Just like last year, Sam Darnold went into a Week 18 regular-season finale needing to come up big on the road against a division rival.

What a difference a year makes.

What, you were waiting for some Darnold turnover that would give the San Francisco 49ers a jolt of momentum?

Keep waiting.

Sure, there was almost a turnover – a muffed exchange in the third quarter that could have set the 49ers up in striking range. But Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet recovered that fumble, averting disaster.

It was that kind of night. The Seahawks blasted San Francsico, 13-3, to clinch the NFC West crown and No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a franchise-record 14th win. Darnold was cool, efficient and all that, but as much as you may remember his setbacks with the Minnesota Vikings last season – losing in Week 18 at Detroit, then falling at the L.A. Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs – it wasn’t so much about Darnold.

Not as long as he’s protecting the football. Not as long as the running game is producing like it has lately, shredding the 49ers for 180 rushing yards in the latest demonstration. And not as long as the defense is packing its usual punch.

With that, Darnold, who entered the game tied for third in the NFL with 13 interceptions, was representative of a larger picture. The Seahawks (14-3) sent a message with their latest triumph that they are the most complete team headed into the NFL playoffs. That’s great for Darnold. He doesn’t have to be the GOAT.

No, with that spectacular defense and a running game powered by the 1-2 punch of Kenneth Walker III and Charbonnet, and talented targets including Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Darnold likely wins as long as he’s not the goat. No need for hero ball.

Seahawks’ rushing attack, defense relieving pressure on Darnold

Sure, there comes a time when any and every quarterback trying to win a big game against top-shelf competition – in Saturday’s games this was also tested by Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield and Bryce Young – has to make a big throw. Or a few.

Darnold certainly had crucial throws on Saturday night, including a 24-yard strike to Cooper Kupp to convert on a third down late in the fourth quarter. But for the most part it was a testament to efficiency. He completed 20 of 26 passes for 198 yards, without a touchdown.

And he did a fine job handing or tossing the football to Walker and Charbonnet. Walker carried 16 times for 97 yards; Charbonnet ran 17 times for 74 yards and bolted around the left corner for a 27-yard touchdown.

It was the third straight game the rushing attack rolled with a distinct smash mouth flavor. Last Sunday at Carolina, the Seahawks ran for 163 yards, led by Charbonnet’s 110 yards. In the wild Week 16 comeback win against the Rams, they ran for 171 yards, led by Walker’s 100.

So, with either running back capable of carrying the load, the rushing attack is rounding into form at the perfect time – which takes significant pressure off Darnold.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s defense relieves pressure, too (from Darnold), while applying it to quarterbacks such as Purdy. The Seahawks stifled one of the NFL’s hottest offenses – San Francisco topped 40 points in its previous two games – in keeping the 49ers out of the end zone. Seattle allowed just nine first downs and 173 net yards to go with the three points.

Maybe the Seahawks will return to Levi’s Stadium to close the season in Super Bowl 60.

Suddenly, their chances are much better, given the bye week and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, where they will be backed by the “12s” at one of the NFL’s noisiest venues, Lumen Field.

Home turf. Home crowd. Home cooking.

Happy New Year, Sam Darnold.

It’s a different year indeed, with the Seahawks quarterback poised to keep writing a new narrative that could take him places he’s never seen before on this NFL journey.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell

The New York Jets have not recorded a single interception through the first 17 weeks of the 2025 season.
If the Jets fail to secure an interception in their final game, they will be the first team in NFL history to finish a season with zero.
The current record for the fewest interceptions in a season is two, set by the 2018 San Francisco 49ers.

The New York Jets are rarely on the right side of history.

Such is the case with an unusual defensive streak entering the final week of the 2025 regular season. The Jets have yet to record an interception this season, which puts them in danger of setting the wrong kind of NFL record.

First-year head coach Aaron Glenn’s squad has forced four turnovers (four fumbles, including two muffed punts). Certainly passes from opposing teams – 486 (30.4 per game) – have found the hands, fingertips, palms, grasps, breadbaskets, clutches and digits of Jets defenders.

But not full possession.

The NFL started tracking interceptions in 1933. The Jets would be the first team to ever finish the season with none. The San Francisco 49ers in 2018 recorded 2 interceptions, the lowest number on record.

The other teams with the fewest interceptions in the 2025 season are the 49ers and Tennessee Titans with 6 apiece. Only nine other times has a team been unable to nab more than 5 picks in a season; two of those instances came in the 1982 strike.

