Sundays National Football League Capsules
December 22nd, 2008 Posted in NFL football newsTENNESSEE 31, PITTSBURGH 14
NASHVILLE, Tennessee Smash and Dash dashed the Pittsburgh Steelers hopes for home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
LenDale White and Chris Johnson each rushed for touchdowns in the second half Sunday as the Tennessee Titans rallied from a three-point deficit to post a 31-14 win over the Steelers in a showdown between the teams with the two best records in the AFC.
The Titans (13-3) clinched the AFCs top seed and will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Tennessee scored 24 points off four turnovers by Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who fumbled twice and was intercepted twice.
Titans free safety Michael Griffin intercepted two passes and returned the second one 83 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds left.
The Titans scored the most points of any team on Pittsburgh (11-4) this season. The teams entered the game with the NFLs top two scoring defenses.
Pittsburgh missed a golden opportunity when Roethlisberger fumbled at the Tennessee 1 as Titans defensive end William Hayes recovered in the first quarter.
Tennessee struck first when Rob Bironas kicked a 42-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter.
The Titans capitalized on miscue by Roethlisberger, this one at the Pittsburgh 40, for their next score.
Three plays later, Kerry Collins hit Justin Gage on a 34-yard post pattern after a Steeler had jumped offside on 3rd-and-4 to give the Titans a 10-0 lead with 11:59 left in the first half.
Pittsburgh answered with an 80-yard, 10-play drive, closing to 10-7 on Santonio Holmes diving 31-yard TD catch.
The Steelers went ahead, 14-10, when Hines Ward caught a 21-yard pass from Roethlisberger with 9:33 left in the third quarter.
Tennessee, however, took the lead for good on Chris Johnsons 21-yard touchdown on 4th-and-1 with 5:05 remaining in the third.
Roethlisbergers third turnover set up the Tennessees next score, a 2-yard TD run by White.
NEW ENGLAND 47, ARIZONA 7
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts Matt Cassel threw for 345 yards and three touchdowns and Steve Gostkowski booted four field goals as the New England Patriots routed the Cardinals, 47-7.
The Patriots (10-5) won their home finale and remained alive in the chase for an AFC playoff berth. The NFC West champion Cardinals (8-7) suffered their second straight embarrassing defeat and fourth in five tries.
From the opening series of the game, when the Cardinals went three-and-out, the visitors looked completely out of their element in the persistent snow and wind, offering little resistance to the Patriots.
LaMont Jordan had a pair of short touchdown runs in the first quarter and Cassel threw touchdowns to Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker as the Patriots jumped out to a 31-0 first-half lead en route to their 11th straight win in December.
MIAMI 38, KANSAS CITY 31
KANSAS CITY, Missouri Chad Pennington engineered an 8 1/2-minute touchdown drive in the fourth quarter as the Miami Dolphins survived an unexpected shootout in frigid conditions to hold off the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-31.
Pennington capped the 13-play, 85-yard march with a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano that snapped a 31-31 tie with 4:14 remaining and set the stage for next weeks showdown against the New York Jets at Giants Stadium.
With a victory, Miami (10-5) will clinch the AFC East following last seasons 1-15 finish.
Despite a game-time temperature of 10 degrees and a wind chill of minus-12, the teams put on an offensive show with the Chiefs (2-13) taking a 31-24 lead on Connor Barths 27-yard field goal with 9:11 left in the third quarter.
SAN DIEGO 41, TAMPA BAY 24
TAMPA, Florida Philip Rivers passed for 287 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as the San Diego Chargers kept alive their slim postseason hopes with a 41-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rivers completed 21-of-31 passes and Vincent Jackson hauled in seven receptions for 111 yards for the Chargers (7-8), who need the Denver Broncos (8-6) to lose to Buffalo later Sunday in order to remain alive for the AFC West title.
If the Broncos lose in Denver, they will compete for the division title next week in San Diego.
Since starting 9-3, the Buccaneers (9-6) have lost three consecutive games and have seen their playoff hopes greatly reduced. It was the most points allowed by the Bucs this season.
Antonio Gates caught two of Rivers touchdowns, covering 15 and 5 yards.
NEW ORLEANS 42, DETROIT 7
DETROIT Thanks to another prolific effort from Drew Brees, the Detroit Lions moved one step away from rewriting the NFLs record for futility.
Brees threw two touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints rolled to a 42-7 rout of the hapless Lions, who became the first 0-15 team in league history.
Since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978, no team has played an entire season without a victory. The only winlessteam was the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0-14.
But the woeful Lions can set a new benchmark for single-season ineptitude with a loss next week at Green Bay, where they have not won since 1991.
Playing in their last home game of this brutal season, the Lions fell behind right away to the Saints (8-7), who reached the end zone on each of their first seven drives.
Brees finished 30-of-40 for 351 yards to improve his season total to a league-leading 4,683 – just 401 yards shy of Dan Marinos all-time mark of 5,084 yards, set in 1984.
CINCINNATI 14, CLEVELAND 0
CLEVELAND Cedric Benson rushed for a career-high 171 yards, leading the Cincinnati Bengals to a 14-0 over the Cleveland Browns.
Bengals cornerback Leon Hall tied a team record with three interceptions, including a 50-yard return in the first quarter to give Cincinnati (3-11-1) an early 7-0 lead.
Ryan Fitzpatrick also connected with Chris Henry on a 20-yard scoring pass as the Bengals won their second straight game and sent the Browns (4-11) skidding to their fifth straight defeat.
Ken Dorsey finished 10-of-17 for 68 yards and three interceptions for Cleveland, which has gone 20 consecutive quarters without an offensive touchdown and absorbed its first home shutout since November 26, 2006 – also against the Bengals.
