The Philadelphia Eagles advanced to their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history after a dominant NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, who were hampered by injuries to Brock Purdy and backup Josh Johnson.
A big 31-7 victory was never really in doubt as the luckless 49ers dealt with yet more injury misfortune in the biggest game of their season.
Already without quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, surprise rookie star Purdy – the final pick in the 2022 draft – left the game at the end of the team's opening drive after a Haason Reddick strip sack saw his right elbow injured.
Johnson unconvincingly came in for Purdy, only to be ruled out after his head hit the ground and he was checked for a concussion. Purdy returned but was clearly limited, seemingly unable to throw the ball as the 49ers' season ended in frustrating fashion.
Miles Sanders had wandered straight up the middle for the opening touchdown, but the 49ers then kept the Eagles in check following Purdy's injury and levelled the game via a remarkable 23-yard Christian McCaffrey TD as he ran through a series of tackles.
The contrast of those two scores epitomised the game for these two teams, however, and Sanders again found a gap to restore the Eagles' lead.
Boston Scott ran in another and, with Purdy repeatedly handing the ball off to a stifled 49er rushing offense, Jalen Hurts also forced his way into the endzone to build an unassailable lead.
Early chaos benefits Eagles
No team scored more points on their opening offensive possessions in the regular season than the Eagles, but the drive that led to Sanders' early TD set in motion a manic first quarter. It included a 29-yard pass for a fourth down conversion that replays showed Devonta Smith appeared to drop. That was not spotted until after play resumed.
The 49ers had already seen Fred Warner take a trip to the blue tent, and Purdy's injury was not their last of the quarter as Nick Bosa was wiped out on the sideline. Meanwhile, Johnson came in for Purdy and was likewise promptly run over by the relentless Reddick.
An unforgettable quarter ended with the Eagles claiming – unsuccessfully – a punt had hit an overhead wire. The 49ers started the second quarter with the ball, their fourth-string QB and a 7-0 deficit.
Running to the Super Bowl
The 49ers paid the price both for their injuries and a sequence of understandably frustrated penalties, but there was also a complete mismatch in the run game.
While this should have been a close call between the Eagles' most successful run offense and the 49ers' second-most successful run defense, four TDs on the ground saw Philly set a single-season record across the regular season and postseason, improving to 39 rushing scores for the year.
Verstappen crashes as Leclerc takes Monaco pole
Charles Leclerc ensured pole position for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth place after crashing into a wall during qualifying.
Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri by 0.154 seconds for his third pole in the last four races in Monaco, where Ferrari have excelled on the narrow track layout, high kerbs and slow-speed corners.
Verstappen was seeking history by surpassing Ayrton Senna for an eighth successive pole in Qualifying, while maintaining his perfect record at the start of the season.
However, the runaway Drivers' Championship leader hit the wall at Sainte Devote on his final lap, and had to settle for sixth on a track where overtaking is regarded as the most difficult on the calendar.
Leclerc now hopes he and Ferrari can now convert their position at the head of the grid into victory, having failed to do so in each of the last two years.
"It was nice. The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here," he said. "[I am] really, really happy about the lap, the excitement is so high, but it feels really good.
"But now, I know more often than not, qualifying is not everything. As much as it counts, we need to put everything together on the Sunday. In past years, we did not manage to do it, but we are a stronger team now, and I am sure we can achieve the target."
His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third, though he faces an investigation for impeding Williams' Alex Albon in the first session, ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.
Lino: Final-day win at Sociedad a big boost for Atletico
Samuel Lino believes Atletico Madrid's final-day victory over Real Sociedad will provide them with a timely boost heading into next season.
Diego Simeone's side ran out 2-0 winners at Reale Arena in their final match of the 2023-24 campaign. Lino opened the scoring after just nine minutes, while Reinildo sealed the points in second-half stoppage time.
However, despite a fourth-place finish in LaLiga, it brought the curtain down on a third successive trophyless season for Atleti, who will finish at least 18 points adrift of champions Real Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos fell to Borussia Dortmund following a 5-4 aggregate defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals, while they were soundly beaten by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
But Lino, who had his fourth direct goal involvement in three appearances (one goal, three assists), thinks a hard-earned win against their sixth-place opponents - a fourth success in five games - will give him and his team-mates positive momentum to build on next season.
"It was an important victory to finish the season well," he told Movistar Plus. "We were good, focused, played a good game and that's what we wanted.
"Overall, we were not within the club's objectives, but we finished well, and now we have to switch off. A win away from home could help us to come back strong next season."
Real Sociedad 0-2 Atletico Madrid: Simeone's men end LaLiga campaign with three points
Atletico Madrid ended their LaLiga campaign with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday thanks to a first-half strike by Brazilian winger Samuel Lino and a stoppage-time Reinildo tap-in.
Atletico, who had already secured fourth place and a spot in next season's Champions League, finished the season on 76 points, 11 ahead of Athletic Bilbao in fifth.
Meanwhile, sixth-placed La Real have qualified for the Europa League.
Runaway champions Real Madrid are top of the standings on 94 points, 12 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona and 13 clear of Girona in third.
Atletico took the lead in the ninth minute after Marcos Llorente burst up the right wing and delivered a low cross to the far post for Lino, who netted with a tidy finish past Alex Remiro.
Remiro and Atletico's keeper Jan Oblak made several saves before Atletico were reduced to 10 men after Saul Niguez was shown a second yellow card in the 92nd minute.
In the last move of the match, Atletico secured the three points on a counter-attack led by Alvaro Morata, who delivered a perfectly placed cross for substitute Reinildo to tap into the empty net.
Data debrief
Diego Simeone's men ended the campaign with four wins in their last five league outings, and their performance was very much worth the three points against La Real.
Atletico accumulated 2.31 xG (expected goals) to the hosts' 0.59, scoring their 10th and 11th goals in their last six matches to end the season on a high.
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