The Canadian Press
Browns, Ravens clinch wild-card spots in AFC
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens used a club-record 404 yards rushing Sunday to clinch a playoff spot, beating Cincinnati 38-3 as Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes and became the first NFL quarterback to rush for more than 1,000 yards in two consecutive seasons.The Ravens rolled up 525 total yards, and the 404 rushing yards were the most surrendered by a Bengals defence. Rookie J.K. Dobbins rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including a 72-yard scoring romp in the third quarter.Baltimore won its fifth straight game and advanced to the post-season for a third consecutive season.Jackson rushed for 97 yards and threw for 113 before taking a seat in the third quarter. He has run or passed for at least one touchdown in 36 straight starts, the longest active streak in the NFL.Another Ravens playoff appearance didn’t look likely just a few weeks ago. They started 5-1 but slumped amid a COVID-19 outbreak and injuries to key players. They rebounded to win four straight and put themselves in a position to secure the post-season spot heading into the season finale against Cincinnati (4-11-1) which had won two straight.Baltimore (11-5) scored on its first two drives, a 34-yard Justin Tucker field goal followed by a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Miles Boykin. The Ravens extended the lead to 17-0 when Jackson capped a clock-eating 93-yard drive with an 18-yard TD pass to Marquise Brown.BROWNS 24, STEELERS 22CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland is back in the playoffs, qualifying for the first time since 2002 by surviving a late Pittsburgh rally for a win over the Steelers, who rested quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and several other starters.The Browns (11-5) nearly blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, but stopped Pittsburgh’s 2-point conversion attempt and then recovered an onside kick with 1:22 left to hold on.A week of COVID-19 disruptions concluded in celebration as the Browns ended what had been the NFL’s longest post-season drought. Their reward: Another game against the AFC North champion Steelers, in Pittsburgh next weekend.Nick Chubb had a touchdown run, Baker Mayfield threw a TD pass and the Browns hung on as Mason Rudolph brought back the Steelers (12-4), who had the luxury of sitting their best players after clinching the division last week.Rudolph’s 2-yard TD pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster with 1:23 left pulled the Steelers within 24-22. But Rudolph badly overthrew rookie Chase Claypool on the 2-point attempt, and Browns tight end Stephen Carlson then fell on the ensuing kick under a pile of bodies.BILLS 56, DOLPHINS 26ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen and Buffalo placed an emphatic stamp on a breakout season with a rout of Miami in a game the Dolphins could have clinched a playoff berth with a win.Miami’s post-season hopes now rest on whether the 1-14 Jacksonville Jaguars can upset the Indianapolis Colts later in the day. With a win or a tie, the Colts would clinch a playoff berth and eliminate Miami.The Dolphins (10-6) didn’t get results they needed to clinch their third playoff berth in 18 years, after Cleveland beat Pittsburgh and Baltimore routed Cincinnati.Allen threw three touchdown passes and Isaiah McKenzie scored three times, including returning a punt return 84 yards, in a game Buffalo blew the game open by scoring on four consecutive second-quarter possessions.With the win, the Bills (13-3) clinched the AFC’s No. 2 playoff seed in completing a season in which they matched a single-season record for wins, set in both 1990 and ’91, and won their first East Division title in 25 years.GIANTS 23, COWBOYS 19EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants won. Now they wait.Rookie Xavier McKinney intercepted Dallas’ Andy Dalton in the end zone with 1:15 remaining, giving the Giants a victory over the Cowboys and a chance at an unprecedented, six-win playoff berth.New York’s post-season chances hang on the Philadelphia Eagles, who play Washington on Sunday night. Washington would claim the NFC East with a win or tie. Otherwise, the Giants will take it for the first time since 2011.The Giants (6-10) would be the first team to qualify for the playoffs with six victories in a 16-game regular season and the first to do so after starting 1-7. Hardly how first-year coach Joe Judge planned it, but enough to spur New York’s pursuit of its first playoff appearance since 2016.Far from .500, still full of hope.Dallas (6-10) nearly ripped that away. Dalton rallied Dallas with a bloody left hand after being stepped on by defensive tackle Leonard Williams in the third quarter, and he had the Cowboys on the doorstep when Williams got close again.Dalton scrambled around on a broken play, avoided being sacked by Williams for a fourth time, but ended up floating one into the middle of the end zone. McKinney caught it easily, his first career interception.BUCCANEERS 44, FALCONS 27TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns, helping playoff-bound Tampa Bay clinch the fifth seed in the NFC with a regular season-ending win over Atlanta.The victory, which means the Bucs (11-5) will face the NFC East champion, Washington or the Giants, on the road in the club’s first post-season game in 13 years, may have come with a steep cost.Star receiver Mike Evans was carted to the locker room with a left knee injury late in the first quarter and did not return.Brady threw touchdown passes of 29 and 4 yards to Chris Godwin. The six-time Super Bowl champion also tossed scoring passes of 25 and 30 yards to Antonio Brown, finishing with a Tampa Bay single-season record 40 in his first season with the Bucs.Brady also joined Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Dan Marino as the only players with multiple seasons of at least 40 TD passes. Rodgers has done it three times, the others twice.Matt Ryan completed 29 of 44 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons (4-12).PATRIOTS 28, JETS 14FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Cam Newton had three touchdown passes and caught another, and New England rallied to beat New York.The win snapped a three-game losing streak for New England (7-9), which earned its 10th straight win over the Jets (2-14), but won’t be playing in the post-season for the first time since the 2008 season.It marked Newton’s first game with multiple passing touchdowns this season. He finished 21 of 30 for 242 yards. He also ran 11 times for 79 yards.New England trailed 14-7 early in the third quarter, but outscored the Jets 21-0 the rest of the way in what was likely Adam Gase’s final game as New York’s coach.Sam Darnold, whose future with the Jets is also uncertain, was 23 of 34 for 266 yards, a touchdown and two second-half interceptions.VIKINGS 37, LIONS 35DETROIT (AP) — Kirk Cousins threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns, lifting Minnesota to a win over Detroit in a matchup of teams finishing disappointing seasons.The Vikings (7-9) failed for the fourth time in a decade to make two straight trips to the playoffs. They won five of six midway through the season to return to the post-season race, but dashed hopes by losing three straight before closing with a win at Detroit.The Lions (5-11) lost their last four games eight of 10 after going into November with a .500 record under former coach Matt Patricia.Detroit’s defence broke franchise records by allowing 519 points and 6,716 yards, breaking marks set by its winless team in 2008 and ranking among the worst in NFL history.___More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFLThe Associated Press
