Tom Brady believes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a knack for making life tough for themselves after coming from behind to beat the Carolina Panthers and claim the NFC South division on Sunday.

A 20-point fourth-quarter performance at Raymond James Stadium saw the Florida outfit storm home to take a 30-24 win, improving to 8-8 for the season.

It is a second straight division title for the Buccaneers, who will have the chance to finish the season with a winning record when they face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 18.

Brady, who threw for 432 yards and delivered three long touchdowns to Mike Evans, saw his side dig themselves out for the second week in a row, leaving him to ponder if they bring their struggles upon themselves.

"NFL games are tough to win, and we always figure out a way to keep them somehow exciting," he said afterwards. "I wish they wouldn't be as exciting as we made them.

"We've battled through a lot of tough things this year [but we are] happy to win the division. It's always tough to do it."

Head coach Todd Bowles concurred his team like to make things difficult, but acknowledged their success proved to be the ultimate prize, regardless of how they claimed it.

"Every year, you try to win the division, and we won the division," he added. "It doesn't matter how you win the division. My heart ain't got much left in it, but it feels great.

"We're in one spot we need to be. We can't get where we want to be unless we win the division. We won the division."

Nico Gonzalez is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a fractured metatarsal during Valencia's 2-1 LaLiga defeat to Villarreal on New Year's Eve.

The midfielder, who joined Valencia on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona in August, did the damage in the second half of Saturday's game.

On New Year's Day, Valencia revealed the extent of the damage Nico has sustained.

The club said in a statement: "Nico Gonzalez has been diagnosed with a fracture of his fifth left metatarsal, suffered in the LaLiga game against Villarreal CF.

"The player and the Valencia CF medical team will assess treatment options for the injury."

Nico, who turns 21 on Tuesday, has made 13 LaLiga appearances for Gennaro Gattuso's side this season, with just six of those coming as a starter.

He signed a long-term deal with Barca before making a temporary move to their LaLiga rivals.

Cameron Jordan reached the top of the New Orleans Saints' all-time sack leaderboard after collecting three in Sunday's 20-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jordan, 33, entered the Week 17 contest with five-and-a-half sacks for the season, but he dominated the Eagles' offensive line and made life miserable for backup quarterback Gardner Minshew.

He had two sacks in the first half – leaving him a half-sack away from Rickey Jackson's franchise record of 115 – before finding Minshew again and forcing a fumble on the Eagles' final drive to reach the summit.

Jordan reached the figure in 191 games, while Jackson played in 195 during his career from 1981-1993. The third-placed Saint, Wayne Martin, is well adrift on 82.5 sacks from 171 games.

His rise to the top is even more unlikely when taking into account that he only posted one sack in his rookie season, before putting together 11 consecutive campaigns of at least seven-and-a-half.

Speaking to the media after the win, Jordan reflected on that journey,

"If you look at the last 11 years of my career, after I earned the right to play on third down," he said. "You go from rookie year having one sack, starting 15 out of the 16 games, to where I'm at now – I just needed opportunity.

"I knew I was a pass rusher, I knew I was an edge rusher. I told them in my second year to give me a chance and you'll never have to worry about it. I told Sean Payton when I first got drafted 'let's do this'. 

"I came with the mindset to be the best that I can be – I don't want to just be a pass rusher though.

"I'll let you guys label me however you want to, but just know if there's a first down, second down, third-and-one, I'm going to be on the field. I'm not jetting up the field, I'm not turning at 12, I'm fighting for each and every yard. 

"They don't run to my side for a reason."

A three-time All-Pro selection, Jordan has also made the past five Pro Bowls, giving him seven for his career.

Big-spending Nottingham Forest are ready to add to their army of players this month as Steve Cooper revealed Jesse Lingard faces a month out of action.

Manager Cooper believes the club will make every effort to bolster his squad ahead of a push to secure Premier League safety.

Forest made 21 signings in the last transfer window, during the English summer, with free agent Serge Aurier later joining the flood of arrivals after the deadline passed for deals between clubs.

