NFL ROUNDUP Sunday’s other games

AFC

Titans 26, Chiefs 17

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vince Young passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns and Rob Bironas kicked four field goals for a much-needed victory that kept the Titans (8-6) alive in the AFC wild-card chase. With the stadium about half empty on the sunny, chilly afternoon, the Chiefs (4-10) lost their seventh in a row and closed out their most miserable home season in 30 years, going 2-6 at Arrowhead Stadium. Roydell Williams caught four passes for 94 yards, including touchdowns of 16 and 41 yards. Bironas, who came in leading the NFL in field goals, connected from 37, 37, 30 and 25 yards for the Titans, who had lost three of four on the road and dropped behind Cleveland and Buffalo in the wild-card race.

Colts 21, Raiders 14

OAKLAND, Calif. — Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts had to work a lot harder than expected to get a week off to open the playoffs. Manning threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez with 4:49 remaining for the Colts’ first offensive touchdown of the game, and Indianapolis rallied to beat Oakland and clinch a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs. The Colts (12-2) trailed 14-13 after Justin Fargas’ 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter. But Manning completed all seven passes on the ensuing drive, including a key third-down conversion to Reggie Wayne, to drive Indianapolis 91 yards for the go-ahead score. Joseph Addai ran in the 2-point conversion to make it a seven-point game.

NFC

Buccaneers 37, Falcons 3

TAMPA, Fla. — Micheal Spurlock ran back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, the first in the franchise’s 32 seasons, and Tampa Bay won the NFC South for the second time in three seasons. Ronde Barber returned an interception 29 yards for a TD and Earnest Graham scored a touchdown rushing in a team-record sixth consecutive game to help Tampa Bay (9-5) improve to 5-0 in the division after going 0-6 against NFC South rivals a year ago. It’s the fifth straight season the team winning the NFC South finished last the previous season. The loss was the fifth in a row for Atlanta (3-11). It capped a tumultuous week that began with suspended star quarterback Michael Vick being sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring, a lopsided loss to New Orleans and the abrupt resignation of first-year coach Bobby Petrino.

Packers 33, Rams 14

ST. LOUIS — Brett Favre threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsing Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing. Greg Jennings and Donald Lee caught scoring passes and kicker Mason Crosby was 4-for-4 from 44, 50, 25 and 46 yards for Green Bay, which secured a first-round playoff bye for the first time since 1997. The Packers (12-2) are 6-1 on the road, and prevailed in a sold-out Edward Jones Dome that appeared to be half-filled with Cheeseheads. When Favre set the record on a 7-yard toss to Donald Driver on the Packers’ first drive of the fourth quarter, he had thousands of fans rooting for him in every corner of the stadium. Favre was 19-for-30, throwing his 25th and 26th touchdown passes, with two interceptions. Steven Jackson had 143 yards on 23 carries for the Rams (3-11), who are 1-6 at home.

Panthers 13, Seahawks 10

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rookie Matt Moore, the fourth starting QB for the Panthers this season, engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter. Coming in with six losses in seven games and with coach John Fox sitting on the hot seat, the Panthers (6-8) turned in their best defensive performance of the season. Moore surprisingly outplayed Matt Hasselbeck as the NFC West champion Seahawks (9-5) had their five-game winning streak snapped. In a game scoreless until the fourth quarter, Moore led the Panthers on two scoring drives, the last ending with John Kasay’s 37-yard field goal with 2:59 left that gave Carolina a 6-3 lead. On the next possession, Hasselbeck fumbled on a sack by Thomas Davis and Carolina’s Richard Marshall recovered. That led to DeAngelo Williams’ 35-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left that put it away.

Saints 31, Cardinals 24

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees connected on 87 percent of his throws for 315 yards and two touchdowns, capping his day with a clutch, 22-yard third-down completion to Billy Miller that allowed the Saints to run out the clock. When New Orleans (7-7) last played in the Louisiana Superdome two games ago, a fumble on a botched reverse set up Tampa Bay’s winning touchdown inside the final half-minute. Brees made few mistakes, completing 26 of 30 throws while never turning over the ball. His prettiest pass was a 32-yard rainbow David Patten caught in stride along the sideline for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Eagles 10, Cowboys 6

IRVING, Texas — Tony Romo’s latest A-list girlfriend and his parents came to Texas Stadium to see the Dallas Cowboys play their final home game before the playoffs. They were treated to Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles beginning their last-gasp bid to get into the playoffs, too. McNabb wasn’t his old self, but he was good enough — and certainly better than the out-of-whack and possibly injured Romo, leading the Eagles. Philadelphia (6-8) could’ve won by more, but Brian Westbrook broke free for a 24-yard run with a little more than two minutes left. Instead of sprinting into the end zone, he stopped at the 1. Dallas (12-2) was out of timeouts, so the Eagles were able to take a knee on three straight plays rather take any chances.

INTERCONFERENCE

Chargers 51, Lions 14

SAN DIEGO — LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers left no doubt. The Chargers repeated as AFC West champions by beating the punchless Lions, their fourth straight win and eighth in 10 games. Tomlinson had 116 yards and two scores on 15 carries to continue his climb up the career rushing and touchdown charts. The rout was so complete that L.T. got the second half off, which allowed Darren Sproles to run for 122 yards and two TDs. It was the first time in Chargers history that two backs rushed for more than 100 yards in the same game.

Associated Press