| Two months before he made the catch that inched the Chiefs one win closer to their latest taste of football's paradise, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was at the center of their nadir.
He zipped past an Eagles defender with 1:50 left on Nov. 20, and Patrick Mahomes directed a throw 55 yards downfield with Kansas City needing a touchdown to win the Super Bowl LVII rematch. The ball fell through Valdes-Scantling's hands. He settled on his stomach in the end zone, with the Chiefs' best chance to escape with a win bouncing away from him.
It marked the second loss in three games for the Chiefs, part of a 3-5 stretch that took their 6-1 start and made it look fake. Mahomes' receivers kept dropping passes. Travis Kelce looked old. The offense didn't have the same fluidity. Dynasty? Super Bowl? Just clinch the division first. Just get to the playoffs.
So it was fitting Sunday that with the Chiefs needing a first down to get to victory formation, officially extinguishing any last hopes the Ravens had for an AFC Championship game comeback, Mahomes dropped back from nearly the same spot on the field. Valdes-Scantling got the same step on his defender again. And when the throw dropped into his hands and the 29-year-old fell on his back to catch it, Kansas City had somehow, someway, pieced its way to a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years with a 17-10 win over the No. 1-seeded Ravens.
"I've never doubted, no," head coach Andy Reid said postgame. "That's not how we roll."
 Marquez Valdes-Scantling hauls in a game-sealing catch against the Ravens in the AFC title game.
X/@NFL
For years, especially during the peak of their dynasty, the road to the Super Bowl always went through Tom Brady. It went through the Patriots, through Belichick, through Foxborough, through whatever collection of 53 players they'd assembled that year — always seeming to work out. They were always waiting in the standings and the bracket, the oh-that's-a-nice-story crushers who were, and would always be, the favorites, even if betting lines ever dared to suggest otherwise.
With this latest run, and even if it falls short against the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, the Chiefs have come closer to squashing any lingering doubt that the torch has been passed to them. Like the great teams in any sport, they know when to figure it out, when to get their act together just before it becomes too late. They won Mahomes' first two postseason games on the road, reminding the AFC that even if they're not the No. 1 seed, the path to snatching the conference's bid to the big game goes through them.
They figured out the solutions to whatever problems and likable opponents the NFL tossed their way.
The Dolphins were the exciting, up-and-coming team with old Chiefs star Tyreek Hill at the center, and they left Arrowhead Stadium frozen out of the Divisional round.
The Bills had won six consecutive games in a quest to bring the city its first Super Bowl, but that just ended with Wide Right II.
 With four sacks and an interception, the Chiefs made life difficult for Lamar Jackson in the AFC title game.
AP
Lamar Jackson's MVP season following his massive contract helped solidify his presence as a top quarterback, but defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo contained the Ravens' offense for most of Sunday.
There's one more opponent with a storybook season left for them to conquer, too.
The 49ers scored 27 unanswered points to stun the Lions in the NFC Championship game, all with former Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy at the center of Kyle Shanahan's offense in just his second season.
"No one hung their head," Mahomes said postgame of their postseason path. "Everybody was ready to go, and now we're going to the Super Bowl. And like I said, we're not done."
Four Super Bowl appearances in the Mahomes era, along with the six consecutive AFC Championship game appearances, requires the perfect confluence of talent and uninjured players — plus serviceable replacements for the inevitable absences. But their ability to win on the road was pegged as one of the final pieces of the dynastic puzzle.
Mahomes had never played on the road until the Divisional round against the Bills. It happened again Sunday in Baltimore. In those two postseason trips, Mahomes completed 47-of-62 passes for 456 yards and three touchdowns to Kelce, including one to open the scoring against Baltimore.
 Travis Kelce proved a difficult cover for the Ravens' defense, which allowed the Chiefs tight end to collect 116 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Getty Images
They're one win away from winning the title while leaving the familiarity of Arrowhead Stadium and ensuring their place in the conversation when the league's dynasties are discussed. This year, the Chiefs brought the Lamar Hunt trophy presentation to M&T Bank Stadium, where Taylor Swift joined the on-field celebration, Kelce shouted the Beastie Boys into Jim Nantz's microphone and Kansas City, again, was the center of AFC attention.
Some teams are playing for feel-good stories. In past years, Kansas City's unusual path would certainly reflect the plot of one. But the Chiefs have blown past that now. They're playing for history.
Today's back page  New York Post
Life without Julius Randle (for now) In some ways, what unfolded for the Knicks at the end of their win against the Heat on Saturday contained some déjà vu.
Julius Randle dislocated his shoulder late in the Knicks' win, falling on the Garden's court after a layup and heading straight to the locker room in pain. He's out for their game Monday against the Hornets and likely out for a period of time beyond that, though a specific timeframe, at this point, remains unclear. That hinges on the severity, which was still being determined by the team after early X-rays and an MRI.
 For the second season in a row, Julius Randle left a win over the Heat with a significant injury.
Getty Images
Last year, in a March 29 win against the Heat that clinched the Knicks' postseason berth, Randle sprained his ankle while trying to secure an offensive rebound. He missed the rest of the regular season. It impacted his performance — and therefore the Knicks' — in the playoffs.
