One of the most thrilling NFL playoffs ever comes to an end
In a Super Bowl where both teams deserved the victory equally, the LA Rams clinched the title 23-20 against the Cincinnati Bengals. As many predicted, the leaky Bengals O-line let their otherwise explosive offence down. Bengals QB Joe Burrow was terrorized by All-Pro DT Aaron Donald, who forced the Bengals to settle for the early third-quarter field goal, finished with two sacks, and ended the Bengals drive in the last quarter. Burrow himself completed 22 of 33 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown. Rams QB Matthew Stafford and coach Sean McVay started off hot, making calculated plays, but made mistakes as the game progressed before closing out strong on the final drive. On 4th-and-1 on the Rams 30 with five minutes remaining, McVay gambled and went for it trailing 20-16. Stafford handed off to star WR Cooper Kupp, who picked up 7 yards. Offensive player of the year and Super Bowl MVP, Kupp caught eight passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Bengals star WR Ja’marr Chase made the catch of the game in the first quarter when he pulled the ball in with one hand for a 46-yard pass after losing his footing. The Bengals’ first touchdown came on a pass thrown by RB Joe Mixon on a beauty of an option play, finding Higgins alone in the back of the endzone for a touchdown.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Yet another photo finish at the Super Bowl of stock car racing.
Already set to be NASCAR rookie of the year, Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 in an overtime finish after 2 crashes within the final ten laps. Cindric fended off three different cars on the final lap to earn his first Cup Series win. With drafting help from his teammate Ryan Blaney, he was pushed clear and away from Brad Keselowski, who caused two multi-car crashes while bump drafting on the corner exit, on the outside lane. Cindric then aggressively blocked Blaney as he cut to the outside off the final corner, then beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line to take the chequered flag. Marking the first points race for NASCAR’s new cars, The Great American Race showed that the car isn’t a finished product yet. It's also likely that NASCAR will carefully examine how to keep the Next Gen car on the ground after a multi-car crash on Lap sixty-three where Harrison Burton's car went airborne and flipped onto its roof before settling down on its wheels.
Canadian women triumph at the Olympics
The highlight of Canada’s performance at the Beijing Olympics was undoubtedly winning gold in women’s hockey. Canada fell 3-2 to the United States in the championship game at PyeongChang 2018, which ended their streak of 4 straight gold medals. They earned redemption by beating the U.S. 3-2. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice, while keeper Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 38 out of 40 shots. It looked as though Natalie Spooner had opened the scoring for Canada at 7:15, but the goal was called back due to an offside. Not long after, at 7:50, Canada officially scored their first goal. Poulin made it 2-0 at 15:02. Poulin struck again at 9:08 of the second period. With the goal, Poulin became the first hockey player ever to score in four Olympic gold medal games. The United States got on the board at 16:39, making it a 3-1 game. Alex Carpenter had a great chance to get the Americans back in the game but hit the post. The United States was awarded a power play with 1:25 remaining. Amanda Kessel scored making it a 3-2 game with 13.5 seconds remaining. Canada would win the ensuing centre ice faceoff, making it a 3-2 final.
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