Dak Prescott outplayed Tom Brady, throwing for four touchdowns and running for another to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC wild-card playoff game. Prescott completed 25 of 33 passes for 305 yards and played turnover-free ball for the first time in eight games as the Cowboys dominated the listless Bucs in what may turn out to be Brady’s last game in a Tampa Bay uniform. Dallas beat Brady for the first time in the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s career. Now it’s on to the divisional round, which begins Saturday. In the AFC, the Chiefs will host the Jaguars while the Bills host the Bengals. In the NFC, the Cowboys travel to the 49ers while the Giants hit the road against the Eagles.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage was taken off by stretcher late in the fourth quarter of a wild-card playoff game against Dallas. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Gage had movement in his fingers. He was taken to a hospital with a concussion and was being evaluated for a neck injury. Gage was injured Monday night when he stumbled on a route, went to the ground, couldn’t make the catch and took a hard shot to the neck from Donovan Wilson. He appeared to try to get up but couldn’t and slammed his hand into the ground in frustration.
Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed four straight extra points in his team's NFC wild-card game against Tampa Bay, becoming the first player in NFL history to miss that many in a game. Maher’s misses were the only thing going wrong for the Cowboys, who led the Buccaneers 24-0 after his 0-fer. Maher finally kicked one through the uprights on his fifth try, giving Dallas a 31-6 lead in the fourth quarter. The NFL said Maher was the first kicker to miss four extra points in a game since the statistic was first tracked for individual players in 1932.
If Tom Brady retires in the offseason, he’ll walk away following one of the worst playoff games of his career. The seven-time Super Bowl champion had a tough night against Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys, tossing his first red-zone interception with the Buccaneers in a 31-14 loss that ended Tampa Bay’s up-and-down season Monday night. Brady won’t be returning home to the Bay Area for a rematch against Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round. He may be going home for good, however. The 45-year-old, five-time Super Bowl MVP already retired once after last season only to return 40 days later. He said he’ll take more time to make his decision this time around.
NBA
Jayson Tatum had 51 points including seven 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Charlotte Hornets for the second time in three days, 130-118. Derrick White scored 19 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 16 as the Celtics won their seventh straight game. Boston is 33-12 on the season, the best record in the Eastern Conference. Tatum was 15 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the foul line. Jalen McDaniels led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Charlotte lost eight of its last nine games to fall to 11-34.
Fred VanVleet scored 33 points, Scottie Barnes had 26 and the Toronto Raptors recovered in overtime after RJ Barrett’s tying slam with 0.6 seconds left in regulation to beat the New York Knicks 123-121. Pascal Siakam had 20 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Raptors, but he was on the bench after fouling out when Toronto had to wait out Jalen Brunson’s missed 3-pointer in the final second before emerging with the victory. O.G. Anunoby hit two 3-pointers in overtime as Toronto built a six-point lead, but New York nearly erased that in the final minute.
LeBron James had a season-high 48 points and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a three-game skid with a 140-132 victory over the Houston Rockets. Russell Westbrook scored 24 for the Lakers, who never pulled away in another poor defensive game. James’ brilliance in his third 40-point game since turning 38 years old on Dec. 30 was just enough to hold on. Alperen Sengun scored a career-high 33 points in the Rockets’ 11th consecutive loss.
NHL
Barclay Goodrow had a goal and an assist to lead New York to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, as the Rangers maintained their hold on third place in the Metropolitan Division. Mika Zibanejad and Vitali Kravtsov also scored for New York, and Kaapo Kakko had two assists. Jaroslav Halak stopped 22 shots in his fourth straight win for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four games. Andrew Peeke scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost two straight at home and sit last in the division. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 shots for his fifth loss in six games.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 on Monday for their third win in four games. Matthew Tkachuk finished with three assists for Florida and extended his point streak to seven games. Brandon Montour, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for his fourth win in five starts. Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres, who have lost four of their last five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 30 shots.
