_Brett Favre, Vikings, was 25 of 31 for 316 yards and four touchdowns in Minnesota’s 44-7 win over the New York Giants.
_Tony Romo, Cowboys was 24 of 34 for 311 yards and two touchdowns and Dallas clinched the NFC East with a 24-0 win over Philadelphia.
_Matt Schaub, Texans, was 24 of 39 for 303 yards and two touchdowns and Houston defeated New England 34-27.
_Kyle Orton, Broncos, was 32 of 56 for 431 yards and a touchdown in Denver’s 44-24 loss to Kansas City.
_Jason Campbell, Redskins was 28 of 42 for 281 yards and two touchdowns in Washington’s 23-20 loss to San Diego.
_Jay Cutler, Bears, was 22 of 36 for 276 yards and four touchdowns in Chicago’s 37-23 win over Detroit.
Rushing
_Chris Johnson, Titans, had 36 carries for 134 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee’s 17-13 win over Seattle. Johnson broke the 2,000-yard mark in the win. He joined Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson in the 2,000-yard club.
_Jamaal Charles, Chiefs, had 25 carries for a Chiefs-record 259 yards in Kansas City’s 44-24 win over Denver.
_Fred Jackson, Bills, had 33 carries for a career-high 212 yards in Buffalo’s 30-7 win over Indianapolis.
_Willis McGahee, had 16 carries for a career-high 167 yards and three touchdowns and Baltimore clinched a playoff berth with a 21-13 win over Oakland.
_Jason Snelling, Falcons, had 25 carries for 147 yards in Atlanta’s 20-10 win over Tampa Bay.
Receiving
_Jabar Gaffney, Broncos, had 14 catches for 213 yards in Denver’s 44-24 loss to Kansas City.
_Malcom Floyd, Chargers, had nine catches for 140 yards in San Diego’s 23-10 win over Washington.
_Sidney Rice, Vikings, had six catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 44-7 win over the New York Giants.
_Malcolm Kelly, Redskins, had five catches for 109 yards in Washington’s 23-20 loss to San Diego.
_Julian Edelman, Patriots, had a career-high 10 catches for 103 yards in New England’s 34-27 loss to Houston.
Defense
_Derrick Johnson, Chiefs, returned two interceptions 45 yards and 60 yards for touchdowns in Kansas City’s 44-24 win over Denver.
_Bernard Pollard, Texans, recovered a fumble for a touchdown and had a key interception in Houston’s 34-27 win over New England.
_Darius Butler, Patriots, returned an interception 91 yards for a touchdown in New England’s 34-27 loss to Houston.
_Charles Woodson, Packers, returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown in Green Bay’s 33-7 win over Arizona.
_Justin Smith, 49ers, had 3 1/2 sacks in San Francisco’s 28-6 win over St. Louis.
IN THE PLAYOFFS
Dallas won a division title, Baltimore earned a wild-card spot, the Super Bowl champs headed home. Next week’s first round will include at least two rematches of games Sunday. The playoffs won’t include the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Tony Romo and the Cowboys romped over Philadelphia 24-0 to help set the NFC matchups, and the Ravens (9-7) grabbed one AFC wild-card spot when they beat Oakland 21-13.
ON THE CLOCK
The Rams clinched the No. 1 overall pick with a 28-6 loss to the 49ers. St. Louis has the No. 1 pick for the first time since 1997, when it traded up to get seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace.
PASSING MENTION
Ten quarterbacks each passed for at least 4,000 yards this season. Matt Schaub (4,770), Peyton Manning (4,500), Tony Romo (4,483), Aaron Rodgers (4,434), Tom Brady (4,398), Drew Brees (4,388), Ben Roethlisberger (4,328), Philip Rivers (4,254), Brett Favre (4,202) and Eli Manning (4,021) the most in a single season in NFL history. The previous record was seven in 2007. … Twelve quarterbacks passed for at least 25 touchdowns this year Brees (34), Favre (33), P. Manning (33), Rodgers (30), Schaub (29), Brady (28), Rivers (28), Jay Cutler (27), E. Manning (27), Roethlisberger (26), Romo (26) and Kurt Warner (26) the most in a single season in NFL history. The previous record was 10 in 2007.
