Antonio Brown was kicked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a bizarre, shirtless exit from the field before Tom Brady coolly led the Bucs on a 93-yard drive in the final minutes for a 28-24 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Coach Bruce Arians said after the game that Brown was off the team.
“He is no longer a Buc,” Arians said.
Brown’s mid-game meltdown came late in the third quarter with Tampa Bay trailing 24-10. He appeared animated while talking to teammate Mike Evans when he stripped off his pads, jersey, gloves and T-shirt – tossing the gloves and T-shirt into the stands – and then walked bare-chested down the sideline and into the end zone. He then waved to fans as jogged through the end zone and into the tunnel at MetLife Stadium.
It appeared to be a show of frustration by Brown, who had three catches for 26 yards.
Video of Antonio Brown leaving the field after taking off his jersey and shirt and throw it into the stands. pic.twitter.com/1hwNYei5Fq
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 2, 2022
Brown was suspended last month for three games for violating the league’s Covid-19 protocols. He also has a history of personal conduct issues and bizarre behavior.
Brady connected with Cameron Brate on a four-yard touchdown shortly after Brown’s exit, and the QB finished the Bucs’ rally with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with 15 seconds left.
Jacksonville Jaguars 10-50 New England Patriots
New England returned to the playoffs when rookie quarterback Mac Jones threw three touchdown passes and Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for two scores apiece in their 50-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The victory by the Patriots (10-6) snapped a two-game losing streak and gave Bill Belichick his 20th 10-win season as a head coach, tying Don Shula for the most in NFL history. A loss by Miami at Tennessee secured New England’s first trip to the postseason since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay following the 2019 season.
The Jaguars (2-14) have lost eight consecutive games, including three straight since firing coach Urban Meyer. It was their 17th consecutive loss on the road, the longest streak in the league.
Jones finished 22 of 30 for 227 yards and set a franchise record for touchdown passes by a rookie with 21. Stevenson had 107 yards on 19 carries. Harris rushed nine times for 35 yards before leaving in the second half with a hamstring injury.
Patriots receiver Kristian Wilkerson had two touchdown catches – the first of his career – after being elevated from the practice squad for the second consecutive week. He pulled in a six-yard TD to put the Patriots up 21-3 in the second quarter. His second came on a 20-yard pass on their opening possession of the second half that stretched the lead to 34-3.
New England’s defense also bounced back from a rough outing against Buffalo, holding the Jaguars to 253 yards and 3 of 9 on third downs. Myles Bryant, JC Jackson and Kyle Dugger all had interceptions.
Miami Dolphins 3-34 Tennessee Titans
Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes as the Tennessee Titans clinched their second straight AFC South title Sunday, snapping the Miami Dolphins’ seven-game winning streak with a 34-3 win.
The Titans (11-5) won their second straight overall and third in four games to clinch their first back-to-back division titles since the start of the AFL when this franchise was the Houston Oilers and won three straight Eastern Division championships. They also won 11 games for a second consecutive season for the first time since 2002-03 – and currently are the AFC’s top seed after Kansas City lost at Cincinnati.
Miami came in as the first team in NFL history to win seven straight after a seven-game skid. That surge helped push the Dolphins into the third and final wild-card spot in the AFC, but this loss seriously damaged their playoff hopes.
On a cold and rainy day, the Titans ran more than they threw. Tannehill was 13 of 18 for 120 yards and a 127.1 passer rating against the team that drafted him eighth overall in 2012 before trading him to Tennessee in March 2019. Tannehill is 31-15 as the Titans’ starter with his third straight playoff berth clinched.
D’Onta Foreman ran for 132 yards and a TD. Dontrell Hilliard ran for a 39-yard TD as the Titans scored 10 points off a pair of turnovers by Tua Tagovailoa.
The Titans also sacked Tagovailoa three-times – a season-high for the Dolphins quarterback. David Long, the linebacker drafted with the sixth-round pick included by Miami in the Tannehill trade, picked off Tagovailoa with 2:49 left to set up the Hillard TD.
Philadelphia Eagles 20-16 Washington Football Team
Jalen Hurts scrambled out of trouble while showing no ill effects from a recent ankle injury, Boston Scott rushed for two touchdowns, and the Philadelphia Eagles held on to beat Washington 20-16 Sunday to move one step closer to the playoffs.
Hurts ran six times for 45 yards and was 17 of 26 passing for 214 yards in leading the Eagles to a fourth consecutive victory. Pending other results around the NFL, they could have an NFC wild-card spot locked up by the end of the night.
Philadelphia (9-7) started slowly yet again, and its league-leading rushing attack was held to a season-low 3.4 yards a carry with Miles Sanders out because of a broken left hand. Twelve days after racking up 238 yards on the ground against Washington (6-10), the Eagles had 119 yards rushing.
