Broncos lock up AFC’s top seed in 19-3 victory over Chargers

By Canadian Press on January 4, 2026.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos secured the AFC’s top playoff seed with a 19-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers’ bevy of backups Sunday, a victory fueled by Ja’Quan McMillian’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Wil Lutz was 4-for-4 on field goals as the Broncos (14-3) tied their franchise record for most victories in a season and earned their first No. 1 playoff seed since 2015, which they parlayed into a third Super Bowl title.

They’ll get a week off before hosting their first playoff game in a decade, which could be against these same Chargers (11-6) if L.A. beats the Patriots (14-3) at New England in the wild-card round next weekend.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had one of his worst games of the season, throwing for just 38 yards in the first half and 141 overall, but he tied Russell Wilson’s record of 24 wins in his first two NFL seasons.

With no chance to win the division, the Chargers treated this game much like a bye week as they prepare to hit the road for the playoffs in the wild-card round. Coach Jim Harbaugh sat several of his starters, most notably quarterback Justin Herbert, safety Derwin James and OLB Tuli Tuipulotu.

JAGUARS 41, TITANS 7

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, breaking the franchise’s single-season record for total scores, and Jacksonville won the AFC South and earned a home playoff game with a win over Tennessee.

It was most lopsided outcome in series history.

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 topped a dozen wins for just the second time in the team’s 31-year history.

Jacksonville, though, will have to wait several hours to learn its postseason seeding and opponent. The Jaguars could land the AFC’s No. 1 seed but more likely will end up as the third and host Buffalo or the Los Angeles Chargers next week.

No one should want to play 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 during the streak.

He completed 22 of 30 passes for 255 yards against Tennessee, with TDs to Brenton Strange, Parker Washington and Quintin Morris. After a lackluster opening possession, Lawrence picked apart the Titans’ depleted secondary and watched most of the fourth quarter from the sideline.

VIKINS 16, PACKERS 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — J.J. McCarthy had a productive first half before he was injured again, fullback C.J. Ham rushed for a short touchdown, and Minnesota finished a frustrating season by beating a resting Green Bay.

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

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

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

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

GIANTS 34, COWBOYS 17

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw the 14th and 15th touchdown passes of his rookie year and New York ended its lost season on a two-game winning streak by beating Dallas.

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

Dart has said he cares more about winning than draft position and played like it in his 12th professional start. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards with TD passes to Daniel Bellinger — on a shovel pass-and-run — and Tyrone Tracy.

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

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

FALCONS 19, SAINTS 17

ATLANTA (AP) — Dee Alford’s red-zone interception stopped a potential go-ahead drive by New Orleans, and Atlanta beat the Saints to give the NFC South title to the Carolina Panthers.

By closing the season with four consecutive wins, the Falcons (8-9) finished 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 within the division.

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

Tampa Bay stayed alive with a 16-14 home win over Carolina on Saturday. The Buccaneers needed a win or tie by the Saints on Sunday to win the division. The Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and won the division for the first time in a decade.

Trailing 16-10, the Saints drove from their 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 set up Zane Gonzalez’s fourth field goal, a 38-yarder, to extend Atlanta’s lead to nine points.

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

BROWNS 20, BENGALS 18

CINCINNATI (AP) — Myles Garrett set the NFL’s single-season record with his 23rd sack and Shedeur Sanders led a late scoring drive that was capped by Andre Szmyt’s 49-yard field goal as time expired to help Cleveland rally for a victory over Cincinnati in the season finale.

Garrett sacked Joe Burrow with 4:09 remaining in the fourth quarter for the record-setting sack, surpassing the 22 1/2 by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. Burrow was in the shotgun formation on first-and-10 at the Browns 45-yard line.

After Ja’Marr Chase’s 4-yard touchdown catch gave the Bengals (6-11) an 18-17 advantage with 1:29 remaining, Sanders directed a 10-play, 40-yard drive to give the Browns (5-12) two straight victories 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 get the Browns in Szmyt’s range. Dylan Sampson had two carries for 7 yards to get it closer for Szmyt.

TEXANS 38, COLTS 30

HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Stroud accounted for two touchdowns and Ka’imi Fairbairn made a go-ahead field goal with 12 seconds left to lift Houston to a win over Indianapolis that extended its winning streak to nine games.

The victory gives the Texans (12-5) the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs.

Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai scooped up a fumble on the final play and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to pad the lead.

