The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have taken a four-point game and turned it into an 11-point game at halftime against the Green Bay Packers with quarterback Tom Brady airing it out to Scotty Miller for a stunning 39-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 Bucs.
Miller reached 20.6 miles per hour on the play as he outran Kevin King with 8 seconds left on the clock. Just one play before, the Bucs converted on fourth-and-4, on a short pass to Leonard Fournette.
In the first half, Brady completed 13 of 22 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, with Fournette spinning his way to a third on the ground. Brady was particularly effective on the deep ball, going 2-of-2 on throws 30-plus yards downfield in the first half, tying his best for most such completions in a game all season. He was 0-of-2 on those throws in the Buccaneers’ first two playoff games combined, according to ESPN Statistics & Information.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 24, 2021
There was plenty of swift reaction from social media on the Packers’ defensive lapse.
That may be the worst defensive design I’ve ever seen with 8 seconds and no timeouts left. Green Bay-I’m not sure how you play inside technique man to man and nit just play zone and protect the sideline and the end zone? Amazing.
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) January 24, 2021
Why are you in cover one?
— Ed Reed (@TwentyER) January 24, 2021
Brady be treating everyone like his little bro 😂😂 And I kind of love it
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 24, 2021
That play call is the reason why the buccaneers will win the game and possibly the Super Bowl!!
— Jonathan Stewart (@Jonathanstewar1) January 24, 2021
Throw it up to 10!!!
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) January 24, 2021
Throw it up to 10!!!
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) January 24, 2021
Wow.
Scotty Miller’s max speed on this play: 20.64 MPH.
Kevin King’s max speed: 19.19 MPH.
Via @NextGenStats pic.twitter.com/uGWBTyyPyE
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 24, 2021
Meanwhile, on the Bucs’ first drive of the game, Brady connected with Mike Evans twice on the opening drive to give the Bucs an early 7-0 lead. Brady hit Evans for a 27-yard catch on a corner route working against Chandon Sullivan on third-and-4.
Evans then leaped up in the end zone working against Kevin King for a 15-yard touchdown grab.
A win today would send Brady to his 10th Super Bowl and the Bucs to their second.
Health officials report 1,516 new cases and 13 more deaths, though four of those occurred in 2020.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) XpresCheck, a Covid-19 testing site, is now testing passengers at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
| Jan. 24, 2021, 8:27 p.m.
| Updated: 9:41 p.m.
Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
While the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests in Utah went up Sunday from the day before, a look at the figures from the past week suggest some reason for cautious optimism.
For instance, the rolling seven-day average of new cases reported Sunday by the Utah Department of Health was 1,794. A week ago, it was 2,548.
The number of people hospitalized Sunday due to COVID-19 was at 461. The week prior, it was 557. The number of coronavirus patients occupying ICU beds was down by more than 40, and the percentage of ICU beds occupied declined from 97.4% to 88.7%.
Meanwhile, the rolling seven-day percentage of positive tests is also down from the previous week. On Sunday, it stood at 19.4%. The week before, it was at 22.6%.
It’s not all good news, however — there were still 102 coronavirus-related deaths in Utah over the past seven days.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center reports that we are approaching 100 million global cases of COVID-19. More than 25 million of those have been in the United States alone. There are now more than 2,125,000 deaths worldwide — led by more than 418,000 in the United States.
Here’s a closer look at the Sunday numbers released by the UDOH:
Vaccinations reported in past day/total vaccinations • 6,073 / 228,348.
Cases reported in past day • 1,516, which is 255 fewer than Saturday.
Deaths reported in past day • 13, though UDOH noted that four of them occurred prior to Dec. 31, 2020.
Five of them were Utah County residents: A male between 25-44 years old, three males between 65-84, and a female 85 or older.
Four came from Salt Lake County: A male between 45-64, one male and one female 65-84, and one male older than 85.
Washington County’s two were both female, one of them between 65-84, the other 85 or older. Weber County also had a female between 65-84, while Uintah County had a male between 65-84.
Hospitalizations reported in past day • 461. That’s down 20 from Saturday’s numbers. Of those currently hospitalized, 182 are in intensive care units — 14 fewer than announced Saturday.
