Eagles rip Raiders for top seed; Steelers claim bye
NEW YORK — Rookie Jake Elliott kicked a decisive 48-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining Monday as the NFL-best Philadelphia Eagles beat Oakland 19-10 to clinch a top playoff seed.
The Eagles, who added a defensive touchdown on a final-play fumble recovery to boost their winning margin, improved to 13-2 and will have a home-field edge throughout the National Conference playoffs as a result of the Christmas home triumph.
In the other holiday matchup, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes and the Steelers clinched a first-round NFL playoff bye with a 34-6 drubbing of the Houston Texans.
The Steelers matched New England atop the American Conference at 12- 3 but Pittsburgh can only take the top-seed spot by beating Cleveland (0-15) next Sunday and have the Patriots lose to the New York Jets (5-10).
At Philadelphia, Nick Foles flipped a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jay Ajayi to put Philadelphia ahead but the Raiders equalized at 7-7 at half-time on Derek Carr’s 63-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper.
Italian kicker Giorgio Tavecchio booted a 25-yard field goal for Oakland but Elliott made a 35-yard field goal to pull Philadelphia level 10-10.
Tavecchio missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with 7: 58 remaining and Carr threw an interception to Philadelphia’s Ronald Darby with 49 seconds remaining to set up Elliott’s crucial kick.
At Houston, Roethlisberger was looking forward to Pittsburgh’s first opening-round playoff bye since 2010, one that will allow injured receiver Antonio Brown to heal before their postseason run starts.
“It’ll be nice for AB and some other guys who are banged up,” Roethlisberger said. “To get feelng healthy is a great feeling.”
Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell kicked a 34-yard field goal 4: 16 into the first quarter to open the scoring at Houston.
Roethlisberger flipped a fiveyard touchdown pass to Justin Hunter only 3:45 later to give the Steelers a 10-0 edge.
Roosevelt Nix scored on a oneyard run to cap an 11-play, 80-yard march that put Pittsburgh ahead 17-0 and Boswell added a 36-yard field goal to lift the Steelers ahead 20-0 at halftime.
Le’Veon Bell added a 10-yard touchdown run to stretch Pittsburgh’s lead but Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins answered with an acrobatic three-yard touchdown grab, tipping the ball with his right hand before catching it with his left.
A two-point conversion pass attempt missed, leaving the Steelers ahead 27-6.
Roethlisberger responded with a 17-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith- Schuster to complete his 136th regular-season victory as “Big Ben” matched a club record in his 200th Steelers appearance. —