Race to Super Bowl 50 - NFL Week 16 American Football

Take it to them right from the start.

Let's go get it!

-Lofts it into the endzone...

-Ridiculous!

Touchdown!

Somersault for the touchdown.

Unbelievable!

Yes! Yes!

Pass is intercepted at the goal line.

The New England Patriots are the NFL champions.

Hello, it's NFL week 16

and there are just 18 teams left hunting a play-off place

in the race to Super Bowl 50.

Entering week 16, the play-off picture looks like this -

New England are champions of the AFC East

and are play-off bound.

Cincinnati lead the North and have at least a wild-card berth,

whilst Denver and Houston lead the other two divisions

and must win this week to progress.

Pittsburgh and Kansas City occupy the wild-card spot.

The New York Jets await any slip-ups,

whilst Indianapolis and Jacksonville wait in hope

for a chance to win the AFC South.

In the NFC, Carolina and Arizona are division champions,

play-off places guaranteed.

Green Bay and Minnesota are embroiled

in a tight battle for the North division.

Washington lead the East

and could win it with a victory in Philadelphia.

Seattle are one of the wild-cards,

Atlanta watching for a mistake to grab the other.

With just two games remaining in the regular season,

the action promises to be decisive,

and overseeing it all is two-time Super Bowl winner

with the New York Giants Osi Umenyiora

and former quarterback with Dallas, Houston and the Giants, Jason Bell.

So, let's get straight to the action,

starting with the NFL's only unbeaten team, Carolina,

now just two wins away from becoming only the third team

to go through the regular season undefeated.

On Sunday, they travelled to division rivals Atlanta.

The Carolina Panthers thrashed the Atlanta Falcons 38-0

just two weeks ago and needed one more victory

to secure the NFC's number one seeding

and a bye in the first round of the play-offs.

Atlanta were in need of some form of revenge just to keep alive

their slim hopes of a wild-card place.

Play clock at one, snap it.

Newton going to run it.

An endzone touchdown!

This number one is a really good football player.

The MVP, I don't want him with the ball in his hands

on the first drive, cos he's going to do that to you.

The dual threat showing up on the first drive.

Ryan going to throw.

He can run it if he tries.

Oh, Matt Ryan with the moves!

-Who knew he had it in him, John?

-JOHN LAUGHS

Matt Ryan says, "Cam Newton, you're not the only one

"that can run around and make plays."

Thomas Davis is as good as there is in the league.

Matt Ryan puts a little okey-doke on him and runs right by.

Hits to Freeman. He's got some room.

Touchdown!

And now watch Jake Matthews, out in front along with DiMarco.

The key block on Tillman,

Devonta Freeman walks in the endzone for the Atlanta Falcons.

Here at 3rd down and 8...

Newton...got a throw, looking around, maybe running...

Can't wrap him up, he's still going! Fighting forward.

He's close to a first down.

WHISTLE BLOWS

He's like a Mack truck. And now the spot.

The old saying, a man amongst boys, unbelievable.

They are tattooing Cam Newtown but he carries them

close to that first down.

Still followed forward. Unbelievable.

That's one of the plays of the year.

You talk about effort and that's what's made this team special.

They got great character.

What happened last week, their coach was not proud of.

He doesn't want all the chippiness. He's a guy who respects the game.

A little blood starting to show but these guys play hard,

they play together.

-Does the trick.

-It's just a magnificent effort by Cam Newton.

And Ryan looking on, hoping his defense can make the play.

2nd and 1 after the nine-yard run from Artis-Payne.

Two fakes.

Now late pressure, and Newton is buried.

He turned the wrong way and Babineaux and Biermann got him down.

But we just saw him carrying all the Falcons for a first down.

He thinks he can get out of anything, and Babineaux says

not so fast, and brings down Camden.

They have a chance with Shayne Graham, who has been perfect

since signing with Atlanta.

There's a 43-yard field goal that gave the Falcons the lead

and this one is no-go!

Following Graham's miss, the Panthers would go on an eight-play drive,

culminating in a 33-yard Graham Gano field goal to make it 10-7.

3rd in 13 for Atlanta. Two and a half to go in this third quarter.

They've been great today and all year in this area.

Got to get to the 43.

Pocket collapsing, Ryan rolling, looking,

just going to throw it deep for Jones, double coverage.

Oh, what a catch! Touchdown!

70 yards to Jones. Ridiculous.

Just throw it up and give him a chance.

Julio Jones running downfield,

going against one of the great players in football, Luke Kuechly.

Matt Ryan says go deep, this is like on the streets in Philly,

and Julio Jones, up and over, posterises Luke Kuechly.

What a play by a great, great player, Julio Jones.

-That was unbelievable.

-That is special.

Wow.

Ryan on the bench snap! He didn't realise it was coming.

It's loose.

Norman picks it up for the Panthers.

The defense makes a huge play.

