Pats clinch division with Steelers win
TOM Brady piloted Super Bowl champions New England to the winning touchdown with 56 seconds left on Sunday as the Patriots clinched the AFC East with a gut-wrenching 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On a day when the puzzle pieces of the NFL playoffs were dropping into place, the Patriots thwarted Pittsburgh’s bid to clinch a first-round bye and potentially home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Making matters worse, the Steelers’ star receiver Antonio Brown was transported to hospital for examination and treatment of a calf injury suffered in the first half. The US media reported that Brown would miss the rest of the regular season but might be available for the playoffs.
And in a final heartbreaker for the Steelers, a 10-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to Jesse James, which would have given Pittsburgh the lead, was overturned on review with less than 30 seconds remaining, as officials judged that the leap- ing James had not completed the catch.
Roethlisberger scrambled to give Pittsburgh two more chances to win, but his final pass was intercepted by New England’s Duron Harmon with five seconds to play.
“The ball bounces in weird ways and I’m glad it bounced our way today,” Brady said.
On the Patriots’ gamewinning drive, Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski connected three straight times for 69 yards, setting up Dion Lewis’s 8-yard touchdown run. Brady looked to Gronkowski again for a twopoint conversion.
“Football is a crazy game,” Brady said. “You just keep fighting and fight till the end.”
With the win, which ended Pittsburgh’s eight-game winning streak, the Patriots gained the edge in the hunt for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
Eagles earn bye
Nick Foles, standing in for injured Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz, threw four touchdown passes as the Eagles held off the New York Giants 34-29 to clinch a firstround bye.
The Eagles, who lost Wentz to a season-ending knee injury last week when they clinched the NFC East, rallied from a 14-point deficit behind Foles, spoiling a threetouchdown effort from Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
The Jacksonville Jaguars booked their first playoff appearance in a decade, thumping the Houston Texans 45-7, and the Minnesota Vikings clinched the NFC North division crown with a 34-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was never in doubt in Jacksonville, where Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles passed for three touchdowns in the first half on the way to a 31-0 lead at the interval.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Jaguars owner Shad Khan, whose team totalled just 17 wins over the past five seasons. “To win it and win it the way we did today – mindblowing.”
Rams rout Seahawks
The Los Angeles Rams took control of the NFC West with a 42-7 rout of the Seahawks in Seattle.
Todd Gurley ran for three touchdowns and caught a scoring pass for the Rams.
Los Angeles scored on six of their seven possessions in the decisive first half and opened a two-game lead over the Seahawks atop the division with two games left to play.
The Baltimore Ravens kept their playoff hopes alive with a 27-10 victory over the winless Cleveland Browns.
The Ravens can clinch a wildcard berth with victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati in their last two games.
The Browns must win at either Chicago or Pittsburgh to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16 in a season.
The NFC South remained tight at the top as the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers both won.
Drew Brees threw two touchdown passes in the Saints’ 31-19 victory over the New York Jets.
The Panthers spoiled Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s return from injury with a 31-24 victory over the Packers.
In the late game, Oakland quarterback Derek Carr fumbled into the end zone in the closing seconds as the Dallas Cowboys held on to beat the Raiders 20-17 and keep their playoff hopes alive.