Jan 1, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu (12) reacts with wide receiver Julio Jones (11) and quarterback Matt Ryan (2) after catching a touchdown pass against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at the Georgia Dome. Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tom Brady passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns as the New England Patriots clinched home field throughout the AFC playoffs, beating the Miami Dolphins 35-14 on Sunday.
Brady completed 25 of 33 passes and was not intercepted or sacked. Wide receiver Julian Edelman caught eight of Brady’s passes for 151 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown.
The Patriots (14-2), who have won the AFC East Division in 14 of the past 16 years and have also taken four Super Bowls during that span, will get a first-round playoff bye.
Miami (10-6), which had already clinched its first playoff berth since 2008, will be underdogs in its first-round playoff game next week at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Packers 31, Lions 24
DETROIT — Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes, two to Davante Adams, and Green Bay clinched the NFC North title after defeating Detroit at Ford Field.
Rodgers declared that the Packers could “run the table” when they were 4-6 and they did just that, finishing the regular season on a six-game winning streak. Green Bay (10-6) enters the NFC playoffs as the No. 4 seed and will host the No. 5 seed, the New York Giants, in the opening round of the playoffs.
Both teams qualified for the postseason earlier in the evening when Washington lost to the Giants. The Lions (9-7), who failed in their bid to win their first division title in 23 years, wound up as the No. 6 seed. They travel to No. 3 Seattle.
Rodgers completed 27 of 39 passes for 300 yards. Matthew Stafford completed 26 of 41 passes for 347 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Lions.
Eagles 27, Cowboys 13
PHILADELPHIA — There was nothing at stake except pride when Philadelphia beat playoff-bound Dallas, which already clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
The Cowboys finish the regular season at 13-3. That ties the franchise record for most victories in a season — Dallas also won 13 games in 1992 and 2007.
The Eagles (7-9) scored the winning touchdown when quarterback Carson Wentz threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz with 4:56 left in the third quarter.
The most significant thing about this meaningless game came with 13 minutes left in the second quarter when Tony Romo took over at quarterback for the Cowboys in relief of starter Dak Prescott. It was Romo’s first regular-season action since Thanksgiving 2015 and he threw his first touchdown pass in nearly 14 months. He finished 3 for 4 for 29 yards in his only series of the game.
Steelers 27, Browns 24 (OT)
PITTSBURGH — Landry Jones threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Cobi Hamilton in overtime and Pittsburgh, playing a meaningless game, won its seventh in a row by rallying past Cleveland.
The loss secured the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft for the Browns (1-15). Cleveland was in a position to win it in regulation when Robert Griffin III completed a 48-yard pass to Terrelle Pryor Sr. to the Steelers 5 in the final minute of the fourth quarter. But instead of running down the clock with 1:12 remaining and kicking a chip-shot field goal to win it, the Browns ran the ball and Isaiah Crowell fumbled at the 3-yard line, and the Steelers (11-5) recovered.
Cleveland then had a first-and-goal at the Steelers 2 in overtime following a 65-yard drive to start the extra period, only to run a screen pass to Andrew Hawkins that lost 14 yards. The Browns were forced them to settle for Cody Parkey’s 34-yard field goal.
Titans 24, Texans 17
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Its AFC South title hopes dashed last week, Tennessee earned a consolation prize to end the season as Matt Cassel threw for 150 yards and a touchdown against division champion Houston.
Playing in place of Marcus Mariota, who broke his leg in last week’s loss at Jacksonville that ended the Titans’ surprise bid for their first playoff berth in eight years, Cassel completed 16 of 26 passes. He hit Rishard Matthews with a 2-yard scoring strike with 23 seconds left in the half, giving Tennessee (9-7) a 14-0 halftime lead.
Brock Osweiler completed 21 of 40 passes for 253 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown to C.J. Federowicz with 10:31 left in the third quarter that cut the Texans’ deficit to 14-7. Osweiler also scrambled a yard with 3:11 remaining in the game for a score that drew Houston (9-7) within seven points.
Buccaneers 17, Panthers 16
TAMPA, Fla. — Jameis Winston threw the winning touchdown pass to Mike Evans with 3:13 to play, leading Tampa Bay over Carolina.
The Panthers drove for a tying touchdown but opted to go for two with 0:17 left, and Greg Olsen slipped in the end zone as Cam Newton’s pass fell incomplete to give the Bucs the win.
Winston went 5 of 6 for 73 yards on the winning drive, hitting Evans for a 10-yard touchdown after the Bucs offense had mustered only three points in the first 57 minutes. The throw gave Winston the team record for touchdown passes in a season (28) and Evans tied his own record for TD catches in a season (12). Tampa Bay (9-7) ended a two-game losing streak and completed a season sweep of Carolina (6-10).
Bengals 27, Ravens 10
CINCINNATI — Rex Burkhead rushed for a career-high 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Andy Dalton passed for 226 yards and a score, lifting Cincinnati over Baltimore.
With nothing to play after last week’s loss to the Steelers, the Ravens (8-8) limped to the finish with a lackluster performance to end the season. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco was 32 of 49 for 267 yards and an interception to finish with a single-season team record 4,317 yards. Ravens receiver Steve Smith Sr. played what could be his final game, making three catches for 34 yards. He would finish with 89 career touchdowns.
