Patrick Mahomes' dramatic flair highlights Kansas City's win over Saints

Patrick Mahomes had his full repertoire of side-arm throws, basketball-style push passes and underhanded flips on display while passing for 254 yards and three touchdowns, and Kansas City extended their winning streak to nine games with a 32-29 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The Kansas City defence did its part to spoil Drew Brees' return from rib fractures and a punctured lung that had kept the record-setting passer out four games.

While Brees passed for 234 yards and three TDs, he completed less than half of his passes and was intercepted for just the fourth time this season.

The victory kept defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City (13-1) in pole position to capture the AFC's lone playoff bye as a No. 1 seed. The Saints (10-4), meanwhile, missed a chance to clinch the NFC South for a second straight week and now are longshots to capture the NFC's top seed.

Mahomes' scoring passes went for 5 yards each to Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, the latter coming as Kansas City's agile QB back-peddled toward the left sideline to avoid pressure and released a throw to the back corner of the end zone, where Hardman was able to snag it in traffic while narrowly getting two feet inbounds.

Mahomes' second TD toss looked more like a basketball assist, a chest-pass to tight end Travis Kelce cutting behind blockers for a 1-yard score.

Mahomes later used an underhanded forward flip to Kelce for a 2-point conversion after a 12-yard touchdown run by Le'Veon Bell to make it 29-15 in the fourth quarter.

The Saints pulled to 29-22 when Trey Hendrickson stripped Mahomes while making his second sack of the game, setting up Alvin Kamara's 14-yard score on a short catch and run through a swarm of players along the right sideline.

Kansas City responded with a field goal with 4:18 left, but Brees pulled New Orleans within a field goal with his 17-yard scoring pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey with 2:06 to go.

On a third-and-8 conversion in the first half, Mahomes darted right to avoid defensive tackle David Onyemata, then suddenly stopped and stepped up as Jordan, in close pursuit, stumbled past. Mahomes then fired a pass to Sammy Watkins for a 23-yard gain. The play extended the drive that culminated with Kelce's TD.

The Saints briefly took a 15-14 lead early in the third quarter when Brees found Latavius Murray uncovered late in a play that appeared to be breaking down and the running back scampered for a 24-yard touchdown.

Brees' return got off to a rough start. His first three passes fell incomplete before his fourth was intercepted by L'Jarius Sneed at the New Orleans 36-yard line, setting up Hill's TD that made it 7-0.

Brees needed more than a full quarter to complete a pass or lead the Saints to a first down. His first completion came on his seventh pass. A few plays later, he hit Emmanuel Sanders 51 yards down the right sideline to set up Taysom Hill's 1-yard TD run.

The Saints cut it to 14-9 at the end of the half with a safety during a Kansas City punt return fumbled into the end zone by Demarcus Robinson. Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone tried to fall on it in the end zone, but it squirted away and over the end line.

Brady rallies Buccaneers past Falcons

Tom Brady did it again to the Atlanta Falcons.

This time, he didn't even need overtime.

Rallying Tampa Bay from a pair of 17-point deficits, Brady recreated his Super Bowl miracle by leading the Buccaneers on five straight scoring drives in the second half Sunday for a 31-27 victory over the stunned Falcons.

The stakes weren't nearly as high and the deficit wasn't quite as daunting, but Brady's latest blow to Atlanta took the Bucs (9-5) to the brink of their first playoff berth since 2007.

It sure didn't look that way when Atlanta raced to 17-0 by halftime, or when the Falcons (4-10) restored their margin to 24-7 after Brady finally guided the Bucs to a touchdown on the first possession of the second half.

Turns out, the 43-year-old was just getting warmed up.

He certainly had plenty of experience to fall back on when it came to breaking Atlanta's heart.

In the 2017 Super Bowl, Brady famously led the greatest comeback in championship game history, rallying New England from a 28-3 deficit late in the third quarter to a 34-28 overtime victory that secured his fifth of six titles with the Patriots.

Now, it looks like he'll get a shot at another with his new team. The Bucs are on the cusp of wrapping up a wild-card berth, which is just what Brady had in mind when he left snowy Massachusetts for sunny Florida.

Brady capped his latest rally with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with 6:19 remaining. The league's oldest player finished 31 of 45 for 390 yards and two TDs.

Tampa Bay scored on five straight possessions after halftime — four touchdowns and a field goal.

Leonard Fournette had a pair of 1-yard TD runs, Brady hooked up with Chris Godwin on a 4-yard scoring pass, and Ryan Succop connected on a 27-yard field goal.

