New England Patriots 23, Miami Dolphins 16
The New England Patriots continued their winning streak of six games and clinched the AFC East division title by beating the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots took advantage of Miami’s mistakes to clinch their ninth division title in ten years. The high flying New England offense won with a more conservative approach against the Miami defense. Miami did not do enough offensively to overcome their mistakes. A few costly penalties and a blocked punt proved to be too much for Miami to overcome.
On defense, Miami played well throughout the game. Quarterback Tom Brady was held to just 238 passing yards, but that proved to be enough for the New England victory. New England, who has a playoff spot locked up, will now push for a first round playoff bye. The road will not be easy, New England must face the Houston Texans next week in what could turn out to be a pivotal matchup.
Jacksonville Jaguars 18, Buffalo Bills 34
A rain soaked day could not stop the Buffalo Bills from keeping their slim playoff chances alive at least for one more week. The Bills took care of business in front of a home crowd beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-18. The quarterback for the Jaguars Chad Henne has been playing well since he took over the starting quarterback spot. Sunday Henne was outplayed by Buffalo quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick put up a modest 112 yards passing but lead Buffalo to five consecutive scoring drives.
The Bills gashed the Jaguars on the ground running for a net 232 rushing yards. The Bills won despite losing a few key players due to injury. Receiver Stevie Johnson , center Eric Wood and right tackle Chris Hairston all went down with injuries. The Bills must get healthy quickly. Next week they face a tough St. Louis Rams’ defense. Despite the inconsistent performances this year, the Bills are still alive in the playoff race. Barely!
Arizona Cardinals 6, New York Jets 7
If you are a fan of low scoring football games then you were in for a treat Sunday. The New York Jets beat the Arizona Cardinals 7-6. The NFL soap opera known as the Jets continued to make headlines by benching starting quarterback Mark Sanchez. The oft criticized Sanchez has played poorly for most of the season. The trend continued last Sunday. Head coach Rex Ryan replaced Sanchez with third stringer Greg McElroy. The backup quarterback did not disappoint. To the delight of the home crowd, McElroy lead the Jets to the game winning touchdown.
Many people expected Sanchez to be pulled in favor of backup Tim Tebow, but the latter is still nursing an injury. The Jets only other option was McElroy. The third stringer led the Jets to a touchdown on his first drive. This would preserve a sloppy 7-6 victory for the Jets and keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The game ended without any of the quarterback throwing for over 100 yards. Sanchez led the trio with 97 yards passing zero touchdowns and three interceptions. The Cardinals have now lost eight straight after starting the season 4-0.