Home hopes high with Sam Todd and Katie Maliff victorious
By TOM PILCHER – Squash Mad Correspondent

Egypt ruled the roost with semi-final spots up for grabs on day three of the Dunlop British Junior Open 2020 in Birmingham.

The African nation set up all-Egyptian last-four clashes in the boys U13 and U11s and bagged three of four berths in the boys U19, girls U15 and girls U11s to secure 25 of the 40 semi-final places on offer as Saturday largely went to form – although another hectic day was not without some major upsets.

Two Malaysian top seeds tumbled out to Egyptian opposition – girls U15 favourite Sehveetraa Kumar lost a tight five-game battle against [5/8] Malak Taha 4-11, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 11-4 while boys U11 [1] Jayden Oon was felled by [9/16] Yassin Azouz 3-1.

Malaysia got their own back in the girls U17s when top seed Aira Azman won through to Sunday’s clashes in three straight games over Egypt’s [9/16] Malak Khafagy.

“I was a little nervous, starting the day on the glass court, but I was happy with my performance and pleased to be through,” said Azman.

Azman waited until nearly 9:30pm local time to catch a glimpse of her sister Aifa [2] in the girls U19s and was not disappointed as the three-time BJO champion dispatched Egypt’s [5/8] Malak Mostafa in straight games.

Boys U19 [2] Yahya Elnawasany survived a scare against lone Czech [5/8] Viktor Byrtus 3-2, while compatriot [5/8] Karim El Barbary outduelled Ireland’s Sam Buckley 3-1.

Earlier BU19 Egyptian top seed Moustafa El Sirty scored another simple straight-games victory before India’s Veer Chotrani won an epic tussle with American Thomas Rosini 11-6, 19-17, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8.

Girls U19s [1] Jana Shiha was another keen spectator late on following her win in four against England’s Alice Green as the oldest division went to form, both [3/4] duo Marina Stefanoni (USA) and Farida Mohamed (Egypt) keeping their chances alive.

Malaysian boys U17 [5/8] Ishant Shah came through a five-game tussle with India’s [3/4] Neel Joshi and home favourite [1] Sam Todd had to battle early on but stuck to his task admirably against Egyptian [9/16] Mohammed Nasser.

“The first game (12-10) was tough, winning that made a difference,” said Todd, the U17 runner-up last year who is seeking a third BJO title.

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He will play Pakistan’s Noor Zaman [9/16] who was up to his old tricks by upsetting Malaysian [5/8] Ameeshenraj Chandaran in four despite losing the first game.

More home cheer came when girls U17s [3/4] Katie Maliff saved match balls en route to a five-game (12-14, 13-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8) marathon against Egypt’s Salma El Tayeb [5/8] then second seed Sana Ibrahim saved two of her own in a 3-2 defeat of Malaysia’s [5/8] Yee Xin Ying.

Team USA’s Caroline Fouls scored an important upset in the U15s by edging [3/4] Salma Elsheikh 3-2 to stop another Egyptian clean sweep, as [9/16] Habiba Hani Diab and [2] Fayrouz Abouelkheir saw off Americans Emma Trauber and Caroline Eielson respectively.

The boys U15 category belonged to Pakistan as second seed Muhammad Humza Khan and [9/16] Muhammad Ammad moved closer to a final clash, England’s [5/8] Yusuf Sheikh upsetting India’s [3/4] Yuvraj Wadhwani.

In the U13 category, Egypt took seven of eight semi-final spots. Both top seeds Mohamed Zakaria and Amina Orfi securing 3-0 wins with [2] Youssef Salem and Janna Galal untroubled.

In the girls U11s, [1] Jana Mohamed won 3-0 and was joined by fellow Egyptian [3/4] Maya Mandour who ended unseeded American Layla Gupta’s inspired run as Malaysia’s [3/4] Harleein Tan and England’s [2] Mariam Eissa advanced.

Azouz will play [3/4] Seif Belal El Shal tomorrow while [2] Yassin Kouritam faces [5/8] Farouk Mohamed after the four Egyptians all won.

Hosts England and Malaysia each sent four players to the semis in the ten age categories, with Pakistan (three) and India and USA boasting two each.

