EAGLES 48, GIANTS 22
Jalen Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the NFL-best Philadelphia Eagles punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 48-22 victory over the New York Giants.
Hurts threw for 217 yards and hit 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. Philadelphia 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.
49ERS 35, BUCCANEERS 7
Brock Purdy threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in his first career start and San Francisco’s defense spoiled Tom Brady’s Bay Area homecoming.
The 49ers (9-4) thoroughly dominated Brady and Tampa Bay (6-7) to win their sixth straight game. Purdy led the Niners to five touchdowns on their first seven possessions. He finished 16 of 21 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
Christian McCaffrey ran for 119 yards, including a 38-yard TD, and scored on a 27-yard pass.
Brady finished 34 for 55 for 253 yards with one TD and two interceptions. The Bucs still lead the lackluster NFC South.
LIONS 34, VIKINGS 23
Jared Goff threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, leading Detroit past NFC North-leading Minnesota.
The Vikings (10-3) 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 (6-7) has won five of six, its best stretch since its last postseason appearance in 2016.
Goff completed 27 of 39 passes.
Cousins was 30-of-40 passing with touchdowns to K.J. Osborn and Adam Thielen.
BILLS 20, JETS 12
Josh Allen threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score on consecutive possessions and Buffalo beat AFC East rival New York in wet, chilly and windy conditions.
Allen’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox in the closing minute of the second quarter led to Buffalo scoring on four consecutive drives, capped by a pair of field goals by Tyler Bass, including a 49-yarder.
The AFC-leading Bills (10-3) won their fourth straight since a two-game skid, which included a 20-17 loss at the Jets. Buffalo has won at least 10 of its first 13 games for the seventh time in franchise history.
The Jets (7-6) have lost four of six, a slump that has made their playoff chances shaky. New York hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2010.
New York qaurterback Mike White was briefly sidelined twice by injuries to his ribs as well as a pair of turnovers in the second half. As a precaution, coach Robert Saleh said White was sent to a hospital after the game to be evaluated.
White finished 27 of 44 for 268 yards and no turnovers. Allen was 16 of 27 for a season-low 147 yards. More important, he didn’t turn the ball over as he did twice in Buffalo’s loss to the Jets last month.
JAGUARS 36, TITANS 22
Trevor Lawrence threw for a career-high 368 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a score, and Jacksonville won at Tennessee for the first time since 2013.
The Jaguars (5-8) snapped a five-game skid against their oldest division rival with just their second victory in this series in 11 games.
Jacksonville had four sacks and turned four turnovers into 20 points — three for 17 points in the first half. The Jaguars scored 29 straight points and have won two of three.
Jaguars tight end Evan Engram caught 11 passes for a career-high 162 yards and had two TD receptions.
The Titans (7-6) lost their third straight, matching their longest skid since coach Mike Vrabel’s opening season in 2018. Derrick Henry ran for 96 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter but didn’t do much after that, finishing with 121 yards on 17 carries.
Ryan Tannehill threw a TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and a 2-point conversion to Chig Okonkwo to pull Tennessee within 36-22. But the Titans turned it over on downs with 1:59 left, allowing the Jaguars to run out the clock.
COWBOYS 27, TEXANS 23
Ezekiel Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown with 41 seconds remaining and Dallas rallied to beat hapless Houston.
Houston (1-11-1) appeared in position to end a seven-game losing streak after Dak Prescott threw an interception inside the Dallas 10 with 5:37 to go and the Texans leading by three.
The Cowboys (10-3) stuffed backup quarterback Jeff Driskel on a fourth-down run to give Prescott another shot starting just outside his own goal line.
Dak delivered, starting with a 21-yard completion to Dalton Schultz from the 2. Later, an 18-yarder to Schultz put Dallas at the Houston 4. Elliott scored on third down from the 2 to cap the 98-yard, 11-play drive.
Tony Pollard scored twice for Dallas, which stayed two games behind Philadelphia in the NFC East.
BENGALS 23, BROWNS 10
Joe Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and Cincinnati ended a five-game skid to its Ohio rival.
The Bengals (9-4) have won five straight and nine of 11 and remained tied for the AFC North lead with Baltimore. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns (5-8), 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.
But Watson also threw an interception and two incompletions on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Watson finished 26 of 42 for 276 yards, and the Bengals bottled up Cleveland running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
Burrow threw a 15-yard TD pass to Ja’Marr Chase and a 45yard scoring pass on a flea-flicker to Trenton Irwin. Chase had 10 receptions for 119 yards in his second game since missing a month with a hip fracture.
