Tashaun Gipson Sr. intercepted Jarrett Stidham’s pass on the fourth play of overtime and Robbie Gould avenged an earlier miss with a 23-yard field goal as the San Francisco 49ers won their ninth straight game, beating the host Las Vegas Raiders 37-34 on Sunday.
Gould also had a chance to be the hero on the final play of regulation but pushed a 41-yarder wide to the right, prompting overtime. The 49ers (12-4) moved into the No. 2 playoff position in the NFC and stayed alive for the No. 1 seed with one week left in the regular season.
Making his first start for Las Vegas following the benching of Derek Carr during the week, Stidham threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns for the Raiders (6-10), who were eliminated from AFC playoff contention. But Stidham’s second interception of the day proved costly, as Gipson snatched it at the San Francisco 37 and ran it 56 yards to the Las Vegas 7-yard line to help set up the game-winner.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy finished 22-for-35 for 284 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Christian McCaffrey was the game’s leading rusher with 121 yards and a 14-yard TD on 19 carries. McCaffrey also had 72 yards on six receptions. Las Vegas receiver Davante Adams finished with seven catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
Giants 38, Colts 10
Daniel Jones guided New York to its first playoff berth since 2016, passing for two touchdowns and running for two more in a blowout of Indianapolis in East Rutherford, N.J.
Jones’ rushing touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters sent the Giants (9-6-1) well on their way to the victory they needed to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff field. Landon Collins intercepted Colts starting quarterback Nick Foles and ran in his second career pick-6 before Foles injured his ribs on the following drive. Sam Ehlinger finished the game for Indianapolis (4-11-1), which lost its sixth straight contest.
Jones completed 19 of 24 passes for 177 yards and had 11 carries for a team-high 91 rushing yards. Richie James had seven catches for 76 yards and a touchdown for New York. Foles finished 8 of 13 for 81 yards. Ehlinger went 9 of 14 for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Buccaneers 30, Panthers 24
Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes to Mike Evans and orchestrated a fourth-quarter comeback as Tampa Bay clinched the NFC South by beating visiting Carolina.
Brady, who also scored the clinching touchdown on a 1-yard sneak, was 34-for-45 for 432 passing yards as Tampa Bay (8-8) secured a home playoff game. Evans gained 207 yards on 10 receptions, reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the ninth consecutive season.
The Panthers (6-10) held leads of 14-0 and 21-10, but their late-season surge under interim coach Steve Wilks hit a fourth-quarter rough patch. Carolina quarterback Sam Darnold completed 23 of 37 passes for 341 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Packers 41, Vikings 17
Aaron Rodgers passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and Aaron Jones rushed for 111 yards to help host Green Bay rout Minnesota to keep its NFC playoff hopes intact.
Green Bay (8-8) won for the fourth straight game and can earn a spot in the postseason with a home victory against fellow postseason hopeful Detroit in Week 18. Rodgers was 15-for-24 for 159 yards and a touchdown to Robert Tonyan. AJ Dillon had 12 carries for 41 yards and a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota (12-4), which clinched the NFC North last month, committed four turnovers and missed an opportunity to stay alive for the NFC’s top seed following Philadelphia’s loss earlier Sunday. Capitalizing on two return touchdowns to help jolt a slow-starting offense, Green Bay rolled to a 27-3 lead at halftime.
Falcons 20, Cardinals 19
Younghoe Koo’s 21-yard field goal as time expired lifted Atlanta to a win over visiting Arizona.
Atlanta rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder went 19-for-26 passing for 169 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions to pick up his first victory in three starts for the Falcons (6-10), who ended a four-game skid. Tyler Allgeier rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, with Cordarrelle Patterson rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, in addition to catching six passes for 42 yards.
Cardinals quarterback David Blough went 24-for-40 passing for 222 yards and a touchdown as the Cardinals (4-12) lost their sixth straight game. Trey McBride had seven catches, including a 4-yard touchdown, for 78 yards, while Marquise Brown added six receptions for 61 yards. James Conner rushed for 79 yards on 16 carries.
Lions 41, Bears 10
Jared Goff passed for 255 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Brock Wright, and host Detroit kept its wild-card playoff hopes alive with a resounding win over Chicago.
Jamaal Williams rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, and D’Andre Swift rushed for 78 yards on 11 carries and caught four passes for 39 yards and another touchdown. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught four passes for 62 yards. The Lions (8-8) will play at 8-8 Green Bay in their regular-season finale.
Justin Fields rushed for 132 yards on 10 carries but only completed 7 of 21 passes for 75 yards as the Bears (3-13) suffered their ninth consecutive loss.
Jaguars 31, Texans 3
Travis Etienne Jr. ran for 108 yards and a touchdown while the Jacksonville defense added a score in a rout of host Houston.
After Etienne ripped off a 62-yard scoring jaunt off the left side, Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell picked up a fumble and turned it into a 12-yard return for a score that made it 21-0 with 11:35 remaining in the first half. That helped Jacksonville (8-8) win its fourth straight game and move into sole possession of first place in the AFC South, a game ahead of Tennessee. The teams meet next week in Jacksonville to determine the division winner.
