By The Associated Press
NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After Jadeveon Clowney knocked out Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks knocked off the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wilson threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, Marshawn Lynch had a rushing score and the Seahawks beat the Eagles 17-9 in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.
Making his first career playoff start, Wentz lasted two series before exiting with a head injury following a helmet-to-helmet hit from Clowney. Forty-year-old Josh McCown stepped in, becoming the oldest quarterback to make his playoff debut. But he couldn’t lead the Eagles into the end zone.
Wilson threw for 325 yards and led the team with 45 yards rushing. Metcalf had seven catches for 160 yards.
The Seahawks had a season-high seven sacks from six players.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kirk Cousins hit tight end Kyle Rudolph with a 4-yard fade on third-and-goal in overtime, and the Minnesota Vikings pulled out a 26-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.
The Vikings will face the top-seeded 49ers in San Francisco on Saturday afternoon in the divisional round.
It was the second straight time the Saints’ season had ended in overtime in the Superdome.
The disappointing end for the favored Saints came nearly a year after New Orleans lost in the NFC championship game to the Los Angeles Rams in a game marred by missed Rams penalties late in regulation.
Dalvin Cook gained 130 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns. Cousins finished with 242 yards and one TD passing, highlighted by his 43-yard completion to Adam Thielen on the opening possession of overtime to give Minnesota the ball on the Saints 2-yard line and set up the winning score.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Derrick Henry rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown while Tennessee’s defense stymied Tom Brady and perhaps ended his championship-filled New England career with a 20-13 wild-card victory Saturday night.
As a dense fog that shrouded Gillette Stadium for the first half dissipated, it became clear that the Patriots, who made the last three Super Bowls and won two, no longer were the bullies on the block. Six-time champ Brady’s contract is up and the 42-year-old quarterback could well be headed elsewhere, including retirement.
Meanwhile, the Titans are headed next week to Baltimore, the league’s top team.
There was no scoring in the second half when All-Pro Brett Kern’s 58-yard punt that took up 10 seconds rolled down at the New England 1. Brady then was picked by former Patriot Logan Ryan for a 9-yard touchdown to finish off the Patriots, who won their first eight games.
HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in regulation and then led the winning drive in overtime as the Texans added another comeback to Houston playoff history by rallying from a double-digit second-half deficit for a 22-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs Saturday.
Both teams had to punt on their first possessions of overtime. 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 advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend where they’ll face the Chiefs.
The Bills led 16-0 before the Texans scored 19 straight points to take the lead. Steven Hauschka’s 47-yard field goal tied it with 5 seconds left to force overtime.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys made official Sunday night what they had already signaled: Jason Garrett is out as coach.
Garrett was informed he wouldn’t be back for a 10th full season on the same day the Cowboys finished an interview with former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl with the Packers on Dallas’ home field nine years ago.
Owner/general manager Jerry Jones decided not to renew Garrett’s expiring contract because Super Bowl-winning quarterback Troy Aikman’s former backup couldn’t get the Cowboys back to football’s biggest stage, an absence that’s approaching a quarter-century.
At 9½ seasons, the 53-year-old Garrett had the club’s second-longest tenure behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Landry, who coached the Cowboys for the franchise’s first 29 years before Jones fired him when he bought the team in 1989.
Dallas finished 8-8 for the fourth time under Garrett. The Cowboys fueled high preseason expectations with a 3-0 start before dropping eight of 12 and losing control of their playoff fate. Dallas missed the playoffs six times in Garrett’s nine full seasons.
Garrett’s record is 87-70, playoffs included.
GOLF
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Justin Thomas won a tournament he thought he threw away Sunday with a superb wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the third playoff hole at Kapalua to beat Patrick Reed and win the Sentry Tournament of Champions for the second time.
Thomas made the playoff necessary by losing a two-shot lead with three holes to play. Then, he was fortunate to even be in a playoff when defending champion Xander Schauffele three-putted from 35 feet for par that brought Reed into the playoff.
It was the first three-man playoff since this event moved to Kapalua in 1999. Reed had two putts on the 18th in the playoff to win.
Thomas, who narrowly cleared the hazard with his second shot on the final hole of the week, hit a high wedge that landed perfectly with enough spin and rolled out to 3 feet.
Reed had 8 feet for birdie and hit it too hard, leading to an ugly finish in more ways than one. A fan screamed out, “Cheater!” after he hit the birdie putt, and Reed glared. It was a reference to his rules violation in the Bahamas when video showed him scooping away sand to improve his lie. Reed was penalized two shots.
NBA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, and Anthony Davis had eight of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 20 blocked shots in their fifth straight victory, 106-99 over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
Davis scored 11 of his 24 points in the final 3:40 and added 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who blew a late 11-point lead in a wild fourth quarter and nearly lost to a team with a losing record for the first time all season.
Instead, Alex Caruso scored 13 points and the Lakers finished one blocked shot short of their franchise record while they hung on to remain unbeaten since Christmas, when they had a four-game skid. Los Angeles had 21 blocks against Denver in April 1982.
James finished with his 90th career triple-double, his ninth of the season and his second in five days.
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