NFL Week 17: Baker Mayfield throws 5 TD passes and Bucs keep playoff, NFC South hopes alive with rout of Panthers
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TAMPA, Fla. — Baker Mayfield threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep their division and playoff hopes alive with a 48-14 rout of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Tampa Bay’s fifth win in the past six weeks nudged the first-place Bucs (9-7) a half-game ahead of Atlanta for the best record in the NFC South, with the Falcons set to play on the road later Sunday night at Washington.
Atlanta holds the tiebreaker in the division race and can end Tampa Bay’s three-year reign as NFC South champions by beating the Commanders and winning again next week at home against the last-place Panthers (4-12).
.@bakermayfield's 4th game with 4+ pass TDs this season ???? @FedEx
????: #CARvsTB on CBS/Paramount+
????: https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/3QIbUfQv3q— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024
Mayfield threw TD passes of 2 and 1 yards to Mike Evans, and Tampa Bay produced points on five straight first-half possessions to build a 27-7 lead. Jalen McMillan scored on receptions of 10 and 16 yards, linebacker J.J. Russell returned a blocked punt for a third-quarter TD and rookie Bucky Irving had another big game against Carolina with 120 yards rushing on 20 carries and four receptions for 77 yards.
Irving went over 1,000 yards for the season (1,033) despite primarily being used as a backup to Rachaad White. The fourth-round draft pick ran for 152 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries against the NFL’s 32nd-ranked run defense in Tampa Bay’s 26-23 overtime win at Carolina on Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, Mayfield improved to 4-0 against Carolina since his former team released him two years ago. He completed 27 of 32 passes without an interception.
"Big Jayden Daniels fan tonight."@EvanWashburn caught up with Baker Mayfield as the @Buccaneers keep their playoff hopes alive pic.twitter.com/oBhNrzAcZr
— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) December 29, 2024
The Panthers played without leading rusher Chuba Hubbard, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Without him, the offense was almost totally dependent on quarterback Bryce Young, who tossed a pair of TD passes to Adam Thielen but was only 15 of 28 passing for 203 yards.
The Bucs sacked Young five times and limited Carolina to 39 yards rushing. Thielen scored on receptions of 17 and 40 yards in the first half and finished with five catches for 110 yards.
Raiders 25, Saints 10
NEW ORLEANS — Aidan O’Connell passed for two touchdowns, tight end Brock Bowers broke two rookie NFL records, and the Las Vegas Raiders won for just the fourth time this season, 25-10 over the struggling New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Bowers’ seven catches for 77 yards gave him 108 receptions for 1,144 yards this season, eclipsing Mike Ditka’s 1961 rookie tight end mark of 1,067 yards receiving and Puka Nacua’s 2023 mark of 105 catches by a rookie at any position. Bowers also surpassed Darren Waller’s franchise mark of 107 receptions in a season, which had stood since 2020.
Ameer Abdullah rushed for 115 yards for the Raiders (4-12) — the journeyman running back’s first 100-yard game in his 10 NFL seasons.
O’Connell finished with 242 yards passing, including a 3-yard TD pass to Jakobi Meyers and an 18-yarder to Tre Tucker.
Daniel Carlson kicked four field goals — his longest from 54 yards — for the Raiders, who didn’t look fazed by flight delays on Saturday that got them into their hotel after midnight, less than 12 hours before kickoff.
With former Raiders QB Derek Carr unable to suit up for the Saints (5-11) because of his injured left, non-throwing hand, rookie Spencer Rattler received his fifth career start. He remained winless as a starter after completing 20 of 36 passes for 218 yards and one TD with two interceptions.
Rattler also rushed for 46 yards to finish as New Orleans’ leading rusher for a second straight week.
The Saints used trickery to take an early 7-3 lead. Running back Kendre Miller took what looked like a toss sweep to the right before throwing a lateral back to his left, where Rattler caught it and threw 30 yards downfield to wide-open tight end Foster Moreau in the end zone.
Las Vegas moved in front for good on O’Connell’s short scoring pass to Meyers with a minute left in the second quarter.
Bills 40, Jets 14
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and the Buffalo Bills clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed with a 40-14 rout of the unraveling and undisciplined New York Jets on Sunday.
The Bills put the game away by capitalizing on two Jets turnovers and scoring three touchdowns over a 5:01 span in the closing minutes of the third quarter. Buffalo’s defense forced three takeaways overall and sacked Aaron Rodgers four times, including a 2-yard loss for a safety in the second quarter.
Allen had a short and efficient outing, finishing 16 of 27 for 182 yards with a 30-yard TD pass to Amari Cooper and a 14-yarder to Keon Coleman before giving way to backup Mitchell Trubisky with Buffalo leading 33-0 through three quarters. And Trubisky piled on by completing a 69-yard touchdown pass to practice squad call-up Tyrell Shavers 2:23 into the fourth quarter.
Allen’s two-TD passing outing was the 64th of his career to match Peyton Manning for the third most in a player’s first seven NFL seasons. Patrick Mahomes holds the record with 67 two-TD outings in that span, followed by Dan Marino’s 65.
Allen also became the NFL’s first player with five consecutive 40-TD seasons, while his 1-yard score was the 65th rushing TD of his career, matching the team record held by Thurman Thomas.
The five-time defending AFC East champion Bills improved to 13-3 to match a franchise single-season record, and will open the playoffs hosting the conference’s seventh-seeded team in two weeks.
The outing was a meltdown for Rodgers and the Jets (4-12), who will finish with five or fewer wins for the seventh time over a 14-season playoff drought — the NFL’s longest active streak.