Tests reported in past day • 7,331.
Percentage of positive tests • 20.7%. This is higher than the seven-day average of 19.4%.
Totals to date • 336,405 cases; 1,595 deaths; 13,016 hospitalizations; 1,965,485 tests.
ABU DHABI, U.A.E. — When Conor McGregor is involved, there is always potential for hyperbole. When you have a star that big, everything tends to dial up a notch — including any comments related to him or an upcoming fight. But allow me to say, I have genuinely looked forward to this moment since the end of 2016.
Whether this all comes to fruition, only time will tell. But I believe we might finally realize the true fighting potential of McGregor in 2021. If you go back to the end of 2016, McGregor was the reigning featherweight and lightweight champion. He’d avenged his submission loss to Nate Diaz. He wasn’t considered the absolute best fighter in the world, but he was on the radar for that honor.
Of course, we all know what happened next. McGregor (22-4), who fights Dustin Poirier in a nontitle lightweight fight at UFC 257 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi (main card at 10 p.m. ET, purchase here on pay-per-view), pursued a lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in 2017, proceeded to run into various legal troubles, lost a championship fight to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, didn’t fight at all in 2019 and competed once in 2020 for less than a minute.
And frankly, all of that isn’t hard to understand. McGregor rose to never-before-seen levels of fame in 2016, and he cashed in with the Mayweather fight. That match was entertaining and it paid McGregor more than any MMA fight would have, but it was also a farce and a monumental pivot from what he might have accomplished in MMA.
It’s wild to think: McGregor has been in the UFC since 2013, and one could argue he has competed in his most natural weight class only twice. His cut to featherweight was manageable but brutal. And he’s not even close to the average size of a welterweight. McGregor is a lightweight, and we’ve seen him compete there only in 2016, when he won the belt from Eddie Alvarez, and 2018, when he failed to regain it against Nurmagomedov.
Look, we know who McGregor is as a celebrity and a public figure. He has had an obvious impact on the entire combat sports industry, as well as on the sports media industry as a whole. And we know a lot about him as a fighter, too. We know he’s supremely talented. We know he was the UFC’s first “champ-champ.” We know he’s good — great even.
But we don’t know how truly great he is. That’s the part that’s left to be defined. Had he never deviated into the world of a “Money Fight” with Mayweather and more or less disappeared from competition after, what might he have done? Defended the lightweight championship multiple times? Challenged for a third belt? Might he even have beaten Nurmagomedov under different circumstances, if he’d maintained all the momentum of 2016?
I truly, truly hope we’re about to find out. McGregor has repeatedly said he’s committed to this 155-pound frame, and he’s looking to be active in 2021. We know McGregor is an amazing fighter. I want to find out this year exactly how amazing he can be.
By the numbers
6: Knockouts at lightweight for Poirier, tying him for third most in division history, one behind Melvin Guillard and Edson Barboza.
91: Percentage of McGregor victories that he has ended with finishes (19 knockouts and one submission in 22 wins).
1.95: Knockdowns per 15 minutes in the cage for McGregor, the eighth-highest rate in UFC history.
6.45: Significant strikes landed per minute in the Octagon by Poirier, the third most in UFC lightweight history, behind only Justin Gaethje’s 7.46 and TJ Grant’s 6.83.
8: Pay-per-view events headlined by McGregor since 2015, including this one. Only Daniel Cormier (9) has done it more. This will be the fourth McGregor PPV main event that’s a nontitle fight, the most of anyone in the past 10 years.
