Baker Mayfield used his legs and arm to assist the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinch their fourth straight NFC South title whereas placing Mike Evans over 1,000 yards receiving.
Mayfield fired a 32-yard landing go to Jalen McMillan for the go-ahead rating after which scrambled 28 yards for an important first down on the subsequent drive, main the Buccaneers to a 27-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Evans caught a nine-yard go on the ultimate play of the sport to surpass 1,000 yards for the eleventh straight season, tying Jerry Rice for essentially the most in NFL historical past. After Mayfield’s lengthy scramble on third-and-14 from the Tampa 12, the Buccaneers drove to the Saints 11. Mayfield regarded for Evans however flipped the ball backward to Bucky Irving, who ran 11 yards for a TD that made it 27-19.
The Saints turned the ball over on downs and the Buccaneers received yet another probability to get Evans the milestone.
Mayfield tossed a brief go to Evans, who ran upfield for a nine-yard acquire. He received up, spiked the ball and was mobbed by teammates in a wild celebration.
The Buccaneers would be the NFC’s No 3 seed if the Los Angeles Rams lose to Seattle. If the Rams win, they’ll be the fourth seed.
Mayfield threw for 212 yards and two TDs and had a career-high 68 yards speeding because the Buccaneers (10-7) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and made positive they didn’t want Atlanta to lose to Carolina to win the division.
Houston Texans 23-14 Tennessee Titans
CJ Stroud accomplished all six of his passes for 50 yards and a landing Sunday on the Texans’ opening drive earlier than going to the bench as Houston snapped a two-game skid going into the AFC playoffs with a 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
The Texans (10-7) additionally averted being swept by the staff they changed in Houston. The Texans gained for the primary time since clinching their second straight AFC South title 15 December with a win over Miami.
Now Houston waits to see if the Texans are internet hosting both the Los Angeles Chargers, who performed on the Raiders later Sunday, or Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card recreation.
With the loss mixed with New England’s win over Buffalo, the Titans’ season of distress at the very least landed them the No 1 decide general within the NFL draft in April. Their 3-14 end matches 2014 for essentially the most losses in a season since relocating from Texas to Tennessee in 1997.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans stated he would resolve how lengthy his starters performed primarily based on how the sport went.
Chicago Bears 24-22 Inexperienced Bay Packers
Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos’ 51-yard area objective as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a 24-22 victory over the playoff-bound Inexperienced Bay Packers, who misplaced quarterback Jordan Love and vast receiver Christian Watson to accidents on Sunday.
The Bears (5-12) beat the Packers for the primary time since 2018 and ended an 11-game shedding streak on this rivalry. It was redemption for Santos, who had a 46-yard area objective blocked by Karl Brooks on the ultimate play of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on 17 November.
Brandon McManus had put Inexperienced Bay forward by making a 55-yard area objective with 54 seconds left. Williams received the Bears into field-goal vary by throwing an 18-yard completion to DJ Moore, whose fumble had arrange the McManus kick.
Inexperienced Bay (11-6) are the No 7 seed within the NFC playoffs and can play at Philadelphia within the wild-card spherical.
Now the Packers wait on the standing of Watson and Love. Watson was carted off the sphere with a knee damage within the second quarter and Love departed with an elbow difficulty later in that very same collection.
New York Giants 13-20 Philadelphia Eagles
Tanner McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a recreation stuffed with backups to assist the Philadelphia Eagles tune up for the postseason with a 20-13 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
The NFC East champion Eagles (14-3) are the No 2 seed within the convention and can host Inexperienced Bay subsequent weekend in a wild-card recreation.
With making a run on the Tremendous Bowl a precedence, the Eagles rested their core starters, notably operating again Saquon Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts, vast receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith and offensive linemen Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.
Barkley misplaced his shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season speeding file. Barkley completed the season with 2,005 yards speeding, 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s file of two,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
Whereas the prudent was transfer, there was some disappointment in Philly that Barkley didn’t get an opportunity at breaking the file, particularly in opposition to the staff that permit him go on the finish of final season.
