The Seattle Seahawks sealed the NFC West Division crown with a 16-6 victory of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The Seahawks are the first team to reach the playoffs with a losing record. “I always like doing things that have never been done and this is one of them,” said Seattle’s coach Pete Carroll. “We didn’t quite get here the way we dreamed of getting here, but we got here.”
The Indianapolis Colts took the AFC South title and a record-tying ninth consecutive trip to the post-season games with their 23-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The Colts’ Adam Vinatieri scored a 43-yard field goal as the time ran out, upping his team to third seed in the conference. Next week they will battle the New York Jets.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the AFC North and a first-round playoff bye with their 41-9 victory over the Cleveland Browns. “Mission accomplished,” said Mike Tomlin, the Steelers’ coach, after the game. “We came to Cleveland to claim the AFC North title and we got it done. Not a lot needed to be said about the stakes. It’s one less game we have to play to get where we want to go.”
The Jets have just achieved their best season record in twelve years (11-5), with their 38-7 win over the Buffalo Bills. The Jets rested many of their key players before next week’s first round of the playoffs, using their starting quarterback Mark Sanchez for only one drive. “That’s hard to get, hard to accomplish,” said Rex Ryan, the Jets’ coach. “We’re fresh, we’re healthy heading in there.” “This football team’s ready,” he added. “We want to win a Super Bowl and we want to do it right now.”
