Mickey Togs

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo has agreed to an eight-year, $162 million contract to stay with the New York Mets. The Mets keep their center fielder and the biggest payroll in baseball only gets bigger.

The Mets added to the league’s highest payroll with the Nimmo deal, having previously re-signed closer Edwin Díaz to a nine-figure deal, as well as signing AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86 million contract, during the ongoing free agency period.

Nimmo has spent his entire professional baseball career with the Mets, having been selected by the franchise in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft and making his Major League Baseball debut in 2016.

The Wyoming native has a .269 career average with 63 home runs and 213 RBIs, which includes hitting for a .274 average, 16 home runs and 64 RBI s in 2022.

Applebee’s is bringing back All-You-Can-Eat Boneless Wings at participating locations.

Starting at $12.99, the returning All-You-Can-Eat offer includes unlimited Boneless Wings in six different flavors, including Classic Buffalo, Honey BBQ, Sweet Asian Chile, Garlic Parmesan, Extra Hot Buffalo or Honey Pepper.

As an added bonus, Applebee’s crispy breaded boneless chicken wings are served with French fries, Applebee’s signature coleslaw, and the choice of Bleu cheese or house-made buttermilk ranch dressing.

Applebee’s All-You-Can-Eat Boneless Wings offer is valid for dine-in only at participating locations nationwide for a limited time.

The Eagles welcomed the return of quarterback Jalen Hurts and – thanks to a career performance by kicker Jake Elliott – were able to outlast the New York Giants 22-16 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

With the win, the Eagles are 2022 NFC East Champions and they clinched the No. 1 seed, ensuring that the NFC Playoffs will come through Philadelphia. The Eagles earned the conference’s lone bye and will return to action in the Divisional Round against the lowest-remaining seed.

The Giants entered Sunday’s game locked in as the No. 6 seed in the NFC, regardless of what happened against the Eagles. For that reason, they rested key starters – running back Saquon Barkley, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, safety Julian Love, and tackle Andrew Thomas were inactive despite being healthy.

Daniel Jones did not start at quarterback. Instead, the Giants went with Davis Webb, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday. The only starters on offense with offensive linemen Ben Bredeson and Nick Gates, who rotate at guard, and tackle Evan Neal.

Defensively, no full-time starters lined up on the opening drive for the Giants.

What was expected to be a low-scoring affair was exactly that in a battle of third-string quarterbacks. A 50-yard field goal by Miami’s Jason Sanders with 18 seconds left was the difference before a safety on the final play solidified an 11-6 Jets loss as the Dolphins clinched a playoff berth. Miami got in thanks to the Patriots’ loss to the Bills.

The Jets finished a once-promising season at 7-10, losing their final six consecutive games.

Joe Flacco got the start at quarterback for the Jets with Mike White injured and Zach Wilson benched. The 37-year-old was 18-for-33 with 149 yards.

Skylar Thompson started for the Dolphins with both Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater out injured. Thompson went 20-for-31 with 152 yards. There were zero touchdowns scored in the game.

For the Jets, the attention will now turn to what they do at the quarterback position after an ugly sophomore season for Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2021 draft.

Bianca Belair had an awesome year. The Raw women’s champion for 262-plus days matured into a true superstar this year. 

Her feuds with Becky Lynch and Bayley were both high-level programs. Belair’s match with Lynch at WrestleMania was one of the best of 2022, period. 

Add to that winning the Elimination Chamber, delivering in the first WWE women’s singles ladder match with Bayley and taking part in the first women’s WarGames on the main roster.

Honorable Mention: Becky Lynch, Bayley, Mandy Rose, Jade Cargill, Jordyn Grace.

The Jets’ late-season collapse is now complete. Mike White threw two interceptions and the Jets failed to reach the end zone for the second straight game in a 23-6 loss to the Seahawks at Lumen Field. 

The loss was the Jets’ fifth straight and they are now officially eliminated from the playoffs, increasing their NFL-worst playoff drought to 12 years. 

“We feel like we blew the season,” rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “We wanted a chance at the playoffs. At the end of the day, that’s what we wanted to do and have a chance to prove ourselves beyond that. We didn’t get there. We don’t feel good about it at all.” 

