Dan Whelan and Packers advance in play-offs

Irish-born Dan Whelan and the Green Bay Packers upset the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 in the first round of playoffs.

Aaron Jones and Jordan Love starred in the victory, with Wicklow-born Whelan becoming the first Irish player to feature in the play-offs since Neil O'Donoghue, with the then St Louis Cardinals, in 1983.

Quarterback Love threw for three touchdowns and 272 yards in his playoff debut, while running back Jones scored three touchdowns as he ran for 118 yards.

The Packers jumped out to a 27-point lead to silence the Dallas crowd as Jones grabbed a first quarter touchdown and they added three more in the second quarter, including a 64-yard intercept from Darnell Savage.

Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was intercepted twice as he passed for three touchdowns and 403 yards, but three more touchdowns in the second half sealed the game for Green Bay.

The Cowboys made a late surge with two touchdowns to tight end Jake Ferguson but the Packers' lead was insurmountable.

They will head to face the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round.

The Detroit Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years after they beat the Los Angeles Rams at home in a thrilling 24-23 win.

Detroit got off to a strong start with two touchdowns in the first quarter as they went ahead 14-3, but the Rams hit back with two of their own in the second quarter.

Michael Badgley’s 54-yard field goal in the third quarter proved decisive as the Rams could only respond with two three-pointers from Brett Maher.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw for 277 yards with one touchdown, while Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 367 yards with two touchdowns.

The Lions will play the winner of Monday night’s game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the