| 100% | TOUCHDOWN | 9 | Football play where a team advances the ball into the opponent's end zone |
| 40% | TOUCHDOWN | 9 | Six-point score in American football made by being in possession of the ball in the opposing team's end zone |
| 40% | HOCKEY | 6 | Sport played with a puck where teams try to put it into the other team's goal |
| 36% | FUMBLE | 6 | *Oops* Football blunder where a player loses the ball even before being tackled |
| 34% | TRAGEDY | 7 | Play where the protagonist has a sad ending |
| 33% | TITANS | 6 | "Remember the ___," sports film where Denzel Washington says, "Football is about ... harnessing that aggression into a team effort ..." |
| 33% | FLAG | 4 | Capture the ___, kids' game where teams sneak into each other's territory, often played in 17a |
| 31% | BUNTS | 5 | Offensive plays in baseball where the batter intentionally holds the bat loosely and taps the ball into play |
| 31% | TIMES | 5 | Square where the words in this puzzle's dropping balls may be heard at the end of a song's first verse |
| 30% | TEE | 3 | Where a golfer places the ball before hitting it |
| 30% | STYMIE | 6 | Former situation on a golf green in which an opponent's ball blocked the line between the hole and the ball about to be played |
| 30% | DALY | 4 | Actor Tim who plays a football team owner on the revival of "The Game" |
| 30% | OFFENSE | 7 | Team with the ball, in football |
| 29% | ALTAR | 5 | Where a walk down the aisle ends |
| 29% | THROW | 5 | Fling a ball into the air |
| 29% | BAULK | 5 | In croquet, either of the two lines from which a ball is struck into play |
| 29% | TUG | 3 | ___ of war, sport played with a rope where players pull and try to yank the other team over the line |
| 29% | AIR | 3 | "Up in the ___," film where Jason Bateman plays a pragmatic boss who manages a team at an HR consultancy firm |
| 29% | FIRSTBASE | 9 | Where a NY Yankee heads after hitting the ball |
| 29% | TENNESSEETITANS | 15 | Football team whose logo’s flames are a nod to the myth of Prometheus |
| 28% | TEE | 3 | Where a golf ball is placed before the first hit |
| 28% | CLINCH | 6 | Defensive boxing move where the boxer wraps their opponent's arms to create a pause |
| 28% | MAT | 3 | Where a wrestler pins down the opponent |
| 28% | MUSICAL | 7 | A play where characters burst into song |
| 28% | FIELDPOSITION | 13 | Where the ball is on a gridiron |
| 28% | HOMEICE | 7 | Where a hockey team has the advantage |
| 28% | SARA | 4 | Bareilles who played a baker in Waitress and a baker's wife in Into the Woods |
| 28% | READEMANDWEEP | 13 | Declaration from a person playing poker in a situation where the opponents think they have it in the bag [67-Across: "I win!"] |
| 28% | TUGOFWAR | 8 | Sport where two teams engage in a test of strength with a rope, last played in the Summer Olympics in 1920: 3 wds. |
| 28% | WATERPOLO | 9 | Olympic team sport played in a pool with a ball |