The Texans (2-13-1) managed just 277 total yards and 13 first downs. Davis Mills completed 22 of 40 passes for just 202 yards. Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 56-yard field goal for the Texans’ only points.
Chiefs 27, Broncos 24
Patrick Mahomes passed for 328 yards and three touchdowns and Kansas City defeated visiting Denver for the 15th consecutive time, bolstering its chances of claiming the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the postseason.
Jerick McKinnon caught two touchdown passes and Blake Bell also made a scoring grab for the Chiefs (13-3). Isiah Pacheco rushed for a touchdown for Kansas City, which recorded its ninth win in the past 10 games and is battling the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals for a first-round bye.
Russell Wilson rushed for two touchdowns and passed for one, completing 26 of 38 passes for 222 yards and one interception. The Broncos (4-12), playing under interim coach Jerry Rosburg after the firing of Nathaniel Hackett on Monday, fell for the 11th time in the past 13 games.
Patriots 23, Dolphins 21
Kyle Dugger returned an interception for a touchdown to headline a strong second-half defensive effort, and New England kept its postseason hopes alive with a victory over Miami in Foxborough, Mass.
New England (8-8) is in line to secure a playoff berth should it record a win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 18. Dugger intercepted Teddy Bridgewater and returned it 39 yards to the end zone to stake the Patriots to a 16-14 lead with 2:51 left in the third. Mac Jones (20 of 33, 203 yards, two TDs) later tossed a 1-yard scoring strike to Jakobi Meyers to hand Miami (8-8) its fifth straight loss.
Bridgewater exited the game with a finger injury following Dugger’s interception. Bridgewater threw for 161 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 12-for-19 passing. Raheem Mostert and Mike Gesicki caught short TD passes and Tyreek Hill ran for a touchdown.
Saints 20, Eagles 10
Taysom Hill ran for a touchdown, Marshon Lattimore returned an interception for another score and visiting New Orleans defeated Philadelphia.
Hill’s touchdown came on the first possession of the game and gave the Saints (7-9) a lead they never lost. Lattimore returned from a 10-game absence due to an abdominal injury to add the clinching score as New Orleans won its third straight. Andy Dalton (18-for-22, 204 yards) completed his first 13 passes, a career-best start. Alvin Kamara rushed for 74 yards and Hill ran for 46.
The Eagles (13-3) failed for a second consecutive week to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Gardner Minshew started in place of the injured Jalen Hurts again, completing 18 of 32 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown.
Browns 24, Commanders 10
Deshaun Watson threw three second-half touchdowns, including two to Amari Cooper, to lead Cleveland to a win over Washington in Landover, Md.
The Browns (7-9) clinched the game when Grant Delpit hauled in his second interception of the day in the end zone with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter. Watson finished 9 of 18 for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Cooper caught touchdown passes of 46 and 33 yards and running back Nick Chubb had 104 yards on 14 carries.
Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz was booed all day by Washington fans for his inconsistent performance that featured three interceptions and no touchdowns with the season on the line. He finished 16 of 28 for 143 yards. The Commanders (7-8-1) needed only to win their final two home games to clinch a playoff spot. But with the loss and Detroit’s win over Chicago, Washington was eliminated when Green Bay defeated Minnesota later Sunday.
Seahawks 23, Jets 6
Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes as Seattle remained in the playoff race with a win against visiting New York.
Rookie Kenneth Walker III rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries for the Seahawks (8-8), who are tied with Detroit and Green Bay for the NFC’s final wild-card berth entering the final week of the regular season. Smith, who was a second-round draft pick by the Jets in 2013, completed 18 of 29 passes for 183 yards to help Seattle snap a three-game skid.
The Jets (7-9) suffered their fifth consecutive defeat and were eliminated from the AFC postseason race. Jets quarterback Mike White, who missed the previous two games with broken ribs, was 23-of-46 passing for 240 yards with three turnovers — two interceptions and a lost fumble.
Chargers 31, Rams 10
Austin Ekeler ran for two first-half touchdowns and Justin Herbert threw two touchdown passes in the second half as the host Chargers pounded the Rams.
Herbert was 21-for-28 for 212 yards as the Chargers (10-6), who clinched an AFC wild-card spot in their previous game, won their fourth in a row. Ekeler rushed for 122 yards on 10 carries as the Chargers played their final home game.
The Rams (5-11), who won two of their previous three games, were outgained 431-277 and didn’t score in the second half. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was just 11-for-19 for 132 yards in the air. Running back Cam Akers supplied 123 yards on 19 carries.
Steelers 16, Ravens 13
Kenny Pickett threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris with 56 seconds left as Pittsburgh kept its AFC playoff hopes alive with a win over host Baltimore.
Pickett finished 15 of 27 passing for 168 yards as the Steelers (8-8) won for the fifth time in six games. Pittsburgh can earn a playoff berth by beating Cleveland in Week 18 and getting losses from New England and Miami.
Tyler Huntley completed 14 of 21 passes for 130 yards with a touchdown for Baltimore (10-6), but he threw the game-sealing interception to Minkah Fitzpatrick at the Steelers’ 40 with 13 seconds remaining. Pittsburgh gashed the Ravens’ run defense for 198 yards, the most they’ve yielded this season.
–Field Level Media
