Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Ryan, Falcons close in on playoffs
Atlanta clips Carolina, 33-16; Browns avoid winless season
Exton native Matt Ryan threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, Tevin Coleman had 135 yards from scrimmage, including a pivotal 55-yard fourth-quarter TD run, and the Atlanta Falcons moved a step closer to wrapping up a postseason berth with a 33-16 win over the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.
The Falcons (10-5) can clinch their first NFC South title since 2012 if Tampa Bay loses or ties New Orleans on Saturday. Atlanta can also clinch a playoff berth with a Detroit loss or tie against Dallas on Monday night.
A few straggling Falcons fans chanted “MVP!” at Ryan in the game’s closing minutes while most Panthers fans had already headed for the exits.
The Panthers (6-9) were officially eliminated from playoff contention after making the Super Bowl last season.
Ryan torched the Panthers for the second time this season. He threw for 503 yards and four TDs
in Atlanta’s win over Carolina earlier this season at the Georgia Dome, a victory that set the stage for the Falcons’ playoff push.
After piling up 300 yards receiving in the last meeting with Carolina, Julio Jones had a relatively quiet day in his return from a toe injury — four catches for 60 yards. But Ryan spread the ball around effectively, throwing touchdown passes to backup tight ends Joshua Perkins and D.J. Tialavea, who was signed from the practice squad earlier in the week. BROWNS 20, CHARGERS 17 >> The Browns are winless no more.
Cleveland avoided that fate Saturday by beating the San Diego Chargers 20-17 for their first victory in more than a year. San Diego’s Josh Lambo missed a 45-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Browns (1-14) their first win in 377 days.
When the kick sailed right, Cleveland’s small crowd erupted in celebration and Browns players poured off their sideline as if they had just won the Super Bowl.
The Browns avoided becoming the second team to go 0-15, and no longer have to worry about joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to lose all 16 games.
Cleveland built 10-point lead in the third quarter and hung on — defensive tackle Jamie Meder blocked a potential tying field goal with 3:49 left — to give coach Hue Jackson his first win with the Browns.
The win also snapped Cleveland’s 17-game losing streak dating to last season.
PATRIOTS 41, JETS 3 >> Tom Brady passed for 214 yards and three touchdowns , and the Patriots moved a step closer to securing homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 41-3 win over the New York Jets on Saturday.
A loss or tie by the Raiders against the Colts later Saturday would officially give New England the AFC’s top seed.
Malcolm Butler added two interceptions and a fumble recovery, and LeGarrette Blount had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.
New England (13-2) took advantage of New York miscues all day, scoring on three of its first four possessions.
The Jets (4-11), who have lost six of seven, had four turnovers. PACKERS 38, VIKINGS 25 >> Aaron Rodgers threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns, Jordy Nelson shredded Minnesota’s secondary for 154 yards and two scores, and the resurgent Green Bay Packers beat the Vikings 38-25 on Saturday.
The Packers’ fifth straight win set up a winner-take-all showdown next week with Detroit for the NFC North title, while extinguishing the Vikings’ faint postseason hopes.
Green Bay (9-6) built a 28-13 lead at halftime, with Rodgers accounting for all four scores in the half. He finished 28 of 38, and shrugged off his right calf injury after scrambling for a 6-yard touchdown late in the second quarter and making a rare Lambeau Leap .
JAGUARS 38, TITANS 17 >> Blake Bortles’ best game of the season helped the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans 38-17 on Saturday and end a nine-game losing streak.
Bortles threw for 325 yards and a touchdown, and was on the receiving end of a 20-yard trick play that sealed the win with 5:25 remaining. Rookie Jalen Ramsey returned an interception 30 yards on the ensuring play to set off a raucous — and long-awaited — celebration in Jacksonville.
Bortles and the Jaguars (3-12) played inspired football from the opening kick and won for the first time this season at EverBank Field. Their last victory at home came Dec. 13, 2015, against Indianapolis.
Maybe they rallied around interim coach Doug Marrone. Maybe they played for ultra-popular ex-coach Gus Bradley, who was fired six days earlier . Maybe they just wanted to avenge an embarrassing loss to the Titans (8-7) on national television in late October.
Either way, it caused a lot of head-scratching and thoughts of “Where has then been all year?”
It was a debacle for the Titans, who had won three in a row . Tennessee needed a victory to set up an AFC South title game next week against Houston. Now, coach Mike Mularkey’s team needs the Texans to lose at home to Cincinnati later Saturday to stay in the division race.
It might not even matter because Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota appears to be done for the season.
Mariota left late in the third quarter with an air cast on his right ankle. Rookie Sheldon Day sacked Mariota as he scrambled on a first-down throw, grabbing him around the ankles. Mariota stayed on the ground and signaled to the sideline. He pounded the ground several times as trainers rushed to his side.
They positioned the air cast and lifted Mariota onto a cart. Teammates and even some Jaguars patted Mariota on the shoulders before he excited.