Chargers 38 (8-8) Raiders 26 (8-8): The Chargers got 310 yards passing and three touchdown passes from Philip Rivers and scored points in each quarter to eliminate the Raiders from playoff contention. The Raiders got the help they needed from the Chiefs and only needed to defeat the Chargers at home to win the AFC West. Carson Palmer threw for 417 yards and two touchdown but threw an interception late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2002 and that streak will continue until at least 2013. The Chargers finish the season with a disappointing 8-8 record and will wait to see if coach Norv Turner is brought back to coach the team next season.
Chiefs 7 (7-9) Broncos 3 (8-8): Kyle Orton wasn’t exactly Drew Brees, but he was better than Tim Tebow and did enough to defeat the team that cut him earlier in the season. The Chiefs got a first quarter touchdown on a Dexter Mccluster run and held off the struggling Broncos offense to win by 4. There was no TebowTime on this day, instead mostly incompletion time. Tebow was only 6-22 for 60 yards passing, but the Broncos backed into the playoffs when the Chargers defeated the Raiders. The Broncos will host the Steelers next week while the Chiefs fall just a game away from a chance at the playoffs and will be forced to wonder what if after injuries to Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles, and Eric Berry kept them far from full strength for most of the season.
Cardinals 23 (8-8) Seahawks 20 (7-9): The Cardinals vs. Seahawks game was one of only three games on Sunday that didn’t have any impact on the playoff race in the AFC or NFC. Low and behold, it was the last game to end on Sunday. The Seahawks fought back with 10 fourth quarter points to force overtime. In overtime, Jay Feely kicked the game winning field goal to give the Cardinals the win and an 8-8 finish.
Falcons 42 (10-6) Buccaneers 24 (4-12): The Atlanta Falcons jumped all over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scoring 42 first half points. Matt Ryan’s work was done before the third quarter and the Falcons coasted to an easy victory over their division rival. With the win, the Falcons passed the Lions and moved into the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs. With their win, the Falcons will travel to Dallas or New York for a playoff game next Sunday on Fox. Michael Turner rushed for 172 yards for the Falcons and finished just behind Maurice Jones Drew in the race for the NFL rushing title.
Ravens 24 (12-4) Bengals 16 (9-7): The Baltimore Ravens got 191 yards rushing from Ray Rice and a Dennis Pitta touchdown in a win over the Bengals to clinch the AFC North title and the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs. With the win, the Ravens will take next week off and rest while the Steelers will be playing a wild card game next week. The win also insures that the Ravens will host a playoff game for the first time with Joe Flacco at quarterback. Despite the loss, the Bengals got the help that they needed to back into the AFC playoffs as the #6 seed. Because the Jets lost early, and the Broncos and Raiders lost late, the Bengals owned the tie-breaker over the Titans. The Bengals will play the Houston Texans next weekend at Reliant Stadium.
Steelers 13 (12-4) Browns 9 (4-12): The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t do much but they did enough to defeat the browns and head into the playoffs with a win. Despite the win, and 12 victories, the Steelers will have to settle for a wild card berth in the AFC playoffs because they lost to the Ravens twice this season. The Steelers will travel to Denver to play Tim Tebow and the Broncos in the playoffs next weekend. The Browns haven’t played in the playoffs since 2002 and with the Raiders they hold the second longest streak for seasons without a trip to the playoffs.
Chargers 38 (8-8) Raiders 26 (8-8): The Chargers got 310 yards passing and three touchdown passes from Philip Rivers and scored points in each quarter to eliminate the Raiders from playoff contention. The Raiders got the help they needed from the Chiefs and only needed to defeat the Chargers at home to win the AFC West. Carson Palmer threw for 417 yards and two touchdown but threw an interception late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2002 and that streak will continue until at least 2013. The Chargers finish the season with a disappointing 8-8 record and will wait to see if coach Norv Turner is brought back to coach the team next season.
49ers 34 (13-3) Rams 27 (2-14): The San Francisco 49ers traveled to St Louis for what was supposed to be an easy way to clinch the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Instead, they were pushed to the limit by the feisty Rams and barley held on for their 13th victory of the season. The 49ers led the Rams 20-7 at the half and then lead 27-10 after the third quarter. The fourth quarter got interesting. The Rams scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, scored another touchdown, got a stop, and then drove to the 49ers side of the field before the roof caved in on their comeback bid. On a 2nd an 10 play, the 49ers brought pressure and sacked the Rams third string quarterback Kellen Clemens. Clemens was unable to continue and the Rams were forced to turn to their fourth string QB, Tom Brandstater. Brandstater threw two quick incompletions and the 49ers were finally able to celebrate the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs and a first round bye. The Rams will pick second in the upcoming draft and it will be interesting to see if coach Steve Spagnuolo did enough today to save his job.
