🎧Sports Brief: Horns Brawl With Barreling Buckeyes; Wild Card Weekend Kicks Off

Will Howard #18 of the Ohio State Buckeyes is pressured by Abdul Carter #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the second quarter at Beaver Stadium in State College, Penn., on Nov. 2, 2024. Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

What’s cookin’ sports fans? Welcome to another edition of the extra large and turbocharged Epoch Times Sports Brief for Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we’ve got some high-octane stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s cookin’ in the thrilling world of sports.

A couple of legendary powerhouses collide for a spot in the college football championship, the NFL playoffs kick off with a pair of brutal showdowns, and it’s win or go home—do not pass go, do not collect $200—in a rugged Sunday afternoon slugfest.

Also, a phenomenal rookie tries to knock off a resurgent veteran in a riveting primetime dogfight, and a disappointed contender looks to rebound following a mauling by the hungry Lions.

We’ll tackle each one of these action-packed stories and we begin in the Lone Star State, where in just a few hours, a pair of dueling legends bang helmets for a chance to win college football’s most coveted trophy, and here’s what’s goin’ down.

Horns Brawl With Barreling Buckeyes

In front of 80,000 roaring, screaming, obnoxious fans at AT&T Stadium outside of Dallas, the Texas Longhorns are gonna try to stop the Ohio State Buckeyes from pummeling them on their way to the college championship game.

The Buckeyes are barreling into the Cotton Bowl like a runaway freight train, they appear to be unstoppable, and right now, coordinator Chip Kelly is firing on all eleventeen cylinders—and that’s just the offense; their defense is even better.

And now a Sports Brief host commentary directed at Sports Brief head writer Davey Ross: Hey Davey, the word is gooder, not better. The Ohio State defense is even gooder. Yes—grammar counts. Back to the program.

As far as the Longhorns are concerned, quarterback Quinn Ewers is gonna have to play the best game of his life, head coach Steve Sarkisian is gonna have to scheme up a game plan for the ages, and Texas is gonna have to control the clock with its running game and keep the Buckeyes off the field or it’s gonna be over by halftime. (That would actually be kinda good on account of that’s when “Gilligan’s Island” comes on, on MeTV).

One way or another, this one is shaping up to be a high-scoring affair and the lightning fast Texas D-line is gonna have to knock Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard out of the pocket or it’s gonna be a long lonesome night for the Longhorns.

The winner gets a crack at Notre Dame, who, in case you missed it, knocked off Penn State last night on a last-second field goal after showing tons of grit in an exciting back-and-forth contest. By the end of the fourth quarter, I thought I was watching a tennis match.

By the way, the championship game is 10 days from right now in Atlanta, so be sure to tune in again to next week’s Sports Brief program when we take a closer look at the biggest game in college football history.

We’ll loiter for just a bit longer in the Lone Star State and mosey on over to the big leagues, where the world-famous NFL playoffs begin tomorrow with a couple of good old-fashioned slobberknockers, and here’s how it all pans out.

Wild Card Weekend Kicks Off

Wild Card Weekend kicks off when head coach John Harbaugh and his hard-hitting Chargers bolt into Houston to face off with DeMeco Ryan and the Texans in what’s likely to be a low-scoring battle.

To break it all down for you, the hometown Texans won the awful AFC South with a porous offensive line, a wicked good pass rush, and phenomenal quarterback C.J. Stroud, who’s lost some of that magical mojo following last year’s outstanding rookie season.

By the way, the Chargers finished with a better record than the Texans, they lead the league in scoring defense, and Harbaugh has superb luck in NRG Stadium, where just last year, he led his Michigan Wolverines to the college football championship.

Meanwhile, over in Baltimore, the Ravens welcome the Steelers back to the harbor after knocking them all over the field just three weeks ago.

Since then, the Ravens continue to pick up steam. Two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson is in the midst of his best season yet, Derrick Henry is rumbling through defenses like Joey Chestnut at a hot dog eating contest, and safety Kyle Hamilton is an absolute monster on the back end of the D.

Furthermore, the Steelers haven’t won a game in more than a month, and the Ravens lead the league in both rushing offense and defense—meaning you gotta throw that ball into another time zone to beat ‘em.

Unless QB Russell Wilson can shock the world and successfully connect on a number of his legendary moonballs, look for Ravens fans to be scarfing down crab cakes, munching on potato chips with Old Bay seasoning, and pouring buckets of root beer down their gullets by halftime.

Let’s head up the I-95 now for a riveting rematch between a pair of legendary NFL franchises in the City of Brotherly Love, where the fans are gonna go absolutely bonkers, and here’s the play by play—well in advance of play.

Pack Tangles With Soaring Eagles

More than cheesesteaks are up for grabs when the Green Bay Packers march into Philly to tangle with the brutal Eagles on Sunday afternoon, in front of more than 67,000 of the most well-behaved, well-dressed, fun-loving sports fans in the league—and if you believe that, man, you’ve never been to Philly.