Matt Ryan was 34 of 49 for 356 yards and three touchdowns for the Falcons, but he did little after connecting with Hayden Hurst on a 7-yard TD throw midway through the third quarter.

The Bucs suddenly starting getting pressure on the Atlanta QB, who was sacked three times— all of them credited to Devin White.

Atlanta failed to pick up a first down on four of its last five possessions, the only exception being a drive that ended with Younghoe Koo's 52-yard field goal with 8:22 remaining, giving the Falcons a 27-24 lead.

It didn't hold up.

It never does against Brady, who improved to 7-0 against the Falcons in his long career.

Seahawks clinch playoff spot against Washington

Russell Wilson and the Seahawks built a big lead, and Seattle's suddenly opportunistic defence held on Sunday to beat Washington 20-15 and clinch a playoff spot.

Wilson threw for a touchdown, Carlos Hyde ran 50 yards for a score, and the Seahawks (10-4) picked off Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins twice. Shaquill Griffin and D.J. Reed each had an interception as the league's worst passing defence played strong until the fourth quarter.

After a Haskins-led comeback from a 20-3 deficit fell short, Washington (6-8) had its winning streak snapped at four with Alex Smith out because of a calf injury. Haskins finished 38 of 55 for 295 yards, a TD pass and the two interceptions.

Wilson threw for 121 yards and a 10-yard TD pass to Jacob Hollister and ran for 52 on six carries. Hyde's 50-yard TD run was Seattle's longest rushing play of the season.

Browns continue playoff push with victory against Giants

The way the Cleveland Browns had been scoring, coach Joe Judge must have had a feeling the New York Giants probably needed to take advantage of their scoring chances playing with a backup quarterback and play caller.

So they gambled and came up short in a 20-6 loss to the red-hot Browns on Sunday night.

It not only cost them a game and a chance to go back into first place in the weak NFC East, the chances of the Giants (5-9) making the playoffs are getting slimmer with two games left in the regular season.

It all goes back to the Giants' first three possessions with Colt McCoy starting at quarterback instead of the injured Daniel Jones and former Browns coach Freddie Kitchens calling plays on offensive with co-ordinator Jason Garrett sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19. The Giants got into the red zone three times and came away with three points.

A field goal by Gano gave New York a 3-0 lead on the second series, but the Browns took the lead on a 2-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to Austin Hooper.

The Giants drove 68 yards on their next series and had a fourth-and-2 at the Browns 6. Instead of closed the deficit to a point, Judge elected to go for a first down and Wayne Gallman came up a yard short.

Mayfield then drove the Browns 95 yards in 10 plays, capping the march with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry for a 13-3 lead. The extra point hit the upright.

Dolphins eliminate Patriots from playoff contention

The Miami Dolphins' grinding ground game sent the New England Patriots into full retreat and out of the playoff picture for the first time in 12 years.

Undrafted rookie Salvon Ahmed and veteran Matt Breida combined for 208 yards rushing Sunday to lead the Dolphins to a 22-12 victory over the Patriots, who were eliminated from post-season contention.

The Dolphins entered the game last in the league in yards per carry, and Ahmed became their first 100-yard rusher since 2018, totalling 122 yards and scoring a 2-point conversion on a trick play.

Breida added 86 yards and the Dolphins totalled a season-high 250, the most allowed by New England in seven years.

The Patriots (6-8) will finish at .500 or worse for the first time since 2000, the year they drafted Tom Brady. Their NFL-record run of 11 consecutive playoff appearances will end, and they'll fall one year short of matching the Dallas Cowboys' NFL record of 20 consecutive winning seasons.

Buffalo clinched the AFC East title with a win Saturday.

The Dolphins (9-5) bolstered their wild-card chances and are assured of a winning record for only the second time since 2008.

With their three most productive pass catchers sitting out the game because of injuries, the Dolphins kept it on the ground. They were shut out in the first half, but mounted a 14-play, 90-yard touchdown drive midway through the second half to take the lead for good.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ran it in from the 3 on third down after he couldn't find an open receiver.

The Dolphins then sprang a hook-and-ladder for the 2-point conversion, with receiver Isaiah Ford flipping a lateral to Ahmed, who ran into the end zone untouched. That put the Dolphins ahead 15-9, and they sealed the victory by mounting a grinding 75-yard touchdown drive on their next possession.

Ahmed became the first undrafted rookie in Dolphins history to rush for 100 yards.

Cam Newton finished 17 for 27 for 209 yards, but for the second consecutive week he failed to get New England into the end zone.

