Eagles clinch berth in playoffs; Lions rout the Vikings
Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the NFLbest Philadelphia Eagles punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 48-22 victory over the fading New York Giants on Sunday.
Hurts improved his MVP credentials by throwing for 217 yards and hitting DaVonta Smith on a 41-yard fourth-down TD strike and A.J. Brown on a 33-yarder as the Eagles (12-1) scored on their first three possessions. The third-year quarterback also ran for 77 yards, highlighted by a 10-yard TD scamper late in the third quarter.
Miles Sanders ran for 144 yards and scored on runs of 3 and 40 yards as the Eagles handed the Giants their worst loss under first-year coach Brian Daboll. Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for Philadelphia, which secured its second straight postseason appearance and fifth in six seasons.
The Eagles finished with seven sacks, including three by Brandon Graham.
Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor threw touchdown passes for for the Giants (7-5-1). They have one win in their last six games (1-4-1) and their hopes of their first playoff berth since 2016 are slipping with four games remaining.
Lions 34, Vikings 23: Jared Goff threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, leading the surging Detroitto a win over NFC North-leading Minnesota. The visiting Vikings needed a win or tie to clinch the division title. Kirk Cousins threw for
425 yards, including a franchise-record 223 to Justin Jefferson on 11 catches. But Dalvin Cook ran for just 23 yards on 15 carries, and Minnesota couldn’t stop Goff. Detroit has won five of six, its best stretch since its last postseason appearance in 2016.
Bengals 23, Browns 10: Joe Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and host Cincinnati beat Cleveland. The Bengals ended a five-game skid to their Ohio rivals. Cincinnati has won five straight and nine of 11 and kept pace with Baltimore in the AFC North. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns, whose playoff hopes are now all but nonexistent. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson was sharper than in his debut with the team last week and threw his first touchdown pass in 707 days, a 13-yarder to
David Njoku in the third quarter.
Ravens 16, Steelers 14: J.K. Dobbins ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, helping Baltimoreovercome the loss of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to beat host Pittsburgh. Huntley filled in for injured star Lamar Jackson but entered concussion protocol in the second half. He was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Anthony Brown. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals to help Baltimore end a four-game losing streak to the Steelers.
Cowboys 27, Texans 23: Ezekiel Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown with 41 seconds remaining, and host Dallas avoided a major upset with a victory over hapless Houston. Houston appeared in position to end a seven-game losing streak with just its second victory after Dak Prescott’s interception inside the Dallas 10 with 5:37 to go and the Texans leading by three. The Cowboys stiffened, and Prescott delivered with his second chance starting near his own goal line. Dallas drove 98 yards for the winning points.
Jaguars 36, Titans 22: Trevor Lawrence threw for a career-high 368 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score and Jacksonville routed host Tennessee for its first victory in Music City since 2013. The Jaguars snapped a five-game skid against their oldest division rival. Doug Pederson also became the first Jacksonville coach to win in Nashville since Gus Bradley in 2013. Jacksonville had four sacks and turned four turnovers into 20 points. The Jaguars scored 29 straight points. The Titans have lost three straight for the first time since coach Mike Vrabel's first season in 2018.
Chiefs 34, Broncos 28: Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City to its 14th consecutive win over Denver despite throwing three interceptions. The Chiefs won and the Broncos lost quarterback Russell Wilson to a concussion. Mahomes threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns as the Chiefs improved to 10-3.
Panthers 30, Seahawks 24:
Sam Darnold threw for one touchdown, Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear both had rushing TDs, and Carolina stayed in the thick of the muddled NFC South race with a win over host Seattle Seahawks. Darnold and Carolina built leads of 17-0 and 20-7 to take advantage of a sloppy, unenthusiastic first-half performance by the Seahawks. In the second half, the Panthers simply ran through Seattle’s defense and delivered a blow to the Seahawks' hopes of winning the NFC West.