Number one in the league in turnovers is Carolina

and they get one at a big time.

Did he just miss it or was he not ready for that? I couldn't tell.

It looked like he was ready, it looks like it was a decent snap,

just went right by him.

The Panthers would go three and out on the ensuing possession

but they were still able to convert a 47-yard Gano field goal

to make it a one-point game.

In 3rd and 9, Atlanta, 8 of 12 on 3rd down today. They've been great.

Empty set blitz again, Ryan sees it, unloads,

Roddy White has the catch and he's got a first down.

Matt Ryan has been terrific, on the money against the blitz

and it's 16 yards to white.

37-yard field goal, Bosher the hold.

This time Graham is money,

and so the Panthers will need a touchdown

with just over two minutes to go from Atlanta

if they want to remain unbeaten.

Cam Newton rallying the troops.

Can he pull it off?

Down four here.

Fakes the run over the middle, incomplete!

I think it was Durant who jumped up and got it, the middle linebacker,

and now 4th down.

Dan Quinn told us,

"We are absolutely jacked to play this game."

And his Falcons finish the deal.

Unbeaten on the line out of 4th down.

Newton over the middle...incomplete!

No flags.

This is unbelievable, John, the way it played out,

Carolina may have gotten the ball back for, like, nine, ten seconds.

They're getting it with a minute 35.

I mean, here we are right in the postscript of this thing

and now they're going to try a really long field goal.

To get back there to return it.

54 yards for Shayne Graham.

Wow, this is gutsy. Graham, long field goal, it would be a career...

And long! And he's got it!

Well, Carolina will still get the ball back with a chance to tie.

With a decent amount of time left, no time out.

Get it off relatively quickly. Newton in trouble!

Hit, ball's loose, recovered.

Atlanta...game over.

Beasley stripped Clayborn of the recovery.

There's Beasley working against Rivers.

Pure speed and power, puts his hand on the ball.

That's what they thought they were drafting when they took Vic Beasley,

number 8, from Clemson.

What an upset, what a win for Dan Quinn and these Atlanta Falcons.

First time Carolina has lost since last November

and so the Panthers' undefeated season will come to a halt.

-We got our

-BLEEP

-kicked today

and to a lot of degree we deserved it, especially

the type of way we played. Offensively, defensively,

in special teams, you know,

and I'm talking with the mirror in front of my face,

you know, some plays that we left out there, we knew it,

but, yeah,

we know what we're capable of. We're 14 and 1 right now.

We put ourselves in this situation

that we can use this as fuel to the fire.

Carolina Panthers are no longer undefeated,

falling to the Atlanta Falcons, also known as...

the Dirty Birds!

And we're going to show you a couple of plays.

Check out my man, Matt Ryan, here.

Now, this is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Look at this pass.

Play action fake, and this is a very difficult throw to make,

all the way to the other, opposite side of the field,

a great football play.

And right here you see him also looking down the middle

of the field, finding Julio Jones, the man-child who makes people miss

and gets all the way down for a 30-yard gain.

And right here we find out why they call him Matty Ice,

because he has ice water running through his veins.

In a situation like this, most quarterbacks, instead of looking

downfield, they'll be scrambling, trying to get down, but not him.

He finds Julio Jones again, all the way down the field,

and look at Julio Jones

with the Jessica Ennis-Hill finish at the end.

What a great football player that guy is.

Locked and loaded, Matt Ryan,

but guess what? It's not all about the offense.

The defense came through too, and right here we're going to see

some of the Atlanta Falcons players make some great plays.

Right here, Cam Newton is going to be standing back here,

I guess for ever, thinking

he's practising whatever new dance move he's going to come up with,

but no, the Atlanta Falcons said, "No! We're going to get you!"

And they did get him.

A great play by Kroy Biermann and Jonathan Babineaux

again to the quarterback and now, to end the game,

got to sack the quarterback.

This is the last play of the game

and watch my man out here on the end coming all the way off the field,

knocking the ball out of the quarterback's hands.

That is a sack, forced fumble

and you're going to see it again over here.

Watch this play, watch him stick his hand out,

knock the ball out of the quarterback's hand,

ending the game, ending the Carolina Panthers' undefeated season.

The Atlanta Falcons - the Dirty Birds -

got it done.

He seems to have taken great joy in the Carolina Panthers

losing their undefeated record. We'll bring him back in.

How do you go from winning 38-0 a couple of weeks ago,

against the same opponents, to losing?

Not putting together a complete game, you know.

They came out, they played a team that had played them before

and this team knows them now,

Atlanta, Dan Quinn is a defensive guy. He's got them down.

This was the second shot at them and he made it happen.

You said you'd been in situations like that where you played a team

a couple of weeks before

and then bounced back to get the win against them.

Yeah, absolutely, because you're familiar with the guys,

you're familiar with the guys you're going against and with the plays,

and now your defensive coordinator finds all those little nuances

that he can kind of turn on and make you execute better.

