commanders 30, falcons 24, ot

Jayden Daniels connected with Zach Ertz in overtime for his third touchdown pass of the game to get Washington into the playoffs by beating Atlanta on Sunday night in a back-and-forth prime-time showdown between highly drafted rookie quarterbacks.

Daniels ran for a season-high 127 yards and completed 24 of 36 passes for 227 yards and had two TD passes to Ertz and another to Olamide Zaccheaus to make the playoffs in his rookie year.

In his latest comeback performance in a season full of them, Daniels shook off an interception and a 10-point halftime deficit and led the winning drive in overtime that was capped with the 2-yard pass to Ertz.

The Commanders (11-5) could move up to the sixth seed in the NFC and set up a wild-card round game at Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams if they win their regular-season finale at Dallas next weekend. They otherwise would be seventh and visit division-rival Philadelphia unless Green Bay loses to Chicago.

The Falcons (8-8) lost control of their chances of winning the NFC South and ensuring a home playoff game. They now need to beat Carolina and for the Buccaneers to lose to New Orleans to qualify altogether.

buccaneers 48, panthers 14

Baker Mayfield threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns to help Tampa Bay keep their division and playoff hopes alive with a rout of Carolina on Sunday.

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.

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.

bills 40, jets 14

Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, and Buffalo clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed with a rout of New York.

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.

jaguars 20, titans 13

Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes, including one to standout rookie Brian Thomas Jr., and Jacksonville beat Tennessee in the rain 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.