Giants, Jets both get ambushed

The host New York Giants finally found some bigger distractions than Plaxico Burress: Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the desperate Eagles.

But they still clinched the NFC East when Dallas lost to Pittsburgh.

Westbrook ran 30 yards for a touchdown, caught another 40-yarder from McNabb, and the Eagles' defense limited the Giants to 211 yards as the Super Bowl champions' seven-game winning streak ended.

McNabb finished 19 of 30 for 191 yards on a windy day as the Eagles controlled the ball for almost 35 minutes. Westbrook was the workhorse, gaining 131 yards on 33 carries and catching 6 passes for 72 yards.

The Eagles (7-5-1) remained in the playoff hunt after winning their second straight.

However, this is going to remembered as the game the Giants came up empty after a week of scrutiny and media hype following the suspension of Burress for the rest of the season and an investigation into the role of middle linebacker Antonio Pierce in the aftermath of the incident in which Burress shot himself in a Manhattan nightclub.

Niners 24, Jets 14: While the New York Jets look as though they're coming apart at the seams, the San Francisco 49ers are getting it together for coach Mike Singletary.

Shaun Hill passed for 285 yards and 2 touchdowns against New York's porous secondary, and the Niners sent the AFC East-leading Jets to their second straight embarrassing loss.

Joe Nedney kicked a 32-yard tiebreaking field goal early in the fourth quarter, and Bryant Johnson made a diving 3-yard TD catch with 6:05 left for the suddenly solid Niners (5-8), who have won three of four.

The Jets (8-5) slipped into a tie atop the division with the Dolphins and Patriots.

Frank Gore caught a short TD pass and rushed for 52 yards before injuring his left ankle early in the second half for the Niners, who improved to 3-3 under Singletary. The interim coach is making a compelling case for the permanent job, sparking a franchise still headed to its sixth straight non-winning season.

Titans 28, Browns 9: The AFC South title belongs to the Tennessee Titans for the first time since 2002 in what they hope is the first of many goals reached this season.

Kerry Collins threw 2 touchdown passes, and Chris Johnson ran for 136 yards and a score as the host Titans routed Cleveland, clinching a second consecutive playoff berth with the franchise's best record through 13 games, 12-1.

Cleveland (4-9) lost its third straight and fifth in six games, with the Browns starting a third different quarterback in as many games. It was Ken Dorsey's first start since Nov. 27, 2005, when he was with the Niners, and he didn't get much help from an injury-decimated team.

The Titans had a season-high 12 penalties for 126 yards. But the Titans outgained Cleveland 390-178 and LenDale just missed joining Johnson with a 100-yard rushing game for a second straight week when he finished with 99 yards on 24 carries.

Cardinals 34, Rams 10: Kurt Warner threw for 279 yards, the defense scored twice and host Arizona clinched its first division title in 33 years by beating woeful St. Louis.

The Cardinals, long the league's doormat franchise with just one winning season in the last 24 years, earned their first playoff berth since 1998 and first divisional title since they won the NFC East in 1975. As NFC West champions, they will host a playoff game for the first time since, as the Chicago Cardinals, they defeated Philadelphia to win the NFL title in 1947.

Arizona's defense scored both of the team's second-half touchdowns, including a team record-tying 99-yard interception return by rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with 3:11 to play.

Arizona (8-5) beat St. Louis (2-11) for the fifth straight time and extended the Rams' losing streak to seven games. After losses to the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, the Cardinals improved to 5-0 against NFC West foes.

Broncos 24, Chiefs 17: Jay Cutler guided the Broncos on a tiebreaking 95-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter, and host Denver's defense stuffed quarterback Tyler Thigpen on fourth-and-goal.

The Broncos (8-5) snapped a three-game skid at home and put themselves on the cusp of ending a three-year playoff drought. They lead second-place San Diego by 3 games in the middling AFC West.

The bad news for the Broncos was they lost bulldozing rookie running back Peyton Hillis to a strained right hamstring. He's their sixth tailback to go down this season.

Cutler completed 32 of 40 passes for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to Brandon Marshall, including a 6-yarder for the winner early in the fourth quarter.

Cutler's only bad pass all day was returned by rookie Maurice Leggett for a 27-yard touchdown in the first quarter that gave Kansas City (2-11) a 10-0 lead.

Dolphins 16, Bills 3: Miami took advantage of an indifferent Bills "home" crowd, an inept Buffalo offense and the cozy indoors of the Rogers Centre in Toronto to stay firmly in playoff contention. Chad Pennington completed 23 passes, including his final 11 attempts, and hit Anthony Fasano for a 20-yard touchdown as the Dolphins (8-5) won for the sixth time in seven games.

The Dolphins' defense did the rest, allowing only 163 yards to a Bills team playing its first of five annual regular-season games in its adopted home-away-from-home of Toronto.

The Bills (6-7) lost for the sixth time in seven games and were all but mathematically knocked out of playoff contention - a considerable letdown for a team that opened the season 4-0.

Pennington finished with 181 yards, and became the third Dolphins player to reach 3,000 yards passing in a season and first since Jay Fiedler in 2001. Dan Carpenter provided the rest of the scoring, hitting three field goals, including a 50-yarder, as the Dolphins continue their remarkable rebound from last year's 1-15 finish.

Patriots 24, Seahawks 21: One week after flopping with 4 turnovers in a home loss to Pittsburgh that put New England on the outside rail of the AFC playoff race, Matt Cassel was 26 of 44 for 268 yards and a touchdown, with no turnovers as New England beat host Seattle.

Sammy Morris scored the decisive touchdown, leaping into the end zone from 1 yard on fourth down with 2:44 remaining.

Cassel, looking more like the guy who had consecutive 400-yard passing games than the one Pittsburgh harried into 4 turnovers, was 5-for-8 on the decisive drive from the New England 29. He converted third-down throws to Jabar Gaffney and Wes Welker, who caught a season-high 12 passes for 134 yards.

The Patriots forged a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East lead after Brandon Meriweather sacked Seneca Wallace with 1:54 left and Richard Seymour recovered the fumble.

New England withstood the loss of four injured starters on defense and a rare 2-touchdown receiving day from former teammate Deion Branch.

Seattle (2-11) lost for the sixth consecutive time and has its worst record since a franchise-worst 2-14 season in 1992.

Colts 35, Bengals 3: Peyton Manning threw for 3 touchdowns, Dominic Rhodes ran for 1 and cornerback Kelvin Hayden's interception return produced another as host Indianapolis (9-4) battered Cincinnati.

It was a stark contrast from the past month, when Indy became just the third team in league history to win five consecutive games by 6 points or fewer. No. 6 had a completely different look.

Manning's uncanny mixture of methodical drives and quick-hitting plays were too much for Cincinnati's beleaguered defense, and after failing to score an offensive touchdown last week at Cleveland, Manning led the Colts on 3 TD drives of 69 yards or longer.

Indy's most lopsided win of the season also kept it in position for one of the AFC's two wild-card spots. The Colts (9-4) host winless Detroit next week.

Manning completed 26 of 32 for 277 yards and matched his season high for touchdown passes. Cincinnati (1-11-1) lost 4 turnovers, and Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked four times.