By The Associated Press

NFL

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown ran for touchdowns and the Los Angeles Rams were able to ground out a 17-7 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.

Gurley tied a season high with 97 yards on 25 carries, scoring on a 1-yard carry up the middle with 3:28 remaining in the first half to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 10-0.

After Tarik Cohen’s third-quarter touchdown catch brought Chicago to 10-7, the Rams put it out of reach with 3:35 remaining in the fourth quarter on Brown’s 5-yard run.

Jared Goff was 11 of 18 for 173 yards and an interception. That is the fewest attempts the fourth-year quarterback has had when he has started. Cooper Kupp was the Rams’ only active starting receiver, which might explain why the Rams relied more on their ground game.

The Bears ran 22 more plays than the Rams but averaged only 3.6 yards. Mitchell Trubisky was 24 of 43 for 190 yards with a touchdown and interception. Chase Daniel replaced Trubisky for the final series.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Wilson Jr. with 31 seconds left for his fourth TD pass of the game and the San Francisco 49ers rallied for a 36-26 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Garoppolo connected with Wilson over the middle for the go-ahead score one play after the Niners narrowly converted on a third-and-3 pass that went to replay review. Instead of being ruled short and having to decide whether to kick a tying field goal or go for it on fourth down, San Francisco had a new set of downs and took advantage on Wilson’s first career touchdown catch.

David Johnson fumbled on the next play for the Cardinals, who squandered a 16-0 lead and lost their fourth straight game. This marked the biggest deficit erased by the 49ers in a win since rallying from 20 points down to beat Philadelphia on Oct. 2, 2011. San Francisco also overcame a 17-point deficit in the NFC title game at Atlanta following the 2012 season.

Garoppolo threw for 425 yards, but also threw two interceptions deep in Arizona territory that nearly doomed the 49ers.

RIVERDALE, Ga. (AP) — Colin Kaepernick’s saga took another surreal turn Saturday — a last-minute audible to nix an NFL-arranged workout and a quick dash 60 miles to the other side of metro Atlanta, where the exiled quarterback staged his own impromptu passing display on a high school field in dwindling light as hundreds of fans cheered him on from behind a chain-link fence.

Kaepernick threw passes for about 40 minutes at Charles Drew High School and spent nearly that long signing autographs for a crowd that steadily grew as word spread that a quarterback who led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl and sparked a wave of protests and divisive debate by kneeling during the national anthem was in the neighborhood.

With barely more than an hour to spare for the venue change, the media that had been herded into a gated-off area in the parking lot at the Atlanta Falcons’ practice facility and told that was as close as they would get to Kaepernick’s workout hustled to their vehicles to set off for a high school most had never heard of.

But only eight of the original 25 team representatives followed along to the new location, including Philadelphia Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry. It appeared the New York Jets, Kansas City and Washington also had scouts in attendance.

Kaepernick declared again that he’s ready to play in the NFL.

If someone will just give him a chance.

NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored 12 of his 33 points during a breathtaking opening nine minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers, who raced to a 25-point lead and handed the Atlanta Hawks their second ugly loss in 24 hours at Staples Center, 122-101 on Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant watched from courtside as his former team used suffocating defense to fuel an outburst that gave it a 34-9 lead.

In a quarter full of highlights, James’ biggest play provided his first points. After JaVale McGee blocked Jabari Parker’s shot, James grabbed the ball, passed to Danny Green and took the return pass for a slam dunk that brought the crowd to its feet two minutes in.

James added two layups, a 3-point shot and a three-point play to help propel the Lakers to their 25-point lead with 3:17 still to play in the opening quarter.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

NEW YORK (AP) — Georgia edged past Alabama to No. 4 in The Associated Press college football poll after the Bulldogs had a quality road victory and the Crimson Tide lost star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the season.

LSU remained No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank, receiving 54 first-places votes. No. 2 Ohio State (five first-place votes) and No. 3 Clemson (three first-place votes) maintained their spots. Georgia moved up one place after winning 21-14 at Auburn.

The Crimson Tide beat Mississippi State 38-7 on Saturday, but Tagovailoa dislocated his right hip while being tackled late in the second quarter and is done for the year. Alabama fell a spot to fifth.

Minnesota and Baylor both lost for the first time and dropped in the rankings. The 11th-ranked Gophers slipped four spots after losing at Iowa. No. 13 Baylor dropped one after blowing a 28-3 lead at home to Oklahoma.

Iowa jumped four to No. 19 and Oklahoma moved up two spots to No. 8.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is scheduled to have hip surgery in Houston.

Team surgeon Dr. Lyle Cain said in a statement that Tagovailoa will have surgery on his dislocated right hip Monday. An Alabama spokesman declined to disclose where he was having the surgery citing privacy reasons.

Cain says the medical team “consulted with multiple orthopedic experts across the country, who specialize in hip injuries and surgeries.” He reiterated that they expect Tagovailoa to make a full recovery.

The fifth-ranked Crimson Tide’s star, a potential top pick in April’s NFL draft, was injured while being dragged down by two defenders late in the first half of Saturday’s 38-7 win over Mississippi State.

Tagovailoa had been nursing an ankle injury and Alabama was considering holding him out of this game.

He passed for 418 yards and four touchdowns in a loss to No. 1 LSU less than three weeks after right ankle surgery.

AUTO RACING

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Busch emerged from the Joe Gibbs Racing juggernaut as NASCAR’s latest champion, winning his second title after two teammates were slowed by pit-road gaffes.

Busch won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to snap a 21-race losing streak and beat Gibbs teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., as well as rival Kevin Harvick, for the Cup. Busch won the 2015 title and joins seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson as the only active drivers with multiple titles.

Busch had raced for the championship in each of the last three seasons but fell short a year ago in part because of his crew’s own pit error. This time, it was Truex and Hamlin bitten by silly mistakes.

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