As Tennessee’s game against the Texans in Houston wound down Sunday, the Titans and Indianapolis Colts were assured of making it to the AFC playoffs.
Miami’s loss to the Buffalo Bills put the Titans in the playoffs and opened the door for the Colts, if they won. But which would be the AFC South champion and gain a first-round home game? Which would go in as a wild card?
The Titans and Texans seemed headed for overtime, which was good news for the Colts because Tennessee had led most of the game over Houston, once by as many as 15 points, 24-9.
A Houston comeback, though, had produced a 35-31 lead. The Titans gathered themselves and put together a 75-yard drive with quarterback Ryan Tannehill scoring from 5 yards when the Houston defense was looking for NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry to carry the ball.
Houston came right back and tied the game on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 51-yard field goal with 18 seconds left. Overtime looked certain.
On first down from the Titans’ 25, Tannehill uncorked a pass to A.J. Brown for 52 yards to the Houston 23. Henry ran for 4 yards to the 19, making it a little easier for Tennessee’s brand new kicker, Sam Sloman.
Sloman, a rookie who had kicked against the University at Buffalo for Miami (Ohio), was activated from the Tennessee practice squad only the day before when veteran kicker Stephen Gostkowski went on the reserve/Covid-19 list. Sloman had kicked earlier in the season for the Los Angeles Rams but was cut.
No problem, he managed to doink his 37-yarder off the right upright to win the game and the division title for the Titans and drop the Colts down to the No. 7 seed and a date with the Bills next weekend in Orchard Park.
Sloman was just one of several lesser-known, even fringe players, who stepped into the NFL spotlight on Sunday. Some others were John Wolford of the Los Angeles Rams and Antonio Williams of the Bills.
Game of the day
Titans 41, Texans 38
The scoop: The Titans built a 31-15 second-half lead on the running of league rushing champion Derrick Henry, who went over the 2,000 mark for the season. Henry ran 34 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns. One of the scores was on a 52-yard jaunt that gave Tennessee a 10-3 lead. Deshaun Watson led the Houston comeback which produced a 35-31 lead with 10:14 left.
Why the Titans won: Tannahill-to-Brown was a big factor in the game, the receiver had 10 catches for 151 yards and a score.
Join the playoffs
Browns 24, Steelers 22
The scoop: Cleveland never trailed in the game it needed to clinch its first playoff spot since 2002, but victory wasn’t certain until the Browns were able to run out the last 1:23 after Mason Rudolph’s 2-yard pass to JuJu Smith Schuster cut the deficit to two. Rudolph’s pass for the two-point conversion misfired. Nick Chubb’s 47-yard run on Cleveland’s opening series got his team started. Baker Mayfield passed 2 yards to tight end Austin Hooper and Jarvis Landry ran for 3 yards for second half touchdowns that put Cleveland up, 24-9. Then Rudolph pass to Chase Claypool and Smith-Schuster for the Pittsburgh scores.
Why the Browns won: While forcing punts on the Steelers’ first three series, they were building a 10-0 lead which they never relinquished.
Ravens 38, Bengals 3
The scoop: Baltimore started quick in the game it needed to clinch a playoff spot, taking a 10-0 lead on its first two possessions, then breaking the game open with three TDs in three series in the third quarter. Lamar Jackson threw two first half touchdown passes to Miles Boykin. Ohio State rookie J.K. Dobbins ran for two of the third quarter scores, one a 72-yarder for the game’s last points.
Why the Ravens won: They rolled up 505 yards, 404 rushing and held Cincy to 195 total. Baltimore was 11 of 17 on third down, the Bengals 1 for 9.
Colts 28, Jaguars 14
The scoop: Miami’s loss opened the door for Indianapolis and Frank Reich’s team took advantage on the 28th anniversary of his leading the Bills to their historic comeback for a 41-38 playoff victory over the Houston Oilers on Jan. 3, 1992. Rookie Jonathan Taylor nailed it down with a 45-yard run with 3:35 left.
Why the Colts won: They limited the Jags, who are likely to fire Doug Marone as coach Monday, to 53 rushing yards and had six sacks.
Rams 18, Cardinals 7
The scoop: John Wolford, who played for Western New York native Dave Clawson at Wake Forest but was undrafted in the NFL, made his first start in the big league and led Los Angeles to victory, clinching a playoff berth. Clawson played in place of Jared Goff, who was not active for the game because of a thumb injury. Wolford ran for 56 yards and in a conservative game plan completed 22 of 38 passes for 231 yards with one interception. He’s the first quarterback ever to throw for at least 200 yards and rush for at least 50 yards in his first career game. The Rams overcame a 7-0 deficit and went ahead for good on an 82-yard interception return by Troy Hill with 20 seconds left in the first half. The pass was thrown by Chris Streveler, who was in the game in place of injured Kyler Murray. Streveler played two seasons in the Canadian League for Winnipeg but not as a regular starter.
Why the Rams won: They had 37 minutes and 53 seconds in possession time with their conservative game plan and their defense limited the Cardinals to 2.7 yards per attempt.
Saints 33, Panthers 7
The scoop: With a chance of gaining the No. 1 seed and first-round bye in the NFC playoffs if Green Bay lost, the Saints played starting quarterback Drew Brees, who passed for three touchdowns. Ty Montgomery ran for 105 yards for New Orleans while Alvin Kamara and four other running backs were inactive.
Why the Saints won: They intercepted five Carolina passes, four in the second half.
