Month: January 2022

The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs played an all-time great football game on Sunday night. Thanks to a Patrick Mahomes masterclass, a coin flip that went their way, and about a million other things, the Chiefs were able outlast the Bills in overtime, 42-36, to earn a spot in the AFC Championship Game next week, where they will host the Cincinnati Bengals.

The game was a rematch of last year’s AFC title game, which was also won by the Chiefs. After they won, Bills receiver Stefon Diggs famously stood on the field and watched Kansas City celebrate.

Unfortunately for Diggs, the Chiefs made it a point to slow him down on Sunday, as he caught three balls for seven yards. A number of teammates — namely Gabriel Davis, who had eight catches for 201 yards and four touchdowns — picked up the slack, but still, dude was almost certainly frustrated about his performance. He did, however, get a chance to release some of that frustration in a pretty unique way in the fourth quarter.

With Buffalo, down 26-21, facing a fourth-and-16 from the Kansas City 27 on the heels of the two-minute warning, a fan decided to run onto the field. That fan was met by an All-Pro wide receiver who was in the midst of a rough day, who decided he was going to pay homage to since-retired ESPN segment jacked up.

Buffalo would go on to score on the very next play. These two events were probably not related, but you never know.

The Chiefs and Bills capped off an incredible weekend of playoff football with one of the greatest games in recent memory, as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen delivered on every possible level in an amazing shootout.

It looked for all the world like the Bills had shaken off playoff demons of the past when Allen found Gabriel Davis for a go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds remaining — Davis’ fourth TD catch of the evening. Twice, already, the two teams had scored and the words “too much time” were uttered by fans, but this time, it felt like the end. That was until Patrick Mahomes orchestrated one of the greatest set-up drives of all-time.

In 10 seconds, Mahomes moved the Chiefs from their 25 to the Buffalo 31 over the course of two plays. A dart to Tyreek Hill got them out near midfield, followed by a timeout, and finally a strike to Travis Kelce up the seam who got them into field goal range for Harrison Butker with three seconds to play.

Now, having all three timeouts was massively important here, but the way Mahomes and the Chiefs executed down the stretch stood in stark contrast to what we saw a week ago from the Cowboys (who, again, had no timeouts, increasing the degree of difficulty substantially). As many pointed out, the Chiefs got their game-tying field goal in one fewer second, starting at their own 25, than the Cowboys blew on a quarterback draw and the botched spike attempt, after they failed to spot the ball properly and let the umpire get in to touch the ball down and give the ready to play.

It feels impossible for that to be the case, but that’s how absurd that final sequence was from Mahomes and the Chiefs. As for Cowboys fans, it was a painful reminder one week later of what flawless execution looks like in that type of situation.

Sunday delivered one of the most entertaining days of playoff football in NFL history. After the Rams escaped Tampa Bay with a walkoff field goal after blowing a 27-3 lead to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, the Bills and Chiefs put on an instant classic in Kansas City.

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes both put forth the kind of performances we’ve come to expect from two of the new faces of the NFL, with each delivering thrilling drives in the fourth quarter of what was an all-timer in Arrowhead. The two teams traded blows throughout the game, and Kansas City entered the fourth quarter with a slim two-point advantage. After a pair of rare defensive stops from each team, the Bills punted it away from deep in their own end to Tyreek Hill, who set up a Chiefs field goal to go up five late.

The Bills then worked clock on their next drive, desperately trying to keep Mahomes from being the one who could put the game on ice, and succeeded in taking seven minutes of the clock before finding themselves with a 4th and 13, having to go for it in KC territory. Gabriel Davis, who already had two touchdown catches on the day, ran the route of his life on 4th and 13 to drop Mike Hughes to the turf and find himself wide open in the end zone, where Allen found him for a go-ahead score.

Allen then made an unbelievable play on the two-point attempt to extend things until he could find Stefon Diggs in the back of the end zone to push Buffalo’s lead to three.

There was still a lot of time left for the Chiefs, who needed less than a minute to go back on top thanks to the outrageous speed of Tyreek Hill, who caught a crossing route and turned on the jets to, somehow, get by every defender untouched to the end zone.

