It’s Buffalo, again, atop AFC East
Josh Allen threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Dawson Knox midway through the fourth quarter, and the Buffalo Bills won their fourth straight AFC East title, rallying past the Miami Dolphins, 2114, on Sunday night in Florida.
Allen made things difficult for the Bills with three turnovers in Miami territory, but he came through at the end to help Buffalo earn the No. 2 seed in the conference. The Bills, who didn’t clinch a playoff berth until Tennessee beat Jacksonville earlier Sunday, will host seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the wild-card round on Sunday.
Buffalo was 5-5 in mid-November and faced long odds just to make the playoffs, but went 6-1 down the stretch, including five straight wins to finish the season, to get in with plenty of momentum.
Miami, which made the postseason with its Week 16 win over Dallas, fell to the sixth seed and will play at AFC West champion Kansas City on Saturday night.
The Bills dominated time of possession and outgained Miami by nearly 200 yards, but Buffalo trailed, 14-7, before Deonte Harty returned a punt 96 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth.
Buffalo forced a three-and-out, and Allen directed an eight-play, 74-yard drive, capped by his 5yard toss to Knox with 4:52 left.
Miami had one last chance, but Taylor Rapp intercepted Tua Tagovailoa on a pass intended for Chase Claypool with 1:13 left.
Allen finished 30 of 38 for 359 yards and two TDs. He was intercepted on back-to-back drives to open the game, and he squandered another scoring chance when he completed a pass to Ty Johnson short of the goal line at the end of the first half, allowing time to expire.
A promising Buffalo drive in the third quarter ended when Allen was strip-sacked by Christian Wilkins.
Tagovailoa finished 17 of 27 for 173 yards with two interceptions. Packers 17, Bears 9 — Jordan Love threw for 316 yards and connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a pair of touchdowns to send Green Bay (9-8) to the playoffs in his first year as a starter and deal Chicago (7-10) a 10th consecutive loss head to head. Green Bay nevback punted as Love went 27 of 32, with a 10-yard touchdown pass to the rookie fifth-round pick that put the Packers ahead for good midway through the second quarter. Aaron Jones rushed for 111 yards on 22 carries, his third straight 100-yard performance. Justin Fields went 11 of 16 for 148 yards, but couldn’t get the Bears into the end zone. He was sacked five times.
Giants 27, Eagles 10 — Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and a host of injured, ineffective Eagles can only hope they bottomed out Sunday, their fifth loss in six games coming at New York (6-11). Philadelphia (11-6) earned the No. 5 seed and will open the NFC playoffs next week at Tampa Bay. Starters DeVonta Smith, Darius Slay, and D’Andre Swift were unable to play, and were quickly joined by Hurts — who took a hard hit to the right middle finger on his throwing hand — and Brown, who crumpled to the ground and grabbed his right knee on the MetLife Stadium turf. Saquon Barkley ran for two touchdowns for the Giants, and Tyrod Taylor threw for 229 yards in the first half as the hosts built a 24-0 lead.
Rams 21, 49ers 20 — In Santa Clara, Calif., Carson Wentz threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead Los Angeles (10-7) past San Francisco (12-5) in a game filled with backups. Wentz scored on a 12-yard run with 4:56 to play, and then converted a 2point conversion pass to Tutu Atwell to clinch the sixth seed in the NFC. The biggest drama might have been Rams receiver Puka Nacua’s chase of the rookie records for catches and yards receiving. He got both, finishing with 105 catches (one more than Jaylen Waddle in 2021) and 1,486 yards, breaking Bill Groman’s 1,473 from 1960.
Saints 48, Falcons 17 — Derek Carr passed for four touchdowns to lift host New Orleans (9-8) over Atlanta (7-10), but the Saints still missed the playoffs as Tampa Bay beat Carolina to claim the NFC South and Green Bay took the NFC’s final wild-card spot. Carr passed for 264 yards and rookie receiver A.T. Perry caught two scoring passes to double his season total for the Saints. Jamaal Williams had a 1-yard TD run in the final two minutes after New Orleans lined up as if planning to take a knee and run out the clock. The play appeared to upset both the Falcons and Saints coach Dennis Allen.
Seahawks 21, Cardinals 20 — In Glendale, Ariz., Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes and Seattle (9-8) rallied to win, despite being eliminated from playoff contention earlier when Green Bay beat Chicago. Matt Prater missed a 51yard field goal attempt wide right at the buzzer for Arizona (4-13), his second miss of the fourth quarter locking up the No. 4 pick in the draft. The Cardinals went ahead in the fourth with trickery; on fourth and 3 at the Seattle 8, the Cardinals looked like they were going to settle for a field goal, but Prater abruptly moved over to receiver as quarterback Kyler Murray sprinted back under center and found Trey McBride in the of the end zone. Smith hit Tyler Lockett for a 34-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left, cutting the margin to 20-19, then hit him again on the 2-point conversion.
Bengals 31, Browns 14 — Jake Browning threw three touchdown passes, Joe Mixon rushed for a season-high 111 yards and a score, and Cincinnati (9-8) beat Cleveland (11-6), which rested most of its starters already locked in as the No. 5 seed in the AFC. Jeff Driskel — signed Dec. 29 from Arizona’s practice squad — didn’t fare well against Cincinnati’s defensive regulars until the fourth quarter, when he threw two touchdown passes to David Bell. Mixon finished with 1,034 yards rushing, his fourth time in seven seasons topping the 1,000-yard mark.
Chiefs 13, Chargers 12 — In Inglewood, Calif., Mike Edwards returned a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown after an 18-play Chargers’ drive, Harrison Butker made a 41-yard field goal with 49 seconds remaining, and AFC West champion Kansas City (11-6) beat Los Angeles (5-12) while resting most of its starters. (Travis Kelce was inactive and finished with 984 receiving yards, ending the All-Pro tight end’s bid for an eighth straight 1,000-yard season.) Blaine Gabbert, making his first start since 2018 with Tennessee, completed 15 of 30 passes for 154 yards. Cameron Dicker kicked four field goals for the Chargers, who lost their final five games and went without a touchdown in their last 10 quarters.
Raiders 27, Broncos 14 — Aidan O’Connell passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns, Zamir White rushed for 112 yards, and a relentless pass rush helped Las Vegas (8-9) beat Denver (8-9) for the eighth consecutive time. O’Connell overcame a injury to the index finger on his throwing hand to complete a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Raiders ahead, 24-7. Meyers also scored a TD in the second quarter, turning what was designed to be a wide receiver pass to a 5-yard run when the play broke down. Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 272 yards with a TD and interception, but was sacked five times and hit 11.