Glenn, a former NFL cornerback, fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on Dec. 15 after surrendering 48 points to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In a way, Glenn has done this before. In 15 starts as a rookie with the Jets in 1994, he did not have an interception. But he went on to have at least one in the next 13 seasons of his career, and finished with 41.

Of course, all it would take for the Jets to avoid a dishonorable distinction is one errant Mitchell Trubisky – he’s expected to relieve Josh Allen at some point during the Week 18 game against the New York Jets – dropback. Even one pick would leave the Jets as the new owners of a record no unit wants.

But they’re unlikely to outrun history.

The USA’s quarterfinal ouster means the world junior hockey championship will have a new champion for the first time since 2023.

Will it be Finland, which eliminated the American team in overtime on Jan. 2? Or Canada, which won in 2023? Or will unbeaten Sweden (2012) or Czechia (2001) end long droughts?

The next step for determining that is the semifinals on Sunday, Jan. 4. Sweden will face rival Finland and Canada and Czechia will face off in what is becoming a big rivalry.

The Czechs have ousted Canada in the playoffs the past two years and Canada knocked off Czechia in the 2023 final. Canada won the team’s preliminary round meeting but forgot to do a handshake line and Porter Martone patted a Czech player on the behind after he scored an empty net goal.

Here’s what to know about Sunday’s world junior championships semifinals, including how to watch:

What channel is Sweden vs. Finland and Canada vs. Czechia world juniors hockey semifinals today?

TV channel: NHL Network

Livestream: Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers, or Sling TV.

Watch world junior championships on Fubo

What time is Sweden vs. Finland and Canada vs. Czechia world juniors hockey semifinals today?

Date: Sunday, Jan. 4

Time: 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET (3:30 and 7:30 local time)

The Sweden-Finland game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET and Canada-Czechia will start at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Wild.

World juniors hockey semifinals: How to watch, stream

Time: 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 4

Location: Grand Casino Arena (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

TV: NHL Network

Streaming: Fubo and certain levels of Sling TV carry NHL Network.

World junior championships semifinals today

Jan. 4

All times p.m. ET

Sweden vs. Finland, 4:30

Canada vs. Czechia, 8:30

Mikaela Shiffrin’s winning streak is over.

Shiffrin finished second in the slalom on Sunday, Jan. 4, at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, the first time she’s been beaten in her signature discipline this World Cup season. Shiffrin had won the first five slalom races this season, and six including the World Cup finals last season.

‘I don’t believe it’s possible to win every race in the season with the competition level. Actually, I hope it wouldn’t be possible,’ said Shiffrin, whose six wins in a row were one shy of her career-best streak. ‘Still, I wanted to give it my best shot.

‘But I think this was a really, really amazing show,’ Shiffrin added. ‘I was grateful to be part of it and I’m motivated to push harder to find more speed for the next race.’

Shiffrin’s time of 1:40.34 was 0.14 seconds behind Camille Rast of Switzerland. When Rast crossed the finish line Sunday, Shiffrin gave a big smile and then greeted Rast with a hug. It was Rast’s second win in as many days following her victory in the giant slalom on Saturday, Jan. 3, and caps an emotional weekend for the Swiss skier.

Rast grew up near the resort in Crans-Montana where at least 40 people were killed when a fire broke out during New Year’s Eve celebrations.

‘I cannot explain how hard it is to have a race weekend (with) back-to-back victories in two different events. It’s so exhausting,’ Shiffrin said of Rast. ‘She had a spectacular weekend. It’s really motivating to see that. It’s very inspiring.

‘And I think for everybody watching, you have to just appreciate the talent and the work ethic and the ability that it takes for an athlete to do that. She showed up and she did it amazing.’

It was a good day overall for the U.S. team, which had four skiers in the top 20. Paula Moltzan was fourth, A.J. Hurt was 13th and Nina O’Brien was 19th.

Rast’s two victories this weekend brings her closer to Shiffrin in the overall standings. Shiffrin now has 823 points, 120 more than Rast.

‘Everybody likes to win, right? But I think it’s better to have these really challenging, testing moments and to rise to the challenge and to put out the best skiing possible, and then we get to have this showdown in the second run,’ Shiffrin said. ‘And I’m learning to love that.’

