Steelers rally past Colts, clinch AFC North
Ben Roethlisberger led a second-half comeback Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers broke a three-game losing streak and clinched the AFC North title with a 28-24 win over the visiting Indianapolis Colts.
After the Steelers (12-3) trailed by 17 points in the third quarter, Roethlisberger’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Juju Smith-shuster put the Steelers ahead for the first time and for the final score with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter.
The Colts (10-5) had won three straight.
Roethlisberger was 34-of49 passing for 342 yards. Diontae Johnson and Eric Ebron also had scoring catches. James Conner ran for a touchdown.
Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers was 22-of-35 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown to Zach Pascal. Rookie Jonathan Taylor rushed for two touchdowns.
Pittsburgh failed to score in the first quarter for the sixth straight game and was behind 21-7 at halftime and 24-7 with 9:23 left in the third.
But when the Colts stalled, the Steelers got favourable field position. On first down, Johnson made a leaping catch from Roethlisberger for a 39yard touchdown to close it to 24-14.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw five yards to Ebron for a touchdown, slicing it to 24-21.
Ravens 27, Giants 13: At Baltimore, Lamar Jackson tossed two touchdown passes and Baltimore collected its fourth consecutive victory with an impressive win over the visiting New York Giants.
Marquise Brown and Dez Bryant caught scoring passes and J.K. Dobbins rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown for Baltimore (10-5), which can secure a third straight trip to the post-season by winning in Cincinnati next Sunday. Chiefs 17, Falcons 14: At Kansas City, the Chiefs clinched the AFC’S top seed and the conference’s only first-round playoff bye, by beating Atlanta for their 10th straight win.
Travis Kelce grabbed seven receptions for 98 yards, including two grabs on the Chiefs’ game-winning drive. With 1,416 yards, Kelce broke George Kittle’s NFL singleseason record (1,377 in 2018) for receiving yards by a tight end. Bears 41, Jaguars 17: At Jacksonville, Fla., the Jaguars lost their 14th consecutive game and moved a step closer to locking up the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft.
Mitchell Trubisky accounted for three scores, including two touchdown passes to Jimmy Graham, to lead the Bears (8-7), who can make the NFC playoffs for the second time in three years by beating Green Bay next week at home.
The Jaguars (1-14) locked up the top pick for the first time in franchise history when the New York Jets beat Cleveland 23-16 a few minutes later.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the projected top pick for the 2021 draft.
Jets 23, Browns 16: At East Rutherford, N.J., with their second major upset in a seven-day span, the New York Jets (2-13) clinched the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold completed 16 of 32 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Cleveland (10-5), which was without the bulk of its receiving corps after contact tracing landed four wideouts on the COVID-19 reserve list, saw its playoff chances take a hit.
Bengals 37, Texans 31: At Houston, Samaje Perine ran for two touchdowns, including a three-yard score late, to give Cincinnati its first road win since 2018.
On Saturday:
Dolphins 26, Raiders 25:
At Las Vegas, Jason Sanders kicked four field goals, including a 44-yarder with one second remaining, as visiting Miami inched closer to a playoff spot with a wild victory over Las Vegas.
Sanders’ game-winner came just 18 seconds after Las Vegas (7-8) had seemingly rallied to win the game on a 22-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson.
But on first-and-10 on his own 25, Ryan Fitzpatrick hit a wide-open Mack Hollins up the left sideline for a 34-yard reception with Raiders defensive end Arden Key also being flagged 15 yards for grabbing Fitzpatrick’s facemask to move the ball to the Las Vegas 26. One play later, Sanders booted the game-winning field goal for Miami (10-5). Buccaneers 47, Lions 7: At Detroit, Tom Brady threw four first-half touchdown passes and Tampa Bay clinched its first playoff berth since 2007.
Brady completed 22 of 27 passes for 348 yards despite sitting out the entire second half. Backup Blaine Gabbert threw two touchdown passes for the Bucs (10-5).
49ers 20, Cardinals 12: At Glendale, Ariz., C.J. Beathard threw two touchdown passes, Jeff Wilson Jr. rushed for a career-best 183 yards and Ahkello Witherspoon thwarted a late Arizona threat with an end-zone interception, lifting visiting San Francisco to victory.
The loss was a costly one for the Cardinals (8-7), who could have earned a wild-card playoff berth with a win.