WEEK 18 RECAPS
49ERS 27, RAMS 24, OT
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers clinched a playoff spot with an overtime victory over the NFC West Division champions, thanks to Robbie Gould’s 24-yard field goal with 2:45 left in overtime and a game-ending interception by Ambry Thomas. Jauan Jennings caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 26 seconds left in regulation for the 49ers, who are postseason bound for only the second time in eight years. San Francisco rallied from an early 17-point deficit for its sixth consecutive win over the playoff-bound Rams, who won the division title anyway thanks to Seattle’s victory over Arizona.
STEELERS 16, RAVENS 13, OT
BALTIMORE — Ben Roethlisberger delayed his retirement for a few hours and probably longer, guiding Pittsburgh over Baltimore in overtime and putting the Steelers on the verge of an improbable playoff berth. Chris Boswell made a 36-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining to win the game for the Steelers, who make the postseason as long as Sunday night’s Chargers-Raiders game doesn’t end in a tie.
JAGUARS 26, COLTS 11
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Indianapolis Colts badly botched a chance to secure an AFC wild-card spot by losing at Jacksonville — their seventh consecutive road loss to the Jaguars — and they were eliminated from postseason contention when Pittsburgh beat Baltimore. NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor was held to 77 yards, Carson Wentz turned the ball over twice — leading to 10 points — and Indy did little to stop the woeful Jaguars. With a playoff berth on the line, Indianapolis was a no-show on an 80-degree day in Jacksonville.
BILLS 27, JETS 10
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo clinched its second consecutive AFC East title after Devin Singletary scored twice in the final 8:21 for a win over New York. The Bills enter the playoffs as the conference’s third seed, but they had to await the outcome of the late game between the Chargers and Raiders to determine who they’ll host in the wild-card playoff round this coming weekend. The Bills actually moved up a spot in the conference standings, jumping ahead of Cincinnati after the Bengals lost to Cleveland earlier in the day.
DOLPHINS 33, PATRIOTS 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jaylen Waddle had a touchdown grab and set the NFL record for receptions in a rookie year, Duke Johnson rushed for 117 yards and Miami finished its season by defeating playoff-bound New England. Brandon Bolden scored two touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — for the Patriots, who are headed to the playoffs as a wild card.
SEAHAWKS 38, CARDINALS 30
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes, Rashaad Penny ran for 190 yards and a touchdown, and Seattle spoiled Arizona’s shot at the NFC West title with a win. The Cardinals will visit the Rams in the wild-card round.
BUCCANEERS 41, PANTHERS 17
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady topped 5,000 passing yards for the second time in his career and Tampa Bay set a franchise record for regular-season victories with a win over Carolina. Brady completed 29 of 37 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns before taking the last half of the fourth quarter off, finishing with a career-best 5,316 yards passing and a Bucs single-season record 43 touchdown passes for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Tampa Bay earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC and will host the Philadelphia Eagles in a wild-card matchup.
LIONS 37, PACKERS 30
DETROIT — The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes in the first half and sat out the second half with nothing at stake as top-seeded Green Bay lost to Detroit. Backup Jordan Love threw two interceptions late in the game, sealing a defeat that didn’t affect Green Bay’s playoff positioning. The NFC North champions rolled into the Motor City after already clinching the conference’s No. 1 seed and its only first-round bye. The Lions closed coach Dan Campbell’s first season with plenty of pride and some nothing-to-lose plays.
BROWNS 21, BENGALS 16
CLEVELAND — Case Keenum got his second win, filling in for Baker Mayfield as Cleveland ended a dismal season with a win over playoff-bound Cincinnati, which left quarterback Joe Burrow at home and used backups. Keenum threw touchdown passes to Jarvis Landry and Demetric Felton as the Browns completed a sweep of the surprising AFC North champions. D’Ernest Johnson rushed for 123 yards as star Nick Chubb had only nine carries and finished the season with 1,259 yards.
VIKINGS 31, BEARS 17
MINNEAPOLIS — Kirk Cousins passed for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the second half to lead a Minnesota comeback to beat Chicago in a matchup of two eliminated teams with a head coach in danger of being fired. Justin Jefferson had the tying score and K.J. Osborn caught the go-ahead touchdown for the Vikings, who gave coach Mike Zimmer plenty to cheer in this pad-the-stats game while outscoring the Bears 28-3 after halftime.
WASHINGTON 22, GIANTS 7
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Antonio Gibson ran for a career-high 146 yards, scored a touchdown and capped his first 1,000-yard rushing season by leading Washington over New York in what might have been Dave Gettleman’s final game as the Giants’ general manager. Bobby McCain returned the first of his two interceptions 30 yards for a touchdown, and Joey Slye kicked three field goals as Washington finished a season in which it went from division winners a year ago to an also-ran.
COWBOYS 51, EAGLES 26
PHILADELPHIA — Dak Prescott was 21-of-27 for 295 yards with no interceptions and a career-high five touchdown passes against Philadelphia backups as Dallas rolled to victory in Saturday’s late game. The Cowboys had more to play for in terms of seeding than the host Eagles, who are also headed to the playoffs but rested quarterback Jalen Hurts and other key starters. Prescott set the franchise record for touchdown passes in a season with 37; Tony Romo threw 36 in 2007.