EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Graham Gano’s 43-yard field goal as time expired kept Carolina perfect this season with a wild 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.
Cam Newton threw for five touchdowns in building a 28-point lead before New York stormed back to tie it with 1:46 remaining. The rally tied the NFL record set by San Francisco against New Orleans in 1980. The big difference: The 49ers won their game; the Giants lost.
Newton led the Panthers (14-0) to their 18th straight regular-season victory. He has thrown for 19 touchdowns in the last five games and a career-best 33 in this so-far special season.
Carolina visits Atlanta and hosts Tampa Bay to finish the schedule. All three previous NFL teams to reach 14-0 — Miami in 1972, New England in 2007 and Indianapolis in 2009 — made the Super Bowl.
The Giants (6-8) fell one game behind Washington in the NFC East.
STEELERS 34,
BRONCOS 27
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns as the Steelers rallied.
Antonio Brown caught 16 passes for 189 yards and two scores as Pittsburgh (9-5) moved into the AFC’s second wild-card spot by dominating the NFL’s best defense after spotting the Broncos 17-point lead.
The Steelers controlled the second half, finally taking the lead when Ryan Shazier intercepted Brock Osweiler to set up a 23-yard dart from Roethlisberger to Brown with 3:34 to go.
Osweiler threw for 296 yards with three touchdowns passing and another on the ground but struggled in the second half as the Broncos (10-4) lost their second straight and failed to lock up the AFC West title.
CARDINALS 40,
EAGLES 17
PHILADELPHIA — David Johnson ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns, Carson Palmer threw a TD pass and Arizona beat Philadelphia to clinch the NFC West title.
The Cardinals (12-2) will earn a first-round bye with a win over Green Bay next week. They still have a chance to secure the No. 1 seed if they win out and Carolina loses its last two games. The Eagles (6-8) would win the NFC East title if they beat Washington at home and the Giants on the road.
The Cardinals outclassed Philadelphia in every way on their way to their eighth straight win.
Johnson, a rookie filling in for injured backs Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, had a pair of 1-yard TD runs and a 47-yarder. Palmer gave Cardinals fans a brief scare when he came out for one play after injuring his right index finger on a throw. But he returned to toss a 16-yard TD pass to John Brown and finished 20 of 32 for 274 yards. Deone Bucannon returned Sam Bradford’s interception 39 yards for a touchdown to give Arizona a 37-10 lead early in the fourth quarter, sending fans to the exits.
PACKERS 30,
RAIDERS 20
OAKLAND, Calif. — Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass and Damarious Randall returned an interception for another score to help Green Bay.
Green Bay (10-4) clinched a spot in the postseason in the first quarter when the New York Giants lost to Carolina. But the Packers still have their eyes set on a division title and remain one game ahead of Minnesota in the NFC North.
Derek Carr threw two early interceptions to put Oakland (6-8) in a hole but then had a pair of touchdown passes to Amari Cooper. It wasn’t enough as the Raiders were eliminated from playoff contention for the 13th straight season.
BENGALS 24,
49ERS 14
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Jeremy Hill ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns to back AJ McCarron’s first career start, and the Bengals clinched a fifth straight postseason berth,
As Andy Dalton watched from the sideline with a large cast over his broken right thumb, McCarron threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kroft just before halftime as the Bengals (11-3) forced three second-quarter turnovers by San Francisco (4-10) to take command.
Vontaze Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones each made interceptions on balls that deflected off the hands of tight end Vance McDonald. Cincinnati capitalized with touchdowns on two of the turnovers, including Kroft’s TD catch one play and five seconds after the second pick.
VIKINGS 38,
BEARS 17
MINNEAPOLIS — Teddy Bridgewater threw a career-high four touchdowns and ran for another, and the Vikings took a big step toward clinching playoff spot.
Bridgewater completed 17 of 20 passes for 231 yards without a turnover, connecting twice with Stefon Diggs for scores. Jerick McKinnon and Zach Line had the other touchdown catches on a remarkably productive afternoon for all of Minnesota’s running backs.
