A Monday right in between Christmas and New Year’s! Absolutely criminal! Hope everybody had an enjoyable weekend. We had an elite day of football yesterday that ended in a Daniels vs Penix instant classic! The stage is also set for next week’s showdown between the Lions and the Vikings, with the winner getting the NFC’s #1 SEED! Yesterday, we also saw Saquon eclipse 2,000 rush yards, and he has a chance to break the all-time record next week against the Giants! Absolute cinema! Buckle up, and let’s STUMP!

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

🏀 On this day in 2020, San Antonio Spurs assistance Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after head coach Greg Popovich is ejected mid way through the teams game against the LA Lakers.

Hammon has since moved on from the NBA to become the head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. She and the Vegas won the 2023 WNBA Championship.

Today’s Stump Story…

🏈 NFL Round Up: Week 17

Despite having a relatively smaller Sunday schedule, the NFL saw some big moments, crazy wins, and bad losses, let’s round up yesterday…

Barkley Eclipses 2k: Eagles running back Saquon Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. The accomplishment came early in the fourth quarter in the Eagles blowout win over the Cowboys, and it’s unlikely that Barkley will add to his number in Week 18. With the playoffs clinched and the Eagles sitting with a slim chance of getting the No. 1 seed, it’s possible that most, if not all, starters rest before their first round matchup. He is currently 101 yards away from breaking the single-season record held by Rams legend Eric Dickerson.

DANIELS MAGIC! AGAIN! What a way to end the Sunday slate last night with a matchup between two rookie QBs. We had front-runner for Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels, lead the Commanders against Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons. Penix showed flashes of how he could be the guy long-term in Atlanta, but Daniels showed FIREWORKS of why he is the guy of the future. After 4th down heroics by Penix to end the fourth, it was Daniels who got the ball in OT and that was all she wrote. Daniels drove right down the field and ended it with a second TD to TE Zach Ertz! Daniels eclipsed RG3’s rookie record of 820 rush yards for a rookie. He ran for 127 yards on the day! Sheesh! The Commanders clinched their playoff spot and it looks like they will be facing off against the Rams in the first round!

Giants Win! Hooray?: No team has ever lost 9 games in a year at home, the Giants entered yesterday one home loss away from changing that. Instead, Giants QB Drew Lock came out of the gates scalding hot and never cooled down. The Giants played spoiler to the Colts, ending their playoff chances. But a dark cloud hangs over this win, a very dark cloud. The Giants lost the number one overall pick and fell all the way to fourth behind the Patriots, Browns, and Titans. Now, two QB-needy teams sit in front of them, with a big fall off in talent behind the top two QB prospects of Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Sheduer Sanders. The order could obviously still change, but was yesterday’s win worth it for New York?

Brock Bowers Breaks 2 Records: In what is somewhat a lost season for the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s no doubt that they hit on their rookie TE Brock Bowers. He’s been the best player on the roster this year not named Maxx Crosby, and undoubtedly their best skill player. Bowers first surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka’s 63-year-old record of most receiving yards in a season by a rookie tight end of 1,076. The second record he set was for most catches in a season by any NFL rookie. His seven receptions yesterday put him at 108 total, 3 more than the number Puka Nacua set last year.

Vikings and Packers Battle in Minnesota: Two of the best in the NFC, Green Bay and Minnesota, proved that there’s not going to be any easy matchup on that side of the playoff bracket. It looked like the Vikings were in full control of this game until the Packers came storming back with less than 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter with two touchdowns to make it a two-point game. The Vikings were able to run out the clock after that and set up a Week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions with the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line.

Quick Hitters

😲 The Los Angeles Lakers have officially moved on from D’Angelo Russell. This is the second time in his career that he has been traded by the Lakers to the Brooklyn Nets. Russell and Maxwell Lewis, along with three second-round picks, will go to the Nets, and the Lakers will get Shake Milton and Dorian Finney-Smith in return. Milton and Finney-Smith provide valuable depth and versatility for the Lakers roster, as well as 3-point shooting ability.

💸 Anthony Edwards fined $100,000 by NBA for use of profane language during a live television interview. The comments came after the Timberwolves rallied back late and Edwards hit a go-ahead game-winning three point basket. Edwards was also find $75,000 last Monday for public criticism of the officiating and use of profanity. That’s a lot of bread.

🐲 Checking in on Wrexham FC, the Welsh football club owned by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds: After two straight promotions into League One, the third highest league in English Professional Soccer, Wrexham finds themselves firmly in second place after a 2-1 win over Wigan yesterday. Wrexham sits behind Birmingham City, but Birmingham has played two more games thus far. Heading into the new year, Wrexham needs to finish in the top 3 to be promoted to the Championship league.

Other News:

• 🙏 Former US President Jimmy Carter passes away at 100

• 📉 Jets, Rodgers are down BAD

• 🏀 More on the D’Lo trade!

Top Performers:

• 🏈 Drew Lock / Malik Nabers (NYG): 171 yards, 2 TDs

• 🏈 Sam Darnold (MIN): 377 yards, 3 TDs

• 🏈 Baker Mayfield (TB): 359 yards, 5 TDs

• 🏀 Trae Young (ATL): 34 points, 10 assists, 7 threes

Stump Favorites

🏀 COLE ANTHONY GAME WINNER

🥲 All the feels for Sam Darnold

🥰 Saquon and his O-Line

🤣 Halftime in Cleveland was more entertaining than the game

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

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 NFL: Lions @ 49ers (8:15 PM) ; NCAAF: Music City Bowl: Iowa vs Missouri (2:30 PM on ESPN)

🏀 NBA: Knicks @ Wizards (7:00 PM on NBAtv), Mavs @ Kings (10:00 PM on NBAtv), Cavs @ Warriors (10:00 PM), full schedule

⚽️ EPL: Man U vs Newcastle (3:00 PM on USA), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (17) Cincy @ Kansas State (7:00 PM on CBSSN), Oakland @ (23) Arkansas (8:00 PM on ESPN2), (3) Iowa State @ Colorado (9:00 PM on CBSSN), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: Alcorn St @ (25) Ole Miss (7:30 PM), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Rangers @ Panthers (7:00 PM on NHL Network), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

C. Walter Payton. Despite being an all-time great, Walter Payton never surpassed 2000 rushing yards in a single season. In 1977, he ran for a single season best 1852 yards, falling just 148 yards short.

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…

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