The Los Angeles Chargers clinched a playoff berth in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season, beating the New England Patriots 40-7 on Saturday.

The Kansas City Chiefs have already won the AFC West, so the Chargers will make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. 

The Chargers started out red-hot, going up 17-0 before the Patriots finally responded.

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Quarterback Justin Herbert hit wide receiver Derius Davis with a strike, connecting with him for a 23-yard touchdown. On their ensuing offensive possession, kicker Cameron Dicker hit a 27-yard field goal to put the Chargers up 10-0.

Following the field goal, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye couldn’t convert the pitch to the running back, and the fumble was recovered by safety Derwin James Jr. to give the Chargers good field position at midfield. 

Herbert capitalized on the good field position and hit rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey for a six-yard touchdown to go up 17-0.

While the Chargers took a commanding lead, Maye left the sidelines temporarily in the first quarter to be checked for a concussion.

The Patriots rookie quarterback was scrambling, trying to convert a third-and-four along the sideline when Chargers defensive back Cam Hart hit Maye up high, where there was helmet-to-helmet contact. 

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Maye fumbled the ball upon being hit, but the Patriots recovered it.

After the hit, Maye stayed down for a moment before eventually getting up. 

He was initially evaluated in the blue medical tent, and then was taken to the locker room, where he was then cleared to return to play. 

The lone Patriots highlight of the game came when Maye got the Chargers to jump offside, then with pressure in his face, threw a 36-yard dime to wide receiver Demario Douglas for a touchdown.

The touchdown cut the Chargers' lead to 17-7, but those would be the only points the Patriots would score all day.

Herbert led the Chargers' offense down and gave Dicker a chance for a field goal before halftime. 

Dicker was good from 38 yards out, and the Chargers took a 20-7 halftime lead. 

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The Chargers kept their foot on the gas, coming out of the second half. 

The Patriots got the ball first coming out of the half but went three and out.

Then Herbert led a 10-play, 94-yard scoring drive, capped off by a Ladd McConkey 40-yard touchdown catch, to put the Chargers up 27-7, and effectively sealed the game in the third quarter.

Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins scored a touchdown in his return from injury in the fourth quarter.

Herbert was sensational in the win, completing 26-38 passing attempts for 284 yards and three touchdowns. The quarterback was pulled with over ten minutes left in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. 

McConkey passed Keenan Allen for the most catches for a rookie in a season in Chargers history, with eight receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns. 

This was the first time the Chargers scored 40 points in a game since 2021.

Maye was 12 of 22, with 117 yards and one touchdown, with six carries for 32 yards in the loss. 

The last time the Chargers were in the playoffs was the 2022-2023 season, when they had one of the biggest collapses in NFL history when they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-30 after leading 27-0 at one point. 

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Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has said Arne Slot's side have the "quality to achieve something special" this season.

Four players from the River Plate women's team who were arrested for an alleged racial slur during a match have been released, the Sao Paulo state's prison administration secretariat said.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his team's shocking run of results has helped him realise how good they have been over recent years.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has heaped praise on his "very special" teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly, insisting the youngster can go the very top.

We’re staring at a few more years of straight-up Fredo-ville in New York, where the clear capital of football sits on the banks of Lake Erie.

The Chargers clinched a wild card place in John Harbaugh’s first season in charge.

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Shohei Ohtani's 2024 is ending on a high note, which is pretty impressive, considering how amazing a year it's been.

This year marked the first of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar's ten-year, $700 million deal (where 98% of it is deferred), and he is living up to it.

Ohtani, who didn't pitch due to recovering from elbow surgery, became the first person to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, en route to winning his third MVP Award in the last four seasons.

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Personally, he underwhelmed in the postseason, but his Dodgers did defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Now, with just days left in the year, Ohtani announced that he is set to become a father.

Ohtani posted a photo on Instagram of his now famous dog, Decoy, lying beside a onesie and shoes, along with a sonogram. The gender of the baby was not revealed, as the onsite was pink and the shoes were blue, but Ohtani did appear to use a boy emoji to cover up the sonogram photo.

"Can't wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!" Ohtani captioned the post.

Back in February, Ohtani revealed that he was married to a "normal Japanese woman" named Mamiko, but he did not reveal when that occurred.

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"I felt like it was good timing because it was before the season," he added. "I didn’t really want any distractions once the season started. I would have liked to announce it earlier, but there were some paperwork issues that (delayed) the whole process."

There are reports that AL MVP Aaron Judge and his wife will also soon welcome their first child.

Ohtani's 134 runs scored and 411 total bases were the most in the majors, and he led the National League in home runs (54), RBIs (130), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (646) and a 9.2 bWAR. 

His .310 average in the NL was second behind only Luis Arráez's .314, and his 59 stolen bases trailed only Elly De La Cruz, who swiped five more bags.

Ohtani won the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a member of the crosstown Angels while finishing second to Judge in 2022. He is one of just 12 players to be named an MVP three times.

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Mavericks forwards Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington and Suns center Jusuf Nurkic have been suspended without pay for their roles in an altercation during Dallas' win Friday night.

Washington State is set to hire South Dakota State's Jimmy Rogers to be its next head coach, with a deal expected to be finalized soon, sources told ESPN.

The Chargers proved they're ready for the postseason, while the Patriots take aim at a high draft pick.

Torres said his focus moved beyond the Yankees immediately after the World Series when he began hearing from other teams.

Three NBA players have been suspended after a fight broke out on Friday night between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks.

Mavs forward Naji Marshall was hit with a four-game fan, while Jusuf Nurkic of Phoenix will miss the next three games for coming to blows on the court.

PJ Washington of Dallas will also serve a one-game suspension for escalating the situation.

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Nurkic was called for an offensive foul while being guarded by Daniel Gafford with 9:02 left in the third quarter before the altercation quickly escalated. 

Nurkic confronted Marshall before taking an open-handed swing at his head; Marshall responded with a punch, and Washington quickly shoved Nurkic to the ground before the teams were separated.

The referees reviewed the play before deciding that all three players would be ejected.

"Just protecting each other — that’s what that was," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. "Emotions can get high, so our guys protect one another. We talk about it, and it was displayed tonight."

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"I think that level of altercation is not good for our team, it's not good for anybody individually, it's not good for our league," Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I don't know all the details of what got it to that point."

Kyrie Irving joked that the fight could "help our ratings." The NBA has seen a decrease in viewership in the first couple months of the season.

The ejections didn't help Dallas, as they were already without star Luka Dončić, who suffered a calf strain on Christmas Day and will miss a month of action. However, they were still able to come away with a 98-89 victory on the road.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Luka Doncic has been added to the growing list of professional athletes who recently have been burglary victims at their homes.

Crystal Mangum came clean two weeks ago from the prison in which she’s confined for 14-18 years for second-degree murder of a boyfriend.

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