Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-3-17 Online Edition

Sports
Jameis Winston Sets Record In Bucs' 17-16 Win Over Panthers
NFL Playoff Picture: Field Finalized With NFC North Settled
Green Bay Packers quar- terback Aaron Rogers.
Here's the finalized NFL playoff picture:
AFC
y*-1. New England Patri- ots (14-2): AFC East champi- ons. They have home field for the fourth time in the past seven seasons.
yz-2. Kansas City Chiefs (12-4): AFC West champions. They began Sunday in wild- card position and ended it with a division crown and bye thanks to Oakland's struggles.
y-3. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5): AFC North champions. They'll open the playoffs host- ing the Dolphins.
y-4. Houston Texans (9- 7): AFC South champions. They'll open the playoffs host- ing the Raiders.
x-5. Oakland Raiders (12- 4): Wild card No. 1. Their loss combined with Kansas City's win drops them from second seed to fifth. They'll be in Houston next weekend.
x-6. Miami Dolphins (10- 6): Wild card No. 2. They'll open the playoffs at Pittsburgh next weekend.
NFC
y*-1. Dallas Cowboys (13- 3): NFC East champions. They'll open the playoffs against the lowest-seeded team that wins on wild-card weekend. Dallas' loss to Philadelphia on Sunday offi- cially eliminated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
yz-2. Atlanta Falcons (11- 5): NFC South champions. Their victory Sunday clinched a first-round bye.
y-3. Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1): NFC West champi- ons. They'll open the playoffs hosting the Lions.
y-4. Green Bay Packers (10-6): NFC North champions. They reclaimed division crown they lost in 2015. They'll open the playoffs hosting the Giants.
x-5. New York Giants (11- 5): Wild card No. 1. They were locked into this spot before Sunday's kickoff but still played their starters and knocked the Washington Red- skins out of the playoff picture. They go to Green Bay next weekend.
x-6. Detroit Lions (9-7): Wild card No. 2. Their loss to the Packers puts them on the road to Seattle.
49ers Fire Chip Kelly In Major Reset
Jameis Winston threw for 202 yards and one touch- down Sunday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke up Cam Newton's two-point conversion throw in the clos- ing seconds to hold off the Carolina Panthers for a 17-16 victory Sunday and their first winning season in six years.
Winston threw a 10-yard pass to Mike Evans to snap a fourth-quarter tie and became the first player in NFL history to start his career with consec- utive 4,000-yard seasons.
But the Bucs (9-7) were eliminated from playoff con- tention, not getting the help they needed in other games for their first berth since 2007.
Winston's franchise record-setting 28th TD pass put the Bucs ahead 17-10 with 3:10 remaining. Newton, however, moved the Panthers (6-10) right down the field, with help of a 47-yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin and two fourth-down passes to set up a 5-yard scoring pass to trim Carolina's deficit to one with 17 seconds left.
Instead of kicking the extra point to send the game into overtime, the defending NFC champions opted to go for 2 points. Newton's pass in- tended for tight end Olsen was batted away by safety Bradley McDougald.
Tampa Bay entered the reg- ular-season finale clinging to extremely slim playoff hopes, needing to beat the Panthers
JAMEIS WINSTON
and have six other games end with favorable results, includ- ing Washington finishing with a tie against the New York Gi- ants.
Newton completed 18 of 32 passes for 237 yards, but was intercepted three times.
The Panthers forced a pair of turnovers by Winston in the first half, but couldn't con- vert them into points. Gra- ham Gano missed three field goals, including a 36-yarder that would have given Car- olina a 13-10 lead with just over six minutes remaining.
Winston was 20 of 35 with one interception and a fumble. He broke Josh Freeman's club records for passing yards and touchdowns in a season, finishing with 4,090 yards and 28 TDs. Freeman threw for 4,065 yards and 27 TDs in 2012.
WINNING RECORD
The Bucs snapped a two- game losing streak to finish with their first winning record since 2010, when Tampa Bay went 10-6 but failed to earn a playoff berth.
The San Francisco 49ers are hitting reset.
Chip Kelly was fired by the organization Sunday after only one season as the team's coach, the 49ers announced. General manager Trent Baalke confirmed earlier in the day that he also had been relieved of his duties.
“Despite my feelings for Trent and Chip, I felt the decision to change our foot- ball leadership was absolutely necessary," 49ers owner Jed York said in a statement. The performance of this team has not lived up to my expec- tations or those of our fans,
CHIP KELLY
and that is truly disappoint- ing. We all expected to see this team progress and de- velop as the season went on, but unfortunately that did not happen. That is why now is the time to find a new direc- tion for this team.”
Odell Beckham, Jr. Shrugs Off Latest Tussle With Josh Norman
LeGarrette Blount does- n’t think much of Ndamukong Suh.
Just ask him.
“He’s a dirty player,” the New England Patriots run- ning back said to WBZ radio after the Patriots clinched the top seed in the AFC on Sun- day with a 35-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
“He’s always been a dirty player. He’s always going to be a dirty player. There’s no room in the game for that.”
Suh, a defensive tackle for the Dolphins, shoved Blount late in the game after a play and the Patriots running back
NDAMUKONG SUH
took exception. He ripped Suh’s helmet off as a pushing and shoving match ensued.
Blount was eventually is- sued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
LeGarrette Blount Rips
Ndamukong Suh: 'He's
A Dirty Player'
Josh Norman and Odell Beckham, Jr. – again – got into it again on the football field.
This time, however, Beck- ham didn’t take the bait.
In Sunday evening’s 19-10 New York Giants victory against the Washington Red- skins, Norman was twice flagged for personal fouls.
After the game, Norman refused to discuss the inci- dents in detail.
“Can’t tell the referee what to say, what to do, what to call,” Norman said. “It is the way it is. We were just out there playing ball.”
Beckham similarly played it down.
“That’s been dead for a long time,” Beckham said. “I’m really focused on us and going to the playoffs right now. It bothers me, doesn’t really bother me. It’s been what- ever.”
The first foul came in the second quarter, when Beck- ham caught a quick pass for an 8-yard gain and was shoved out of bounds by Norman, who took Beckham to the ground. Game officials called an unnecessary roughness call
Broncos Head Coach Gary
ODELL BECKHAM, JR.
on the play.
The second happened
shortly after the start of the third quarter, when Beck- ham engaged Norman in a block on a running play. Nor- man confronted Beckham and head butted him, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct flag.
After the play, referee Gene Steratore pulled Norman aside and appeared to have a discussion with him, presum- ably asking Norman to con- trol his behavior.
Beckham, who was on the sideline in a stocking cap late by the third quarter, got the better of Norman in the matchup. Giants coach Ben McAdoo pulled Beckham from the game on the series following Norman’s second personal foul.
Is 'Stepping Down'
Kubiak Tells Players He
Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak told his team Sunday he is retiring from coaching.
Multiple reports early in the day indicated Kubiak would resign due to his fam- ily's concern about his health.
He didn't admit it follow- ing the Broncos’ 24-6 win over the Oakland Raiders, but one of Kubiak’s players con- firmed it.
"He said he was stepping down," said tight end Virgil Green. "I was shocked."
Several other Broncos said there were tears in the locker room when Kubiak in- formed them of his decision, according to Mike Klis of KUSA-TV in Denver.
Von Miller was asked if he was surprised by the deci- sion.
GARY KUBIAK
"As a player, you kind of notice some days," he said. "This was a hard season for Kube. This was a tough sea- son with the losses and the injuries and everything. You could just kind of see it wear down on him, and his health is the most important for us. So, I think the decision was a great decision for him, and I'm going to continue to sup- port him no matter what."
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