Summary

  • Titans secure AFC's top seed on final day of regular season

  • Colts spurn chance to secure play-off spot after shock defeat at Jags

  • Steelers beat Ravens in overtime to keep play-off hopes alive

  • Winner of Chargers-Raiders (01:20 GMT) secures play-off spot, tie sees both qualify

  • 49ers beat Rams in overtime to clinch NFC's final wildcard spot

  • Bills clinch AFC East title, Rams win NFC West

  • Get Involved: Use #bbcnfl on Twitter

  1. See you in the play-offspublished at 02:02 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    So that's it from the NFL's 2021 regular season. On a dramatic final day, the Tennessee Titans clinched the top seed for the AFC Conference, meaning they and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC will have a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the play-offs.

    The San Francisco 49ers secured the final wildcard spot in the NFC while the Indianapolis Colts surrendered theirs in the AFC. That opened the door for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will feature in the post season if there's a winner between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, which is currently taking place. If there's a tie, the Chargers and Raiders will both progress while the Steelers miss out.

    We'll have a report on that game on Monday, including the fixtures for next week's wildcard round, with previews later in the week. Plus you can watch analysis and highlights on NFL This Week and The NFL Show on BBC iPlayer.

    We'll be back next Saturday AND Sunday for live text commentary on the first five of this season's play-off games. See you then.

  2. Play-off schedule for AFC Conference to be confirmedpublished at 01:42 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    Here's how it stands in the AFC Conference, plus the three sets of fixtures depending on the game result in Las Vegas.

    Remember, the Steelers will make the play-offs along with the winners of the Chargers v Raiders game - but if they tie they both go through and the Steelers miss out!

    AFC seedings

    1. Tennessee Titans
    2. Kansas City Chiefs
    3. Buffalo Bills
    4. Cincinnati Bengals
    5. New England Patriots
    6. Los Angeles Chargers
    7. Las Vegas Raiders
    8. Pittsburgh Steelers

    Possible wildcard fixtures

    Raiders win: Raiders @ Bengals, Patriots @ Bills, Steelers @ Chiefs

    Chargers win: Chargers @ Bills, Patriots @ Bengals, Steelers @ Chiefs

    Chargers & Raiders tie: Patriots @ Bengals, Chargers @ Bills, Raiders @ Chiefs

  3. Play-off schedule complete for NFC Conferencepublished at 01:39 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    The NFC's road to the Super Bowl goes through Green Bay - with the Packers having next week off after securing the top seed while the other six teams do battle in the wildcard round.

    The Rams have slipped to four and will now host divisional rivals Arizona, while the Eagles go to defending champions Tampa Bay and the 49ers visit Dallas.

    NFC seedings

    1. Green Bay Packers
    2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
    3. Dallas Cowboys
    4. Los Angeles Rams
    5. Arizona Cardinals
    6. San Francisco 49ers
    7. Philadelphia Eagles

    Wildcard fixtures

    Eagles @ Buccaneers, 49ers @ Cowboys, Cardinals @ Rams.

    PackersImage source, Getty Images
  4. Best of the late games - 49ers play their way into play-offspublished at 01:31 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    The San Francisco 49ers came from 17-0 down to beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-24 in a wild overtime game to earn their spot in the NFC play-offs.

    The Rams had lost five in a row to the Niners but came flying out of the traps and led 17-3 at half-time. Coach Sean McVay was 45-0 when his Rams side held a half-time lead, but that run was snapped by a rejuvenated San Francisco in the second half.

    Wide receiver Deebo Samuel was everywhere, having 95 yards receiving, rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown, and even throwing a touchdown!

    Jimmy Garoppolo led a brilliant late drive to force overtime and after the Niners kicked a field goal, Matthew Stafford threw his second interception to hand the Niners the win.

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    Although a huge blow for the Rams, they still won the NFC West thanks to the Arizona Cardinals losing out 38-20 to the Seattle Seahawks.

    The Cards did lead when James Conner scored two touchdowns, but Russell Wilson threw three TDs and ran one in himself to win what could be his last game for Seattle.

    San Francisco's victory ended the New Orleans Saints' hopes of sneaking into the play-offs after they beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-20.

    Back-up QB Trevor Siemian threw two TDs to give the Saints the win, and they were then left to watch the end of the game in Los Angeles, where that late 49ers win ended New Orleans' season.

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  5. Rest of the late games - Bills clinch AFC Eastpublished at 01:23 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    The Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets 27-10 to defend their AFC East crown and win successive divisional titles for the first time since 1991.

    The Bills moved up into the third seed in the AFC with Josh Allen throwing two TDs and rushing for 63 yards, with Devin Singletary scoring twice.

    Buffalo edged out the New England Patriots to win the division as Bill Belichick's side produced a few too many errors in their 33-24 loss at the Miami Dolphins.

    It means New England settle for a wildcard and all eyes now turn to Las Vegas, where a Raiders victory would see the Patriots head to Buffalo in the wildcard round!

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    The other late game saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers run out 41-17 winners over the Carolina Panthers, with Tom Brady adding another 326 passing yards and three TDs to his season tally.

    The Bucs finish the season as the number two seed in the NFC and will host the Philadelphia Eagles next week.

  6. Best of the early games - Colts miss out on play-off spotpublished at 01:07 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

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    The Indianapolis Colts spurned the chance to secure a play-off spot as they suffered a shock 26-11 defeat at the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    The Colts went into Sunday's games in an AFC wildcard spot but number one draft pick Trevor Lawrence capped a rocky rookie season with 223 passing yards and two touchdowns for the Jags.

    Despite that upset, the Colts could still have got into the play-offs, but those hopes were over when the Pittsburgh Steelers earned a 16-13 overtime win at the Baltimore Ravens.

