The Albany Gazette - Broncos grab top seed while Panthers reach NFL playoffs

The Broncos (14-3) claimed the AFC top seed, a first-round bye and playoff home-field advantage by defeating the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 19-3.

Ja'Quan McMillian's 45-yard interception return touchdown gave Denver a 10-0 lead and Wil Lutz added field goals of 23, 26 and 41 yards in the second half to secure a triumph over the playoff-bound Chargers (11-6).

A Denver loss would have opened the door for New England, which routed Miami 38-10 as Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeon Henderson each ran for two touchdowns.

The Patriots (14-3) settled for the AFC second seed and will host the Chargers in their playoff opener.

Had Denver and New England both lost, the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4) would have swiped the AFC top seed after routing the Tennessee Titans 41-7 to close the season on an eight-game win streak.

Trevor Lawrence threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns for Jacksonville, which will host Buffalo in a playoff opener next week.

Seattle (14-3) claimed the NFC top seed on Saturday with a 13-3 victory at San Francisco.

Carolina and Tampa Bay were relegated to spectators as their playoff fate was settled when the Atlanta Falcons beat visiting New Orleans 19-17.

Tampa Bay's 16-14 triumph over Carolina on Saturday left both clubs 8-9 and the Falcons matched them atop the NFC South division by beating the Saints.

In a three-way head-to-head results tie-breaker, the Panthers took the division crown and playoff spot, Tampa Bay having needed a Saints win or draw to reach the playoffs.

"Proud of everybody," Carolina coach Dave Canales said. "It took the whole season capturing opportunities to be in this position and we're ready to chase the next championship opportunity in front of us."

Atlanta's Zane Gonzalez kicked his fourth field goal, a 38-yarder, to give the Falcons a 19-10 lead with 2:52 remaining. New Orleans answered on Tyler Shough's 16-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Bell with 1:11 to play, but the Saints could not recover an onside kick attempt and Atlanta ran out the clock.

The Los Angeles Rams will visit Carolina in next week's playoff openers.

The NFL's final playoff berth will be decided later when the Baltimore Ravens visit Pittsburgh for a winner-take-all showdown to decide the AFC North title. The loser misses the playoffs and the winner hosts Houston in a playoff opener next week.

The Texans (12-5) stretched their win streak to nine games by defeating Indianapolis 38-30, the Colts losing their seventh game in a row.

Chicago lost 19-16 at home to Detroit but took a second seed when Philadelphia lost 24-17 to Washington. That sends San Francisco to Philadelphia and Green Bay to Chicago for playoff openers.

- Garrett sets record -

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set an NFL record for quarterback sacks in a single season by taking down Cincinnati's Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter of Cleveland's 20-18 road victory.

Garrett raised his season total to 23 sacks, eclipsing the old record of 22.5 sacks shared by T.J. Watt from 2021 and Michael Strahan from 2001.

"I was nervous as hell," Garrett said. "I had a dream last night that I didn't get it and all the feelings that come with that. I woke up and I was sweating.

"I was like, there's no way I'm going to let that be my destiny, so I was fighting like hell to rewrite history."

The Las Vegas Raiders (3-14) beat Kansas City 14-12 on Daniel Carlson's 60-yard field goal in the final seconds and secured the top pick in April's NFL Draft when the New York Giants (4-13) defeated Dallas 34-17.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen took the opening snap to extend his streak of consecutive starts to 122 games then went to the bench and watched Mitchell Trubisky throw four touchdown passes in a 35-8 Bills rout of the New York Jets.

(O.Garcia--TAG)