January 2006 in Sports - 1 January 2006 (Sunday)

1 January 2006 (Sunday)

NFL Week 17: The NFL Playoff picture was finally set in stone on the first day of the New Year.
- Indianapolis Colts 17, Arizona Cardinals 13: In Tony Dungy's first game since his son James' death, Indianapolis wins despite resting its star players and the Cards' Neil Rackers breaks the NFL record for field goals in a season with his 40th. An apparent touchdown that would have given the Cards a lead late in the fourth quarter by Cards' QB Josh McCown on fourth and goal from the Colts one was overturned by the replay official as the replay showed that McCown fumbling the ball before crossing the goal line.
- Cleveland Browns 20, Baltimore Ravens 16: Antonio Bryant catches nine passes for 123 yards and a touchdown and Dennis Northcutt provides the winning score on a punt return. Ravens' DB Deion Sanders played in his final NFL game, announcing his retirement after the game.
- New York Jets 30, Buffalo Bills 26: Justin Miller returns a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Jets' fourth win of the season, their worst since the 1–15 record posted by Rich Kotite in 1996, and will select fourth in the 2006 NFL Draft April 29 in New York City. The win sent coach Herman Edwards out on a high note, as he would become the Kansas City Chiefs' new head coach a week later in exchange for the Chiefs' fourth-round pick in said draft.
- Carolina Panthers 44 Atlanta Falcons 11: DeShawn Foster outrushes the entire Falcons team (165 yards compared to the Falcons' team total of 26), and Jake Delhomme throws two touchdown passes — one of them to Steve Smith, who was the NFL's receiving leader with 1,563 yards — as the Panthers clinch a playoff spot. Smith ties Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald for the most passes caught with 103 during the regular season.
- Kansas City Chiefs 37, Cincinnati Bengals 3: The Chiefs put up 537 total yards on the Bengals, including 201 on the ground from Larry Johnson, but miss out on the playoffs due to the Steelers' win. After the game, Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil announced his second — and likely permanent — retirement.
- Pittsburgh Steelers 35, Detroit Lions 31: Pittsburgh clinches the final AFC playoff spot as Jerome Bettis rushes for three touchdowns in what likely could be his final game at Heinz Field.
- Miami Dolphins 28, New England Patriots 26: While most of the Patriots starters — including the league's leading passer, Tom Brady with 4,110 total yards — were resting or played in limited action before next week's playoff game with Jacksonville, Doug Flutie capped off his career by making the NFL's first successful drop kick since Ray McLain did for the Chicago Bears on December 21, 1941 during their 37–9 NFL Championship Game victory over the New York Giants. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website, the kick was also the fist successful drop kick in a regular season game since Earl "Dutch" Clark did it in 1937 for the Detroit Lions.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27, New Orleans Saints 13: Dewayne White's late fumble return for a touchdown clinches the NFC South division title for Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the Saints will pick second at the draft, and also sacked coach Jim Haslett due a power struggle the following day.
- Green Bay Packers 23, Seattle Seahawks 17: Shaun Alexander sets a new league record with his 28th touchdown of the season while winning the NFL's rushing title with 1,880 yards. Meanwhile, Brett Favre throws a touchdown pass — the 396th of his career — in what is likely to be his final game. The Pack will hold the fifth selection in the draft, but will have a new coach as Mike Sherman was dismissed the following day.
- San Francisco 49ers 20, Houston Texans 17 (OT): The 49ers' Joe Nedney kicks a 33-yard field goal with 3:52 left in overtime, giving the Texans the first choice in the 2006 NFL Draft, while the Niners will pick sixth. The Texans would fire coach Dom Capers the next day.
- Jacksonville Jaguars 40, Tennessee Titans 13: Backup quarterback Quinn Gray throws two touchdowns for the Jaguars, who rest several starters, while the Titans will select third in the draft thanks to a strength of schedule tiebreaker.
- Minnesota Vikings 34, Chicago Bears 10: In Mike Tice's last game as Vikings head coach, he goes out a winner thanks to two Brad Johnson touchdown passes while Da Bears rested many of their regulars. Tice was informed by new Vikings owner Zygi Wilf that he was fired one hour following the contest.
- Washington Redskins 31, Philadelphia Eagles 20: The Redskins victory clinches the final playoff spot in the NFC as Clinton Portis rushes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles also made history — in a double negative way — by becoming the first team since the 2002 expansion to go unbeaten (6–0) in divisional play one year (in 2004) to going winless (0–6) the next year and the first in history to do just that.
- St. Louis Rams 20, Dallas Cowboys 10: Any playoff drama for Dallas was sucked out with the Redskins' victory, and it showed in the second half for the Cowboys, who blew a 10–7 halftime lead. The game was ESPN's final Sunday Night Football telecast after nineteen seasons, the last eight as a full-season package. NBC will take over the package starting with the 2006 season, renaming the games "Football Night in America." Mike Martz and his interim replacement, Joe Vitt, were fired as Rams' coaches the following day, and Cowboys' coach Bill Parcells, who had been reported ready to step down signed a two-year contract extension that Friday (January 6).
Ski jumping:
- Four Hills Tournament: The Czech Jakub Janda wins his fifth World Cup event of the season in the New Year Ski Jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, 1.9 points ahead of Finn Janne Ahonen, who nevertheless retains his overall lead in the Tournament, 5.8 points ahead of Janda. (CBC.ca).

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Famous quotes containing the word january:

“and you undid the reins
and I undid the buttons,
the bones, the confusions,
The New England postcards,
the January ten o’clock night,
and we rose up like wheat....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)