Ja’Quan McMillian returned an interception 45 yards for the only touchdown of the day, Wil Lutz kicked four field goals and the host Denver Broncos secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a grinding 19-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
It is the first time in 10 years that Denver (14-3) has clinched home-field advantage in the AFC. The Broncos went on to win Super Bowl 50 in that 2015 season in Santa Clara, Calif., which is the site of this year’s game. They will have a week off before hosting a playoff game.
Bo Nix finished 14-for-23 passing for 141 yards and ran for a season-high 49 yards for Denver, and the defense sacked Trey Lance four times to finish with 68 for the season, a franchise record and the most in the league.
Los Angeles (11-6), which rested several players including quarterback Justin Herbert, is the seventh seed and will travel to No. 2 New England next weekend for the first round of the playoffs. Lance, making his sixth NFL start for his third team, was 20-for-44 passing for 136 yards, rushed for 69 yards, threw one interception and lost a fumble.
Patriots 38, Dolphins 10
Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 131 yards and had two rushing touchdowns and a scoring reception to lead host New England to a rout of Miami.
Rookie TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two touchdowns for New England, which amassed 243 yards on the ground to cap its sixth 14-win season in franchise history. The Patriots (14-3) settled for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs after Denver secured the lone first-round bye by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers; New England will host the seventh-seeded Chargers next weekend in the AFC wild-card round.
The Dolphins (7-10) fell short of the postseason and finished with a losing record for the second consecutive season. Rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers made his third start and completed 16 of 23 passes for 137 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Jaguars 41, Titans 7
Jacksonville clinched its first AFC South title since 2022 with a dominant victory over visiting Tennessee.
Trevor Lawrence completed 22 of 30 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns, breaking the franchise’s single-season total touchdowns record (38) and moving into second place on Jaguars’ all-time passing yards leaderboard (17,822) in the victory. Parker Washington caught five passes for 87 yards and Brenton Strange caught six passes for 52 yards, both recording touchdown catches for Jacksonville (13-4).
Brandon Allen was 17-of-30 passing for 72 yards and an interception in relief of Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward. The No. 1 overall pick’s rookie season ended prematurely when he sustained a first-quarter shoulder injury. Elic Ayomanor led the Titans (3-14) with three catches for 50 yards.
Texans 38, Colts 30
Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a career-best six field goals, including the go-ahead 43-yarder with 12 seconds remaining, as host Houston defeated Indianapolis for its ninth victory in a row.
The Texans (12-5) will be the No. 5 seed in the AFC and will visit either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round next weekend. With the Jaguars well ahead in their game, the Texans rested several starters in the second half, including C.J. Stroud, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown in the first half. Davis Mills was 3-of-9 passing for 36 yards in the second half. Tommy Togiai scored on a 17-yard fumble to end the game when Indianapolis’ lateral-fest backfired.
The loss was the seventh straight for the Colts (8-9). Riley Leonard completed 21 of 34 passes for 270 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Colts in his first NFL start. Blake Grupe kicked a 22-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining to give Indianapolis a 30-29 lead.
Falcons 19, Saints 17
Zane Gonzalez made all four of his field goal attempts, Dee Alford had a crucial fourth-quarter interception and Atlanta beat visiting New Orleans.
With the win, Atlanta (8-9) sent the Carolina Panthers to the postseason. Had the Falcons lost, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have clinched the NFC South. Kirk Cousins threw for 180 yards and a touchdown, while Drake London had 78 receiving yards and a score for the Falcons, who finished the season on a four-game winning streak.
Tyler Shough threw for 259 yards and a touchdown, while adding a score on the ground for the Saints (6-11), who saw their four-game winning streak snapped.
Browns 20, Bengals 18
Myles Garrett notched his record-breaking 23rd sack of the season in the fourth quarter, Andre Szmyt hit the game-winning 49-yard field goal as time expired and Cleveland defeated host Cincinnati.
Garrett, whose defensive teammates Devin Bush and Sam Webb returned an interception and a fumble for touchdowns early in the game, rushed up the middle to sack Joe Burrow with 5:04 to play. Garrett surpassed the NFL single-season record of 22.5 shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.
Rookie Shedeur Sanders completed 11 of 22 passes for just 111 yards but improved to 3-4 as a starter for the Browns (5-12), who finished with back-to-back wins against AFC North rivals. Burrow completed 29 of 39 passes for 236 yards, three touchdowns and one interception for the Bengals (6-11). Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson missed two extra points.
Rams 37, Cardinals 20
Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes and Los Angeles wrapped up the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory over Arizona at Inglewood, Calif.
Colby Parkinson had two TD receptions for the Rams (12-5), Puka Nacua and Tyler Higbee had one each. Stafford finished the regular season with a career-high 46 passing TDs to lead the league for the first time in 17 NFL seasons. Los Angeles ended a two-game losing skid and set up a wild-card game at the Carolina Panthers next weekend.
