Green Bay: The Minnesota Vikings won the NFC North by holding on for a 20-13 win on Sunday night over the Green Bay Packers.
Adrian Peterson ran for a touchdown, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn returned a fumble 55 yards for a score, and Minnesota (11-5) claimed their first division title since 2009.
The Vikings will host the Seattle Seahawks for a wild-card play-off game next weekend. The Packers (10-6) will travel to Washington after watching their four-year reign atop the NFC North end.
The upstart Vikings survived despite a shaky finish in hostile territory. The defence knocked away a desperation pass in the end zone from Aaron Rodgers on fourth down as time expired.
Packers kicker Mason Crosby forced a fumble on Cordarrelle Patterson’s potentially field-flipping 70-yard kickoff return with 5:21 left. But the Packers’ next drive ended with Rodgers’ pass being intercepted in the end zone by Xavier Rhodes.
Peyton Manning replaced Brock Osweiler in the third quarter on Sunday and led the Broncos to a victory over San Diego that wrapped up the top seed in the AFC playoffs for Denver.
Combined with New England’s loss at Miami, the Broncos (12-4) secured the No. 1 seed even as they head into the playoffs with a quarterback quandary on their hands.
The Chargers (4-12) wrapped up what might have been their final season representing San Diego as ownership tries to move the team to LA.
The Broncos were facing the possibility of tumbling into the wild-card round because of Kansas City’s 10th consecutive win, 23-17 over Oakland, when Manning came to the rescue.
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw interceptions on each of New York’s final three drives and the Jets’ play-off hopes were dashed.
The Jets (10-6) would have made the postseason for the first time since 2010 with a win, but the defeat combined with Pittsburgh’s win at Cleveland ended those hopes. New York had a five-game winning streak stopped, and the loss came against former Jets coach Rex Ryan — fired by New York and hired by the Bills (8-8) last January.
Fitzpatrick, who had thrown just one interception in the Jets’ winning streak, was picked off by Leodis McKelvin in the end zone early in the fourth quarter with New York driving.
The game was decided when Fitzpatrick’s sidearm pass over the middle was intercepted by A.J. Tarpley with 11 seconds remaining.
Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes, Pittsburgh’s defence dominated and the Steelers slipped into the AFC play-offs with the win over Cleveland, which fired coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer after the game.
The Steelers (10-6) had to win and needed Buffalo to knock off the New York Jets to make the postseason. Pittsburgh did its part, then earned a wild-card berth when the Bills beat the 22-17. Pittsburgh will play at Cincinnati next weekend.
Roethlisberger threw for 349 yards, 187 to Antonio Brown, who had 13 catches and a TD.
The Browns finished 3-13.
Results
Sunday’s games:
Buffalo 22 NY Jets 17
Miami 20 New England 10
Houston 30 Jacksonville 6
New Orleans 20 Atlanta 17
Philadelphia 35 NY Giants 30
Detroit 24 Chicago 20
Pittsburgh 28 Cleveland 12
Indianapolis 30 Tennessee 24
Washington 34 Dallas 23
Cincinnati 24 Baltimore 16
Carolina 38 Tampa Bay 10
Kansas City 23 Oakland 17
Seattle 36 Arizona 6
Denver 27 San Diego 20
San Francisco 19 St. Louis 16
Minnesota 20 Green Bay 13
