American Football:The New York Giants stormed to an early lead then held on to beat the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 in the National Football League's season finale last night to claim the NFC East crown and a place in the play-offs.
With the victory, the Giants (9-7) return to the post-season for the first time in three years, earning the number four seed and a home game against Atlanta Falcons (10-6) on January 8th.
After a wild final day, the Giants and Cowboys had the spotlight to themselves for a primetime, winner-take-all showdown that had generated Super Bowl-like hype.
Meeting for the 100th time, the division rivals provided a nail-biting finish to the regular season as the Giants, powered by two of Eli Manning’s three touchdown passes, jumped out to 21-0 half-time lead and then fought off a second half fightback.
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo fired a pair of touchdown strikes to Laurent Robinson to cut the deficit to seven points early in the fourth quarter, but could not complete the comeback and missed the play-offs for the third time in four seasons.
Manning, who was named to the Pro Bowl last week, flashed his all-star credentials completing 24 of 33 passes for 346 yards in a masterful performance, with wide receiver Victor Cruz terrorising the Dallas secondary in hauling in six passes for 178 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown in the opening quarter .
Earlier in the day, the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals clinched places in the play-offs despite losing their final regular season games, while the in-form New England Patriots captured the top seed in the AFC.
The Broncos (8-8) and Bengals (9-7) earned play-off berths as results elsewhere favoured them, ensuring that both teams will be in action next week when the wild card round begins.
Quarterback Tim Tebow and the Broncos will host last year’s Super Bowl runners-up, the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Cincinnati visit the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions will be in New Orleans against the Saints.
The AFC road to the Super Bowl goes through New England as the Patriots erased a 21-0 first-quarter deficit to beat the Buffalo Bills 49-21 and ensure they enter the post-season on the back of eight consecutive wins.
Quarterback Tom Brady finished with 338 passing yards and three touchdowns to move ahead of Hall of Famer Dan Marino into second place in the single-season passing record.
Last week, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees broke Marino's record of 5,084 yards, which he established in 1984.
The Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati 24-16 to get the AFC’s No 2 seed and resulting bye week, while in the NFC, the top-seeded Green Bay Packers finished 15-1 after a 45-41 win over Detroit with back-up quarterback Matt Flynn scoring a franchise-record six touchdowns as Aaron Rodgers was given the day off.
The San Francisco 49ers, who held on for a 34-27 win over the St Louis Rams, take the second seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record, edging the Saints on a tiebreak.
There was disappointment though for the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets whose seasons came to an abrupt end after losses to San Diego and the Miami Dolphins respectively.
Despite the many scenarios needed for some teams to advance to the play-offs, Denver entered their final regular season game against an already eliminated Chiefs team with a simple objective - win and get in.
However, this time there were no comeback heroics from Tebow, who went six of 22 for 60 yards in a 7-3 loss.
Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton, who left Denver this season after losing his place to Tebow, earned some satisfaction from the win but the Broncos were still able to savour the taste of post-season football thanks to Oakland’s defeat.
The Broncos have not featured in the play-offs for six years will have a tough challenge against the Steelers having lost their last three games and their quarterback having lost most of the 'Tebow Time' momentum that propelled Denver, who won the AFC West division, into contention.
Everyone was a winner in Cincinnati where Ray Rice had two touchdowns for Baltimore, whose win ensured them of a second-round game at home where they are 8-0 this season.
The Bengals take the sixth seed, a wildcard slot, on a tiebreak from the Tennessee Titans, whose 23-22 win over Houston allowed them to also finish with a 9-7 record.