Does this defeat... Look, you're trying hard not to smile!

Yeah, I'm not going to say anything more. I'm just going to keep quiet.

-I'm just going to relax back here.

-And recline on the sofa.

Do you think this one defeat affects anything

in Cam Newton's race to be MVP?

No, not in the race to be MVP.

He's had a fantastic season, there's no question about that, man.

I think this one blip on the radar is not going to mean anything.

Look at the plays this man has made.

There's really no question he's the MVP of the league.

I thought he was very impressive again

in his post-match press conference, saying they will use it as fuel.

Do you think in some ways,

if you're going to put a positive spin on this, it will help them,

the fact they've lost that unbeaten record,

the pressure that goes with it?

Yeah, definitely the pressure, and also, it finally gives them

the chance to evaluate what they haven't done well.

When you're winning, nobody wants to rock the boat.

They kind of give you comments on what you need to tweak

but they don't really get after you, the coaches.

-Now they're going to get after them.

-Absolutely, man,

but I think they would have preferred to go undefeated.

I think everybody wants that on their record.

But the pressure builds, the longer you stay undefeated.

People talk about that as much as winning the Super Bowl.

Absolutely, no question.

But you still don't think they're a Super Bowl team.

They're not a Super Bowl team. And I'm always right, Mark!

You always are! Although if Jessica Ennis-Hill had ever finished a race

like that, I don't think she would have ever won a medal.

If you want to get involved, just use the hashtag #RaceToSP50

or if you're new to the sport, #NFLRookie.

Jason and Osi will be looking to provide some answers.

Feel free to tweet us, Jessica.

Now, let's round up the rest of the contenders from the NFC.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a season-high 365 yards

for Washington, including four touchdowns,

with a brace to Jordan Reed in their defeat of Philadelphia.

It's Reed again! Touchdown!

However, it was DeAngelo Hall who returned a DeMarco Murray fumble

17 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown in the third quarter,

and Washington went on to secure the victory

and with it the NFC Eastern division title

and a guaranteed play-off place.

On Sunday evening,

Green Bay travelled to Arizona in the NFC North.

After a tense and scoreless first quarter, Arizona's defense was

unleashed on Green Bay's quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers was sacked a total of eight times

and a second fumble was returned for a touchdown by Jerraud Powers.

Arizona went on to record

a dominant 38-8 victory that clinched a first-round play-off bye.

Minnesota could draw level with the Packers

with a win at home to the New York Giants.

Safety Harrison Smith took one of Eli Manning's three interceptions

into the endzone and the Minnesota Vikings clinched a play-off spot

with a 49-17 victory.

Next week sees Minnesota travel to Green Bay.

The winner will be the NFC North champions,

the loser guaranteed a wild-card berth.

Seattle will be the other wild-card,

although they suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of

division rivals, the St Louis Rams.

Akeem Ayers returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown

in the first quarter, as St Louis ended Seattle's five-game win streak

and swept the season series, having won in overtime in week one.

Well, I'm delighted to say that we're joined by Bruce Arians,

head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Thank you very much for talking to us, Bruce.

First of all, I wonder if you believe in the idea of momentum in sport,

and if you do, you are definitely the team who has that

at the moment in the NFL.

Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it.

Momentum is something that you earn on a practice field and builds

week to week to week, and right now we feel pretty good about ourselves.

Is it an advantage to have the rest ahead of the play-offs,

to be one of the top two seeds,

or do you worry about losing momentum with the week off?

I don't think the week off...

Two weeks off is something that's really tough, you know,

if we rested our players this week and then had a week off,

I'd worry about them getting stale,

but the bye week is something that you earn, and the rest is good.

Coach, I'd like to know about David Johnson

and his recent impact on your running game.

Oh, the guy's been amazing.

We knew, as a rookie, he was going to be special.

He got hurt back in training camp

and we were fortunate enough that Chris Johnson came in

and gave us three or four months of great football

and now David has taken over

and we had an idea he was going to be pretty special.

And how important will the experience of Carson Palmer be, going forward?

Oh, gosh, yeah, when you have a quarterback who's been there now,

he's going to be a little nervous, you know,

the one thing about him, he has not won a play-off game

but he's more than excited about getting to the play-offs.

How do you control those nerves?

Well, I think... With a really good week of practice,

and you got to get hit one time

and be out there and complete that first ball,

and even at 36 there's going to be butterflies.

And how far ahead do you work as a coach now?

Because obviously, when you get your schedule at the start of the season

you can plan very easily.

Are you looking at tapes at the moment of all teams who are

going to be in the play-offs?

Well, not really. We really...

After we get done with Seattle,

it would be probably Green Bay or Minnesota, the winner of that game,

who...we have just played both of them in the last month,

so that part would be easy, as far as preparation.

