Mickey Togs

“BEASTS. When you one up Gronk you’re doing something right,” Brady wrote on his X account in response to Bleacher Report‘s post announcing the record-breaking feat.

Brady and Gronkowski initially surpassed the previous record of 12 set by San Francisco 49ers legends Joe Montana and Jerry Rice during their Super Bowl LV against Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs.

Christian McCaffrey scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard run with  1:07 to play, and the San Francisco 49ers mounted their first second-half comeback of the season to beat the Green Bay Packers 24-21 in a divisional-round playoff game on Saturday night.

After spending all regular season as front-runners, the Niners (13-5) needed to come from behind for a change, and Brock Purdy and McCaffrey did just enough on the last drive to send San Francisco to its third straight NFC championship game.

Purdy went 6 for 7 for 47 yards on the decisive drive, converting a third down to Brandon Aiyuk and then a 17-yarder to Chris Conley.

McCaffrey finished it off with his run on third-and-short and the 49ers’ defense held on from there, with Dre Greenlaw intercepting Jordan Love for the second time to seal San Francisco’s fifth straight playoff win over Green Bay (10-9).

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady shared a tribute to his longtime former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick following the team’s announcement to part ways with the six-time Super Bowl champion.

“I’m incredibly grateful to have played for the best coach in the history of the NFL,” Brady wrote in an Instagram post. “He was a great leader for the organization, and for all of the players who played for him. We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate. He worked every day to help us achieve the ultimate goal, in the ultimate team sport.”  

“He set the tone for the organization, to never Falter in the face of adversity, and to do what we could do, and what was in our control, which was to go out and DO OUR JOB.” 

“I could never have been the player I was without you Coach Belichick. I am forever grateful. And I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose next.” 

World Wrestling Entertainment reportedly released several wrestlers shortly after its announced $1.4 billion new television deal with NBCUniversal.

TKO Group Holdings, the media conglomerate launched as part of WWE’s merger with the parent company of the UFC, reportedly agreed to a five-year domestic media rights partnership with NBCUniversal, with its television program, SmackDown, set to return to USA Network. 

The deal, which does not include WWE’s RAW or NXT programs that currently air on USA Network, is reported to pay an average of $287 million per year, an estimated 40% increase from the five-year, $205 million deal with FOX for SmackDown.

Shortly after the reported deal, the releases of several notable in-ring competitors was announced.

Former world champion Dolph Ziggler and former Intercontinental champion Shelton Benjamin were among several of those released, along with Emma, Rick Boogs, Aliyah, Elias, Riddick Moss and Top Dolla of the group ‘Hit Row.’

Starbucks is introducing new Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino blended beverage, new White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew and more.

In addition to the two new sips, Starbucks is also offering a new bite-sized Bumblebee Cake Pop as well as a new whole bean packaged coffee, Starbucks Green Apron Blend.

The new Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino blended beverage features Starbucks Frappuccino roast coffee, sweet chocolate, and mint flavors blended with rich Frappuccino chips. The beverage is finished with a layer of mocha sauce, whipped cream, and a chocolate cookie mint sprinkle topping.

Meanwhile, new White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brewcombines the balanced and smooth taste of Starbucks Cold Brew, sweetened with macadamia syrup, topped with a white chocolate macadamia cream cold foam and finished with toasted cookie crumbles.

The Philadelphia Eagles are going to the playoffs, but their late-season swoon continued with a listless performance at MetLife Stadium losing to the New York Giants 27-10 in Week 18. 

The Giants jumped out to an early lead and then coasted as the Eagles ruled out injured players and pulled other regulars with an eye on next weekend’s playoff game in Tampa.

The Giants win moved them to 6-11 on the season. That matters for draft positioning, but more short-term attention will be paid to the Eagles’ side of things, who finish 11-6.

Saquon Barkley’s two first-half touchdown runs and a touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to Darius Slayton helped the Giants into a 24-0 halftime lead. The Eagles, having already lost AJ Brown to injury, opted to give up on the possibility of a comeback as they rested key starters like quarterback Jalen Hurts and center Jason Kelce.

The Eagles — subsequently led by backup quarterback Marcus Mariota — finally got on the board with a field goal late in the third quarter, then cut the lead to 24-10 on a Mariota to Quez Watkins touchdown pass with 10 minutes remaining, but a Mason Crosby field goal on New York’s next drive with under four minutes to go made the game a three-possession gap once again to effectively ice it.

Both the Jets’ 15-game losing streak to the Patriots and their dismal 2023 season came to an end Sunday afternoon in a 17-3 win over New England in game played through heavy snow.

The game may be memorable only because it is believed that it was Bill Belichick’s final game as Patriots coach. There has been rampant speculation that Belichick will be out as coach this week.

The Jets got the win with another strong game by their defense, three Greg Zuerlein field goals and a 50-yard touchdown from Breece Hall to ice the game. The Jets leaned on Hall all day. He had a career-high 37 carries for 178 yards and broke the long touchdown with 1:47 left in the game. Hall finished the season just shy of 1,000 yards rushing, finishing the year with 994 yards in his return from ACL surgery. He had 1,585 yards from scrimmage.

The victory means the Jets end the season 7-10, the same record they had in 2022. A season that began with massive expectations due to the trade for quarterback Aaron Rodgers ended up being a slog with Rodgers suffering a torn left Achilles four plays into the season.

The Jets never truly recovered from losing Rodgers. They had a three-game winning streak in October that gave false hope, but injuries along the offensive line mounted and the offense went into a slumber that led to a five-game losing streak and ended any hopes of making the playoffs.

The Giants (5-11) have now had remarkable upset bids fall short against a pair of playoff teams in a span of six days. They had a chance to beat the Eagles in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, but Taylor’s final heave into the end zone was intercepted.

For the second consecutive game, the New York Giants brought a playoff contender down to the wire with takeaways and clutch touchdowns. But just like they did six days ago in Philadelphia, they came up just short in a 26-25 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the penultimate week of the regular season.

After he took over for Tommy DeVito at halftime of Monday’s game against the Eagles, Tyrod Taylor got the starting nod at quarterback for Week 17. In his fourth start of the season, Taylor completed 27 of 41 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown with an interception late in the second quarter on a deep attempt to wide receiver Darius Slayton down the right sideline. Taylor was sacked six times.

Saquon Barkley, who moved into fourth place on the Giants’ all-time rushing list last week, ran 12 times for 39 yards on Sunday.

The Giants (5-11) wrap up their 99th season with a visit from the Philadelphia Eagles (11-5), who won the first leg of the season series, 33-25, on Christmas Day. The Rams (9-7) play at San Francisco in the  regular-season finale.

Ben & Jerry’s expands its collection of Topped ice cream flavors with the debut of two new dessert-themed offerings: Bossin’ Cream Pie Topped and Raspberry Cheesecake Topped.

Bossin’ Cream Pie Topped features a vanilla custard ice cream with cake pieces and pastry cream swirls topped with milk chocolatey ganache and fudge chips.

Raspberry Cheesecake Topped consists of a cheesecake ice cream with raspberry swirls and graham cracker pieces topped with white chocolatey ganache and graham cracker crumble – heavy on the graham cracker crumble.

Both new flavors are full-time additions to Ben & Jerry’s Topped offerings and can be found in the freezer aisle at grocery stores.