The Associated Press
Tim Booth
Carolina closed out its remarkable season by wrapping up home-field advantage in the NFC.
Denver turned to Peyton Manning to take advantage of New England’s slip-up in the AFC.
And Rex Ryan made certain to continue the N.Y. Jets’ playoff drought.
Carolina and Denver wrapped up the No. 1 playoff seeds in each conference by winning at home on the final day of the NFL regular season yesterday.
Carolina routed Tampa Bay 38-10 while Denver edged San Diego 27-20 to capture the AFC West title.
“We find our edge playing in front of the home crowd,” said Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton.
“Everything here feels just right,” he noted. “We don’t have travel to a hostile environment.
“This is our house—and it’s hostile.”
New England will be the No. 2 seed in the AFC after losing at Miami yesterday while Arizona will have the other bye in the NFC despite getting routed 36-6 by Seattle.
Denver’s victory finally settled the AFC playoff picture.
Cincinnati is the No. 3 seed and will host AFC North rival Pittsburgh in a wild-card game Saturday night while AFC South champion Houston is the No. 4 seed and will host Kansas City, winners of 10-straight games.
The Texans and Chiefs will play the first game of the playoffs Saturday afternoon.
New England will host the early game on Saturday, Jan. 16, with Denver hosting the lowest remaining AFC seed in the late game on Sunday, Jan. 17.
The NFC playoff picture was settled late last night when Minnesota beat Green Bay 20-13 to clinch the NFC North.
The Vikings will host Seattle in the early game this Sunday while Green Bay will travel to NFC East champion Washington for the late game.
The Redskins closed the season with their fourth-straight win by beating Dallas yesterday.
Arizona will host the late game on Saturday, Jan. 16 while the Panthers will host the lowest remaining seed in the NFC in the early game on Sunday, Jan. 17.
The highlight of the day was Ryan and the Buffalo Bills stopping the Jets from making the playoffs and gave the Steelers the final playoff spot in the AFC.
The Bills beat the Jets 22-17 while Pittsburgh knocked off Cleveland 28-12—the only results that would have gotten the Steelers into the post-season.
The Jets have not made the playoffs since 2010.
“I’ve got a lot of friends over there and I want them to be successful, but not at my expense,” Ryan said.
Ryan has plenty of friends in the Steel City now.
“A lot of thanks to coach Ryan and the rest of the Bills and everybody in Buffalo,” said Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
“I know they’re excited about 8-8 and we’re excited they got us in.”
New England had a chance at home field in the AFC but flopped in Miami—getting beat 20-10.
Denver, meanwhile, struggled in the first half against San Diego before inserting Manning in place of Brock Osweiler at quarterback and holding on late for the seven-point victory.
“Wherever we play, we play,” reasoned Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick.
Houston also clinched the AFC South with its win over Jacksonville and will host Kansas City after the Chiefs beat Oakland for their 10th-straight victory.
“We are not happy with just winning the AFC South,” wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said.
“There are bigger goals ahead of us.”
Seattle rebounded from last week’s loss at home against St. Louis with one of its most dominant victories of the season—winning big at Arizona.
The Seahawks led 30-6 at halftime and won for the sixth time in seven games.
It’ll be their second trip to Minnesota in about a month. Seattle beat the Vikings 38-7 back on Dec. 6.
“These guys are confident that we can go wherever we got to go,” said Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll.
