CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Italy’s Federica Brignone won the super-G race at Cortina on Sunday, her first World Cup win at the Italian course extending her overall lead, while Lindsey Vonn gave the crowd a scare when crashing out on the third sector but emerged unharmed.

Vonn, four-times overall World Cup champion with 82 wins, retired in 2019 after suffering several injuries but the American announced her comeback in November.

The 40-year-old had her best finish since her return last weekend, coming fourth in a Super-G race in St Anton but at Cortina fellow competitors and fans held their breath when Vonn crashed after leaning into a bend.

The American was quickly back on her feet, but it was a disappointing end when she had looked set to post a decent time, going fourth fastest in the second sector, having finished 20th in Saturday’s downhill event.

‘I’m not so happy. I know my skiing is good and I can be fast,’ Vonn told Italian broadcaster Rai Sport.

‘My ambitions were different for this weekend.’

Brignone’s 31st World Cup win never looked in doubt, with the Italian, the seventh skiier out the gate, setting a time of one minute 21.64 seconds, and she celebrated wildly at the finish despite so many of her rivals having still to race.

‘Today I really attacked, I felt fast, at one point I felt a bit long but I still had a good feeling and I was aware that I had done a good race,’ Brignone said.

‘Let’s hope this is the right time.’

The time indeed had finally come for the 34-year-old to triumph at Cortina, with Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami was 0.58 seconds behind in second, with another Swiss, Corinne Suter, taking third place on the Olympia delle Tofane course.

Brignone has been in scintillating form this season. Her first-ever podium at Cortina on Saturday, with third place in the downhill, had given her top spot in the overall standings.

The Italian is now second in the super-G standings behind Gut-Behrami, renewing last season’s rivalry where the Swiss skiier won the overall title, along with taking the super-G and giant slalom globes, with Brignone runner-up in all three.

DETROIT – Surprise, surprise.

The amazing rookie year of Jayden Daniels rolls on. And the star quarterback of the Washington Commanders has plenty of help.

And now it’s on to the NFC championship game.

Daniels was virtually flawless in sparking the Commanders to a stunning upset of the top-seeded Detroit Lions, 45-31, in an NFC divisional playoff shootout at Ford Field on Saturday night.

In a season’s worth of statements, Daniels delivered another one in passing for 299yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 52 yards and committing zero turnovers. He completed 22 of 31 passes and posted a 122.9 passer rating.

All things Commanders: Latest Washington Commanders news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

He was cool, collected, efficient. As advertised…and demonstrated for months.

Washington (14-5) will meet the winner of the other NFC divisional playoff on Sunday, when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Los Angeles Rams.

The other quarterback?

Well, Jared Goff had himself a night. In the worst way.

Goff committed four turnovers – including three in the first half (two interceptions and a fumble) that set the course for the shocker that ends a Super Bowl vision for the Lions (15-3), who suddenly have another embarrassing playoff defeat to layer on the heartbreaking loss las year in the NFC title game at San Francisco.

This one will be best remembered for a wild second quarter. The Commanders ignited for four touchdowns. Momentum snatched. The teams combined for 42 points. Most ever in a quarter in NFL playoff history.

And there would have been even more points if Goff wasn’t intercepted in the end zone by Mike Sainristil in the final minute before halftime. It appeared the pass intended for Jameson Williams was late and a bit short. Williams, running a post pattern, gained a step on the defender. But as the ball arrived, Sainristil was in better position to grab the pass.

It figures. It was that type of half – and ultimately, game – for Goff. Late in the first quarter, with Detroit driving inside Washington’s 20, Goff fumbled as Dorance Armstrong barreled around the corner an delivered a crushing hit. Fumble. Frankie Luvu recovered. Blown opportunity.

Meanwhile, the Lions defense developed a disturbing pattern of its own in the first half: Big plays. Dyami Brown hauled in a 42-yard dime from Daniels to set up Washington’s first touchdown, an 8-yard Brian Robinson Jr. run.

Then it was a 59-yard score from Terry McLaurin, off a simple screen. A juke here, broken tackle there and a balancing act on the sideline, put Washington back on top, 17-14, with the Zane Gonzalez conversion.

That lead expanded in a flash. Goff’s throw to Tim Patrick in the left seam was too high – but perfect for Quan Martin, positioned behind the receiver. The Commanders safety ran it back 41 yards.