The Bengals (6-9-1) avoided their first 10-loss season since 2010, but snapped a streak of five straight playoff appearances.
Colts 24, Jaguars 20
INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Jack Doyle with 9 seconds remaining lifted Indianapolis to a victory over Jacksonville and an 8-8 finish to a disappointing season.
The Jaguars (3-13) thought they had pulled it out on Jason Myers’ 41-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining. But that gave Luck too much time.
Although out of timeouts, the no-huddle Colts drove 75 yards in eight plays that took 1:24 off the clock. Luck completed all six of his passes for 70 yards.
Vikings 38, Bears 10
MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Bradford was 25 of 33 passing for 250 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, and Kyle Rudolph had 11 catches for 117 yards and a score as Minnesota beat Chicago.
Bradford was particularly sharp early, leading Minnesota to three touchdown drives in the first half, and the Vikings’ defense accounted for five takeaways, including a fumble returned for a touchdown by Everson Griffen.
Jerick McKinnon added 110 total yards and scored touchdowns by rushing and receiving for Minnesota, which ended the season 8-8 after a 5-0 start. Jordan Howard had 135 yards rushing for the Bears (3-13), who finished with the fewest wins in a 16-game season in franchise history.
Jets 30, Bills 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pair of short touchdown passes as New York routed Buffalo.
Fitzpatrick, who threw a franchise-record 31 touchdown passes last season but was benched twice this year, finished 20 of 30 for 210 yards with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bilal Powell in the second quarter and a 6-yard TD pass to Jalin Marshall in the third quarter. Fitzpatrick, an impending free agent, had just 12 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions as the Jets finished 5-11.
The Bills (7-9) face some uncertainty this offseason after firing Rex Ryan last week and elevating offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn to interim head coach.
Seahawks 25, 49ers 23
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Seattle will have to make its playoff run without benefit of a first-round bye this year, but it wasn’t complaining after defeating San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium in the final tuneup for the postseason.
Seattle, which clinched the NFC West title on Dec. 15 with a win over the Los Angeles Rams, will open the playoffs as the third seed at home against the loser of Sunday’s night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
After the game, the 49ers made it official, firing coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke.
Cardinals 44, Rams 6
LOS ANGELES — Three touchdown passes by Carson Palmer and a smothering Arizona defense allowed the Cardinals to crush Los Angeles.
Palmer completed 20 of 38 passes for 255 yards and an interception as the Cardinals (7-8-1) rolled to a 44-6 victory over the Rams at the Memorial Coliseum.
The Cardinals defense sacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff seven times. Linebacker Markus Golden led the way with 2.5 sacks.
Raiders 24, Broncos 6
DENVER — Oakland is still heading to the playoffs but it’s hurting, especially at quarterback.
Trevor Siemian threw touchdown passes to running back Devontae Booker and tight end Virgil Green, and the Raiders lost their starting quarterback to injury for the second straight week in a loss to Denver.
Booker caught a touchdown pass and also ran for a score in what was apparently Gary Kubiak’s final game as Denver’s head coach. Kubiak, who missed a game earlier this season because of a complex migraine condition and also suffered a condition akin to a mini stroke when he was coach of the Houston Texans, told players and staff after the game that he plans to retire.
Chiefs 37, Chargers 27
SAN DIEGO — For the first time in five years, there’s an AFC West champion not named the Denver Broncos.
For the first time in four years, Mike McCoy isn’t the Chargers’ coach after he was fired.
Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as Kansas City beat San Diego to win the AFC West. The combination of the Chiefs sweeping the season series from the Chargers, and the Oakland Raiders’ loss to the Denver Broncos, gave K.C. its first divisional title since 2010. It gets a first-round bye and will host a second-round playoff game.
Giants 19, Redskins 10
LANDOVER, Md. — Kirk Cousins was intercepted by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with under 1:30 remaining and New York defeated Washington at FedEx Field to eliminate the Redskins from playoff contention.
Needing to defeat a team with nothing to play for and hope Green Bay and Detroit avoided a tie Sunday night, Washington’s often prolific offense was smothered by the Giants defense as the Redskins lost for the fourth time in their final six games.
Trailing 13-10 with 2:12 remaining, Cousins drove the Redskins across midfield. But on first-and-10 from the 43-yard line with 1:27 left, he threw down the middle for Pierre Garcon. The pass hung a bit and Cromartie stepped in front of Garcon for his second interception of the day.
Falcons 38, Saints 32
ATLANTA — Atlanta goes into the NFC playoffs with a first-round bye and its standing as the top offense in the NFL intact.
The Falcons scored touchdowns on all five of their first-half possession and defeated New Orleans to lock up the NFC’s No. 2 seed in the final regular-season game ever at the Georgia Dome
Matt Ryan, again making a case for MVP consideration, threw four touchdown passes and Devonta Freeman scored on a 75-yard run while going over 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season. Ryan completed 27 of 36 passes for 331 yards and a 139.9 quarterback rating as the Falcons finished the regular season 11-5 and dropped the Saints to 7-9.
