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 nine-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.
The Saints turned the ball over on downs and the Buccaneers got one more chance to get Evans the milestone.
Mayfield tossed a short pass to Evans, who ran upfield for a nine-yard gain. He got up, spiked the ball and was mobbed by teammates in a wild celebration.
The Buccaneers will be the NFC’s No 3 seed if the Los Angeles Rams lose to Seattle. If the Rams win, they’ll be the fourth seed.
Mayfield threw for 212 yards and two TDs and had a career-high 68 yards rushing as the Buccaneers (10-7) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and made sure they didn’t need Atlanta to lose to Carolina to win the division.
Houston Texans 23-14 Tennessee Titans
CJ 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 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
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 15 December 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. Their 3-14 finish matches 2014 for the most losses in a season since relocating from Texas to Tennessee in 1997.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he would decide how long his starters played based on how the game went.
Chicago Bears 24-22 Green Bay Packers
Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos’ 51-yard field goal as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a 24-22 victory over the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers, who lost quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson to injuries on Sunday.
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 17 November.
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.
Green Bay (11-6) are the No 7 seed in the NFC playoffs and will play at Philadelphia in the wild-card round.
Now the Packers wait on the status of Watson and Love. Watson was carted off the field with a knee injury in the second quarter and Love departed with an elbow issue later in that same series.
New York Giants 13-20 Philadelphia Eagles
Tanner McKee threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a game full of backups to help the Philadelphia Eagles tune up for the postseason with a 20-13 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
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 AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith and offensive linemen Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson.
Barkley lost his shot at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record. Barkley finished the season with 2,005 yards rushing, 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
While the prudent was move, there was some disappointment in Philly that Barkley didn’t get a chance at breaking the record, especially against the team that let him go at the end of last season.
Buffalo Bills 16-23 New England Patriots
Joe Milton III passed for a touchdown and ran for another in his NFL debut, and the New England Patriots cost themselves the No 1 overall pick in the NFL draft with a 23-16 win over the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
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.
With coach Jerod Mayo’s future in question, he ended up playing some starters and resting others.
Mayo took a preseason-style approach with franchise quarterback Maye. New England also had four healthy scratches and rested other key players, including running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Tight end Hunter Henry was inactive with a foot issue.
Washington Commanders 23-19 Dallas Cowboys
Marcus Mariota threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a 23-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and clinching the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs for the Commanders.
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.
The Commanders will visit either Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round next weekend.
Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals for the Cowboys in the first r