The Dunlop British Junior Open 2020 continues today. Watch live streaming via englandsquash.tv 

Report by TOM PILCHER (England Squash). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures by Steve Cubbins courtesy of England Squash

MONTREAL -- Pittsburgh Penguins minor league goalie Casey DeSmith missed a chance to join the NHL team in Montreal on Saturday because he lost his passport.

The Penguins wanted to promote DeSmith from the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for Saturday's game against the Canadiens while they let Tristan Jarry rest at home before hosting Florida on Sunday. Pittsburgh called on DeSmith, who has played 50 games for Pittsburgh over the past two seasons, but the 28-year-old couldn't find the paperwork to travel internationally.

Pittsburgh recalled goalie Emil Larmi from Wheeling of the ECHL instead to serve as Matt Murray's backup.

Larmi is a 23-year-old from Finland who is in his first season in North America. He is 3-1-0 with a 1.51 goals-against average in four games for Wheeling. He was also 1-2-2 in five games for Scranton. Larmi has not appeared in an NHL game.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Xander Schauffele finished stronger than everyone around him Saturday, and it was good enough to keep a one-shot lead going into the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Schauffele closed with three pars for a 2-under 71 as he tries to become only the third player to win back-to-back in this winners-only event at Kapalua, and the first since Geoff Ogilvy in 2010.

This was a matter of not losing ground in the final hour.

Justin Thomas, who won at Kapalua three years ago, ran off five birdies on the front nine to take the lead until his first three-putt bogey of the week on the 12th hole. He misjudged the wind on another 6-foot par putt at the 17th and failed to birdie the par-5 18th for a 38 on the back nine. That gave him a 69 and a sour taste.

Thomas will be in the final group as he goes for his third win in his last seven starts on the PGA Tour. But he typically scores well on the back nine, and he lost ground on this day.

"I'm not very pleased," Thomas said, speaking more to the finish than his 54-hole position.

Thomas wasn't alone. Patrick Cantlay ran off three straight birdies to get into the mix, only to hit a tee shot out-of-bounds on the 14th and hit another tee shot into the waist-high weeds on the 18th, leading to bogey. He shot 39 on the back for a 73 and fell five shots behind.

Joaquin Niemann, who opened with a 7-under 66 on Thursday, failed to birdie the two par 5s and made bogeys on the two par 4s between them. He shot 39 on the back and had to settle for a 74, leaving him four shots behind.

Patrick Reed had a 74, eight shots worse than his round Friday, and he was in the group four shots behind.

Schauffele was at 11-under 212, the highest 54-hole score to lead at Kapalua since Vijay Singh was at 11 under in 2007.

Schauffele won last year by closing with a 62 to make up a five-shot deficit against Gary Woodland. Thomas is one who believes another 62 is out there if everything falls his way, even though the renovations to the Plantation Course are a big reason why scoring has been higher than usual.

The weather hasn't helped. Saturday brought another dose of gusts in the 25 mph range, and occasional rain that showed up out of nowhere.

Ten players were separated by four shots going into Sunday, a group that includes Woodland, Kevin Kisner, Jon Rahm and a pair of newcomers who won last year, Matthew Wolff and Colin Morikawa.

There will be no shortage of talent out on the course in front of them – it is a winners-only field – but Sunday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions might well turn into a two-man race.

Fresh off a third-round 71, Xander Schauffele (11 under) leads Justin Thomas by one through 54 holes in Maui, and those two have the power to separate themselves the pack, especially on this golf course.

A pair of past champions, Thomas won the TOC back in 2017, and Schauffele is looking to become the third player to go back to back at Kapalua.

It was a year ago that Schauffele tied the Plantation Course record with an 11-under 63  on Sunday to clip Gary Woodland and steal victory. Believe it or not, that was a round that opened with a bogey, before Schauffele played the final 17 holes in 12 under par, with eight birdies and a pair of eagles.

Now, he looks to join Geoff Ogilvy (2009-10) and Stuart Appleby (2004-06) as the players to successfully defend at Kapalua. But to do so, he’ll have to do something he’s never done in his PGA Tour career: close a 54-hole lead.

