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A8 SPORTS
Tuesday 28 January 2025

Chiefs have 2 more calls go their way in another playoff win

By ROB MAADDI with new technology to
AP Pro Football Writer measure line to gain that
Another Kansas City Chiefs could eventually replace
playoff win. Another game the chain gang, who use
where officiating steals two bright orange sticks
some of the spotlight. and a chain to measure for
Patrick Mahomes rallied first downs.
Kansas City to a 32-29 vic- Determining ball place-
tory over Josh Allen and the ment through technology
Bills in the AFC champion- is another story. It requires
ship game Sunday, send- digital components inside
ing the Chiefs back to the a football and it’s unknown
Super Bowl for the fifth time how accurate it would be
in six years with a chance when bodies are piled up.
to become the first team to Last week, Kansas City ben-
threepeat. efited from two roughing-
But much of the talk cen- the-passer penalties during
tered on two more calls a 23-14 victory over Hous-
that went Kansas City’s ton. Hall of Fame quarter-
way. back Troy Aikman, who
In the first half, Xavier Wor- Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce celebrates after the Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills in was calling the game with
thy was credited with a the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. Joe Buck on ESPN, was ap-
catch when he wrestled Associated Press palled after one of them.
the ball away from Bills CBS rules analyst Gene Allen was stopped on a cision. “I felt like he gained “Oh, come on! I mean, he’s
safety Cole Bishop for a Steratore also didn’t think it sneak even though it ap- it by about a third of the a runner. I could not dis-
26-yard gain to Buffalo’s 3. was a catch. peared one official marked football,” Steratore said on agree with that one more.
The ball appeared to hit The Bills challenged but the ball past the line of gain the broadcast. “That was He barely gets hit.”
the ground and the CBS the play was upheld and before another placed it just my take on the play. Aikman said on the broad-
broadcast crew expressed Mahomes then ran in for a short. Replay review up- Tough, tough play.” cast. “They’ve gotta ad-
confusion about the ruling. score and a 21-10 lead. held the call because there Romo agreed with him. dress it in the offseason.”
“I can see it cause you can’t Buffalo rallied to take a 22- wasn’t clear evidence to But the Chiefs took over ESPN rules analyst Russell
completely say no, but that 21 lead and faced a fourth- overturn it. The league had and drove for a go-ahead Yurk agreed, pointing out
ball hits (the ground),” ana- and-1 at Kansas City’s 41 a full crew of replay experts touchdown. that two Texans collided
lyst Tony Romo said. early in the fourth quarter. in New York to make the de- The NFL has experimented with each other.q

Australian Open champion Madison Keys back into women’s top

10 with 3 other Americans

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) place to No. 9, in the wom- he beat in straight sets for
— Australian Open wom- en’s top 10. a second consecutive Aus-
en’s champion Madison Sabalenka, who was at- tralian Open championship
Keys returned to her ca- tempting to achieve a rare on Sunday.
reer-best ranking on Mon- three-peat of the Australian Carlos Alcaraz remains at
day and joins three other Open title remains at No. 1, No. 3, as does Taylor Fritz
American women in the and Iga Swiatek stays at at No. 4, while Daniil Med-
WTA top 10, while men’s No. 2 after her loss to Keys vedev slipped two places
champion Jannik Sinner in a thrilling semifinal. to No. 7 after a bad-tem-
maintained his significant Olympic gold medalist pered second-round exit at
lead atop the ATP list. Zheng Qinwen dropped Melbourne.
Keys won her first Grand three places to No. 8, while Novak Djokovic, who re-
Slam title with a three-set former No. 2 Paola Badosa tired with a hamstring injury
victory over the top-ranked rose two places to round during the Australian Open
Aryna Sabalenka on Satur- out the top 10 after her semifinals, rose one spot to
day to move from No. 14 semifinal run at Melbourne No. 6, behind Casper Ruud.
and match her career-high Madison Keys of the U.S. reacts as she receives the the Daphne Park. Tommy Paul is the new face
at No. 7. Akhurst Memorial Cup from Evonne Goolagong Cawley after The men’s top four rank- in the men’s top 10, reach-
Keys joins fellow Americans defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women’s singles ings remained as they were ing a career-best No. 9 af-
Coco Gauff (No. 3), Jessica final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, with Sinner at No. 1 a spot ter his quarterfinal appear-
Australia, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
Pegula (No. 6) and Emma Associated Press he’s held since June lead- ance at Melbourne Park.q
Navarro, who slipped one ing Alexander Zverev, who