Dolphins 19 (6-10) Jets 17 (8-8): The New York Jets will not be in the playoffs. Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions today and the Jets lost 5 of their last 8 games to miss the playoffs after a 5-3 start. The Jets and Patriots played on November 13 for first place in the AFC. Both teams went into the games with a 5-3 record and the Jets lost 37-16 and never recovered. The Jets closed the season with loses to the Eagles, Giants, and Dolphins. Only the Giants have a chance to make the playoffs in that group. The Jets offense scored more than 20 points only once in the second half of the season and Matt Sanchez seemed to take a step back in his development. The Dolphins started the season 0-7 before finishing strong with 6 wins in their last 9 games. Reggie Bush finished the season with 1,086 yards rushing and Brandon Marshall finished with 76 catches and 1,164 yards receiving giving the Dolphins two pieces to build around in the off season.
Eagles 34 (8-8) Redskins 10 (5-11): The Eagles were supposed to be a dream team after spending what spent like a billion dollars in the NFL’s strike shortened off season. Despite being the undisputed champion of the free agency period, the Eagles struggled to find chemistry early in the season and found themselves out of the playoff picture in the NFC. Michael Vick finished the season throwing for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns but often this season he was unable to capture the magic that lead the Eagles to the playoffs last season. The Redskins started the season 3-1 before finishing on a 2-10 streak that could cost Mike Shanahan his job. Today, Evan Royster the latest in a revolving door of running backs rushed for 113 yards.
Titans 23 (9-7) Texans 22 (10-6) : Jake Delhomme came from off the couch to off the bench and into action against the Titans on the last week of the NFL season. Delhomme lead the Texans to a late touchdown and a chance to tie the game and force overtime. Instead of kicking the extra point, the Texans decided to go for 2 and the win. First, the Texans jumped offsides to move the ball from the 2 yard line to the 7. Then, the ball was snapped over Delhomme’s head and the 2 point try never had a chance. The Titans won the game and kept their playoff hopes alive. The Titans will sneak into the playoffs most easily with a Bengals loss to the Ravens. There are two other more complicated ways for the Titans to make the playoffs. The Titans win also eliminated the Raiders from playoff contention as a wild card team. The Raiders can now only make the playoffs as the champion of the AFC West.The Titans got 92 yards receiving and a touchdown from Nate Washington in the win. Ben Tate started at running back for the Texans who were resting Arian Foster. The Texans will remain the third seed in the AFC and will host a playoff game next week.
Jaguars 19 (5-11) Colts 13 (2-14): The Jacksonville Jaguars may spend the next fifteen years regretting their victory today. The Jaguars win guaranteed that the Colts would get the first pick in April’s NFL Draft. The Colts will have the chance to draft Andrew Luck who many people consider to be the second coming of John Elway. Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 169 yards and will win the 2011-12 NFL Rushing Title. Dan Orlovsky got the start for the Colts today. The interesting thing will be who the next Indianapolis Colts player to start at QB will be. Will it be Peyton Manning? Will it be Andrew Luck? Will both players be on the roster next season? The Jaguars will look to move on from a disappointing season.
Saints 45 (13-3) Panthers 17 (10-6): The New Orleans Saints spent the day in the Superdome breaking records. Drew Brees threw for 389 yard to finish the season with 5,474 passing yards the most in the history of the National Football League. Darren Sproles set the record for most all purpose yards in a season, and the Saints offense set a record for the most yards from scrimmage by any team ever. Also, Jimmy Graham temporarily broke the record for most receiving yards by a tight end only to have Rob Gronkowski break that record about a half an hour after the Saints ran off the field as the 3 seed in the NFC Playoffs. Cam Newton finished his fantastic rookie season for the Panthers by going over 4,000 yards passing. The Saints will host a playoff game next Saturday on NBC against the Falcons or the Lions.
Patriots 49 (13-3) Bills 21 (6-10): The Buffalo Bills came to play in Foxboro today. Well, they came to play a quarter at least. The Bills scored three first quarter touchdowns including one by WR Stevie Johnson who pulled up his jersey to reveal a message of Happy New Year written on his undershirt. The celebration was flagged, and Johnson was benched for the remainder of the game. From that point forward, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots took over. Brady threw three touchdown passes and the Patriots scored SEVEN straight touchdowns to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs. The Bills were once 5-2. They finished the season 1-8 to miss the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season.
Bears 17 (8-8) Vikings 13 (3-13): The Chicago Bears stopped Jared Allen and the Minnisota Vikings with 14 second quarter points to finish the season 8-8. The Bears were 7-3 after defeating San Diego on November 20th. Then injuries to Matt Forte and Jay Cutler crippled the Bears offense and the team sputtered to 5 straight losses falling out of playoff contention. The Vikings played today without Adrian Peterson who tore his ACL and MCL last week and watch QB of the future Christian Ponder leave the game with and injury. The subplot of the games was Jared Allen’s furious attempt to break the NFL record for sacks in a season. Allen finished the day with 3.5 sacks just a .5 sack away from the record set a few years back by Michael Strahan. Unfortanetly for Allen, Brett Favre was not playing for the Bears and wasn’t available to fall at Allen’s feet for a free record setting sack. The Bears and the Vikings will both face long off seasons with no playoffs and many questions to be answered. Will the Bears sign Matt Forte? Will the Vikings build their team around Christian Ponder or Joe Webb? The Vikings will pick third in the NFL draft.
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