The Sports Report: Matthew Stafford delivers a stunner for the Rams

Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably spending his day off watching the World Series again. Let’s get right to the news.

From Gary Klein: Sluggishly streaking in Seattle.

That’s what the Rams did Sunday.

They won their third game in a row, and accomplished it with a less-than-inspiring but wholly effective 26-20 overtime victory over the Seahawks before 68,632 at Lumen Field.

Matthew Stafford’s touchdown pass to receiver Demarcus Robinson ended a game that was devoid of sustained beauty but improved the Rams’ record to 4-4.

Consider:

• Rams star receiver Puka Nacua was ejected for punching a Seahawks player after an interception.
  
• Officials called 20 penalties, eight against the Rams.
  
• The Rams gave up two touchdown passes in the final minute of the first half, right tackle Rob Havenstein left the game because of an injury, the Seahawks blocked a punt and the Rams converted only three of 13 third downs.

And they still won.

“What a unique, weird game that was,� coach Sean McVay said.

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Rams box score

NFL scores

NFL standings

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The offense dominated in the first half. The defense made the flashy plays in the second.

The Chargers added it up to a 27-10 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Huntington Park Stadium to approach the middle of the season with three wins in their last four games.

Instead of maintaining sustained dominance on both sides, the Chargers (5-3) passed the baton between the offense and defense. They built a 17-point halftime lead and then went cold, punting three straight times in the third quarter.

The defense then arrived with three second-half interceptions and came 44 seconds away from a second consecutive game without allowing a touchdown until Cedric Tillman tapped his toes in-bounds for a late 17-yard score.

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: For the first time in four years, the Dodgers are once again World Series champions.

That doesn’t mean they enter the offseason without any questions.

Just as soon as the team had descended its rally stage at Dodger Stadium on Friday, following the first Dodgers parade in Los Angeles in 36 years, manager Dave Roberts remarked it might be the last time the group is all together.

“The landscape of the roster is certainly going to change,� Roberts said. “That’s the nature of baseball.�

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MORE DODGERS

L.A. toasts its World Series champion Dodgers: ‘The city needed this parade’

Clayton Kershaw revels in his first World Series parade, reveals additional injury

Dodgers fans turn to lucky jerseys, sweaters, rosaries and prayer to help team win the title

Photos: Dodgers celebrate World Series win with massive parade, Dodger Stadium event

The Dodgers World Series parade: What it means to the city

Dodgers World Series parade: Thousands celebrate in the streets and at Dodger Stadium

Shaikin: Baseball’s best rivalry is no longer Yankees-Red Sox. It’s Dodgers vs. Padres

L.A. Times book ‘Fernando Valenzuela: Amor Eterno’ chronicling Dodgers legend life on sale

USC

From Ryan Kartje: A long, cold night for USC had been leading here, to the doorstep of the Washington goal line, just a few familiar feet away from redemption.

For much of Saturday’s 26-21 loss to Washington, as rain fell in sheets and a freezing wind blew off Lake Washington, Lincoln Riley stuck stubbornly with his gut, testing the nation’s No. 1 pass defense by throwing into a downpour with a struggling quarterback. Riley has held tightly to his instincts in the face of criticism throughout USC’s nightmare season, defiant to suggestions the Trojans weren’t heading in the right direction, even as one close loss turned to another, and another, and another.

But after climbing back against Washington, taking a lead, then giving it away again, it was the ground game that carried the Trojans to that pivotal goal-line moment. And it was Riley who had dialed up 11 runs in 12 plays, grinding clock all the way to the one-yard-line, within just a few feet of exorcising USC’s fourth-quarter demons.

The failure to bridge that oh-so-narrow gap had, to this point, been the story of USC’s season, and Riley had distinctly chosen one side of that Rorschach test, pointing repeatedly to how close the Trojans had come. But here, just as Woody Marks was handed the ball on fourth down and a few feet away, the protection around him collapsed, and the walls closed in once again on USC.

“Just a blown assignment up front at the wrong time,� Riley said.

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USC box score

Big Ten scores

Big Ten standings

UCLA

From Ben Bolch: As the ball sailed through the air, his team’s fate hanging in the balance, Kaylin Moore seemed bound to be an observer to destiny.

The UCLA cornerback appeared to be standing behind the play as teammate Bryan Addison and Nebraska slot receiver Jacory Barney Jr. jostled for the pass that could put the Cornhuskers on the verge of a stunning comeback.

Once down by 20 points, Nebraska was driving on UCLA’s side of the field in the final minute Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium. A touchdown could tie the score or give the Cornhuskers an unlikely victory with a two-point conversion.

Moore made sure neither was a possibility.

After Addison and Barney collided going for the pass, the ball bounced off Barney’s knee and hung in the air. Moore lunged for the leather at the Bruins’ 13-yard line, cradling the ball and victory in his hands.