To date, Schauffele has claimed all four of his PGA Tour wins coming from behind, and he has limited experience as a frontrunner. In that capacity, he’s 0 for 1, having turned a 54-hole co-lead at the 2018 Open into a runner-up finish behind Francesco Molinari after a final-round 74.

“This is a new realm I’m in – sleeping on a lead,” Schauffele conceded. “I’m not sure if I‘ve slept on a solo lead before.”

Luckily, insomnia sounds unlikely.

“I‘m sure I‘ll sleep great,” he added. “I’m tried. I’m pretty worn out today, honestly. I think these hills are a little bit wetter than they were before.”

The high winds and often-wet conditions that have whipped players for three days will likely prevent Schauffele – or anyone else – from authoring another final-round 63, but the leader will need every bit of a firepower he has to hold off his playing partner.

In four final rounds at Kapalua, Thomas owns a 67.5 scoring average on the par-73 layout, having never signed for worse than a Sunday 69. He’s been under par in 15 of his 19 rounds on the Plantation Course. And really, the guy just seems to love Hawaii. He parlayed his 2017 Tournament of Champions win into a first-round 59 the following week at the Sony Open, where he also took the title.

On Saturday, Thomas again looked ready to run away with the lead and hide from the field. He raced out to a 5-under start through nine holes to reach 11 under, but could push no further. A back-nine 38 and a bogey-par finish left him to sign for a 4-under 69.

“I’m pretty disappointed with my finish today,” he said. “I mean, I easily could be at 14 or 15 under right now and to only be at 10 is a little bit of a bummer.”

Had Thomas done that, this event would likely already be wrapped. Instead, a whopping nine players – Thomas, Gary Woodland (8 under), Kevin Kisner, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, J.T. Poston, Matthew Wolff, Joaquin Niemann and Patrick Reed (all 7 under) – are within four shots of the lead held by Schauffele.

It’s an all-star chase pack of proven winners, any of whom could do what Schauffele did last year. But given their track records on this golf course, it’s easy to imagine a Schauffele-Thomas duel down the back nine.

With limited professional experience playing from ahead, and with high winds yet again expected, Schauffele insisted late Saturday that he’ll approach the Plantation Course the same way he has the last three days. He won’t force what isn’t there.

“I think it’s something all pros learn. There’s a time when you can force it,” he explained. “One of the best forcers was probably Tiger in his prime. He could force an outcome if he needed it.

“I haven’t really learned how to play great forceful golf. I sort of go with the flow, and if I handle my game properly, not too many mistakes should be made.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A new driver lineup delivered similar results for the reigning IMSA Prototype Challenge championship-winning No. 47 Forty7 Motorsports team, as Joel Janco, J.J. Jorge and Kyle Kirkwood, co-drove to victory in Saturday’s three-hour season opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

The team fell off the lead lap early after an incident under rainy conditions in the Bus Stop with their team car, the No. 40, but battled back in the final hour to get into contention for the victory. On a restart with 28 minutes remaining, Kirkwood lined up fourth behind the No. 75 of Max Hanratty, the No. 17 of Garett Grist and race leader Dakota Dickerson in the No. 54 entry.

Kirkwood and the No. 47 Norma M30 quickly made their way forward, and 10 minutes later he took the lead from Dickerson at the start-finish line. He cruised the rest of the way to win by 8.846 seconds.

It was Kirkwood’s first IMSA Prototype Challenge victory, coming in his first series start. However, he does have one previous win aboard an LMP3 car in an IMSA-sanctioned race, the 2018 Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore at Sebring Int’l Raceway co-driving with Canadian Roman De Angelis.

“This is my third time in an LMP3 car, the first time with the Norma last month we did a couple of amateur test days earlier in December,” said Kirkwood. “This is really my first time at speed in this car. I adjusted to it really quick. It kind of suits my driving style. For me, I like more of an understeering car and I think that suits more for myself than the Ligier does.”

Janco and Jorge co-drove to the IMSA Prototype Challenge Bronze Cup championship in 2019, but this was their first overall race victory in the series. They won the non-points Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore in November 2019 with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular and past IMSA Prototype Challenge champion Tristan Nunez as their co-driver.