Both teams enter this must-win knockout game with questionable quarterbacks, as Eagles leader Jalen Hurts is bouncing back from a concussion and Packers QB Jordan Love has a banged-up elbow. Like my junior high school coach used to tell us all those years ago—man up, walk it off, get back in the game!

By the way, you may recall that these two teams met back in week one of the regular season in Brazil, with the Eagles squeaking out a victory.

The Pack has dropped three out of their last five games—all to division foes—while the Eagles have won 12 out of 13 and coasted to the NFC East title. They’re physical, brutal, and dominant; they have Saquon Barkley toting the rock; and they also have the better defense.

Also on Sunday, grumpy Sean Payton, rookie quarterback Bo Nix, and the Denver Broncos buck their way into western New York to try to upset Josh Allen and the rock-solid Buffalo Bills, who rack up points like they’re playing pinball. (They’re pinball wizards, but in a football kind of way.)

More now from the gridiron and a dustup involving balmy weather, a pirate ship, and a highly anticipated primetime showdown. Here’s what’s shaking!

Rookie Phenom Daniels Faces Brutal Bucs Blitz

The Washington Commanders and their phenomenal rookie Jayden Daniels make a return trip to Florida this weekend for a rematch with the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who’ve won six out of their last seven games. (I’ll have to check my math, but I think that means they’ve won 85 percent of their face-offs—amazing.)

The key to this game will be how well Daniels can handle the ferocious Buccaneers blitz, which they use more often than any team in the league, especially on late downs.

So far, Daniels has answered the bell, throwing absolute dimes under pressure and taking off for huge chunks of yardage—but the playoffs are a whole ‘nother beast—roast beast.

History has shown that one player can’t do it alone and the Commanders are gonna have to lean on veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner, step up their game on D, and do something they haven’t been able to do very well in the second half of the season—and that’s run the ball—if they hope to pull off a huge stunner.

Meanwhile, the “pirates in pewter pants” are led by resurgent Baker Mayfield, who’s having a fantastic season, making boatloads of dough from his incentives, and turning the ball over like he’s handing out business cards at a sales convention. He leads the league with 16 interceptions and on Sunday, look for him to add some numbers to that total.

Additionally, the Bucs are gonna have to rely on a couple of promising rookies, running back Bucky Irving and receiver Jalen McMillan, to spark the offense, and hope that their leaky defensive backfield can hold down the fort for just one more week.

These two teams have the second and third ranked scoring offenses in the NFC, so look for a high-scoring affair and for whoever has the ball at the end of the game to head home with a victory.

We close out our wild weekend with a game in the desert, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, and a cold-weather squad with one of the best records in the league, and here’s the deal.

Rams and Vikings Duel in the Desert

Monday night’s clash between the L.A. Rams and the Minnesota Vikings has been shifted to Glendale, Arizona, because of the fires in Southern California, and the move definitely favors the visiting squad.

The Vikings are looking to bounce back after being absolutely manhandled by the Lions, who mangled Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold and made him look the way he did for the first six years of his career.

However, the Vikes have got plenty of weapons on offense; a baffling, well-coached defense; and they genuinely believe last week’s game was a complete fluke.

Meanwhile, the dangerous Rams have quietly added some impressive youth to their aging roster, and legendary quarterback Matthew Stafford, former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp, and brilliant head coach Sean McVay are still taggin’ along for the ride.

Last week, the Lions showed the formula for knocking off their division rival. The Vikings are gonna have to do a better job of giving Darnold time and protecting him from Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse and his former college teammate Braden Fiske or it’s gonna be a long cold flight back to snowy Minnesota.

Unfortunately, that’s all we have time for today, but before we head out, we’d like to wrap things up with one of our favorite quotes, and this one comes to us from the great Michael Jordan, who said:

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Big deal, I’ve failed more than that—and I think that means I’m more successful than Michael Jordan. This is gonna be a great day for me!

Jordan is one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time and he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s.

Final Sports Brief host commentary for today: Yeah, Jordan is kinda good, but it’s not like he was good enough to play for the Globetrotters. Meadowlark Lemon—now there’s a ball player!

Now, it really is time for us to hit the road, but don’t worry, be happy, we’ll be back again next week with another edition of the soon-to-be almost-award-winning Epoch Times Sports Brief. Like we’ve said before, we don’t do this for the money—we simply want an award, a certificate, or a trophy, or a burrito—anything would be pretty OK.

If you have any thoughts or comments about this program, we’d love to hear from you, and you can always find us at [email protected].

For all of us here at The Epoch Times Sports Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.

Like always, the Sports Brief program is written each week by astronaut and underwater pizza delivery professional, Davey Ross.

Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, almost-accurate, and engaging rundown of all the sports stories you absolutely need to know about.

Enjoy another great weekend of sports, stay safe, have a superb day today, and don’t forget to keep your eyes on the game. Bye for now.