Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)

Saints beat Falcons, clinch NFC playoff berth

-

NEW ORLEANS » Rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore corralled an unusual, momentum-turning intercepti­on off his back , New Orleans made two defensive stands from inside its 2-yard line, and the Saints clinched their first playoff berth since 2013 with a 2313 victory over the rival Atlanta Falcons.

Ted Ginn caught a 54yard pass for a touchdown, which came a few plays after Lattimore’s intercepti­on and shortly before halftime. Mark Ingram used a sharp cutback to break loose for a 26-yard touchdown for New Orleans ( 11-4), which kept its tenuous hold on first place in the NFC South heading into the final week of the season.

While the loss eliminated the Falcons (9-6) from the NFC South race, Atlanta can clinch a wild-card berth by beating Carolina in the final regular-season game on New Year’s Eve.

The Falcons entered the game with a second straight division crown in their grasp, but they needed to beat the Saints. They squandered chances spectacula­rly, much to the delight of a deafening Superdome crowd — and certainly to the chagrin of scattered fans wearing Falcons red. The Falcons were taunted on their way to the game by a plane towing a banner that read “28-3 Merry Xmas,” a reference to Atlanta’s Super Bowl collapse.

Atlanta trailed 6-0 when Lattimore’s intercepti­on of Matt Ryan set the Saints up to double their lead.

But early in the third quarter, Atlanta linebacker Deion Jones intercepte­d a passed that deflected off of Ginn’s hands and returned it 41 yards to the New Orleans 2. Devonta Freeman fumbled on a hit by Tyeler Davison two plays later and linebacker Manti Teo recovered.

Drew Brees completed 21 of 28 passes for 239 yards. Brees became the third quarterbac­k in NFL history to eclipse 70,000 career yards passing, joining Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.

Ryan was 22 of 36 for 288 yards. He was sacked five times, twice by Cameron Jordan. PANTHERS 22, BUCCANEERS 19 » Cam Newton scored on a 2-yard run with 35 seconds remaining to lift the Panthers into the NFC playoffs.

The Panthers (11-4) trailed most of the second half, but Newton drove them 59 yards, completing 4 of 7 passes for 52 yards in the final three minutes before scoring on a what could have been a gameending play. Newton fumbled the snap from the shotgun, alertly picked it up and then dived across the goal line for the go-ahead score.

Newton celebrated the score by using the football as a prop, pretending to light a candle on a cake in celebratio­n of his son Chosen’s 2nd birthday.

Carolina can clinch the NFC South championsh­ip with a win over Atlanta and a New Orleans loss to Tampa Bay.

The Panthers sealed the game when Kawann Short sacked Jameis Winston on Tampa Bay’s final drive, and forced a fumble that Julius Peppers recovered. Winston threw for 367 yards and a touchdown but was sacked six times and fumbled three times. The Bucs are 4-11. RAMS 27, TITANS 23 » Jared Goff threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp in the fourth quarter and the Rams held off Tennessee to clinch their first NFC West title since 2003.

The Rams (11-4) came in needing a win or a loss by Seattle to secure the division. They took care of business themselves, with Todd Gurley and Goff leading the way again.

Gurley bolstered his argument for NFL MVP with 118 yards rushing and 158 yards receiving with two TDs. Goff finished with four touchdowns and 301 yards passing.

The Titans (8-7) lost their third straight game, damaging their chances of ending their own playoff drought stretching to 2008.

The Titans had the ball and a chance to win late in the game. On fourth-and-4 at the Rams 44, Marcus Mariota rolled right and chucked the ball incomplete under pressure from Connor Barwin. CHIEFS 29, DOLPHINS 13 » Alex Smith threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, Kareem Hunt ran for 91 yards and a score and the Chiefs clinched back-to-back AFC West titles for the first time in franchise history.

Tyreek Hill had six catches for 109 yards, and Harrison Butker converted five field goals, as the Chiefs (9-6) dashed what faint postseason hope the Dolphins (6-9) still harbored.

