NFL ROUNDUP Sunday’s other games

Saints 42, Lions 7

DETROIT — Detroit became the first 0-15 team ever and will try to avoid a perfectly awful season in the finale at Green Bay, where they haven’t won since 1991. Drew Brees threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns after four Saints ran for scores in the first half. Brees stayed in the game with a 35-point lead late in the fourth quarter to move closer to Dan Marino’s single-season record for yards passing. He needs 402 at home against Carolina to break Marino’s record of 5,084 set in 1984. The Lions were outscored by a combined 176 points at home this season, smashing the previous record of 146 set by the 1981 Colts. Only the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976 went through a season winless in the modern era, but it was a 14-game schedule. Brees connected with Marques Colston twice in the third quarter for a 42-7 lead and a single-season franchise record of 29 touchdowns. The Saints also set a team record with their 50th TD of the year. Detroit benched Dan Orlovsky early in the fourth quarter after he completed just 10 of 23 passes for 125 yards and two interceptions. Drew Stanton entered and was 1-of-3 for 12 yards. It got so ugly fans mockingly in the half-empty stadium chanted “Jo-ey! Jo-ey!” in reference to New Orleans’ third-string quarterback Joey Harrington, who was the first of many first-round busts Detroit drafted during its miserable eight-season stretch.

Falcons 24, Vikings 17

MINNEAPOLIS — Matt Ryan threw for a touchdown and made no big mistakes and Justin Blalock recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score as Atlanta clinched a postseason berth. Michael Turner rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons (10-5), who were 4-12 a year ago and ended the season without a head coach or a franchise quarterback. The league’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, was held to 76 yards. He lost a fumble inside the Atlanta 20, another one on a botched handoff from Jackson and had one more that he recovered on the final drive.

Bills 30, Broncos 23

DENVER — The Broncos blew an early 13-0 lead in the second-coldest game in Denver’s history, setting up an all-or-nothing matchup against the Chargers next week for the division title. Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler threw for 359 yards and broke Jake Plummer’s franchise record with 4,210 yards for the season. But Kawika Mitchell’s interception at the goal line when the Broncos were threatening for the tying touchdown with less than six minutes left clinched the Bills’ win.

Chargers 41, Buccaneers 24

TAMPA, Fla. — Philip Rivers, the NFL’s highest-rated passer, threw for 287 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Chargers keep their playoff hopes alive and deal a crushing blow to the Buccaneers’ chances. Rivers threw TD passes of 15 and 5 yards to Antonio Gates, the latter giving the Chargers the lead for good on the first play of the fourth quarter. Darren Sproles turned a screen pass into a 32-yard touchdown before Antoine Cason returned one of San Diego’s two fourth-quarter interceptions 59 yards for a score.

Dolphins 38, Chiefs 31

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the coldest game they ever played, the Dolphins stayed hot. Chad Pennington threw three touchdown passes, continuing one of the most remarkable comeback seasons in NFL history in temperatures that plunged into single digits. With their fourth victory in a row and eighth in nine games, the Dolphins (10-5) can clinch the AFC East next week just one year after finishing a league-worst 1-15. The temperature at kickoff was 10, with a wind chill of minus-12. Previously, the coldest game the Dolphins ever played was 14 degrees at Foxboro, Mass., on Dec. 11, 1977.

Patriots 47, Cardinals 7

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England is peaking in time for the postseason, crushing Arizona with a blizzard of points on a snow-covered field. Showing vast superiority to the struggling champions of the weak NFC West, the Patriots pressured Kurt Warner into one of his worst games in 11 pro seasons as he threw for just 30 yards. The Cardinals’ defense was as miserable as the weather, allowing the Patriots to score on nine of their 10 possessions before Matt Cassel got the rest of the game off. New England (10-5) held a huge margin of 514 to 186 yards. Cassel completed 20 of 36 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns.

Redskins 10, Eagles 3

LANDOVER, Md. — Jim Zorn sure didn’t look like the worst coach in America. Instead, he’s the coach who got his Redskins turned around a week too late — with a stop at the 1-yard line on the game’s final play. As Reggie Brown caught the ball near the goal line, cornerback Fred Smoot lifted him into the air, and safety LaRon Landry supplied the shove that kept the Eagles receiver out of the end zone. With no timeouts remaining, Philadelphia couldn’t stop the clock as the last seconds ticked away. Washington stymied an Eagles team that was averaging close to 33 points during a three-game winning streak, and Clinton Portis scored his first touchdown in eight weeks in a win that offered the Redskins a consolation prize on the day they were mathematically eliminated from the postseason. The Redskins (8-7) had lost three in a row and five of six after a 6-2 start, prompting Zorn last week to say he felt “like the worst coach in America.”

Seahawks 13, Jets 3

SEATTLE — Seattle’s Maurice Morris sliced through the snow like a sled for a season-high 116 yards and John Carlson scored the only touchdown on a short pass from backup Seneca Wallace as the lowly Seahawks ended New York’s stay atop the AFC East.

Raiders 27, Texans 17

OAKLAND, Calif. — In a season with very little to celebrate, Johnnie Lee Higgins gave Raiders fans plenty to cheer about in the home finale. Higgins caught a 29-yard touchdown pass and then returned a punt 80 yards for another score in the third quarter.

Associated Press