The Blitz Read: Playoff field set with streaking Packers, Patriots, Steelers

Ron Clements

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The Blitz Read: Playoff field set with streaking Packers, Patriots, Steelers image

The NFL's playoff field is set.

It wasn't finalized until Sunday night's regular-season finale in Detroit when the Packers clinched the NFC North and the No. 4 seed in the NFC with a 31-24 victory over the Lions.

While the Packers won the division, the Packers and Lions had each clinched a playoff berth before they kicked off at Ford Field. 

The Giants (11-5) eliminated the Redskins from playoff contention with a 19-10 road win at FedEx Field. Washington (8-7-1) would have clinched a spot by winning and the Packers-Lions loser would have been out of the playoffs. 

The Packers will now host the Giants next Sunday while the Lions will travel to Seattle to play the third-seeded Seahawks (10-5-1) Saturday night. The Seahawks won at San Francisco, which fired both coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke following the 25-23 home loss. 

MORE: NFL playoff schedule

The Falcons (11-5) wrapped up the 2 seed with a 38-32 win over the Saints. The Cowboys (13-3) had already sealed up homefield advantage in the NFC before Sunday's 27-14 loss to the Eagles as Dallas rested several starters. 

The Patriots (14-2) cruised to a 35-14 win over the Dolphins (10-6) to get the top seed in the AFC. Miami is the 6 seed and will play at Pittsburgh next Sunday to face the third-seeded Steelers (11-5), who ensured the Browns (1-15) would have the top pick in the NFL Draft with a 27-24 overtime victory at Heinz Field. 

The No. 2 seed in the AFC is Kansas City (12-4), which won the AFC West with a 37-27 win over the Chargers in what might have been the final NFL game in San Diego. The Raiders (12-4) could have won the division, but could not muster any offense in Denver without injured quarterback Derek Carr. Broncos coach Gary Kubiak stepped down following the 24-6 win because of health reasons. 

MORE: Who could replace Kubiak in Denver?

The Raiders are the fifth seed and will play Saturday at Houston. The Texans (9-7) lost at Tennessee, but had already clinched the AFC South and the No. 4 seed. 

Teams want to enter the playoffs hot and the Packers and Patriots enter the playoffs riding six-game win streaks while the Steelers have won seven straight. 

Injury report

Cardinals running back David Johnson injured his left knee in Sunday's 44-6 win over the Rams and will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury. 

The Raiders might have to go with rookie Connor Cook against the Texans after Matt McGloin suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter of the loss to the Broncos. 

Saints receivers Willie Snead and Brandin Cooks both left Sunday's loss to the Saints in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion. 

The Packers (10-6) lost three cornerbacks with injuries as Makinton Dorleant (knee), Damarious Randall (knee) and Quinten Rollins (neck) all left and did not return. Dorleant and Rollins were both carted off the field as the Packers secondary became even more depleted heading into the postseason. Rollins was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but did have movement in all his limbs. 

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By the numbers

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a record-setting day in Miami. Brady threw for 276 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions to set an NFL record for best single-season touchdown-to-interception ratio. Brady has 28 touchdowns and just two picks this season. He also passed former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino for fourth place on the NFL's all-time passing yards list. Brady has 3,554 yards in just 12 games this season and 61,582 yards for his career. Marino (61,361) is now fifth behind Brady, Drew Brees (66,111), Brett Favre (71,838) and Peyton Manning (71,940).

Speaking of Brees, his 350 yards against the Falcons give him 5,208 for the season. Of the nine 5,000-yard passing seasons in NFL history, Brees has five of them. Marino (1984), Brady (2011), Matthew Stafford (2011) and Manning (2013) have the others. 

Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford did take a record from Brees. Bradford was 25 of 33 for 250 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in Minnesota's 38-10 win over the Bears. By completing 75.8 percent of his passes on Sunday, Bradford finishes the season with a 71.6 completion percentage to set a new NFL mark previously held by Brees. 

Bears running back Jordan Howard ran for 135 yards against the Vikings and set a new Bears rookie record with 1,313 yards this season. That breaks the record previously held by Matt Forte.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates caught five passes for 55 yards in the loss to the Chiefs. He also scored on a 2-yard pass and tied former Chiefs and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez with 111 touchdowns, the most ever by a tight end. 

Highlights

Brady's 28th touchdown of the season was a 77-yard pass to Julian Edelman, who got a nice block from Michael Floyd to spring him.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton tossed three interceptions in Sunday's 17-16 loss to the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay's Brent Grimes returned one of those picks for a score.

Angels center fielder Mike Trout got a special souvenir following a touchdown pass from Carson Wentz to Zach Ertz to help the Eagles beat the Cowboys. 

The Bears lost 38-10 to the Vikings, but their only touchdown was a 2-yard pass from wide receiver Cam Meredith to quarterback Matt Barkley. 

Colts linebacker Robert Mathis played his final game Sunday and had a strip-sack in the 24-20 win over the Jaguars. 

Cobi Hamilton's 26-yard touchdown in overtime lifted the Steelers to a win over the Browns. 

The Bills allowed the Jets to score a touchdown in New York's 30-10 win by failing to recover a kickoff. Bills running back Mike Gillislee let the ball roll into the end zone and Doug Middleton fell on the live ball for a Jets touchdown. 

Chargers safety Jahleel Addae probably had no idea where the ball was until it landed in his hands. He did the rest, following blockers to weave his way for a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown. 

It wasn't the longest touchdown scored in San Diego as Chiefs rookie Tyreek Hill took a punt back 95 yards late in the third quarter of Kansas City's 37-27 win. 

The Packers weren't able to away the Lions until Aaron Rodgers scrambled for eight seconds to find rookie Geronimo Allison in the back of the end zone to give the Packers a 23-14 lead with 

Quotables

Mathis to teammates after his final NFL game: "It's on you to protect your dream. If you want to be great, go get it. It can happen."

Rodgers on Green Bay's six-game winning streak: "They never broke. We could have fractured at some point, but we stuck together. Every game we came with a great focus and when adversity hit in the game, we pushed right through it."

Sunday's games

MORE: NFL scoreboard — stats, highlights, info from the regular-season finale

Bengals 27, Ravens 10
Colts 24, Jaguars 20
Patriots 35, Dolphins 14
Vikings 38, Bears 10
Jets 30, Bills 10
Eagles 27, Cowboys 13
Steelers 27, Browns 24, OT
Buccaneers 17, Panthers 16
Titans 24, Texans 17
Falcons 38, Saints 32
Giants 19, Redskins 10
Broncos 24, Raiders 6
Chiefs 37, Chargers 27
Cardinals 44, Rams 6
Seahawks 25, 49ers 23
Packers 31, Lions 24

Ron Clements