Dee Alford's interception in the red zone stopped a potential New Orleans drive, and the Atlanta Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 on Sunday to hand the NFC South title to New Orleans. Carolina Panthers.
After finishing the season with four straight wins, the Falcons (8-9) finished in a three-way tie with Carolina and Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South. The Panthers won the tiebreaker with the best record in the division.
The Falcons closed out the season with a win over the Saints (6-11), who had their four-game winning streak end.
Trailing 16-10, the Saints went from their own 25 to the Atlanta 20 before Alford returned an interception of Tyler Shaw's pass intended for Dante Pettis 59 yards to the Saints 27 with 3:14 left. The play resulted in Zane Gonzalez's fourth-and-goal field goal from 38 yards, extending Atlanta's lead to nine points.
Shaw responded with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Bell with 1:11 left, but Atlanta's Kyle Pitts recovered the kick offsides.
Cleveland Browns 20-18 Cincinnati Bengals
Myles Garrett set an NFL single-season record with his 23rd field goal, and Sheader Sanders led a late scoring drive that ended with Andre Schmit's 49-yard field goal as time expired, helping the Cleveland Browns to a 20-18 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale on Sunday.
Garrett sacked Joe Burrow with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter, a record-breaking sack, surpassing the 22 1/2 totals of Michael Strahan and TJ Watt. Burrow was in the shotgun formation on first-and-10 at the Browns' 45-yard line.
After Ja'Marr Chase's four-yard touchdown catch gave the Bengals (6-11) an 18-17 lead with 1:29 remaining, Sanders led a 10-play, 40-yard dash to give the Browns (5-12) back-to-back wins for the first time in two years.
Sanders was 3 of 6 passing for 33 yards on the top drive, including an 11-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy with 31 seconds left to bring the Browns into Schmit's range. Dylan Sampson had two carries for seven yards to close Schmit.
Sanders finished 11 of 22 for 111 yards. He also had a fumble in the first quarter that led to Cincinnati's first touchdown.
Dallas Cowboys 17–34 New York Giants
Jackson Dart threw his 14th and 15th touchdown passes of his rookie year and the New York Giants ended their losing season with a two-game winning streak, beating the Dallas Cowboys 34-17 on Sunday.
That and other NFL results lifted the Giants (4-13) out of contention for a top-2 pick and into first place in Las Vegas. New York beat the Raiders last week, ending a nine-game skid.
Dart said he cared more about winning than draft position and played that way in his 12th professional start. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards with touchdown passes to Daniel Bellinger (on a pass and shovel run) and Tyrone Tracy.
Although the Giants were shorthanded due to injury and illness, they treated this game like any other game when their starters went the distance. Dallas (7-9-1) treated the game more as a friendly, including Dak Prescott's exit after halftime.
Prescott completed seven of 11 passes for 70 yards and a fumbled snap before being replaced at quarterback by Joe Milton early in the third quarter. Prescott finished the season with 4,552 yards passing, the second-most of his decade-long career after just 4,902 yards in 2019.
Green Bay Packers 3-16 Minnesota Vikings
J.J. McCarthy had a productive first half before being injured again, cornerback C.J. Ham rushed for a short touchdown and the Minnesota Vikings ended a disappointing season by defeating the resting Green Bay Packers 16-3 on Sunday.
Green Bay (9-7-1) was the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs with nothing to play for.
McCarthy, who was 14-of-23 passing for 182 yards, pulled himself out after his first throw of the third quarter so athletic training staff could examine his right arm and did not return. Backup Max Brosmer took over, helping Justin Jefferson reach the 100-yard mark for the first time in 12 games as the Vikings (9-8) earned their fifth straight win.
Jefferson has already secured his sixth straight 1,000-yard season, becoming only the third receiver in NFL history to accomplish that feat.
With Jordan Love quietly watching the game on the sideline and Malik Willis recovering from injuries, the Packers gave Clayton Thune his second career start at quarterback and were minus-7 passing yards. Dallas Turner had two of Minnesota's four sacks, which gave Green Bay 41 lost yards.
Tennessee Titans 7-41 Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, breaking the franchise record for single-season point totals, and the Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South and earned a home playoff game with a 41-10 rout of Tennessee on Sunday.
It was the most lopsided result in the series' history.
The Jaguars (13-4) won their third division title in nine years, beat the Titans (3-14) for the third time in four seasons and posted more than a dozen wins for just the second time in the team's 31-year history.
Jacksonville, however, will have to wait a few hours to find out its seeding and postseason opponent. The Jaguars could finish first in the AFC, but they'll likely end up third and host Buffalo, Houston or the Los Angeles Chargers next week.
No one should want to play the Jaguars, who have since won eight in a row and nine of 10. And Lawrence was the hottest defensive player in the league during that streak.
Indianapolis Colts 30-38 Houston Texas
C.J. Stroud scored two touchdowns and Kaimi Fairbairn kicked the go-ahead field goal with 12 seconds left to lead the Houston Texans to a 38-30 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, extending their winning streak to nine games.
The win gives the Texans (12-5) the fifth AFC playoff spot.
Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai caught the ball on the final play and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead.
The Texans clinched their third straight postseason berth last week and had a chance to win the AFC South with a win and a loss in Jacksonville. But with the Jaguars dominating the Titans at halftime, coach DeMeco Ryans decided to rest quarterback Stroud, defensive stars Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, Derek Stingley and several other starters after the break.
The Colts led 30–29 after a field goal with two and a half minutes left before Fairbairn's 43-yard kick put the Texans on top 32–30 and gave him a career-high six field goals.
