By BY VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports Rivera takes over a Washington team hoping to rebound from one of the worst seasons in franchise history.https://nyti.ms/2FbJeZH
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports N.F.L. insiders say it will take more than the Rooney Rule to diversify the league’s leadership. Their immediate goal: Increase offensive coaching opportunities for minority candidates, who are often overlooked.https://nyti.ms/2thvo5z
By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN from NYT Sports On the night Corey Ballentine was drafted by the Giants, his college teammate and buddy was killed in a shooting. But Ballentine, who was wounded in the incident, has persevered.https://nyti.ms/37nmlyz
By BY BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports Prioritizing stability, the team released Coach Pat Shurmur on Monday but elected to retain General Manager Dave Gettleman, who has been targeted for poorly managing the roster and player contracts.https://nyti.ms/2F7HSiF
By BY BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports Prioritizing stability, the team released Coach Pat Shurmur on Monday but elected to retain General Manager Dave Gettleman, who has been targeted for poorly managing the roster and player contracts.https://nyti.ms/2SG2BlU
By BY DAN BARRY from NYT Sports Sure, the Giants won a Super Bowl, but the 2010s were mostly a time of anguish and exasperation for the area’s sports fans, especially those who love (and mourn) the Knicks.https://nyti.ms/2Q9MISZ
By BY VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports Shurmur and the Cleveland Browns’ Freddie Kitchens have been dismissed after disappointing seasons.https://nyti.ms/2rFbOQ5
By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports “I thought we’d won in every type of way possible,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said, “but today was another first for us.”https://nyti.ms/2sw9k6Y
By BY KAREN CROUSE from NYT Sports To rebuild her figure skating career after a reckoning with mental health struggles, the Olympian has focused on redefining what success means.https://nyti.ms/2SJz8Ho
By BY ALAN BLINDER AND BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports L.S.U. had college football’s best offense this season. Clemson, the defending national champion, had the best defense. They’ll settle which one matters more in a title showdown on Jan. 13.https://nyti.ms/2F1gHGm
By BY BENJAMIN HOFFMAN from NYT Sports The 49ers hung on for a wild win in Seattle, the Packers and the Chiefs both secured first-round byes, and the Patriots were shocked by Miami.https://nyti.ms/2ZAPzY1
By BY BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports Philadelphia and a healthy contingent of its fans ended the Giants’ season — and perhaps Eli Manning’s career — with a dominant second half.https://nyti.ms/2SCzlfN
By BY RORY SMITH from NYT Sports A weekend filled with exasperating video reviews showed how the sport’s rule book is simply incompatible with the scrutiny of the replay system.https://nyti.ms/37lToDf
By BY BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports The Clemson quarterback took the Tigers 94 yards in four plays late in the fourth quarter to defeat Ohio State, 29-23, in the semifinal of the College Football Playoff.https://nyti.ms/2F2mdIL
By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Louisiana State easily blew past Oklahoma in their College Football Playoff semifinal, 63-28, earning a spot in the Jan. 13 championship game. Burrow, the Heisman Trophy winner, finished with 493 yards passing and eight total touchdowns.https://nyti.ms/2MCdQI5
By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports Two mothers blamed the youth football organization for the deaths of their sons, who were found to have a degenerative brain disease after a fatal motorcycle crash and suicide.https://nyti.ms/2ss5yvm
By BY SHAUNTEL LOWE from NYT Sports The league has been upended in fundamental ways over the past decade, from how teams see players to how players see themselves.https://nyti.ms/2EY4QsF
By BY ZACH SCHONBRUN from NYT Sports The four teams in Saturday’s games are the best field assembled in the six seasons of the playoff format.https://nyti.ms/2sr5jAR
By BY ANDREW MARANISS from NYT Sports In 1936, more than 100,000 spectators were, in the words of one sportswriter, “unbearably bored” by America’s pastime.https://nyti.ms/2MCULp7
By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Louisiana State and Oklahoma are among the nation’s best teams, but they have struggled to win — or even reach — championship games in recent years.https://nyti.ms/2Sx3cWF