US sports compact: The last play-off ticket goes to the Packers

The Green Bay Packers secured their playoff ticket at the last minute in their first NFL season after star quarterback Aaron Rodgers said goodbye. With a 17:9 win against the Chicago Bears led by the German-American Equanimeous St. Brown, the only open starting spot went to the franchise from Wisconsin. The Packers, St. Brown's first team in the US professional football league, face the Dallas Cowboys on wildcard weekend.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had previously made their play-off ticket clear on the last day of the main round in the National Football League. Thanks to the 9-0 win against the Carolina Panthers, quarterback legend Tom Brady's former team also won the NFC South. Bucs kicker Conor McLaughlin was largely responsible for the win, converting all three attempts.

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had already secured the playoff spot with the Detroit Lions before the game, scored his tenth touchdown of the season in a 30:20 win against the Minnesota Vikings – and how: after a pass from the quarterback He caught Jared Goff for 70 yards, the longest reception of his career. In total, St. Brown caught seven passes for 144 yards.

His teammate Sam LaPorta set an NFL record for a rookie tight end with his 82nd pass catch in the first quarter, which was also a touchdown. The Vikings missed the postseason due to the loss. Detroit will face the Los Angeles Rams in the championship round next Sunday.

This was also the case for the Jacksonville Jaguars with their 20:28 defeat at the Tennessee Titans. The team around quarterback Trevor Lawrence also missed out on the division title in the AFC South. The Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers can look forward to this, as they got the wildcard ticket thanks to the Jaguars' defeat. The Bills beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday evening, so Buffalo and Pittsburgh now meet.

In the meaningless and probably last game under successful coach Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots lost 3:17 to the New York Jets. After 23 years and six Super Bowl triumphs, the 71-year-old will probably leave the Patriots after a disappointing season with just four wins and 13 losses.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers were added in the early Sunday games, then the Packers followed suit.

Just hours after the main round final, the first coach in the National Football League (NFL) was caught. Arthur Smith has to leave the Atlanta Falcons; in the three seasons with the head coach there was no play-off participation and no positive season results.

Atlanta lost 17:48 to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and lost 0:31 in the second half. Under Smith (41), the Falcons finished each season with seven wins and ten losses.

“Decisions like this are never easy and they never feel good,” said club owner Arthur M. Blank. Although Smith “contributed to building a good culture on our football team,” the results did not meet the franchise’s expectations.

Thanks also to runner-up Moritz Seider, the Detroit Red Wings have maintained their sparkling clean record in the NHL professional league in the new year. In the 3-2 win at the Anaheim Ducks, the German national ice hockey player scored the winning goal late with a remarkable pass; for the team from the Motor City it was the third win in the third game in 2024.

Seider served Michael Rasmussen with a sharp pass in front of the goal 67 seconds before the end, and the puck bounced off the Canadian center's skate over the line. Since, in the opinion of the referees, there was no active movement towards the target, the hit counted. For defender Seider from Zell/Mosel it was the 18th assist of the season.

Detroit is 10th in the East after its 20th win in its 40th game. Two points are missing from a wildcard spot for the play-offs.

National ice hockey player Lukas Reichel achieved a rare sense of success with the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL. After five defeats in a row, the team from the “Windy City” won 4:3 (1:1, 2:1, 1:1) against the Calgary Flames, it was only their twelfth victory in their 40th game of the season. The 21-year-old Reichel did not contribute to the goal.

As expected, Chicago, as second-to-last in the Western Conference, has nothing to do with the play-offs. And now the main attraction, Connor Bedard, is missing. The exceptional Canadian talent will be out for a long time due to a broken jaw. The 18-year-old striker suffered the injury on Saturday in the 2-4 defeat against the New Jersey Devils.