Sources: ESPN Stats & Information and UFC Stats
A look back
Since then …
Five vs. five
Dustin Poirier’s most recent results Win: Dan Hooker (UD, June 27, 2020; watch on ESPN+) Loss: Khabib Nurmagomedov (Sub3, Sept. 7, 2019; watch on ESPN+) Win: Max Holloway (UD, April 13, 2019; watch on ESPN+) Win: Eddie Alvarez (TKO2, July 28, 2018) Win: Justin Gaethje (TKO4, April 14, 2018)
Conor McGregor’s most recent results Win: Donald Cerrone (TKO1, Jan. 18, 2020; watch on ESPN+) Loss: Khabib Nurmagomedov (Sub4, Oct. 6, 2018; watch on ESPN+) Win: Eddie Alvarez (TKO2, Nov. 12, 2016; watch on ESPN+) Win: Nate Diaz (MD, Aug. 20, 2016; watch on ESPN+) Loss: Nate Diaz (Sub2, March 5, 2016; watch on ESPN+)
Dom & Gil’s film study
Dominick Cruz on why Poirier-McGregor 1 went the way it did:
play
1:04
On Unlocking Victory, Dominick Cruz breaks down how Conor McGregor set up his knockout win vs. Dustin Poirier in 2014.
Gilbert Melendez on how Poirier-McGregor 2 can go differently:
play
1:03
On Unlocking Victory, Gilbert Melendez displays how Dustin Poirier can avoid Conor McGregor’s counter left hand.
And the winner is …
“I think Poirier is gonna try to fight smart and win a mixed martial arts bout, not make it a standup battle or a grappling battle,” says UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. “Conor has been looking super impressive as far as his athleticism goes. It looks like he’s taking it really seriously. I’m leaning on the side of Conor again.”
Faber is one of several fighters and coaches who have weighed in with analysis and predictions. See what they had to say here.
Taking a deeper dive into a breakdown of the fight is ESPN MMA analyst Gilbert Melendez, the two-time Strikeforce lightweight champion and a former WEC lightweight champ. His starting point: that this is a rematch.
“McGregor got the best of Poirier years ago,” Melendez writes, “and no matter what, that will weigh heavily on the mindset of both fighters.”
How to watch the fights
Watch the prelims on ESPN or ESPN+: Download the ESPN App | WatchESPN | TV
Don’t have ESPN?Get instant access.
Don’t have ESPN+ for the prelims and PPV? Get it here.
Purchased the fight on your phone and want to stream on your TV? Find out how here.
There’s also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday’s fight card
PPV (via ESPN+), 10 p.m. ET Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor | Lightweight Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler | Lightweight Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Calderwood | Women’s flyweight Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov | Middleweight Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas | Strawweight ESPN/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET Matt Frevola vs. Arman Tsarukyan | Lightweight Brad Tavares vs. Antonio Carlos Junior | Middleweight Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann | Women’s bantamweight Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Marcin Prachnio | Light heavyweight ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET Movsar Evloev vs. Nik Lentz | Catchweight (150 pounds) Amir Albazi vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov | Men’s flyweight
Co-main event raises the curtain on a champion
Michael Chandler, the former Bellator lightweight champion, makes his Octagon debut in the UFC 257 co-main event, facing Dan Hooker, who is No. 6 in the ESPN lightweight rankings. Chandler is No. 7.
Chandler will be the ninth former Bellator champ to move on to the UFC, with the previous eight going 5-3 in their debuts. Those who won: Alexander Volkov, Lyman Good, Ben Askren, Will Brooks and Zach Makovsky. Those who lost: Hector Lombard, Eddie Alvarez and Joe Soto.
Alvarez is the only former Bellator champion to go on to win a UFC title.
A couple of notable numbers — or, why the judges maybe need not even bother to take their seats at cageside: Chandler has had finishes in 76% of his career fights (nine knockouts and seven submissions in 21 wins), and Hooker’s finish rate is 85% (10 knockouts and seven submissions in 20 career wins).
Two more things to know (from ESPN Stats & Information)
1. Joanne Calderwood, who faces 2019 title challenger Jessica Eye, has landed 444 significant strikes in her UFC career, the third most in women’s flyweight history. Calderwood is No. 5 in the ESPN rankings for the 125-pound division.
2. Opening the main card is a matchup between top Brazilian strawweights Marina Rodriguez, who is No. 8 in the ESPN rankings at 115 pounds, and Amanda Ribas, who is 4-0 in the Octagon. Rodriguez is coming off her first career defeat, a split-decision loss to former champ Carla Esparza in July. Ribas has finishes in seven of her 10 career wins (four submissions, three knockouts).
ESPN’s Jeff Wagenheim contributed to this fight preview.
