Rodgers leads Packers to division title, Lions still make playoffs
Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes, two to Davante Adams, and the Green Bay Packers clinched the NFC North Division title with a 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Packers (10-6) finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak and enter the NFC playoffs as the fourth seed. They host the fifth-seeded New York Giants in the opening round.
The Lions (9-7), who lost their final three games and failed in their bid to win their first division title in 23 years, wound up seeded sixth and travel to third-seeded Seattle next week.
Rodgers completed 27-of-39 passes for 300 yards. Adams caught six passes for 31 yards, while rookie Geronimo Allison caught four passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Fullback Aaron Ripkowski had a combined 76 rushing and receiving yards, including a touchdown for Green Bay, which won its fifth division title in six seasons.
Matthew Stafford was 26-of-41 for 347 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Lions.
Detroit running back Zach Zenner picked up a combined 110 rushing and receiving yards, including a touchdown, and Golden Tate caught six passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.
The Packers grabbed a 17-14 lead early in the third on Rodgers’ threeyard pass to Adams. Jordy Nelson, held to one catch in the first half, caught three passes on the drive.
Rodgers then spun out of trouble and bought time before finding Allison on a 10-yard scoring play with 10:02 remaining. The extra point was missed, leaving the score at 23-14.
Matt Prater’s 54-yard field goal with 7:52 left pulled Detroit within six.
A Detroit penalty for too many men on the field extended Green Bay’s next possession. Rodgers then clinched the victory with a nine-yard strike to Adams.
Stafford heaved a 35-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin with 13 seconds left though Green Bay recovered the onside kick, ending any remaining suspense.
Giants spoil Redskins’ bid
The visiting New York Giants, who had already clinched their wild card playoff berth, played to win on Sunday and beat division rival Washington Redskins 19-10 to eliminate them from playoff contention.
Trailing 13-10 late in the fourth quarter, Kirk Cousins was intercepted by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with less than 1:30 remaining and the Redskins moving close to field goal range if not a winning touchdown.
A Redskins win would have virtually clinched them the last NFC wild card, with only a tie in the late game between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers able to deny them a postseason berth. The loss dropped them to 8-7-1.
On first-and-10 from the New York 43-yard line with 1:27 left, Cousins threw down the middle for Pierre Garcon. The pass hung up and Cromartie stepped in front of Garcon for his second interception of the day.
The Giants (11-5), though already in the playoffs, played their starters, including QB Eli Manning, and took the lead on a Robbie Gould field goal with 2:12 left after Washington overcame a 10-0 halftime deficit to tie it 10-10.
The Redskins, who won the NFC East with a 9-7 mark last season, were looking for their first back-to-back playoff appearances since a three-year run from 1990-92.
Steve Smith retires after 16 seasons
Steve Smith Sr., always known as a tough, elusive, explosive receiver over 16 years in the NFL, confirmed his retirement after Sunday’s loss to the Bengals in the team’s regular season finale.
“It’s over, it’s done. I know it’s my time,” he said.
Smith nearly retired in 2015 but an Achilles injury in November of that year prompted him to reconsider. He came back for another standout season in 2016.
“I’ll miss these guys,” Smith said. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS returner Tyreek Hill (right) evades Chargers defender Adrian Phillips (31) while taking back a punt 95 yards for a touchdown during the second half on Sunday in San Diego. The Chiefs won 37-27 to finish 12-4 on the season – with a 6-0 record against AFC West rivals – and clinched the division and a firstround bye with the victory and Oakland’s loss at Denver. “But, when they’re in training camp and I’m not, I’ll be hanging out at the pool, doing a lot of other things, like going to Disneyland. And, just being a dad. I have lot to look forward to.”
Smith ends after 1,031 catches for 14,731 yards and 81 receiving touchdowns. He ranks seventh on the National Football League’s all-time list for receiving yards.
Smith, 37, went out quietly with three catches for 34 yards in the 27-10 loss to the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium and did not reach the end zone.
“I wasn’t going to concern myself with getting more passes or going out like Kobe [Bryant],” Smith said. “Just go play. That’s what I did.”
Earlier this week, Smith said he was “89 percent sure” that Sunday would be his final game, and cameras followed him closely throughout the contest.
Baltimore’s season ended with two straight losses, including last week’s gut-wrenching 31-27 loss at Pittsburgh which eliminated the Ravens from the playoffs.
“Reality is going to hit us at some point that we don’t have him,” Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said. “What a player, what a competitor. It’s a tough reality.”
“Legendary player,” said fellow Ravens wide receiver Mike Wallace. “I was just telling him, ‘You can play a couple of more years if you want to. Let’s just keep it going.’
“I wish I had more time with him, but when you have greatness around you, you just absorb whatever you can get from him.”
Smith leads all active NFL receivers with 51 career 100-yard receiving games, which ranks fourth all-time.
“It’s been a privilege and an honor to be around him every day,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “He never took anything for granted. He showed our guys how to compete and play the game. One of the highlights of my coaching career.” (Reuters)
Coaching carousel: Broncos’ Kubiak quits while 49ers’ Kelly and Chargers’ McCoy are fired
Will the last remaining coach in the Western US please turn out the lights when you leave?
• Denver's Gary Kubiak is stepping down for health reasons.
• San Diego fire Mike McCoy on Sunday, leaving this symmetrical footnote: McCoy was 27-37 in four regular seasons, and the Chargers lost his coaching finale to Kansas City, 37-27. both coach Chip Kelly and General Manager Trent Baalke, making Kelly the club’s second consecutive one-anddone coach.
Buffalo and Jacksonville also are looking for head coaches, and it’s likely Indianapolis will join them shortly.
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris told reporters that Kubiak informed the players after Sunday’s season-ending 24-6 victory over Oakland that it would be his last game with the team.
“It’s definitely sad to see him go,” Harris said. “We love him as a coach. He said he didn’t want to tell us during the week because he wanted the game to be about the team. We wanted to send him out right, which we did.”
The departure of Kubiak is something of a surprise, considering he just finished his second season and is less than a year removed from beating Carolina in the Super Bowl. The Broncos finished 9-7 this season with a stellar defense and out-of-nowhere quarterback Trevor Siemian.
Health concerns were apparently behind his decision to step down.
Kubiak, 55, was hospitalized in October after a loss to Atlanta and diagnosed with a “complex migraine.” In 2013, while coach of the Houston Texans, he collapsed on the field while walking to the locker room at halftime, having suffered a transient ischemic attack, or mini-stroke.
The Chargers, who are strongly considering relocating to Los Angeles this offseason, announced after their home loss to the Chiefs that McCoy was dismissed after four seasons.
Calling McCoy “a man of high character” and thanking him, Chargers President John Spanos said, “Our team’s disappointing performance has not matched this team’s potential and has fallen short of the demanding standards that we seek to impose throughout our organization.”
The 49ers finished 2-14, with their only victories coming against Los Angeles. The Rams, meanwhile, fired Jeff Fisher three weeks ago and are not expected to promote John Fassel from interim to permanent head coach.
There will be coaches remaining in the West – Seattle’s Pete Carroll and Oakland’s Jack Del Rio are staying put– but there also will be more changes.
Baalke confirmed the news of his firing during a radio interview Sunday.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Baalke said. “We’ve done some awful good things. Some very successful seasons. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring a championship to the Bay Area, which they so deserve.” (Los Angeles Times/TNS)