A Sports Filled Weekend It Was

The NFL playoffs lived up to expectations for excitement on drama on Sunday with two games we won’t soon forget.

The Green Bay Packers, having squandered a 15-point lead, won because kicker Mason Crosby made a pair of field goals of extraordinary magnitude in a span of 93 seconds. His first was from 56 yards and the second, with no time remaining, came from 51 and gave the Packers a 34-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Crosby is the first kicker to make two field goals 50 yards or longer in the final two minutes of a postseason game. The Packers advance to the NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons, who flattened the Seattle Seahawks 36-20 on Saturday.

In Sunday’s late game, the Pittsburgh Steelers never scored a touchdown but won 18-16 in Kansas City over the Chiefs. A playoff-record six field goals by Chris Boswell did the job and the indefatigable Le’Veon Bell broke his own club playoff record by rushing for 170 yards on 30 carries. The Chiefs nearly tied the game with a two-point conversion but the play was wiped out by a holding penalty. The Steelers will play the New England Patriots for the AFC title; the Patriots got past the Houston Texans 34-16 on Saturday.

(Your humble correspondent would like to note he is 8-0 picking the NFL playoff games, 4-0 against the spread this weekend).

Golf
Justin Thomas broke the 72-hole scoring record for a PGA Tour event, shooting 253 over four rounds, including a closing 5-under 65 on Sunday to win by seven strokes at the Sony Open in Honolulu. Thomas had also won the previous week’s event at Kapalua. “It’s been an unbelievable week. Unforgettable,” said Thomas, who fired a 59 in the first round and was never remotely catchable thereafter. Justin Rose was second, Jordan Spieth third.

UConn
The women’s basketball team broke its own record with its 91st consecutive victory on Saturday, beating SMU 88-48. The Huskies go after No. 92 on Tuesday on the road against Tulsa. The bigger goal, the Huskies say, is an unprecedented fifth straight national championship. If they win out through the regular season, their conference tournament and then the NCAA Tournament, their streak would be 111. Yes, they are that good. … In men’s college hoops, No. 1 Baylor beat Kansas State 77-68, No. 2 Kansas topped Oklahoma State 87-80 and No. 3 Villanova defeated St. John’s 70-57.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman