FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots running back Dion Lewis became the first player in NFL history to score rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdowns in a playoff game, as he was a top performer in Saturday night’s AFC divisional-round playoff 36-14 win over the Houston Texans .
Editor’s Picks Patriots likely won’t get by with this type of performance in AFC title game
The Patriots moved on to their sixth consecutive AFC title game on Saturday, but their performance against the Texans was a bit too uneven. 2016 NFL playoffs schedule, Super Bowl LI coverage
The NFL playoffs — and the race to Super Bowl LI — are in full swing, including this weekend’s divisional round games. Check out ESPN.com’s coverage of every postseason game.
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The Patriots moved on to their sixth consecutive AFC title game on Saturday, but their performance against the Texans was a bit too uneven.
The NFL playoffs — and the race to Super Bowl LI — are in full swing, including this weekend’s divisional round games. Check out ESPN.com’s coverage of every postseason game.
Rookie Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs accomplished the feat during the regular season, but prior to that, the last player to do so in a game was Gale Sayers in 1965.
The Patriots turned to Lewis as their primary running back Saturday night, as he started over LeGarrette Blount. At halftime, he was charted on the field for 14 snaps, compared to just eight for Blount.
Lewis, just as he did in 2015 before tearing his ACL in early November, has provided a big spark to the Patriots since coming off the physically unable to perform list on Nov. 20.
Going back to last season, the Patriots haven’t lost when Lewis has been in the lineup as they are 15-0.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Lewis is just the third player in NFL playoff history to have a receiving touchdown and kickoff return touchdown in the same game. The others were Dante Hall (Chiefs) in the 2003 divisional playoffs against the Indianapolis Colts and Jacoby Jones ( Baltimore Ravens ) in Super Bowl XLVII against the San Francisco 49ers.