And just give us, finally,

an insight into how you viewed that performance against Green Bay?

Defensively, I thought it was one of our best games.

Green Bay, they were down a couple of guys.

When you lose both your offensive tackles,

your defensive line should dominate.

-You know what I mean, Osi?

-I do know what you mean!

THEY LAUGH

We thank you very much for joining us.

We wish you well for the rest of the season.

Well, Bruce won't be able to hear this, Osi.

-So, do they look like a Super Bowl team to you?

-Absolutely.

This is a good football team.

They are the most-balanced team in the league right now, offensively,

they can score points defensively, they get in after the quarterback

and they play really well on defense.

They look like a team that can make a run.

Going to their opponents, then, the other night, in the Packers,

for even a quarterback as experienced as Aaron Rodgers,

how much will that defeat have affected him,

and the number of times he got hit?

Getting hit that much definitely rattles you.

It affects him because he doesn't have confidence

that he can sit back there and do what he needs to do

and deliver the ball down the field. He's running for his life.

Look at him, man - I mean, he's panicking in the pocket.

He's seeing ghosts, he's seeing things that aren't there,

he's not able to focus down the field

and make the plays that he's accustomed to making.

If he doesn't have his offensive lineman back,

he will be a shell of himself.

So, the Vikings at the Packers for the division - who wins it?

Vikings.

-Vikings - even though it's at Lambeau?

-Yeah.

Because they're set up to beat them, with that banged-up offensive line,

they are just too aggressive on defense.

-Coach Zimmer will go after them!

-No doubt about it.

I am going with the Vikings too. I concur, J Bell!

-I concur!

-Oh, my word!

That might be the first fist-pump of the season!

Time to turn our attention to the AFC

and the race for the wild-card berth going into Sunday's games.

Kansas and Pittsburgh occupy the two play-off places,

with the New York Jets awaiting any slip-ups.

However, on paper, they had the harder task.

The New England Patriots were the visitors to the Meadowlands

on Sunday, needing a win to secure the AFC's number one seed

and home-field advantage for the play-offs.

The New York Jets, having already lost to New England

back in week 7, needed the win,

with the hope that Pittsburgh or Kansas City would lose

and let them in for a wild-card spot.

As we join the action, it's 3-3.

First end goal for the Jets.

New York looking for the lead.

Marshall in motion.

Marshall, the catch and the touchdown!

Fitzpatrick delivers!

The Jets go in front, late stages of the second quarter.

13 plays, 80 yards for New York.

Another touchdown reception for Marshall.

12 now, on the season.

On a 1st and 10 at the New York 40.

Brady.

Intercepted!

Darrelle Revis!

Walked down.

Revis picks off Brady on a 19-yard return.

On the slant route here,

Revis realising that Brady trying to get Gronkowski involved

in the offense early in the second half.

We've got 9-24 to go in the 3rd.

This is a 3rd and 11 for the Jets.

Fitzpatrick.

Sets. Throws. Endzone!

Marshall is there!

Touchdown!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

33 yards on the hook-up!

There are times when a quarterback must have faith in his receiver,

and that is what Fitzpatrick has in Marshall.

Once the Patriots got the ball, Tom Brady led an eight play drive,

ending in a 44-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski,

to cut the lead to 17-6.

3rd and 5. Fitzpatrick.

Loses the football!

Ball is free.

Jets trying to jump on it. They cannot.

Jamie Collins scoops...

and scores for the Patriots!

New England looking for a big play,

and they come up with it!

Ball coming forward. Does he have control?

Nope, that's a fumble.

Ball knocked out of his hand before his hand can get forward.

The New England Patriots with a huge play in this third quarter.

After going as far as the Patriots' 26-yard line,

the Jets settled for a 49-yard Randy Bullock field goal

to make it 20-13.

And it's 4th and 9 for New England.

They need to get to the 26-yard line.

White sets up on the outside.

Shotgun for Brady.

Brady...guns it.

Caught by Gronkowski!

Doesn't go down on first contact. Huge grab for the pro-baller!

On this drive, Tom Brady is five of seven,

including two of two on 4th down.

It's 1st and goal for New England.

Patriots looking for the equaliser.

Brady steps up - over the middle! Wide open!

James White!

Touchdown Patriots!

And Jets fans have seen this movie before.

11 plays, 66 yards, Brady leads New England down the field.

And we are heading to OT.

New England, the visiting team.

Again, the eagle side is heads, the T side is tails.

Eagles is heads, the T side is tails.

-Heads.

-Heads is the call. Heads is the call.

It is heads.

-You want to kick?

-We want to kick off.

-You want to kick off.

-That way.

-You're going to receive.

Which way do you want to receive?

-Where do you want to receive at?

-This way.

-That way?

OK, just like this.

New England wins the toss.

They elected to kick.

We won, don't we get to choose?