It was an extraordinary burst of activity from the promoted team, back in the English top flight for the first time since 1999, and they are determined to ensure it is not a one-season return to the elite.

After Sunday's 1-1 draw against Chelsea, in which Aurier scored, Cooper was asked about the prospect of making new signings, and he said: "I think so, hope so.

"I trust in the club to get to work, and if there are some things that can help the squad and the team and what we need, then we will do that.

"You say it a little bit through gritted teeth, because of what went on in the summer, and there's that sense of Forest signing players again, but the summer was the summer, you have to look at where we're at now."

Forest sit 18th in the 20-team Premier League, with three sides to be relegated.

Cooper confirmed former Manchester United and England midfielder Lingard will be unavailable for a stretch of fixtures due to a hamstring problem.

"We've picked up some long-term injuries since the summer to key players. Jesse's out for a month now," Cooper told Sky Sports.

"If we can add the right players in the right positions, then we'll need to do that, and we'll want to do it as well."

Paris Saint-Germain did not lose to Lens simply because Lionel Messi and Neymar were unavailable, according to captain Marquinhos.

The Ligue 1 leaders slipped to a first loss of the season, with goals for Przemyslaw Frankowski, Lois Openda and Alexis Claude-Maurice ensuring a 3-1 defeat at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Sunday.

Christophe Galtier's side were missing key personnel, with Messi only just returning from a post-World Cup victory break and Neymar banned after a red card against Strasbourg.

However, Marquinhos refused to cite the lack of the former Barcelona pair, instead suggesting PSG were simply outclassed by a superior opponent.

"They are great players who make the difference," Marquinhos told Amazon Prime Video. "But we have already won without them.

"We have to find the cohesion of our team again. I think Lens were more efficient, especially in the first half. They won the duels which made the difference.

"We had opportunities to come back, to score, but we weren't able to be as efficient as they were."

PSG's defeat was their first in Ligue 1 since March last year against Monaco, ending a 25-game streak without a loss in the top-flight.

It marked a first competitive reverse as PSG head coach for Galtier, after succeeding Mauricio Pochettino ahead of this campaign, and he felt his side gave an uncharacteristic account of themselves.

"Lens deserve this victory," Galtier said. "I had a hard time recognising my team. We lacked cohesion, we collapsed as the match progressed.

"We gave a lot of space away, we made a lot of technical errors. There was a lot of surprising wastefulness from my boys. They don't give me that habit usually."

Jurgen Klopp reiterated Liverpool are not prepared to play "monopoly" in the January transfer window after signing Cody Gakpo.

The Reds acted swiftly to land Netherlands forward Gakpo from PSV in a deal that will reportedly cost them around £37million (€42m).

Liverpool confirmed Gakpo's arrival before the window opened and the 23-year-old watched Friday's 2-1 Premier League win over Leicester City at Anfield on Friday.

Klopp has stated time and again the Merseyside club are not prepared to splash the cash and the Reds manager says that stance has not changed.

He said ahead of Monday's trip to Brentford: "I'm now over seven years in the job and every transfer window is the same. We talk about these things as though money wouldn't play any role.

"I don't want to disappoint anyone, but we've signed an outstanding player in Cody Gakpo and the next thing you read is 'who's next?'.

"Honestly, we cannot play like monopoly. Of course we cannot just spend, and we never could. It's a big part of my philosophy, working full of faith and trust with the players we have, and not constantly questioning them by telling them we need another player for their position.

"I think with Cody it's obvious, not only because of the void we have, the quality he has, the timing is perfect. If we'd have waited for the summer he'd have been more expensive or someone else would have picked him.

"There's a lot of potential and it makes a lot of sense with the games we will have; we will only have more games. It's clear you need to bring quality in all positions. You need two teams on the same level that you can rotate, so that's what we try to prepare.

"But people are surprised when I then say we won't be 'splashing the cash'. Again, if there's something we can do, with the right player, the right financial situation, we'll do it. If not, we won't."

Klopp revealed no members of his squad have requested a new challenge this month.