Buffalo Payments 16-23 New England Patriots
Joe Milton III handed for a landing and ran for an additional in his NFL debut, and the New England Patriots value themselves the No 1 general decide within the NFL draft with a 23-16 win over the AFC East champion Buffalo Payments on Sunday.
The Patriots (4-13) snapped a six-game skid when a loss would have assured them the highest draft decide. As a substitute, they fell to No 4 behind Tennessee, Cleveland and the New York Giants.
Milton completed 22 of 29 for 241 yards in aid of rookie Drake Maye, who performed just one collection. Kayshon Boutte had seven catches for 117 yards and TD, and Joey Slye kicked three area objectives.
With coach Jerod Mayo’s future in query, he ended up enjoying some starters and resting others.
Mayo took a preseason-style strategy with franchise quarterback Maye. New England additionally had 4 wholesome scratches and rested different key gamers, together with operating again Rhamondre Stevenson. Tight finish Hunter Henry was inactive with a foot difficulty.
Washington Commanders 23-19 Dallas Cowboys
Marcus Mariota threw a five-yard landing go to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a 23-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and clinching the sixth seed within the NFC playoffs for the Commanders.
Mariota threw for 2 scores and ran for a TD after changing Jayden Daniels. The Commanders (12-5) sat their dynamic rookie quarterback at halftime since playoff seeding was the one factor on the road, and the transfer ended up sparking an offense that produced simply 64 yards earlier than the break.
It turned out Washington didn’t want the rally to maintain the sixth seed as a result of Inexperienced Bay misplaced to Chicago on a late area objective.
The Commanders will go to both Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams within the wild-card spherical subsequent weekend.
Brandon Aubrey kicked 4 area objectives for the Cowboys within the first regular-season begin for quarterback Trey Lance since Week 2 of 2022, when he was nonetheless with San Francisco a 12 months after the 49ers traded as much as get him third general within the draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars 26-23 Indianapolis Colts
Jonathan Taylor ran for 177 yards, together with 33 yards on six consecutive carries in time beyond regulation to arrange Matt Homosexual’s game-ending 38-yard area objective, and the Indianapolis Colts beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 26-23 on Sunday.
Taylor closed the season by matching a career-best streak with 4 straight 100-yard video games. He additionally rushed for a landing Sunday to succeed in six scores throughout that span.
Joe Flacco was 23 of 40 for 263 yards, together with a 40-yard TD go to Alec Pierce, in his a hundred and fifth profession victory – maybe the final of the 39-year-old former Tremendous Bowl MVP’s 17-year profession.
Indy (8-9) gained their last two dwelling video games to complete 5-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium, though the Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive 12 months.
The Jags (4-13) misplaced three of their last 4, eight of 10 and completed 1-8 on the highway as they head into an offseason which will embody adjustments at normal supervisor and coach.
Carolina Panthers 44-38 Atlanta Falcons (OT)
Bryce Younger handed for 3 touchdowns, ran for 2 scores and led a 70-yard drive capped by Miles Sanders’ one-yard TD run on the opening possession of time beyond regulation to provide the Carolina Panthers a 44-38 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The Falcons’ playoff hopes had already ended minutes earlier when Tampa Bay rallied previous New Orleans.
Rookie Michael Penix Jr capped his late-season introduction as Atlanta’s beginning quarterback with a powerful recreation, passing for 312 yards and two touchdowns – each to Drake London, who had 10 catches for a career-high 187 yards. Bijan Robinson ran for 170 yards and two scores, however the spectacular offensive efficiency wasn’t sufficient to increase the Falcons’ season.
The Falcons (8-9) and Panthers (5-12) every missed the playoffs for a seventh straight season.
Atlanta wanted a win and a loss by NFC South-leading Tampa Bay to provide the Falcons the division title. The Falcons entered the day one recreation behind the Buccaneers however would have gained a tiebreaker as a result of they swept their rivals.
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