But the defense finally got to Taylor Heinicke, and the Eagles wore down a banged-up opponent, erasing a 16-7 deficit. Jake Elliott connected on field goals of 42 and 41 yards in the fourth quarter, and Rodney McLeod picked off Heinicke in the end zone with 24 seconds remaining to seal it.
Philadelphia will make the postseason for the first time since 2019 if Minnesota lose at Green Bay and either New Orleans lose to Carolina or San Francisco beat Houston.
Las Vegas Raiders 23-20 Indianapolis Colts
Derek Carr directed Las Vegas to Daniel Carlson’s winning 33-yard field goal as time expired, and the Raiders beat Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts 23-20 on Sunday to move one step closer to an AFC wild card.
After Michael Badgley kicked a tying 41-yard field goal for Indianapolis with 1:56 left, Carr and the Raiders got the ball back at their 25 after a touchback. Carr found Hunter Renfrow for 24 yards on third-and-10 in the final minute, setting the stage for Carlson’s third field goal of the game.
Carr passed for 255 yards and a touchdown for Las Vegas (9-7), and Zay Jones had eight receptions for 120 yards.
Rallying after an embarrassing email scandal that led to coach Jon Gruden’s resignation, the Raiders can wrap up an improbable playoff spot with a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers next weekend.
Indianapolis (9-7) had won three straight and eight of 10 to move one win away from a postseason berth. But it couldn’t hold a second-half lead against Las Vegas.
Taylor finished with 20 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown. The NFL’s leading rusher broke Edgerrin James’ single-season franchise record of 1,709 yards rushing on a 9-yard carry midway through the third quarter. He has 1,734 yards to go with one game left in the league’s first 17-game season.
New York Giants 3-29 Chicago Bears
Robert Quinn broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s franchise single-season record with his 18th sack, and the Chicago Bears pounded the New York Giants 29-3 on Sunday.
Trevis Gipson added a career-high two sacks, and the Bears joined Green Bay as the only franchises with 800 victories counting the postseason. They also gave the embattled Matt Nagy a win in what might have been his final home game as their coach.
Quinn broke Dent’s mark of 17 and a half set in 1984 when he took down Mike Glennon in the fourth quarter. By then, the Bears (6-10) were well on their way.
Gipson had a strip-sack on the game’s first play from scrimmage and Tashaun Gipson picked off Glennon on the next possession. The two takeaways led to a scoring run by David Montgomery and touchdown catch by Darnell Mooney, making it 14-0 and sending the Monsters of the Midway to their second straight win after losing eight of nine.
The Giants (4-12), who could also be in for changes, lost their fifth straight game. They set a season low in yards for the second week in a row, finishing with 151 after being held to 192 against Philadelphia.
Los Angeles Rams 20-19 Baltimore Ravens
Matthew Stafford shook off three turnovers to guide a fourth-quarter rally Sunday that carried the Los Angeles Rams to their fifth straight victory, 20-19 over the short-handed but stubborn Baltimore Ravens.
Stafford threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham J with 57 seconds left immediately after completing a five-yarder to Beckham on a fourth-and-5. After Los Angeles failed on a two-point conversion, the Ravens – playing a third straight game without injured quarterback Lamar Jackson – never got close enough for a field-goal try.
The victory pushed the Rams (12-4) to the cusp of their second straight NFC West title. Arizona needed to beat Dallas later Sunday to avoid elimination.
At one point this season, Baltimore was 8-3 and the top seed in the AFC. The Ravens (8-8) have since lost five straight, their longest skid since a nine-game run in 2007 under Brian Billick paved the way for current coach John Harbaugh to take over in 2008.
Four of those defeats during this slump have come by a total of five points.
The loss ousted Baltimore from the AFC North title hunt. The Ravens were not officially eliminated from the playoff chase, but to get in as a wild card they’ll need a win next week and a whole lot of help.
Atlanta Falcons 15-29 Buffalo Bills
Buffalo clinched a playoff berth when Devin Singletary scored two touchdowns rushing in the second half to make up for Josh Allen’s sloppiness in a 29-15 victory over Atlanta that eliminated the Falcons from contention.
The AFC East-leading Bills rallied to clinch their third consecutive playoff spot. Buffalo (10-6) did so by beating the Falcons, coupled with the Baltimore Ravens’ 20-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Falcons (7-9) went down swinging in being eliminated from the NFC race to extend their postseason drought to a fourth year in their first season under coach Arthur Smith. The Falcons forced four turnovers, with an injury and Covid-19-depleted secondary intercepting Allen on three consecutive possessions spanning halftime.
Allen did a much better job running than throwing by scoring two touchdowns rushing on a snow-dusted field, and with temperatures in the low 20s.
Buffalo won its third straight and needs only to beat the New York Jets in its finale next weekend to clinch its second consecutive division title – and assure the Bills home-field advantage for the wild-card playoff round.
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