Sarni's Scrolls: Changing of the Gridiron Guard

Cowboys, Eagles and Steelers out; Lions, Texans, Bucs are in

The NFL's Divisional Round will be missing three of the league's most popular teams.

The No. 1 (according to social media rankings) Dallas Cowboys, No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers, and No. 4 Philadelphia Eagles were all eliminated in the Wild Card Round.

Instead, we have the upstart Detroit Lions (No. 18), Houston Texans (No. 22) and Tampa Bay Bucs (No. 26).

■ The Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years.

■ The Texans advanced to the Divisional Round for only the fifth time in history behind spectacular rookie QB C.J. Stroud.

■ The Bucs moved on, in the post- Tom Brady era, with confident QB Baker Mayfield at the controls.

How will the changing of the guard affect TV ratings?

The NFL followed a banner regular season with a streaming record and Fox hitting 40 million for Sunday's Packers-Cowboys game.

There's still plenty of star power in the NFL quarterfinals.

Top seeds San Francisco 49ers (No. 6) and Baltimore Ravens (No. 16) play their first games.

The Kansas City Chiefs (No. 8) face the Buffalo Bills (No. 15) in a rematch of their epic playoff game two years ago. Pat Mahomes vs. Josh Allen.

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Inter Miami will travel to El Salvador this week to kick off the club’s preseason international tour, which will require more than 23,000 miles of travel for six matches in five different countries across 20 days.

The schedule is unprecedented for an MLS team, but it’s the new reality for a franchise looking to capitalize on the legendary Lionel Messi.

Here’s what the next three weeks will look like for Inter Miami. Front Office Sports counted the miles.

■ Friday: El Salvador national team, in San Salvador (1,018 miles from Miami) 

■ Jan. 22: FC Dallas, at Cotton Bowl Stadium (1,402 miles) 

■ Jan. 29: Saudi club Al-Hilal, in Riyadh (7,799 miles) 

■ Feb. 1: Al Nassr, in Riyadh 

■ Feb. 4: Hong Kong all-stars (4,233 miles) 

■ Feb. 7: Vissel Kobe, in Tokyo (1,794 miles) 

After another 7,000-plus-mile flight home, Inter Miami will host one final preseason match on Feb. 15 against Argentine side Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys, for whom Messi played during his youth career.

It is unclear how much money the international tour will bring in, but Inter Miami executives have made no secret about their goal to reach $200 million in revenue during 2024, after last season bringing in a record $120 million. 

Inter Miami, the clearest MLS preseason favorite in at least a decade, begins its regular season on Feb. 21.

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With multiple awards each, “The Bear,” “Succession” and “Beef” were the night’s big winners at the 75th Emmy Awards on Monday. 

Some notable first-time winners included Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”) and Steven Yeun and Ali Wong (“Beef”). 

Elton John joined the EGOT club — he now has an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony — when he won the Emmy outstanding variety special for “Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium.”

Major winners

■ Best Comedy: “The Bear” (FX)

■ Best Drama: “Succession” (HBO)

■ Best Limited Series: “Beef” (Netflix)

■ Best Actress, Comedy: Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary

■ Best Actor, Comedy: Jeremy Allen White, "The Bear"

■ Best Actress, Drama: Sarah Snook, “Succession”

■ Best Actor, Drama: Kieran Culkin, “Succession”

■ Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie.  Ali Wong, “Beef”

■ Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie: Steven Yeun, “Beef”

■ Supporting Actress, Comedy: Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”

■ Supporting Actor, Comedy: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”

■ Supporting Actress, Drama: Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”

■ Supporting Actor, Drama: Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”

■ Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie: Niecy Nash-Betts, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”

■ Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Paul Walter Hauser, “Black Bird”

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ETC.

■ Tuesday's Game: Joel Embiid (41-7-10) outdueled Nikola Jokic (25-19-3) in a battle of MVPs, lifting the 76ers to a 126-121 victory over the Nuggets. Embiid is 6-2 vs. Jokic.

■ The Edmonton Oilers won their 11th straight on Tuesday.

■ The NBA has allowed LaMelo Ball to uncover a tattoo below his left ear that the league had previously deemed a violation of rules. The red-inked "LF" represents Ball's middle name La France but also the name and logo of his clothing line.

■ "Inside The NFL" is coming to Netflix with the final five episodes airing Wednesdays at 12 p.m. PT through the week after the Super Bowl.

■ Nick Saban's retirement at  Alabama created a domino effect,  costing college football over a $100 million in new contracts, extensions and buyouts.

■ Six-time MLB all-star OF Jose Bautista has taken over full ownership of Las Vegas Lights FC of the USL.

■ Clothing controversy: Was Ryan Clark shirtless under his red vest on the Monday Night Football pregame set? "I do have a shirt, guys. I'm not on TV naked," Clark said.

■ The Australian Open, which expanded to 15 days this season, is contemplating adding a 16th day in 2025... The grand slam drew 169,000 over the first two days (Sunday-Monday).

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■ Caitlin Clark (3,306) passed Brittany Griner for 4th place on the all-time college basketball career scoring list on Tuesday.

■ Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson agreed to a record extension, reportedly worth $2M, making her the highest-paid player in the NWSL.

■ Deion's kids Shedeur and Shilo walked the runway as fashion models in Louis Vuitton's men's Fall/Winter Show in Paris. "We want to be multidimensional. We don’t want to be just football."

■ Coachella's 2024 lineup will be headlined by Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt.

■ "Happy Days" has turned 50.

■ New York City broke its record-long, 701-day snowless stretch.

■ Colorado's Madison Marsh, the newly crowned Miss America, is an active U.S. Air Force officer.

■ The famous tutu Carrie Bradshaw wears in "Sex and the City's" opening credits is up for auction.

■ According to a recent global prediction report conducted by Ipsos, 70% of people expect 2024 to be better than 2023, a 5% increase from 2022's decade-low.

■ Watch: "Monsieur Spade", AMC. In a Nutshell: "Brooding, dangerous and suspenseful."

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THEY SAID IT

■ "The good thing about Baker is he didn't come in trying to be Tom's replacement. He came in just trying to be Baker Mayfield." -- Bucs' WR Chris Godwin.

■ "The season is over but their story is not. Because losing doesn't get the final word as long as you're willing to fight. After all, April is around the corner." -- "Hard Knocks" on the Miami Dolphins.