As Friday night’s game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers wore on, Ben Simmons was nowhere to be seen. Through three quarters, Simmons had eight assists but only four points on just three shots, and he appeared well on his way to a fifth straight game with single-digit shot attempts in a continuation of what has been a quiet start to this season.
But then, as Boston cut Philadelphia’s lead to four midway through the fourth quarter, and threatened to potentially steal the second half of this two-game series between these rivals, Simmons burst onto the scene.
He fought on the offensive glass to score off his own miss. He stormed down the lane for an and-1 bucket. He picked off a pass in the open court, one he took the other way for a dunk — and that was immediately followed by a timeout from Celtics coach Brad Stevens.
In the span of 36 seconds, the game went from being a toss-up to one that was clearly going to end with a Sixers victory. That stretch, the key segment in Philadelphia’s 122-110 victory, was a reminder of just how impactful Simmons can be — and that those types of moments haven’t come along all that often to start this season.
“It’s been good,” Simmons said after finishing with 15 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — and 11 assists, when asked how he has felt about this season, and if he has heard the criticisms of his start to it. “It’s a new season. I’m just focusing on winning, and doing what I can to win with this team. I think it’s been good.
“I don’t go on Instagram, I don’t go on Twitter, so I can’t really answer the questions in terms of what people are saying, because I don’t give a f—, honestly. But unless [head coach] Doc [Rivers] is saying something, or [assistant coach] Sam [Cassell], or people are coming to me, it’s a different story.
“But I’m trying to win games, and that’s why we’re all here, to win.”
It’s been a strange start to the season for the Sixers. They have the Eastern Conference’s best record, at 11-5, but feasted on a soft schedule early before the past two weeks have been consumed by first the Sixers having several players missing due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, followed by them playing four games against Miami Heat and Celtics squads that were depleted for the same reason.
Joel Embiid has arguably been the NBA’s MVP through the first month of the season, and he followed up his 42-point performance Wednesday with a 38-point outburst Friday night, one punctuated by his taking another shot at the Celtics’ Marcus Smart for being frustrated by his foul drawing in Wednesday night’s game.
“I knew coming into the game, after they complained, I knew the officiating was going to be, you know, a little tight for us, and I guess better for them,” Embiid said after getting 15 free throws Friday night, compared to 21 in Wednesday’s win.
play
0:31
Ben Simmons anticipates the pass to get the steal, then hurries down the court to flush a two-handed dunk.
Tobias Harris, meanwhile, has looked again like the player he was when playing for Rivers with the LA Clippers — the one the Sixers paid a hefty price to trade for two years ago, and then paid $180 million over five years to retain as a free agent. Harris shot 10-for-12 and scored 23 points Friday, after scoring 22 points Wednesday. And the moves the Sixers have made to better balance the roster, swapping Al Horford and Josh Richardson for Danny Green and Seth Curry, respectively, have worked out as well as they could’ve hoped.
But for this team to be the championship contender it aspires to be, the Sixers need the version of Simmons that took over for that 36-second stretch in the fourth quarter — a version that those watching the Sixers have been waiting to see emerge more often than it has.
Much has been made of Simmons’ shooting — or lack thereof — from 3-point range. But what stood out about the plays he made in the fourth quarter was his aggression. In nine of his 14 games this season, Simmons hasn’t taken 10 shots, and his points per game, shots per game, field goal percentage and usage rate have all dipped this season.
Still, he said he’s quite happy with his role.
“Yeah, [I am],” he said. “It’s unique and different. There’s not too many guys who are able to do what I do. I’m getting to the rim, scoring, rebounding and facilitating, then defensively getting stops. There’s not too many players in the NBA who do that. It’s rare.
“So I’m going to continue to grow my game and get better for my team. But, ultimately, I just want to win. And however I need to do that, whether it’s getting 10 steals and no points, no rebounds and 50 assists, whatever it is, I’m going to do.”
No one would argue that Simmons’ skill set is a rare one. He’s listed at 6-foot-11 and 240 pounds, yet is often the fastest player, and best passer, on the court — not to mention being capable of guarding virtually anyone, as he did Friday in switching between the small and shifty Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown, one of the most athletic wing players in the league.