Four times the Patriots settled for a field goal after driving inside the Miami 30. Nick Folk made kicks of 45, 36, 45 and 42 yards.

Ladouceur sets Canadian record in Cowboys' win

Dallas long snapper L.P. Ladouceur set an NFL record for regular-season games by a Canadian-born player on Sunday, making his 251st game official on a first-quarter punt. The 39-year-old Montreal native broke kicker Eddie Murray's record of 250 games from 1980-2000.

Tony Pollard ran for two touchdowns with Elliott sidelined by a calf issue he's been battling for weeks, and the Cowboys kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 41-33 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Four of the seven Dallas scores were set up by turnovers from the 49ers (5-9), who became the second Super Bowl runner-up in the past 13 seasons to finish with a losing record the next year.

The Cowboys (5-9) are a game back in the NFC East with two games remaining but have to win both against Philadelphia and the New York Giants while Washington loses twice.

Andy Dalton threw for two touchdowns, and Greg Zuerlein kicked a tiebreaking field goal early in the fourth quarter after the second interception by Nick Mullens, who was replaced by C.J. Beathard after losing feeling in his elbow.

Beathard handled the last two possessions and threw a 49-yard Hail Mary touchdown to Kendrick Bourne on the final play.

Jeff Wilson's 1-yard run for San Francisco tied the game at 24 late in the third quarter on one of the Niners' four TD drives of 75 yards. Rookie Brandon Aiyuk and Jordan Reed had short TD catches to cap drives earlier in the game.

Mullens had a chance to lead the 49ers to a tiebreaking score, but safety Donovan Wilson's first career interception put Dallas in position for the lead. After three straight incompletions, Zuerlein kicked a 46-yarder for a 27-24 lead.

Anthony Brown had the second pick of Mullens, and Pollard broke several tackles on a clinching 40-yard score. Pollard, who had a 1-yard TD plunge early, finished with 69 yards. Dallas had 47 yards rushing before Pollard's long TD. Elliott was ruled out before the game.

Titans roll past Lions to stay atop AFC South

Ryan Tannehill accounted for a career-high five touchdowns passing and running, and Derrick Henry ran for 147 yards and a score to move the Titans closer to clinching their third playoff berth in four seasons Sunday routing the Detroit Lions 46-25.

The Titans (10-4) did their part with a second straight victory and fourth in five games to stay atop the AFC South. With Indianapolis beating Houston 27-20, the Titans hold the divisional tiebreaker over the Colts with two games remaining.

The second straight loss after Darrell Bevell won his first as interim coach officially eliminated the Lions (5-9) from playoff contention. Quarterback Matthew Stafford shook off a rib injury to start, throwing for 252 yards and a TD before being pulled for Chase Daniel after Tennessee went up 39-18 with 9:00 left.

Tennessee became the fifth team in NFL history with five straight games piling up at least 420 yards total offence and 30 points. The Titans scored a season-high with their fourth game of at least 42 points.

Tannehill had the first five-TD game of his career. He ran for two TDs and finished with 273 yards passing and three more TDs, giving him a career-high 31 TD passes.

The Titans scored on every drive except for when Tannehill was sacked in the end zone for a safety and when they knelt to run out the clock.

Henry capped the opening drive with a 3-yard TD run, his 15th this season. That made him the fourth player in NFL history to run for at least 1,500 yards and 15 TDs in consecutive seasons, joining Terrell Davis (1997-98), Shaun Alexander (2004-05) and Larry Johnson (2005-06).

The Titans led 21-7 after a 75-yard TD pass from Tannehill to Corey Davis and a 17-yard TD run by Tannehill.

Romeo Okwara sacked Tannehill two plays later for the Lions' first safety in 75 games, also against Tennessee on Sept. 18, 2016. Swift capped Detroit's ensuing drive with a 2-yard run, but Matt Prater's extra point was wide left.

The Lions managed a 53-yard field goal by Prater in the third, tying the NFL record held by Sebastian Janikowski with his 58th career kick of 50 yards or longer.

The Titans put it away with 22 points in the fourth quarter with Tannehill's second TD run and two more TD passes.

Ravens dominate Jaguars, boost playoff hopes

The Baltimore Ravens built a 26-point halftime lead against helpless Jacksonville and rolled to a 40-14 victory Sunday that boosted their playoff chances and extended the Jaguars' losing streak to 13 games.

Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to carry the Ravens (9-5) to their third straight win following a three-game skid.

Hopeful of reaching the post-season for the third year in a row Baltimore is among several AFC teams vying for three wild-card spots.

