WEEKEND PREVIEW
10 BEST EVENTS TO WATCH OR ATTEND
Falcons at Eagles
1 When: 3:35 p.m. Saturday. TV: NBC. Philadelphia, which has home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, will find out how resourceful it can be with Nick Foles in a playoff game against a more playoff-tested Atlanta team.
Titans at Patriots
2 When: 7:15 p.m. Saturday. TV: CBS. Tennessee, a wild-card team, won on the road last Saturday in an upset at Kansas City, saving coach Mike Mularkey’s job. It’s good for him that his continued employment didn’t come down to this game at No. 1 seed New England.
Jaguars at Steelers
3 When: 12:05 p.m. Sunday. TV: CBS. Assuming the Titans lose, we can say farewell to the AFC South after Jacksonville’s game at rested Pittsburgh unless QB Blake Bortles plays significantly better than he did vs. Buffalo.
Saints at Vikings
4 When: 3:40 p.m. Saturday. TV: Fox. Minnesota QB Case Keenum exceeded expectations in leading the Vikings to the NFC North title. Playing at home after a week off, don’t count him or them out even against the battle-tested Drew Brees.
Rockets at Suns
5 When: 9:30 p.m. Friday. TV: ATTSW/ESPN. Despite all of their injuries, including one by James Harden, the Rockets began the week with the Western Conference’s second-best record. But nothing is a given for them anymore.
Australian Open
6 When: 6 p.m. Sunday. TV: ESPN2. This might be the time for a new wave of tennis stars to come to the forefront of the year’s first Grand Slam. The tournament begins without Serena Williams and Andy Murray. Or not. While Williams won last year’s tournament, Roger Federer returns to defend his men’s title.
Sony Open
7 When: Today-Sunday. TV: Golf Channel. Many of the top players island hopped from Maui to Honolulu for the second PGA tournament of the year. Fortunately for them and the rest of the field, Dustin Johnson — who won at Kapalua by eight strokes — returned to the mainland.
Chevron Houston Marathon
8 When: 7 a.m. Sunday. TV: KTRK. An estimated 250,000 people will participate in a weekend of racing that includes Saturday’s 5K and Sunday morning’s wheelchair races, half-marathon and marathon. The start line is at the Congress/San Jacinto intersection.
Monster Energy Supercross
9 When: 7 p.m. Saturday. TV: FS1. After starting the season last weekend in Anaheim, where defending Cup champion Marvin Musquin won in front of 45,050 at Angels Stadium, this race at NRG will be the second of 17 throughout the country this year.
West Virginia at Texas Tech
10 When: 1 p.m. Saturday. TV: ESPN. The Mountaineers moved up to No. 2, the highest they’ve been ranked since Jerry West’s senior season in 1959. The Red Raiders are the second-highest ranked Big 12 team at No. 8.