Carolina completed a 15-1 regular season with a victory over Tampa Bay to sew 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 Buffalo Bills Coach Rex Ryan made certain the playoff drought of the New York Jets, the team he used to coach, continued.
Carolina and Denver wrapped up the No. 1 playoff seeds in each conference by winning at home on the final day of the regular season on Sunday. Carolina routed Tampa Bay 38-10, while Denver edged San Diego 27-20 to win the AFC West title.
The highest drama took place in Buffalo (Jets vs. Bills) and Cleveland (Steelers vs. Browns), with the results hashing out the final playoff spot.
As it turned out, Ryan and the Buffalo Bills (8-8) stopped the Jets (10-6) from making the playoffs and gave the Steelers (10-6) 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 postseason. 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,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “I know they’re excited about 8-8 and we’re excited they got us in.”
The NFC playoff picture was settled late Sunday night when Minnesota beat Green Bay 20-13 to win the NFC North. The Vikings will host Seattle in the early game Sunday, while Green Bay will travel to NFC East champion Washington for the late Sunday game. The Redskins closed the season with their fourth consecutive victory on Sunday beating Dallas.
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.
“We find our edge playing in front of the home crowd,” Carolina QB Cam Newton said. “Everything here feels just right. 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, 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 on Saturday night, while AFC South champion Houston is the No. 4 seed and will host Kansas City, winners of 10 consecutive games. The Texans and Chiefs will play the first game of the playoffs on 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.
New England had a chance at home field in the AFC, but flopped in Miami getting beat 20-10. Denver 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,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said.
Houston clinched the AFC South with its victory over Jacksonville and will host Kansas City after the Chiefs beat Oakland for their 10th consecutive victory.
“We are not happy with just winning the AFC South,” Houston 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 on Dec. 6.
“These guys are confident that we can go wherever we got to go,” Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said.
Sports on 01/04/2016