“It’s unexpected,” Janco said. “We’re honored to have won the race. Clearly, I have a very good choice in co-drivers here and the team. Forty7 was awesome, they made no mistakes and they had a fast car. it’s just beyond any of my fondest dreams.“

“The team does a really great job,” Jorge added. “They’re fairly new to this type of racing, they’ve been doing P3 for three years now. It’s a family-type of orientation so when we come into the track, you really feel welcome. That alone sets the precedent for the entire weekend.”

Matt Bell and Naveen Rao finished second in the No. 64 K2R Motorsports Norma following a late-race rally from Bell, who restarted fifth with 28 minutes to go. Rao started the race from the pole position.

Third place went to the No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P3 squad of Dickerson and Dean Baker.

Cameron Cassels and Hanratty came home fourth in the No. 75 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier, with Grist and Rob Hodes completing the top five in the No. 17 Nielsen Racing Norma.

In the Bronze Cup class for driver lineups that are exclusively Bronze-rated, Steven Thomas and Thomas Merrill took the victory in the No. 11 K2R Motorsports Ligier.

“The big piece of the credit goes to the K2R team for giving us a great strategy,” Merrill said. “We were managing the conditions to our benefit and trying to stay out of pit lane as best we could. The conditions were tricky and so our job was to keep it on the island, keep the car in one piece and my job was to give Steven the car back in a good position that we could win our class and I’m happy to say we did that.”

“I started racing one year ago almost today was my first in a race car,” Thomas added. “Going from here to there, awesome. I want to thank Ross Bentley for helping me get there and for Thomas who has also been coaching me and has done awesome.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No, Hailie Deegan conceded with a wide grin, she never expected that her competitive debut on the famous Daytona Int’l Speedway high banks would come in a sports car.

But judging by the smiles and ease she showed Saturday afternoon speaking with reporters at Daytona between Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona practice sessions, she’s eager and mentally prepared for her IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race debut at the grand track on Jan. 24. The in-car skills and sports car initiation is coming together too, she said.

“I never thought I’d race a road course especially at Daytona, that was new for me,’’ Deegan said. “I always thought my first time at Daytona would be in an ARCA car but I’m happy to be here on the road course.’’

Deegan‘s ARCA Menards Series season debut at Daytona will follow the Rolex 24 race weekend and comes only weeks after the 18-year old Californian was formally introduced as a Ford Performance development driver. She will co-drive a Ford Mustang GT4 with NASCAR Xfinity Series frontrunner Chase Briscoe in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Daytona later this month. Austin Cindric, another young Ford talent in the Xfinity Series, will be driving a Multimatic Motorsports Inc. team car as well, teaming with Sebastian Priaulx in the No. 15 Mustang.

In February, Deegan will compete in the season-opening ARCA Menards Series race that essentially opens Daytona Speedweeks – the green flag to a much-anticipated full season of stock car racing. All three of these young NASCAR stars say they are grateful for the chance to begin their season early, confident that the extra laps will only help their skillset.

“I’m really excited just to gain experience in these new cars,’’ Deegan said. “Just everything’s new. A fresh start. It’s waiting to get planned out, meeting new people, new faces, new relationships. I’m excited to grow the relationships in the Ford family and everyone that’s a part of it.

“One thing I haven’t really touched on in my career is road courses, pavement road course type stuff. Coming here and filling that base of what I’m missing as a driver as a hole is definitely going to help me be all around as a driver.

“I feel what makes a good driver is a driver that’s not just good at ovals or road courses they are good at everything and have that skill set. I think if I can just keep getting better skill sets to bring to my career, it will help even more.’’

Deegan and Briscoe certainly gave proof of their talent and ability to learn the new car and course. They were 14th fastest overall in the opening practice, ninth quickest in the second session and finally fifth best in the latest round.

Cindric and Priaulx were fourth fastest in the second session – tops among the two Multimatic team cars.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ben Keating was the fastest LMP2 qualifier and Frankie Montecalvo was the fastest in the GT Daytona class in Saturday’s Roar Before the Rolex 24 At Daytona IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying sessions.

The qualifying sessions are used to determine pit and garage spaces for the Rolex 24 At Daytona event week.