Adrian Peterson missed some time because of an injury to his left ankle, but finished with 63 yards to maintain his NFL rushing lead. The Vikings are 9-5. The Bears are 5-9.
CHARGERS 30,
DOLPHINS 14
SAN DIEGO — Danny Woodhead had his first career four-touchdown game and Philip Rivers recovered a fumble on a play that began with him throwing an interception in what might have been the final NFL game in San Diego.
Woodhead caught TD passes of 20, 9 and 9 yards, and scored on a 2-yard run for the Chargers (4-10), who failed to score a touchdown in each of their previous two home games. Miami (5-9) lost for the fourth time in five games.
The Chargers Cannon went off. The disco ditty “San Diego Super Chargers” blared for what might be the final time.
It could all be over after 55 seasons if NFL owners allow Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos to move to an industrial suburb of Los Angeles and build a stadium with rival Oakland Raiders.
WASHINGTON 35,
BILLS 25
LANDOVER, Md. — Kirk Cousins equaled his career high with four touchdown passes and ran 13 yards for another score, helping Washington win consecutive games for the first time in more than a year and stay atop the NFC East.
While Washington (7-7) moved closer to a playoff berth, the Bills (6-8) are now assured of missing the postseason for the 16th year in a row, the NFL’s longest active drought.
Making first-year Bills head coach Rex Ryan’s defense look inept, and helped by a key fourth-down encroachment penalty on Buffalo, Washington scored TDs on each of their first three possessions for the first time since September 1999, grabbing a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.
CHIEFS 34,
RAVENS 14
BALTIMORE — Kansas City capitalized on a variety of miscues by Baltimore, extended its winning streak to eight games and remain in the thick of the playoff picture.
Tyvon Branch returned a fumble 73 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and Marcus Peters clinched the victory with a 90-yard interception return for a score with 4:36 left.
Kansas City (9-5) also scored touchdowns following a drive-extending penalty by Baltimore and a failed fake punt.
With the win, the Chiefs became the first NFL team to follow a five-game slide with eight successive wins in the same season.
Baltimore (4-10) is 2-5 at home — the first time in its 20-year history the team has lost five home games.
TEXANS 16,
COLTS 10
INDIANAPOLIS — Brandon Weeden replaced injured quarterback T.J. Yates late in the first half and threw a go-ahead 8-yard TD pass to Jaelen Strong with 10:36 to play as Houston won at Indianapolis for the first time in 14 tries.
The Texans (7-7) took sole possession of the AFC South lead by snapping a two-game losing streak.
The Colts (6-8) have lost three straight and need help to make the playoffs.
The battle of backup quarterbacks didn’t earn style points. Yates was 6 of 10 for 68 yards with one interception before hurting his left knee. Weeden went 11 of 18 with 105 yards, leading the Texans to three field goals and the decisive TD.
Hasselbeck was 17 of 30 with 147 yards and one interception and briefly gave way to Charlie Whitehurst in the fourth.
PATRIOTS 33,
TITANS 16
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady threw for two touchdowns to help New England hold onto the top spot in the AFC in a game that saw Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota knocked out of the game with a knee injury in the first half.
The 2014 Heisman Trophy winner and the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, Mariota left and did not return after being sacked to end consecutive second-quarter drives.
Brady completed 23 of 35 passes for 267 yards.
Delanie Walker caught two passes, both for touchdowns, for 64 yards for Tennessee. Zach Mettenberger completed 20 of 28 passes for 242 yards, two TD and two interceptions after replacing Mariota.
FALCONS 23,
JAGUARS 17
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Julio Jones scored for the first time in seven weeks, and Atlanta ended a six-game losing streak.
Jones finished with nine receptions for 118 yards and set the franchise record for catches in a season. He has 118, breaking teammate Roddy White’s mark of 115 set in 2010.
The Falcons (7-7) had lost six straight and even had some wondering whether they had given up after losing 38-0 last week at Carolina.
The Jaguars (5-9) lost ground in the muddled AFC South and were all but eliminated in the division race.
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