Dmitry Orlov scored at 4:27 of overtime as the Washington Capitals rallied from three goals down to beat the New York Islanders 4-3. Garnet Hathaway, Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie scored over the final 30 minutes of regulation after the Capitals trailed 3-0. Darcy Kuemper had 27 saves to help Washington snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 14-4-2 since Dec. 5. Sebastian Aho, Matt Martin and Hudson Fasching scored to help the Islanders build their lead early in the second period. Ilya Sorokin finished with 31 saves.
Jeremy Swayman earned his first shutout of the season Monday to help the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0. David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha scored two goals apiece and David Krejci had three assists in his 1,000th NHL game. Boston won for the sixth time in seven games. The Bruins are 21-1-3 at home this season and have the best record in the NHL. Carter Hart stopped 14 shots before he was replaced midway through the second period by Samuel Ersson, who made nine saves the rest of the way. The Flyers snapped a three-game winning streak and lost for just the second time in nine games.
Tomas Tatar scored the shootout winner, and the New Jersey Devils beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3. Jack Hughes scored with 8.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. Nico Hischier and Ryan Graves also scored for the Devils. Vitek Vanecek made 28 saves. Nick Bonino, Erik Karlsson, and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks. Forward Michael Eyssimont had two assists for his first points since joining San Jose. James Reimer made 35 saves for San Jose.
Australian Open
Andy Murray has beaten a top-20 opponent at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2017. The three-time major champion blew a big early lead, then needed to save a match point and wound up eliminating 13th-seeded Matteo Berrettini in five sets in the first round of the Australian Open. The match was played under a closed roof at Rod Laver Arena because the tournament’s heat rule was invoked. Murray raced through the first two sets in less than 1 1/2 hours before the big-hitting, big-serving Berrettini turned things around and took the match to a fifth. Murray wound up winning 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10-6).
Elsewhere in the Men’s First Round: No. 5 Andrey Rublev beat Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; No. 8 Taylor Fritz beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5;
Women’s First Round: No. 4 Caroline Garcia beat Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-0; No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka beat Tereza Martincova 6-1, 6-4; Elise Mertens beat Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1; No. 30 Karolina Pliskova beat Wang Ziyu 6-1, 6-3; Kimberley Birrell beat No. 31 Kaia Kanepi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1; Leylah Fernandez beat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2; Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat No. 21 Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-2.
LOOKAHEAD TO WEDNESDAY
Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu will go head-to-head in the second round of the Australian Open. The seventh-seeded Gauff is the 18-year-old American who reached the final of the French Open last year. She also won the title in Auckland earlier this month. Raducanu has been battling a left ankle injury. The 20-year-old British player has not gone past the second round in any Grand Slam event since she won the U.S. Open in 2021. Rafael Nadal, the defending men's champion, plays Mackenzie McDonald. The top-seeded woman, Iga Swiatek, continues her title bid with a match against Camila Osorio
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Jim Harbaugh is staying at Michigan, a decision he personally gave the school president on Monday to end another round of speculation that he would return to the NFL. Harbaugh says his heart is at the University of Michigan. Harbaugh and the school have not reached an agreement on a contract extension but both sides plan to work on a new deal this week, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the negotiations were not announced.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Zach Edey made a go-ahead shot at the front of the rim with 2.2 seconds left and finished with a career-high 32 points and 17 rebounds to help No. 3 Purdue hold off Michigan State 64-63. Tyson Walker put the Spartans ahead with 11 seconds remaining with a mid-range jumper, giving him a season-high 30 points, but they could not stop the 7-foot-4 Edey on the ensuing possession or make a shot just before the buzzer. The Boilermakers have won 17 of their first 18 games. The Spartans dropped a second straight game.
Houston and Kansas remain firmly atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll after a record weekend of Top 25 losses. Florida Atlantic took advantage of the chaos to crack the rankings for the first time in school history. Eleven ranked teams went down Saturday, tying a record that has stood for nearly 12 years, while UConn and Marquette lost Sunday to help give the AP poll one of its biggest shakeups in recent history. Clemson, Baylor and Rutgers joined FAU in entering the poll. That came at the expense of San Diego State, Duke, Wisconsin and Missouri.