Wait a second here!

Wait a second - Matthew Slater coming in.

Wow!

Good luck, gentlemen.

Patriots elect to kick. That's a mistake.

Slater was trying to correct the mistake

and Clete Blakeman wouldn't let him.

So, the Jets will get the ball to start the overtime.

The Jets, if they score a touchdown, they win the game.

That simple.

2nd and 8 for the Jets.

Just underway in overtime. Tied at 20.

Decker goes in motion.

Two catches for Decker.

Fitzpatrick throws.

He's got Enunwa down the sideline!

Quincy Enunwa makes a move upfield...

and is brought down from behind.

Chunks of yards! 48 of them!

Well, he gets up on the outside, as Tomkins came to the inside

with a little rub route there.

Makes a big play there to get the Jets in field goal range.

And the Jets will control their own destiny

with a matchup in Buffalo against Rex Ryan and the Bills next week.

Business to take care of here, though.

Fitzpatrick.

Caught by Marshall!

Tremendous throw by Fitzpatrick,

and Marshall making another catch in a crowd.

Double team coming over too late on target by Fitzpatrick.

1st and goal. From the 6th.

A touchdown is a game winner in overtime.

Fitzpatrick...

-endzone!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Eric Decker hauls it in!

The Jets win in overtime!

Before we went up for the toss,

the coach told us if we won the toss,

that he wanted to kick off, so...

Obviously, as a player, you ask three or four times,

just to double check,

because you want the make sure that you get it right.

So, we go out there, we won the toss.

We chose to kick off,

um, just like Coach instructed us to.

And the only confusion was

whether or not we got to choose which direction

we got to kick the ball.

Why did you elect to kick on the coin toss?

I thought that was the best thing to do.

Bill, what were your specific instructions to Matthew?

Cos it seems like there was some confusion.

There was no confusion.

That victory for the New York Jets meant that Pittsburgh

could not claim a play-off place on Sunday -

but a win was imperative to retain their place

in one of the wild-card berths.

The Steelers travelled to Baltimore

to take on the team with little to play for except pride,

although they had beaten Pittsburgh back in week 4,

when recording their first win of the season.

3rd and goal.

Just a free man rush.

Throwing to the endzone -

touchdown!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Chris Matthews on the receiving end!

That's his first touchdown of the season,

and the first thrown by Ryan Mallett as a member of the Ravens.

At the Ravens' 15-yard line on 2nd and 6.

Make it the 16-yard line.

Roethlisberger throwing down the sideline.

Caught...

Is he in bounds?

Touchdown Antonio Brown!

With he and Bryant just doing a wheel route to the outside,

catching the Ravens safety middle man to man underneath.

Roethlisberger dials in it.

I don't know if he had full control of that -

because it was ruled a touchdown, it's automatically reviewed.

After review, the ruling on the field has changed.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The receiver did not maintain possession

until he pinned the ball against his waist.

Therefore he got one foot down in bounds.

After Brown's touchdown call was reversed,

the Steelers had to settle for a field goal -

Chris Boswell kicking from over 34 yards.

Once the Ravens got the ball, Mallett led them on an 11-play drive,

culminating in a 37-yard Justin Tucker field goal.

On first down, Roethlisberger with time.

Throwing over the middle - intercepted!

Picked off at the 45-yard line by Daryl Smith.

That is only the fifth pass the Baltimore Ravens have intercepted

all season long.

Let's see if they can turn it into points on the board.

The Ravens converted the interception into points,

Tucker hitting a 50-yard field goal

to take a 10-point lead into half-time.

1st and goal for the Steelers.

53 yards and penalties just on this drive.

DeAngelo Williams straight ahead!

Diving for the endzone.

And touchdown!

A 78-yard drive, aided greatly by two-pass interference calls,

and Pittsburgh has its first touchdown of the day.

13-10, Ravens.

Roethlisberger sidelined.

And that is intercepted!

Picked off by Jimmy Smith!

Wide open.

The catch is made by Juszczyk!

Juszczyk inside the 5!

It'll be 1st and goal.

A career best for Ryan Mallett.

He still has 10-40 on the clock.

2nd and goal.

Allen...putting it back -

to the endzone!

Touchdown, Baltimore!

First Baltimore touchdown in the fourth quarter since week 10.

Roethlisberger spreads the field on 1st and goal.

Three tight ends on the field for Pittsburgh.

A quick pass.

Intercepted!

Picked off by Jimmy Smith!

Smith up the sideline, and he is going to go!

We have a penalty marker down back at the goal line.

-UMPIRE:

-Offside.

Defense.

Number 91.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Replay.

DeAngelo Williams, right side, looking for a touchdown -

and he got it!

Instead of 27-10 Baltimore, with seven minutes to play,

it's now 20-17 Baltimore.

Pittsburgh the best two-man offense in the NFL.

85 points scored in the last two minutes of a half.

