Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 13, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba C2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes in his first game since a late-season con- cussion, Dallas Goedert threw three stiff-arms on a rugged touchdown catch and the Philadelphia Eagles rode their NFL-best defense to a 22-10 wild- card playoff win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. Hurts threw for a modest 131 yards but played with no hesitation in his return from a three-week layoff after a concussion in December. He start- ed strong — six straight completions to open the game — and held off the Packers with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Goedert in the third quarter that will be forever stamped on the fran- chise’s postseason highlight reel. Philadelphia’s defence handled the rest. The Eagles turned a recovered fumble on the opening kickoff into Hurts’ first TD pass three plays later and the defense picked off Jordan Love twice in the first half. Holding a 19-10 lead in the fourth, the Eagles forced a turnover on downs when Green Bay had a fourth-and-3 on its own 41 with five minutes left in the game. Quinyon Mitchell had one final in- terception of Love with 1:51 left in the game that sealed the win for the NFC East champions, who’ll host a division game next week at the Linc. “It’s playoff football,” running back Saquon Barkley said. “That team is really well coached and they’ve got a lot of really great players. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “At the end of the day, no matter how it looks, just want to get the win.” Barkley, who led the NFL in rushing with 2,005 yards, had 119 yards in his Eagles’ postseason debut. “A year ago, I put out a tweet when I was on my couch watching playoff football that I gotta find a way to get back in it,” said Barkley, who spent his first six NFL seasons with the New York Giants. “So I’m just happy to be here. “And shoutout to my teammates and, most importantly, we move on. And we get another home game, so that’s good.” The Eagles had the book on the Packers — and had time for some light reading as wide receiver A.J. Brown flipped through the pages of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy while on the bench. Brown had one catch for 10 yards. Love threw for 212 yards and was intercepted three times as he nursed a sore right elbow that was hurt in the regular-season finale against Chicago, Josh Jacobs ran for 81 yards and a score — and popped Green Bay’s offense with a 31-yard run in the third where he shook off one tackle, had his jersey stretched to his heel by one de - fender, plowed one more and dragged two more hapless Eagles to the 1-yard line. Jacobs punched it in for the score on the next play and cut it to 16-10. Aided by an unnecessary rough- ness flag on Green Bay, Hurts got the Eagles close enough for Jake Elliott to kick a 30-yard field goal for a 19-10 lead. Elliott needed the short kick for a confidence boost after he missed an extra point on Goedert’s touchdown. Elliott, who struggled with kicks from 50-plus yards this season, added a 32-yarder in the fourth and a 31-yard- er in the first quarter. The Eagles had the Linc thumping, from the time the public address announcer put a little relish on his command to, “Welcome back to the Eagles lineup, Jalen Huuurts,” to the recovered fumble moments later. Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon had the ball knocked loose by Oren Burks and it was recovered by Jeremiah Trotter at the Green Bay 28. Hurts needed only three plays to find Jahan Dotson for an 11-yard touchdown. Darius Slay went over his shoulder for the cornerback to haul in the ball like an elite receiver for an intercep- tion and All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun made it two for the Eagles. The Eagles didn’t score off those picks, but did keep the Packers off the board. Hurts put all immediate questions about his health to rest when he com- pleted his first six passes for 39 yards, including the TD to Dotson. He then missed his next seven going into the half. He didn’t complete another pass until late in the third quarter, then hit seven of his final eight overall, that included the Goedert TD catch. Brandon McManus, who missed a 38-yard earlier, hit one from 26 yards to make it 10-3 at halftime. Injuries Packers: Lost receivers Romeo Doubs (concussion) and Jayden Reed (shoulder), offensive linemen Elgton Jenkins (stinger) and Josh Myers (left leg) and several defenders to injury. Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean was ruled out quickly after leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter. — The Associated Press O RCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills’ spread-the-wealth approach on offence that was so productive in the regular season, proved unstoppable in their playoff opener. Whether it was Allen completing a 24-yard touchdown pass to sliding run- ning back Ty Johnson on fourth down, or James Cook racking up 120 yards rushing, including a 5-yard touchdown run, the Bills leaned on a balanced attack in a 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in a wild-card playoff game on Sunday. “I don’t think there was one certain thing over another. We just wanted to come out and execute well,” Allen said. “At the end of the day, we just wanted to come out and play our best football, and I feel like we did that today.” With Allen completing 20 of 26 at- tempts for 272 yards passing and two touchdowns, and the running game combining for 210 yards, Buffalo methodically wore down the Broncos by scoring on six of its first seven drives in a game where the Bills fin- ished with a 23-minute edge in time of possession. Allen completed passes to eight players, including getting receiver Curtis Samuel involved by essentially sealing the win with a 55-yard touch- down catch on the opening snap of the fourth quarter. “I’ll speak on behalf of Curtis. He probably didn’t have the season that he wanted to have,” Allen said of the eighth-year player who was limited to 31 catches for 253 yards and a touch- down. “But he just continued to work hard, and that’s kind of the mentality we’ve had all year is everybody eats. And today was his day.” The five-time defending AFC