
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City clinched the top seed in the AFC and the only playoff bye when Patrick Mahomes threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson with just under two minutes for a 17-14 win over Atlanta on Sunday.
The Chiefs had to watch as Pro Bowl kicker Younghoe Koo missed a tying field-goal attempt with 9 seconds left to escape.
The Chiefs (14-1) won their NFL-record seventh straight one-possession game and matched a franchise record with their 10th straight win. They took any seeding drama out of games involving Pittsburgh and Buffalo and will have that coveted first-round AFC bye when the postseason begins in two weeks.
The Falcons (4-11) took the lead when Matt Ryan hit Laquon Treadwell for a 5-yard touchdown with 4:33 to go. But Mahomes kept finding Travis Kelce — who had a record-setting game of his own — to set up the TD pass to Robinson. And when the Falcons marched the other way in the closing seconds, Kansas City’s defense forced Koo’s 39-yard kick.
Instead of heading to overtime, the Falcons headed home with their seventh loss by six points or less this season.
STEELERS 28, COLTS 24: Ben Roethlisberger overcame a month-long malaise to throw for 342 yards and three second-half touchdowns as Pittsburgh (12-3) locked up the division title with a stunningly improbable victory over Indianapolis (10-5) in Pittsburgh.
Listless and lifeless for weeks thanks to a three-game losing streak that followed an 11-0 start, Pittsburgh somehow got it together over the final 25 minutes against the Colts. Indianapolis missed a chance to inch closer to a playoff berth when it let a 17-point third-quarter lead slip away.
Roethlisberger, who looked uneven at best and ineffective at worst during Pittsburgh’s recent slide, snapped out of it. He ditched the dink-and-dunk approach that had worked during the early portion of the season but became far too predictable during a December swoon.
The 38-year-old quarterback kick-started the comeback with a 39-yard strike to Diontae Johnson and brought the Steelers within a touchdown on a 5-yard pass to Eric Ebron. He gave Pittsburgh its first second-half lead since Dec. 7 when he audibled into a play that ended with Roethlisberger threading the ball between two Colts to JuJu Smith-Schuster from 25 yards with 7:38 to play.
RAVENS 72, GIANTS 13: Lamar Jackson directed four scoring drives during the decisive first half, and surging Baltimore (10-5) beat New York (5-10) in Baltimore to gain control of its own fate in the AFC playoff chase.
Baltimore’s fourth straight victory, combined with Pittsburgh’s win over Indianapolis, lifted the Ravens past the Colts in the AFC wild-card hunt. With a victory in Cincinnati next week, the Ravens will earn a playoff berth for the third year in a row.
The Giants lost their third straight and were left with only a minuscule chance of making the postseason.
BEARS 41, JAGUARS 17: Mitchell Trubisky accounted for three scores, including two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham, and Chicago (8-7) pounded Jacksonville (1-14) in Jacksonville, Florida, in a game that meant as much to Jacksonville’s long-term future as it did to Chicago’s short-term fate.
The Bears, who gained control of their postseason path when Arizona lost to San Francisco on Saturday, can make the NFC playoffs for the second time in three years by beating Green Bay next week at home.
The Jaguars, who set a franchise record for consecutive losses, can secure the top pick for the first time in franchise history by losing at Indianapolis next week.
BENGALS 37, TEXANS 31: Samaje Perine ran for two touchdowns, including a 3-yard score late, to give Cincinnati (4-10-1) its first road win in more than two years with a victory over the Texans (4-11) in Houston.
The Texans were driving after Perine’s second score when Deshaun Watson was sacked by Sam Hubbard, who forced a fumble that Margus Hunt recovered. The Bengals added a field goal after that to seal the victory.
It’s the first road win for second-year coach Zac Taylor and the first time the Bengals won away from Cincinnati since a 37-36 victory at Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2018.
JETS 23, BROWNS 16: Baker Mayfield coughed up the ball – and the Cleveland Browns’ chances to wrap up a playoff spot.
After a 23-16 loss to New York (2-12) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Browns (10-5) will need to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday if they’re going to end the NFL’s longest playoff drought.
On fourth-and-1 with 1:18 remaining and the short-handed Browns driving for the potential tying score, Mayfield tried to push forward for the first down but lost the ball when Tarell Basham smacked into him. Kareem Hunt recovered, but by rule, Mayfield was the only one who could advance the ball — and the quarterback was short of the first down.
The call was upheld by video review, and the Jets sealed their second straight victory after an 0-13 start.
SEAHAWKS 20, RAMS 9: Seattle (11-4) claimed the NFC West title with a win over Los Angeles (9-6) in Seattle, with Russell Wilson throwing a 13-yard TD pass to Jacob Hollister with 2:51 left for the clinching score.
Seattle earned its first division title since 2016 and its fifth since Pete Carroll arrived in 2010 behind a stellar defensive effort and a clutch late drive engineered by Wilson.
Seattle’s quarterback scored on a 4-yard run on the opening drive of the second half for a 13-6 lead. But the final drive was Wilson at his best: Wilson was 5 for 5 for 59 yards on the drive, hitting four different receivers.
CHARGERS 19, BRONCOS 16: Justin Herbert set the rookie record for most touchdown passes in a season and Los Angeles (6-9) defeated Denver (5-10) in Inglewood, California for its third straight win.
Michael Badgley tied a career high with four field goals, including the winning kick with 41 seconds remaining.
Herbert’s 9-yard screen pass to Austin Ekeler in the second quarter was his 28th touchdown throw of the season, surpassing the 27 that Baker Mayfield had for Cleveland in 2018.
PANTHERS 20, WASHINGTON 13: Dwayne Haskins turned the ball over three times before getting benched, Steven Sims muffed a punt return that turned into a Panthers touchdown and Washington (6-9) blew its first chance to clinch the NFC East by losing to Carolina (5-10) in Landover, Maryland
Haskins was 14 of 28 with a fumble and two interceptions after starting in place of injured veteran Alex Smith, despite violating COVID-19 protocols last week. After being stripped of his captaincy and fined $40,000 for partying without a mask, he was stripped of the ball by Marquis Haynes in the first quarter and picked off by Tahir Whitehead and Tre Boston in the second.
COWBOYS 37, EAGLES 17: Andy Dalton threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns, two to Michael Gallup, and Dallas (6-9) stayed alive in the playoff race with a victory over Philadelphia (4-10-1) in Arlington, Texas.
The Cowboys won their third consecutive game and still have a chance to win the NFC East thanks to Washington’s 20-13 loss to Carolina, which guaranteed that the NFL’s worst division won’t have a team with a winning record.
Dallas can overtake Washington with a win at the New York Giants and a Washington loss to the Eagles on the final weekend of the regular season. The Giants can get in by beating the Cowboys if Washington loses.
PACKERS 40, TITANS 14: Davante Adams caught three of Aaron Rodgers’ four touchdown passes as Green Bay trounced Tennessee Titans for its fifth consecutive victory on a snowy evening in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Packers (12-3) already have clinched the NFC North title and can earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs if they win at Chicago (8-7) or Seattle (11-4) loses at San Francisco (6-9) next week.
Green Bay ran wild behind 124 yards and two touchdowns from A.J. Dillon and 94 yards from Aaron Jones. Dillon, a second-round pick from Boston College, had run for just 115 yards all season during a rookie year in which he spent over a month on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Tennessee (10-5) squandered an opportunity to clinch its first AFC South championship since 2008. The Titans still can clinch a division title and their second straight playoff berth by winning at Houston (4-11) next week.
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