NFL Sunday night roundup: Patriots clinch home-field advantage, Redskins miss playoffs
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida -- Tom Brady threw for 276 yards and three scores Sunday as the Patriots clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs by beating the Dolphins 35-14.
New England took a 20-0 lead in the first half and turned away Miami’s comeback bid with the help of a 77-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Julian Edelman and a 69-yard fumble return by linebacker Shea McClellin.
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The Patriots (14-2), already assured of a first-round bye, became the ninth team since 1972 to go undefeated on the road during the regular season.
The Dolphins (10-6), beaten for only the second time in the past 11 games, had already earned an AFC wild-card berth. They play their first postseason game since 2008 next weekend at Pittsburgh.
GIANTS 19, REDSKINS 10
LANDOVER, Maryland -- Facing an opponent with nothing to play for, Washington blew their chance to make the playoffs with an uninspired loss to New York.
The Redskins would have made the playoffs with a win as long as the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions night game didn’t end in a tie. Instead, Kirk Cousins was intercepted twice in the second half by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Washington (8-7-1) goes into an offseason filled with questions.
The Packers and Lions each qualified as a result of the Redskins’ loss to New York (11-5), which will be the first wild card. Eli Manning played the entire game, going 17 of 27 for 180 yards despite the Giants opting for a conservative approach for much of the second half.
CHIEFS 37, CHARGERS 27
SAN DIEGO -- Alex Smith threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Chiefs clinched the AFC West title and a first-round playoff bye in perhaps the final NFL game in San Diego.
The Chiefs (12-4) took the division with the win and Oakland’s loss at Denver.
San Diego fired coach Mike McCoy after the game.
Smith scored on a 5-yard scramble early in the second quarter to tie the game at 10. He threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Charcandrick West later in the quarter to put the Chiefs ahead for good. That followed the first of two interceptions of Philip Rivers that led to 10 points for the Chiefs.
Smith was intercepted once, on a deflected pass that Jahleel Addae returned 90 yards for a touchdown to pull the Chargers (5-11) to 20-17 in the third quarter.
BRONCOS 24, RAIDERS 6
DENVER -- In a game that couldn’t have gone much worse, Oakland lost its latest starting quarterback, Matt McGloin, to a shoulder injury, then fell to a team with nothing to play for as Denver coach Gary Kubiak told his players he will be stepping down for health reasons.
Combined with Kansas City’s win over San Diego, the Raiders (12-4) squandered the AFC West title and the first-round bye that went with it - and instead fell to the No. 5 seed.
Now, they are a wild card with a rookie third-stringer, Connor Cook, as their only fully healthy quarterback.
Oakland is at Houston next weekend.
FALCONS 38, SAINTS 32
ATLANTA -- Matt Ryan bolstered his MVP credentials with a brilliant first half, throwing four touchdown passes to secure a first-round playoff bye.
Ryan was 17 of 19 for 235 yards by halftime, directing the Falcons (11-5) to touchdowns on all five possessions and a commanding 35-13 lead. He finished 27 of 36 for 331 yards, leaving him with a franchise-record 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions this season.
Atlanta is seeded second in the NFC to Dallas.
The Saints (7-9) came into the regular-season finale looking to finish another disappointing season with a three-game winning streak and avoid a third straight losing mark. But they were blitzed early and often by the league’s highest-scoring offense.
One consolation for New Orleans: Drew Brees became the first quarterback in league history to throw for 5,000 yards five times. He was 29 of 50 for 350 yards, giving him 5,208 on the season.
His 471 completions this season set an NFL record.
STEELERS 27, BROWNS 24
PITTSBURGH -- Steelers backups assured the Browns of the top pick in the 2017 draft.
Landry Jones hit Cobi Hamilton with a 26-yard touchdown with 2:57 left in overtime. The Browns took a lead on Cody Parkey’s 34-yard field goal with 7:17 remaining in the extra session.
Jones, who started while the playoff-bound Steelers rested Ben Roethlisberger, took the Steelers 75 yards in nine plays. The last was a pretty lob to the end zone that Hamilton hauled in to give Pittsburgh (11-5) its seventh straight victory.
Jones finished with 277 yards passing and three touchdowns and one interception.
Isaiah Crowell ran for a career-high 152 yards for the Browns (1-15), who finished with the worst record in franchise history.
JETS 30, BILLS 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey -- Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes in what was likely his final game for the Jets.
Despite a 5-11 record, the Jets are making no changes in leadership, meaning both coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan will remain with the team next season.
Bowles is 15-17 in his two-year tenure with New York, which hired him in January 2015 after firing Rex Ryan. Maccagnan is also in his second season with the Jets, and had also been criticized for the team’s roster, which likely faces an overhaul this offseason.
The Bills (7-9) also face some uncertainty this offseason after firing Ryan earlier in the week and elevating offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn to the interim role. Two other people with direct knowledge of the situation told the AP before the game that Lynn is the clear favorite to take over the job permanently.
TITANS 24, TEXANS 17
NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- A concussion that sidelined quarterback Tom Savage could have the biggest impact coming out of the Texans’ loss.
Savage started for the AFC South champions, left in the second quarter to be evaluated for a concussion and was cleared. He took a snap to kneel down on the final play of the first half and was diagnosed with a concussion after being re-evaluated at halftime.
