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HOUSTON (AP) Deshaun Watson’s teammates talked all week about how they never feel as if they’re out of any game when No. 4 is on the field. On Saturday Watson showed why the Houston Texans have so much trust in him, when the quarterback’s dazzling performance late after a tough start led them to a playoff victory. Watson spun out of a would-be sack and coolly completed a pass that set up the winning field goal in overtime as the Texans rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit for a 22-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs. DeAndre Hopkins was asked to describe Watson’s play on Saturday to somebody who might have missed the game. “I hope everyone watched this today, but he's amazing,” Hopkins said. “You can't put too many words on it.” Both teams punted on their first possessions of overtime - the first extra period in an AFC wild-card game since January 2012. On Houston’s next drive, Watson evaded a sack by wriggling away from one def...

CHICAGO (AP) Mitchell Trubisky and the Chicago Bears appear to be hitting their stride, even if it might be too late to salvage their season. Trubisky threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in Chicago's 31-24 victory over Dak Prescott and the slumping Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. In a matchup between disappointing teams that made the playoffs last season, the Bears (7-6) came away with their fourth win in five games after dropping four in a row. The Cowboys (6-7) have lost seven of 10 since a 3-0 start. ''I think it shows we're resilient,'' Trubisky said. ''We stick together. We believe in each other even when nobody else believes in us. It's a special group in that locker room. We just want to keep this feeling going.'' Trubisky shook off an early interception near the goal line to complete 23 of 31 passes for 244 yards. He matched a season high for touchdown throws and set one with 63 yards rushing. That included a 23-ya...

CARSON, Calif. (AP) Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders will go into the final week of the season still having a chance for the playoffs after Sunday's 24-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers snapped a four-game losing streak. Oakland (7-8) still has a chance after losses by Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Cleveland. It needs a win over Denver next week and some help for only their second postseason trip since 2003. Raiders coach Jon Gruden said he didn't know about the results from earlier games when his kicked off. ''Let's not sugarcoat it, we've been through a lot. To say we are still playing in Week 17 for something, that's unbelievable,'' said Carr, who completed 26 of 30 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown. ''No one thought we would be playing for the playoffs. Let's just keep it real.'' Carr gave the Raiders a 14-7 lead with 8 seconds remaining with a 3-yard bootleg off right end. But Carr - whose 86.7% completion rate i...

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) Carson Wentz fumbled the ball away, but recovered in time to keep alive the Philadelphia Eagles’ hopes of winning the NFC East. Wentz bounced back from a potentially costly mistake by leading a 75-yard, go-ahead scoring drive and throwing his third touchdown pass of the day to keep Philadelphia's NFC East hopes on track with a 37-27 victory at the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Eagles and Cowboys both are 7-7 and face off in Philadelphia next week. For the second consecutive week, Wentz engineered a late-game scoring drive, this time with the motivation of atoning for his miscue. “Guys just kept believing,” said Wentz, who fumbled twice and lost one of those in the middle of the fourth quarter. “I didn't lose faith or confidence at all. I just wanted one more chance. I wanted another chance to go down and the defense gave that to us, and we got it done.” Wentz threw TD passes to running back Miles Sanders, tight end Zach Ertz and receiver Greg Ward ...

HOUSTON (AP) Mike Vrabel's playoff debut as a head coach will come against the team he helped to three Super Bowl titles as player. But don't expect the gruff second-year coach of the Tennessee Titans to reminisce about his time with the New England Patriots as next weekend's game approaches. “I’m not emotional,” Vrabel said. “I just know what's ahead and ... it’s about being focused on the Patriots and how I get these guys prepared to go on the road. You’re basically walking into the viper’s den.” The Titans secured their playoff spot with a 35-14 victory on Sunday over the Houston Texans, who had already bested Tennessee for the AFC South crown and had nothing to play for. Derrick Henry rushed for a season-high 211 yards and three touchdowns for the Titans (9-7), who will now prepare for their intriguing first-round matchup with New England. “I haven’t had a paycheck with a Patriots logo on it since 2008,” Vrabel said. “It’s no different than coaching against the...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Tampa Bay isn't giving up on Jameis Winston or its season. The suddenly red-hot Buccaneers (6-7) will miss the playoffs for the 12th straight year despite rallying Sunday to beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-35 for their third consecutive victory and fourth in five games. Winston continued to state his case for keeping the starting quarterback job beyond 2019, overcoming another turnover-marred performance by throwing for 456 yards and four touchdowns including the-winner with 3:51 remaining. And, he did it despite playing the second half with what coach Bruce Arians described as a ''little bitty fracture'' in his right thumb. ''He was fine at halftime. Then when he went to grip the ball, he couldn't grip it. So they X-rayed his thumb,'' Arians said, adding the injury was not serious. ''He was able to get his strength back and come back in.'' Arians has declined to commit to Winston as Tampa Bay's quarterba...

