Lions, Vikings In Playoffs

The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings made the playoffs Sunday and the Lions put in Miami and New England.

The Washington Redskins and New York Jets were left on the outside looking in, in part because of two questionable play calls by Jets coaches that led to interceptions, plus a questionable call by the officials on the second.

After Minnesota beat Indianapolis 39-28 to clinch one NFC wild-card spot, the Lions beat the Jets 13-10 to get the second, knocking out both the Redskins and the Jets. That means four of the NFC’s six playoff teams are from the Central, the first time four have qualified from one division.

That set up these matchups for next weekend’s wild-card round: On Saturday, Minnesota (9-7) will be at the New York Giants (10-5-1) and Jacksonville (11-5) at Denver (12-4) in a replay of last year’s huge playoff upset by the Jaguars.

On Sunday, it will be the loser of tonight’s New England-Miami game at the winner, followed by Detroit (9-7) at Tampa Bay (10-6).

Lions 13, Jets 10

Detroit knew Washington had beaten Philadelphia and they needed to win to make the playoffs; the New York Jets already knew they needed a victory to make it. There was also the subplot of Sanders’ attempt for 2,000 yards.

Sanders had just 23 yards entering the final play of the third quarter, when he burst free for 47 yards. A few plays later, he scored from 15 yards and finished with 184 yards, including a 53-yard run at the two-minute warning that put the game away.

“We developed into a patient offense,” Sanders said. “We don’t always have the best of starts.”

The game was interrupted in the fourth quarter when Detroit linebacker Reggie Brown was taken unconscious from the field with what was reported as a head injury. It left what might have been a joyous locker room somber after the game.

The Jets took a 10-0 lead before the Lions rallied. The Jets threatened twice, but backup quarterback Ray Lucas threw a third-down interception when they were in field goal range. Then, rookie Leon Johnson’s option pass on first-and-goal at the Detroit 9 was intercepted by Bryant Westbrook.

Replays showed Westbrook juggling the ball as he fell out of the end zone, but the officials ruled it a catch.

Vikings 39, Colts 28

The win by the Vikings was forged by a combo that got the Eagles to the playoffs in the ‘80s: Randall Cunningham throwing and Cris Carter catching. Carter, who was cut by Buddy Ryan in 1990 after Ryan said “all he can do is catch touchdowns,” caught three of them and Andrew Glover got a fourth.

It’s the fifth time in six seasons under Dennis Green that the Vikings are in the playoffs. They have yet to win in the postseason.

“This is a huge relief,” said Cunningham, who will be the fifth quarterback to start a playoff game under Green. “We were able to go out and do what we needed to do to get into the playoffs.”

“For us,” Green said, “the playoffs mean a second chance.”

But Cunningham also threw three interceptions and the Vikes needed gifts - five turnovers by backup Colts quarterback Kelly Holcomb, who played parts of the second and fourth quarters when Jim Harbaugh was hurt. Two interceptions and a fumble came in the second quarter as the Vikings turned a 10-10 tie into a 29-10 lead.

The loss gave the Colts the first pick in April’s draft.

Redskins 35, Eagles 32

Darryl Pounds stripped Philadelphia quarterback Bobby Hoying on a cornerback blitz, picked it up and returned it for a touchdown. Then Darrell Green returned an interception 83 yards for a TD as Washington took a 14-0 lead and held on.

But the win was made superfluous by Detroit’s victory.

“There are numerous games where we blew it,” linebacker Marvcus Patton said. “We let it get out of our hands, and we have to live with that.”

Bucs 31, Bears 15

Karl Williams scored twice, once on a 61-yard punt return, and Warrick Dunn had 119 yards, including a team-record 76-yard run, as Tampa Bay reached 10 wins for the first time since 1979. It avenged an earlier loss to Chicago.

Giants 20, Cowboys 7

At Texas Stadium, the New York jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead and the second half was played between scrubs. An era ended with Dallas finishing 6-10. It was likely the last game for Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, whose team lost its last five games.

Broncos 38, Chargers 3

A week after one of his worst games, John Elway had four touchdown passes for Denver, including three in the second quarter.

San Diego finished with an eight-game losing streak.

Chiefs 25, Saints 13

Elvis Grbac, who missed six games with a broken collarbone, warmed up for the playoffs by going 5 for 14 for 51 yards for Kansas City and Tamarick Vanover had an 82-yard punt return for a score.

Rookie Keith Poole had two touchdown catches for New Orleans.

Oilers 16, Pittsburgh 6

Tennessee got the only meaningful thing from this game, a .500 season. The Oilers ran for 156 yards and became the third team to top 100 yards rushing this season against Pittsburgh, which has a bye next weekend.

Bengals 16, Ravens 14

Boomer Esiason threw two touchdown passes for Cincinnati, which relegated the Ravens to last place in the AFC Central for the second time in their two seasons in Baltimore.

Cardinals 29, Falcons 26

Jake Plummer threw a 1-yard TD pass to Larry Centers with 5 seconds left to give Phoenix the victory. Atlanta had a five-game winning streak broken.

Jaguars 20, Raiders 9

Oakland (4-12) concluded their worst season since going 1-13 in 1962, the year before Al Davis took charge of the operation. Mark Brunell threw touchdown passes to Keenan McCardell and Damon Jones for Jacksonville.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Sunday’s best Quarterbacks Eric Zeier 28-41-349-2-0 John Elway 17-26-273-4-1 Bobby Hoying 21-31-255-2-1 Boomer Esiason 21-34-254-2-0 Running backs Barry Sanders 23-184-1 Robert Smith 17-160-0 Jamal Anderson 33-152-0 Receivers Tim Brown 14-164-0 Shannon Sharpe 8-162-1 Darnay Scott 6-129-1