MORNING SPORTS BRIEFS 1/17/22

NFL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, and Kansas City Chiefs are joining the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills in the next round of the NFL Playoffs. The defending champion Bucs blasted the Philadelphia Eagles 31-15 in Wild Card action on Sunday to advance. The Niners upset the third-seeded Dallas Cowboys 23-17, while the Chiefs cruised past the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-21. Cincinnati and Buffalo both advanced with wins on Saturday. The Wild Card round wraps up with the Arizona Cardinals facing the Los Angeles Rams in the first-ever Monday night playoff game.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their first playoff game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 pm at Nissan Stadium.

NBA

Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies will try to begin a new winning streak in a game this afternoon against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Grizzlies 11 game win streak ended Friday night in a loss to Dallas.

NHL

The Nashville Predators are back in action tonight in St. Louis against the Blues. The Predators lost in Boston to the Bruins on Saturday.

PGA Tour

Defending Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama won the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday. Matsuyama joins Isao Aoki as the only two Japanese players to claim the title. After finishing four rounds 23-under par, Matsuyama outdueled Russell Henley with an eagle on the playoff hole to win the tournament. Kevin Kisner and Seamus Power tied for third place at 19 under, and Michael Thompson and Lucas Glover finished tied for fifth at 18 under. Nashville’s Brandt Snedeker tied for 36th at 11 under.