RYAN TANNEHILL THREW four touchdown passes as the Tennessee Titans secured a top seed in the NFL playoffs on Sunday by holding on to beat the Houston Texans 28-25.
Tannehill tossed three of his four touchdowns in the first half as the Titans, who are back-to-back AFC South division champions, started quickly by jumping out to a 21-0 lead then outlasted the Texans.
The Titans finished the regular season atop the AFC at 12-5 to capture a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the post-season.
If the Titans had lost Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs would have claimed the number one spot.
Tannehill finished with four touchdowns, the first time the Texas-born quarterback has had three or more touchdown passes in a game since he did it in October against the Indianapolis Colts.
Tennessee grabbed a 21-point lead but Houston went to work reeling off 18 consecutive points, closing the gap to just three points in the final quarter.
After Tannehill connected with receiver Julio Jones for a 3-yard touchdown, the Texans came right back on a Davis Mills 26-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola to make it 28-25 in the fourth.
The Titans used their final drive to seal the victory.
Elsewhere, Ben Roethlisberger is hopeful that Sunday won’t be his last dance after the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive by edging the Baltimore Ravens 16-13 in overtime.
The Steelers will make the playoffs as long as the San Diego Chargers-Las Vegas Raiders game on Sunday night doesn’t end in a draw.
Kicker Chris Boswell booted a 36-yard field goal with just under two minutes left in overtime to lift the Steelers to victory.
Roethlisberger, who likely will retire at the end of this season, set up the winning kick when he completed a 10-yard pass over the middle to Ray-Ray McCloud for a clutch first down.
The Steelers and Ravens would have both been eliminated had the game ended deadlocked.
NFL early Sunday kick-off results
- New York Giants 7-22 Washington
- Cleveland Browns 21-16 Cincinnati Bengals
- Baltimore Ravens 13-16 Pittsburgh Steelers
- Detroit Lions 37-30 Green Bay Packers
- Jacksonville Jaguars 26-11 Indianapolis Colts
- Minnesota Vikings 31-17 Chicago Bears
- Houston Texans 25-28 Tennessee Titans