Rodgers, who entered the game with 499 career TD passes and looking to become just the fifth player to reach 500, instead was shut out and replaced by Tyrod Taylor with 12:37 remaining.
Discipline was an issue for a Jets team that fell to 2-9 since Jeff Ulbrich took over as interim coach. New York finished with 16 accepted penalties for 120 yards.
Taylor accounted for New York’s only points with a 9-yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson and a 20-yarder to Tyler Conklin in a game played in blustery, unseasonably warm conditions, with temperatures in the mid-50s Farenheit (10 Celsius) and winds gusting up to 35 mph (56 kmph).
Rodgers finished 12 of 18 for 112 yards with two interceptions after entering the game having thrown only one in his past eight outings. He was also sacked four times, pushing his career total to 568, moving ahead of Tom Brady (565) and into first place on the NFL list.
The outing became a comedy of errors for the Jets.
Trailing 7-0 after Allen’s 1-yard run, New York’s three possession of the first half ended with turning the ball over on downs Buffalo’s 24; Rodgers being intercepted at his own 17 by defensive tackle Jordan Phillips; and being sacked for a safety by A.J. Epenesa.
The bottom fell out to close the third quarter when Rodgers’ being intercepted by Christian Benford led to Cooper’s leaping TD grab put Buffalo up 19-0. James Cook scored on a 1-yard run on Buffalo’s next possession with 1:15 left, and Coleman’s touchdown with 12 seconds left in the third was set up after Wilson lost a fumble.
Jaguars 20, Titans 13
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes, including one to standout rookie Brian Thomas Jr., and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans 20-13 in the rain Sunday to sweep the season series for the fourth time in 30 years.
Jones completed 15 of 22 passes for 174 yards, with most of them going to Thomas. The first-round draft pick from LSU finished with seven receptions for 91 yards. His 11-yard TD catch with 7:05 remaining gave him his eighth game with at least 60 yards and a score, tying him with Hall of Famer Randy Moss for the most by a rookie in NFL history.
Thomas, who has five TD catches in his past four games, also became the fifth player in Jaguars history with double-digit TD receptions in a single season. He joined Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, Marcedes Lewis and Reggie Williams.
The Titans (3-13) improved their position for the 2025 NFL draft — a potential chance to land a franchise quarterback — and secured last place in the AFC South. The Jaguars (4-12) guaranteed themselves third in the division.
There was little else at stake in this Week 17 matchup.
Jacksonville looked as if it might make it a blowout, but coach Doug Pederson’s team settled for field goals while building a 13-0 lead early. The Titans got back in it with an 85-yard drive to start the second half, which ended with Mason Rudolph’s 8-yard TD pass to a wide-open Nick Vannett.
Tennessee kicked a field goal late to make it a seven-point game and got the ball back with 1:29 remaining. Rudolph drove the Titans to the Jacksonville 26, but safety Antonio Johnson knocked down his fourth down pass at the goal line to end it.
Giants 45, Colts 33
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants snapped a franchise-record 10-game losing streak and ended the Indianapolis Colts’ slim playoff hopes Sunday as Drew Lock threw four touchdown passes and ran for another in a 45-33 victory.
New York earned its first home win of the season and it no longer has control of the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Lock sandwiched touchdown passes of 31 and 59 yards to Malik Nabers around TD passes of 32 yards to Darius Slayton and 5 yards to Wan’Dale Robinson in leading the Giants (3-13) to their first win since beating Seattle on Oct. 6.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a 100-yard return on the second-half kickoff on a day the league’s worst offense set a season high for points.
Jonathan Taylor scored on runs of 3 and 26 yards for Indianapolis (7-9), while Joe Flacco, subbing for the injured Anthony Richardson, threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Alec Pierce and 7 yards to Michael Pittman, the last bringing the Colts within 35-33 with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter.
Lock, who finished 17 of 23 for 309 yards, iced the game by leading a nine-play, 70-yard drive that he capped with a 5-yard run.
The 45 points were the most for New York since putting up 49 in a 52-49 loss to the Saints in 2015. It’s the Giants most in a win since a 45-14 rout against Washington in 2014 and most at home since a 52-27 win against the Saints in 2012.
Nabers finished with seven catches for a career-high 171 yards.
Flacco was 26 of 38 for 330 yards with two interceptions, the second by rookie Dru Phillips shortly after Lock’s TD run. Taylor, who rushed for 218 yards in a win over Tennessee last weekend, finished with 125 yards on 32 carries. Pierce had six catches for 122 yards.
Vikings 27, Packers 25
MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Darnold added another exploit to his career-altering season, passing for a personal-best 377 yards and three touchdowns as the Minnesota Vikings hung on to beat the Green Bay Packers 27-25 on Sunday for their ninth consecutive victory that put them one win from the NFC’s top seed for the playoffs.
Darnold hit Jalen Nailor, Jordan Addison and Cam Akers for scores to raise his passing touchdown total to 35, the fourth-most in NFL history by a player in his debut season with a team.
The Vikings (14-2) set up a final-week showdown in Detroit for both the NFC North title and the first-round-bye-plus-home-field-advantage package that comes with the best record in the conference.
Jordan Love’s only touchdown pass for the Packers (11-5) came with 2:18 left, a 3-yard toss to Malik Heath that trimmed their deficit to two points and reignited the “Go Pack Go!” chants from the green-clad fans mixed in among the purple in another classic edition of this divisional rivalry.
Despite another fierce climb out of a gaping hole against Minnesota this season, following a 31-29 loss in Green Bay on Sept. 29 that started with a 28-0 deficit, the Packers fell to a troubling 0-5 against the top three teams in the NFC. They were swept by the Lions, too, and lost the opener in Brazil to the Eagles.