Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday 1/4/21
4 January 2021 Sports
Sports for January 4th
Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns, breaking his franchise record for scoring passes in a season, and the Green Bay Packers clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC by beating the playoff-bound Chicago Bears 35-16 on Sunday. The Packers (13-3) earned a bye while winning their sixth in a row and beat Chicago (8-8) for the 19th time in 22 games, counting the postseason. The Bears are headed to the playoffs for the second time in coach Matt Nagy’s three years despite the loss because Arizona fell to the Los Angeles Rams. Chicago will be at New Orleans (12-4). Rodgers joined Peyton Manning (2004 and 2013) as the only players to throw for at least 45 touchdowns in multiple seasons. He now has 48, surpassing his previous high of 45 in his first MVP season of 2011.
Rodgers completed 19 of 24 passes for 240 yards without an interception and had a 147.9 rating. He also improved to 21-5 against Chicago, counting the postseason. Davante Adams broke Sterling Sharpe’s record for receptions in a season and tied his mark for touchdown catches in a year. Adams had six receptions to bump his total to 115 and surpass Sharpe’s mark of 112 in 1993. His 6-yard score late in the game gave him 18 TD’s, matching Sharpe’s team record in 1994. Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught a 73-yard touchdown. Aaron Jones ran for a score in the closing minutes. And the Packers beat Chicago again after pounding the Bears at Lambeau Field to start their win streak.
The Bears jumped back into contention by winning three straight against struggling teams after dropping six in a row. But against Green Bay, the result was a familiar one.
Mitchell Trubisky went 33 for 42 with 252 yards and an interception. Rookie Darnell Mooney set career highs with 11 catches and 93 yards before leaving early in the fourth period with an ankle injury. He was hurt when he was tackled going out of bounds after a catch. David Montgomery ran for 69 yards and a touchdown and caught nine passes for 63 yards. Cairo Santos made all three field goals, extending his streak to a franchise-record 27. The Packers were leading by five early in the fourth quarter when the Bears opted to go on fourth-and-1 at the 25 rather than kick a field goal. Trubisky’s pass to Allen Robinson got broken up. Green Bay then went 76 yards, with Jones scoring from the 4 to make it 28-16 with 3:47 remaining. Adrian Amos then intercepted Trubisky at midfield and returned it to the Chicago 26, leading to a 6-yard touchdown catch for Adams.
On the injury side, the Packers had nothing to report. Bears LB Roquan Smith (elbow) was hurt defending a run late in the first quarter and headed to the locker room.
The Packers are off this weekend.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, Minnesota hung on for a 37-35 win at Detroit over the Lions. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 28 of 40 passes for 405 yards and three touchdowns and Alexander Mattison gained 95 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown as Minnesota closed out the season at 7-9. Josh Jefferson led the Vikings receivers with nine catches for 133 yards. Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford was 20 of 31 for 293 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Marvin Jones caught eight passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns while Adrian Peterson gained 63 yards on seven carries and a touchdown while D’Andre Swift gained 54 yards on 12 carries and also scored a touchdown. Detroit finished the year at 5-11.
Last night Washington gained a playoff spot by beating the Eagles in Philadelphia 20-14.
The NFL released the schedule for the Super Wild Card Weekend
Saturday, Jan. 9
- AFC No. 7 seed Indianapolis Colts at AFC No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills, 1:05 p.m. ET (CBS)
- NFC No. 6 seed Los Angeles Rams at NFC No. 3 seed Seattle Seahawks, 4:40 p.m. ET (FOX)
- NFC No. 5 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NFC No. 4 seed Washington Football Team, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday, Jan. 10
- AFC No. 5 seed Baltimore Ravens at AFC No. 4 seed Tennessee Titans, 1:05 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN)
- NFC No. 7 seed Chicago Bears at NFC No. 2 seed New Orleans Saints, 4:40 p.m. ET (CBS, Nick, Amazon Prime Video)
- AFC No. 6 seed Cleveland Browns at AFC No. 3 seed Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC, Telemundo, Peacock)
The Divisional Playoffs schedule will be announced once all wild card games have been played.
The Packers would like to keep inviting frontline workers to Lambeau Field for playoff games, according to President and CEO Mark Murphy. In his monthly ‘Murphy Takes Five’ article on the Packers’ website, Murphy was asked about extending the ticket invites to retail workers, food workers, and those who’ve lost businesses during the pandemic.
“We’ve really been pleased to be able to honor our front-line workers (healthcare, police and fire department employees) by inviting them to attend our last two home games,” Murphy wrote in the Q & A column. “We would like to continue to have invited guests for home playoff games (and the groups that you both mention are providing important services), but I worry about where we would draw the line if we go beyond front-line workers. As a result, we would like to continue to invite front-line workers, and possibly include front-line workers from beyond the Green Bay area.”
The team has not officially announced any plans for allowing fans to attend playoff games at Lambeau.
In the NBA the Bucks (3-3) are back in action hosting the Pistons (1-5).
In men’s college basketball Sunday the Badgers game at Penn State was postponed because of health and safety concerns. The game will be rescheduled. Wisconsin (9-2) hosts Indiana (6-4) on Thursday night at the Kohl Center.
Jamal Cain had a career-high 23 points as Marquette edged past Georgetown 64-60 on Saturday night. Dawson Garcia had 11 points and 14 rebounds for Marquette (6-5, 2-3 Big East Conference). Justin Lewis added 10 points. Marquette totaled 20 points in the first half, a season low for the team. Jahvon Blair had 20 points for the Hoyas (3-6, 1-4). Qudus Wahab added 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Dante Harris had seven rebounds.
Girls Basketball (Mon.)
Ripon at Lomira
Waupun at Columbus
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