New York Jets send Green Bay packing
Chad Pennington, bidding to become the latest quarterback to start the season as a backup and end up in the Super Bowl, matched a career high with four touchdown passes as he led the Jets to just their second divison crown.
Ironically, New York's bitter rivals New England gave the Jets a chance to make the playoffs by rallying from a an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Dolphins in overtime.
Had Miami won, the Jets could not have made the playoffs.
"This is a dream for us," said Wayne Chrebet, who caught two touchdown passes. "We were determined that, if they opened the door for us, we were going to barge through it."
The Jets became the first team to win a division title after a 2-5 start.
The loss cost the Packers (12-4) a chance to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That is now owned by Philadelphia, despite their loss to the Giants on Saturday.
It's the first time since 1986 that the Giants and Jets have both reached the playoffs.
The Packers will also have to do without a first-round bye after Tampa Bay shrugged off the frigid Illinois temperatures to beat Chicago 15-0.
Historically, home-field would have been a huge advantage for Brett Favre and the Packers, who have never lost a playoff game at Lambeau Field.
But at the weekend, the Packers could not rattle Pennington, who completed 17-of-24 passes for 196 yards and threw four touchdowns in a game for the second time.
Meanwhile, Favre was 16-of-33 for 172 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
A first-round pick in 2000, Pennington set a club record by completing 69% of his passes for 3,120 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions this season for a passer rating of 104.2.
The Jets' victory also meant a wildcard berth for Cleveland, who clinched a 24-16 win over Atlanta but had to wait hours to learn their fate.
Despite the loss, the Falcons clinched an NFC wild card berth when Carolina, out of the playoff picture for weeks, upset error-prone New Orleans 10-6.
Browns Rookie William Green rushed for a season-high 178 yards and two touchdowns, including a 64-yard jaunt in the fourth quarter that gave the Browns their 24-16 lead.
But Vick and the Falcons nearly rallied in the waning moments.
Atlanta had a 1st-and-goal at the Cleveland 4 with under a minute remaining. Dunn ran for three yards on first down, and Vick threw an incompletion before Dunn was stopped, sealing the win for Cleveland.
Tennessee assured themselves of a first-round bye with a 13-3 victory over the expansion Houston Texans.
The AFC South champion Titans closed the regular season by winning five straight and 10 of their last 11 games, but looked like they could use the rest the bye brings.
Indianapolis, their postseason ticket already punched, were punchless in a 20-13 victory over Jacksonville.
Baltimore's slim playoff hopes were extinguished with a 34-31 loss in Pittsburgh. The Steelers lost out on the bye to Tennessee and will host Cleveland next week.
In other games, Buffalo downed Cincinnati 27-9. The Cowboys fell 20-14 to the Washington Redskins.
Minnesota beat Detroit 38-36. San Diego lost 31-28 in overtime to Seattle, and Denver routed Arizona 37-7.
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