Bengals stop Chiefs’ 8-game win streak, take AFC North

CINCINNATI — Evan McPherson kicked a 20-yard field goal as time ran out, and the Cincinnati Bengals earned their first AFC North title and postseason appearance in six years with a wild 34-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Rookie Ja’Marr Chase had a franchise-record 266 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 11 catches, Joe Burrow threw for 466 yards and four scores while outdueling Patrick Mahomes, and the Bengals rallied from three 14-point deficits against the AFC West champs.

Chase broke Jerry Butler’s NFL rookie record set for Buffalo against the Jets with 255 on Sept. 23, 1979.

Kansas City (11-5) had its eight-game winning streak ended and lost the top seed in the AFC to the Titans.

The Bengals’ winning drive was filled with drama.

On fourth-and-inches with under a minute left, the Bengals (10-6) went for a touchdown instead of calling on McPherson for a field goal and giving the Chiefs the ball back with a chance to win.

Burrow threw incomplete in the end zone, but Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was flagged for illegal use of hands. Backup quarterback Brandon Allen was called on to kneel twice before McPherson came on for the winning kick.

Burrow was outstanding again, completing 30 of 39 attempts. He was sacked four times and hit at least six more times but was as accurate as ever, and Chase caught everything that was thrown near him.

Mahomes looked as if he had the game under control early. He threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to give the Chiefs the early lead, but he didn’t get another one.

The Chiefs (11-5) led 14-0, 21-7 and 28-14 in the first half. They were ahead 28-17 at halftime before the Bengals began the latest of several second-half surges this season.

A 69-yard TD pass from Burrow to Chase early in the second half cut the Chiefs’ lead to 28-24. Kansas City responded with Harrison Butker’s 34-yard field goal.

Burrow then hit Tyler Boyd for a 5-yard

TD, capping an 86-yard drive that was twice extended by flags on Sneed, including an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave Cincinnati first-and-goal at the Kansas City 7.

Patrick Mahomes was 26 for 35 for 259 yards and threw touchdown passes to Demarcus Robinson. Tight end Travis Kelce, who caught a pass in his 125th straight game.

BUCCANEERS 28, JETS 24

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Antonio Brown was kicked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a bizarre, shirtless exit from the field before Tom Brady coolly led the Bucs (12-4) on a 93yard drive in the final minutes.

Coach Bruce Arians said after the game that Brown was off the team.

“He is no longer a Buc,” Arians said. Brown’s meltdown came late in the third quarter with Tampa Bay trailing 24-10. He appeared animated while talking to teammate Mike Evans when he stripped off his pads, jersey, gloves and T-shirt — tossing the gloves and T-shirt into the stands — and walked bare-chested down the sideline and into the end zone. He then waved to fans as HE jogged through the end zone and into the tunnel at MetLife Stadium.

It appeared to be a show of frustration by Brown, who had three catches for 26 yards.

Brown was suspended last month for three games for violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols. He also has a history of personal conduct issues and bizarre behavior.

Brady connected with Cameron Brate on a 4-yard touchdown shortly after Brown’s exit, and the star quarterback finished the Bucs’ rally with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with 15 seconds left.

TITANS 34, DOLPHINS 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes as the Titans clinched their second straight AFC South title, snapping the Dolphins’ seven-game winning streak.

The Titans (11-5) won their second straight overall and third in four games to clinch their first back-to-back division titles since the start of the AFL when this franchise was the Houston Oilers and won three straight Eastern Division championships. They also won 11 games for a second consecutive season for the first time since 2002-03 — and currently are the AFC’s top seed after Kansas City lost at Cincinnati.

Miami (8-8) came in as the first team in NFL history to win seven straight after a sevengame skid. That surge helped push the Dolphins into the third and final wild-card spot in the AFC, but this loss seriously damaged their playoff hopes.

On a cold and rainy day, the Titans ran more than they threw. Tannehill was 13 of 18 for 120 yards and a 127.1 passer rating against the team that drafted him eighth overall in 2012 before trading him to Tennessee in March 2019. Tannehill is 31-15 as the Titans’ starter with his third straight playoff berth clinched.

BILLS 29, FALCONS 15

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo clinched a playoff berth when Devin Singletary scored two touchdowns rushing in the second half to make up for Josh Allen’s sloppiness.

The AFC East-leading Bills rallied to clinch their third consecutive playoff spot. Buffalo (10-6) did so by beating the Falcons, coupled with the Baltimore Ravens’ 20-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Falcons (7-9) went down swinging in being eliminated from the NFC race to extend their postseason drought to a fourth year in their first season under coach Arthur Smith. The Falcons forced four turnovers, with an injury and COVID-19-depleted secondary intercepting Allen on three consecutive possessions spanning halftime.