However, Hill scored too fast, as they left the Bills 64 seconds and three timeouts to find the answer. After an impressive drive to move the ball down the field, Allen found his favorite target on the day once again, as Davis found a pocket in the middle of the field

HOWEVER, Davis scored too fast, as the Bills left Kansas City 13 seconds to get in field goal range, and after a chunk play to Tyreek Hill, Mahomes worked the seam to Travis Kelce to get the ball into field goal range, where Harrison Butker (who had two misses on the day) drilled the game-tying field goal.

As often happens in the NFL, it was all about the coin toss in overtime, as the Chiefs won the toss, received the ball, and Mahomes proceeded to march them down the field for what felt like an inevitable walkoff TD. Sure enough, it was on a corner route to Kelce that the Chiefs completed one of the craziest comebacks in Playoff history and advanced to the AFC title game against the Bengals.

It was a thrilling game that will go down as an instant classic, but unfortunately the ending highlighted how the NFL’s overtime rules need to be updated for the playoffs as the coin toss is far too important for games like this — the Chiefs were on the wrong end of this in 2019. Still, the Allen-Mahomes duel lived up to every possible expectation, and hopefully we will get to see them go at it for years to come. Allen finished the game 27-for-37 passing for 329 yards and four touchdowns, with 68 yards rushing on 11 carries. Mahomes, meanwhile, was 33-for-44 for 378 yards and three touchdowns through the air, adding 69 yards on seven carries.

Since his first appearance in the cartoon section of the otherwise infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, Boba Fett has enraptured audiences. What’s drawn fans to the character, who rarely speaks and only plays small if pivotal roles in two of the original Star Wars films? His enigmatic air and cool costume sure help. The character is finally front and center in the new Disney+ show The Book of Boba Fett, having been effectively brought back to life in the second season of The Mandalorian. For ages, though, those who never read the many Star Wars books presumed he was dead, having eaten it in Return of the Jedi. So who “killed” him and how did he survive?

Let’s back up, though. Boba Fett made his live-action debut in The Empire Strikes Back (then played by the late Jeremy Bulloch), appearing one of many bounty hunters enlisted by Darth Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon. Fett is the lucky one, who winds up with Han Solo as his prize, delivering him in carbonite to Jabba the Hutt. Fett was back in Return of the Jedi, but he didn’t last too long. During the battle that ends with Jabba’s compound destroyed, Fett attempts to take out Luke Skywalker, but he’s thwarted by Han Solo (Harrison Ford), newly unfrozen and still unable to fully see again. In the chaos, a fumbling Han accidentally destroys Fett’s jetpack, sending him tumbling into the mouth of the Sarlacc, a beast who lives under the desert floor, inside the Great Pit of Carkoon.

In the original version of Return of the Jedi, the Sarlacc is barely seen, though we can see his teeth, mouth, and tongue. In the Special Edition released in 1997, the Sarlacc can be seen emerging from the desert, scooping up, among others, Fett. It appears that Fett eats it: In the original version, the Sarlacc even burps after consuming him and his cool suit.

So the answer to who “killed” Boba Fett? It was a combination of Han Solo and the Sarlacc.

But then, he didn’t’ actually die. In the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett (where he’s now played by Temuera Morrison, who also played Jango Fett, his father, in Attack of the Clones), we see what had previously been described in even greater detail in the Star Wars novels (and with Patton Oswalt once predicted on Parks and Recreation): That he managed to survive being eaten by the Sarlacc and, after some time, escaped, only to have his armor stolen by Jawas. But that’s another story, which continues to be told in episodes that have yet to be released.

New episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are released every Wednesday. In the meantime, enjoy Boba Fett biting it — or so audiences of 1983 thought — in the original, non-Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi.

Gayle is kicking off 2022 right, with the success of her breakout hit “abcdefu” climbing to the No. 9 spot on the Billboard, and getting a huge boost from going viral on TikTok. And a fellow young songwriter (who also has TikTok to thank for some of their success) apparently reached out to Gayle recently to congratulate her. In a recent interview with Billboard, she revealed that Olivia Rodrigo had DMed her with some kind words.

“Olivia Rodrigo DMed me,” she said. “That was insane. She was just congratulating me on the success of the song. She told me that I was killing it and that was very just nice to hear from her, especially because she’s just such an amazing artist and talented human being.” While “abcdefu” is still climbing the charts, last week Gayle released the new single, “Ur Just Horny,” and is eager to continue making new music and putting it out while she deals with the influx of attention and fame that’s coming her way.

