A couple of blowouts and then a great Sunday finale with one of the best rookie QBs we’ve seen in a long time. Is that crazy to say??? Jayden Daniels just went on the road and won a playoff game, and Washington got their first playoff win in almost 7,000 days! We’ll talk Daniels, a great story out of Green Bay, and one of the biggest College Basketball comebacks you’ll see all year. Oh, and early contention for song of the month!

The Rundown:

🏈 Wild Card Sunday in Review

🏈 The Story of Packers LB Zack Baum

🎤 One of the best Bruce Springsteen songs there is!

🏀 Pittsburgh Women’s Basketball with an EPIC Comeback

Today’s Trivia🧠

The results of the post will be revealed tomorrow!

On This Day…

🗑️ On this day in 2020, the Houston Astros fired manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow after MLB announced a one-year suspension for their roles in the sign-stealing scandal.

Remember this one? The baseball world pretty much exploded as social media took to discrediting the Astros and their recent success. Trash cans were being banged all across America to represent the sign-stealing operation.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏈 Zack Baum: What a Difference a Year Makes

We could talk about all the games from yesterday, but like we always say: “When they zig, we zag.”

Coming out of the University of Wisconsin, Eagles LB Zack Baun was just looking for somewhere to call home. Baun was a Dick Butkus Award finalist his senior year, an award that recognizes the best linebacker in the country, and he was a captain and leader for the Badgers. He was selected in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, a new home! Baun saw extremely limited playing time, almost exclusively seeing game action in a special teams role, never really seeing the field on defense.

Baun was seen as an outside linebacker in the Saints defense, a guy who could rush the passer and get after the QB. When his rookie contract expired at the conclusion of last season, Baun had very little playing tape to show other teams. It was the Eagles who came calling, but with an asterisk. They wanted Baun to change positions, move from outside linebacker to inside linebacker, be more focused on stopping the run, and use his athleticism to play the pass as well. It was all new for Zach, new home, new team, new position, new expectations.

Baun adjusted well, really well. He splashed onto the scene in the NFL’s first game of the year in Brazil. Baun had a career-high 15 tackles, and even added two sacks in the Eagles 34-29 win. That wasn’t enough for Baun. He had felt what it was like to sit and watch from the sidelines, so he was hungry. Baun posted 150 tackles in the regular season, the third-most in the whole league. In yesterday’s playoff game against the Packers, he shut the door on Green Bay’s season with a late-game interception.

What was even more cool about yesterday for Baun is that he's from Wisconsin. Ending Green Bay’s season probably had a lot of friends and family members feeling a little… weird. But Baun doesn’t care, he’s just happy to be in his position. He was named a first-team All-Pro this year for the first time. A guy who barely could see the field is now one of the best players at his position in the NFL.

It just goes to show what a change of scenery, position, or perspective can do for someone. One man’s rags are another man’s riches.

Quick Hitters

🏈 The NFL Playoffs first round is OVA. Yesterday, the day started off with an impressive performance from the Buffalo Bills in their win over the Denver Broncos, 31-7. A big second half helped the Bills go up big late and set the car to cruise for the last quarter. The Eagles and Packers kind of had a little bit of an ugly game, with both teams struggling heavily on the offensive side of the ball. In the end, it was the Eagles defense that came up huge. The late game was finally the game we all deserved. The Bucs and Commanders went after it all night long, and we even were treated to some serious Mike Evans and MarShon Lattimore scraps. Jayden Daniels became a RARE rookie QB to get a playoff road win after a Zane Gonzalez DOINK as time expired! Washington is heading to Detroit!

🏀 Down go the Cavs! I guess it was only a matter of time before this Cleveland team messed around and lost a basketball game. I mean, they had won 12 in a row. It was the Pacers second-half performance that stole the show. Down 12 at half, the Pacers came ROARING back to wipe away the Cavs lead and go up by 7 heading into the fourth. All of this was done without their star Tyrese Haliburton, who sat the second half with left hamstring tightness. The two face off again in two days in Indiana.

🤯 While we were all watching football, the University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball orchestrated one of the most INSANE comebacks in NCAA history. Down 32 points to SMU, Pitt was looking for answers all over the court. I’m not sure how or where they found said answers, but the did indeed find them. At one point in the game the score was 46-14 in favor of SMU, but from then on Pitt managed to outscore their opponent 58-13. Pitt started 0-10 shooting, and at one point were 2-20 from the field. Pitt didn’t allow a SINGLE POINT in the third quarter. NOT ONE! Pitt was down 31 going into half time and heading into the fourth quarter it was only a 3-point difference. Quick math. Not only did Pitt win, but they won by 13! So they didn’t just comeback to win, they came back to dominate. Awesome stuff coming out of college ball.

Other News:

• 🏀 Clippers and Lakers set to resume home games amid California fires

• ❓️ Khalil Mack considering retirement this offseason

• 🏒 Eric Stall’s jersey retired in Carolina

Top Performers:

• 🏈 Jayden Daniels (WAS): 268 pass yards, 2 TDS, 36 rush yards, W

• 🏈 James Cook (BUF): 120 rush yards, 1 TD

• 🏀 Jalen Brunson (NYK): 44 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds

• 🏀 Jayson Tatum (BOS): 38 points, 11 rebounds, W

Stump Favorites

🏈 Guy Didn’t Even BLINK! He’s SPECIAL!

🏀 Possible Finals Preview between the Jazz and the Nets?!?!

🏈 Curtis Samuel OUTTA NOWHERE!

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

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NFL Playoffs: Vikings @ Rams (8:00 PM on ESPN)

🏀 NBA: Grizzlies vs Knicks (7:30 PM), Grizzlies @ Rockets (8:00 PM on NBAtv), Spurs @ Lakers (10:30 PM on NBAtv), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: Vanderbilt @ (6) LSU (7:00 PM on SECN), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (22) UCLA @ Rutgers (6:30 PM on FS1), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Flames @ Blackhawks (7:30 PM on NHL Network), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: LALIGA: Real Sociedad vs Villarreal (3:00 PM on ESPN+), full schedule

D. The Cincinnati Bengals! Joe Cool and the Bengals defeated the Chiefs in the 2021 NFL AFC Conference Championship game. The Bengals went on to lose in the Super Bowl.

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 💪