Keating ran a best lap of one minute, 38.056 seconds (130.694 mph) in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA 07 LMP2 machine he is co-driving with Nick Boulle, Simon Trummer and Gabriel Aubry. The Texan is pulling double duty at the Roar and will be again in three weeks at the 58th Rolex 24 At Dayton. He also is competing in the GTD class alongside co-drivers Gar Robinson, Lawson Aschenbach and Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Keating said. “The car’s been great. Everybody at the PR1 team, they’ve got the car extremely well sorted. The last time I raced an LMP2 car was at Le Mans and I’ll just say the car wasn’t as well sorted. It’s nice to get in a car that has had a season or two under its belt to get everything sorted out and all I have to do is hop in and drive. It’s been really good.”

Henrik Hedman was second quickest in the 15-minute LMP2 qualifying session aboard the No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA at 1:38.695 (129.848 mph), followed by Kyle Masson in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA at 1:38.712 (129.826 mph).

Meanwhile, in the 15-minute GT Daytona session that immediately preceded LMP2, Montecalvo drove the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 to a best lap of 1:46.754 (120.046 mph). He is returning for the full 2020 WeatherTech Championship with co-driver Townsend Bell and will share the car with Shane van Gisbergen and Aaron Telitz for the Rolex 24.

“With the changing conditions, I think our car from AIM Vasser Sullivan suits this well,” Montecalvo said. “The team did a phenomenal car getting the RC F right on track from where we left off last year and that year of experience really shows for us. The guys did a great job.”

Second in GTD qualifying was 2019 WeatherTech Championship LMP2 champion Matt McMurry in the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 at 1:46.873 (119.912 mph), followed by Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 with a lap of 1:46.919 (119.860 mph).

Similar qualifying sessions will be held early Sunday afternoon for the Daytona Prototype international and GT Le Mans classes.

Marcus Stoinis, the Melbourne Stars opening batsman, has escaped with a A$7,500 fine for a homophobic slur directed at Kane Richardson during Saturday night's BBL derby between the Stars and the Melbourne Renegades at the MCG.

At the conclusion of the Stars' victory, Stoinis was seen in lengthy conversation with Richardson, the umpires Gerard Abood and Phillip Gillespie and also the Renegades captain Aaron Finch.

Having pleaded guilty to the Cricket Australia code of conduct level two charge of using personally abusive language and apologised to Richardson, Stoinis was not banned as it was his first offence under the code in the past year.

"I got caught in the moment and took it too far," Stoinis said. "I realised immediately I was in the wrong and I apologise to Kane and to the umpires. I did the wrong thing and accept responsibility for my actions. The standards are there for a reason and I accept the penalty."

He escaped lightly by comparison with James Pattinson, who was suspended for the Brisbane Test match earlier this season as his very similar offence in a Sheffield Shield match, directing a homophobic slur towards Cameron Gannon, was his third code of conduct charge in the past 12 months.

Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security, said the fine was enough of a punishment for Stoinis. "The behaviour in this matter falls short of the standards we expect and we have acted accordingly," he said. "There is no place for it in the game."

The second instance of such language being used by elite players in the Australian season follows the national team coach Justin Langer's denial that Pattinson's offence constituted homophobic language. "Clearly it wasn't a homophobic slur. That's my view," Langer said in an interview with the 2GB radio host Alan Jones in November.

"He's been penalised because he's had three strikes in 18 months. He's a terrific bowler. I love his energy, love his passion but he's got to stay calm in the contest."

Former Australia batsman Simon Katich did not believe hitting the players' pockets was the right outcome. "I'm not sure a financial punishment is the right way of going about it, given that we've had a couple of incidences of this throughout the summer now," he told SEN radio. "James Pattinson obviously had a prior record and was suspended, that probably counted for a fair bit having the prior record, but it's something I think they are pretty keen to stamp out. Not sure a financial penalty in this day in age when the players are very well looked after is that significant."

When Pattinson was suspended, Carroll had made it clear that what he had said was unacceptable. "We have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and the action taken in this matter demonstrates that," Carroll said. "On this occasion, James acknowledges he fell short of that expectation."

Pattinson, likewise, had apologised profusely. "I made a mistake in the heat of the moment," Pattinson said. "Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires. I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I'm gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine."