That's the most in the NFL!

3rd and 15.

Roethlisberger deep down the sideline!

Dive is incomplete.

Intended for Martavis Bryant.

And here is Roethlisberger and the Steelers on 4th down.

They need the Baltimore 48-yard line for a first down.

Then going to go deep down the other side.

It is incomplete!

Intended for Markus Wheaton. Broken up by Shareece Wright.

You cannot say enough about this Baltimore Ravens team today.

Jets win, you guys fall, you don't control your own fate right now,

you have to win and hope they lose.

How do you...move forward with that?

Well, that's...

That's our own fault. My fault. Um...

You know, we controlled our own destiny and we blew it, today -

we gave the ball away, and we can't do that.

I can't do that.

That Pittsburgh loss meant the Kansas City Chiefs

could claim a play-off place as they entertain the Cleveland Browns.

Sitting on an eight-game win streak,

Kansas City still entertained hopes of beating Denver

to the AFC Western division crown,

and took on a Cleveland team odds-on

for next year's number one draft choice.

2nd down and 10.

An orchestrated drive.

Smith four or five.

Into the nickel.

Smith...

Touchdown! What a catch! Macklin!

He's just gone over the goal line,

and he has just gone over a thousand yards receiving!

Macklin has got a touchdown pass for the second consecutive week -

he has made an immense difference to this Kansas City passing attack.

Following a Browns three and out,

the Chiefs orchestrated a 9-play drive

ending in a 40-yard Cairo Santos field goal.

This gave them a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Browns finally got on the board

on their second possession of the second quarter,

a 45-yard Travis Coons field goal making it a 7-point gain.

Came in across 15 and the takeaway-giveaway.

2nd down. Nine man zone.

Intercepted! Picked off by Peters!

He's got an entourage - he gets by Johnson,

he gets a block downfield by Zombo.

He's just picked off his eighth pass of the year -

a 46-yard return!

If Pittsburgh loses and the Chiefs win,

the Chiefs are in.

1st and 10.

Quick throw - touchdown Kelce!

His last touchdown reception was a month ago.

He just tumbles in for six.

Manziel takes it himself, and he's got wide open room to roam.

Looking for a block from Jennings,

falls at the feet of Smith,

and he slides his way into Kansas City territory

at the 48-yard line with a run of 34 on first down.

Well, they're going to take advantage of Frank Zombo.

He's trying to tackle the back -

Johnny Manziel sees the squeeze and he pulls it.

Here is a run by Crowell and a block by Dray,

and that is a touchdown!

Isaiah Crowell takes it in, 11-yard touchdown run,

and the Cleveland Browns are back in business

with 9-15 to play in the 3rd.

The Browns' next possession ended with a 36-yard field goal

from Coons to make it 17-13.

The Chiefs couldn't score on their next two possessions

and the Browns got the ball back with less than a minute to play.

3rd and 10.

There it is. Give them a chance.

Manziel, Barnidge.

1st down. 32-yard line brought down by Parker.

Pick up on the play.

No time-out, the clock continues to tick.

From the Chiefs' 32, 1st and 10.

-They'll clock it.

-Now you're in a position

where you could take a couple of shots to the endzone.

3rd and 10.

Manziel, deep and incomplete for Benjamin.

Coverage by Smith.

4th and 10.

They got a chance to make a first, get out of bounds

and still have some time left on the clock.

Kansas City's doing a good job getting up the field

and really forcing Johnny Manziel to step back up inside the pocket.

6 defensive backs, 4th and 10.

Manziel...

It's caught!

It's grabbed on the play by Jennings.

He's got the 1st down to the 17-yard line, a pick-up of 14.

Look at the clock! They've to truck it, they've got no time-outs!

It's over!

Kevin, it needed about another two or three seconds.

That's what happens in that situation.

You can see the reaction of Johnny Manziel. All so close.

Congratulations on a nice win, men, and you're in the dance.

That's pretty good.

That's a dance you like the dance, right there, so...

We'll come back to the Chiefs' dancing in just a mo.

Let's go back right to the beginning of that little lot.

Can you understand at all what patriots were doing in choosing

to kick off in overtime?

That's Belichick's philosophy.

He's a defensive guy.

He can count on his quarterback to execute whatever

he needs to do in case they have to go score.

It's what you like to call

somebody outsmarting themselves, Mark.

Well, I have actually been in that situation in

a press conference where you ask him a question,

and I've never been more nervous

in a sporting situation in my life.

If you're going to try different things and try to be clever,

occasionally you're going to get it wrong

and you just have to accept that.

It will backfire. There's a normal way of doing things

and then there's the Bill Belichick way of doing things

and it bit him this particular time.

And also, the attention on that decision means that maybe

the Jets and Fitzpatrick haven't got the credit they deserve

for the way he managed that drive down the field.

Yeah, he's gelling with his receivers

really good at this time of year.

