Evans gets big payoff as Bucs clinch NFC South

TAMPA, Fla. — Baker Mayfield used his legs and arm to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinch their fourth straight NFC South title while putting Mike Evans over 1,000 yards receiving.

Mayfield fired a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalen McMillan for the go-ahead score and then scrambled 28 yards for a crucial first down on the next drive, leading the Buccaneers to a 27-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Evans caught a 9-yard pass on the final play of the game to surpass 1,000 yards for the 11th straight season, tying Jerry Rice for the most in NFL history. After Mayfield’s long scramble on third-and-14 from the Tampa 12, the Buccaneers drove to the Saints 11. Mayfield looked for Evans but flipped the ball backward to Bucky Irving, who ran 11 yards for a TD that made it 27-19.

BEARS 24, PACKERS 22

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos’ 51-yard field goal as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a victory over playoff-bound Green Bay, who lost quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson to injuries.

Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said Love was held out as a precaution. The QB had some practice tosses on the sideline late in the game.

The Bears (5-12) beat the Packers for the first time since 2018 and ended an 11-game losing streak in this rivalry. It was redemption for Santos, who had a 46-yard field goal blocked by Karl Brooks on the final play of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on Nov. 17.

Brandon McManus had put Green Bay ahead by making a 55-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. Williams got the Bears into field-goal range by throwing an 18-yard completion to DJ Moore, whose fumble had set up the McManus kick.

EAGLES 20, GIANTS 13

PHILADELPHIA — Tanner McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a game full of backups to help Philadelphia tune up for the postseason with a victory over New York.

The NFC East champion Eagles (14-3) are the No. 2 seed in the conference and will host Green Bay next weekend in a wild-card game.

With making a run at the Super Bowl a priority, the Eagles rested their core starters, notably running back Saquon Barkley, quarterback Jalen Hurts, wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and offensive linemen Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.

TEXANS 23, TITANS 14

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — C.J. Stroud completed all six of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown Sunday on the Texans’ opening drive before going to the bench as Houston snapped a two-game skid going into the AFC playoffs with a victory over Tennessee.

The Texans (10-7) also avoided being swept by the team they replaced in Houston. The Texans won for the first time since clinching their second straight AFC South title Dec. 15 with a win over Miami.

Now Houston waits to see if the Texans are hosting either the Los Angeles Chargers, who played at the Raiders later Sunday, or Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card game.

With the loss combined with New England’s win over Buffalo, the Titans ‘ season of misery at least landed them the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft in April.

COMMANDERS 23, COWBOYS 19

ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcus Mariota threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a victory over Dallas and clinching the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs.

Mariota threw for two scores and ran for a TD after replacing Jayden Daniels. The Commanders (12-5) sat their dynamic rookie quarterback at halftime since playoff seeding was the only thing on the line, and the move ended up sparking an offense that produced just 64 yards before the break.

It turned out Washington didn’t need the rally to keep the sixth seed because Green Bay lost to Chicago on a late field goal.

PATRIOTS 23, BILLS 16

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Joe Milton III passed for a touchdown and ran for another in his NFL debut, and New England cost themselves the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft with a win over AFC East champion Buffalo.

The Patriots (4-13) snapped a six-game skid when a loss would have guaranteed them the top draft pick. Instead, they fell to No. 4 behind Tennessee, Cleveland and the New York Giants.

Milton finished 22 of 29 for 241 yards in relief of rookie Drake Maye, who played only one series. Kayshon Boutte had seven catches for 117 yards and TD, and Joey Slye kicked three field goals.

PANTHERS 44, FALCONS 38, OT

ATLANTA — Bryce Young passed for three touchdowns, ran for two scores and led a 70-yard drive capped by Miles Sanders’ 1-yard TD run on the opening possession of overtime to give Carolina a win over Atlanta.

The Falcons’ playoff hopes had already ended minutes earlier when Tampa Bay rallied past New Orleans.

Rookie Michael Penix Jr. capped his late-season introduction as Atlanta’s starting quarterback with a strong game, passing for 312 yards and two touchdowns — both to Drake London, who had 10 catches for a career-high 187 yards. Bijan Robinson ran for 170 yards and two scores, but the impressive offensive performance wasn’t enough to extend the Falcons’ season.

COLTS 26, JAGS 23, OT

INDIANAPOLIS — Jonathan Taylor ran for 177 yards, including 33 yards on six consecutive carries in overtime to set up Matt Gay’s go-ahead 38-yard field goal, and Indianapolis beat Jacksonville.

Taylor closed the season by matching a career-best streak with four straight 100-yard games. He also rushed for a touchdown Sunday to reach six scores during that span.

Joe Flacco was 23 of 40 for 263 yards, including a 40-yard TD pass to Alec Pierce, in his 105th career victory — perhaps the last of the 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP’s 17-year career.

BRONCOS 38, CHIEFS 0

DENVER — Rookie Bo Nix set a franchise record by completing his first 18 passes and Denver ended an eight-year playoff drought with a rout of Kansas City.

The Broncos (10-7) snapped a two-game skid and buried nearly a decade’s worth of futility and frustrations by returing to the postseason party for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season.

They’ll visit Buffalo (13-4) in the wild-card round next weekend after handing the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (15-2) their first shutout since Dec. 16, 2012, at Oakland.