Lunch New Zealand 3 for 141 (Latham 49, Lyon 2-26) trail Australia 454 by 313 runs

Australia claimed three wickets on the third morning of the SCG Test as Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins struck for the hosts against a stubborn New Zealand top order.

Lyon dismissed Tom Blundell and Jeet Raval before Cummins coaxed Tom Latham into a chip straight into the hands of mid-on, undoing some of the good work of the touring side's openers who had reached 68 without loss.

Things may have been worse for New Zealand, however Lyon dropped a straightforward return catch offered by debutant Glenn Phillips and at the same time needed treatment for a cut to his right thumb.

Resuming at 0 for 63, the visitors made slow progress through the first half an hour, before Blundell misjudged a cross-seam delivery from Lyon and was bowled between his legs as he tried a shovel pull shot to the leg side. Raval, who had been waylaid earlier in the Test with flu-like symptoms, walked out to play with far greater fluency than he had offered in the Perth Test, and for a time the scoreboard moved quickly.

Lyon, though, was able to skid a stumps-seeking delivery into Raval's front pad, winning an lbw verdict from Aleem Dar. Raval took a long time to review, appearing to use up more than his allotted 15 seconds, but Aleem allowed a decision referral that showed the ball striking the leg stump.

Latham's occupation was ended the very next over when he miscued a Cummins delivery that held up in the pitch and resulted in a simple catch for Mitchell Starc, and Phillips may well have followed had Lyon been able to hold onto a caught-and-bowled. Ross Taylor hammered Travis Head's offbreaks for a pair of boundaries in the final over of the session, and his experience will be vital should New Zealand manage to get closer to Australia's vast first innings.

HOUSTON -- After scoring just seven points in his playoff debut a year ago, quarterback Deshaun Watson wasn't going to let the Houston Texans falter again.

Even if it took an unbelievable play in overtime Saturday to get the win.

In the Texans' 22-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills, Watson spun out of a sack on second-and-6 to stay upright and find running back Taiwan Jones for 34 yards. On the next play, Houston won the game on a field goal.

"I just told myself to stay up," Watson told ESPN's Lisa Salters about avoiding the sack. "It's do or die right now, and all that work I put in in the offseason, I just had to make a play. Somebody had to be great, why not me?"

After Houston's offense struggled in the first half, Watson put the Texans on his back in the second half and overtime to lead his team to its first playoff victory since he was drafted in 2017.

Houston trailed the Bills 16-0 with 6 minutes and 2 seconds left in the third quarter. Before the Texans' comeback Saturday, Watson was 0-6 in his NFL career when falling behind by 16 or more points (including the playoffs), and the Texans were 0-5 when trailing at halftime in a playoff game.

In the first half, Watson had completed 6 of 8 passes for 49 yards and the Texans ran 20 offensive plays, their fewest in the first half of any game (including playoffs) in the past 10 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Watson finished the game completing 20 of 25 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. The quarterback also ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

"All you need is a little spark with this team," Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said. "You're never out of the game when you have Deshaun Watson as your quarterback."

Per ESPN Stats & Information data, Watson is the only starting quarterback in the past 15 postseasons with a 14-point comeback victory in both college and the NFL. He led a 14-point comeback win against Alabama in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, and a 16-point comeback victory Saturday against the Bills.

The Texans won despite the fact Watson was sacked seven times. According to ESPN Stats & Info research, over the past 10 seasons, including playoffs, starting quarterbacks were 1-117 when taking six or more sacks and trailing by 16 or more points in the same game. The lone win came from the Jaguars' Blake Bortles in 2014 against the Giants.

The previous team to overcome a 16-point deficit in the playoffs at home was the Seattle Seahawks, who trailed 16-0 against the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship Game, per research from ESPN Stats & Info.

Before Saturday, the largest blown lead in postseason in Bills history was 11 points, which happened in the 1980 divisional round against the Chargers.

The Texans will know their opponent for the divisional round by the end of Saturday. If the New England Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans at home, Houston would travel to Baltimore to play the top-seeded Ravens. If the Titans win, the Texans would play the No. 2 seed Kansas City Chiefs on the road.