Niners Take Down Cowboys; Bucs Rout Eagles; Chiefs Handle Steelers
   | This genuinely felt like, even for people outside of Dallas, that this would be the year the Dallas Cowboys would compete for a Super Bowl spot out of the NFC. Although, a questionable play call in the final seconds cut a comeback attempt short Sunday night, as the San Francisco 49ers hung on for a 23-17 win in the Wild Card Round at AT&T Stadium, Dak Prescott ran the ball up the middle with 14 seconds left and no timeouts, but the team could not spike the ball in time, allowing the clock to run out. Deebo Samuel continued to be a solid weapon for the Niners, running in for the game-sealing touchdown in the second half, as they led by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys set a franchise playoff record with 14 penalties, this after leading the league in penalties during the regular season, and that helped the Niners earn their first playoff win over the Cowboys in franchise history. This rough loss leaves the Cowboys without a Conference Championship appearance for yet another year, making it 27 years since that has happened, as Prescott has gotten to the playoffs twice in three years, but has still fallen short. The Niners move on to focus on a trip to Lambeau Field for a showdown with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round next week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have won the Super Bowl in their home stadium last season, but Sunday afternoon was the franchise's first official home playoff game since 2007. Tom Brady and the Bucs did not disappoint on that stage, cruising past the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-15, in the Wild Card Round. The Bucs built a 17-0 lead by halftime, as Brady found Rob Gronkowski and Mike Evans for scores, extending his playoff record for touchdown passes to 85. Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard both ran in for scores, as the Bucs moved to 5-0 in the postseason since bringing on Tom Brady, and they are looking to become the first team to repeat as champions since Brady did it in 2003 and 2004 with the New England Patriots. The Eagles got a touchdown run from Boston Scott and a Jalen Hurts TD pass to Kenneth Gainwell, but it took a 15-point four quarter to make it as close as the final score indicated. The Bucs move on to play host to the winner of the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams Monday night game next week. And the Kansas City Chiefs pulled away after a slow start for the type of game that many people expected, blowing past the Pittsburgh Steelers, 42-21, in the Wild Card Round, Patrick Mahomes threw for 404 yards and five touchdowns, sending Ben Roethlisberger in to retirement. Byron Pringle caught two touchdown passes, one from Mahomes and one from Travis Kelce, while Kelce, Jerick McKinnon, and Tyreek Hill all found the end zone. The Chiefs scored on six straight possessions after being held scoreless in the first quarter, as they inch closer to their third straight AFC Title. The Steelers actually struck first in the second on T.J. Watt's fumble recovery returned for a touchdown, but Pittsburgh could not hang with the high-powered Chiefs offense. Roethlisberger threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns in his final game, while the Chiefs move on to host the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. |
Former Bama TE Billingsley Tranfers to Texas
 | Former Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley announced on Sunday that he is officially transferring to play for the Texas Longhorns. The move will bring him back with head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator in 2020 with Billingsley. The tight end is also reunited with his former position coach, Jeff Banks, who is an assistant coach at Texas. Billingsley was named to the preseason All-SEC team in August but struggled and started just one game in the regular season, which led to his transfer decision. The Chicago native played in 15 games for the Crimson Tide and had 17 catches for 256 yards and three touchdowns. And of course, the Texas Longhorns will play host to the Crimson Tide on September 10th. |
Jazz Pull Away From Nuggets; Timberwolves Down Warriors
  | The Utah Jazz were able to pull away on the road Sunday night, earning a 125-102 win over the Denver Nuggets, who were playing the second night of a back to back. Rudy Gobert returned to the lineup with a double-double of 18 points and 19 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell led the way with 31 points. Gobert had missed the previous five games after testing positive for COVID-19, and the Jazz went 1-4 without him, with that one win coming against the Nuggets. Bojan Bogdanovic added 21 points to help the Jazz snap their four-game losing streak and move to 15-6 away from home. Despite the tough loss, Nikola Jokic did post his second straight triple-double and ninth of the season with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists. He is now tied with Russell Westbrook for the most in the NBA this season and now sits with 66 in his career. And the Minnesota Timberwolves earned themselves a statement win over a Golden State Warriors team that has been inconsistent as of late, pulling away for a 119-99 blowout. Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 11 rebounds, helping his team take care of a shorthanded Warriors team that was without Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Jaylen Nowell added 17 points, while Malik Beasley added 16 points, including five three-pointers in the second half. This was the final game of a road trip for the Warriors and they looked tired near the end of this one, getting outscored, 40-19, over the final 16 minutes. Jordan Poole led the way with the stars out, finishing with 20 points, while Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points in their 12th loss. Golden State has now dropped five of their past seven games and were so cold on Sunday night, that they even missed 16 straight shot attempts at one point in the second half. Only two other final scores on Sunday included Devin Booker's 30 points powering the Phoenix Suns' 135-108 rout of the Detroit Pistons. And Christian Wood's late three-pointer sent the Houston Rockets past the Sacramento Kings, 118-112. |
Nets' Durant Sidelined Four to Six Weeks
 | The Brooklyn Nets came away with a home win on Saturday, but they went down the most important piece to their offense, and that is star Kevin Durant. The team announced on Sunday morning that Durant will miss four to six weeks after getting diagnosed with a sprained MCL in left knee. Imaging on Sunday morning revealed the injury that was suffered during Saturday's win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and he is now expected to return following the All-Star break, which takes place from February 18th to February 23rd. The injury occurred in the second quarter on Saturday when teammate Bruce Brown landed on his knee, but the Nets are hoping they will be able to hold the fort down while KD sits. 11 of their next 14 game are on the road, which means both Kyrie Irving and James Harden will be able to play, as the Nets went 16-3 last season when they only had Irving and Harden. Durant is having another MVP-caliber season, averaging 29.3 points per game, which leads the league, along with 7.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists, and the Nets sit a half game behind the Chicago Bulls for the top spot in the East. |
Ohio State Holds Off Penn State; Nova Routs Butler
  | The 16th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes held on for a home Big Ten win Sunday afternoon, getting past the Penn State Nittany Lions for a 61-56 victory. E.J. Liddell had 19 points to lead the way, while Kyle Young got a clutch steal late and sank two free throws to seal the game with just over a minute to play. Zed Key chipped in 10 points for the Buckeyes, who moved to 11-4 on the year and 5-2 in Big Ten play, as they led by double digits for most of the afternoon. The Nittany Lions chipped in to the Buckeyes 10-point deficit on two separate occasions, even without leading scorer Seth Lundy, who missed his first game of the season for an unknown reason. Sam Sessoms led the way with 15 points while Jalen Pickett added 11 points of his own, but they fell to 8-7 on the year. Meanwhile, the 14th-ranked Villanova Wildcats cruised on their home floor for an 82-42 blowout of the Butler Bulldogs. Collin Gillespie finished with 17 points, including five makes from three-point range, while Justin Moore added 15 points in the Wildcats' sixth straight win. They moved to 13-4 on the season and are now 6-1 in Big East play after dropping their conference opener. Nova used a 13-2 first half run to build a 16-point lead by halftime, and then added another 43 points in the final 20 minutes, while holding Butler to just 19 points after the break. |
Pettersson, Canucks Double-Up Capitals
 | The Vancouver Canucks pulled off a tough challenge on the road Sunday afternoon to snap their recent skid, taking down the Washington Capitals, 4-2, in the nation's capital. Elias Pettersson scored twice, with both of those goals coming in the opening five minutes of the second period, as he helped his team snap a three-game losing streak. Before Sunday, Pettersson hadn't scored over the past seven games, which dated back to December 14th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He snapped that with two goals just 4:15 apart, while Bo Horvat also scored on the power play, which went 2-for-2 on this day after going 0-for-12 during the three game skid. Alex Ovechkin did find the back of the net, tying Leon Draisaitl for the league lead in points with 54 of them. The tally was his 26th of the season and the 756th of his career, as he continues his chase to Wayne Getzky's record. |