Jacoby Brissett completed 22 of 31 passes for 243 yards and two TDs as the Cardinals (3-14) closed on a nine-game losing streak. Trey McBride had seven receptions to finish with 126 on the season, extending his single-season NFL record for a tight end. Michael Wilson had five receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown for Arizona.
Giants 34, Cowboys 17
Jaxson Dart threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns as New York closed the season with a win over rival Dallas in East Rutherford, N.J.
Dart put the Giants ahead for good with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Bellinger with 20 seconds left in the first half, capping a 96-yard drive. Rookie kicker Ben Sauls added four field goals for the Giants (4-13), who could have earned the No. 1 draft selection in 2026 with a loss and a Las Vegas win. Instead, the Raiders clinched the top pick.
Dak Prescott played the first half for the Cowboys (7-9-1) and completed 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards. Joe Milton III played the second half and hit 7 of 13 passes for 73 yards with an interception.
Vikings 16, Packers 3
Justin Jefferson caught eight passes for 101 yards and Minnesota pulled away from visiting Green Bay. Jefferson surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the sixth consecutive season to start his career, joining Randy Moss and Mike Evans as the only players to achieve the feat.
C.J. Ham rushed for a touchdown for Minnesota (9-8), which won its fifth in a row to finish the season. J.J. McCarthy completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards before giving way to Max Brosmer, who completed 7 of 8 passes for 57 yards. Jordan Mason rushed for a game-high 94 yards on 14 carries.
Chris Brooks had 13 carries for 61 yards to lead Green Bay (9-7-1), which rested many of its starters as it prepares for a wild-card playoff game next weekend. Clayton Tune made his second career start and completed 6 of 11 passes for 34 yards.
Lions 19, Bears 16
Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play to lift visiting Detroit past NFC North champion Chicago.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff passed for 331 yards and a touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 80 yards and also caught a touchdown pass, while Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 11 passes for 139 yards as the Lions finished with a 9-8 record.
Caleb Williams passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears, who rallied from 16-0 fourth-quarter deficit. Colston Loveland caught 10 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Despite the loss, Chicago (11-6) held onto the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs thanks to Philadelphia’s loss to Washington. The Bears, who clinched the division the previous week, will host the seventh-seeded Packers on wild-card weekend.
Bills 35, Jets 8
Mitchell Trubisky completed 22 of 29 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns and Ray Davis rushed for 151 yards on 21 carries to help Buffalo beat visiting New York in the final regular-season game played at 53-year-old Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
The Bills (12-5), who will move into a new facility next season, will open the AFC playoffs on the road as the No. 6 seed against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Josh Allen, who has a sore right foot, extended his streak of games started to 135, but jogged off the field after handing off to James Cook on Buffalo’s first play from scrimmage.
Rookie quarterback Brady Cook made his fourth straight start for the Jets (3-14) and was 11 of 22 for 60 yards. He threw a 2-yard TD pass to Andrew Beck with 7:33 left and then completed a pass to Quentin Skinner for the two-point conversion. The Bills had a 470-122 edge in net yards.
Raiders 14, Chiefs 12
Daniel Carlson booted the game-winning field goal from 60 yards out with eight seconds remaining to give host Las Vegas a win over backup-laden Kansas City.
The Chiefs (6-11) made two late field goals to pull ahead 12-11 with 1:01 remaining, but Aidan O’Connell completed 21- and 5-yard passes to get the Raiders in range for Carlson’s new career-long field goal. Tyree Wilson had two sacks, two forced fumbles and one safety for the Raiders (3-14), in a game played after the team was mathematically locked into the No. 1 draft pick in 2026.
The Chiefs’ Shane Buechele completed 7 of 14 passes for 88 yards in relief of Chris Oladokun finished 11 of 17, amassing 58 yards.
Commanders 24, Eagles 17
Josh Johnson earned his first NFL win since 2018 and visiting Washington scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat Philadelphia, which begins its Super Bowl defense as the NFC’s No. 3 seed by hosting the sixth-seeded San Francisco 49ers in a wild-card playoff game next weekend.
Johnson, 39, collected just his second win since entering the league as a 2008 fifth-round draft pick. The previous victory was a 16-13 road win over Jacksonville on Dec. 16, 2018. He was 14 of 22 for 131 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Eagles. The Commanders (5-12) won for just the second time in their last 12 games.
The NFC East champion Eagles (11-6) rested many of their starters, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley. Tanner McKee, making his second career start for Philadelphia, passed for 241 yards with a TD and an interception. Tank Bigsby had 106 yards from scrimmage with a TD and Jalyx Hunt had an interception and a fumble recovery.
–Field Level Media
Comments