Having already secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed and sole first-round bye in their quest for an unprecedented three-peat, Chiefs coach Andy Reid sat Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and a host of other starters.

Carson Wentz got the start at quarterback and fizzled in his first extended action since Week 18 with the Rams last season. He was 10 of 17 for 98 yards and was sacked four times by the league’s best pass rush (62 sacks).

Nix threw for four touchdowns, giving him 29 for the season, second-most by a rookie in NFL history, behind only Justin Herbert’s 31 in 2020.

CHARGERS 34, RAIDERS 20

LAS VEGAS — Justin Herbert passed for 346 yards and two touchdowns, and the Los Angeles Chargers secured the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs with a victory over Las Vegas.

The Chargers (11-6) closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh and will visit the fourth-seeded Houston Texans (10-7) in the next weekend’s wild-card playoff round.

Las Vegas, which had won back-to-back games, finished 4-13 with coach Antonio Pierce facing an uncertain future.

This was the Chargers’ first victory at Las Vegas since 2020 and their first season sweep of their AFC West rival since 2018. That also was the last time the Chargers won at least 11 games.

SEAHAWKS 30, RAMS 25

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Geno Smith passed for 223 yards and threw his career-best fourth touchdown pass to Noah Fant with 3:19 to play, and Seattle finished their 12th winning season in 13 years with a victory over the playoff-bound Los Angeles Rams.

Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 334 yards and two TDs in his debut for the Rams (10-7), who had already clinched the NFC West title through strength of schedule before they hosted the Seahawks (10-7). The Rams rested Matthew Stafford and nearly all of his offensive starters to stay healthy for a home playoff game next weekend.

Coach Sean McVay didn’t care, but the Rams’ first loss since Nov. 24 dropped them to the fourth seed in the NFC playoff bracket behind Tampa Bay (10-7), which beat New Orleans. Los Angeles’ visitor in the wild-card round will be the fifth-seeded loser of Minnesota’s showdown with Detroit on Sunday night.

DK Metcalf, Jake Bobo and AJ Barner also caught TD passes for Seattle. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had four catches to tie Tyler Lockett’s single-season franchise record of 100 receptions.

JETS 32, DOLPHINS 20

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers threw a season-high four touchdown passes — Nos. 500, 501, 502 and 503 of his storied career — in what could’ve been his final NFL game to lead New York to a victory over Miami.

The 41-year-old Rodgers is uncertain if he wants to continue playing for a 21st season, and it’s unclear if the Jets (5-12) — who’ll have a new general manager and coach next season — will want to move forward with him.

But if this was it for Rodgers, he left with a win and some history, becoming the fifth player to throw 500 regular-season TD passes.

He also helped shut the door on the Dolphins (8-9), who needed a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive. But that became moot when Denver routed Kansas City, which rested Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and several other starters, to clinch the final AFC postseason berth for the Broncos.

Rodgers finished 23 of 36 for 274 yards and TD passes to Tyler Conklin, Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Breece Hall, and an interception.

CARDS 47, 49ERS 24

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray threw for 242 yards and four touchdowns, two to Greg Dortch, and Arizona beat injury-depleted San Francisco.

Arizona (8-9) won four more games than last year, but still missed the playoffs for a third straight season. San Francisco (6-11) lost seven of its final eight to finish with its worst record since 2018.

The Cardinals led throughout the second half and took a 33-24 lead with 14:16 left in the fourth quarter when Michael Carter sneaked into the end zone just inside the left pylon for a 2-yard touchdown. Arizona put the game away with 5:47 remaining on Murray’s 12-yard TD pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. that made it 40-24.

Tony Jones Jr. ran for a 46-yard touchdown to conclude the scoring and give Arizona its highest point total since 2015.

Harrison finished with eight TD catches, tying the franchise’s rookie record held by Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

Joshua Dobbs — starting for the 49ers in the place of injured Brock Purdy — threw for 326 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He hit wide-open fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 36-yard TD with 4:49 left in the third quarter to cut the Cardinals’ advantage to 26-24.

LIONS 31, VIKINGS 9

DETROIT — Jahmyr Gibbs scored three of his franchise-record tying four touchdowns in the second half, and Detroit beat Minnesota to win their second straight NFC North title and earn home-field advantage until the Super Bowl.

Game No. 272 of the regular season was expected to be a shootout with Pro Bowl quarterbacks leading high-scoring offenses, but Jared Goff and Sam Darnold were not at their best.

Gibbs picked up the slack for his team.

He had 23 carries for 139 yards with a career-high three rushing touchdowns and caught five passes for 31 yards and another score.

After Vikings rookie Will Reichard connected on his third kick to cut the deficit to 10-9 early in the third, Goff directed a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took 7:25 and was capped by a slick pass to Gibbs for a 10-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2.

Goff was 8 of 8 on that possession and finished 27 of 33 for 231 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Darnold completed fewer than half his passes in the first half, missing opportunities to pick up first downs and score touchdowns. The Vikings were 0 of 3 in the red zone through two quarters to let the Lions lead 10-6 at halftime.

Darnold was 18 of 41, a season-low 44% completion rate, and connected with Jefferson just three times on nine targets for 54 yards.