Sports briefs
Super Bowl TV
Fox was hoping the matchup of two top teams in the Super Bowl and a close game would lead to a record night.
Even though Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles came down to a field goal with 8 seconds remaining, Fox fell just short of its goal.
The Chiefs’ rally to defeat the Eagles 38-35 is on pace to become the third most-watched television show in history, with an estimated 113 million people watching, according to preliminary numbers released Monday.
Fox said the audience estimate includes the broadcasts on Fox and Fox Deportes as well as streaming on Fox and the NFL’s digital sites. The figures are via Nielsen’s Fast National data and Adobe Analytics.
The 2015 game between New England and Seattle on NBC holds the record at 114,442,000 viewers (not including streaming), followed by Super Bowl 51 in 2017 on Fox between Atlanta and New England (113,668,000).
In the NFL
Conrad Dobler, one of the NFL’s top offensive linemen with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1970s, has died. He was 72.
The Cardinals announced Dobler died Monday in Pueblo, Colo. No cause of death was given.
Dobler played left guard on an offensive line that included Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf for a St. Louis team that became known as the “Cardiac Cardinals.”
• Quarterback Derek Carr turned down a trade offer from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New Orleans Saints, a person with knowledge of the decision said.
That person said Carr wouldn’t accept a pay cut to help finalize the deal, and the Saints were the only team interested in making a trade with the Raiders. Carr has a no-trade clause in his contract.
Given those circumstances and Wednesday’s deadline for the Raiders to trade or release Carr, it appears Las Vegas will cut the veteran quarterback. If the Raiders keep him on their roster, they will owe him $40.4 million in guaranteed money over the next two years.
In the NBA
Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points and led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their seventh straight win, 117-109 on Monday night over the nose-diving San Antonio Spurs, who matched a team record with their 13th consecutive loss.
Mitchell made five 3-pointers and scored 23 in the first half, helping the Cavs build an 18-point lead.
San Antonio’s slide equals the longest in club history. The Spurs also lost 13 straight during the 1988-89 season. Coincidentally, that streak also reached 13 with a loss at Cleveland on March 2, 1989.
In college football
Michigan fired football co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss in January after he failed to attend a meeting to discuss whether he had gained access to computer accounts belonging to other people, according to documents released by the school.
An athletic department official told Weiss that the university had evidence that he had “inappropriately accessed” the accounts.