Falcons win NFC South, Giants clinch playoff berth

Share

The New England Patriots will have to play to win in the final game of the regular season if they want home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The Oakland Raiders can clinch the AFC West title and a first-round bye if Kansas City loses on Sunday night, though they're much more worried about replacing quarterback Derek Carr with Matt McGloin than when they start this postseason.

Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns as the Patriots beat the Jets 41-3 to move a step from securing home-field advantage throughout. But they needed a loss or tie by Oakland to keep themselves at Foxborough until the Super Bowl. The Raiders eliminated Indianapolis by beating the Colts 33-25 , then learned Carr broke his right fibula and will have surgery Sunday keeping him out indefinitely.

Atlanta beat Carolina 33-16 , then the Falcons clinched the NFC South title when New Orleans beat Tampa Bay 31-24. The Bucs' loss also allowed the New York Giants, losers to Philadelphia on Thursday night , to clinch a wild-card spot. Atlanta now has a chance in its regular-season finale to clinch a first-round bye after Seattle lost 34-31 to Arizona.

The Houston Texans need only to beat Cincinnati on Saturday night to clinch their second straight AFC South title after the Tennessee Titans' 38-17 loss to Jacksonville . A loss to the Bengals would keep the Titans alive, turning Jan. 1 into a winner-take-all game for the division title when Houston visits Nashville.

But Titans QB Marcus Mariota broke his right leg in the defeat.

The Green Bay Packers won their fifth straight to move closer to the NFC North title, eliminating Minnesota with a 38-25 win. The win moved them into the lead for a wild-card berth, and now the Packers must wait to face Detroit for the division crown on Jan. 1.

The Miami Dolphins beat Buffalo 34-31 in overtime to move closer to their first playoff berth since 2008. A Denver loss to Kansas City on Sunday night would give Miami the AFC's final wild-card berth. With Miami's win, both Baltimore and Denver can be eliminated with losses on Christmas.

Washington still needs lots of help after losing control of a wild-card spot with Monday night's loss to Carolina, but the Redskins routed Chicago 41-21 to keep them alive a bit longer.

The Bills (7-8) extended the NFL's longest active playoff drought to 17 seasons after being eliminated by Miami.

Contact Us