Collapse averted. Game over.

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UCLA box score

MORE UCLA

No stars, just talent? UCLA basketball hopes an ensemble cast can put it back on top

LAFC

Vancouver got an early goal from a red-hot Ryan Gauld and two own goals from Western Conference top seed LAFC, Yohei Takaoka posted his third clean sheet in five postseason starts, and the Whitecaps breezed to a 3-0 victory on Sunday night to even their best-of-three first-round series for the MLS Cup.

Vancouver, the eighth seed in the West, jumped out to a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the match and carried it into halftime on a goal by Gauld and an own goal by LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead.

Gauld gave the Whitecaps the lead with an unassisted goal off a deflection in the 10th minute. Gauld has five goals this postseason after not scoring in his first three playoff appearances. He had a hat trick in a 5-0 victory at home over the Portland Timbers in the wild-card round and scored the only goal for Vancouver in a 2-1 loss to LAFC in the series opener.

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LAKERS

From Dan Woike: The play was set in motion more than an hour before tip off Friday night in Canada, Lakers guards D’Angelo Russell and Max Christie strategizing on one side of the team’s locker room as they got ready for the Raptors.

Through the first two weeks of the season, Christie had struggled.

“I’m just playing robotically,� he told people.

In his third season, now with a real role as the first player consistently off the bench, a lot of the momentum he had built over the summer and preseason was slipping away under a pile of missed shots and defensive uncertainty.

Russell saw a window to do a little something about it.

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DUCKS

Connor Bedard had three assists and Teuvo Teravainen got his first goal in 10 games as the Chicago Blackhawks picked up their second straight win in Southern California, defeating the Ducks 4-2 on Sunday night.

Isaak Phillips, Ryan Donato and Seth Jones also scored for the Blackhawks, who beat the Kings in a shootout on Saturday and have won three of four. Taylor Hall also had two assists and Arvid Soderblom stopped 37 shots for his first win of the season.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1934 — The Detroit Lions rush for an NFL-record 426 yards in a 40-7 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The only bright spot for the Pirates is scoring the first touchdown against Detroit this season, ending the Lions’ shutout streak at seven games.

1951 — The U.S. wins six of eight singles matches and ties another to win the Ryder Cup 9½-2½ over Britain at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

1959 — Ernie Banks, Cubs shortstop, wins his 2nd consecutive NL MVP.

1960 — Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia scores 44 points and sets an NBA record by missing all 10 of his free throws in the Warriors 136-121 victory the Detroit Pistons.

1976 — Baseball holds its first free agent draft with 24 players from 13 major league clubs participating. Reggie Jackson eventually signs the most lucrative contract of the group, $2.9 million over five years with the New York Yankees. Others free agents are Joe Rudi, Don Gullett, Gene Tenace, Rollie Fingers, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and Willie McCovey.

1984 — Seattle’s Dave Brown returns two interceptions for touchdowns in a 31-17 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs.

1987 — NBA announces 4 new franchises; Charlotte & Miami for 1988 & Minneapolis & Orlando for 1989.

1989 — Sunday Silence holds off the late charge by favorite Easy Goer to win the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by a neck at Gulfstream Park.

2000 — R.J. Bowers rushes for 128 yards to become the first player in NCAA history to gain 7,000 yards in his career, leading Grove City past Carnegie Mellon 14-10.

2000 — In the highest scoring Division I-AA game in NCAA history, Ricky Ray passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns and scores three more to lead Sacramento State over Cal State Northridge 64-61.

2001 — Luis Gonzalez’s RBI single caps a two-run rally off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth, and the Arizona Diamondbacks win their first championship by beating the New York Yankees 3-2 in Game 7.

2006 — Rod Brind’Amour of Carolina scores his 1,000th career point, assisting on a goal in the Hurricanes’ 3-2 win over Ottawa.

2007 — Adrian Peterson runs for an NFL-record 296 yards and three touchdowns in Minnesota’s 35-17 win over San Diego.

2009 — The New York Yankees win the World Series, beating the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 behind Hideki Matsui’s record-tying six RBIs.

2012 — Andrew Luck breaks the NFL’s single-game rookie record by throwing for 433 yards in leading Indianapolis to a 23-20 win over Miami

2016 — Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell and Josh Anderson score two goals apiece and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat Montreal 10-0, matching the biggest loss in the Canadiens’ storied history.

2017 — Quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for a career-high 265 yards and Army ends Air Force’s 306-game scoring streak with a 21-0 victory.

2017 — With a 31-24 overtime victory over Nebraska, Northwestern becomes the first Football Bowl Subdivision program to win three consecutive overtime games.

Compiled by the Associated Press