So, does friendliness with Olivia mean a potential collab might be in the works for the two rising pop stars? “I would love to collaborate with Olivia,” Gayle admitted. “I had an opportunity to ask that but I didn’t because, you know, everybody wants to collaborate with Olivia Rodrigo. [It would be ] amazing, but I’m also not going to be like stalking her for it because she knows what she wants to do.”

If you haven’t heard it yet, check out “abcdefu” up above and look out for a lot more from Gayle.

Encanto is Disney’s latest successful film. It recently won the Best Motion Picture – Animated award at this month’s Golden Globe Awards where it was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. The soundtrack for the film has also been successful. A little over a month since its release back in November, the soundtrack for Encanto checked in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 album units sold on the chart dated January 15. In claiming the top spot, Encanto dethroned Adele’s 30 after it spent six straight weeks at No. 1 Just a couple of weeks later, Encanto makes its way back to No. 1.

On the Billboard 200 chart dated January 29, the Encanto soundtrack returns to No. 1 thanks to 104,000 album units sold this past week. This number is comprised of 84,000 streaming equivalent album units thanks to 125.33 million on-demand official streams of the soundtrack’s songs. Pure album sales accounted for 17,000 of the soundtrack’s sales total this week. With its return to No. 1, Encanto becomes the first soundtrack since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born to spend multiple weeks atop the charts. That project spent four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2018 and 2019.

Encanto is also the first soundtrack by Disney to spend multiple weeks at No. 1 since Frozen did so back in 2014. The Frozen soundtrack appeared atop the albums charts for 13 nonconsecutive weeks that year.

Elsewhere on this week’s Billboard 200 chart, Gunna’s DS4EVER checks in at No. 2 while The Weeknd’s Dawn FM arrives at No. 3.

Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Los Angeles Rams are headed to the NFC Championship game, and for anyone that missed the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Divisional round matchup with the Bucs, that probably isn’t surprising news.

L.A. led 20-3 at the half and by a 27-3 margin in the third quarter, but as the world learned in Super Bowl LI, no lead is safe when Tom Brady is on the other sideline (and you aren’t a team that handles prosperity well). From that point on, the Bucs went on a 24-0 run that was aided by some unbelievable mistakes from the Rams, including numerous fumbles, a 47-yard field goal that somehow missed short, and a bizarre timeout in the final minute when the Bucs had none.

Early in the fourth, it seemed like the Rams would stop the bleeding thanks to a huge play from Von Miller, who got a strip sack of Brady in Bucs territory.

However, on the very next play, the Rams did this.

Still, the Rams defense bowed up, led by Nick Scott with a clutch pass breakup, and forced a turnover on downs that, again, seemed to put a serious damper on a Bucs comeback. The Rams would drive down the field and set up a 47-yard field goal attempt for Matt Gay, who is headed to the Pro Bowl. When it left his foot, it was on line and everyone assumed it would cruise on through. Instead, it somehow fell short and the Bucs, again, had life.

Down 14 with 3:56 on the clock, Tampa still needed something approaching a miracle, starting with a quick strike score which they got in the most improbable of ways, as Mike Evans cooked Jalen Ramsey on an out and up for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:20 to play.

Still, all L.A. needed was a first down to effectively ice the game with the Bucs out of timeouts. After a first down run went for little, Cam Akers broke through the line and got a few yards downfield when disaster struck and Ndamukong Suh punched the ball out for his second fumble of the afternoon in a critical spot.

After a first down got them in the red zone, the Bucs stalled on their first two plays before a third down completion to Cameron Brate got near the first down marker, but was inches short setting up a fourth down. In the moment, it seemed the Bucs didn’t know was a fourth down as they lined up hurriedly in the shotgun. However, the Rams called timeout, which allowed the referees to review the previous play, moving the ball a half-yard closer to the sticks, and gave the Bucs a chance to get their big package in to give the ball to Leonard Fournette, who broke outside and waltzed into the end zone for the tying score.

