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 AFC West champions Denver blasted the Oakland Raiders 34-14 in a
record-setting show and NFC West winning Seattle strolled to a 27-9
win over the St. Louis Rams as both finished at 13-3 to ensure
homefield advantage in their respective conferences.
Edge of your seat dramatics were reserved for do-or-die games on a
season-ending Sunday that had 10 teams vying for the last four
playoff berths with all four NFC division crowns still up for grabs.
Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, who had missed the previous seven games
with a broken collarbone, heaved a 48-yard touchdown bomb to Randall
Cobb with 38 seconds left to lift the visiting Packers to an
enthralling 33-28 division-title showdown victory over the Chicago
Bears.
The victory gave the Packers (8-7-1) the NFC North title by the
narrowest of margins over quarterback Jay Cutler and the
hard-fighting Bears, who dropped to 8-8.
On the game-winning play, Rodgers dodged the pass-rushing Julius
Peppers and scrambled to his left on a fourth-and eight from the
48-yard line before finding Cobb deep down the middle beyond
Chicago's secondary.
It was a most appropriate Green Bay connection, as Cobb was also
returning to the gridiron after missing 10 games with a broken leg.
The Chargers found themselves in a playoffs play-in game after last
year's Super Bowl winning Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins were
defeated in earlier games.
Needing to beat the already playoff-bound Kansas City Chiefs, San
Diego rallied to tie the score 24-24 late in the fourth quarter.
A loss by the Chargers would have ushered the Pittsburgh Steelers
into the postseason, after their 20-7 victory over the Cleveland
Browns.
A Steel City celebration looked in the offing when Chiefs kicker
Ryan Succop had a 41-yard field goal try with less than 10 ticks
left on the clock for a KC win. He missed wide right.
San Diego summoned some more magic on their first possession of
overtime when they converted a fourth-and-two from their own 28-yard
line on a fake punt that at first looked like it had produced a
fumble run back for a Chiefs' game-ending touchdown.
Nick Novak went on to kick a 36-yard field goal off that possession
and San Diego held the Chiefs from scoring to clinch the final AFC
berth in the playoffs.
The New Orleans Saints (11-5) secured the last NFC wildcard with a
42-17 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Also earning first-round byes were AFC East champions the New
England Patriots (12-4), 34-20 winners over the Buffalo Bills, and
the Carolina Panthers (12-4), who claimed the NFC South crown by
edging the Atlanta Falcons 21-20.
The final place in the playoffs will be decided in a Sunday night
showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and visiting Philadelphia Eagles
with the winner closing the book on the regular season and
completing the postseason field.
Next weekend's wild card round will have the Chargers at Cincinnati
and the Chiefs at Indianapolis in the AFC, and the 49ers at Green
Bay, and the Saints at either Philadelphia or Dallas in the NFC.
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CAROLINA CLINCHING
The Panthers were first to clinch an NFC division, overtaking
the Falcons when Cam Newton hit Greg Olsen with a seven-yard
touchdown pass in the third quarter for a 21-17 lead.
Carolina were made to sweat as Atlanta (4-12) mounted a
last-ditch drive with less than a minute to go in hopes of a
game-winning field goal but after reaching their own 43-yard
line, a bad snap led to a 16-yard loss and Carolina got the win.
It marked the first division crown and first trip to the
playoffs in five years for Carolina, who set a franchise record
with nine sacks of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, including four
by defensive end Greg Hardy.
Along with the triumphs came the failures. Last year's Super
Bowl-winning Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins both had a
crack at advancing with victories.
"That ends it. That stings," said Ravens (8-8) coach John
Harbaugh after a 34-17 road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals
(11-5). "Credit to the Bengals, the AFC North champs. They were
8-0 at home and that's quite an accomplishment."
Miami (8-8), who were shut out 19-0 last week by Buffalo, lost
20-7 to the New York Jets (8-8).
Jets owner Woody Johnson was elated, saying that embattled coach
Rex Ryan would be back for the 2014 season.
"We're going to keep Rex Ryan, and he's going to be our coach
next year," Johnson said. "I couldn't be any prouder of this
team."
Two games produced some record-setting achievements.
Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, who last week surpassed
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's single season record of 50
touchdown passes, set a record for most passing yards in a
season, and the Broncos established a league high for points.
Manning's 63-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas pushed the Broncos
past the NFL's record of 589 scored set six years earlier by the
Patriots. Denver finished with 606 points.
The quarterback's second scoring connection to Thomas, this time
a five-yard strike, gave Manning 5,477 passing yards on the
season to surpass the record 5,476 yards by New Orleans Saints
quarterback Drew Brees in 2011.
Manning's four first-half TD passes gave him 55 this season.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and kicker Adam
Vinatieri also hit the record book as AFC South champion
Indianapolis Colts beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-10.
Luck, who took over from Manning as Colts quarterback, threw for
282 yards in becoming the first player in NFL history to top
8,000 yards for his first two seasons.
Vinatieri kicked three field goals and three extra points to
move into fifth place on the NFL career scoring list with 2,006
points, passing George Blanda and Matt Stover.
(Reporting by Larry Fine, editing by Gene Cherry)
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