January 13, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Green Bay Packers were able to stay ahead after building a sizeable lead. The Houston Texans weren’t as fortunate. The Packers forged a 21-3 halftime lead before holding off the Seattle Seahawks, 28-23 to advance to the NFC championship game against San Francisco. Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams for two touchdowns while completing 16 of his 27 passes for 243 yards and no interceptions. Adams racked up 160 yards on eight receptions, while Aaron Jones carried 21 times for 62 yards and two scores. Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith each had two of Green Bay’s five sacks of Russell Wilson, who threw for 277 yards and a TD. Preston Smith sealed the victory by sacking Wilson just before the two-minute warning, forcing the Seahawks to punt. Wilson also led Seattle with 64 yards on seven carries, and Marshawn Lynch ran for a pair of touchdowns. The Chiefs spotted the Texans a 24-0 lead before Kansas City moved into the AFC championship game against the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs stormed back with four straight touchdowns in the second quarter before completing a 51-31 rout of the Texans. Patrick Mahomes Jr. was outstanding after a rough first period, completing 23 of 35 passes for 321 yards and five touchdowns. Mahomes’ most productive target was Travis Kelce, who scored three TDs in the first half and finished with 10 receptions for 134 yards. Kelce became the first pass-catcher with three touchdowns receiving in a single quarter in postseason history. He was the catalyst as Kansas City needed just 4 minutes and 50 seconds of possession time in the second quarter to score four TDs. Damien Williams rushed for a pair of scores and had a TD reception as the Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game by at least 20 points and trailing by at least 20. The Chiefs fumbled a punt return, had their own punt blocked for a score and committed plenty more mistakes in becoming just the fourth home team in NFL history to trail 21-0 after the first quarter. The Chiefs and Texans combined to set a postseason record with 52 points in the first half. DeShaun Watson was 31 of 52 for 388 yards and two touchdowns for Houston.
January 10, 2020 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Chicago White Sox and slugger Edwin Encarnacion have finalized their one-year, $12 million contract, a deal that includes a $12 million team option for 2021. The 37-year-old Encarnacion batted .249 with 34 home runs and 86 RBIs in 109 games for the Mariners and Yankees last season. The three-time All-Star has belted 297 home runs and driven in 850 runs since 2012.
January 10, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Mississippi State has hired Washington State’s Mike Leach as its new head football coach, replacing Joe Moorhead. Leach took over a program that had been mired in the Pac-12 basement and went to five straight bowl games, including a school-record 11 victories in 2018. He finished 55-47 in eight seasons with the Cougars and is 139-90 as a college coach for both Washington State and Texas Tech. Moorhead was fired last week after going 14-12 in two years with the Bulldogs, including a 6-7 mark this season.
January 8, 2020 3:47 am
The Nashville predators have made a head coaching change with the team in danger of missing the stanley cup playoffs for the first time in six seasons. predators general manager david poile has hired john hynes after the team dropped to 11th in the western conference at 19-15-7. he replaces the fired peter laviolette, who led nashville to the 2017 final and was 248-143-60 over five-plus seasons with the club. Hynes was just let go as head coach of the devils after opening this season 9-13-4. he was 150-159-45 with one playoff appearance in four-plus seasons in new jersey.
January 7, 2020 3:49 am
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – Oscar Tshiebwe scored 12 points and Derek Culver had nine points and 12 rebounds to help lead No. 17 West Virginia to a 55-41 victory over Oklahoma State. Miles McBride also had 10 points for West Virginia (12-2, 1-1 Big 12), which is now 5-1 in its last six outings. Lindy Waters had 12 points for Oklahoma State (9-5, 0-2), which is 2-5 in its last seven after starting the season 7-0.
January 5, 2020 8:16 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson’s teammates talked all week about how they never feel as if they’re out of any game when No. 4 is on the field. On Saturday Watson showed why the Houston Texans have so much trust in him, when the quarterback’s dazzling performance late after a tough start led them to a playoff victory. Watson spun out of a would-be sack and coolly completed a pass that set up the winning field goal in overtime as the Texans rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit for a 22-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams punted on their first possessions of overtime — the first extra period in an AFC wild-card game since January 2012. On Houston’s next drive, Watson evaded a sack by wriggling away from one defender and bouncing off another before rolling out to find Taiwan Jones for a 34-yard reception to set up first-and-goal. Ka’imi Fairbairn then kicked a 28-yard field goal to lift Houston to the victory. The Texans (11-6) advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend where they’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
January 5, 2020 8:14 am
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — When the eerie Foxborough fog lifted, it became clear that New England’s reign atop the NFL was ending. Derrick Henry ensured that with the kind of dominating playoff performance usually reserved for Tom Brady and the Patriots. Henry rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown while Tennessee’s defense stymied Brady and perhaps ended his championship-filled New England career with a 20-13 wild-card victory Saturday night. Brady vows to be back on an NFL field next season, but his contract with the Patriots is done. Doing the most moving forward Saturday night was Henry, who had a total of 184 yards rushing in two playoff games two years ago. He nearly got that against the league’s top-ranked defense in boosting the Titans (10-7) into the divisional round at No. 1 seed Baltimore.
January 4, 2020 3:46 am
UNDATED – The 15 modern-era player finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 have been announced, and the list includes first-year eligible players Troy Polamalu and Reggie Wayne. LeRoy Butler, Torry Holt, Sam Mills, Zach Thomas and Bryant Young are first-time finalists who previously have been eligible for the Hall. The other player finalists are Steve Atwater, Tony Boselli, Isaac Bruce and Alan Faneca, along with Steve Hutchinson, Edgerrin James, John Lynch and Richard Seymour.
January 3, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – No. 23 Cincinnati has capped its 11-3 season by taking the Birmingham Bowl. Desmond Ridder ran for 105 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing a scoring pass as the Bearcats blew out Boston College, 38-6. Cincinnati outgained the Eagles, 459-164 in reaching 11 wins for the second straight season and fourth in program history. Michael Warren Jr. had 105 yards rushing for the Bearcats. BC scored its only points on special teams as Mike Palmer blocked a field goal and Brandon Sebastian scooped it up and returned it 67 yards in the third quarter.
In Thursday’s other bowl game: Tennessee scored two touchdowns in a late 30-second span to erase a double-digit deficit before holding off Indiana, 23-22 in the Gator Bowl. The Hosiers led 22-9 before Quavaris Crouch scored on a 1-yard plunge and Eric Gray recovered a surprise onside kick that barely went the mandatory 10 yards. Gray scored from 16 yards out a few plays later to put the Vols on top for good.
January 2, 2020 3:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) – David Stern, who spent 30 years as the NBA’s commissioner and oversaw its growth into a global power, has died. He was 77. The league says Stern died Wednesday after suffering a brain hemorrhage Dec. 12. Stern had been involved with the NBA for nearly two decades before becoming commissioner in 1984. By the time he left in 2014, a league that had struggled for a foothold had grown into a more than $5 billion a year industry and become perhaps the world’s most popular sport after soccer.