The 10-point cushion, 24-14, turned out to be too much for Detroit.

After Williams raced for a 61-yard touchdown on an end around to cut the margin to three points, Washington came back with a quick, 70-yard TD drive that was sparked by Daniels’ 38-yard completion.

Usually, the high-scoring Lions forced opponents to play catch-up.

This time, the shoe was on the other foot. And the Lions just couldn’t keep up.

Some teams embrace the ‘us versus everybody’ mentality as a battle cry.

The Houston Texans took it as a chance to cry the traditional way following their 23-14 AFC divisional-round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs after a few questionable calls did not go their way.

‘We knew coming into this game, it was us versus everybody. When I say everybody, it’s everybody, all of – everybody, whatever, the naysayers, the doubt, everybody we had to go against today,’ Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said with a laugh. ‘With that, knowing, going into this game what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made. We had a lot of self-inflicted mistakes that happened.

‘We can’t make the mistakes that we made.’

The calls against the Texans came early and often. Texans cornerback Kris Boyd committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the first play of the game, a 63-yard return that was recovered by the Chiefs and allowed Kansas City to take its first offensive snap of the game from the red zone.

All things Chiefs: Latest Kansas City Chiefs news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

On the Chiefs’ second drive of the game, defensive end Will Anderson Jr. was whistled for a roughing the passer infraction for making helmet-to-helmet contact with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk said on the game broadcast ‘it looked like he came up high’ but made first contact with Mahomes’ chest.

‘I had forcible contact to the facemask area and so I went with roughing the passer on that play,’ referee Clay Martin said via a post-game pool report with a member of the Pro Football Writers’ Association.

Anderson Jr. did not agree.

‘We knew it was going to be us against the refs going into this game,’ Anderson said.

Before halftime, a holding penalty on Shaq Mason negated a 12-yard scramble by quarterback C.J. Stroud that would have resulted in a fourth-and-short situation. The Texans kicked a field goal instead. Tight end Dalton Schultz was whistled for offensive pass interference in the third quarter.

But the most consequential penalty of the third came on a first-down run by Mahomes, who appeared to invoke contact by sliding at the last possible moment. Two Houston defenders – defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o – converged and To’oTo’o picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Asked about it looking as though Fatukasi and To’oTo’o collided with each other instead of with Mahomes, Martin said, ‘So, (Mahomes) slid, obviously, and when he slides, he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.’

‘I’ve mentioned it before, about the late slides,’ Ryans said. ‘Some things are just unfortunate. Things are out of our control. But, didn’t go our way today.’

Overall, the Texans were called for eight penalties that totaled 82 yards. Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point and missed two field goals (one was blocked). Ryans said they still have things to clean up on their end.

‘Whether it’s special teams, not converting our kicks, or defensively, not being where we’re supposed to be in coverage,’ Ryans said. ‘Or offensively, not protecting our quarterback and keeping him clean. You marry that on top of everything else we had to deal with, it’s going to be a really tough, uphill battle.’

Houston was without wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell after each suffered season-ending injuries during the regular season. Ryans didn’t want to make excuses for the personnel losses. They happen to everyone, he said, and his team made the most out of what they had.

‘I’m walking out of here discouraged. This one hurts,’ Ryans said. ‘Because I know we’re a better football team than what we showed today, no matter who we’re playing against.’

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell got emotional after his team was stunned at home by the Washington Commanders.

Campbell took the blame for the Lions’ 45-31 upset loss in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“We just didn’t get it done,” Campbell said postgame. “It’ll be something that I’m going to be, you know, I’m going to have a lot of time here to really look at it, think about it, and figure it out. How do we improve? What do we need to fix? The whats, the whys, the hows, all of it.”

Campbell got emotional moments later.

“It’s hard. You know, when you lose. When you lose these games, man. It’s like the players,’ Campbell said, pausing to collect himself and fighting back tears. ‘What they put into it. A lot of people don’t know what they go through. You have to get up, bodies beat to (expletive). You know, mentally stay locked in and do those things. Long season.”

All things Lions: Latest Detroit Lions news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The Lions entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time in team history after recording a franchise-record 15 wins. Detroit earned a first-round bye and entered Saturday as the heavy favorite versus the Commanders.