The Texans clinched a third straight postseason berth last week and they had a chance to win the AFC South with a victory and a Jacksonville loss. But with the Jaguars up big over the Titans at halftime, coach DeMeco Ryans opted to rest quarterback Stroud, defensive stars Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, Derek Stingley and several other starters after the break.

The Colts led 30-29 after a field goal with about 2 1/2 minutes to go before Fairbairn’s 43-yard kick put the Texans on top 32-30 and gave him a career-high six field goals in the game.

Rookie Riley Leonard had 270 yards passing with two TDs and he ran for another score. But he also lost a fumble and threw an interception in his first NFL start after the 44-year-old Philip Rivers started the past three games for the Colts after coming out of retirement.

COMMANDERS 24, EAGLES 17

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Eagles’ backup plan backfired, and the Super Bowl champions will start their postseason defense of the title as the No. 3 seed in the NFC.

With Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and most key Eagles starters sitting out even with playoff seeding at stake, the Washington Commanders got fourth-quarter passing and rushing touchdowns from Josh Johnson to beat Philadelphia.

The NFC East champion Eagles (11-6) will open the playoffs at home next weekend against San Francisco.

The Eagles needed help to earn the No. 2 seed. They had to beat the Commanders and Detroit needed to win at Chicago. Sure enough, the Lions beat the Bears 19-16 to add some sting to the Eagles’ loss.

PATRIOTS 38, DOLPHINS 10

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Rhamondre Stevenson ran for two touchdowns and caught another from MVP contender Drake Maye, and New England completed their remarkable turnaround season with a win over Miami.

Stevenson rushed seven times for 131 yards as New England posted its first sweep of the Dolphins since the 2016 season. TreVeyon Henderson added touchdown runs of 2 and 5 yards.

The Patriots finished 14-3, their most victories since they won the Super Bowl to cap the 2016 season. The AFC East champions will be No. 2 seed in the playoffs and host the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card round next weekend. Denver prevented New England from earning the AFC’s top seed by beating the Chargers 19-3 on Sunday.

RAIDERS 14, CHIEFS 12

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Daniel Carlson made a career-long 60-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give Las Vegas a victory over Kansas City and end the Raiders’ 10-game losing streak.

Carlson and Kansas City’s Harrison Butker each made four field goals, with Butker hitting a 41-yarder with 1:01 left to give the Chiefs a short-lived 12-11 lead.

This was the first victory for the Raiders (3-14) over the Chiefs (6-11) at Allegiant Stadium. The Chiefs, who had won all five previous meetings in Las Vegas, lost their sixth straight game and eighth in 10.

RAMS 37, CARDINALS 20

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Stafford passed for 259 yards and threw two of his four touchdown passes to Colby Parkinson, and the Los Angeles Rams secured the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory over Arizona.

Tyler Higbee returned from injury with five receptions for 91 yards and a key fourth-quarter TD for the Rams (12-5), who will visit the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers (8-9) in the wild-card round.

Puka Nacua made a one-handed TD grab among his 10 catches for 76 yards for the Rams, who snapped their first two-game skid of the season. Stafford passed Dan Marino for seventh place on the NFL’s career TD passes list while finishing his MVP-caliber season leading the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs — the second most in league history by a quarterback at least 37 years old.

LIONS 19, BEARS 16

CHICAGO (AP) — Jared Goff led five scoring drives, Jake Bates kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired and Detroit regrouped to beat the NFC North champion Chicago after blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Bears (11-6) stumbled into the playoffs with back-to-back losses, though they secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC with Washington beating Philadelphia. Chicago will host Green Bay in a wild-card game next week and would have home-field advantage in the divisional round if it beats the Packers.

Caleb Williams set the franchise’s single-season passing record and threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes as the Bears wiped out a 16-0 deficit.

BILLS 35, JETS 8

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — After taking the first snap, Josh Allen headed to the sideline and joined the 70,000-plus fans to watch backup Mitch Trubisky throw four touchdown passes as Buffalo bid a likely farewell to their long-time home with a rout of New York.

Gabe Davis caught two touchdown passes and Ty Johnson had a TD run and a scoring catch in an outing during which the playoff-bound Bills (12-5) rested a majority of their starters.

Buffalo’s defense, meantime, manhandled an injury-depleted and backup-filled Jets offense that was blanked through 3 1/2 quarters and finished with 122 yards offense and nine first downs.

The win, coupled with the Los Angeles Chargers’ loss at Denver, led to Buffalo moving up one spot in clinching the No. 6 seed. The Bills will travel to play the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild-card round next weekend.

The Associated Press