstering its advantage in the 38th minute via a nice buildup inside the Galaxy zone. Logan Farrington crossed from the left side and a sliding Musa poked it past Marcinowski.
Sanabria pulled one back in the 43rd minute as his shot from the top of the box deflected off the shoe of a Dallas defender and eluded goalie Michael Collodi at the right post.
Paintsil, playing his first match of the year after sitting out the first eight with injury, made it level via a fine feed from Gabriel Pec. Left open in the box, Paintsil wired a shot over Collodi and under the crossbar.
Dallas tried 11 shots to LA’s nine as it stretched its unbeaten string to five matches. Both teams got five shots on frame.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Minnesota United blank Timbers for 3rd straight win
Apr 18, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota United FC forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) shoots the ball as Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman (20) and defender Brandon Bye (5) defend during the first half at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tomas Chancalay had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota United won their third match in a row with Saturday night’s 2-0 victory against the Portland Timbers at Saint Paul, Minn.
Kelvin Yeboah scored the other goal, making it three matches in a row that he has a goal for the Loons (4-2-2, 14 points). Minnesota goalkeeper Drake Callender made two saves for the clean sheet.
Yeboah has half of his team’s 10 goals in MLS play. He’s the team’s only player with more than one goal.
James Pantemis made five saves for Portland (2-5-1, 7 points), which fell to 0-4-0 in road matches.
Chancalay scored his first goal of the season in the 16th minute off Jefferson Diaz’s assist.
Yeboah’s goal in the 60th minute capped a fastbreak with a short-range shot after Chancalay provided the final pass. Chancalay has four assists this year.
Portland has surrendered two or more goals in each of its last three road matches.
The Timbers began a busy stretch that includes several road assignments with a largely solid game despite failing to score. They held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks and a 55%-45% possession advantage, but Minnesota outshot the visitors 17-12, including 7-2 on shots on target.
The teams played to a 1-1 draw last August in the same stadium.
Portland stays on the road next Saturday, visiting San Diego FC. Minnesota plays twice next week, visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday before hosting LAFC on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Troy Johnston's clutch double leads Rockies' comeback win over Dodgers
Apr 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker (23) is congratulated by designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) after a two-run home run during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Troy Johnston hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies held on for a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night in Denver.
Johnston had three of Colorado’s seven hits as the Rockies won for only the second time in nine games.
Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing homered for the Dodgers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Shohei Ohtani was 1-for-4 to extend his on-base streak to 50 games.
Brennan Bernardino (2-0) delivered 1 1/3 no-hit innings in relief, and Victor Vodnik pitched the ninth for his third save.
Will Klein (1-1) allowed hits to each of the first three batters he faced in the sixth, including Johnston’s game-winning double.
The first two Dodgers reached in the eighth against Jaden Hill and they loaded the bases with two outs before Hill retired Max Muncy on a groundout to second base.
Colorado starter Ryan Feltner went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and five hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Los Angeles starter Emmet Sheehan gave up two runs on four hits in five innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
The Dodgers led 2-0 two pitches into the game. After Ohtani hit the first pitch into play and reached on an error by Johnston, Tucker drove the first pitch he saw into the second deck in right for his third home run with the Dodgers.
TJ Rumfield’s RBI single made it 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
Rushing’s solo homer with one out in the second restored the two-run lead.
Kyle Karros’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning made it 3-2, scoring Johnston, who had singled, stolen second and moved to third on a groundout.
The Dodgers threatened when Freddie Freeman tripled with one out in the visitor’s half of the sixth. But Karros at third dove to stop Teoscar Hernandez’s grounder down the line, retiring him at first. Bernardino replaced Feltner and struck out Muncy to end the threat.
The Dodgers threatened with a pair of two-out singles in the ninth before Tucker’s flyout to left ended the game. Los Angeles was hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position, stranding eight in the narrow loss
–Field Level Media