Allen did a much better job running than throwing by scoring two touchdowns rushing on a snow-dusted field, and with temperatures in the low 20s.

Buffalo won its third straight and needs only to beat the New York Jets in its finale

next weekend to clinch its second consecutive division title — and assure the Bills home-field advantage for the wild-card playoff round.

Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts set the franchise rookie record for yards receiving and became the NFL’s second rookie tight end to top 1,000 yards receiving. Pitts finished with two catches for 69 yards before being limited by a hamstring injury in the second half.

With 1,018 yards receiving, he broke the team’s rookie record set by Julio Jones, who had 959 yards in 2011. Pitts also inched within 58 yards of the NFL record set in 1961 by Mike Ditka for rookie tight ends.

RAIDERS 23, COLTS 20

INDIANAPOLIS — Derek Carr directed Las Vegas to Daniel Carlson’s winning 33-yard field goal as time expired as the Raiders beat Jonathan Taylor and the Colts 23-20 to move one step closer to an AFC wild card.

After Michael Badgley kicked a tying 41-yard field goal for Indianapolis with 1:56 left, Carr and the Raiders got the ball at their 25. Carr found Hunter Renfrow for 24 yards on thirdand-10 in the final minute, setting the stage for Carlson’s third field goal of the game.

Carr passed for 255 yards and a touchdown for Las Vegas (9-7), and Zay Jones had eight receptions for 120 yards.

Rallying after an embarrassing email scandal that led to coach Jon Gruden’s resignation, the Raiders can wrap up an improbable playoff spot with a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers next weekend.

Indianapolis (9-7) had won three straight and eight of 10 to move one win away from a postseason berth. But it couldn’t hold a secondhalf lead.

Taylor finished with 20 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown. The NFL’s leading rusher broke Edgerrin James’ single-season franchise record of 1,709 yards rushing on a 9-yard carry midway through the third quarter. He has 1,734 yards to go with one game left in the league’s first 17-game season.

PATRIOTS 50, JAGUARS 10

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England returned to the playoffs when rookie quarterback Mac Jones threw three touchdown passes and Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for two scores apiece.

The victory by the Patriots (10-6) snapped a two-game losing streak and gave Bill Belichick his 20th 10-win season as a head coach, tying

Don Shula for the most in NFL history. A loss by Miami at Tennessee secured New England’s first trip to the postseason since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay following the 2019 season.

The Jaguars (2-14) have lost eight consecutive games, including three straight since firing coach Urban Meyer. It was their 17th consecutive loss on the road, the longest streak in the league.

Jones finished 22 of 30 for 227 yards and set a franchise record for touchdown passes by a rookie with 21. Stevenson had 107 yards on 19 carries. Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson had two touchdown catches — the first of his career — after being elevated from the practice squad for the second consecutive week.

Myles Bryant, J.C. Jackson and Kyle Dugger all had interceptions.

RAMS 20, RAVENS 19

BALTIMORE — Matthew Stafford shook off three turnovers to guide a fourth-quarter rally that carried the Rams to their fifth straight victory.

Stafford threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. with 57 seconds left immediately after completing a 5-yarder to Beckham on a fourth-and-5. After Los Angeles failed on a 2-point conversion, the Ravens — playing a third straight game without injured quarterback Lamar Jackson — never got close enough for a field-goal try.

The victory pushed the Rams (12-4) to the cusp of their second straight NFC West title. Arizona needed to beat Dallas later Sunday to avoid elimination in that race. Both teams already are in the postseason.

BEARS 29, GIANTS 3

CHICAGO — Robert Quinn broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s franchise single-season record with his 18th sack. Trevis Gipson added a career-high two sacks, and the Bears joined Green Bay as the only franchises with 800 victories counting the postseason. They also gave the embattled Matt Nagy a win in what might have been his final home game as their coach.

Quinn broke Dent’s mark of 171⁄2 set in 1984 when he took down Mike Glennon in the fourth quarter.

Gipson had a strip-sack on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Tashaun Gipson picked off Glennon on the next possession. The two takeaways led to a scoring run by David Montgomery and touchdown catch by Darnell Mooney, making it 14-0 and sending the Bears (6-10) to their second straight win after losing eight of nine.

The Giants (4-12), who could also be in for changes, lost their fifth straight game. They set a season low in yards for the second week in a row, finishing with 151 after being held to 192 against Philadelphia.

The 31-year-old Quinn continued his remarkable turnaround after finishing with two sacks last season, his first in Chicago. He now has 100 1⁄2 sacks and needs one to match his career high of 19 with St. Louis in 2013.