Shiffrin dominated the early part of the season in slalom, winning her first four races by an average of 1.5 seconds. In a sport often decided by tenths and hundredths of a second, that’s a whopping margin.

But Rast has established herself as Shiffrin’s main rival over these last two weekends. Shiffrin needed one of the most impressive comebacks of her career last weekend to extend her win streak, erasing a 0.54-second deficit to Rast after the first run to win by 0.09 seconds.

Rast was not going to be denied two weekends in a row.

Rast had a 0.10-second lead after the first run, when she was more aggressive than Shiffrin in the bottom half of the course. That was a manageable deficit to make up, and Shiffrin looked as if she would be the winner once again with a blistering second run.

But a slight mistake at the top, when Shiffrin got a little wide around a gate, cost her time. That left an opening for Rast, and she took it. Though she’d fallen slightly behind midway through the course, Rast got herself back on track and made a furious dash to the finish.

When she threw herself across the finish line, Shiffrin’s win streak was over.

‘She had beautiful skiing. Both runs, she was just outstanding,’ Shiffrin said.

Still, Shiffrin was happy with her own effort. There was something she wanted to do technically in the second run, and she felt as if she accomplished that. That could bode well for her next battle with Rast.

Shiffrin and the rest of the tech circuit have next weekend off before their next race, a slalom in Flachau, Austria, on Jan. 13.

‘The only real improvement (to make) is just when the speed is coming that fast, to be so consistent that it’s there every turn. This (second) run, I was not backing off,’ Shiffrin said. ‘I would not change anything for the second run. I would just try to repeat this level as much as possible in training the next several weeks.’

With only 14 games remaining in the NFL regular season, the convoluted clinching scenarios are a thing of the past.

The playoff picture has largely come into focus, with 12 of 14 entrants already decided and five of eight division crowns claimed. But there are still a few matters left to be sorted out on Sunday.

Among the most notable unresolved issues are who will claim the AFC North and the NFC South. The former will be decided by a winner-take-all showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers to conclude the regular season on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ The latter will come down to the Atlanta Falcons’ meeting with the New Orleans Saints – though neither team can make it into the playoffs. A Falcons win will send the Carolina Panthers to the postseason for the first time since 2017, while a Saints win will ensure the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold onto the division title for a fifth consecutive season.

Here’s what all is on the table for Week 18:

NFL Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Denver Broncos Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Broncos clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage with:

Broncos win
Broncos tie + Patriots loss or tie
Patriots loss + Jaguars loss or tie

New England Patriots Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Patriots clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage with:

Patriots win + Broncos loss or tie
Patriots tie + Broncos loss

Jacksonville Jaguars Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Jaguars clinch AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage with:

Jaguars win + Broncos loss + Patriots loss

Jaguars clinch AFC South with:

Jaguars win or tie
Texans loss

Houston Texans Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Texans clinch AFC South with:

Texans win + Jaguars loss

Baltimore Ravens Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Ravens clinch AFC North with:

Ravens win

Pittsburgh Steelers Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Steelers clinch AFC North with:

Steelers win or tie

Carolina Panthers Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Panthers clinch NFC South with:

Falcons win

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 18 playoff clinching scenarios

Buccaneers clinch NFC South with:

Falcons loss or tie

At least you can say the College Football Playoff Selection Committee isn’t involved here. That said, it’s high time for the NFL to tweak its – mostly sensible – codified rules determining who advances to the playoffs.

As currently constructed, said rules will ensure a team with a losing record hosts a playoff game this season. So, too, might a divisional ‘champion’ merely one game above .500. Meanwhile, clubs with a dozen wins might be sent packing on the wild-card road, their relative sin thriving in a subset of similarly elite competitors.

It shouldn’t be this way.

If you watched Saturday afternoon’s literally waterlogged slog between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers – the Bucs won, sort of, 16-14 – then you probably didn’t feel like you were witnessing some juggernauts deserving of the comforts of sleeping in their own beds next week ahead of a postseason opener merely because an 8-9 record is sufficient to win the lowly ACC, er, NFC South. (OK, maybe we should find a way to get the Atlanta Falcons or New Orleans Saints, NFC South also-rans who are presently playing much better football than the Panthers or Bucs, an at-large bid? Sorry, I digress.)

