Jets beat Raiders, clinch berth

Chad Pennington threw a touchdown pass to Chris Baker, Leon Washington ran for a touchdown and Mike Nugent kicked three field goals to lead the Jets to a 23-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Jets came in knowing a win would clinch a postseason berth. Cheered on by a sea of towel-waving fans throughout the game, New York never trailed.

The Jets will play next Sunday in a first-round matchup at New England.

Chiefs 35, Jaguars 30: At Kansas City, Mo., Larry Johnson rushed for 138 yards, scored three touchdowns and set an NFL record for carries in a season, as the Chiefs beat Jacksonville.

Johnson’s 416 carries erased the record of 410 set by Atlanta’s Jamal Anderson in 1998.

The Chiefs will play at Indianapolis in the first round of the playoffs next Saturday.

Eagles 24, Falcons 17: At Philadelphia, the Eagles clinched the NFC East title less than five minutes into the game when Dallas lost 39-31 to the lowly Lions. So, coach Andy Reid pulled his starters to keep them healthy for next Sunday’s first-round matchup against the New York Giants.

A.J. Feeley threw for a career-best 321 yards and three touchdown passes while the Falcons’ Michael Vick left in the second half with an ankle injury.

Chargers 27, Cardinals 20: At San Diego, Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes after injuring his right foot, and LaDainian Tomlinson also limped off after wrapping up his first NFL rushing title in leading San Diego to a win over Arizona.

The Chargers clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Ravens 19, Bills 7: At Baltimore, using a stellar performance from the defense and an efficient effort from the offense, Baltimore beat Buffalo to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Chris McAlister returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown and the Ravens yielded only 39 yards rushing on the day.

Rams 41, Vikings 21: At Minneapolis, Steven Jackson had a career-high four touchdowns and 142 yards rushing, helping St. Louis finish the year with three straight wins in a victory over Minnesota.

The Rams were eliminated from the playoff chase at their hotel Saturday night when the Giants beat the Redskins and the Vikings were mathematically out after a 9-7 loss to the Packers last week.

Steelers 23, Bengals 17 (OT): At Cincinnati, Santonio Holmes’ long touchdown catch in overtime ended the Cincinnati Bengals’ season and gave Steelers coach Bill Cowher a reason to smile as he decides whether his Pittsburgh career is over, too.

Holmes caught a pass from Ben Roethlisberger on the third play in overtime, eluded defenders and dived the final few yards into the end zone for a 67-yard score, giving Pittsburgh the wild win.

Patriots 40, Titans 23: At Nashville, Tenn., Corey Dillon ran for two touchdowns and Tom Brady threw for a TD, as New England stopped Tennessee’s magical run at NFL history with the win.

The Titans had won six straight games and needed to beat New England and hope Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Denver all lost.

Texans 14, Browns 6: At Houston, the Texans were outgained 306 to 177 yards, but got a win over Cleveland thanks to several costly errors by the Browns.

The victory gives the Texans back-to-back wins for the first time since 2004.

Panthers 31, Saints 21: At New Orleans, the Saints chose to play for a healthy playoff roster rather than one more inconsequential victory.

The result was a Carolina victory over New Orleans as Jake Delhomme and the Panthers’ starters pulled away against the Saints’ reserves. Delhomme was 23 of 27 for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Colts 27, Dolphins 22: At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning threw two touchdowns, ran for another and watched his maligned defense limit Miami to five field goals before giving up a late touchdown, and the Colts held on for the victory.

Indianapolis will now host a wild-card game next Saturday against the Chiefs after blowing a chance to earn either of the AFC’s top two seeds by losing four of its past six.

Packers 26, Bears 7: At Chicago, Brett Favre had his way. Rex Grossman looked lost, and Chicago bore little resemblance to a No. 1 playoff seed.

Favre showed he still has some ammo left in that gunslinging right arm, passing for 285 yards to lead Green Bay to a victory.