Houston

HOUSTON - It had been Jessica Tata's dream to run a day care. She was soon in over her head, caring for too many kids and taking chances by leaving them alone to run errands. Her actions ultimately proved fatal: Four children died and three were injured when a fire broke out at her home day care after she had left them alone to go shopping at a nearby Target. On Tuesday, jurors sentenced the 24-year-old to 80 years in prison for the death of one of the children, 16-month-old Elias Castillo.

Texans 21, Bills 9 HOUSTON - Matt Schaub threw two TD passes, Arian Foster ran for 111 yards against Buffalo's NFL-worst rushing defense, and Houston (7-1) beat former top pick Mario Williams and the Bills (3-5). Andre Johnson caught eight passes for 118 yards, and Foster scored for the fifth straight game for Houston. Williams had a sack and five tackles in his return to Reliant Stadium after he signed with the Bills in the offseason. The Texans made Williams the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft, and he's still Houston's career sacks leader (53)

IN THE END, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, not the NBA, had the final say about the Brooklyn Nets' home opener at their new arena. The highly anticipated regular-season opener Thursday between the Nets and the New York Knicks at the $1 billion Barclays Center was postponed because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, Bloomberg announced Wednesday. "Mayor Bloomberg informed us this afternoon that after further analysis of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy that he felt it was in the best interests of the city of New York, the teams and our fans that we postpone the Knicks-Nets game scheduled for Thursday night," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

HOUSTON - The Texans look like the new bullies in the AFC, while the Baltimore Ravens look like a mess without Ray Lewis. Matt Schaub threw two touchdown passes, and Arian Foster ran for two scores as Houston dominated a showdown of the conference's top two teams, routing Baltimore, 43-13, on Sunday. Johnathan Joseph returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, and the Texans (6-1) finally beat the Ravens, who'd won all six previous meetings and eliminated them from last year's playoffs.

Oscar Boniek Garcia and Brad Davis scored in the second half as the Houston Dynamo beat the visiting Union, 3-1, Saturday night to clinch a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs. The Union's Jack McInerney scored in the 19th minute off a Sheanon Williams cross. McInerney's goal was his fourth in as many games, breaking Sebastien Le Toux's team record for consecutive scoring games, according to a Union tweet. The Dynamo are into the postseason for the sixth time in seven years. The Union had their two-game winning streak ended.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m., BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston. TV: NBC Sports Network. Coaches: Union (10-15-6, 36 points), John Hackworth (8-8-4); Dynamo (13-8-11, 50 points), Dominic Kinnear, 86-61-71 at Houston, 113-75-92 overall. Union on the road: 3-8-4. Dynamo at home: 10-0-6. Goals for: Union, 35, Dynamo, 45. Goals against: Union, 37; Dynamo, 38. Previous meetings: Houston won, 2-1, at home on June 30. The Union won, 3-1, on Sept.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers finally put it all together. The reigning MVP set a career high and tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes and the Packers played their best game of their so-far-inconsistent season, beating previously unbeaten Houston, 42-24, on Sunday night. Jordy Nelson caught three touchdown passes and James Jones had two, including a beautiful, diving one-hander in the fourth quarter for the Packers (3-3). Tom Crabtree had the other, a 48-yarder that Rodgers threw just before taking a hit from Texans outside linebacker Brooks Reed.

Fifteen years after it first televised the Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers games on its own regional sports network in Philadelphia, Comcast Corp. has launched its 11th sports channel in a partnership with Major League Baseball's Houston Astros and the National Basketball Association's Rockets. The 24-hour Houston channel went live Oct. 1 from Houston's Pavilions entertainment-and-dining district and adds to a rapidly growing multibillion-dollar regional sports network industry. Although the channels are popular with TV viewers, there are now concerns that multiple networks televising different teams within the same TV market - a recent development - will add to future cable-TV bills as consumers pay for the channels in their bundled TV bill.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There are only two undefeated teams in the NFL and both have the distinction of being quarterbacked by players from the Philadelphia area. With Penn Charter's Matt Ryan leading the way, the Atlanta Falcons are 5-0. On Monday, Houston, guided by West Chester East graduate Matt Schaub, also improved to 5-0 with a harder-than-expected 23-17 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The injury-depleted Jets made the game much more competitive than expected.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There are only two undefeated teams in the NFL and both have the distinction of being quarterbacked by players from the Philadelphia area. With Penn Charter's Matt Ryan leading the way, the Atlanta Falcons are 5-0. On Monday, Houston, guided by West Chester East High graduate Matt Schaub, also improved to 5-0 with a harder-than-expected 23-17 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The injury-depleted Jets made the game much more competitive than expected.