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NFL summary: Tebow falls short, Broncs in

Tim Tebow fell short in his latest comeback bid, yet his Denver Broncos are still going to the playoffs.
Todd Heap, K.J. Wright
Arizona Cardinals tight end Todd Heap (86) scores a touchdown as Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker K.J. Wright (50) defends during the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday

Kansas City 7 Denver 3

DENVER — Tim Tebow fell short in his latest comeback bid, yet his Denver Broncos are still going to the playoffs.

Former Bronco Kyle Orton got his revenge in leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 7-3 win over Denver on Sunday, but it’s the Broncos who clinched the AFC West and is headed to the post-season.

After congratulating their former starting quarterback, the Broncos celebrated the end to their six-year playoff drought once San Diego beat Oakland 38-26 later Sunday.

NY Giants 31 Cowboys 14

Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the New York Giants won an all-or-nothing game to claim the final spot in the NFL playoffs, beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 on Sunday night.

The regular season went down to the last game, and it was coach Tom Coughlin’s Giants (9-7) who won the NFC East and returned to the post-season for the first time since 2008.

Baltimore 24 Cincinnati 16

Ray Rice had a pair of long touchdown runs that gave the Ravens their third AFC North title and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

Baltimore (12-4) will get a first-round bye followed by a playoff game at home, where the Ravens are 8-0 this season.

San Diego 38 Oakland 26

Philip Rivers threw three touchdown passes and Richard Goodman returned a kickoff 105 yards for another score as Oakland’s playoff hopes ended.

The Raiders (8-8) went into the final day of the season needing to win and get help to end an eight-year playoff drought.

Pittsburgh 13 Cleveland 9

Isaac Redman replaced an injured Rashard Mendenhall and ran for a touchdown as Pittsburgh limped into the AFC playoffs.

Redman scored on a seven-yard run in the third quarter for the Steelers (12-4), who finished tied with Baltimore for first in the AFC North but lost the tiebreaker because the Ravens beat them twice.

New England 49, Buffalo 21

Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a three-touchdown deficit as they scored 49 straight points and clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Brady finished the regular season with the second most yards passing in NFL history, 5,235, after throwing for 338. Drew Brees, who last week broke Dan Marino’s record of 5,084 with the Miami Dolphins in 1984, added 389 Sunday for the New Orleans Saints and ended with 5,486.

Jacksonville 10 Indianapolis 13

Indianapolis locked up the top pick in April’s NFL draft, setting the stage to select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

Maurice Jones-Drew ran for a season-high 169 yards, clinching the NFL rushing title and breaking Fred Taylor’s single-season franchise record in the Jaguars’ victory.

The Jaguars (5-11) became the first AFC South opponent to sweep Indianapolis (2-14) since 2002 and gave outgoing owner Wayne Weaver a victory in his final game.

Tennessee 23 Houston 22

Matt Hasselbeck threw two touchdown passes, but the Titans’ slim playoff chances ended when they did not get the helped they needed from several other teams.

The Titans (9-7) have their first winning record since 2008 in Mike Munchak’s first season.

Houston (10-6) will head into its first post-season on a three-game losing streak. The Texans were locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs and coach Gary Kubiak played mostly reserves in the second half.

Miami 19 New York Jets 17

Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions and the Jets were eliminated from the AFC wild-card playoff race.

Each turnover led to a field goal, and the Jets gave up six third-down conversions during the Dolphins’ 21-play, 94-yard drive for their only touchdown.

Saints 45 Panthers 17

Drew Brees threw for 389 yards and five touchdowns, and New Orleans set a slew of NFL and club records.

The NFL single-season records set by the Saints (13-3), who head into the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak, included offensive yards with 7,474, team yards passing with 5,347 and first downs with 416.

Green Bay 45 Detroit 41

Backup quarterback Matt Flynn threw a touchdown pass to Jermichael Finley with 1:10 left to finish off his record-setting day of 480 yards and six TD passes.

Falcons 42 Bucs 24

Julio Jones caught two touchdown passes in a span of 26 seconds, Michael Turner ran for two scores and Atlanta put up a team-record 42 first-half points to cruise to a 45-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to clinch the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs.

Cardinals 23 Seahawks 20

Larry Fitzgerald’s spectacular one-handed grab set help up a 28-yard field goal by Jay Feely to give Arizona its fourth overtime victory at home in the last nine weeks of the season.

Arizona (8-8) finished the season 7-2 after a six-game losing streak left it 1-6. Seattle (7-9) had rallied to tie the game after trailing 20-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Bears 17 Vikings 13

Charles Tillman’s interception return in the second quarter gave Chicago (8-8) the lead for good, and the Bears stopped their five-game losing streak despite 3 1/2 sacks by Jared Allen.

Allen finished the season with 22 sacks, behind Michael Strahan’s NFL mark of 22 1/2 for the Giants in 2001.

Eagles 34 Redskins 10

Michael Vick threw three touchdown passes, including a 62-yarder to DeSean Jackson, as the Eagles closed the season with four straight wins.

49ers 34, Rams 27

Michael Crabtree caught two touchdown passes, one from kicker David Akers on a perfectly executed trick play, and San Francisco wrapped up the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC and a first-round bye.