MILESTONES
The Titans’ Chris Johnson became the sixth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He joined Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson in the 2,000-yard club. … The Saints’ Drew Brees broke the NFL record for completion percentage in a season with 70.60, besting the previous NFL record of 70.55 by Ken Anderson of Cincinnati set in 1982. … The Bills’ Terrell Owens finished with four catches for 65 yards, giving him 14,951 for his career, to move ahead of Tim Brown for third place on the NFL list. … The 49ers’ Vernon Davis tied the NFL record for touchdown receptions by a tight end with his 13th of the season. … The Colts’ Dallas Clark became the NFL’s second tight end to have a 100-catch season, joining Tony Gonzalez. Teammate Reggie Wayne had five catches to reach 100 for the second time in his career. … Houston (9-7) finished with its first winning record.
COWBOYS UP
Dallas posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in team history with its 24-0 win over Philadelphia a week after blanking Washintgon. Dallas also has a winning record after Dec. 1 for the first time since 1996. Tony Romo finished this season with the most attempts, completions and yards passing ever by a Cowboys quarterback. Over the last four games, the Cowboys faced the NFL’s three highest-scoring offenses and held all of them to their fewest points of the season.
STATS
The Broncos joined the 1978 Redskins and ’03 Vikings as the only teams since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to miss the playoffs after a 6-0 start. … The Vikings’ Brett Favre surpassed 30 touchdown passes for the ninth time in his career and 4,000 yards passing for the sixth time, finishing with seven interceptions — the fewest of his 18-year run as a starter. … Jonathan Stewart (1,133 yards) surpassed Pro Bowl pick DeAngelo Williams (1,117 yards) for the team rushing lead as they became the first teammates since the AFL-NFL merger to each rush for more than 1,100 yards. … The Falcons (9-7) beat the Buccaneers 20-10 and finished with consecutive winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. … Detroit set a league record with 30 losses over two seasons. … Wes Welker’s NFL-high 123 receptions this season are tied with Herman Moore for second most in NFL history. … Bears QB Jay Cutler had 16 TDs and just three interceptions in Chicago’s seven wins. In its nine losses, he had 11 TDs and 23 interceptions. … The Giants gave up 427 points this season, their most since 1966. Only Detroit (2-14) and St. Louis (1-15) allowed more in the NFC. … The Packers’ Charles Woodson had his third interception return for a TD this season, a franchise record. He also broke the Packers’ record with his eighth career defensive touchdown since joining the team in 2006 — seven interceptions and one fumble return. He had shared the mark with Herb Adderly (1961-69) and Darren Sharper (1997-2004). Woodson set a career best with his ninth pick of the season. He has 45 in his career.
STREAKS
The Chargers will enter the playoffs on an 11-game winning streak. … Sunday’s loss to Baltimore gave the Raiders seven straight seasons with at least 11 defeats, the worst run in NFL history. … Cleveland had its first four-game winning streak since 1994. The Browns’ string of four consecutive rushing games of at least 160 yards is the club’s longest since 1968. … Andre Johnson finished with 1,569 yards receiving for his second straight 1,500-yard season. Johnson and Marvin Harrison (2001-02) are the only players in NFL history to do it. … Johnson and Jerry Rice as the only players since 1970 to lead the league in consecutive seasons in yards receiving. … Miami’s drought without a playoff win is nine seasons long. … Indianapolis had its franchise-best 11-game road win streak snapped in a 30-7 loss to Buffalo.
SIDELINED
Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Pat White was carted off the field with a head injury after a chilling helmet-to-helmet collision with Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. White moved his arms and legs and was talking before leaving the field to go to a hospital for examination. “The information that we have is that he’s doing OK,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said following the 30-24 loss. … New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker injured his left knee in the first quarter of a 34-27 loss to Houston. Welker caught a pass from Tom Brady on New England’s first possession and his knee appeared to buckle as he turned upfield. Trainers helped Welker off and he was taken to the locker room on a cart. … Cowboys running back Tashard Choice was knocked out of Dallas’ 24-0 win over the Eagles with a concussion. Choice didn’t play again after taking a hit to the head in the first quarter.
SPEAKING
“I think it’s proof of what we’re capable of doing. Where it takes us from here, I have no idea. But it was definitely a momentum boost and confidence.” — Vikings quarterback Brett Favre after completing 25 of 31 passes for 316 yards and four touchdown passes in less than three quarters of Minnesota’s 44-7 win over the New York Giants.
“We haven’t arrived and we haven’t accomplished anything. This is a step in the process to continue to get to where we want to go. It’s a positive one, definitely, but we still need to keep improving. There’s hopefully a lot of season left.” — Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo after clinching the NFC East with a 24-0 win over Philadelphia.
© 2010 Associated Press. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.