Additionally, it’s not unprecedented for a team seeded fourth − as the eventual NFC South champs will be − to wind up hosting a conference championship game if enough chaos befalls the squads seeded above it. By comparison, at least five teams could wind up with 11 wins or more but have very little hope of a postseason home game – just a year after the Minnesota Vikings got stuck with a wild card despite going 14-3 (the most wins ever by a non-divisional winner).

It doesn’t sit right. It’s akin to Boise State getting a CFP bye week, an oversight that was quickly corrected. The NFL could have addressed its own ‘issue’ in 2025 and nearly did, the Detroit Lions making a proposal last March which encouraged league owners “to amend the current playoff seeding format to allow Wild Card teams to be seeded higher than Division Champions if the Wild Card team has a better regular season record.”

More than reasonable, it’s absolutely the correct approach for a football system rigged to produce parity. Why wouldn’t you reward teams that actually achieve excellence with a seed commensurate to win totals?

The old-school purists – and I frequently consider myself one of them – will argue that capturing a division is sacrosanct, an accomplishment deserving of the consequential home game as postseason starts. But honestly, it now sounds a lot like those empty suits who used to defend the sanctity and pageantry of the college football bowl system – and whatever would we do without the Duke’s Mayo Bowl or, clutching pearls, the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl? Somewhat surprisingly, Detroit’s proposal actually got some traction last spring before ultimately being tabled – though maybe one sloppy Saturday in January will fuel it with future momentum.

And, granted, it was easier to defend the argument of fully rewarding division winners a few decades ago, when there were three in a 14-member conference – half of most teams’ schedules at that time made up of divisional foes, inherently making those games more valuable and compelling.

But the NFL realigned in 2002, going to eight four-team divisions across the two conferences. In the era of the 17-game regular season, 65% of a given club’s schedule is against non-divisional opponents – meaning it’s not uncommon to thrive against potentially sub-par intra-divisional rivals, struggle mightily against the rest of the league and still wind up with a crown. Strike seasons notwithstanding, the 2025 Bucs or Panthers will become the fifth sub-.500 outfit to reach to the playoffs in the Super Bowl era (which dates to 1966) – something that never occurred prior to the 2010 campaign.

And Sunday night’s winner-take-all AFC North battle between the Baltimore Ravens (8-8) and Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7) will confer a similar reward – even though the six other AFC teams that have already qualified for the playoffs all have at least 11 wins.

Divisions make sense in the NFL. They’ve maintained and/or created natural geographic rivalries, nicely inform the starting point of the annual scheduling process and afford a little extra warranted currency when it comes time to breaking ties for playoff entry. But winning one should confer no more than a playoff opportunity. No way these Bucs or Panthers deserve to be seeded higher than the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams, teams that − along with the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks − have made the NFC West the league’s preeminent division in 2025, even as they’ve routinely beaten up on one another. Baker Mayfield’s next pick or Bryce Young’s next 100-yard passing day should have to occur as a No. 7 seed toiling in front of hostile fans while they’re accordingly derided (yet enjoyed for their shortcomings) by them.

And maybe you think this is a problem that solves itself. The last playoff team with a losing record, the 2022 Bucs, got smoked at home by Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys on a Monday night stage which was the last Tom Brady graced as a player. But two of the four teams that have won divisions with losing records actually wound up advancing to the divisional round.

Bottom line? Tradition is nice. Fairness is better.

The Golden State Warriors’ big three returned to help lift them over the Utah Jazz, 123-114, in a Saturday night matchup at Chase Center.

Jimmy Butler added 15 points and seven assists. Warriors forward Draymond Green had eight points, three rebounds, two assists and a block in 12 minutes before getting tossed from the game after receiving two technical fouls, back-to-back, with 2:25 left in the second quarter.

‘Got some clean looks and understood what they were trying to do defensively and taking advantage of switches,’ Curry said to reporters. ‘We played great defense for most of that quarter which gave us transition opportunities and was able to run.’

Lauri Markkannen led the Jazz with 35 points. Keyonte George had 22. Utah led at the end of the first half, 65-58.

Golden State woke up in the second half and played like a team on a mission.

‘Just the level of connection and competition,’ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said to reporters. ‘In the first half we went through the motions, the spirit wasn’t right. The second half guys were really connected, came together and put together a great 24 minutes.’

Golden State fought back in the second half and eventually took a 77-76 lead with 7:37 in third on a Quinten Post alley-oop pass to Gary Payton II who slammed in down for two in a halfcourt set.

