Playoff mess looking a little clearer

The Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans clinched their divisions, while the Baltimore Ravens earned a playoff spot despite another lousy loss.

The jumbled NFC East? Well, that will come down to the final week of the season.

The New York Giants were humiliated 34-0 by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, falling into a first-place tie with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, who both won to improve to 8-6.

The Redskins did it without Robert Griffin III, who sat out with a sprained right knee and wasn't happy about having to stand on the sideline and watch his teammates play. But fellow rookie Kirk Cousins stepped in and threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns, leading Washington to its fifth straight win, 38-21, over the Cleveland Browns.

"We're in first place in our division now, and it was a great business trip for us," Griffin said.

"I got healthier by not playing, we won the game and put ourselves in position to control our own destiny."

Cousins connected with Leonard Hankerson for both touchdowns in his first career start, and the Redskins barely missed a beat without the talented and multi-dimensional RG3. Last week, Cousins came off the bench after Griffin got hurt, and he delivered a performance in this one that extended Washington's longest winning streak since 2007.

"I talked to him about being cool, calm and collected and not to freak out," Griffin said. "He did a good job of staying poised and staying confident in there."

Rookie Trent Richardson had a pair of TD runs for the Browns (5-9).

At Arlington, Texas, Dallas' Brandon Carr intercepted a pass by Ben Roethlisberger in overtime, returned it 36 yards to the 1, and Dan Bailey kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 27-24 win over Pittsburgh.

"Those are the plays you dream about in the backyard, making the game-winning interception or touchdown," Carr said.

Bailey's kick - 1:24 into OT - won a game for the second straight week since Dallas practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a one-car accident that led to manslaughter charges against teammate Josh Brent. After Carr's interception, Tony Romo took a 2-yard loss to put the kicker in better position for the Cowboys.

The Steelers (7-7) lost for the fourth time in five games and trail AFC North rival Cincinnati by a game for the conference's second wild-card spot. They host the Bengals next week. Roethlisberger is 0-2 since returning from a three-game absence with shoulder and rib injuries.

(China Daily 12/18/2012 page23)