March 28, 2024

Wild final weekend of play sets NFL playoff teams

The Eagles and Packers went on the road Sunday and headed home with playoff berths.

Philadelphia completed a terrific turnaround under new coach Chip Kelly by beating Dallas 24-22 to win the NFC East.

Hours before, Aaron Rodgers played the role of returning hero, along with Randall Cobb, in Green Bay’s 33-28 victory at Chicago to capture the NFC North title.

The Eagles (10-6) will host New Orleans (11-5) on Saturday night. Green Bay (8-7-1) is home against San Francisco (12-4) on Sunday.

The wild-card round begins Saturday with Kansas City (11-5) at Indianapolis (11-5). The early game Sunday is San Diego (9-7) at Cincinnati (11-5).

Brandon Boykin’s interception in the final 2 minutes clinched Philadelphia’s win. One year after the Eagles finished 4-12, they won seven of their final eight games to win the division.

At Chicago, in his first game back from a broken left collarbone, Rodgers threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Cobb on fourth-and-8 with 38 seconds left for the go-ahead score.

San Diego also finished off a rally to get into the postseason, beating short-handed Kansas City 27-24 in overtime for its fourth consecutive victory. After Miami and Baltimore lost earlier in the day, the Chargers rode Nick Novak’s 36-yard field goal with 5:30 left in OT to the sixth seed.

Kansas City kicker Ryan Succop was wide right on a 41-yard field goal to win it with 4 seconds left in regulation.

The Colts, winners of the AFC South, beat Jacksonville 30-10 on Sunday and will face a familiar opponent in the playoffs. They won 23-7 in Kansas City last weekend.

The defending NFL champion Ravens will stay home. The Bengals beat Baltimore 34-17. Miami (8-8) lost to the New York Jets 20-7.

AFC West champion Denver (13-3), the highest-scoring team in NFL history, earned the No. 1 seed in the conference by romping at Oakland 34-14. New England (12-4), the AFC East winner, will be the second seed and also have a bye next weekend. The Patriots beat Buffalo 34-20.

Carolina (12-4) won the NFC South and a first-round playoff bye with a 21-20 victory at Atlanta. The Saints got the final NFC wild card with a 42-17 rout of Tampa Bay.

Already in the NFC playoffs were San Francisco, which won 23-20 at Arizona on Sunday, and Seattle (13-3), which secured the NFC West title and the conference’s top seed with a 27-9 win over St. Louis.