    It could have been Ben Roethlisberger's final game but the quarterback's 18-year career is set to continue for at least one more week after Chris Boswell kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining to beat the Ravens, who had an outside chance of a play-off spot.

    Despite claiming their third win of the season, Jacksonville still finished with the NFL's worst record (3-14) - and the number one draft pick - for the second year running as the Detroit Lions (3-13-1) beat the Green Bay Packers 37-30.

    D'Andre Swift scored Detroit's go-ahead touchdown with 1:54 remaining as the Packers, who had already secured the top seed in the NFC Conference, rested Aaron Rodgers for the second half.

  7. Rest of the early games - Titans secure AFC's top seedpublished at 00:55 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

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    Ryan Tannehill threw four touchdown passes and Julio Jones scored his first touchdown for the Tennessee Titans as they held on for a 28-25 win at the Houston Texans.

    The Titans (12-5) needed a win to ensure they clinched the top seed in the AFC Conference ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs.

    Case Keenum played in place of injured quarterback Baker Mayfield as the Cleveland Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals 21-16 to halt a three-game losing streak and finish the season on 8-9.

    The Bengals (10-7) played their back-ups after clinching the AFC North title and a play-off spot last week.

    Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes as the Minnesota Vikings rallied for a 31-17 win over the Chicago Bears, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

    Antonio Gibson rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown as the Washington Football Team closed the season with a 22-7 win over the New York Giants.

  8. 49ers win with Stafford pickpublished at 00:42 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    San Francisco 49ers 27-24 Los Angeles Rams (OT)

    San Francisco complete their 17-point comeback with a fine overtime victory as Ambry Thomas claims the Matthew Stafford interception to end the game.

    Stafford was going deep to Odell Beckham but he looked to have overrun the ball, leaving Thomas as the only one who could catch it - which he duly did with a nice diving effort.

    The 49ers are going to the play-offs!

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  9. FT - Cardinals settle for wildcardpublished at 00:39 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    Seattle Seahawks 38-30 Arizona Cardinals

    The Arizona Cardinals couldn't hang on to the lead the fashioned against Seattle and that means that the Rams win the NFC West even if they can't win the game against the 49ers going on right now.

  10. Huge flagpublished at 02:00 left

    San Francisco 49ers 27-24 Los Angeles Rams

    The Rams have made quick progress to their own 38-yard line, but only after a pass interference penalty called against Emmanuel Moseley on Cooper Kupp.

    It's the merest of tugs on the jersey but it's enough for the flag to come out and give the Rams a fresh set of downs.

  11. FT - Pats come up shortpublished at 00:34 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    New England Patriots 24-33 Miami Dolphins

    It was a decent fightback but the New England Patriots lose in Miami, and that hands the division title to the Buffalo Bills regardless of their result now against the Jets.

    On the last play of the game, New England's Jakobi Meyers tries to keep it going by throwing a lateral, only to gift Miami's Sam Eguavoen a defensive touchdown.

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  12. FT - Saints do their bitpublished at 00:32 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    New Orleans Saints 30-20 Atlanta Falcons

    The New Orleans Saints have battled bravely through QB injuries all season, and they've taken care of the Falcons and will now be finding a TV somewhere to see if the Rams can do them a favour.

    The Saints need the 49ers to lose in LA to make the play-offs.

  13. field goal

    Field goal - 49erspublished at 02:45 left

    San Francisco 49ers 27-24 Los Angeles Rams

    San Francisco can't get the touchdown or first down and so the 49ers settle for a Robbie Gould field goal from 24 yards.

    Not long left now, and you do wonder now if the Rams are aware that a field goal here for the tie will do the job!

  14. FT - Bucs sign off in stylepublished at 00:28 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    Carolina Panthers 17-41 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    The Tampa Bay Buccaneers go into the play-offs in style with Tom Brady throwing for 326 yards and three TDs in an emphatic victory over Carolina.

    Rob Gronkowski enjoyed a landmark night as did Mike Evans, who recorded his eight straight 1,000-yard season.

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  15. Jennings again!published at 05:13 left

    San Francisco 49ers 24-24 Los Angeles Rams

    It's another huge play from Jauan Jennings who takes a short pass and turns it into a 34-yard gain down the right sideline.

    The 49ers really are filled with yards after the catch merchants and Jennings looks like another one.

    They're well within field goal range but that will give the Rams to change to tie or win, so they'll be thinking touchdown here that will end the game.

  16. touchdown

    Touchdown - Seahawkspublished at 00:21 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    Seattle Seahawks 38-27 Arizona Cardinals

    Look at the jets on Rashaad Penny as he busts through for a 62-yard rushing score that could be the run of the night.

    Pace to burn!

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  17. Deebo leading the drivepublished at 00:18 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    San Francisco 49ers 24-24 Los Angeles Rams

    San Francisco get the ball first and no surprise to see Deebo Samuel given the ball to get a first down.

    You wonder if both teams actually know that if this ends in a tie then the Rams will win the division and the 49ers will make the play-offs?

  18. touchdown

    Touchdown - Billspublished at 00:17 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    New York Jets 10-20 Buffalo Bills

    The bad news for New England is that Josh Allen went on a tough run himself to set-up and one-yard score for Devin Singletary as the Bills open up a 10-point lead.

  19. touchdown

    Touchdown - Patriotspublished at 02:53 left

    New England Patriots 24-27 Miami Dolphins

    Damien Harris runs in a short touchdown for the Patriots who can smell a comeback victory here with two touchdowns back-to-back.

  20. Overtime in LApublished at 00:12 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January 2022

    San Francisco 49ers 24-24 Los Angeles Rams

    Stafford is sacked and that's the last play of regular in this breathless game - what a game!

    We've now got 10 minutes of overtime with the 49ers playing to extend their season and the Rams playing for the NFC West.