Russell Wilson tossed two touchdown passes to power Seattle over Detroit 26-6 while Brock Osweiler threw for one touchdown and ran for another as Houston beat Oakland 27-14 in the NFL play-off openers.
The Seahawks stretched their play-off win streak in Seattle to 10 games, third best in NFL history, and booked a second-round NFC match-up next Saturday in Atlanta.
“We’re expecting a fight,” said Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner. “They are rested. They are going to be hungry. But we’re hungry too. We’re going to come out and give them everything we’ve got.”
The Lions suffered their NFL record ninth consecutive play-off defeat. Detroit have not won a play-off game in 25 seasons and has not won a road play-off game or an NFL title since 1957.
“We were just locked in,” Wagner said. “We knew we were going to play well.”
Houston advanced to a second-round AFC match-up next weekend at either New England or Kansas City.
“Overall, it was probably our best game of the year,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “I’m really proud of these players.”
Houston’s fate depends upon the outcome of Sunday’s Pittsburgh-Miami play-off game.
“I don’t care who we play. We are going to play at a high level,” Texans defensive star Jadeveon Clowney said. “We are just going to keep fighting.”
The Green Bay Packers, entering the play-offs on a six-game win streak, host the New York Giants in Sunday’s other play-off game, with the winner to visit Dallas a week later in the second round.
Seattle roll
At Seattle, Thomas Rawls carried 27 times for a team play-off record 161 rushing yards and a touchdown.
“I’m feeling so good. We worked so hard to get to this point,” Rawls said. “It motivates us, playing tough hard-nosed Seahawks football. That’s what we did.”
The Seahawks, who have not lost a home play-off game since January 2005, opened the scoring on Wilson’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Paul Richardson.
Richardson made a one-handed touchdown reception while grabbing a defender’s face mask, but did not draw a penalty flag.
Seattle’s Steven Hauschka kicked a 43-yard field goal and Detroit’s Matt Prater answered from 51 yards late in the second quarter to leave the Seahawks ahead 10-3 at half-time.
Prater added a 53-yard field goal for the Lions but Hauschka answered from 27 yards early in the fourth quarter to give Seattle a 13-6 edge.
On their next possession, the Seahawks drove 82 yards in eight plays capped by Rawls’ 4-yard touchdown run, although Hauschka’s missed conversion kick left Seattle ahead by only 19-6.
Wilson lofted a final 13-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin with 4:12 remaining to seal Detroit’s fate.
Houston advance
The Texans, 19-0 over three seasons when leading at half-time and 6-0 in this campaign, could become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their own home stadium.
“This was truly an ultimate team victory, and I’m very proud of this football team,” Osweiler said. “It means a lot.”
The Raiders, in their first play-off game since the 2002 season, struggled behind rookie Connor Cook, who became the first quarterback to make his first NFL start in a play-off game after injuries to Derek Carr and Matt McGloin.
The Texans, who hadn’t won a play-off game in four years, had the fewest total season points of any play-off team since 2005, but their top-rated defensive unit was good enough to put them in the postseason.
Houston’s Nick Novak kicked a 50-yard field goal to open the scoring and Clowney picked off a Cook pass to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Lamar Miller.
“He has really stepped up and made a bunch of big plays for us,” O’Brien said of Clowney. “It has to continue.”
Oakland answered on a 2-yard touchdown run by Latavius Murray but Novak’s 38-yard field goal put Houston ahead 13-7.
Osweiler hit DeAndre Hopkins with a 2-yard touchdown pass with 80 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the Texans a 20-7 half-time lead, then added a 1-yard touchdown run.
While the Raiders answered on Cook’s 8-yard touchdown pass, interceptions by Houston’s Corey Moore and A.J. Bouye snuffed out Oakland’s final hope.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “We have a bright future.”
* Agence France-Presse
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The%20specs
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Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
