Redskins edge Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings collapsed again, only to fall into the playoffs thanks to a safety net provided by the New Orleans Saints.

Thwarted by an undermanned but swarming defense and their own mistakes, the Vikings wilted for the second year in a row with a chance to clinch a postseason berth in the season finale. They lost 21-18 to the Washington Redskins on Sunday in Landover, Md., then retreated to the locker room to learn that they had backed in to the playoffs.

Because they lost, the Vikings needed New Orleans to beat Carolina or New York to beat St. Louis. The Saints won 21-18, while the Rams beat the Jets in overtime.

The Vikings finished 8-8, losing seven of their last 10 games after a 5-1 start. Last year, they fell from 6-0 to 9-7 and were eliminated by a touchdown pass on the last play of the season in an 18-17 loss to Arizona.

The Redskins gave a spirited finish to Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs’ disappointing comeback season, his worst in 13 years with the Redskins.

Steelers 29, Bills 24

Pittsburgh is so good that it ended Buffalo’s playoff hopes with their backups in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Fourth-string running back Willie Parker had 102 yards rushing and backup linebacker James Harrison returned a fumble 18 yards for a touchdown, helping seal the Steelers’ win over the Bills. The Steelers won their 14th straight to match the record set by Miami in 1972 and became just the fourth team in NFL history to finish 15-1.

The Bills had a six-game win streak snapped, and squandered a chance to win their first playoff spot since 1999. Their loss automatically put the New York Jets in.

Buffalo made it close when Willis McGahee scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard plunge with 78 seconds left. But the Bills failed on an onside kick when Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor recovered the ball.

Packers 31, Bears 14

Brett Favre and Green Bay warmed up for the playoffs with a convincing road win over Chicago.

Favre played the first quarter and one series in the second, going 9 of 13 for 196 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers beat the Bears for the 21st time in the last 26 meetings – including 11 straight on the road.

Favre also went over 4,000 yards passing in a season for the fourth time in his career and reached 30 TD passes for an eighth time before backup Craig Nall took over.

Bengals 38, Eagles 10

With Donovan McNabb and several other starters sitting out, Philadelphia’s backups were thoroughly dominated in a loss to visiting Cincinnati.

Rudi Johnson ran for three touchdowns and Jon Kitna threw a scoring pass, helping the Bengals win their second straight game to finish 8-8 for the second year in a row.

Broncos 33, Colts 14

Denver took care of the Indianapolis ‘B’ team and earned the right to face Peyton Manning and the real Colts next week in the playoffs.

Jake Plummer threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns to lift the Broncos to a victory over the visiting Colts and qualify for the AFC’s final wild-card spot.

The Broncos start the postseason next Sunday in a familiar place – at Indianapolis, where they lost 41-10 in last year’s first round.

Chargers 24, Chiefs 17

Backup quarterbacks Doug Flutie and rookie Philip Rivers each threw a touchdown pass and San Diego warmed up for its first playoff game in nine seasons by beating visiting Kansas City.

Having clinched the AFC West title two weeks earlier and the AFC’s No. 4 seed a week ago, the Chargers rested Pro Bowlers Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, as well as defensive tackle Jamal Williams.

Giants 28, Cowboys 24

Tiki Barber capped a record-setting night by scoring on a 3-yard run with 11 seconds to play, leading New York past Dallas in East Rutherford, N.J.

Rookie Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes to earn his first victory in seven starts as the Giants snapped an eight-game losing streak.

Barber set Giants single-season (1,518) and career (6,926) rushing records in the game, surpassing marks held by Rodney Hampton and Joe Morris.

Jaguars 13, Raiders 6

Byron Leftwich threw for 149 yards and Greg Jones scored on a 1-yard run for the game’s only touchdown that broke a third-quarter tie, and visiting Jacksonville beat Oakland for the franchise’s first winning season in five years.

Jacksonville missed the playoffs when Denver beat Indianapolis.

Browns 22, Texans 14

Cleveland surprised host Houston with a thoroughly dominating effort in a season finale for both teams.

Lee Suggs had his third straight 100-yard rushing day and Phil Dawson kicked five field goals, giving Browns interim coach Terry Robiskie his only win in five games since replacing Butch Davis on Nov. 30.

Ravens 30, Dolphins 23

Jamal Lewis scored a touchdown and ran for 167 yards, giving him 1,006 for the season, as Baltimore beat visiting Miami.

Baltimore’s Ed Reed got his eighth interception and returned it 41 yards to get an NFL record for return yardage in a season (358).

Titans 24, Lions 19

Billy Volek threw for 175 yards and a TD and the Titans held on for a win over Detroit in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee snapped its five-game losing skid.