The New York Giants and Dallas
Cowboys will face off Jan. 1 for a spot in the National Football
League playoffs as the U.S.’s most-watched television sport
enters the final week of its regular season.

The Giants beat the New York Jets 29-14 on Dec. 24, setting
up a season finale against the Cowboys for the National Football
Conference East division title, with the loser eliminated from
postseason play. Both have 8-7 records. The Giants beat the
Cowboys 37-34 in Texas on Dec. 11.

“I did remind our team that a year ago we won down there
and lost at home,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said at a news
conference yesterday.

The Jets are among five teams still competing for a playoff
spot in the American Football Conference, along with the
Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and
Tennessee Titans. The Jets can make the playoffs if they defeat
Miami, both the Bengals and Titans lose, and either Oakland or
Denver also gets beat.

“What I talked to the players about was that there’s hope
and possibilities,” Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters
yesterday. “Obviously the game against Miami is critical. When
you look at all the factors involved, the most difficult thing
to happen, I think, is to beat the Dolphins.”

No. 1 Seeds

Aaron Rodgers threw five touchdown passes on Dec. 25 to
help the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, clinching the
top seed in the NFC and home field throughout the playoffs. The
New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and
Detroit Lions have also locked up NFC playoff spots.

The Saints clinched the NFC South title last night with a
45-16 victory over the Falcons, as New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees set the NFL season passing record at 5,087 yards.

The New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens
and Pittsburgh Steelers have all gained playoff berths in the
American Football Conference.

A New England win over the Buffalo Bills on New Year’s Day
would give the Patriots home field in the postseason, while
Baltimore can win home field by beating the Bengals if New
England loses.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Aaron Kuriloff in New York at
akuriloff@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS) – The New York Giants’ offensive line has done a
solid job protecting Eli Manning all season. On Sunday night, it came up with
one of its best performances to help put them in control of the NFC East.

The Miami Dolphins, on the other hand, continually saw their quarterbacks
get sacked.

One day later, their coach did too.

The Giants were the only team not to allow a sack in Week 14 and finished
second in the league with a 98.5 rating in the New York Life Protection Index,
while Miami matched an ignominious franchise record by giving up nine of them to
finish with a week-worst minus-36.3.

Oakland finished first with a 103.1 score, thanks mostly to a big early
deficit against Green Bay, which was able to play more conservatively with leads
of 31-0 going into halftime and 43-7 entering the fourth quarter.

The NYLPI is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass
protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive
linemen, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.

New York, which ranks fifth for the season with a 75.7 NYLPI rating, ended a
four-game losing streak with a 37-34 victory over Dallas, gaining the tiebreaker
over the Cowboys for the division lead. They trailed by 12 points in the fourth
quarter before Manning threw two touchdown passes in the final 3:14.

Manning finished 27 for 47 with 400 yards behind a line that has allowed 21
sacks this season, and his front five stepped up when he needed it most.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve had that winning feeling,” Manning said. “It’s
good to have excited guys with a lot of smiles in the locker room.”

The Giants’ NYLPI rating was their best of the year, and the line play seems
to be coming together just in time: The unit has allowed just two sacks in the
last three games – the fewest in the NFL over that span.

Manning was hurried 11 times, but knocked down only twice.

“I don’t think it mattered how we did it, I think bottom line was about just
getting a win,” center Kevin Boothe said. “We haven’t won in a long time and our
opportunities are getting short. So, it didn’t matter who we were playing and
how much we won by. We always would like to win by a lot more but just getting
back in the win column and putting ourselves in the position to have an
opportunity.

“That is what we play for – to have meaningful games in December, and here
we are with everything in front of us. We just have to take advantage of it.”

While New York boosted its playoff chances, Miami’s already disappointing
season took another hit just as it was showing signs of life, having won four of
five – it’s lone loss being by just one point at Dallas on a last-second field
goal.

On Sunday, however, it was a different story. The Dolphins watched Matt
Moore and J.P. Losman go down nine times in the 26-10 loss to Philadelphia,
dropping them to 4-9 and prompting the team to fire Tony Sparano on Monday.

The number of sacks equaled the franchise record, set Oct. 17, 1999, in a
31-30 win over New England.

“The results speak for themselves,” said owner Stephen Ross, who named
assistant Todd Bowles interim coach. “We’re looking to becoming a winning
organization, and I thought this was the best time to make the change and let us
go in a direction that will allow us to become that.”

After a back injury in the first quarter to Pro Bowl tackle Jake Long,
Miami’s line collapsed. The minus-36.3 score was by far the worst of any team in
Week 14 – Chicago’s minus-3.8 was 31st – and was the second-worst of the season,
behind only a minus-52.7 by San Francisco on Thanksgiving night.

Moore was sacked four times – the fifth time this season he’s been sacked at
least that many times – before leaving the game with a slight concussion. Backup
J.P. Losman didn’t fare much better, getting dropped five times, including once
for a safety in the fourth quarter.