But Jayden Daniels and the Commanders took control by outscoring Detroit 28-14 in the second quarter to take a 31-21 halftime advantage. Daniels and the Commanders were able to keep the momentum going in the second half to shock the top-seeded Lions in Detroit.

The Lions gave up 481 total yards to Washington and committed five turnovers, including four from quarterback Jared Goff (three interceptions, one lost fumble).

“Unfortunate, obviously. It sucks,” Goff said. “Worst part of this job. You hate it when you feel like you let guys down. You want to win these types of games at home.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

Don’t let the Kansas City Chiefs’ (latest) pedestrian performance on Saturday fool you.

Did they look overly impressive in their playoff opener while beating the Houston Texans 23-14? No, not especially. Is that particularly unusual – even from a team taking aim at the first-ever Super Bowl threepeat? No, not especially.

You’re probably aware that three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes is 7-0 in the divisional round of the playoffs since he became K.C.’s starting quarterback in 2018 – which is another way of saying he’s never failed to guide this team into the AFC championship game. But you might not be aware that the Chiefs – despite their deserved dynastic status – rarely cakewalk to the cusp of the Super Sunday. This was the first time in five years that Kansas City won a divisional contest by more than seven points – the previous occurrence when they stormed back from a 24-0 deficit against Houston before running away with a 51-31 decision. Since then, the average margin of victory in this round has been six points.

“The goal is just to continue to move on in the playoffs,” Mahomes said on ESPN’s broadcast shortly after the final gun. “(A)nother good team football win, and we’ve got to be better offensively in some situations. But you get a win, and that’s all you want at the end of the day.”

The formula felt all too familiar.

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The Chiefs defense was generally stout and especially when it needed to be, keeping the Texans out of the end zone on two of their three red-zone incursions. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud suffered eight sacks (three by George Karlaftis) – including on fourth-and-10 from inside Kansas City territory with 10 minutes left in the game.

The mistakes were minimal, the offense committing nary a turnover while the team incurred just four flags (for 29 yards).

Mahomes, who many NFL fans believe is unfairly safeguarded by officials, was the beneficiary of a pair of almost incidental personal foul calls, the Chiefs scoring 10 points at the end of those particular drives.

Yet they only managed 212 yards and two touchdowns offensively despite five red-zone trips of their own.

“That’s a good defense, and we scored 23 points against them,” Mahomes said, disputing his team was adversely affected by the layoff from its first-round bye.

“I’m not gonna use that excuse as rust. We came out there, we battled, we found ways to get points. And we’re gonna be even better going into this next week.”

But, per usual at this time of year, he and Travis Kelce couldn’t have been much better.

Kelce, who didn’t play an offensive snap as a rookie in 2013, will (eventually) retire with an argument as the greatest tight end in a century-plus of pro football. But the 35-year-old is slowing down, 2024 his least-productive campaign (his 51.4 receiving yards per game were a career low) since that redshirt rookie year.

You wouldn’t have known that Saturday.

There he was, repeatedly finding holes in the Houston defense, Mahomes almost unfailingly finding Kelce for his patented open-field breakaways. They connected seven times for 117 yards – Kelce’s ninth playoff game hitting the century mark, a new league record for the postseason – the coup de grâce being an 11-yard TD hookup three minutes into the fourth quarter, Mahomes chucking the ball into the end zone while nearly suffering a shoestring sack. It was the 18th time the duo had connected for a postseason touchdown, another league record.

“You know 8-7 is gonna to show up whenever it’s a big-time moment, and he did that,” said Mahomes. “I mean, everybody was asking, ‘Where’s Travis Kelce at?’ I think he showed the world where he’s at.”

Where the Chiefs are collectively at is one step closer to history – which isn’t to say securing that third consecutive Lombardi Trophy, which Mahomes and Kelce immediately identified as the objective following their overtime defeat of the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58, is anything close to a foregone conclusion.

“I think we’re fortunate that we’ve got a lot of great character guys in the building,” said Kelce. “As the years have gone on, we only got here by focusing on the task at hand. This win was great – we’re gonna enjoy this one tonight – but the task at hand is gonna be that AFC championship. You don’t get a threepeat by looking past that.”

The Chiefs haven’t really been able to look past anyone in 2024, their growing pile of victories (16 including Saturday’s) generally decided by one possession – the average spread in those triumphs 7.2 points.

