Hail Mary: Broncos take control, 49ers and Giants stay in race

Falcons @ Bills

Buffalo went up to Toronto to play this game knowing that anything other than a win would probably see their season over. They jumped out to an early lead but Atlanta has been playing tough despite not getting any wins. Matt Ryan showed us what we’ve been missing as he zipped the ball around and finished with a total of 311 yards. The game eventually went into overtime and was won by Atlanta 34-31 on a 36 yard field goal. Atlanta is now 3-9, just one game worse than the Bills.

Rams @ 49ers

Knowing that Carolina had won earlier in the day it was important that San Francisco won and kept pace with them and also put some pressure on Seattle in the division. The 49ers were not really troubled in their 23-13 win, and even though St.Louis did a good job containing the Niners run game, they could not stop the tandem of Anquain Boldin and Vernon Davis who combined for 180 yards from 13 catches, Davis with an acrobatic leap to get his touchdown to seal the win.

Broncos @ Chiefs

The AFC West is surely in the hands of Denver as they came out of Kansas City with a 35-28 win. They scored 28 unanswered points and had a career day from Eric Decker who had four touchdowns and 174 yards receiving. Peyton Manning had another handful of touchdown passes. Rookie running back Montee Ball had 117 yards off just 13 carries. Kansas City has now lost three straight but are a certain lock for the first wild card spot in the AFC after winning their first nine.

Bengals @ Chargers

Cincinnati gained a big win in San Diego, not in terms of the final score of 17-10, but in terms of showing they have what it takes to win a big game on the road. The loss drops the Chargers to 5-7, but still very much alive in the playoff race. Ben Green-Ellis had a big game on the ground for the Bengals with 20 carries for 92 yards, and one touchdown. Cincinnati now holds a two game lead in the AFC North and still has an outside chance of a first round playoff bye.

Giants @ Redskins

Eli Manning resembled something like his playoff best and Justin Tuck had four sacks as the New York Giants stayed in the playoff race with a 24-17 win over Washington The loss eliminates last year’s NFC East division winners from this season’s playoff race. Robert Griffin III had a great first half completing 18 of 19 passes but his offence was stifled in the second half and only managed 95 yards. Giants running back Andre Brown had two touchdown runs.