DERRICK HENRY rushed for a franchise playoff-record 182 yards and scored a touchdown to lead the Tennessee Titans to a 20-13 victory over the New England Patriots in an American Football Conference (AFC) wild-card game on Saturday night at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Henry carried 34 times and also had a key reception on his 26^th birthday, as the sixth-seeded Titans stunned the third-seeded Patriots in what could turn out to be Tom Brady’s final game with New England. Henry broke the club mark set by Eddie George, who had 162 in the divisional round after the 1999 season versus the Indianapolis Colts.

Earlier in the day, the Houston Texans came back to beat the visiting Buffalo Bills in overtime, 22-19, in the other AFC wild-card game.

“We were just locked in,” Henry said afterward on the CBS broadcast. “We wanted it. I think that was our mindset, coming in here and doing what we need to do in all three phases and stay locked in no matter what happens in the game.”

Logan Ryan tacked on a nine-yard interception return for a score with nine seconds left for the Titans, as head coach Mike Vrabel, a former New England player, got the better of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

Tennessee will visit the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in the divisional round.

The 42-year-old Brady, who is scheduled to be a free agent, completed 20 of 37 passes for 209 yards and the interception. Julian Edelman rushed for a score for New England’s only touchdown.

Brady told reporters afterward it’s “unlikely” he will retire, but he declined to speculate on the future.

Tennessee executed a key goal-line stand late in the second quarter and held New England scoreless in the second half. Rashaan Evans had three tackles for loss among his 10 stops for the Titans.

“They made some key plays in critical situations, in the red area on third down that probably were the difference in the game,” Belichick told reporters afterward.

Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill finished 8-of-15 passing for 72 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

New England trailed 14-13 when Brady took over at his own one-yard line with 15 seconds left after a 58-yard punt by the Titans’ Brett Kern was downed just shy of the goal line. Brady’s last pass was deflected by Tramaine Brock and grabbed by Ryan, who returned it for the score.

Henry had 128 total yards (106 rushing, 22 receiving) in the first half as the Titans held a 14-13 lead.

Henry rushed for 49 yards on seven carries on Tennessee’s first possession to set up Tannehill’s 12-yard scoring pass to Anthony Firkser, giving the Titans a 7-3 advantage with 5:39 left in the first quarter.

New England answered on the opening play of the second quarter as Edelman came in motion from the left, took a handoff from Brady and cruised to the right for a five-yard scoring run.

The Patriots reached the one-yard line later in the quarter and seemed destined to take a 10-point lead. But Sony Michel was stopped for a one-yard loss, Rex Burkhead gained 1 and Michel was stuffed for a loss of 2. New England settled for Nick Folk’s 21-yard field goal and a 13-7 lead with 2:16 until the half.

Henry then accounted for every yard in a seven-play, 75-yard drive as the Titans moved back ahead. Henry, who rushed for 53 yards on the excursion, took a screen pass 22 yards to the 1 and scored on the next play with 35 seconds left.

TEXANS WIN
Meanwhile in Houston, Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a walkoff field goal after being set up by Deshaun Watson’s memorable play, capping the Texans’ comeback in a 22-19 OT victory over the visiting Bills in the other AFC wild-card game.

On the third possession of overtime, Watson avoided two Bills for what would have been an eighth sack before completing a 34-yard pass to Taiwan Jones down to the Buffalo 10-yard line. Fairbairn followed with his 28-yard game-winner at the 3:20 mark.

Watson finished 20 of 25 for 247 yards and added a team-high 55 yards rushing.

Buffalo forced overtime when Allen led a desperate march that followed a fourth-down stop of Watson. After the Bills moved 41 yards in 11 plays, Stephen Hauschka’s fourth field goal, a 47-yarder, tied it with five seconds left.

Down 16-0, Watson produced a 20-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in the third and a five-yard scoring pass to Carlos Hyde with 4:37 remaining in regulation to engineer the comeback.

“You can’t let a team like that hang around,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said afterward.

“We had opportunities to go up 20 or so or whatever there, and we didn’t come up with touchdowns. That let them hang around a little bit, and they made some plays in the second half.” — Reuters

SYDNEY — Tennis world number two Novak Djokovic said he is concerned that smoke might cause some problems at the Australian Open later this month as bushfires continued to blaze across large sections of the southeast on Sunday.

Hundreds of fires in New South Wales and Victoria have killed at least 24 people and destroyed more than 5.25 million hectares (13 million acres) of land over the last few months.

Smoke from the blazes has also resulted in hazardous conditions in Sydney, where the final rounds of the inaugural ATP Cup will take place next weekend, and Melbourne, where the year’s first tennis Grand Slam gets under way on Jan. 20.

Seven-time Australian Open champion Djokovic, who is playing in the ATP Cup, said he hoped the crisis would “dissipate” soon but that an action plan would be needed to avoid any impact on the health of players if it did not.

“If it continues same way and if the quality of air is affected in Melbourne or Sydney, I think Tennis Australia probably will be forced to create some rules about it,” he told a Brisbane news conference in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“It’s tough for them because … there’s a lot of different things involved. But health concern is a health concern for me and for anybody.”

The smoke has so far caused the most disruption to the sporting calendar in Canberra, where a Twenty20 cricket match was abandoned on Dec. 21 when conditions became too hazardous to continue.

An ATP Challenger/ITF Futures tennis tournament scheduled for next week in the capital was moved to Bendigo, while on Sunday the city’s ACT Brumbies rugby team announced they would be moving their pre-season training camp to Newcastle.

The twice Super Rugby champions made the decision after their training ground at the University of Canberra was closed indefinitely “due to hazardous air quality.”

“The small changes we have had to make are nothing in comparison to the distressing position so many people in our region are sadly experiencing at the moment,” coach Dan McKellar said in a statement.

“Player welfare is always a priority and temporarily moving to Newcastle will allow us to continue to prepare for our round one match on Jan. 31.”

The New Year’s cricket test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, one of the biggest fixtures on the Australian sporting calendar, moved into its third day without disruption, although there was a distinct smell of smoke in the air on Sunday.

Australian sportsmen and women have joined actors, popstars and Britain’s royal family in pledging financial support for those affected by the bushfires. — Reuters