Not surprisingly, Miami’s signal-callers were knocked down a league-most 11
times while attempting to elude oncoming defenders throughout the day.

Moore’s status for next week’s contest against Buffalo is uncertain, while
Losman – a former Bill – waits to find out if he’ll make his first start since
Dec. 7, 2008.

“All the blame is squarely on our shoulders,” said guard Richie Incognito,
who is part of a line that ranks 30th for the season with a 44.1 NYLPI rating.
“We got Matt hurt. They’re a physical group. They just beat us one on one.”

The Packers were similarly dominant over the Raiders, just not in the area
of quarterback pressure. Oakland’s offensive line allowed only one sack and
didn’t commit a single false start or holding penalty, but Carson Palmer’s four
interceptions and the team’s otherwise sloppy play wiped out the effort.

“I’m not going to let this team keep going backwards,” coach Hue Jackson
said. “The last two weeks, we haven’t come close to playing or looking like the
football team we’ve been.”

That statement can certainly be echoed by the Bears, who lost their third
straight game – 13-10 in overtime to Denver – after finishing with a negative
rating in the NYLPI for the second straight week. A week ago, they graded out at
minus-2.7 in a 10-3 loss to Kansas City.

Caleb Hanie, making his third straight start in place of the injured Jay
Cutler, was sacked four times and knocked down six overall, while the offensive
line committed three false start penalties.

The Bears rank third in the league with 24 false starts this season and 25th
with an overall NYLPI grade of 49.9.

“I hate to say it, but we gave this one to them,” Hanie said after Chicago
blew a 10-0 fourth-quarter lead.

New Orleans continues to sit on top of the cumulative year-to-date index
with a score of 86.2. The Saints finished fifth for the week at 83.0 following a
22-17 win at Tennessee.

(Reuters) – The unbeaten Green Bay Packers can secure their place in the playoffs and take a step towards the ‘perfect season‘ when they face the New York Giants on Sunday while the San Francisco 49ers could join them in the post-season with a win over St.Louis.

The schedule has not been kind to the Giants who come off Monday night’s 49-24 mauling in New Orleans and now face the 11-0 Super Bowl champion Packers and the league’s most feared quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

There are numerous ways that Green Bay can make sure of a playoff place with a quarter of the regular season remaining, the most obvious being a victory, but other scenarios include losses for Chicago, Atlanta or Detroit.

But the Packers, who will already be aiming for home field advantage in the playoffs, are not going to be giving much time to calculations.

The elusive unbeaten record of the 1972 Miami Dolphins is a topic that few challengers are willing to discuss and Rodgers is no exception, insisting the motivation, even at this stage, has nothing to do with the record books.

“It is motivating to go out every week and compete better than you did the previous. We have been able to play the way we wanted to play consistently the first 11 games. We will see what happens when we get down this road a little bit,” Rodgers said on Wednesday.

“It is not something that we vocally talk about as a goal. Our goal is to win the division first, get a home game and give ourselves a chance and go from there,” he added.

GROUP OF SEVEN

Victory would move the Packers’ unbeaten streak to 18, including last season’s playoff wins, and another triumph would put them in the group of seven teams to have reached that total – including, two great pre-war Chicago Bears teams – a point that won’t be lost on the Green Bay fanbase.

Only the New England Patriots, who went 21 games unbeaten between 2003 and 2004, stand above that group on 18.

The Giants don’t need much reminding that unbeaten streaks do come to an end – they famously ended the Patriots’ hopes of a perfect season with a victory in the 2007 Super Bowl that ended New England’s run that season at 18 games.

The Giants (6-5) still have a shout at the playoffs themselves but they have a tough schedule and will need to pull off a few surprises if they are to keep their hopes alive.

The 49ers (9-2) have a five game cushion in the NFC West and a win or a tie will be enough to secure the division for Jim Harbaugh in his first season since moving from the college game.

Perhaps the closest fought game will be in New Orleans where the Detroit Lions (7-4) badly need an upset win after losing two of their last three.

That task will be made even tougher if, as expected, Ndamukong Suh’s suspension is upheld, despite an appeal from the defensive tackle.

In Houston, the Texans, who have lost two quarterbacks to injury, turn to third-stringer T.J. Yates against Atlanta.

The Falcons (7-4) trail New Orleans (8-3) in the NFC South and will be hoping for at least a wildcard spot while Houston must try to hold on to top spot in the AFC South.

(Editing by Rex Gowar)

By
Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 9:46 AM on 21st November 2011

The Philadelphia Eagles cut down division rivals the New York Giants 17-10 Sunday to leave the race for play-off places in the NFC East division wide open.

The Eagles, playing without starting quarterback Michael Vick who broke two ribs a week ago, played ferocious defence and back-up signal caller Vince Young directed an 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter for the upset victory.

The Giants fell to 6-4, leaving them tied with the Dallas Cowboys, who went to overtime to beat the Washington Redskins, at the top of the NFC East standings but with a tough schedule ahead.