He added: "Nobody has come to me and asked to leave the club. If that was the case I'd always listen to a player. The last thing I want to do is force someone to stay at Liverpool. But nobody has come here yet ahead of the transfer window opening. Maybe they're waiting for that."

Liverpool have enhanced their chances of securing a top-four finish by winning four consecutive Premier League games.

Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez playing together could help Manchester City to break down teams who sit back against them, according to Pep Guardiola.

City lost ground in the title race on Saturday after drawing 1-1 at home to struggling Everton, with leaders Arsenal then extending their advantage at the Premier League summit to seven points with a 4-2 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Haaland had given City the lead against the Toffees, but Demarai Gray scored a superb strike to peg the champions back and hold them to just a point, putting another dent in their title hopes after losing at home to Brentford in the final game before the World Cup break.

In his attempts to win the game, Guardiola brought on World Cup winner Alvarez up top with Haaland in the 87th minute, and though it did not reward him with three points on this occasion, he says he may have to start the pair if they are to improve their results at home.

"You have two strikers who are going to score goals," City boss Guardiola said after the game.

"To create the chances you have to make the process and for the process sometimes you need other types of players to create these chances.

"But of course they can play together - especially in defence against five at the back they can play together.

"In the last minutes when it is 1-1, we needed people in a central role, in and around the box, and that's why he [Alvarez] played."

Phil Foden has come off the bench in all three of City's games since returning from the World Cup, with England team-mate Jack Grealish preferred to start over him in the last two league matches.

Asked whether Foden needs to adapt to be included in his starting line-up, Guardiola replied: "No, Phil can play in a thousand, million positions.

"When I am in the pitch and in the training sessions, I see something with my intuition and I decided to play with Jack for these games because Jack give us extra, extra, extra passes.

"When it is more vertical, Phil is better, so both can combine, both can play together but this time I decided on this line-up."

The Philadelphia Eagles again missed the chance to clinch the number one seed in the NFC as they were stunned 20-10 at home by the New Orleans Saints.

Philadelphia's offense was again without quarterback Jalen Hurts because of a shoulder injury and, after coming up short in a thriller with the Dallas Cowboys last week, the Eagles saw their attack sputter with backup Gardner Minshew under center.

The Saints, who went into the game still in the mix to win the NFC South, dominated time of possession in the first half and led 13-0 at the long break thanks a Taysom Hill one-yard touchdown run and a pair of Will Lutz field goals.

Philadelphia looked to have found the necessary spark when, after a Jake Elliott field goal got them on the board, Minshew and A.J. Brown connected for a 78-yard catch and run.

However, it proved a false dawn for the Eagles, whose defeat was essentially confirmed when Marshon Lattimore intercepted Minshew and returned the pick 11 yards for a touchdown as the four-time Pro Bowl corner returned from a 10-week injury absence.

The Saints' victory means the Eagles drop to 13-3, giving the Minnesota Vikings (12-3) and San Francisco 49ers (11-4) hope they could yet catch Philadelphia and win the race for the NFC's only first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

New Orleans can still reach the postseason, but the NFC South title is out of reach.

BUCS CLINCH SOUTH

The South is beyond the Saints because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinched it with a 30-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Tampa Bay knew they would win the division with triumph, but trailed 21-10 after Sam Darnold's third touchdown pass of the game. However, having tossed a 63-yard touchdown to Mike Evans in the first half, Tom Brady hit on two further deep shots of 57 and 30 yards to complete a turnaround for the Bucs.

Evans' decisive hat-trick came after a run of 11 games without a touchdown, exploding for 207 yards from his 10 catches.

GIANTS BACK IN THE DANCE

The New York Giants will join NFC East rivals the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs after they clinched a postseason berth for the first time since 2016 by routing the Indianapolis Colts 38-10.

Their win leaves just one NFC playoff berth up for grabs, and the Detroit Lions will be confident of grabbing it following their 41-10 blowout of the Chicago Bears. Meanwhile, Carson Wentz threw three interceptions as the Washington Commanders' hopes suffered a blow with a 24-10 home loss to the Cleveland Browns.

