NFL roundup: Falcons’ win over Saints throws NFC South title to Panthers | NFL

Dee Alford’s interception in the red zone stopped a potential go-ahead run by New Orleans, and the Atlanta Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 on Sunday to give the NFC South title to the Carolina Panthers.

Closing out the season with four straight wins, the Falcons (8-9) finish in a three-way tie with Carolina and Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South. The Panthers won the tiebreaker with the best record in the division.

The Falcons completed a season sweep against the Saints (6-11), who ended their four-game winning streak.

Trailing 16-10, the Saints went from their own 25 to the Atlanta 20 before Alford returned his interception of Tyler Shough’s pass intended for Dante Pettis 59 yards to the Saints 27 with 3:14 remaining. The play allowed Zane Gonzalez’s fourth field goal, a 38-yarder, to extend Atlanta’s lead to nine points.

Shough responded with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Bell with 1:11 left, but Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts recovered an onside kick.

Cleveland Browns 20-18 Cincinnati Bengals

Myles Garrett set the NFL single-season record with his 23rd sack and Shedeur Sanders led a late score that was capped by Andre Szmyt’s 49-yard field goal as time expired to help the Cleveland Browns rally for a 20-18 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s season finale.

Garrett sacked Joe Burrow with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter for the record sack, surpassing Michael Strahan and TJ Watt’s 22 and a half. Burrow was in the shotgun formation on first and 10 at the Browns’ 45-yard line.

After Ja’Marr Chase’s four-yard touchdown run gave the Bengals (6-11) an 18-17 advantage with 1:29 to play, Sanders led a 10-play, 40-yard drive to give the Browns (5-12) back-to-back wins for the first time in two years.

Sanders was 3 of 6 passing for 33 yards on the final drive, including an 11-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy with 31 seconds left to put the Browns within range of Szmyt. Dylan Sampson had two carries for seven yards to close in on Szmyt.

Sanders finished 11 of 22 for 111 yards. He also committed a fumble in the first quarter that led to Cincinnati’s first touchdown.

Dallas Cowboys 17-34 New York Giants

Jaxson Dart threw the 14th and 15th touchdown passes of his rookie year and the New York Giants ended their losing season on a two-game winning streak by beating the Dallas Cowboys 34-17 on Sunday.

That and other NFL results knocked the Giants (4-13) out of the running for a top-two pick and clinched the No. 1 pick for Las Vegas. New York routed the Raiders last week to end a nine-game skid.

Dart said he cared more about winning than draft position and played like that in his 12th professional start. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards with touchdown passes to Daniel Bellinger – on a pass and run run – and to Tyrone Tracy.

While the Giants were shorthanded due to injuries and illness, they treated this like any other game with their starters going the distance. Dallas (7-9-1) took this as more of an exhibition game, with Dak Prescott exiting after halftime.

Prescott completed seven of 11 passes for 70 yards and lost a fumble on a botched snap before being replaced at quarterback by Joe Milton to start the third quarter. Prescott finished the season with 4,552 passing yards, the second most of his decade-long career behind only 4,902 in 2019.

Green Bay Packers 3-16 Minnesota Vikings

JJ McCarthy had a productive first half before being injured again, fullback CJ Ham rushed for a short touchdown and the Minnesota Vikings finished a frustrating season by beating the resting Green Bay Packers 16-3 on Sunday.

Green Bay (9-7-1) was locked into the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs and had nothing to play for.

McCarthy, who was 14 of 23 for 182 passing yards, left after his first throw of the third quarter so the athletic training team could examine his right hand and did not return. Backup Max Brosmer went from there, helping Justin Jefferson reach the 100-yard mark for the first time in 12 games as the Vikings (9-8) cruised to their fifth straight victory.

Jefferson had already earned his sixth straight 1,000-yard season, becoming only the third receiver in NFL history to accomplish the feat.

With Jordan Love watching safely on the sideline and Malik Willis recovering from injuries, the Packers gave Clayton Tune his second career start at quarterback and scored minus-7 passing yards. Dallas Turner had two of Minnesota’s four sacks that accounted for 41 yards lost for Green Bay.

Tennessee Titans 7-41 Jacksonville Jaguars

Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, breaking the franchise’s single-season total scoring record, and the Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South and clinched a home playoff game with a 41-10 drubbing of Tennessee on Sunday.

This is the most lopsided result in the history of the series.

The Jaguars (13-4) clinched their third division title in nine years, swept the Titans (3-14) for the third time in four seasons and won a dozen for just the second time in the team’s 31-year history.

Jacksonville, however, will have to wait several hours to find out its ranking and playoff opponent. The Jaguars could land the AFC’s No. 1 seed, but they’ll more likely finish third and host Buffalo, Houston or the Los Angeles Chargers next week.

No one should want to face the Jaguars, who have won eight in a row and nine of 10 since their bye. And Lawrence has been the hottest quarterback in the league down the stretch.