Bills win for Hamlin in regular-season finale, will host Dolphins in wild-card round

Nyheim Hines ignited an emotionally charged atmosphere celebrating injured Bills safety Damar Hamlin by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, and Buffalo clinched the AFC's second playoff seed with a 35-23 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

With the game in hand, Bills players held up three fingers in honour of Hamlin's number with the crowd chanting "Hamlin! Hamlin!"

The Bills (13-3) closed their season by winning their final seven games and overcame an emotional week in which the team was left devastated in watching Hamlin collapse after going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati on Monday night.

What followed was progressive good news of Hamlin's remarkable recovery in which he was not only able to breathe on his own, but also managed to address his teammates while saying "Love you boys" on Friday.

And leave it to receiver Stefon Diggs, who made a point to visit Hamlin in the University of Cincinnati Medical Center immediately following the game, to seal the victory with a 49-yard touchdown catch from Josh Allen to put Buffalo ahead 35-23 with 8:51 remaining.

On the ensuing kickoff, which went for a touchback, the Bills special teams players all raced into the end zone and motioned to the crowd. The fans, as one, stood up and let out a massive roar.

Allen finished 19 of 31 for 254 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

On a day the Bills celebrated No. 3, and with Hamlin watching and live-tweeting from his hospital bed in Cincinnati, two touchdowns by Hines proved key.

The crowd had barely settled into its seats following a pre-game ceremony honouring Hamlin when Hines returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a score.

His second put the Bills ahead for good, coming 13 seconds after Nick Folk hit a 24-yard field goal to put New England up 17-14 midway through the third quarter.

Acquired by Buffalo in a trade with Indianapolis two months ago, Hines became the NFL's 11th player to return two kickoffs for scores in a game, and first since Seattle's Leon Washington in 2010.

The Patriots needed only a win to clinch a playoff berth, but wound up stumbling in closing the season by losing five of their last seven.

Lions end Packers' playoff hopes

Aaron Rodgers was intercepted by Kerby Joseph on the final pass of what might be his last game, and the Green Bay Packers lost 20-16 to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night to miss the playoffs.

After winning four straight games and receiving plenty of help from other teams, the Packers had control of their postseason fate heading into the final game of the NFL regular season. But they fell short against the Lions, who had been eliminated from the playoffs earlier Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 in overtime.

Seattle (9-8) instead earned the NFC's last playoff spot and will play at San Francisco (13-4) in the opening round. The Packers (8-9) missed the playoffs for the first time in Matt LaFleur's four seasons as coach.

During the game, Rodgers became the eighth NFL player to have at least 5,000 career completions.

Jamaal Williams' second 1-yard touchdown run of the night against his former team put the Lions (9-8) ahead with 5:55 remaining. Williams had 17 touchdown runs to break the Lions' single-season record that Barry Sanders had set in 1991.

Playing to extend their season, the Packers frequently lost their composure.

Linebacker Quay Walker was ejected during the Lions' go-ahead drive after pushing a Lions staffer who was attending to an injured Detroit player. That was the second ejection of the season for the rookie first-round pick.

Eagles clinch No. 1 seed in NFC

Jalen Hurts returned from a sprained right shoulder and threw for 229 yards under a conservative game plan, and the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a 22-16 win over the New York Giants on Sunday night.

Hurts was back for the first time in three weeks — and now so are the Eagles (14-3) as a Super Bowl threat.

Hurts walked into the Linc wearing a Michael Jordan "I'm Back" T-shirt from the former Chicago Bulls' star's first unretirement. He received a roaring ovation and "MVP!" chants as he ran out of the tunnel during pregame introductions. The Eagles had clearly missed their QB, who had grown into an MVP front-runner until he was hurt on a hard tackle against Chicago.

Hurts was 20-of-35 passing in a game that had a pre-season feel — the Eagles were only 1 of 5 in the red zone — and played the entire game. The Eagles also earned the No. 1 seed in the 2017 season and won the Super Bowl.

Hurts completed a 35-yard pass to A.J. Brown on the Eagles' first play of the game and showed no ill-effects from the sprained right shoulder suffered three weeks ago. The Eagles played at half-speed against the Giants backups and refused to risk Hurts' health — they did not have a called rushing play for him. The dynamic QB that ran for 747 yards and 13 touchdowns entering the game mostly stayed in the pocket, the Eagles clearly wary Hurts could take another hard hit on his shoulder.

Hurts had only four carries for 11 yards in the first half.

The Eagles didn't get much offensively but really didn't have to against a Giants (9-7-1) team that had already secured the No. 6 seed in the NFC and rested the bulk of their starters. Saquon Barkley and his 1,312 yards rushing took a seat. So did starting QB Daniel Jones.