On the AFC side, the New England Patriots' held a Tua Tagovailoa-less Miami Dolphins offense in check in a 23-21 win that kept their Wild Card hopes, as well as those of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders, alive.

Paris Saint-Germain slipped to a first defeat of the season as second-placed Lens demonstrated their Ligue 1 title credentials with an impressive 3-1 victory at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Goals for Przemyslaw Frankowski, Lois Openda and Alexis Claude-Maurice in an entertaining New Year's Day contest reduced PSG's lead at the summit to four points.

Hugo Ekitike equalised in the first half, but Christophe Galtier's side were second best in their first game of 2023 as they await the return of Lionel Messi following his World Cup triumph with Argentina.

It was a dream start to 2023 for Lens boss Franck Haise, who celebrated his 100th match in charge in style.

A raucous crowd did not have to wait long for fireworks, with Frankowski on hand to apply the finish after Gianluigi Donnarumma could only parry Massadio Haïdara’s strike into his path five minutes in.

PSG promptly struck back three minutes later, when Ekitike poked a finish beyond Brice Samba, though the Lens keeper claimed the ball was kicked out of his hands by the forward.

Lens took that setback in their stride, and they were back in front with a goal on the break just before the half-hour mark, Openda taking a pass from captain Seko Fofana and beating Marquinhos before firing under Donnarumma.

Things went from bad to worse for PSG when Openda turned provider with a superb backheel for Claude-Maurice to rifle home two minutes after the restart.

There was no way back for the Parisian giants as Lens showed they are capable of putting up a serious title fight.

Chelsea must stick together to keep their top-four hopes alive this season, with Cesar Azpilicueta calling on his team-mates to staunch their loss of points.

The Blues slipped to a draw against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, as Serge Aurier cancelled out Raheem Sterling's opener in a 1-1 encounter.

It leaves Graham Potter's side with just one win in their past five Premier League games, and with a seven-point gap to fourth-place Manchester United.

With only 25 points this season, Chelsea are slipping away from Champions League qualification contention, but Azpilicueta issued a cry to turn matters around.

"Every point matters, and today we lost two points, that's clear," he told Sky Sports. "Since the beginning of the season, we [have] lost too many points.

"Now we are far from where we want to be, and every game you don't win is a chance that you miss. This is the reality when you see the table, that's where we are.

"We need to have a very good second half of the season if we want to achieve Champions League for next season. We have to stick together.

"We know this is not the most pleasant time, but in these difficult moments, we need everybody to stick together, to work hard, to improve, to be humble."

Sterling's early goal had looked to put Chelsea in firm control at the City Ground, but Steve Cooper's under-fire hosts bounced back in the second half.

With nine shots against one from the Blues after the interval, Forest earned their equaliser, and Azpilicueta acknowledges his side let the game slip away.

"They were putting more pressure [on us] and we were not able to escape," he added. "They created a few chances, and we lost two points.

"We were not able to find the right space to calm down their reaction. We were not able to manage that kind of situations."

Chelsea will regather themselves next for back-to-back clashes with Manchester City, facing Pep Guardiola's side in the Premier League and FA Cup next week.

Graham Potter described Chelsea's performance as "not good enough" after a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest – as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink warned the Blues face Champions League misery.

Hasselbaink believes his former club are destined to miss out on a top-four finish after they slipped up at the City Ground on New Year's Day.

Chelsea won the Champions League only two seasons ago, and head coach Potter may find himself under pressure if they are not playing in Europe's premier club competition in the 2023-24 campaign.

The London club are eighth in the Premier League, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

Ex-Blues striker Hasselbaink told Sky Sports: "I think they are too far from the top four. Yes, they do miss some really important players – [Reece] James, [N'Golo] Kante, [Ben] Chilwell – but they are defensive-orientated players.

"He [Potter] needs to win matches, he needs to win as many matches as possible. Chelsea need to be in the Champions League. That's not going to happen.

"He's had a lot of injuries and you need to give him time. You need to give him time to mould his team."

Potter saw Chelsea squander an early lead on Sunday, with Raheem Sterling's strike countered by a fine second-half reply from Serge Aurier.