The Bengals quarterback finished 18 for 33 for 239 yards and threw a fourth-quarter interception. Joe Mixon rushed for 96 yards.
CHIEFS 34, BRONCOS 28
L’Jarius Sneed intercepted Denver backup quarterback Brett Rypien late in the fourth quarter, and Patrick Mahomes atoned for a three-interception day by leading Kansas City on a clock-chewing drive.
The Broncos (3-10) lost QB Russell Wilson to a concussion, and the Chiefs (10-3) won their 14th straight over their rival.
Denver made a game of it by scoring three touchdowns in a 3 1/2-minute stretch spanning halftime after falling behind 27-0.
Mahomes threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, including a no-look hook pass on one of Jerick McKinnon’s two TD receptions.
Jerry Jeudy caught three touchdown passes for Denver, the last one from Rypien after Wilson took a hard hit on a 14-yard scramble to the Kansas City 2 early in the fourth quarter. Wilson was escorted off the field and the Broncos ruled him out with a concussion shortly thereafter.
The Chiefs reached double digits in wins for the eighth straight season and inched closer to winning their seventh consecutive AFC West crown. The Broncos have lost five straight.
RAVENS 16, STEELERS 14
J.K. Dobbins ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, and Baltimore overcame the loss of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to beat AFC North rival Pittsburgh.
Huntley filled in for injured star Lamar Jackson but entered the concussion protocol in the second half. He was replaced by undrafted rookie Anthony Brown.
Justin Tucker kicked three field goals to help division-leading Baltimore (9-4) end a four-game losing streak to the Steelers, who also lost their quarterback, Kenny Pickett, to concussion protocol.
Baltimore ran for 215 yards, the most Pittsburgh (5-8) has allowed since giving up 249 to the Ravens in the 2021 regular-season finale.
Pittsburgh backup Mitch Trubisky threw three interceptions in Baltimore territory as the Steelers fell out of realistic playoff contention.
Trubisky finished 22 of 30 for 276 yards and a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:30 remaining to get the Steelers within two. Baltimore churned out a first down on its ensuing possession to run out the clock.
PANTHERS 30, SEAHAWKS 24
Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear both had rushing touchdowns, Sam Darnold threw a TD pass, and Carolina beat Seattle to stay in the thick of the NFC South race.
Carolina (5-8) built leads of 17-0 and 20-7 to take advantage of a sloppy first-half performance by the Seahawks (7-6). 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.
Carolina (5-8) won for the third time in four games, pulled even with Atlanta and moved within one game of NFC South-leading Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers lost at West-leading San Francisco.
Carolina rushed for 223 yards, with 180 coming from those three backs.
Darnold was 14 of 24 passing for 120 yards. Geno Smith was shaky for Seattle, finishing 21 of 36 for 264 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked three times.
SUNDAY NIGHT: CHARGERS 23, DOLPHINS 17
Justin Herbert threw for 367 yards and a touchdown and a short-handed Chargers defense got the best of the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa as Los Angeles beat Miami 23-17 on Sunday night.
The Chargers (7-6) moved into position for the final AFC playoff berth, ahead of the New York Jets.
Herbert completed a career-high 39 passes on 51 attempts for his 21st 300-yard game. He became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 13,000 yards in his first three seasons.
Tyreek Hill scored two touchdowns for the Dolphins, one of them on a recovery of Jeff Wilson Jr.’s fumble that Hill took 57 yards to the end zone. But Tagovailoa had his worst game as an NFL starter, completing 10 of 28 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown as the Dolphins (8-5) lost their second straight.
The Chargers held Miami to 219 yards despite not having safety Derwin James, cornerback Bryce Callahan and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day because of injuries.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
The (6-6) New England Patriots are in Arizona to battle the (4-8) Cardinals.
Bucs QB Tom Brady talks about growing up in the Bay area and his love for the 49’ers as a kid, and then his hate for the team after they passed him up 6 times.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s 57-yard touchdown made possible by a heads up play where he recovered a teammate’s fumble.
Bills Quarterback Josh Allen talks about their win over the Jets, and he give props to the Jets defense.
Bengals running back Joe Mixon talks about the win over the Browns.
Cowboys Israel Mukuamu’s interception in the end zone seals the victory over the Patriots.
The Lions locker room speech after their win over the Vikings.
The Eagles win over the Giants gives them a playoff spot… Jalen Hurts talks about the clinch
Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker becomes the Ravens’ all-tme leading scorer
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence talks about the win over the Titans and what made the difference.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes outlines the 3 big mistakes he made in the win over the Broncos
Panthers coach Steve Wilks talks about the win over the Seahawks.
