The New England Patriots advanced to the American Football Conference title game for a record sixth straight time as Dion Lewis scored touchdowns three different ways in a 34-16 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday.
Lewis became the first player in NFL history to score on a kickoff return, pass and run in a playoff game to help set up a conference title showdown against either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“You gotta give these guys a lot of credit. We didn’t play particularly well, but we hung in there and ended up making enough plays to win,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.
Photo: EPA
In the other playoff game on Saturday, Matt Ryan carried high-powered Atlanta to the National Football Conference title game as the Falcons defeated the Seattle Seahawks 36-20.
Lewis scored on a 98-yard kickoff return, caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady and ran for a one-yard touchdown in the final quarter.
Lewis’ kickoff return score was the first in Patriot’s playoff history.
He was also guilty of fumbling a kickoff, leading to a Houston touchdown, and he fumbled on a running play in the fourth quarter.
The only other players to score on a kickoff return, run and pass are Chicago Bear’s legend Gale Sayers (1965) and Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, who did it earlier this season.
Brady finished 18 of 38 for 287 yards with two interceptions for the Patriots, who are seeking their fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Brady said the games are going to get more difficult.
“We got to learn from this game,” Brady said.
“This team did a good job playing against us. You add our poor execution and the interceptions on top of that. It doesn’t feel great because we worked pretty hard to play a lot better than we played. We got to fix some of the things we saw tonight and play better next week,” he said.
Julian Edelman caught eight passes for 137 yards.
Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler finished 23 of 40 for 198 yards and had a touchdown pass to C.J. Fiedorowicz.
In Atlanta, Georgia, Ryan led the offense by throwing for three touchdowns as the Falcons outgunned the Seahawks.
Ryan has now won both of his playoff games against Seattle, but is winless in four post-season starts against other NFL teams.
He completed 25 of 36 passes for 334 yards and went without an interception for the fifth straight game, while engineering drives that produced points on five of the team’s first six possessions at the Georgia Dome.
“He was on it like he has been all year,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said of his quarterback.
The Falcons, who had lost 26-24 at Seattle in the regular season, play either the Dallas Cowboys or the Green Bay Packers for a berth in the Super Bowl.
“They do a lot of things well,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said of the Falcons offense.
“The quarterback gets the ball out quick and he doesn’t turn it over. That will do it,” Sherman added.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two