‘That spark off that bench,’ Payton said on his contributing role to the team. ‘Get in, get my guys open space to work and just be the outlet for them if they get in trouble. It would help if I can make some layups but other than that just bringing energy and effort off the bench.’

Payton ended the game with 10 points and eight rebounds. He helped spur the team’s second unit to outscore the Jazz bench, 46-30.

Curry began to heat up in the third. He made one of his patented look-away three-pointers and from there he and the Warriors started to gain momentum. He followed with another three-pointer, sparking a burst of energy from the crowd. Curry scored 20 in the third quarter, including a rare play above the rim from Curry.

Curry referenced his dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers last year, saying he thought that would’ve been his last one but has to check with his teammates if they count his ‘jam’ against the Jazz.

‘I surprised myself when I got in the air that I was high enough,’ Curry told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I’m gonna count it because who knows how many chances I’ll get. I’ll have to ask the locker room if they agree with me or not.’

De’Anthony Melton, who scored 13 points and knocked down three long-distance shots, said he counts it.

‘Uhh,’ Melton told USA TODAY Sports while scratching his head. ‘We gonna count it. Anything 30 does above the rim, we gotta count.’

Payton did not share that same sentiment.

‘Absolutely, not,’ Payton said to USA TODAY Sports. ‘We gave him one last year. This one, he let it go and grabbed the rim. I talked to him about it after that. We’re not gonna allow that one.’

Warriors went up by as much as seven. Golden State led at the end of the third quarter, 100-96.

Rookie guard Will Richard got things cooking for the Warriors to open the fourth quarter, knocking down consecutive long-distance shots.

The Warriors held on to a 12-point lead, 111-99, with under nine minutes remaining in the game and held on to a double-digit lead through much of the fourth quarter.

The Warriors move to 19-17 and remain eighth in the Western Conference standings, while the Jazz fall to 12-22 at the 13th spot.

Warriors vs. Jazz highlights

Warriors’ next five games

Jan. 5 at Los Angeles Clippers
Jan. 7 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Jan. 9 vs. Sacramento Kings
Jan. 11 vs. Atlanta Hawks
Jan. 13 vs. Portland Trail Blazers

By definition, the NFL’s wheat and chaff are fully separated by the conclusion of Week 18 in a given season − the playoff field locked by that point – while hotel bookings, airfares and tee times are being finalized for those members (or soon-to-be former members) of the 18 clubs which have officially seen their campaigns come to an early end.

A lot of those vacation plans are likely already set in actuality even as the 2025 regular season reaches its final weekend, 16 teams − literally half the league − preparing, fervently or maybe not so much, for their farewell contests. A dozen more proceed knowing they’ll get their shots at Super Bowl 60, even if they don’t yet know who or when they’ll be playing on the other side of Sunday.

Beyond that are the four outfits still in limbo − two that will advance to the postseason, and two that will see their Lombardi Trophy dreams dissolve as they join the list of the eliminated. Here’s a look at which teams are already playing out the string, along with the quartet which remains on life support:

NFL teams that can clinch playoffs spots in Week 18 or be eliminated

 Carolina Panthers (8-9, 60% chance to make playoffs, per NFL’s Next Gen Stats, requiring an Atlanta win to do so)

 Baltimore Ravens (8-8, 61% chance, requiring a win over Pittsburgh to do so)

 Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7, 39% chance, requiring a win over Baltimore or tie to do so)

 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9, 40% chance, requiring an Atlanta loss to do so)

Which NFL teams have been eliminated from playoff contention?

These are the teams that have already seen their postseason chances for 2025 extinguished:

 New York Giants (eliminated in Week 12)

 Arizona Cardinals (eliminated in Week 13)

 New Orleans Saints (eliminated in Week 13)

 Tennessee Titans (eliminated in Week 13)

 Las Vegas Raiders (eliminated in Week 13)

 Washington Commanders (eliminated in Week 14)

 Atlanta Falcons (eliminated in Week 14)

 New York Jets (eliminated in Week 14)

 Cleveland Browns (eliminated in Week 14)

 Cincinnati Bengals (eliminated in Week 15)

 Minnesota Vikings (eliminated in Week 15)

 Kansas City Chiefs (eliminated in Week 15)

 Miami Dolphins (eliminated in Week 15)

 Dallas Cowboys (eliminated in Week 16)

 Detroit Lions (eliminated in Week 17)

 Indianapolis Colts (eliminated in Week 17)