We’ve got both 1-seeds in action today! The Chiefs and Lions started the season as Super Bowl favorites, and they look to continue their journey today! The Commanders and Texans stand in the way of that! Yesterday we had a GOALIE GOAL, the Roki Sasaki decision, and Jimmy Butler's return from suspension! Happy Saturday everybody!

The Rundown:

🏈 A look at the two Divisional Round Matchups Today!

🏒 A Goalie GOALLLLLLLL!

🏈 Olamide Zaccheaus. Glue. Guy.

⚾️ Roki Sasaki signs with the Dodgers!

Today’s Trivia🧠

On This Day…

🏀 THE BIRDMAN!

On this day in 1998, Larry Bird returned to Boston as the Head Coach of the Indiana Pacers. This was on the same day as former Boston center Robert Parish was getting his No. 00 raised into the rafters!

Today’s Stump Story…

🏈 Both #1 Seeds Are In Action! What are the odds of a double STUMPSET?!

Today the Divisional Round kicks off in the NFL. Some call this the greatest weekend of the NFL season. We’re down to 8 teams, 4 games, in 2 days.

We’ve got a jam-packed Divisional Round weekend. We kick it off today with both #1 seeds in action. The first game kicks off at 4:30 PM at Arrowhead! The Texans head to play Kansas City as 8-point underdogs. The Texans showed some serious fight last week in a game where nobody was giving them a chance. No Diggs, no Tank Dell, no problem. The defense went absolutely nuclear and helped in the blowout.

They will no doubt need to replicate that if they want a chance to dethrone the back-to-back champs. The Chiefs look to defend the supremacy in their first playoff game of the season. They were able to find a way to win all year, let’s see if they are able to do it today.

The nightcap is one that really excites me. The team that suddenly has all of the expectations vs the team that has nothing to lose. We’ve got the Lions hosting the Commanders. A team with a young QB who doesn’t know any better is a dangerous team, and that’s exactly what the Commanders are. The Lions are coming into this game bruised and battered, but they are the definitive best team in the NFC.

The Commanders have won their last 5 games in a row, all on the very last play of the game. They are on an insane run right now and are looking to shock the world.

If you asked me who I want to win today, I’d say the Houston Texans and the Washington Commanders.

But you can’t always get what you want. So if you asked me analytically think with my brain and give you my two picks…

I’d say the HOUSTON TEXANS and the WASHINGTON COMMANDERS!

Let’s go turn the NFL world on its head!

Quick Hitters

🏒 Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic ended his 40-save night with an end-to-end goal that brought the house down! He became the first goalie in NHL history to record both a goal and an assist in the same game. An absolute must-see moment (RIGHT HERE) that ended with him jumping into his bench amidst the excitement. What a moment for Big Alex!

⚾️ Japanese star Roki Sasaki has announced that he will be signing with the LA Dodgers. The rich get richer! The star right-hander took to Instagram to announce his decision. The Padres and Blue Jays were reportedly the other two finalists in the conversation. It will be interesting to see the 23-year-old’s role this year with the team!

Other News:

• 🏈 Detroit with some Uniform drama ahead of their postseason start!

• 🎾 The latest on the AUSSIE OPEN!

• 🏀 Butler back from suspension against Nuggets

Top Performers:

• 🏀 Anthony Edwards (MIN): 36 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, W

• 🏀 Nikola Vucevic (CHI): 40 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists

• 🏒 Alex Nedeljkovic (PIT): GOALIE…1 goal, 1 assist

• 🏀 Giannis (MIL): 35 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists

Stump Favorites

🏒 A GOALIE GOAL! I REPEAT… A GOALIE GOAL!

🏀 Jokic doing Jokic things! Nuts!

🏀 Friday’s top stars!

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NFL Divisional Round: Texans @ Chiefs (4:30 PM ET), Commanders @ Lions (8:00 PM ET)

🏀 NBA: Hawks @ Celtics (7:00 PM ET), Cavs @ T’Wolves (9:00 PM ET), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: (14) Oklahoma St @ UFC (4:00 PM ET), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (4) Alabama @ (8) Kentucky (12:00 PM ET), Creighton @ (14) UConn (12:00 PM ET), (1) Auburn @ (23) Georgia (1:00 PM ET), (17) Purdue @ (13) Oregon (3:00 PM ET), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Stars @ Avalanche (4:00 PM ET), Blue Jackets @ Rangers (7:00 PM ET), Oilers @ Canucks (10:00 PM ET), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: EPL: Newcastle vs AFC Bournemouth (7:30 AM ET), Arsenal vs Aston Villa (12:30 PM ET), full schedule

Who wins em?!

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily sports news in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all…

Trees get chopped. Stumps hold strong 💪