The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Brady leads Patriots past Bengals
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Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and the New England Patriots forced five turnovers en route to securing a playoff berth for the 11th straight season with a 34-13 victory over the host Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Stephon Gilmore returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and fellow cornerback J.C. Jackson also had two picks as the Patriots (11-3) averted their first three-game losing skid since 2002.
Former Bengals running back Rex Burkhead had a career-long 33-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to highlight New England's season-high 175 yards on the ground.
Gilmore jumped a route to intercept Andy Dalton on the opening drive of the third quarter. Brady, who threw for just 128 yards, capped the ensuing seven-play drive by firing a strike to rookie N'Keal Harry in the back of the end zone to give New England a 20-10 lead.
Gilmore wasn't done as he stepped in front of Tyler Boyd and raced 64 yards for his second career interception return for a touchdown. The 29-year-old's six interceptions this season are a career high.
New England got out of the blocks in a hurry after James White capped an eight-play, 75yard drive by catching a dump off from Brady and scampering 23 yards for a touchdown just 3:16 into the game. The early scoring strike allowed Brady to become the first quarterback in NFL history with 17 seasons of at least 20 TD passes.
Cincinnati (1-13) answered on the ensuing drive, which began with eight consecutive running plays before Dalton found tight end Cethan Carter for an 8-yard touchdown pass. The reception was the first of Carter's career, while the score was the Bengals' first in an opening drive in 21 games.
Eagles 37, Redskins 27:
Carson Wentz tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward with 26 seconds remaining to lift the visiting Philadelphia Eagles past the Washington Redskins.
Wentz, who threw three touchdown passes, helped move the Eagles to 7-7 and in position to win the NFC East if they win their final two games.
Wentz finished 30 of 43 for 266 yards while running back Miles Sanders caught one touchdown pass and rushed for another. Sanders rushed for 122 yards.
Redskins rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins was 19 of 28 for 261 yards and two touchdown passes.
Seahawks 30, Panthers 24:
Russell Wilson threw for two touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks defeated the host Carolina
Panthers and moved to the brink of securing a playoff berth.
Seattle (11-3) might clinch a spot in the NFC postseason by the end of the day pending other results. The Seahawks also remain in contention with the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC West with two games left.
Running back Chris Carson scored on two runs and picked up key yards on the final possession as the Seahawks ran out the clock.
Chiefs 23, Broncos 3: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns in the snow as the Kansas City Chiefs won their fourth straight, stuffing the Denver Broncos.
Snow began accumulating three hours before kickoff and persisted throughout the game. That didn't prevent Mahomes from going 27 of 34, though he threw an interception, as the Chiefs (10-4) continued their quest for a first-round bye in the playoffs after already clinching the AFC West title.
The victory was the ninth
straight for Kansas City over Denver (5-9), which generated just 251 yards (139 in the first three quarters) coming off back-to-back wins in the first two starts by rookie quarterback Drew Lock.
Buccaneers 38, Lions 17:
Jameis Winston completed 28 of 42 passes for a career-high 458 yards and four touchdowns to power the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win against the host Detroit Lions.
Winston also added to his league-leading total of interceptions when he threw his 24th, but he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 450 yards in consecutive games.
Three of Winston's touchdown passes went to wideout Breshad Perriman, the son of former Lions wideout Brett Perriman.
Tampa Bay (7-7) won its fourth straight game, while Detroit (3-10-1) lost its seventh straight.
Giants 36, Dolphins 20: Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes, and Saquon Barkley ran for a pair of scores as the host New York Giants snapped a nine-game losing streak with a win over the Miami Dolphins. Both teams have 3-11 records. Manning, 38, playing perhaps his final season with the Giants and maybe his last home game as he fills in for injured starter Daniel Jones (ankle), completed 20 of 28 passes for 283 yards with three interceptions.
Texans 24, Titans 21: Carlos Hyde had 26 carries for 104 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and the Houston Texans held on for a win over the host TennesseeTitans.
Deshaun Watson completed 19 of 27 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Houston (9-5), which took sole possession of first place in the AFC South. Kenny Stills had both of the Texans' touchdown catches.
Ryan Tannehill passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another for Tennessee (8-6), whose four-game winning streak came to an end. Tannehill completed 22 of 36 passes for 279 yards with one interception.