LEADING OFF

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Photograph by Simon Bruty

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Five

Redskins Could've Stopped Him Four Washington defenders—including one grabbing his waist and another his legs—were unable to keep Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch from crossing the goal line after a 27-yard run in the fourth quarter of their wild-card game in D.C. on Sunday. Lynch, who ran for a total of 132 yards on 20 carries in Seattle's 24--14 win, brings his Beast Mode to Atlanta for a divisional playoff game on Sunday. (NFL playoff coverage begins on page 40.)

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Photograph by Steve Jacobson

May I Take Your Hat And Ball? South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney left Michigan running back Vincent Smith empty-handed and bareheaded with a fourth-quarter hit in the Outback Bowl in Tampa on New Year's Day. The crunch seen 'round the Internet set up a touchdown by the 10th-ranked Gamecocks, who rallied to a 33--28 victory over the 18th-ranked Wolverines.

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Photograph by MSA/Icon SMI

Think This Is Hard? You Should See Me Herd Mustangs During the halftime show at the Colts-Texans game on Dec. 30, a border collie with more than the proverbial monkey on its back herded goats around the field in Indianapolis. Anticlimactically, the home team won 28--16. The Colts would go on to lose their AFC wild-card playoff game against the Ravens 24--9 on Sunday.