Dec 28, 2014 5 min read

Kansas City rolled to a win that eliminated San Diego from contention, but the Chiefs failed to get the help they needed to qualify for the playoffs.

Baltimore and Houston both needed to lose in games happening at the same time, and both rallied in the second half for wins.

Justin Houston had four sacks for the Chiefs (9-7) to break Derrick Thomas’ franchise record with 22 in the season. Cairo Santos kicked four field goals, and Chase Daniel played serviceably in place of injured quarterback Alex Smith, throwing for 157 yards without an interception.

The Chiefs’ only touchdown came when wide receiver Dwayne Bowe fumbled inches shy of the goal line early in the second quarter. Tight end Travis Kelce recovered in the end zone, not only giving Kansas City a 10-0 lead but keeping a dubious streak intact: No Chiefs wide receiver caught a TD pass all season, the first time in at least 50 years that happened.

Philip Rivers had 291 yards passing for the Chargers (9-7), going over 4,000 yards in a season for the sixth time in his career.

Baltimore 20, Cleveland 10: Baltimore earned a spot in the postseason Sunday, rallying to defeat the Cleveland Browns 20-10 while getting an assist halfway across the country.

Down 10-3 in the fourth quarter, the Ravens kicked a field goal and then took the lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to Torrey Smith with 7:33 left.

Flacco’s 2-yard TD throw to Kamar Aiken clinched it.

To reach the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, Baltimore (10-6) needed to beat the Browns (7-9) and have San Diego lose in Kansas City.

That’s precisely what happened.

The Browns lost four straight, were starting rookie quarterback Connor Shaw and dropped 12 of their past 13 against Baltimore.

Houston 23, Jacksonville 17: J.J. Watt had three sacks and a safety and Andre Johnson had 134 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Texans (9-7) had a shot at making the playoffs, but Baltimore beat Cleveland to claim the final AFC wild-card spot.

Johnson gave Houston a 21-17 lead with an 8-yard reception early in the fourth. Watt made it 23-17 when he sacked Blake Bortles in the end zone for a safety a few minutes later. The sack gave him 20 1/2 this season, making him the first player in NFL history to have two seasons with 20 or more sacks.

Dallas 44, Washington 17: DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant broke franchise records as the Cowboys prepped for the playoffs.

The result was impressive but meaningless for postseason purposes unless at least one game played later in the day ended in a tie. Win or lose against Washington (4-12), NFC East champion Dallas (12-4) would get a first-round bye with losses by both Arizona and Seattle.

Murray rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries, passing Emmitt Smith for the team single-season mark. Murray’s 1,845 yards bettered Smith’s 1,773 from 1995.

Bryant caught scoring passes of 65 and 23 yards to give him 16 touchdown receptions on the season, breaking Terrell Owens’ team record of 15 set in 2007.

New Orleans 23, Tampa Bay 20: Drew Brees threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Marques Colston with 1:57 remaining to keep the Buccaneers on course to land the top pick in the NFL draft.

Brees shrugged off three interceptions – two of them stopping promising third-quarter drives – to throw for 281 yards. His only TD pass gave the Saints (7-9) their first lead, and Junior Galette sacked Josh McCown for a safety that provided the final margin.

Indianapolis 27, Tennessee 10: Andrew Luck threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns before sitting out the second half.

The Colts (11-5) bounced back from their worst performance this season by nearly matching at halftime what they did offensively in the loss at Dallas. They wound up outgaining the Titans 378-192 as the AFC South champs swept their division a second straight season for the first time in franchise history.

Buffalo 17, New England 9: Kyle Orton threw for one touchdown, Anthony Dixon ran for another and the Bills finished their first winning season in 10 years with a win over the going-through-the motions Patriots.

With the top seed in the AFC playoffs already clinched, the Patriots used quarterback Tom Brady for only the first half and held out tight end Rob Gronkowski and five other starters.

The victory snapped several streaks: Buffalo’s 0-12 record at Gillette Stadium and New England’s 35 straight home wins against AFC teams.

N.Y. Jets 37, Miami 24: Geno Smith had his best game in a rocky season, throwing for a career-high 358 yards and three touchdowns in what might be Rex Ryan’s final game as Jets coach.

Smith’s performance more than negated a 97-yard run by Lamar Miller, the longest play from scrimmage in Dolphins history.

Philadelphia 34, N.Y. Giants 26: Mark Sanchez threw two touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles’ special teams scored their seventh TD of this otherwise frustrating season in what could have been Tom Coughlin’s final game as New York’s coach.

Backup tight end Trey Burton returned a blocked punt 27 yards for a score in the third quarter, and Nate Allen iced the game with a late interception. The Eagles (10-6) snapped a three-game losing streak that knocked them out of playoff contention last week.

Minnesota 13, Chicago 9: Teddy Bridgewater threw the go-ahead 44-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen in the third quarter, putting one more blemish on a forgettable year for the Bears.