That left Brock Osweiler, benched for Savage last month, running the offense. He threw for 253 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a 1-yard TD on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter.
Houston (9-7) will host Oakland next weekend, possibly with uncertainty at quarterback.
DaQuan Jones recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Titans never trailed to finish with their first winning season since 2011.
EAGLES 27, COWBOYS 13
PHILADELPHIA -- Tony Romo threw his first touchdown pass in nearly 14 months as the playoff-bound Cowboys played it safe.
The Cowboys (13-3) had already locked up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs so Dak Prescott played only two series and Ezekiel Elliott watched from the sideline.
Carson Wentz tossed two TD passes to Zach Ertz to help Philadelphia finish with a two-game winning streak.
Prescott was 4 for 8 for 37 yards before giving way to Romo, who hadn’t played in a regular-season game since Thanksgiving 2015 when he broke his left collarbone for the second time in less than three months. Romo broke a bone in his back in the third preseason game against Seattle this season, paving the way for Prescott to have one of the best years by a rookie quarterback in NFL history.
BUCCANEERS 17, PANTHERS 16
TAMPA, Florida -- Jameis Winston threw for 202 yards and one touchdown as the Buccaneers broke up Cam Newton’s 2-point conversion throw in the closing seconds for their first winning season in six years.
Winston threw a 10-yard pass to Mike Evans to snap a fourth-quarter tie and became the first player in NFL history to start his career with consecutive 4,000-yard seasons.
But the Bucs (9-7) were eliminated from playoff contention, not getting the help they needed in other games for their first berth since 2007.
Winston’s franchise record-setting 28th TD pass put the Bucs ahead 17-10 with 3:10 remaining. Newton, however, moved the Panthers (6-10) right down the field, with help of a 47-yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin and two fourth-down completions to set up a 5-yard scoring pass to trim Carolina’s deficit to one with 17 seconds left.
VIKINGS 38, BEARS 10
MINNEAPOLIS -- Sam Bradford concluded his first season with Minnesota with three first-half touchdown passes. Bradford went 25 for 33 for 250 yards and one interception, finishing with a 71.6 percent completion rate to set an NFL single-season record.
Kyle Rudolph caught 11 passes for 117 yards and a score for the Vikings (8-8), who started 5-0 before stumbling out of their bye week and never recovering.
The Bears (3-13) wound up with their fewest wins in a non-strike year since 1973 after turning the ball over five times. Everson Griffen returned one of their three lost fumbles for a touchdown.
Jordan Howard, the lone bright spot, rushed for 135 yards on 23 carries to break Matt Forte’s franchise rookie record and finish with 1,313 yards for the season for Chicago.
COLTS 24, JAGUARS 20
INDIANAPOLIS -- Andrew Luck threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jack Doyle with 9 seconds left. Indy (8-8) went 75 yards in 84 seconds with no timeouts to avoid its first losing season since 2011, sending retiring linebacker Robert Mathis out with a win in his final NFL game.
Jacksonville (3-13) matched the second-worst record in franchise history after blocking a punt with 1:54 to go and breaking a 17-17 tie with 1:33 left.
Instead, Luck took the Colts right downfield for the score.
Mathis extended his league record of strip-sacks to 41 in the fourth quarter, two days after announcing he would retire.
BENGALS 27, RAVENS 10
CINCINNATI -- Andy Dalton completed his first 10 passes, one for a touchdown, and Rex Burkhead ran for a pair of scores in the Bengals’ fifth straight win at home over the Ravens.
The Bengals (6-9-1) missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. Coach Marvin Lewis says he’ll return in 2017.
Baltimore (8-8) failed to reach the playoffs for the third time in four years. The Ravens played their final game as if they were emotionally hung over from a last-minute loss at Pittsburgh last Sunday that eliminated them.
SEAHAWKS 25, 49ERS 23
SANTA CLARA, California -- Russell Wilson threw for 258 yards and a touchdown as the Seahawks rallied from an early 11-point deficit in what could be coach Chip Kelly’s final game with the 49ers.
The NFC West champion Seahawks (10-5-1) head to the playoffs as the third seed in the NFC. The Seahawks will host the loser of Sunday night’s game between Detroit and Green Bay next week.
The loss capped an awful season for the 49ers (2-14), who matched the franchise record for losses in a season previously reached in 1978, ‘79 and 2004. San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke told the team’s flagship radio station KNBR before the game that he had been fired.
Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin caught two passes for 44 yards, tying the franchise record for catches in a season with 94. Baldwin tied Bobby Engram’s mark set in 2007 with an acrobatic 41-yard catch in the second quarter.
CARDINALS 44, RAMS 6
LOS ANGELES -- Carson Palmer threw touchdown passes to Jeremy Ross, Darren Fells and Larry Fitzgerald, and the Cardinals wrapped up a frustrating season.
Fitzgerald caught five passes and took the overall NFL lead with 107 catches in perhaps his final game for the Cardinals (7-8-1). Arizona missed the playoffs one year after reaching the NFC championship game despite an offense and a defense ranked in the top quarter of the league.
Arizona still finished the year strong with wins over NFC West champion Seattle and Los Angeles (4-12), which has lost seven straight.