And the next opponent will be either the Baltimore Ravens or Buffalo Bills, the former failing to beat the Chiefs in the regular-season opener by an Isaiah Likely cleat size, the latter handing K.C. its first loss Nov. 17 after a 9-0 start … albeit in Western New York. Regardless, easy enough to argue both the Ravens and Bills were better teams than the reigning champs down the stretch, both sporting decidedly more explosive offenses and featuring quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, respectively, who will almost surely finish first and second in this season’s MVP race.

“Those are two of the best teams in the National Football League for sure. They got a lot of talent all across the board, but especially at that quarterback position,” said Kelce.

And that’s likely going to mean yet another nail-biter at Arrowhead.

Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, who notched his 300th NFL victory (including playoffs) Saturday, have led the Chiefs to an 11-2 postseason record at home since joining forces. Yet the average margin (win or lose) in their six AFC title games together has been just 4.3 points.

But as the Chiefs reminded us Saturday, there are no style points in mid-January. And notching another pair of victories by 4.3 points – give or take – will take his organization where none has gone before.

“I know that means a lot to him – 300 wins is crazy,” Mahomes said of Reid’s benchmark, one reached by only three other NFL coaches. “But I think he’s trying to get to 302 at the end of this year.”

An outcome that will take more than just Reid, Mahomes, Kelce and Chris Jones, but the entirety of the roster – one that’s consistently been just good enough this season.

‘Everybody’s winners on this team and I think that’s what makes us special,’ said Mahomes.

‘So, it doesn’t always have to be an offensive explosion, it doesn’t always have to be the defense locking it down, it’s just who can find a way to get a win and how can we do that? I think that’s what makes us a special football team and we’ll try to carry that into next week.”

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.

The Detroit Lions earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time in team history, but they are one and done in the playoffs thanks to the Washington Commanders.

Jayden Daniels and the Commanders stunned the Lions 45-31 in Detroit to advance to the NFC championship game.

The high-scoring affair featured a roller coast second quarter where combined 42 points were scored. The two teams combined for 621 combined yards in the first half.

Washington took a 31-21 lead at halftime and were able to hold on. It’s the first time in 33 years the Commanders have advanced to the NFC championship game

Here’s what we learned for the Commanders vs. Lions playoff tilt:

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Jayden Daniels is ready for the moment

Daniels showed remarkable poise in just his second career playoff game.

He demonstrated as much with a 38-yard pass to Dyami Brown, which might be the best throw of the NFL playoffs thus far.

The Commanders rookie QB completed 22-of-31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns.

Washington is guaranteed a road playoff game next week. They will either travel to Philadelphia or Los Angeles. Philadelphia would have the most hostile environment, but nothing seems to rattle the rookie QB.

Zach Ertz: Security blanket

Veteran tight ends can be a young quarterback’s best friend. Zach Ertz proved that on Saturday night.

Daniels found Ertz on a fourth-and-3 in the second quarter for a first down. He also hit the tight end for a five-yard touchdown on third-and-goal in the second period. The veteran tight end has been Daniels’ security blanket all season long.

Ertz even sealed the deal for the Commanders on special teams: He recovered an onside kick in the fourth quarter.

The 12-year veteran tight end finished with five catches, 28 yards and a touchdown.

 Commanders’ fourth down efficiency shines again

The Commanders converted on an NFL-best 87% of their fourth downs during the regular season. Washington was an impressive 3 of 4 on fourth downs in their matchup vs. Detroit.

Whether it’s the Rams or the Eagles, Commanders’ opponent next week is going to have to prepare to play all four downs.

Commanders’ run defense remains unimpressive

The Commanders had the third worst run defense in the NFL during the regular season, allowing 137 yards per game. Washington gave up 201 yards on the ground. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed 14 times for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Washington’s defensive unit did, however, force five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble recovery).

The Commanders have to tighten up their run defense in advance of the NFC championship game. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 296 yards and four touchdowns on Washington during the regular season.

Lions defense must get healthy this offseason

The Lions season ended with 13 defensive players on injured reserve, including defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, defensive lineman Alim McNeill and cornerback Carlton Davis.

Detroit ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense. They will go into the into the offseason having given up 45 points and 482 total yards in a disappointing finish to a once-promising season.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.