Ravens rookie J.K. Dobbins ran for 64 yards and a score, and 32-year-old receiver Dez Bryant celebrated his first touchdown since 2017 late in the first half.

Jets upset Rams, snap winless streak

Sam Darnold and the New York Jets could have been forgiven for forgetting the victory formation, yet everybody knew where to stand when they got the chance at SoFi Stadium.

After 51 weeks and 13 games without a win, the Jets finally earned the chance to celebrate with pride.

The Jets (1-13) knew their 23-20 victory over the embarrassed Los Angeles Rams on Sunday was never pretty. Everybody realized it also came with a major drawback: New York is no longer in position for the top pick in the NFL draft.

Don't try telling that to the joyful Jets who surged onto the field after the final whistle with the knowledge their names will not be attached to the ignominy of the third 0-16 season in NFL history.

Darnold passed for 207 yards in a steady performance, while Frank Gore rushed for a score that was his 100th career touchdown in the Jets' first win since the 2019 season finale. Gore also made a decisive third-down reception with 2:12 left for the Jets, who ended the longest losing streak in franchise history with a strong start and a gritty finish.

Gase's club got its first win of the year only after blowing most of a 17-point lead in the second half. After a potential go-ahead touchdown for the Rams was wiped out by a penalty, forcing LA to kick a field goal, the Jets' defence stopped the Rams again on downs near midfield with 3:54 to play.

With two games left, New York might have ruined its chances at the No. 1 overall pick because Jacksonville (1-13) is likely to win a tiebreaker based on strength of schedule. But possibly missing the chance to draft Clemson star Trevor Lawrence meant nothing to the players and coaches responsible for this lost season.

The Jets led 20-3 midway through the third quarter. Los Angeles chipped the deficit down to three points with TD catches by Robert Woods and Tyler Higbee, but the Rams (9-5) couldn't finish.

Sam Ficken kicked three field goals for the Jets, whose 32nd-ranked offence put up only 289 yards against the NFL's No. 1 defence — but scored enough points to win.

Jared Goff passed for 209 yards for the Rams.

The Rams still can win the division if they can beat the Seahawks in Seattle next week.

Colts top Texans, retain share of AFC South lead

Philip Rivers threw a late, tiebreaking touchdown to Zach Pascal and the Indianapolis Colts defence recovered a fumble in the end zone with 19 seconds left Sunday to seal a 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans.

Indy (10-4) has won three straight to retain a share of the AFC South lead with Tennessee, winners over Detroit. Houston (4-10) has lost three straight and five of six in this series.

This time, Pascal caught a pass in the flat, turned up the field and stretched his arms across the goal line while hitting the pylon to give Indy a 27-20 lead with 1:47 to go.

Watson answered by moving the Texans to the Colts 21. But after finding Keke Coutee for 14 yards on third-and-11, Colts linebacker Darius Leonard punched the ball out at the 2-yard line and Bobby Okereke beat Texans tight end Kahale Warring to the ball as it bounced in the end zone.

Rivers was 22 of 28 with 228 yards and two scores. Jonathan Taylor had 16 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Watson was 33 of 41 with 373 yards and two touchdowns. Coutee had five catches for 53 yards and one score before the fumble, and David Johnson had 11 receptions for 106 yards.

Bears remain in the hunt with win over Vikings

David Montgomery rushed for a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns as the Chicago Bears trampled Minnesota's depleted defence and hung on for a 33-27 victory on Sunday to stay in the hunt for the expanded playoffs.

The Bears (7-7), who entered the afternoon one game behind Arizona for the new third wild-card spot in the NFC, never trailed in winning at Minnesota for a third straight year. Coach Matt Nagy improved to 5-1 against the Vikings (6-8), whose post-season chances all but vanished.

Chicago punted only once, on the opening possession. It did just about whatever it wanted with the ball until Cameron Dantzler intercepted Mitch Trubisky's third-and-goal pass into a crowd in the end zone with 2:57 left and a 30-27 lead.

Dalvin Cook rushed for 132 yards and a score.

Cairo Santos, who converted all four of his kicks, stretched his streak to 22 straight field goals made.

The Bears then intercepted a last-snap heave by Cousins into the end zone to drop the Vikings to 3-5 at home this year.

Cousins connected with tight end Tyler Conklin for his first career touchdown catch, a 20-yard score off a play-action rollout that pulled the Vikings within three points with 8:05 remaining.

Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 104 yards and set the single-season franchise rookie record held by Randy Moss with 73 catches and counting. But steady pressure on Cousins produced too many short completions — or worse — for the Vikings to catch up.