Weekend Review With The The Top Games

The Chicago Bears, absent from the playoffs since the 2010 season, will be making a return.

The Bears (10-4) clinched their first NFC North title since 2010 with their 24-17 victory at home on Sunday over the Green Bay Packers (5-8-1). The Bears have won seven of their last eight games.

The Dallas Cowboys (8-6) had a chance to win the NFC East but endured a 23-0 shutout at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts (8-6).

The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5-1) snapped a three-game losing streak and handed the New England Patriots (9-5) their second straight defeat, beating them 17-10. And the San Francisco 49ers (4-10) won their second straight and kept the Seattle Seahawks (8-6) from clinching a wild card by topping them 26-23.

Odd Stat:
Washington quarterback Josh Johnson, the team’s fourth starter this year, won his first NFL start since 2011 as the Redskins (7-7) ended a four-game losing streak with a 16-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-10) on Dustin Hopkins’ 36-yard field goal on the final play. Johnson has been with 13 teams since entering the NFL in 2009.

College Football:
Mary Hardin-Baylor avenged last year’s NCAA Division III title game loss to Mount Union by beating the Purple Raiders 24-16 for the championship on Friday night. The Crusaders (15-0) halted a Mount Union (14-1) winning streak of 29 games.

Fresno State, Tulane, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Utah State won their games that kicked off the bowl season.

Boxing:
Canelo Alvarez won one of the super middleweight title belts on Saturday at Madison Square Garden with a third-round knockout of Rocky Fielding. Alvarez knocked Fielding down four times.

Basketball:
LeBron James and Lonzo Ball each had a triple double for the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday night’s 128-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets. It’s only the eighth time teammates have each had a triple double in the same game.

No. 1 Kansas defeated No. 17 Villanova 74-71. No. 12 North Carolina beat No. 4 Gonzaga 103-90. Old Dominion upset No. 25 Syracuse 68-62.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman