Weekend Sports Summary | AP News

NFL

HOUSTON (AP) — Robbie Smith was fired as the Houston Texans’ coach on Sunday night after just one season as the team went 3-13-1.

It’s the second season in a row that the Texans have fired a coach after just one year. They parted ways with David Curry last January after he went 4-13 in his only season.

Asked about his future after Sunday’s game in Indianapolis, Smith seemed confident of returning next season.

The Texans had the worst record in the league for most of the season, but won two of their final three games, and Sunday’s victory over the Colts earned the team the first overall pick in next year’s draft. A 32-31 win over Indianapolis gave Chicago the number one pick and Houston the number two pick in April’s draft.

Smith, 64, was one of the few black coaches in the NFL, along with Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles and Miami’s biracial Mike McDaniel. It is the third time since the merger that the team has fired a head coach in a row in just one season.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Nyheim Hines ignited an emotional atmosphere celebrating injured Bills safety Dummer Hamlin as he returned two kickoffs for a touchdown as Buffalo returned to New England on Sunday. A 35-23 win over the Patriots secured the AFC’s second playoff seed.

The loss, combined with Miami’s defeat of the New York Jets, kept the Patriots (8-9) out of the playoffs for the second time in three years and only the fourth time in 23 seasons during Bill Belichick’s coaching tenure. Buffalo will host divisional rivals the Dolphins in next weekend’s wildcard round.

With the game in hand, the Bills players put up three fingers in honor of Hamlin’s number and the crowd shouted “Hamlin! Hamlin!”

The Bills (13-3) closed out the season with a final seven-game win and were devastated to see Hamlin collapse after suffering cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on a Cincinnati field Monday night. I have survived an emotional week. .

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) — Aaron Rodgers was intercepted by Kirby Joseph on the final pass in his final game, as the Green Bay Packers lost 20-16 to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night. Missed the playoffs.

After four straight wins and plenty of support from other teams, the Packers took control of their postseason fortunes heading into the final game of the NFL regular season. But they fell short against the Lions, who had been ruled out of the playoffs early on Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 in overtime.

Instead, Seattle (9-8) will claim the final playoff spot in the NFC, facing San Francisco (13-4) in the opening round. The Packers (8-9) missed the playoffs for the first time in his four seasons as coach under Matt Raffler.

Rodgers recorded 17 of 27 yards for 205 yards in what could be the last of his four MVP appearances at Lambeau Field. He’s under contract for next season, but Rodgers, 39, said he wasn’t sure if he would continue playing.

During the game, Rodgers became the eighth NFL player to reach at least 5,000 career completions.

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago will clinch the No. 1 spot for the first time since 1947 after losing 29-13 to the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s season finale. This was his 10th straight loss (3-14) for the Bears, setting a franchise record and his 14th loss overall is also the most in team history.

Despite that dire situation, the Bears were on their way to the No. 2 selection, but Robbie Smith coached Houston to a 32-31 big win in Indianapolis. Davis Mills passed three touchdowns as the Texans (3-13-1) won their second in three games.

It was Smith’s final game against Houston. He was fired by the Texans on Sunday night.

ATLANTA (AP) — Tom Brady quickly made the nine connections he needed in Tampa Bay’s game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, breaking his own NFL record for most completions in a season.

Brady has a record 485 completions for the Buccaneers in 2021. Brady, 45, came into Sunday’s game against the Falcons with 477 completions, and he’s just nine short of a new record.

Brady recorded a 5-yard completion to former Falcons receiver Russell Gage early in the second quarter. Sideline his passing saw Brady in his first 12 attempts where he achieved nine completions and this season his 486 completions.

Brady completed 13 of 17 passes for 84 yards for a touchdown and had 490 completions on the season. He was replaced by Blaine Gabbert at the end of the first half.

NBA

MIAMI (AP) — A Royce O’Neal putback with 3.2 seconds left kept Brooklyn as the Nets defeated the Miami Heat 102-101 on Sunday night, leaving Kevin Durant sidelined with a right knee injury.

Kyrie Irving led the Nets with 29 points. The Nets have won 18 of his 20 recent games. They have only won 9 of their first 20 games. Durant scored 17 before departure and Seth Curry scored 14 in Brooklyn.

Nets’ Nick Claxton had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Jimmy Butler scored 26 in Miami and Tyler Herro scored 24. On the final play of the game, Butler missed a contested shot at the rim and was shaken by it before the hero also limped — replays show he may have slipped.

PHOENIX (AP) — Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell both scored 22 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the second half to beat the hard-hitting Phoenix Suns 112-98.

The Cavaliers won for the fourth time in five games. He won the Suns title for the second time this week after the Cavaliers defeated them 90-88 on Wednesday.

A struggling Phoenix, playing without an All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, dropped 9-of-10, six in a row.The Suns now have a 20-21 record. .Season.

The aggressively challenged Suns have failed to exceed 100 points in four straight games.

golf

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Jon Rahm kicked off the new year with a bang on the PGA Tour, hitting 7 at Sunday’s Sentry Tournament of Champions with the help of Colin Morikawa, who had an impressive wipeout even by Maui standards. won by a margin. .

Rahm was six shots behind on the 13th hole in Kapalua with three straight birdies and a 12-foot eagle putt before finishing with a 10-under 63 on the final birdie.

Morikawa was behind his two groups. He was bogey-free on his 67 holes at the Plantation Course, but it all came crashing down on a wedge and a putter.

Morikawa seemed to be in a state of shock, walked the 17th fairway, and in the final round, he was 7 strokes behind, and was suddenly 2 strokes behind and despaired. He tied a PGA Tour record for losing his biggest lead over 54 holes by his 6 shots. Eight other players of his have done it, most recently Scotty Schaeffler at last year’s Tour Championship.

Rahm finished with a 27-under 265, beating Morikawa by two shots after birdieing on the 18th hole, finishing with 72 for his first birdie since the 6th.

baseball

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendricks says he has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Hendrix announced on Instagram on Sunday that he had recently been diagnosed. The three-time All-Star was scheduled to begin treatment on Monday.

Hendricks said he is “confident” he will “fully recover and return to the mound as soon as possible.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, the five-year survival rate for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is 73.8%. Some forms are aggressive, while others are slow-growing.

General manager Rick Hahn said in a statement that the White Sox do not expect to receive an update on Hendrix’s situation before the start of the season.