Pats and Texans clear up AFC picture as Cowboys snatch spectacular late win at Giants

Saquon Barkley has had a rookie year to remember despite the Giants having a year to forget.

THE HOUSTON TEXANS finally clinched the AFC South division title that had long seemed theirs for the taking with a 20-3 win over Jacksonville on the final Sunday of the NFL regular season.

Deshaun Watson threw for 234 yards and ran for a touchdown and DeAndre Hopkins had 147 receiving yards for the Texans, who roared back from an 0-3 start to the season with a nine-game winning streak but had lost two of their last three.

As teams jockeyed for playoff position on an action-packed day the New England Patriots — playoff bound for a record 10th straight season — secured a ninth straight first-round bye with a 38-3 rout of the New York Jets.

New England’s superstar quarterback Tom Brady threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first half as the Patriots finished the season unbeaten at home.

They are assured of at least one post-season game at home in Foxboro, and they could capture the top seed in the AFC and home field throughout the playoffs should Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers both falter later Sunday.

UPI 20181230 Brady and the Pats will have at least one playoff game in New England. UPI / PA Images UPI / PA Images / PA Images

“We had a great opportunity for it,” Brady said of grabbing the bye. “I’m just glad we could close it out. You hate to have that opportunity and not handle what we needed to handle.”

Brady said it was satisfying to close out the regular season with back-to-back victories after two straight defeats.

“We showed some resiliency,” he said. “We’re going to need that going forward.”

The playoff schedule will be fully determined after Andrew Luck and the Colts face the Titans on the regular-season curtain call on Monday morning Irish time, but it will take further shape tonight as the evening games play out.

The most spectacular action so far today, though, probably came at MetLife Stadium in what amounted to a nothing game between NFC East rivals the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys had already won their division and couldn’t improve their position even with a victory in New Jersey, but played the majority of their starters and went for it against their age-old foes.

The Giants knew that defeat would see them get a far more favourable draft pick next year, but still went all-out and came within a whisker of winning the game.

In the process, G-Men running back Saquon Barkley, their top draft pick in 2018, cemented his Rookie-of-the-Year credentials by capping a debut season to remember:

Barkley became just the third rookie running back in NFL history to reach 2,000 total yards, finishing second in the rushing stakes this year behind Ezekiel Elliot. He also broke the NFL rookie record for receptions, and the Giants’ rookie record for rushing TDs.

His TD in this fixture was rather special — a slam dunk of sorts over the top of the Dallas defence — but it paled in comparison to the late touchdown with led to Dallas’ victory.

FINAL: The @dallascowboys finish 2018 with a 10-6 record! #DallasCowboys #DALvsNYG

(by @Lexus) pic.twitter.com/tu2kE5TmAf
— NFL (@NFL) December 30, 2018

Dak Prescott hit Cole Beasley with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 1:12 to play and while it seemed as though Beasley hadn’t planted his feet inbounds during what was a spectacular grab, a review showed that he planted one knee — which counts as two feet — and so a touchdown was eventually rewarded.

That brought Dallas to within a point, and with the playoffs looming, they went for a two-point conversion rather than risk the added attrition of overtime. Prescott found Michael Gallup for the deuce, and despite Eli Manning’s best efforts, the Cowboys ran out winners and enter the postseason as an in-form team.

Sunday evening results:

Bills 42-17 Dolphins
Lions 31-0 Packers
Texans 20-3 Jaguars
Patriots 38-3 Jets
Panthers 33-14 Saints
Cowboys 36-35 Giants

Eliminated from the AFC:

9. Cleveland Browns (7-7-1)
10. Miami Dolphins (7-8)
11. Denver Broncos (6-8)
12. Cincinnati Bengals (6-9)
13. Buffalo Bills (5-10)
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10)
15. New York Jets (4-11)
16. Oakland Raiders (3-11)

Eliminated from the NFC:

8. Washington Redskins (7-8)
9. Green Bay Packers (6-8-1)
10. Atlanta Falcons (6-9)
11. Carolina Panthers (6-9)
12. New York Giants (5-10)
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10)
14. Detroit Lions (5-10)
15. San Francisco 49ers (4-10)
14. Arizona Cardinals (3-11)

Additional reporting from Gavan Casey

Murray Kinsella, Gavan Casey and Andy Dunne look back on a memorable year for Irish rugby.