Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons put a decisive stamp on the NFC South title and the conference’s best record by beating visiting Carolina, 31-10, yesterday in John Fox’s last game as Panthers coach.
Atlanta (13-3) earned its fourth division title (first since 2004) and a bye next weekend. The Falcons are the No. 1 seed in the playoffs for the first time in 30 years.
Ryan passed for 236 yards with touchdowns to Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, and Eric Weems scored on a 55-yard punt return.
Having already clinched the No. 1 pick in the draft, Carolina (2-14) was held without a touchdown until the final minute. The Panthers on Friday formally announced Fox, the team’s coach for nine years, and his staff will not return in 2011.
Steelers 41, Browns 9 Ben Roethlisberger threw two TD passes and visiting Pittsburgh (12-4) wrapped up its third AFC North title in four years, earning a first-round bye in the process. Cleveland (5-11) trailed, 31-3, at the half.
Jets 38, Bills 7 New York (11-5) headed into the postseason on a positive note, blasting visiting Buffalo (4-12) behind its backups on offense. Mark Brunell threw two TD passes in relief of Mark Sanchez and Joe McKnight ran for a career-high 158 yards.
Raiders 31, Chiefs 10 Michael Bush rushed for 137 yards as Oakland (8-8) won in Arrowhead Stadium for the fourth year in a row. AFC West champ Kansas City (10-6) was held to 201 total yards in losing at home for the first time this season.
Ravens 13, Bengals 7 Ed Reed had two interceptions and Ray Lewis recovered two fumbles to spark the Ravens’ opportunistic defense, but with Pittsburgh’s win over Cleveland, host Baltimore (12-4) had to settle for a rusty tuneup for wild-card weekend. Cincinnati finished 4-12.
Giants 17, Redskins 14 New York forced four turnovers in getting its 10th win, but still missed the playoffs because of Green Bay’s win over Chicago. Eli Manning threw a 92-yard TD pass to Mario Manningham in the third quarter to give the Giants a 10-point lead over host Washington (6-10).
Buccaneers 23, Saints 13 A surprising year won’t result in a postseason trip for Tampa Bay. The visiting Bucs (10-6) fell short of a berth even though Josh Freeman passed for two TDs against shorthanded New Orleans (11-5), which was locked into the fifth seed in the NFC.
Cowboys 14, Eagles 13 Settled in as the third seed in the NFC, Philadelphia (10-6) sat nearly every starter against visiting Dallas. The Cowboys (6-10) took advantage and pulled out the win on Stephen McGee’s 4-yard TD pass to Jason Witten with 55 seconds left.
Texans 34, Jaguars 17 Arian Foster ran for 180 yards to capture the NFL rushing title, and host Houston (6-10) ruined any chance Jacksonville (8-8) had of making the playoffs. The Jaguars were missing quarterback David Garrard (finger) and running back Maurice Jones-Drew (knee).
Lions 20, Vikings 13 Minnesota ended a disastrous season with a road loss to Detroit. Both teams finished 6-10, but the Lions tripled their win total from last year. Maurice Morris scored on a 4-yard run with 9:29 left for a 10-point cushion.
Chargers 33, Broncos 28 Rookie Ryan Mathews had 120 yards rushing and three TDs as San Diego (9-7) dealt host Denver a franchise-record 12th loss. The Broncos clinched the No. 2 pick.
49ers 38, Cardinals 7 In his likely last game for host San Francisco (6-10), Alex Smith passed for two TDs. Arizona finished last in the NFC West at 5-11.
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