But it is precisely because he has so many skills at his disposal that causes so much attention to be drawn to his play when he doesn’t make the type of impact he did in the fourth quarter Friday night. Simmons’ quiet nights offensively this season have been noticed by opposing scouts, and have happened enough that it has been a regular topic of discussion that Rivers has had to address on several occasions this season — particularly as the potential of Simmons being the centerpiece of a James Harden trade hung over the franchise.
“He didn’t do it until the end of the game tonight, but he was already playing great,” Rivers said. “And that’s the point I’m trying to make to everybody. He’s doing so many things for this team. His winning formula is amazing in all the things. Last night, he got like no credit.
“He was so important to why we won that game with all the things he’s doing, the little cuts, the little back picks, the rolls and passes. Ben does a lot, and so he can’t focus on one thing. Like focusing him on just scoring, he’s too good for that to me. It would be a waste if that’s all we focused on for him.”
For the Sixers to get out of the Eastern Conference, though, they’re going to need it. The Celtics came up short in both games this week but were competitive with Jayson Tatum sitting out because of the health and safety protocols, and with Kemba Walker still playing on a minutes limit. The Milwaukee Bucks still have Giannis Antetokounmpo, the league’s two-time reigning MVP, along with All-Stars Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday. The Miami Heat have almost their entire team back from the group that won the East last year.
Oh, and then there’s that team up Interstate 95 in Brooklyn that happened to trade for Harden last week, and already had Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at its disposal.
Still, there’s plenty of time to gel for these Sixers, and there are reasons for optimism. Embiid and Simmons both talked Friday about their growing relationship on the court. The fact Harden has been traded, and the potential for him coming to Philadelphia has gone away, removes another distraction. And now that they finally have their full complement of players again, after getting Curry back Friday night, Embiid spoke after the game about the desire for the Sixers to go on a winning streak.
The chances of that happening, though, will only grow if Simmons can string together a series of games full of stretches like that 36-second span that cemented the outcome of Friday’s game.
“I love playing with him,” Embiid said. “That fourth quarter starts on the defensive end, and he was a monster. He got a lot of steals, and then in the half court off the pick and roll he was attacking, he was aggressive and he made plays, he scored a couple baskets.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Southwest Airlines has announced the destinations they will be flying to out of Santa Barbara Airport, including several daily flights to Las Vegas.
Southwest will begin service out of SBA on April 12, 2021. The initial schedule includes three daily departures to Las Vegas, one daily flight to Denver and one daily flight to Oakland.
“Obviously all strong markets in their own right, but they’re also major connecting points within the Southwest network,” said airport spokeswoman Deanna Zachrisson, who says Santa Barbara passengers will now have access to 50 other Southwest destinations via the new connections.
“We know we’ve been an attractive market for Southwest, but it took the shake-up of the industry as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide the impetus to enter the market,” said Airport Director Henry Thompson in a statement. “Whatever the reason, it’s our region that stands to benefit.”
Southwest’s network and notoriety for low fares and no baggage fees make it a popular airline.
“They just have such a large, loyal customer base,” Zachrisson said. “And that’s one of the reasons why we pursued them for so long.”
The airport staff and other local organizations have courted the airline for at least five years.
Tourism group Visit Santa Barbara has been actively involved in those conversations. The organization is now committing $250,000 to support the new flights, including marketing campaigns to attract visitors in each of the new Southwest destination cities.
Once leisure travel is deemed safe once again, the new airlines could help galvanize a significant rebound for Santa Barbara’s hospitality industry and broader economy overall.
“Obviously this is important for our very critical tourism industry, for meetings and conferences industry, for weddings,” said Kathy Janega-Dykes, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara. “The easier it is for people to get here, the more likely they are to consider a visit, and become, certainly, a repeat visitor.
“We also know that air passengers stay in the region longer than those that arrive by car or train. They also tend to spend more money in our community… And the pandemic has certainly illuminated how essential tourism is to our local community.”
Southwest flies with Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 aircraft for all its destinations and will do so out of Santa Barbara as well.
The new flights are currently bookable on Southwest’s website. Introductory fares start as low as $39 one way to Las Vegas.