Patriots 27, Texans 6: Tom Brady threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns, and New England snapped a two-game slump to clinch a playoff spot.
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Panthers safety Kurt Coleman intercepted Falcons backup quarterback Sean Renfree at the Carolina 36 on the Falcons final drive to seal the shutout.
Carolina football fans have a lot to celebrate, as the Panthers beat Falcons’ team from Atlanta on Sunday, which seals their chances for a first round bye.
An integral late-season replacement on the outside for the second straight year, Benwikere fractured his left leg while attempting to make a tackle on the Falcons’ first play of the fourth quarter.
Stewart (left ankle), who ran for 75 yards, and tight end Greg Olsen (left knee) left the game in the second quarter and did not return. But Rivera said both players could have returned and were held out because the team had a big lead.
Cam Newton was caught off-guard by a surprise butt-slap.
The New York Giants host the Carolina Panthers in one of the most anticipated games on Sunday, December 20 start time at 1:00 pm ET at MetLife Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ.
If that happens it would give them two weeks to play meaningless games and give Rivera a decision on whether to play starters and go for an undefeated season.
“The only real test will be when he’s on the field doing the things he needs to, and that’s what we’ve got to find out on Wednesday”, Rivera said.
The Falcons went all-in the week before in an attempt win the Tampa Bay game.
Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy had 74 yards rushing and 35 receiving in his return to Philadelphia, but his efforts were not enough for the Bills, who fell two games behind in the AFC wild-card race. “We’d love to be able to have home field all the way through, and the only way for us to do that is to approach it one game at a time and play to win those games”.
After Sunday’s 38-0 whitewash of the Atlanta Falcons, Cam Newton & Co. took the National Football League lead in scoring at 31.6 points per game (411 total points; the Cardinals are second with 405).
Carolina’s Newton connected on scoring strikes of 74 and 46 yards to Ted Ginn Jr., and Jonathan Stewart ran for a touchdown as the Panthers scored on their first three possessions. “They out-executed us in many different facets, and there’s not much more to say about that”. I really like his confidence throwing the ball across the middle with his guys. “But I understand and I’m not going to worry about it”.
That third-quarter touchdown was set up by Ryan’s fumble on a sack.
Hoyer left the game to be evaluated for a concussion with about 9 minutes remaining.
Short attributed his success to the cohesion on the defensive line, saying “you come in and you’re not anxious about the guy that’s behind you and come in and be dominant as well”. CB Josh Norman helped keep WR Julio Jones out of the end zone. Doug Baldwin scored on passes of 14, 22 and 16 yards, and Tyler Lockett caught TD throws of 8 and 49 yards. Defensive end Charles Johnson took to Twitter to ask “What’s the point of having good pass rushers if u sit them at the beginning of the 4 quarter” and that he thought pass rushers were for situations like the fourth quarter. Carolina’s formula starts with the ground game, and Stewart is the one that spearheads that attack. “… We want to be considered finishers”.
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Oakland Raiders (6-7) 15 Denver Broncos (10-3) 12: Brock Osweiler couldn’t get the ball in the end zone and was sacked five times, while Derek Carr threw a couple of touchdowns to make all the difference. “We need to do that now”.