The Rams tried to steal some yards on a QB draw that went nowhere on their first play after the kickoff, seemingly signaling we were headed to overtime. But then, Stafford and Cooper Kupp came alive, first on a deep out to the sideline that got them near midfield, and then on a bomb down the middle against a zero blitz from Tampa Bay that put them inside the red zone.

After that, L.A. successfully got to the line, let the umpire set the ball (cc: Cowboys), and spiked it to let Matt Gay get a crack at redemption from much closer at the buzzer.

It was an absolutely wild game in a postseason that has been filled with them, as the Rams went from cruising to off the rails to redemption in the course of 22 minutes of game time. On top of the drama of it being the playoffs, it is possible that it’s the last game we’ll ever see Tom Brady play in an NFL game, as he mulls his future at 44 years old.

The Chicago Bulls suffered a significant blow to their hopes of potentially landing the top seed in the Eastern Conference on Friday night when, late in a four-point loss to the Bucks, Alex Caruso slammed to the floor on a Flagrant 2 foul from Grayson Allen and suffered a broken wrist.

Caruso, who called it a “bullsh*t” play from Allen, will miss 6-8 weeks due to surgery on his wrist and that will force the Bulls to play without their best point-of-attack defender for the better part of two months. In a crowded Eastern Conference, where Chicago is just a half-game back of the No. 1 seed but only three games up on the No. 7 seed, Caruso’s absence could be quite costly in terms of the seeding hunt. Many in Chicago were upset about the play, understandably so, and plenty have brought up Allen’s history of questionable to dirty play going back to his days at Duke.

The league took its time reviewing the play, and on Sunday decided that Allen would be additionally suspended for one game for the foul, as the way he wrapped up Caruso’s arms and threw him down in a vulnerable position was deemed egregious enough to warrant further punishment.

The league’s release states that the suspension is for “unnecessary and excessive contact” that caused “substantial injury,” indicating that Caruso getting hurt made the NBA feel it deserved further punishment. That means Allen will miss Chicago’s upcoming game in Cleveland on Wednesday. After that, both teams will look to move on from the incident, but when Milwaukee visits Chicago on March 4, you can be assured that Allen will hear it from the Bulls crowd.

Gunna is having quite the year so far. The rapper released his third album, DS4EVER, earlier this month and it debuted at No. 1, becoming his second chart-topping album. He’s also responsible for one of the biggest social media trends so far this year with “Pushin P,” his song with Future and Young Thug. Thanks to celebrities and brands like Chloe Bailey, IHOP, Future, Young Thug, the Memphis Grizzlies, Nike, Wingstop, Kim Kardashian, and more, the “Pushin P” trend has gone big.

Gunna seems to be enjoying the success he’s having, as evidenced by a recent video featuring himself, Pusha T, and Pharrell. In it, Pusha and Pharrell are seated next to each other while Gunna records with his phone. Gunna zooms in on Pusha and says “Push” before zooming in on Pharrell to say “P.” He then pans the camera back and forth between Pusha and Pharell while saying “Push and P,” sounding a lot like “Pushin P.” Gunna starts laughing, as do Pusha and Pharell themselves. So at least someone is having a good 2022.

You can watch the clip in the video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lana Del Rey and the internet are on the outs lately. Since a few outspoken outbursts about her perception as a woman — along with commentary about some of her female peers, mostly women of color — and the pointed diversity of her Chemtrails album cover, she’s been adding quite a few entries to her controversy timeline. No matter, the one time Kanye critic pulled a Kanye, and simply continued releasing hordes of new music to change the conversation.

Since then, Chemtrails and Blue Banisters have both come out, and are both quite excellent records, but Lana has also since stayed off social media. And her fans, well, most of us disagree with her comments but want to keep loving her music, a situation known to many as cognitive dissonance. Which was exactly the phrase that came to mind this weekend, when the US Army itself decided to use a quote from Lana to promote one of their female soldiers for a good old #SoldierSaturday post. “‘Being brave means knowing that when you fail, you don’t fail forever.’ -Lana Del Rey,” they wrote on Twitter, along with the image of a female soldier crawling through the mud.

Between jokes about Lana fans being so depressed about her recent comments that they’d want to join the army, to digs about what kind of physical shape Lana fans are actually in, the internet had a field day with this one. Check out reactions to the strange pairing below.