SAN FRANCISCO 17, ST. LOUIS 16
ST. LOUIS Shaun Hill hit Josh Morgan for a go-ahead score late as the San Francisco 49ers rallied for a 17-16 win over the St. Louis Rams.
San Francisco (6-9) rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit as Hill hit Isaac Bruce for a 3-yard score before Morgan made a leaping catch for a 48-yard TD with 1:22 left. Hill finished 18-of-34 for 216 yards.
Marc Bulger threw a touchdown and Josh Brown kicked three field goals for St. Louis, which has lost nine straight. St. Louis was in control before San Francisco scored 14 straight points.
St. Louis out-gained San Francisco, 343-273, and forced four turnovers and still found a way to lose. The Rams (2-13) allowed Seattle to score 10 points in the final 2:47 of a 23-20 loss last week.
SEATTLE 13, NY JETS 3
SEATTLE Maurice Morris ran for 116 yards and Seneca Wallace connected with John Carlson on a key second-quarter touchdown as the Seattle Seahawks plowed the New York Jets, 13-3.
With yet another deflating setback, the Jets (9-6) surrendered full control of their playoff hopes. In order to qualify, they must defeat the Miami Dolphins (10-5) at home and have the
Buffalo Bills stun the New England Patriots (10-5) next Sunday.
Making up the lone big play of a contest hampered by snowy conditions, Wallace threw a fade pass after rolling out of the slot and Carlson hauled in the 2-yard scoring strike by out-jumping David Harris in the right corner of the end zone, giving Seattle a 7-3 advantage with 36 seconds remaining in the first half.
Olindo Mare converted a 31-yard field goal at the end of the third and a 38-yarder with 1:52 remaining in the game to secure the victory for the Seahawks (4-11).
Brett Favre completed 18-of-31 attempts for 187 yards but threw two interceptions and failed to generate any momentum for a team that entered play leading the AFC in scoring with 27.5 points per game.
BUFFALO 30, DENVER 23
DENVER The Denver Broncos blew another chance to wrap up the AFC West title, dropping a 30-23 decision to the Buffalo Bills.
Despite holding a three-game lead with three to play, Denver must win at San Diego next week to capture the division crown.
Trent Edwards threw for a touchdown pass and Fred Jackson had an 8-yard scoring run as the Bills (7-8) erased a 13-0 deficit.
Jay Cutler threw for 359 yards and ran for two touchdowns, but it wasnt enough to put the Broncos on the brink of becoming the first team in league history to fail to make the playoffs after holding a three-game lead with three remaining.
ATLANTA 24, MINNESOTA 17
MINNEAPOLIS Offensive lineman Justin Blalock recovered a fumble in the end zone for his first career touchdown as the Atlanta Falcons clinched a playoff spot with a 24-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
A loss by Tampa Bay earlier Sunday put the Falcons (10-5) in position to clinch a postseason berth with a victory over Minnesota (8-7). Atlanta, which took a 24-7 lead on Blalocks TD late in the third quarter, is headed to the postseason in quarterback Matt Ryans rookie campaign after finishing 4-12 last year.
The Vikings virtually gift-wrapped the win for the Falcons with four turnovers – all fumbles. Three of them came in Atlanta territory.
The Falcons victory affected a number of other teams, as the Chicago Bears stayed alive in the NFC North and the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers wrapped up first-round byes.
WASHINGTON 10, PHILADELPHIA 3
LANDOVER, Maryland Playing through myriad injuries, Clinton Portis scored the games lone touchdown in the third quarter as the Washington Redskins recorded a 10-3 triumph
over the Philadelphia Eagles in a battle of NFC East rivals.
Portis carried the ball 22 times for 70 yards – including a 1-yard touchdown run – for Washington (8-7).
Donovan McNabb completed 26-of-46 passes for 230 yards, but a late fourth-quarter drive ended on Washingtons 1-yard line as time elapsed.
Philadelphia (8-6-1) trails Dallas (9-6) and Tampa Bay (9-6) for the last NFC wild-card berth.
OAKLAND 27, HOUSTON 16
OAKLAND, California JaMarcus Russell threw a pair of touchdown passes and Johnnie Lee Higgins accounted for two touchdowns as the Oakland Raiders posted a 27-16 win over the Houston Texans.
Higgins caught a 29-yard touchdown and returned a punt 80 yards as the Raiders (4-11) won their home finale for the first time since 2002 – the year they went to Super Bowl.
Kris Brown kicked three field goals for the Texans (7-8), who had won four straight and were hoping for a chance to complete their first winning season in franchise history.
NY GIANTS 34, CAROLINA 28 (OT)
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey Derrick Ward had a pair of key runs to help set up Brandon Jacobs game-winning 2-yard touchdown as the New York Giants clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 34-28 overtime victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Ward, who rushed for a career-high 215 yards, took off on a 51-yard run to the Panthers 36 yard line. With the Giants facing a 3rd-and-7, Ward gained 14 yards to the 19 and Jacobs scored his third touchdown of the game two plays later.
The Giants (12-3) were down by eight before tying the game with 3:21 left. Jacobs 1-yard touchdown run cut the deficit to two and Eli Manning hit Domenik Hixon on the ensuing two-point conversion to even the score at 28-28.
John Kasay had a chance to win the game in regulation for Carolina but his 50-yard field goal with four seconds remaining just sailed wide left.
DeAngelo Williams rushed for 108 yards and four touchdowns for the Panthers (11-4), who lead the Atlanta Falcons (10-5) by one game atop the NFC South.