They've got rhythm, they're on the same page,

they played well down the stretch.

What are the Steelers doing?

That's tough. That was a really difficult loss for them, man.

How do you lose to the Baltimore Ravens

with Ryan Mallett, their quarterback,

knowing everything you had to play for?

I can't believe that happened to Mike Tomlin.

This is a tremendous coach

and for his team to fall like that was very disappointing.

But we've sat here week after week

and said that is the best offense in the NFL,

when firing with a fit Roethlisberger,

yet, Baltimore... What did they say in the commentary?

Only their fifth interception of the season.

Right, remember, it's a division game. They know each other.

-Oh, the division game!

-Division game.

They know each other, they know what to do,

they confuse Big Ben,

they threw all kinds of coverages at him,

and he's trying to force it to Antonio Brown.

We spoke with Bruce Arians about momentum.

The Chiefs have momentum as well.

Considering how they started the season,

to now be in the play-offs

and still have a chance of winning their division is remarkable.

Yeah, and losing early helped them, right?

Cos they were able to fix the things they needed to fix

and now they're rolling on all cylinders

because they've got their vibe and their flow.

It started coming from here.

They came to London, played in Wembley Stadium...

It took off from there.

I think you'll find it took off from when I started

dressing up as Andy Reid, and then their fortunes changed.

Let's just quickly take a look at the fixtures that are coming up

in week 17.

You can see the division will be decided with the Raiders

at the Chiefs, Chargers at the Broncos.

I'm interested in Jets at the Bills.

If the Jets win that, they're in the play-offs,

-but so much history.

-Yeah, that's going to be tough.

Rex Ryan coaching the Buffalo Bills is going to give his ALL

-to defeat the New Yorkers.

-I think he might be trying to prove a point.

-Oh, my goodness, that's going to be a tough one.

-It's his Super Bowl.

Right, last week, Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger

and coach Mike Tomlin were wired for sound as they entertained Denver.

At one point they found themselves trailing by 13 points

in the second quarter.

We talked about going against the best in the world but we're the best in the world.

Let's go take care of our business and have fun doing it.

Love you guys.

Osweiler hits it wide open.

Emmanuel Sanders, nobody within 10 yards

and he goes the whole distance.

Oh, my God. How did that happen?

We've got to be on the same page cos they're not beating us, we're beating ourselves.

But the big thing we can't do is get frustrated

-and stop talking to one another.

-No, I got you.

Keep talking to one another and clean it up. That's all.

Once we do that, we'll be fine.

Ben stays shotgun. He's back. He throws for the endzone.

-Touchdown!

-And the Steelers are climbing back.

Aaah! Yes! Yes!

Tied at 27. Play action...

Big rush. He's going to be hit, steps out of a rush...

And it's picked up!

Whoo! We got one!

What a big takeaway by Steelers' defense!

Don't blink. Let's go.

Block lines to 334.

Shotgun for Ben. He's back.

Throws it for the endzone,

touchdown!

They're 20 up now and the Steelers have caught up and gone ahead!

Whoo-hoo! Whoo! Whoo!

Uhhh! Uhh!

Hey, heck of a job. I've got a tonne of respect for you, man.

Thanks, I appreciate it. Good luck to you, all right?

-It's always good fun watching you play.

-Good luck to you guys.

Time to round up the rest of the AFC, starting with the South division,

where Houston and Indianapolis have been matching each other all season.

And Houston wasted no time in exerting their authority,

Quintin Demps opened in the scoring with a 33-yard fumble return.

Stand-in quarterback Brandon Weeden ran in his first career touchdown

and threw two more to DeAndre Hopkins and Nate Washington

as Houston romped to a 34-zip scoreline

by the end of the third quarter

and ultimately a two-game advantage over Indianapolis.

Hopkins climbing the ladder for the Houston touchdown!

The Colts were in Miami, but with New York Giant Odell Beckham

suspended from action this week,

it was down to former LSU team-mate Jarvis Landry

to add to the fantastic one-handed grab collection.

Controls it beautifully!

That's one of the best catches I've seen all season, no doubt.

However, leading by just 6 points in the final minute,

Indianapolis looked like their division aspirations

might be in severe danger when Miami had 4th and goal from the 5.

And Tannehill is down in the 150-yard line

and the last-ditch hope for the Miami Dolphins dissolves.

Indianapolis hang on for an important win,

just a game behind Houston,

which leaves the AFC South up for grabs next week.

The Denver Broncos entertained the newly crowned

AFC North division champions, Cincinnati,

on Monday Night Football,

and earned their fifth consecutive play-off berth

with a thrilling 20-17 overtime win.

In sub-zero temperatures,

Denver fought back from 14 points down before Brandon McManus

shanked a 45-yard field goal attempt

at the end of regulation.

Oh, it's not even close!

It missed the net!

And we will go to overtime!

