Priest Holmes rips the soul out of San Diego
Holmes rushed for a season-high 162 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs moved a step closer to securing the NFL’s AFC West title with a 28-24 victory over the hapless Chargers.
Since having their nine-game winning streak stopped, the Chiefs (11-1) have recovered to win consecutive games. They can clinch their first division title since 1997 next weekend when they visit Denver.
“We know we have four (games) left and a lot of work left to do,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “We go to Denver to play now and that win right there can put us right where we want to be in terms of the divisional title.”
The Broncos made sure the Chiefs weren’t celebrating a division title this weekend with a 22-8 victory over division rivals Oakland.
Clinton Portis rushed for a season-high 170 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Broncos, who bounced back from a disappointing home loss to Chicago. The Broncos are four games behind the Chiefs with four to play, leaving them essentially hoping for a wild card spot.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ hopes of defending their Super Bowl title may have been terminated by rookie Byron Leftwich, Fred Taylor and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Leftwich threw a go-ahead 48-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith early in the fourth quarter, and Taylor had several key rushes down the stretch as the Jaguars beat the Buccaneers 17-10. Tampa Bay (5-7) slipped three games behind Dallas and Carolina in the race for the two NFC wild card berths with four games remaining.
Cincinnati and Baltimore remained tied atop the AFC North, the Bengals edging Pittsburgh 24-20 and the Ravens routing San Francisco 44-6. Cincinnati’s Jon Kitna tossed an 18-yard touchdown to tight end Matt Schobel with 13 seconds left to lift the Bengals.
Kitna completed 18-of-32 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns for the Bengals (7-5), who won a fourth straight game for the first time since 1989. Next week they visit Baltimore, who will head into the showdown for first place fresh from a romp over the 49ers.
Ray Lewis returned one of San Francisco quarterback Jeff Garcia’s four interceptions 29 yards for a touchdown as the Ravens spoiled Garcia’s return from an ankle injury.
Lewis, Baltimore’s perennial Pro Bowl inside linebacker, provided the biggest highlight for the defencse with his return that gave Baltimore a 24-6 lead with under a minute remaining in the first half.
In St. Louis, the Rams posted their 12th straight home win as Marshall Faulk rushed for three touchdowns and Marc Bulger passed for 222 yards and a score in a 48-17 rout of Minnesota. Minnesota (7-5) lost for the fifth time in six games but still hold a one game lead over Green Bay in the NFC North.
The win kept the Rams (9-3) in sole possession of first place in the NFC West. Their nearest rivals are Seattle, who improved to 7-0 at home with a 34-7 rout of the Cleveland Browns.
The Rams are tied with Philadelphia (9-3) for the best record in the National Conference.
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