East champion Bills, who became the NFL’s first team to score 30 touchdowns rushing and passing in a season, advanced to the divisional round for a fifth straight postseason, and will face the third-seeded Baltimore Ravens next weekend. The Ravens, coming off a 28-14 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, routed Buffalo 35-10 at Baltimore in Week 4 this season. The outing will mark the second playoff meeting between Allen and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson after Buffalo defeated the Ra- vens 17-3 in the 2020 divisional round. “This is what everyone’s been wait- ing for, right?” coach Sean McDer- mott said. “So it’ll be a nice week and everyone will be looking forward to it, and they’re a great football team. I mean they handled us pretty good the first go around and they’re certainly playing well.” The seventh-seeded Broncos were outclassed in their first playoff ap- pearance since their Super Bowl-win- ning season in 2015. Denver’s offense essentially stalled after rookie Bo Nix capped a five-play opening drive with a 43-yard touch- down pass to former college teammate Troy Franklin. Nix finished 13 of 22 for 144 yards in an outing where Den- ver punted four times and turned the ball over on downs twice. The game served as a lesson in how much further the first-round pick and the Broncos still have to go after a promising season in which Nix threw 29 touchdown passes — two short of the NFL rookie record. “I’m really proud of these guys. We’ve overcome a lot and not really been counted in many games,” Nix said. “But to make the playoffs was a special moment for this group. It’s something we can build off of. … Our goals are changing.” Meantime, the Broncos attacking de- fense was kept at bay by an Allen-led attack that was more than content in gaining small chunks of yards on lengthy time-consuming drives. The Broncos, who had an NFL-leading 63 sacks this seasons, sacked Allen just twice in an game where the Bills punted once. “Who got punched in the mouth?” Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau asked, dismissively, regarding the Broncos scoring 2:24 into the game. “It really was just a message to ourselves,” Rousseau said. “We know who we are week after week, and what we’re capable of and what we’re supposed to do out there. That’s what it’s all about.” Though the Bills didn’t force a takeaway, they made impactful plays in limiting the Broncos to convert just two of nine third down opportunities. And then there was Cam Lewis’ diving tackle in shoving running back Jaleel McLaughlin out of bounds for no gain on fourth-and-2 at the Buffalo 14 early in the fourth quarter. With Buffalo leading 13-7, Allen broke the game open with his touch- down pass to Johnson with 3:06 left in the third quarter. The score held up following a replay review, which showed Johnson’s foot touching out of bounds but after he secured the ball. “You tell me it’s complete, I’m going to sign up for it every week,” McDer- mott said in placing his faith in Allen to convert on fourth down. “You guys know that. I trust him and I believe in him.” Allen’s touchdown to Samuel came on Buffalo’s next possession. Cook became Buffalo’s first player to top 100 yards rushing in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas had 158 yards rushing in a 1995 wild-card playoff win over Mi- ami. Allen increased his playoff total to 23 passing touchdowns, breaking the franchise record of 21 held by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. — The Associated Press SPORTS I FOOTBALL MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2025 SETH WENIG / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Buffalo Bills running back James Cook extends the ball across the goal line for a touchdown against the Denver Broncos. BILLS 31 BRONCOS 7 JEFFREY T. BARNES / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen (left) celebrates with receiver Curtis Samuel after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Broncos in Orchard Park, N.Y. Balanced Bills attack rolls over Broncos Allen, Cook lead way in wild-card round win JOHN WAWROW RAVENS 28, STEELERS 14 BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns in a flawless first half, Derrick Henry scored twice while leading Baltimore’s devas- tating running game, and the Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 on Saturday night to advance to the second round of the AFC playoffs. The Ravens move on to face either Buffalo or Houston after jumping out to a 21-0 halftime lead and holding on against their AFC North rivals. Bal- timore had a 19-2 advantage in first downs in the first half, when the Ravens produced touchdown drives of 95, 85 and 90 yards, Henry ran for 186 yards, and Baltimore out- rushed the Steelers 299-29. Jackson, the two-time MVP still seeking a post- season breakthrough, made it clear from the start he was going to make Pittsburgh (10-8) defend his arm and his legs. He kept the chains moving, and the Ravens (13-5) were happy to advance the ball methodically against a Steelers team that has relied heavily this season on forcing turnovers. TEXANS 32, CHARGERS 12 HOUSTON — Eric Murray returned one of Justin Herbert’s career-high four interceptions for a touchdown, C.J. Stroud threw a TD pass and Hous- ton rolled past Los Angeles on Saturday. It’s the second straight year Stroud and the Texans (11-7) won in the first round after they beat Cleveland last season. Herbert threw just three interceptions in the regular season and had never thrown more than two in a game before facing a Texans secondary led by AP All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley, who had two INTs. Kamari Lassiter had the other pick. The Chargers (11-7), who returned to the playoffs under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, lost in the wild-card round for a second straight time after also losing in the 2022 season. Stroud threw for 282 yards with the touchdown pass to Nico Collins and an interception. Herbert was 14 of 32 for 242 yards with a 40.9 passer rating. MATT SLOCUM / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (threw a pair of touchdown passes Sunday against the Green Bay Packers in Philadelphia. Healthy Hurts, defence pace Eagles past Packers DAN GELSTON EAGLES 22 PACKERS 10 ;