Davis Webb, in his first career start, rushed for a 14-yard touchdown in the fourth that made it 19-9. He tossed a 25-yard TD pass to Kenny Golladay late in the fourth that made it 22-16. He threw for 168 yards on 23-of-40 passing.

Bengals beat Ravens to avoid coin flip, set up home rematch

Joe Burrow threw for a touchdown and Joe Mixon ran for another as the Cincinnati Bengals took advantage of four Baltimore turnovers to beat the Ravens 27-16 on Sunday and set up a rematch in the first round of the playoffs next week.

Cincinnati avoided a coin flip to determine the site of its playoff game against Baltimore, which would have come into play had the Ravens won and the Los Angeles Chargers lost later Sunday at Denver. The Bengals were unhappy with the prospect of a coin flip costing them a home playoff game and mocked the rule change with a coin-flip celebration after Mixon's TD.

Cincinnati's chances at the No. 2 seed in the AFC ended when Buffalo beat New England.

The Ravens (10-7) fought gamely behind rookie third-stringer Anthony Brown, who got the start after throwing just five passes all season. But rather than go all-out for the slim chance of getting a home playoff game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh ensured the Bengals will see a somewhat different team when sixth-seeded Baltimore returns to Paycor Stadium next weekend.

Baltimore was without its two top quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson hasn't practiced since his knee injury in a Dec. 4 game against the Broncos, and it's unclear whether he will be available for the playoffs. Backup Tyler Huntley has also been banged up and was inactive on Sunday. The Ravens also rested two of their biggest offensive weapons, Mark Andrews and J.K. Dobbins.

Dolphins punch ticket to playoffs with win over Jets

Jason Sanders kicked a go-ahead 50-yard field goal with 18 seconds left, helping the Miami Dolphins to their first playoff berth since 2016 after squeaking by the New York Jets 11-6 on Sunday.

Sanders' kick came after the Dolphins were helped by a 15-yard horse-collar tackle penalty on Quincy Williams.

The Jets (7-10) ended the season with six straight losses, finishing a disappointing collapse for Robert Saleh's squad. New York failed to score a touchdown in its final three games.

On the Jets' last-ditch effort with time running out, they lateraled the ball a few times before Elijah Moore fumbled, the ball was recovered by Garrett Wilson and he was ruled to be tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Thompson started his second game of the season after replacing the injured Teddy Bridgewater in last Sunday's loss at New England. Bridgewater, who dislocated the pinkie finger on his throwing hand, was in for Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa remains in the concussion protocol after sustaining his second known concussion of the season on Christmas against Green Bay. McDaniel did not say whether Tagovailoa might be available against the Bills.

Seahawks clinch playoff spot, top Rams in OT

Within minutes of the Seattle Seahawks winning to maintain their playoff hopes, the video boards inside Lumen Field flashed a message:

"Go Lions."

For the Seahawks, that became "thank you Lions" several hours later after Detroit helped send Seattle back to the postseason.

The Seahawks will face division foe San Francisco on Saturday in the wild-card round of the playoffs, but only after several hours of stress that started with their own nail bitter against the Rams.

Jason Myers kicked a 32-yard field goal midway through overtime to give Seattle (9-8) the victory after he hit the upright from 46 yards on the final play of regulation.

But given another shot in overtime, the Pro Bowler connected on his fourth field goal of the game and the Seahawks' playoff chances stayed alive long enough for Detroit to help.

Brady breaks own record as Bucs fall to Falcons

Rookie Desmond Ridder's first two career touchdown passes powered the Atlanta Falcons to a 30-17 win over the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday after Tom Brady added to his imposing list of records.

Brady had been 11-0 in his career against Atlanta, including New England's 34-28 win over the Falcons in the Super Bowl following the 2016 season. Led by Brady, the Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit.

The Falcons haven't been allowed to forget the epic Super Bowl collapse, but they can now claim to be responsible for Brady's first losing final record in a regular season.

Brady and Tampa Bay's other healthy regulars started even though the Buccaneers (8-9) clinched the NFC South title by beating Carolina 30-24 last week and were locked in as the NFC's No. 4 seed in the playoffs.

Brady had winning records in 21 consecutive regular seasons with New England and Tampa Bay before this season.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles used backup Blaine Gabbert behind Brady before second-year quarterback Kyle Trask made his NFL debut in the fourth quarter.

Rookie Tyler Allgeier rushed for 135 yards on 24 carries to end the fifth consecutive losing season for Atlanta (7-10). The Falcons finished with back-to-back wins under second-year coach Arthur Smith.

Brady already holds many NFL career passing records, including for yards, completions and touchdowns.

Brady completed 13 of 17 passes for 84 yards with a touchdown, giving him 490 completions for the season. Brady capped Tampa Bay's opening drive with an eight-yard scoring pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph.