DETROIT (AP) Jameis Winston is making quite a case to stay in Tampa Bay. Winston became the first player in NFL history to throw for 450 yards in consecutive games, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 38-17 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. He threw three touchdowns in the first half - four overall - and a career-high 458 yards passing one week after throwing for 456 yards. Even though both Tampa Bay and Detroit won't reach their goals this season, Winston made the most of his opportunity to show the Buccaneers they should give him a new contract when his deal expires following the season. ''I hope I helped myself because I definitely want to be here in Tampa,'' he said. Winston, playing with a small fracture in his right thumb, completed 28 of 42 passes and set career highs with 221 yards passing in the first quarter and 308 yards by halftime. The No. 1 pick overall from the 2015 draft did throw a league-high 24th interception on the opening possession...

CINCINNATI (AP) Back from a three-week exile, Andy Dalton had more of a swagger in practice, as though he was out to prove something. ''He had a chip on his shoulder all week,'' running back Joe Mixon said. Dalton returned from one of the lowest points of his nine-year career and got a long-awaited victory Sunday for the coach who benched him, throwing a touchdown pass during a 22-6 victory over the New York Jets. The Bengals (1-11) ended the longest losing streak in their history and finally shed their distinction as the NFL's lone winless team. He got coach Zac Taylor his first win and set two franchise career passing records along the way. The only thing he wouldn't do is gloat. ''This one's very satisfying, with everything I've gone through this year,'' Dalton said. ''To be the record-breaker today, being the first one after not playing the last three weeks, this one means a lot.'' Taylor benched Dalton after th...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Already sunk by midseason, the Chicago Bears were happy to wrap up a frustrating year with a late-game push for the win. As far as feeling good for the Minnesota Vikings, body was the easy pick over mind. Eddy Pineiro's fourth field goal of the game came from 22 yards with 10 seconds left, giving the Bears a 21-19 victory on Sunday with the Vikings resting their regulars for the playoffs. ''We're going to learn from this,'' coach Matt Nagy said. ''It could have been easy for them to do just that and not be fighters, but they did. That's the positive.'' Pineiro, the latest attempt by the Bears (8-8) to solve their persistent kicking trouble, finished the season with 11 straight made field goals. Mitch Trubisky highlighted another unremarkable, conservative performance by hitting Riley Ridley for 34 yards on fourth-and-9 with 2:36 left from midfield to set up the winning kick. ''We just stuck together, believed an...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The Pittsburgh Steelers' path to the postseason just got a lot more difficult. They entered their game Sunday against former teammate Le'Veon Bell and the New York Jets with their playoff destiny in their hands. They fumbled that away with an ugly 16-10 loss. ''Not a lot to say, and appropriately so,'' coach Mike Tomlin said. ''This time of year is put up or shut up time and we didn't get the job done today. We accept responsibility for that and the ramifications of it.'' The Steelers (8-7) now need to win next Sunday at Baltimore, the AFC's top seed, just to stay alive. They also need Tennessee, which is also 8-7 and currently holds the final wild-card spot, to lose at Houston. ''We're done worrying about what other people are doing,'' linebacker T.J. Watt said. ''I think it's time, and it's been that way the whole season, to focus on us. Figure stuff out and find ways t...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Drew Brees trotted along the sideline holding his helmet and a Hall of Fame-bound ball in his left hand while using his right hand to wave and blow kisses to an adoring Superdome crowd. Another milestone, another memory, for an undersized and once underestimated player who has broken just about every significant record a quarterback can break - and doesn't look anywhere near done at age 40. Brees became the NFL's all-time leader in touchdown passes, throwing for four scores to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 34-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night. ''It was special, everything about the night,'' Brees said. ''It just kind of makes your whole life and career flash before your eyes, because I never thought I'd have a chance to be part of something like this.'' The scoring strike that broke Peyton Manning's record of 539 career touchdown passes came in the third quarter, when Brees hit tight end Josh H...

DETROIT (AP) Aaron Rodgers was on the money when Green Bay needed him most, overcoming one of his worst games this season. Rodgers threw a short and accurate pass to Aaron Jones, whose 31-yard reception set up Mason Crosby's 33-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Packers to a 23-20 win over the Detroit Lions that earned them a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. ''We're going to be a tough team to deal with in the playoffs,'' Rodgers said. The Packers (13-3) fell behind the last-place Lions by two touchdowns in the second quarter and didn't lead until Crosby made his second game-winning kick against Detroit this season. Green Bay won a fifth straight game despite Rodgers struggling for much of the afternoon. Rodgers was 27 of 55 for 323 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He connected on less than half of his attempts for the second time this season and finished with his second-lowest rating of the year. ''Too many missed throw...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills can finally look ahead to making their playoff preparations knowing they're headed to Houston next weekend. For Sam Darnold and the New York Jets (7-9), they have a long but hopeful offseason ahead in believing their 6-2 second-half record has them poised for a better future. “I promise you, we'll grow from here and we'll get this thing going in the right direction,” Jets center Jonotthan Harrison said after New York closed with a 13-6 win at Buffalo on Sunday. “It was a slow start (to the season). But at the end of the day, finishing the last half of the season 6-2 is huge. ... And that shows a lot about the character of the guys in the locker room.” Harrison was particularly referring to Darnold, the second-year quarterback who shook off a 1-4 start and a bout of mononucleosis to help the Jets avoid finishing with double-digit losses for what would have been a franchise-worst fourth consecutive year. In a game ...