Washington 20, Eagles 14
The scoop: Alex Smith passed to Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas for touchdowns and Dustin Hopkins kicked a 42-yard field goal for a 17-14 halftime lead and Washington made it stand up against an ineffective second half offense by the Eagles to win the NFC East with a 7-9 record and end the Giants’ hopes of taking the division. Jalen Hurts ran for two Eagles scores in the first half, both 6-yard runs. He was relieved in the second half by journeyman Nate Sudfeld in the second half. Washington added another 42-yard kick by Hopkins after Sudfeld couldn’t handle a low shotgun snap. The ball was recovered by Chase Young of Washington.
Why Washington won: The Eagles had first and goal to go in the third quarter but Hurts was unable to get them into the end zone after Philadelphia passed up short field goal attempts.
Packers 35, Bears 16
The scoop: Green Bay held on to the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with the win. Despite the loss, Chicago backed into the playoff because of Arizona’s loss to the Rams. It was a five-point game before the Pack put together a 76-yard drive in the fourth quarter for a TD and got another when they cashed in on a Mitch Trubisky interception for Aaron Rodgers’ third touchdown pass of the game. That was a 6-yard throw to Davante Adams, who had six catches for 46 yards.
Why the Packers won: They scored touchdowns on their first three series while the Bears were forced to settle for field goals three times after reaching the Green Bay 12, 9 and 2.
Seahawks 26, 49ers 23
The scoop: It was all field goals for three quarters, two by Seattle and three by San Francisco. The 49ers broke through on a 7-yard run by Jeff Wilson Jr. for a 16-6 lead, but the Seahawks scored on two Russell Wilson passes to Tyler Lockett and an 8-yard run by Alex Collins to put it away.
Why the Seahawks won: Trailing only by three, the Niners lost the ball on a C.J. Beathard sack-fumble at their own 17 with 2:10 left.
Buccaneers 44, Falcons 27
The scoop: Tampa Bay never was behind but needed two touchdown passes by Tom Brady in the last 3:54 to wrap up the victory after Atlanta had narrowed the gap to 30-27 on a Matt Ryan pass to tight end Hayden Hurst with 8:19 to play. Brady threw four touchdown passes, two each to Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin, but may have lost star receiver Mike Evans with a non-contact leg injury in the fourth quarter. Brady passed for 399 yards. He finished his first season in Tampa with 40 touchdown throws, 4,633 passing yards and a 65.73 completion percentage.
Why the Bucs won: Sean Murphy-Bunting recovered Calvin Ridley’s fumble at the Atlanta 38 with 2:52 to go and Tampa Bay hanging on to a 10-point lead. Brady cashed in, hitting Brown on a 30-yard pass for the insurance score with 2:14 left.
Patriots 24 , Jets 14
The scoop: Cam Newton passed for three New England touchdowns after throwing only five previously this season, and caught a 19-yard pass from wide receiver Jacoby Meyers for his team’s other score as the Patriots finished 7-9, their first losing season since they were 5-11 in 2000. Newton completed 21 of 30 passes for 242 yards in what was probably his last game for New England. He also ran 11 times for 79 yards. It was Adam Gase’s last game as Jets coach, he was fired afterward.
Why the Patriots won: Interceptions by J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones of Sam Darnold passes ended two of the Jets’ last three possessions.
Chargers 38, Chiefs 21
The scoop: Justin Herbert finished his rookie season with three touchdown passes, 302 passing yards with no interceptions in only their second victory over Kansas City in the last 14 meetings. Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Clyde Edwards-Hillaire and Tyrann Mathieu of the Chiefs were not active for the game because Kansas City had already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
Why the Chargers won: They sacked quarterback Chad Henne for a safety to take the lead, then scored on the ensuing possession when Herbert ran it over from 1 yard with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Raiders 32, Broncos 31
The scoop: Josh Jacobs scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run with 24 seconds to play and Derek Carr passed to Darren Waller for the two-point conversion that won it for the Raiders. Denver had gone in front on a 92-yard pass play from Drew Lock to rookie Jerry Jeudy.
Why the Raiders won: They saved the victory by blocking Brandon McManus’ 63-yard field goal try on the last play.
Close, but not this year
Giants 23, Cowboys 19
The scoop: Slot receiver Sterling Shepard scored on a 23-yard reverse and a 10-yard pass from Daniel Jones in the first half as New York built a 20-9 lead at the break. New York was never behind in the game, but the victory wasn’t clinched until Graham Gano kicked a 50-yard field goal with 6:27 left and rookie Xavier McKinney picked off an Andy Dalton pass in the end zone with 1:15 left and Dallas driving toward a go-ahead score. Earlier the Cowboys had to settle for four field goals by Greg Zuerlein, twice after reaching the Red Zone.
Why the Giants won: They got some help from inefficient officiating, which ruled what did not look like a catch a catch and gave the ball back to New York on a fumble by Wayne Gallman Jr. with 58 seconds left. It was ruled on the field that Gallman recovered his bobble, but it was not obvious on video.
It allowed the Giants to run out the clock and keep their playoff hopes alive for a few hours before Washington beat Philadelphia and ended the Giants’ season at 6-10.
Dog of the day
Vikings 37, Lions 35
The scoop: Detroit led three times before going into the fourth quarter trailing only 31-29. Again, though, they were unable to close the deal despite three Matt Stafford touchdown passes. Two went to Marvin Jones Jr., who caught eight for 180 yards. Jones finished the season with 76 catches for 978 yards and nine touchdowns. Kirk Cousins passed for three Minnesota TDs. Rookie WR Justin Jefferson had nine catches for 133 yards and finished the season with 88 for 1,400.
Why the Vikings won: After Detroit narrowed the deficit to two points with 4:23 left, they ran out the remaining time with a 10-play, 62-yard drive that gained seven first downs.
News wire services contributed to this report.