Former Brighton and Hove Albion boss Potter described it as "a hard-earned point against a team that's set up well", and he praised the spirit in the Forest ranks that saw them raise the tempo after half-time.

But that may not wash with the Chelsea supporters who expect their team to be able to ride out such pressure against teams battling to avoid relegation.

Forest, who are 18th in the table, could easily have secured all three points, as they had the better chances in a lively game.

Chelsea have won just one of their last seven Premier League games, losing three and drawing three in that run.

"Our performance level wasn't good enough, I don't think, to take the three points," Potter said.

"When we had control of the game we didn't move the ball fast enough, there wasn't enough movement for us, and when we lost control of the game we struggled a bit."

Potter said it "would have been unfair" if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had converted a late chance. As it happened, the striker failed to get his head on a cross from Hakim Ziyech.

The Chelsea boss said his side "didn't deserve to win the game with that", and he refused to discuss possible new signings, amid claims defender Benoit Badiashile is poised to sign from Monaco.

Asked about Champions League qualification, Potter said: "We've got a long way to go in terms of how we want the team to look and the performance level. It would be a mistake for us to worry about what can happen in five months' time.

"We need to focus on the next match and get our performance level better and more consistent."

The next match is a Premier League home game against reigning champions Manchester City on Thursday, and the game after that is another clash with City on Sunday in the FA Cup third round.

It gets no easier for Potter who said his team's midweek win against Bournemouth had been "a step forward".

"Today was a little bit of a backwards one," he added.

Roger Federer saluted Iga Swiatek's miracle shot at the United Cup, declaring 'that was crazy' in response to a tweet from the world number one.

Swiatek - the winner of eight WTA titles in 2022 including the French Open and US Open - helped Poland to a commanding 4-1 victory over Kazakhstan in their opening match in Brisbane.

With the Poles' first win in the competition secure, the 21-year-old helped Hubert Hurkacz put the icing on the cake with a 6-3 6-4 success in their mixed doubles clash against Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin.

Swiatek's moment of brilliance came at 30-15 in game six. Desperately chasing Lomakin's drop volley after a fiercely contested rally, she produced a wonderful backhand slice around the net post to the amazement of everyone inside the Pat Rafter Arena.

The shot was executed on several occasions by 20-time grand slam champion Federer, who retired last year, including in his third-round clash with Nick Kyrgios at the 2018 US Open.

Swiatek subsequently asked the Swiss in a light-hearted tweet: "Do you approve?" - to which he replied: "That was crazy."

The world number one is back in action on Monday when Poland ironically face Switzerland, who boast the likes of Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic and three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka in Group B.

Mike Evans made history with his 63-yard touchdown reception in the first half of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' critical Week 17 clash with the Carolina Panthers.

The Bucs went into the half trailing 14-10, but knowing victory would clinch the NFC South and their spot in the playoffs.

It would have been much worse for the Bucs if not for Tom Brady's deep shot to Evans, which took the latter to the 1,000-yard mark for the ninth successive season.

That saw him tie Oakland Raiders great Tim Brown for the second-longest such streak in NFL history.

Only San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice has a longer streak (11).

Evans already owned the longest such streak to start a career, extending his own record with a reception that the Bucs hoped would be the catalyst for a comeback in a potentially decisive game.

Marco Verratti was in line to make his 400th appearance for Paris Saint-Germain after being named in the starting XI to face Lens.

Italy playmaker Verratti signed fresh terms with PSG in December, tying him to the Ligue 1 champions until 2026.

Christophe Galtier selected the 30-year-old to take on Lens on Sunday, marking Verratti's 400th game for PSG.

Jean-Marc Pilorget, who played 436 times for PSG between 1975 and 1989, is the only other player to hit the 400 landmark for the club.

Kylian Mbappe, who scored a last-gasp winner against Strasbourg in PSG's first league match back after the World Cup, featured up front, with Neymar suspended due to the red card he received last time out.

Lionel Messi was already ruled out, with the 35-year-old having only been due to return from Argentina this weekend following his World Cup celebrations.

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