FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have placed cornerback Casey Hayward on injured reserve. Hayward hurt his shoulder attempting to tackle San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 28-14 victory over the 49ers. Hayward joined Atlanta as a free agent during the last offseason, giving the team another outside cornerback to team with A.J. Terrell.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks have committed to De’Andre Hunter as one of the key players on a team looking to return to championship contention, signing the small forward to a $95 million, four-year extension. The new deal begins with the 2023-24 season. Hunter could have become a restricted free agent following this season.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons are atop the NFC South. Yes really. Six weeks into a season of extremely low expectations, the Falcons are 3-3 and tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division lead. Making it even more impressive, Atlanta has managed to have success while opening with a very difficult stretch of games that included the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Tennessee has moved to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State. It comes after the Volunteers knocked off Alabama, one of five unbeaten teams to fall during a wild weekend. The Crimson Tide dropped three to No. 6 and swapped places with the Vols after Tennessee kicked a field goal as time expired Saturday. Alabama is out of the top five for the first time since 2019.

ATLANTA (AP) — Marcus Mariota threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score against the NFL’s top-ranked defense, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 28-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Mariota completed his first 13 passes for the 3-3 Falcons, finally throwing his lone incompletion on his final attempt of the day with less than 11 minutes remaining.

More than four months of dazzling baseball carried the Atlanta Braves to a fifth straight NL East title. Their hopes of repeating as World Series champion fell apart in less than a week.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer and J.T. Realmuto lined an inside-the-park home run that sent the Philadelphia Phillies bolting headfirst into the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2010 with an 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4. Realmuto became the first catcher to hit an inside-the-parker in postseason history and Bryce Harper punctuated the romp with a clinching home run that helped the Phillies take the NL Division Series 3-1 against the World Series champion Braves.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Stetson Bennett threw for 289 yards and two TDs as Georgia stamped its return to No. 1 with a 55-0 rout of Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 with a total blowout after three straight weeks of rather lackluster performances. Bennett was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 18 of 20 for 211 yards and two TDs — his first scoring passes in nearly a month.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chase McGrath made a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 6 Tennessee a 52-49 victory over No. 3 Alabama on Saturday. As soon as the kick knuckle-balled through the uprights, some of the more than 100,000 fans stormed the field to celebrate the Volunteers ending a 15-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide.

ATLANTA (AP) — There may be no better opportunity for Marcus Mariota to prove he can be more than a bridge at quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons than in this week’s matchup with San Francisco and its top-rated defense. San Francisco's defense was dominant in last week’s 37-15 win over the Carolina Panthers, another NFC South team.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies are set to play their first home playoff game since 2011. The Phillies and Atlanta Braves are tied 1-1 in the best-of-five NL Division Series. Game 3 is Friday. The Phillies send Aaron Nola to the mound. Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker has yet to name a Game 3 starter.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Bulldogs are back atop the rankings, even though their style points are a bit lacking. They reclaimed the No. 1 spot after Alabama went down to the final play against Texas A&M. Georgia has struggled a bit against overmatched opponents, especially on offense. The 6-0 Bulldogs will be facing another team that fits that bill on Saturday, hosting 3-3 Vanderbilt in an SEC contest between the hedges.

ATLANTA (AP) — Kyle Wright threw six brilliant innings to outduel Zack Wheeler, and the Atlanta Braves evened their NL Division Series at one game apiece with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. After rain delayed the first pitch by nearly three hours, Wright surrendered just two hits. He claimed the win when the Braves got to Wheeler for three runs in their half of the sixth.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Former Georgia coach Vince Dooley has been released from a hospital after being treated for COVID-19. Georgia says the 90-year-old Dooley was released from an Athens-area hospital on Monday, two days after he was admitted. The school says he was treated for a “mild case” of COVID-19. Dooley said in a statement he plans to attend No. 1 Georgia’s homecoming game against Vanderbilt on Saturday and participate in a planned book signing

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez smashed a game-ending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Robbie Ray, wrecking Seattle’s strategy of using a Cy Young Award winner in a rare relief role and vaulting the Houston Astros over the Mariners 8-7 in their playoff opener.

ATLANTA (AP) — Nick Castellanos drove in three runs and made a potentially game-saving catch in the ninth inning, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies over the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the opener of their NL Division Series. The Phillies have won three straight games to begin these playoffs, hardly looking like a team making its first postseason appearance since 2011.

ATLANTA (AP) — With their postseason curse eradicated, the Atlanta Braves have every reason to believe this could be another stellar October. They aren’t lacking for confidence, that’s for sure, after chasing down the New York Mets in a captivating NL East race. Heading into their NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves are playing with the swagger of a playoff-hardened team that won it all a year ago.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves made another investment in their future by signing rookie right-hander Spencer Strider to a $75 million, six-year contract. The move came one day before the Braves open their NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Less than two months ago, the Braves signed another rookie, outfielder Michael Harris II, to a $72 million, eight-year deal.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons have surprised many experts by being competitive in every game this season. If they are to build on their 2-3 start, they may need to add more balance to an offense that has leaned heavily on its running game. Marcus Mariota threw for only 147 yards in a 21-15 loss at Tampa Bay that left the Falcons 2-3.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Christopher Bell saved his title chances with an overtime win Sunday on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a stunning finish that knocked reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson from the playoffs. Bell entered the race 11th in the standings with four drivers set to be eliminated as NASCAR’s playoff field was trimmed to eight. He took the lead in overtime and drove away as all the drama was further in the field for the final transfer spot into the round of eight.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was on the wrong end of a disputed roughing the passer call after he sacked Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s 21-15 loss at Tampa Bay. The questionable penalty that benefited Brady and the Buccaneers raised more concerns about interpretations of the rule. It was the second straight week referee Jerome Boger made the critical call late in the game on a play that didn’t seem to warrant a flag.

NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Musgrove brushed off chants of “Cheater!” after a bizarre spot check by umpires on the mound, pitching his hometown San Diego Padres into the next round of the playoffs with seven innings of one-hit ball in a 6-0 victory over the New York Mets. Trent Grisham hit an RBI single and made a terrific catch in center field that helped the Padres take the best-of-three National League wild-card series two games to one. San Diego advanced to face the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Tuesday.

Georgia took back the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press college football poll from Alabama on Sunday after being bumped out last week by the Crimson Tide, who slid to No. 3. The Bulldogs received 32 first-place votes and 1,535 points in the Top 25, presented by Regions Bank, to easily reclaim No. 1. They were just two points behind Alabama at No. 2 last week.

MACON, Ga. (AP) — Fred Payton threw three touchdowns passes and Mercer held the Southern Conference's top-scoring team to a pair of field goals in the Bears' 49-6 win over Western Carolina on …

ATLANTA (AP) — Darren Grainger threw for a pair of touchdowns and Tucker Gregg ran for two scores and Georgia State held off Georgia Southern 41-33 on Saturday. The Panthers (2-4, 1-1 Sun …