The Jets entered the game needing to win their final two and have the Patriots lose next week to the Bills. But the Jets could not find the end zone and their defense gave up enough big plays early to send them into a meaningless final week of the season. 

The loss drops the Jets to 7-9, guaranteeing their seventh straight losing season. This was a stunning fall for a team that was 7-4 at the end of November and felt like it was ready to end the playoff drought. Instead, the Jets suffered one of the worst collapses in franchise history. 

The New York Giants are returning to the playoffs after defeating the visiting Indianapolis Colts, 38-10.

The Giants are now bound for the postseason for the first time since 2016 and just the second time since the 2011 season when they won Super Bowl XLVI. Along with clinching a playoff spot, New York (9-6-1) assured its first winning campaign since that same 2016 season.

Brian Daboll became the first Giants rookie head coach to earn a postseason bid since Ben McAdoo in the aforementioned 2016 campaign.

While Daboll will draw deserved acclaim, quarterback Daniel Jones has also become the first starting QB not named Eli Manning to deliver Big Blue to the postseason since Kerry Collins two decades ago in 2002.

Amid the myriad historical notes for one of the NFL’s most storied  franchises, New York checked in as the third NFC East team to lock up a playoff spot, joining the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. The NFL’s most high-profile division hasn’t had three postseason entrants since 2007.

The Zach Wilson era with the New York Jets may be coming to an end after this season.

Many believe the Jets will move on from Wilson, the 2021 No. 2 overall pick, after just two seasons.

Wilson has shown almost no improvement in his two years as the Jets’ starter, and has been benched on two different occasions this season for undrafted quarterbacks Mike White and Chris Streveler on Thursday night. 

The Jets’ offense has moved the ball significantly better with the two replacements than it has with Wilson. That is not a good sign for a player that was selected with the No. 2 pick in the draft and expected to be a franchise player.

The only reason Wilson got his starting job back the past two weeks has been an injury to White. Wilson has not exactly taken advantage of the opportunity. 

In 22 career games he has completed just 55 percent of his passes with only 15 touchdowns to 18 interceptions. He has failed to reach the 160-yard mark in six of his appearances this season, including two of his past three starts. 

A week after pulling off the greatest comeback in NFL history, the Minnesota Vikings nearly blew a double-digit lead of their own before walking off with a dramatic 27-24 victory over the Giants on a Greg Joseph 61-yard field goal as time expired.

The Giants were down 24-16 before putting together a desperation seven-play, 75-yard drive punctuated by Saquon Barkley busting through the middle of the Vikings’ defense for a 27-yard touchdown run.

Needing to convert the two-point conversion to pull even, the Giants did it when Daniel Jones bought time in the pocket, rolled to his right and lobbed the ball into the back of the end zone, over the reach of cornerback Patrick Peterson, where rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger made the grab.

The Vikings took over with 2:01 remaining and used a pair of clutch third-down hookups from Kick Cousins to Justin Jefferson — for 16 and 17 yards — to keep alive an eight-play, 33-yard drive that got in range for Joseph’s mammoth kick.

Daniel Jones was 30-for-42 for 334 yards, but it was a struggle all day for the Giants to find points. Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and the Giants had no answers against Jefferson (12-133) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (13-109), who had two scoring catches.

After their fourth straight loss, the New York Jets have fallen all the way down to tenth place in the AFC standings.

With their victory on Thursday Night Football in Week 16, the Jaguars have passed the Jets for ninth place in the conference. Both the Jaguars and the Jets are 7-8, but Jacksonville now owns the head to head tiebreaker. 

The Jets are also half a game behind the eighth place Patriots who are 7-7. New England also have the head to head tiebreaker  over the Jets.

The Chargers and Dolphins are currently in the sixth and seventh spots in the conference respectively at 8-6 a game and a half ahead of the Jets. 

The Jets need to pass three of those four teams to make the postseason. Needless to say, things look bleak with only two games left in the regular season. The biggest problem is the Jets need to win, and they aren’t looking capable of that.