YouTube/NBA
Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Monday:
The College Football Playoff got shaken up by a controversial first down. It looks like the Ohio State Buckeyes secured one of the four playoff spots - despite not being Big Ten champions - by beating Michigan in double-overtime. The win was not without controversy as the Buckeyes were able to convert a fourth-and-one play in the second overtime when quarterback J.T. Barrett ran into the backside of a teammate, seemingly right at the first-down line. They then scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play. But did Barrett gain the first down? To many it seems obvious that he did. To others it is obvious he did not (read more here).
The Ravens committed a lot of fouls on purpose to win a game and it worked. The Ravens led the Bengals by seven points with 11 seconds to go and were facing a fourth down. Rather than punt the ball away, the Ravens decided to run out the final 11 seconds by having their punter run out the time in the end zone and then take a safety. But 11 seconds is a lot of time, so the Ravens helped their punter by having all of the blockers grab and hold the defenders on purpose, creating a comical wrestling-like scene. Plenty of flags were thrown, but the clock did run out, and there is no additional play when the penalties are committed by the offense. It worked (read more here).
The Chiefs forced overtime thanks to a controversial replay review and then clanked the game-winner. Kansas City managed to force overtime when a last-second play that was initially ruled short of the end zone was reviewed. The replay showed that Tyreke Hill's knee was down before the ball broke the plane of the end zone. But the ball was not fully secured until Hill was in the end zone and the call was overturned. The Chiefs then converted the two-point conversion to get into OT. Then, on the final play of overtime, they made a field goal that clanked off the upright and somehow went through for the game-winner.
The LeBron James-heads-up-put-back bonus. When LeBron is on the court, you have to have your head on a swivel at all times. Notice that LeBron is a full step inside the lane before the ball even hits the rim. The 76ers never had a chance.