Patriots, Seahawks Land Division Titles

As expected, the Patriots and Seahawks will be playing in January. While New England is headed to the playoffs in decent shape, Seattle is reeling. <br/><br/>The Seahawks, a Super Bowl loser last February,

Monday, December 25th 2006, 6:42 am

By: News On 6

As expected, the Patriots and Seahawks will be playing in January. While New England is headed to the playoffs in decent shape, Seattle is reeling.

The Seahawks, a Super Bowl loser last February, won the NFC West despite falling 20-17 to AFC West winner San Diego on Sunday.

Seattle (8-7) lost its third straight game when the Chargers' Philip Rivers found Vincent Jackson alone in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds left. San Diego's ninth straight victory clinched a first-round bye for the Chargers (13-2).

``This doesn't have to be a morgue,'' Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. ``To be honest with you, I am more on the upbeat side than the downbeat side. That's a good football team, the Chargers. ... There were a lot of good things that happened today. I'll take it.''

Seattle earned the division title when Arizona beat San Francisco later in the day.

New England (11-4) took its fourth straight AFC East crown with a 24-21 win at Jacksonville, and will pursue a fourth Super Bowl title in six seasons.

``We've accomplished something now,'' said linebacker Tedy Bruschi while he donned a division championship hat and T-shirt. ``It's our first goal. We can look at it as a positive for the next couple of days. The first thing you have to do is to win the division and then go from there.''

The Patriots and Seahawks joined Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, San Diego and Indianapolis with playoff berths. The Ravens (12-3) own the AFC North crown and eliminated defending Super Bowl champ Pittsburgh with a 31-7 victory.

The Bears (13-2), who defeated Detroit 26-21, have the NFC North crown _ and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The Saints (10-5) defeated the Giants 30-7 and own the NFC South. The Colts (11-4) won the AFC South despite their 27-24 loss at Houston.

The Cowboys can clinch the NFC East by beating the Eagles on Monday night, but Philadelphia grabs a playoff spot by beating Dallas.

Aside from Pittsburgh, also eliminated Sunday were San Francisco, with a 26-20 defeat to Arizona, and Buffalo, edged 30-29 by Tennessee.

Both wild-card spots in each conference remained uncertain, although Philadelphia (8-6) has the inside track for an NFC berth and Denver (9-6) is in the best shape in the AFC.

In the NFC, Carolina, Atlanta, Green Bay, St. Louis and the New York Giants all are 7-8 and alive. For now, the Giants have the tiebreaker advantage despite losing six of their last seven games.

New York is at Washington on Saturday night. Atlanta visits Philadelphia, St. Louis is at Minnesota, Green Bay is at Chicago and Carolina goes to New Orleans on Sunday.

In the AFC, the Broncos clinch with a victory at home vs. San Francisco next weekend. The New York Jets (8-6) would get the other wild-card slot by winning at Miami on Monday night and then beating Oakland at home next Sunday.

The winner of Jacksonville at Kansas City, both 8-7, will have a chance of advancing with help from other teams. Same thing for Cincinnati, also 8-7, which hosts Pittsburgh. Tennessee (8-7 and winner of six straight) has a slight chance, as well, but needs to beat New England.

In other games Sunday, it was: Denver 24, Cincinnati 23; Carolina 10, Atlanta 3; St. Louis 37, Washington 31 in overtime; and Tampa Bay 22, Cleveland 7.

The weekend began with Green Bay beating Minnesota 9-7 on Thursday night to remain viable in the NFC race despite a 7-8 mark. On Saturday night, Kansas City improved to 8-7 by beating Oakland 20-9.

Chargers 20, Seahawks 17

At Seattle, Rivers, who missed on 22 of his first 28 passes, hit a wide-open Jackson alone in the end zone as the Chargers stunned the Seahawks.

San Diego clinched a first-round bye and will need to beat Arizona to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Shaun Alexander ran for 140 yards and both Seattle touchdowns. Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson did not score a TD for the first time in 11 games.

Patriots 24, Jaguars 20

At Jacksonville, Fla., Tom Brady directed three long touchdown drives, capping one with a perfect touch pass to David Thomas in the rain. Laurence Maroney, who missed the previous two games with torn rib cartilage, had a 27-yard touchdown run with 4:36 remaining for the decisive points.

Maurice Drew, starting in place of Fred Taylor (hamstring), had a 74-yard touchdown run and scored again in the third quarter, a 1-yard plunge. He finished with 131 yards rushing and 41 yards receiving.

Ravens 31, Steelers 7

At Pittsburgh, Steve McNair threw three touchdown passes and the Ravens matched a franchise record for victories in a season set by their Super Bowl championship team in 2000. They swept the season series from the Steelers (7-8) for the first time since the former Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996. McNair was 21-of-31 for 256 yards and two interceptions.

Ben Roethlisberger (156 yards passing, 2 interceptions) and Willie Parker (29 yards on 13 carries) again had rough afternoons against one of the NFL's top defenses.

Broncos 24, Bengals 23

At Denver, Cincinnati lost on a snowy day when Brad St. Louis' long snap on an extra point in the final minute sailed wide of holder Kyle Larson.

