Page 16 - aruba-today-20201228

A16 sports
Monday 28 deceMber 2020

Chiefs clinch AFC’s top seed, Steelers win AFC North

By The Associated Press after missing two of the past Jamison Crowder caught
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — three games with hamstring a touchdown pass and
Kansas City clinched the and ankle injuries. His pass- threw one to Braxton Ber-
top seed in the AFC and ing numbers — 24 for 41 for rios on a razzle-dazzle play,
the only playoff bye when 252 yards — were reflective and Sam Darnold threw a
Patrick Mahomes threw a of the heavy pressure he touchdown pass to Chris
25-yard touchdown pass received from Baltimore's Herndon.
to Demarcus Robinson with relentless rush. BEARS 41, JAGUARS 17
just under two minutes for a The Ravens had six sacks, JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) —
17-14 win over Atlanta on and Jones was flushed out The Jaguars took care of
Sunday. of the pocket on several business, losing their 14th
The Chiefs had to watch as other occasions. consecutive game and
Pro Bowl kicker Younghoe JETS 23, BROWNS 16 then getting some help to
Koo missed a tying field- EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. secure the No. 1 pick in the
goal attempt with 9 sec- (AP) — After this loss, the 2021 NFL draft.
onds left to escape. New York Jets defensive end John Franklin-Myers (91) sacks Browns will need to beat Hello, Trevor Lawrence!
The Chiefs (14-1) won their Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) during the the archrival Steelers next Mitchell Trubisky account-
NFL-record seventh straight first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in East Sunday if they're going to ed for three scores, includ-
one-possession game and Rutherford, N.J. end the NFL's longest play- ing two touchdown passes
matched a franchise re- Associated Press off drought. to Jimmy Graham, and the
cord with their 10th straight three second-half touch- Indianapolis, so dominant On fourth-and-1 with 1:18 Bears kept control of their
win. They took any seeding downs as the Steelers during a first half in which it remaining and the short- postseason path. Chicago
drama out of games involv- locked up the division title. outgained the Steelers 206- handed Browns (10-5) driv- can make the NFC playoffs
ing Pittsburgh and Buffalo Listless and lifeless for weeks 28, had two chances to re- ing for the potential ty- for the second time in three
and will have that coveted thanks to a three-game los- claim the lead in the fourth ing score, Mayfield tried years by beating Green
first-round AFC bye when ing streak that followed quarter. The first drive end- to push forward for a first Bay next week at home
the postseason begins in an 11-0 start, Pittsburgh ed with Philip Rivers throw- down. He lost the ball when — despite having gone
two weeks. (12-3) somehow got it to- ing an interception deep Tarell Basham smacked through a six-game losing
The Falcons (4-11) took gether over the final 25 in Pittsburgh territory. The into him. Kareem Hunt re- streak in 2020.
the lead when Matt Ryan minutes against the Colts second ended with Rivers' covered, but by rule, May- The Jaguars (1-14), who set
hit Laquon Treadwell for (10-5). Indianapolis missed heave to Zach Pascal sail- field was the only one who a franchise record for con-
a 5-yard touchdown with a chance to inch closer to ing high on fourth down. could advance the ball — secutive losses, locked up
4:33 to go. But Mahomes a playoff berth when it let a RAVENS 27, GIANTS 13 and the quarterback was the top pick for the first time
kept finding Travis Kelce — 17-point third-quarter lead BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar short of the first down. in franchise history when
who had a record-setting slip away. Jackson directed four scor- The Jets (2-13) sealed their the New York Jets beat
game of his own — to set Roethlisberger, who looked ing drives during the de- second straight victory af- Cleveland 23-16 a few min-
up the TD pass to Robin- uneven at best and inef- cisive first half. Baltimore's ter an 0-13 start, losing all utes later.
son. And when the Falcons fective at worst during fourth straight victory, com- chance for the top overall That means the same day
marched the other way in Pittsburgh's recent slide, bined with Pittsburgh's win draft pick. Jacksonville reached its
the closing seconds, Kan- snapped out of it. He over Indianapolis, lifted the It was a rough week for worst skid in franchise his-
sas City's defense forced ditched the dink-and-dunk Ravens past the Colts in the the Browns, who haven't tory could end up being a
Koo's 39-yard kick. approach that had worked AFC wild-card hunt. With been in the postseason potential game changer
Instead of heading to over- during the early portion of a victory in Cincinnati next since 2002 and entered for the small-market team
time, the Falcons headed the season but became far week, the Ravens (10-5) will without seven players in- that's spent the better part
home with their seventh too predictable during a earn a playoff berth for the cluding Jarvis Landry and of the last two decades
loss by six points or less this December swoon. third year in a row. three other wide receivers, searching for a franchise
season. The 38-year-old quar- Jackson guided the Ravens and rookie left tackle Jed- quarterback.
Mahomes finished with terback kick-started the to touchdowns on their first rick Wills. Cleveland had to The only thing standing
278 yards passing and two comeback with a 39-yard two possessions, then took call up several players from between Jacksonville and
touchdowns along with an strike to Diontae Johnson them into field-goal posi- the practice squad and Lawrence is the Clemson
interception. Kelce had and brought the Steelers tion on his next two drives coach Kevin Stefanski ran star formally turning pro, a
seven catches for 98 yards within a touchdown on a for a 20-3 halftime lead. a walk-through in a park- decision that's expected
and a score, giving him 5-yard pass to Eric Ebron. That was more than enough ing lot near the team's ho- after the Tigers end their
1,426 yards for the season, He gave Pittsburgh its first to defeat a struggling Gi- tel to get some of the new season in the College Foot-
breaking George Kittle's re- second-half lead since ants team that totaled only players up to speed on the ball Playoff.
cord for an NFL tight end. Dec. 7 when he audibled 13 points in its previous two game plan. Chicago scored 28 unan-
STEELERS 28, COLTS 24 into a play that ended with games and has scored just Despite being short-hand- swered points to start the
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger threading two touchdowns over the ed, the Browns nearly second half, getting so
Roethlisberger overcame the ball between two Colts past three weeks. erased a 20-3 deficit. But far in front that Nick Foles
a month-long malaise to to JuJu Smith-Schuster from Daniel Jones started at the Jets were able to hang got to close out the game
throw for 342 yards and 25 yards with 7:38 to play. quarterback for New York on. against his former team.q