He made amends with a 37-yard field goal to put Denver ahead

and then DeMarcus Ware beat Cincinnati quarterback

AJ McCarron to a fumbled snap, ending the game.

And the Broncos are in the play-offs!

The victory means Denver can earn the top AFC seed next week.

Although Denver would need the Patriots to lose at the Dolphins

if they were to do that.

So you'd still put your money on the Patriots to be the top seed ahead of the Broncos, would you?

HE INHALES DEEPLY

-Oh!

-That's a tough one.

It's the same thing with the Patriots every week.

They can win but they're just so banged up.

How many times can Tom Brady keep trying to pull it off?

-It didn't work this week.

-I heard a stat today.

Tom Brady is the only member of the Patriot offense

who's started every game in the same position this season,

-which shows how banged up they have been.

-That's amazing.

-That's amazing.

-There's nothing else you can say about that.

I feel sorry for them.

Just an amazing stat that I've pulled out of nowhere.

Let's take a look at the AFC South, then,

the Texans and the Colts are going down to the final game.

However, if the Colts were to overtake the Texans,

it would need something like nine separate results

to all come in, so you would say it's the Texans.

I'm taking the Texans. I'm a Texan.

I believe in the Texans and I don't have a calculator on me

-to figure out all the other math.

-Oh, you're a Texan now?

-I'm a Texan!

-Tomorrow you're going to be a Giant. Which one is it?

-I'm diversified.

-No, you can only be one. You can only be one, J Bell.

Well, he's a Texan now. I'll allow it.

Now, I know you think anybody can catch a ball one-handed,

so I'm assuming you're just going to say about Jarvis Landry's catch,

that anybody could do it.

Like I said, Mark, they do this all the time.

These guys do this all the time. Well, I can't...

Not always, but he had his hand on the ground.

I was out there looking at this. This is amazing.

-How do you cover that?

-You can't do anything about that.

And him and Odell Beckham Jr played at college together?

Yes. These guys must have had a routine after practice

that I don't know about cos both of these guys are just spectacular.

I guarantee you he probably dropped a pass

that hit him right there in both hands earlier in that game.

I guarantee you he did. But you're going to make those

one-handed catches. They're going to do that.

-Finished?

-They'll do that.

-Finished?

-They'll do it.

Let's round up the sights and sounds you may have missed from week 16.

That was a helluva team win. All right?

-Let's just make sure that we're very complimentary.

-Yes.

So when they come back in a couple of weeks, you know,

there's nothing on the bulletin board

-other than the bruises on their

-BLEEP.

-I'll see you Wednesday.

Everybody together, making it happen, man.

Congratulations, this is something you'll never forget, man.

Something I'll never forget. I'm proud of each and every one of you.

You got that. You got that.

I don't know what that is.

THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

APPLAUSE ALL: Ooh!

THEY CHEER

I love that, I love that.

As we round up week 16 then, in the NFC we know our six play-off teams.

Carolina and Arizona are champions of the South and West.

Both will enjoy a week off during wild-card weekend.

Washington have claimed the Eastern division,

whilst Green Bay and Minnesota will go head to head

for the North next week.

The winner claims the division as the number three seeds,

the loser will win join Seattle as the two wild-cards.

In the AFC, there are still eight in contention.

New England have won the East, Cincinnati the North.

Either Houston or Indianapolis will be champions of the South,

both Denver and Kansas City assured of at least a wild-card berth,

one will win the West.

The other wild-card will be either the New York Jets or Pittsburgh.

Just time for a little bit of social media. As ever, an NFL rookie.

This comes from Jarris99. "What is the pro bowl?" Jason?

Oh, well that's something Osi would attend.

Because that's the all-star game where all the good players go

and guys like me go to watch.

How many pro bowls did you go to?

-Only a couple.

-Only a couple.

Only a couple.

Thank you very much to you both.

That wraps up week 16.

Just one week left of the regular season.

Nat and Mike will be covering all the drama of the final day of the

regular season in their Sunday night slot on 5 Live Sports Extra from 7.30pm.

They've got coverage of Tampa Bay at Carolina

and that will kick off at around 9.25pm.

From all of us here, we hope you have a very happy New Year. Goodbye.

Dip, Mark, dip!

For some, it has been an imperious march to the play-offs.

Week after week, the Carolina Panthers notching a win after win.

No longer unbeaten, the Arizona Cardinals clear winners out West.

For some, dips and recovery.

The defending champions stumbling, twists and turns, stress,

strain and pain.

For others, Chiefs and Colts, Texans and Bengals,

Vikings and Seahawks, the names have swirled in a tense drama.

Kansas City and Indianapolis, Houston and Cincinnati,

Minneapolis and Seattle, the cities have spun.

One last spin of the regular season adventure to come.

The teams staying within their divisions,

one last throw to stay in the race to Super Bowl 50.