There was no time for Leon Rose to acquire assistance while Randle recovered, either. Head coach Tom Thibodeau could only adjust on the fly.
It turned into the beginning of the end for the Knicks' season, to a degree. Randle's injury, and his absence, limited their ceiling in the playoffs, without a reliable second star complementing Jalen Brunson in their lineup. With a healthy Randle? Maybe they had a chance at toppling the Heat and Celtics? Without? Their potential and where they could reach changed.
This season, though, Rose and Thibodeau have time to regroup. There's time before the Feb. 8 trade deadline — not much, but enough of a sample size to figure out if the same group that has thrived since the OG Anunoby deal can replicate that without Randle's 24.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
It'll test Thibodeau's ingenuity. It'll test Josh Hart's ability, for now at least, to try and fill Randle's role as much as possible, if the Knicks opt to slide him back into the starting lineup.
 Josh Hart may find himself moved into Tom Thibodeau's starting lineup with Randle sidelined.
AP
Thibodeau and Rose might not need to change anything at all, either, if wins follow without Randle and his absence doesn't become obvious. But the chances of that happening are slim. It's the reality when a team — any team, really, but especially one on the rise compared to other NBA contenders — loses a star.
Everything had started clicking for the Knicks after the Anunoby deal. Randle's absence has emerged as their first major obstacle, and their ability to maneuver around it could dictate the outlook of their season.
A new name in tennis' future For most of the past 17 months, and really since his five-set win against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in July, the future of tennis revolved around Carlos Alcaraz.
He was the tennis prodigy. The 20-year-old whose talent Djokovic called the "best of all three worlds" referencing the sport's Big Three that also included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. At some point, Alcaraz would find a rival around his age, someone who would duel with him for Grand Slams to follow — for 10 years, 15 years, maybe even 20 if the right blend of winning and health mix together — as, someday, an inevitable retirement eventually reaches the timeless Djokovic.
 Carlos Alcaraz will have to wait until the French Open to try and win his third major.
AP
But for three hours and 45 minutes Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, in a tournament that might as well have been renamed the Djokovic Open — the nine-time champion hadn't lost since 2018 until this year — and on a court against an opponent five years older and one seed higher, Jannik Sinner ensured that his name would join discussions and dreams about tennis' future, too.
Only 22 years old, he won his first Grand Slam title by erasing a two-set deficit and stunning Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. It also signified his first appearance in a Grand Slam final, made possible by his victory over Djokovic in four sets in the semifinals, where he was only one point away from a straight-sets victory.
One Australian Open title won't prevent a fall from the pinnacle Sinner just reached, when he fell onto his back and stretched his arms and legs out on the court. The rankings are too complex. Everyone in the ATP's top 10 is younger than 27 except for Djokovic, though just four have won a Grand Slam. Medvedev won the U.S. Open in 2021 but has lost his other five finals appearances in Grand Slams.
It's unlikely that there will ever be another Big Three like there was with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, but as an era filled with matches dominated by the same three names fades, Sinner — with The Carota Boys still following along — provided some concrete evidence that the sport's outlook doesn't only feature Alcaraz.
"There are so many emotions right now," Sinner said after the match, according to the ATP. "I have to sit down and process it but an unbelievable feeling."
 Jannik Sinner made the most of his first appearance in a Grand Slam final, beating Daniil Medvedev to win the Australian Open.
AFP via Getty Images
Sinner will enter the French Open as a contender. His ranking will likely remain No. 4, but until he loses, clinching the true Grand Slam — if he wins at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and New York City for the U.S. Open — remains a possibility. The second men's tennis player from Italy to win a Grand Slam even thanked his team after the match for helping him improve from match to match, from tournament to tournament because "it is not easy." with Sinner still just 22.
Ben Shelton, the 21-year-old American, teased the possibility of becoming the next American star at last year's U.S. Open. Medvedev has made enough finals that even without those clinching victories, he'll remain a top name in the sport. Alcaraz, who posted a congratulatory message on X saying Sinner deserved the title "more than anyone," won't disappear, either.
After Sunday, Sinner entered the conversation, too.
What we're reading 👀 🏈 "There is a time for boldness and there is a time for wisdom, a time to push the envelope and a time to play close to the vest," writes Mike Vaccaro after watching the Lions blow a 17-point lead in the NFC Championship. "And three times [Lions coach Dan] Campbell made decisions that helped sabotage his team."
🏀 As Knicks fans everywhere hold their breath as they await a timeline to be announced for Julius Randle's return, Mark Sanchez spoke to a few orthopedic surgeons to get their opinions. The good news? He could be back in less than a month. The bad news? It also could be an injury that sidelines him the rest of the season.
🏀 It's been 2 ½ months since Ben Simmons played for the Nets. That is likely to end Monday, when Simmons returns to face the Jazz. Brooklyn isn't expecting any miracles right away. "[W]e just gotta give him time," Cam Thomas told The Post's Bridget Reilly.
🏒 When Filip Chytil returned to New York last week amid his recovery from a concussion, there was a hope the center could be back on the ice soon. But after suffering a setback in his progress, the Rangers decided his long-term health required him to sit out the rest of this season. Mollie Walker writes that likely means the Blueshirts will be on the lookout for another center before the trade deadline.
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