Jay Cutler threw for 286 yards and a touchdown, but a chunk of that came on a 65-yard toss to Jakeem Grant late in the first half. Otherwise, Miami struggled against a defense that has been stingy and opportunis­tic the past two weeks.

That’s coincided with the return of Marcus Peters from his disciplina­ry suspension.

The Chiefs’ star cornerback had two intercepti­ons and forced a fumble against the Chargers last week, a win that pushed them to the brink of the playoffs. He recovered a fumble and forced another on Sunday, giving Peters a hand in five turnovers the past two weeks. PATRIOTS 37, BILLS 16 » Tom Brady passed for a pair of touchdowns and the Patriots stayed on track to claim home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Dion Lewis caught a touchdown pass and rushed for a 4-yard score. He carried 24 times for a careerhigh 129 yards. It was just his second-career 100-yard game. Mike Gillislee, active for the first time in six games, added a 1-yard rushing touchdown

New England (12-3) can lock up first-round bye with either a Pittsburgh or Jacksonvil­le loss.

Even with the loss, the Bills (8-7) remain in contention to break their 17-year playoff drought. It is longest active streak in North America’s four major profession­al sports. It is the longest postseason absence since NFL merger in 1970.

New England has won at least 12 games in eight straight seasons — an NFL record.

Buffalo stayed close throughout and went into halftime locked in a 13-13 tie. But the Bills managed just three points in the final 30 minutes, after a touchdown at the end of the first half was taken away.

Trailing 13-10, Buffalo was in position to take the lead, but an apparent 4-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to Kelvin Benjamin in the corner of the end zone was overturned after an official review.

NFL vice president of officiatin­g Al Riveron said in a Twitter post Benjamin was juggling the ball and was only able to get one of his feet down before completing the catch. CHARGERS 14, JETS 7 » Philip Rivers threw a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates and Melvin Gordon ran for a score, and the Chargers stayed alive in the AFC playoff race.

The Chargers (8-7) entered the weekend needing to win both of their remaining games — including next Sunday at home against Oakland — and get lots of help elsewhere to remain in the mix. Rivers & Co. held up their end of things, but barely.

Los Angeles, which started the season 0-4, had a tough time getting much going against a spirited effort by the defense of the Jets (5-10). Rivers finished 22 of 40 for 290 yards.

Gordon had 81 yards on 19 carries, but left late in the game with an ankle injury. He remained standing on the sideline as the Chargers tried to run out the clock.

Bryce Petty, making his second start this season in place of the injured Josh McCown, struggled all game. He missed open receivers and repeatedly flexed his right hand, which he banged up early in the game. But he remained in, going 15 of 28 for 119 yards and an intercepti­on. BENGALS 26, LIONS 17 » Giovani Bernard ran for 116 yards and a clinching touchdown in the closing minutes that eliminated the Lions from playoff contention and gave Marvin Lewis a good moment in what was possibly his final home game as Bengals coach.

Matthew Stafford and the Lions (8-7) couldn’t take advantage of an injury-depleted team that gave indifferen­t performanc­es the last two games. It was a fitting finish for Detroit, which opened the season 3-4 and repeatedly wasted chances to move to the forefront of the playoff chase. BEARS 20, BROWNS 3 » The Browns got pushed to the brink of a winless season, hurt by two more intercepti­ons by DeShone Kizer and two turnovers in the red zone against Chicago.

One more loss and the Browns will join the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams to go 0-16. Last year, Cleveland was 0-14 before getting its only victory on Dec. 24.

And the Browns will wrap up the season at AFC North leader Pittsburgh next week. Then again, the Browns (0-15) keep racking up losses no matter whom they’re playing.

They’re 1-30 in two seasons under coach Hue Jackson.

 ?? BILL FEIG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (23) celebrates an intercepti­on with cornerback Ken Crawley (20) and cornerback Chris Banjo (31) in the first half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday.
BILL FEIG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (23) celebrates an intercepti­on with cornerback Ken Crawley (20) and cornerback Chris Banjo (31) in the first half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States