YEARENDER-American Sports: Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl, LA Dodgers win World Series

NFL Superbowl

The Philadelphia Eagles obliterated the Kansas City Chiefs’ bid to become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls with a blowout 40-22 win in New Orleans.

The Eagles defense was simply immense, smothering the Chief's creative maestro Patrick Mahomes, and on offense their own quarterback Jalen Hurts led the way, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another as Philadelphia brutally avenged their 2023 loss to the Chiefs at Super Bowl 57.

Eagles dazzling running back Saquon Barkley grabbed 31 first-half rushing yards to break the all-time NFL record for most rushing yards in a regular season plus playoffs, to add icing to the Eagles' championship cake.

The thumping victory delivered a second Super Bowl win for the Eagles franchise whose other title win was in 2018.

Basketball

The Oklahoma City Thunder capped an extraordinary season by defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to win the franchise's first title since relocating from Seattle in 2008.

League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the scoring in front of a raucous home crowd at Oklahoma City's Paycom Center with 29 points and 12 assists.

He was also crowned the best player of the Finals, marking the first time since Shaquille O'Neal in 2002 that the same player had won the scoring title, regular season and Finals MVP honors.

The championship capped an extraordinary run for the Thunder, who ended the regular season with a 68-14 record, good for the fifth-most wins in a single NBA season.

Baseball

The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in extra innings of a decisive seventh game of the World Series to become Major League Baseball's first repeat champion in 25 years.

The Dodgers, who were down to their final two outs when Miguel Rojas hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning, got what proved to be the winning run in the 11th inning when Will Smith hit a solo homer off Shane Bieber.

The Blue Jays, seeking their first World Series title in 32 years, had a chance in the bottom of the frame with runners on first and third with one out, but Alejandro Kirk grounded into a double play that ended the game.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw a complete game in Game Two, allowed one run through six innings in Game Six and pitched 2-2/3 shutout innings in the decider, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

Los Angeles, who had fallen behind 3-2 in the series and faced elimination for the first time this postseason, won two games on the road in consecutive days to secure their third World Series title in the last six years.

Ice Hockey

The Florida Panthers completed their Stanley Cup repeat in style with a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 as four goals from Sam Reinhart helped them clinch back-to-back championships in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Sunrise.

In a rematch of last year’s Finals, the Panthers became the first team to repeat as champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-2021.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs' Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Production: Andy Ragg/Reuters