Needing only to beat the Broncos to get into the postseason, the Bengals (8-7) drove 90 yards in 12 plays, with Carson Palmer tossing a 10-yard touchdown strike to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 46 seconds left. Then came the wide and wobbly snap, sending Cincinnati to an eighth straight loss in Denver.

The Broncos, who ended a three-game losing streak at home, got four takeaways, two from Champ Bailey, who recorded his NFL-high ninth interception and recovered Chad Johnson's first career fumble.

Denver's Jay Cutler became the first NFL quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns in each of his first four games.

Texans 27, Colts 24

At Houston, Ron Dayne had a career-high 153 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Kris Brown kicked the winning 48-yard field goal as time expired, giving Houston its first win over Indianapolis. The loss denied the AFC South champions the chance to clinch a first-round playoff bye.

It was the first time Dayne had gained 100 yards since September 2001 with the Giants.

David Carr and the Texans (5-10) staged a six-play, 31-yard drive that ended with Brown's winning kick.

The loss ruined another record day for Peyton Manning, who set an NFL mark by reaching 4,000 yards passing for the seventh time in his nine-year career. He was 21-of-27 for 205 yards and had three touchdown passes.

Saints 30, Giants 7

Reggie Bush ran for a career-best 126 yards and a touchdown, and New Orleans limited New York to six first downs and 142 yards.

The visiting Saints can clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a bye if Dallas losses either of its final two games or with a home win next week against Carolina.

Unbelievably, the Giants, who didn't have a snap in Saints' territory, remain in the playoff hunt despite losing for the sixth time in seven games.

Panthers 10, Falcons 3

At Atlanta, Carolina snapped a four-game losing streak by shutting down the NFL's top running attack.

The Falcons, who lead the league with 193 yards rushing per game, were outrushed 183-83 by a balanced Carolina attack that helped fill-in quarterback Chris Weinke snap a 17-game losing streak as a starter.

Weinke, who had been 1-17, won for the first time since the opener of his 2001 rookie season. He completed only 4 of 7 passes for 32 yards, including a 1-yard scoring pass to Jeff King.

The Falcons lost their fourth straight at home for the first time since 1989.

Titans 30, Bills 29

Vince Young threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another. Young also engineered his fourth comeback in the fourth quarter or overtime, rallying visiting Tennessee from a 29-20 deficit.

After hitting Brandon Jones for a 29-yard touchdown pass, Young directed a 14-play, 75-yard drive, which Rob Bironas capped with a 30-yard field goal with 2:10 left.

The Titans have won six straight and are trying to become the first NFL team to qualify for the playoffs after an 0-5 start.

Rams 37, Redskins 31, OT

At St. Louis, Steven Jackson wrapped up a big day with a 21-yard touchdown run in overtime and Marc Bulger tied his career best with four touchdown passes.

Jackson had 150 yards on 33 carries and six catches for 102 yards, a 252-yard day that allowed him to become the Rams' first 2,000-yard man since Marshall Faulk in 2001.

Isaac Bruce caught nine passes for 148 yards for the Rams, giving him his eighth 1,000-yard season.

Ladell Betts tied a franchise record with his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game for the Redskins, and topped 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career.

Bears 26, Lions 21

At Detroit, backup quarterback Brian Griese directed a 72-yard drive that set up Robbie Gould's fourth field goal midway through the fourth quarter.

Gould's field goal came after Jon Kitna made his NFL-high 30th turnover and as starting quarterback Rex Grossman watched from the sideline.

The Lions (2-13) drove to the Chicago 22 and Kitna threw a pass into the end zone on the final play that wide receiver Mike Williams got his hands on, but couldn't control.

Cardinals 26, 49ers 20

At San Francisco, Matt Leinart passed for 162 yards before spraining his left shoulder in the first half, and Kurt Warner finished up Arizona's fourth victory in six games that eliminated San Francisco (6-9) from postseason contention.

Edgerrin James had 105 yards to become Arizona's first 1,000-yard rusher in eight years, and Marcel Shipp ran for a score as the Cardinals (5-10) jumped to an early 20-3 lead, then held on for their fourth straight win over the 49ers.

Leinart was injured when Roderick Green sacked him shortly before halftime, and the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner won't play next week in the Cardinals' finale.

Buccaneers 22, Browns 7

At Cleveland, Derrick Brooks returned one of Tampa Bay's four interceptions 21 yards for a touchdown and Tampa Bay won its first road game in more than a year. Jermaine Phillips had two of Tampa Bay's four picks against Derek Anderson, who separated his right shoulder.

The Buccaneers (4-11) had lost eight straight outside Florida. But they had little trouble with the Browns (4-11), who lost their third straight and gained just 187 yards.

Cleveland avoided being shut out when cornerback Daven Holly returned a fumble 40 yards for a TD with 11:33 left.

Saturday

Chiefs 20, Raiders 9

Kansas City snapped a three-game losing streak when Larry Johnson ran for 137 yards and a touchdown. The visiting Chiefs (8-7) became the first team to beat the Raiders eight straight times.

The Raiders (2-13) have lost eight straight overall and matched the franchise record for losses in a season set when they went 1-13 in 1962 _ the season before Al Davis arrived to coach and eventually own the team.