CINCINNATI (AP) Andy Dalton took the snap and went to his knee, finishing a double-digit victory that might suffice as his farewell to Cincinnati. On the Browns sideline, Freddie Kitchens hugged Baker Mayfield at the end of a disappointing season that would culminate a few hours later with the first-year coach's firing. From the top of Ohio to the bottom, it was misery all-around on a gray, rainy afternoon. And now, it's time to figure out who's going to be around for the next try to get it right. Dalton threw for a touchdown and ran for another Sunday in his farewell as Cincinnati's franchise quarterback. A Joe Burrow banner in the upper deck reminded him what comes next as the Bengals wrapped up one of their most miserable seasons with a 33-23 victory that didn't end the day's developments. The Browns (6-10) returned to Cleveland on Sunday night and announced that Kitchens had been fired. Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslem said in a statement that they didn'...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone sat slumped in a chair in his office, his head down and his face planted in both hands. Marrone looked about like his team played: uninspired and ready for the season to be over. Philip Rivers threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns on his 38th birthday, including an 84-yarder to Austin Ekeler that was the longest completion of the quarterback's 16-year NFL career, and the Los Angeles Chargers routed the Jaguars 45-10 Sunday to end a three-game skid. It was Jacksonville's fifth consecutive lopsided loss, all by at least 17 points. The 1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the last NFL team to drop five straight by at least 17. Jacksonville's last two have been embarrassments at home - both essentially over by halftime. The latest one could be the end of Marrone's tenure in Jacksonville. It's hard to imagine owner Shad Khan keeping Doug Marrone any longer, not following another lackluster effort against ...

DENVER (AP) Shelby Harris capped his breakout season with a knockdown that officially knocked out the Oakland Raiders. The nose tackle who was cut three times by the Raiders before blossoming in Denver batted down Derek Carr's 2-point pass to Hunter Renfrow with 7 seconds left Sunday and the Broncos put at end to the Raiders' dim playoff hopes - and to Oakland's run as an NFL city with a 16-15 win. "He's a knockdown artist," Chris Harris Jr. said. "He's clutch." Shelby Harris said he knew all he had time to do was get his hands up high. "You knew it was going to be a quick pass and it was going to be pretty tough to get a sack on that, so you have to do the next best thing and knock the ball down," he said. The Raiders (7-9) nearly made the Broncos (7-9) pay dearly for Garett Bolles' 15th penalty of the season. His personal foul long after the whistle pushed Brandon McManus way back for a 57-yard field-goal attempt, which sai...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) It wasn’t last season’s “Miami Miracle” loss. But the Patriots' latest setback could wind up affecting their prospects of repeating as Super Bowl champions. The Dolphins dropped New England into the wild-card playoff round when Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Gesicki with 24 seconds remaining for a stunning 27-24 victory Sunday. New England (12-4) will have to play in the opening weekend of the postseason for the first time since 2009. The Patriots never have made the Super Bowl while playing in the wild-card round. They will face Tennessee (9-7), which earned the final AFC wild card with a win at Houston. “We didn’t play the way we were capable of playing and it ended up costing us," quarterback Tom Brady said. "Just too many bad mistakes.” The Dolphins (5-11) scored on a wild series of laterals on the final play to win the second meeting between the teams last season, in Miami. This time, it was Fitzpatrick...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Houston Texans took charge in the fourth quarter, and now they have control of the AFC South with two games remaining. The defending division champs are looking for Houston's fourth AFC South title in six years under coach Bill O'Brien. The Titans haven't won this division since 2008, and Mike Vrabel is Tennessee's third coach since. Carlos Hyde ran for 104 yards and scored a TD with 10:34 left and Ka'imi Fairbairn's 29-yard field goal with 3:26 remaining provided the winning margin as the Texans scored 10 straight points in the fourth quarter to beat the Tennessee Titans 24-21 on Sunday. "We had to lock in,” Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson said. “That’s what we did. It came down to that fourth quarter of standing up, getting up and getting a drive in and getting points on the board and defense making a stop. Yeah, it was just something that we definitely didn't want to let it slip out of our hand.” Now the Texans (9-5) ...