Giants, Bengals, Broncos capture playoff spots

Eli Manning sparked the New York Giants over Dallas 31-14 to claim a National Football League playoff berth while Denver and Cincinnati both qualified for post-season play despite defeats. On the final day of the NFL regular season, Manning completed 24 of 33 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Giants to victory in a head-to-head showdown for the NFC East division title. New England, Baltimore and San Francisco won to secure first-round playoff byes while impressive passing efforts by Green Bay's Matt Flynn and Drew Brees of New Orleans sparked flashy triumphs. Manning connected with Victor Cruz on a 74-yard touchdown pass play in the first quarter and Ahmad Bradshaw scored on runs of five and 10 yards in the second quarter to put the Giants ahead 21-0 at half-time. After Dallas quarterback Tony Romo threw touchdown passes of six and 34 yards to Laurent Robinson, Manning answered with an NFL one-season record 15th fourth-quarter touchdown pass, a 4-yard toss to Hakeem Nicks, to clinch a win. "It's a great feeling, Manning said of breaking the record he had shared with his brother Peyton and NFL legend Johnny Unitas. "We needed that one to seal the victory." Next weekend's opening-round playoff games will see the Giants host Atlanta and Detroit at New Orleans in the National Conference (NFC) with Cincinnati at Houston and Pittsburgh at Denver in the American Conference (AFC). Top seed Green Bay and San Francisco have first-round byes in the NFC while top seed New England and Baltimore have first-round byes in the AFC. Green Bay, Baltimore and New Orleans all went unbeaten at home this season. In the fight for two vacant AFC playoff spots, Denver's 7-3 loss to Kansas City on a 21-yard Dexter McCluster touchdown run secured a wild-card berth for the Cincinnati Bengals despite their 24-16 home loss to Baltimore. "We wanted a chance to play for the championship and we accomplished that, but we've got to keep improving," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. When San Diego ripped hosts Oakland 38-26, both teams matched Denver at 8-8 atop the AFC West but Denver, mired in a three-game losing streak, won the division on the third tie-breaker, a better record against common opponents. "Everything is mediocre. We've got to get better," Denver defensive back Champ Bailey said. "This is not the way we wanted to do it." Oakland last reached the playoffs in 2002. "This team needs an attitude adjustment," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "The killer instinct needs to exist." Tennessee edged Houston 23-22 to match Cincinnati at 9-7 but lost out on a tie-breaker for a playoff spot. The New York Jets would have had a chance as well with a victory but lost 19-17 at Miami. Baltimore's triumph, powered by Ray Rice touchdown runs of 70 and 51 yards, was enough to give the Ravens the AFC North title at 12-4 on a tie-breaker over Pittsburgh, who won 13-9 at Cleveland on Isaac Redman's 7-yard touchdown run. New England's Tom Brady completed 23 of 35 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Patriots over Buffalo 49-21 and secure a home-field edge throughout the AFC playoffs. The Bills had led 21-0 after the first quarter. New England's Rob Gronkowski set a single-season tight end receiving record with 1,327 yards, a 22-yard catch in the final seconds allowing him to edge Jimmy Graham of New Orleans by 17 yards for the mark. Brees capped the NFL's greatest pass yardage season by completing 28-of-35 throws for 389 yards and five touchdowns to spark the Saints over Carolina 45-17 for their eighth victory in a row. Marques Colston made seven catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns for the Saints (13-3), who set NFL season records with 7,474 offensive yards, 5,347 passing yards and 416 first downs. The Packers, who own the NFC home-field edge after an NFL-best 15-1 season, rested starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers and saw Flynn flip a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jermichael Finley with 70 seconds remaining in a 45-41 victory over Detroit. Flynn completed 31-of-44 passes for 480 yards and six touchdowns while Detroit's Matthew Stafford completed 36-of-59 passes for 520 yards and five touchdowns. San Francisco clinched an NFC bye with a 34-27 victory at St. Louis while Atlanta ripped Tampa Bay 45-24 to pass Detroit for the NFC fifth seed. Indianapolis lost 19-13 at Jacksonville to finish a league-worst 2-14 and claim the first pick in April's NFL Draft. In games with no playoff impact, Philadelphia beat Washington 34-10, Chicago edged Minnesota 17-13 and Arizona downed Seattle 23-20 in overtime.