Cowboys fall flat against Commanders

Dak Prescott completed just 14 of his 37 passes for 128 yards, threw another interception that was returned for a touchdown and the Dallas Cowboys laid an egg in their final regular-season game, losing 26-6 to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Beyond getting picked off by Kendall Fuller on the pick-6, Prescott was wildly inaccurate and the Dallas offence had just 169 total yards before he was replaced by Cooper Rush in garbage time.

This was not exactly how the Cowboys (12-5) figured things would go with a chance, albeit small, to win the NFC East if Philadelphia lost at home to the also playoff-bound New York Giants, who were resting several regulars and starting a third-string quarterback.

Dallas lost to Washington's third QB to start a game the season: a rookie making his NFL debut.

Sam Howell threw a touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin among his 11 of 19 passing for 169 yards and ran for another among his 35 yards rushing. The fifth-round pick out of North Carolina became the first Washington rookie QB to throw and run for a TD in a game since Robert Griffin III in 2012.

Purdy leads 49ers to 10th straight win

Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes for his sixth straight game with multiple TDs and the San Francisco 49ers clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with a 38-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

San Francisco beat out Minnesota on a tiebreaker for the second seed, assuring the 49ers won't have to go on the road before the NFC title game. The Niners weren't able to secure a first-round bye because Philadelphia beat the New York Giants.

The Cardinals (4-13) ended the season going in the opposite direction with seven straight losses to tie a franchise record for losses in a season.

The game started well for Arizona when fourth-string quarterback David Blough connected on a 77-yard TD pass to A.J. Green off a trick play on the second play from scrimmage.

About the only other highlight for the Cardinals was the two sacks by Watt, giving the three-time Defensive Player of the Year 120 1/2 in the regular season and playoffs in his 12-year career.

Bears lock up No. 1 pick with loss to Vikings

Kirk Cousins threw for 225 yards and a touchdown in the first half and watched the rest of the way as the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings tuned up for the playoffs by beating the Chicago Bears 29-13 on Sunday.

The Bears (3-14), who held out star Justin Fields, set a franchise record with their 14th loss and extended one by dropping their 10th game in a row.

With Houston winning 32-31 at Indianapolis, Chicago gets the No. 1 pick in the draft for the first time since 1947.

Cousins bounced back from a rough outing, completing 17 of 20 passes while posting a sparkling 130.2 rating. He hit K.J. Osborn for a 66-yard completion on Minnesota's first possession, setting up a four-yard touchdown to Adam Thielen, and led two more scoring drives.

Nick Mullens came on in the third quarter and was 11 of 13 for 116 yards and an interception. Osborn had 117 yards on five catches.

Alexander Mattison ran for one-yard touchdowns in the second and third quarters.

Fields' pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record for a quarterback ended when the Bears announced during the week he would miss the game because of a strained hip and Nathan Peterman would start in his place.

Peterman completed 11 of 19 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown in his fifth career start and first since 2018 with Buffalo.

Wilson leads Broncos past playoff-bound Chargers

Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes, Justin Simmons forced two fumbles and the Denver Broncos dodged a franchise-worst 13th loss with a 31-28 victory over the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

The Chargers (10-7) knew before kickoff they were locked into the fifth AFC playoff seed with a first-round game looming at Jacksonville, but coach Brandon Staley played his starters anyway, a decision that could prove costly.

Justin Herbert warmed up for his first playoff appearance with another solid outing — 25 of 37 for 275 yards, two TDs and no interceptions.

Wilson finished 13 of 24 for 283 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and Jerry Jeudy capped a month-long surge with a career day that featured 154 yards on five catches and 39 yards on three rushes.

With the win, the Broncos (5-12) avoided their first winless run in the AFC West in a non-strike year since divisional play began in 1970. They also handed interim head coach Jerry Rosburg his first win after four decades as an assistant.

AFC title game will be at neutral site if Buffalo faces Kansas City

The AFC championship game will be played on a neutral site if Kansas City and Buffalo reach that point.

Buffalo's 35-23 win over New England on Sunday coupled with Kansas City's 31-13 victory at Las Vegas on Saturday means the No. 1 seed Kansas City (14-3) can't host the conference title game against the Bills (13-3) because the teams played an unequal number of games.

The Bills were trailing the Bengals 7-3 in the first quarter when Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated after making a tackle. The league chose to cancel the game to avoid disrupting the start of the post-season and impacting the remainder of the playoff field.

If the Bills would've defeated the Bengals, they would have earned the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs because a 24-20 win in Kansas City in October gave Buffalo a tiebreaker edge. Instead, the Bills finished with the No. 2 seed and will host the Miami Dolphins (9-8) in a wild-card game next weekend.

The Bills lost a thrilling overtime game at Kansas City in the divisional round last year. Kansas City has hosted the last four AFC championship games, going 2-2. It would host it again if its opponent is not Buffalo.