Philadelphia pulled off a role reversal with the Giants, who five times this season had overcome fourth-quarter deficits to win.

The Eagles, who squandered fourth-quarter leads five times this season, this time finished strong to improve to 4-6 and remain third in the division.

‘It’s happened to us so many times,’ Philadelphia coach Andy Reid told reporters about fourth-quarter failures.

‘We were able to flop one around this time.’

Giants coach Tom Coughlin had a different take, however.

‘It was as pathetic as it can get, it was a very poor performance,’ Coughlin said. ‘I’m really disappointed.’

‘I know our offensive line was completely outplayed by the front eight of Philadelphia.’

New York threatened to send the game to overtime when they reached Philadelphia’s 21-yard line with one minute and 25 seconds left on the clock after a 47-yard pass from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.

But defensive end Jason Babin then stripped the ball from Manning and it was recovered by Derek Landri to end the threat.

The Eagles led 10-3 at the break with help from two big plays from wide receiver DeSean Jackson, a 32-yard catch that led to a field goal, and a 51-yard punt return to set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Young to former Giant Steve Smith.

Philadelphia carried that lead into the fourth quarter, when the offenses got into gear.

The Giants threatened another comeback by tying the game 10-10 in the last quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Cruz, who did his signature samba dance in the end zone.

But Philadelphia took the ensuing kick-off and marched 80 yards, converting six third-down plays and using nearly nine minutes to retake the lead on Young’s eight-yard touchdown pass from Young to Riley Cooper.

Young has struggled with injuries himself this season and had thrown only one pass for the Eagles and that resulted in an interception.

The former Tennessee Titans quarterback, who joined Philadelphia before the season, showed his rust as he was intercepted three times. But Young got better as the game went on, finishing 23-of-36 for 258 yards and two touchdowns.

And with the game on the line, he cooly directed the Eagles the length of the field for the winning score.

‘I just go out and play ball. If I have a mistake I just tell the guys to get ready for the next series,’ said Young.

‘This was definitely a big win for us.’

It was the second successive defeat for the Giants, whose schedule only gets tougher in the run home.

Their next two games are against the New Orleans Saints then the Green Bay Packers before they travel to Dallas to face the Cowboys.

49ERS 23 CARDINALS 7

Alex Smith threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns and San Francisco forced five turnovers on a soggy day at Candlestick Park.

Smith connected with Kyle Williams and Vernon Davis on the first two drives of the third quarter to help the 49ers pull away for their eighth straight victory.

BEARS 31 CHARGERS 20

Jay Cutler threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears won their fifth straight game.

Chicago (7-3) continued its remarkable turnaround and handed the Chargers their fifth straight loss, their longest slide since an 0-5 start in 2003.

FALCONS 23 TITANS 17

Roddy White had seven receptions for a season-high 147 yards and Jonathan Babineaux led an Atlanta defense that held off Tennessee.

The Falcons (6-4) bounced back from an overtime loss to New Orleans, but it wasn’t easy.

COWBOYS 27 REDSKINS 24 OT

At Landover, Dan Bailey kicked a 39-yard field goal nine minutes and 21 seconds into overtime to give Dallas its third straight win.

The Cowboys rallied after allowing a late fourth-quarter touchdown and improved to 6-4, keeping the pressure on the first-place New York Giants in the NFC East.

BROWNS 14 JAGUARS 10

Jacksonville rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert’s pass into the end zone on the game’s final play was incomplete, allowing the Browns to escape.

Gabbert rifled a three-yard pass high over the middle that went off wide receiver Mike Thomas’ outstretched hands, and the Browns (4-6) celebrated a win they nearly gave away.

PACKERS 35 BUCCANEERS 26

Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes as Green Bay survived a scare to remain unbeaten.

With the Packers leading by two points and trying to fend off a rally by Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter, Rodgers found Jordy Nelson for a clinching 40-yard touchdown with two minutes and 55 seconds left in the game – Nelson’s second touchdown catch of the day.

RAIDERS 27 VIKINGS 21

Carson Palmer threw for 164 yards and a touchdown as Oakland capitalized on several mistakes by Minnesota.

Michael Bush rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (6-4).

DOLPHINS 35 BILLS 8

The Dolphins set up two touchdowns with interceptions and Matt Moore threw for three scores.

After losing their first seven games, the Dolphins (3-7) have three consecutive victories for the first time since 2008, winning by a combined score of 86-20.

LIONS 49 PANTHERS 35

Matthew Stafford’s fifth touchdown pass of the game, a seven-yarder to Brandon Pettigrew with two minutes and 32 seconds left, completed another big rally.

Detroit (7-3) became the first NFL team since at least 1950 to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points.

SEAHAWKS 24 RAMS 7

Sidney Rice caught a touchdown pass and drew a pass interference that led to a field goal for Seattle.

Chris Clemons had three of Seattle’s five sacks on Sam Bradford, and he also forced the Rams quarterback to fumble twice, both leading to touchdowns.