NFL-Highlights of Sunday's National Football League games

Jan 1 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of National Football League games played on Sunday: Patriots 35, Dolphins 14 Tom Brady passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns as New England clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, beating Miami at Hard Rock Stadium. Brady completed 25 of 33 passes and was not intercepted or sacked. Wide receiver Julian Edelman caught eight passes for 151 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown. The Patriots (14-2), who have won the AFC East in 14 of the past 16 years and taken four Super Bowls during that span, will get a first-round playoff bye. The Dolphins (10-6), who had already clinched their first playoff berth since 2008, will play in the first round of the playoffs in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. -- Eagles 27, Cowboys 13 With nothing at stake except pride, Philadelphia beat NFC-best Dallas at Lincoln Financial Field. Dallas, already assured of home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, finished 13-3, while the Eagles improved to 7-9. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz set an NFL rookie record when he completed a pass in the opening drive, which passed the record of 354 completions set by the Rams' Sam Bradford in 2010. With the Cowboys resting some key players during the game, Tony Romo came on in relief of starting quarterback Dak Prescott early in the second quarter. Romo, who missed 12 games last year with a broken collarbone and hadn't played all this season after injuring his back, led Dallas to a touchdown in his only drive. -- Buccaneers 17, Panthers 16 Jameis Winston threw the winning touchdown pass to Mike Evans with 3:13 to play, leading Tampa Bay to victory over Carolina at Raymond James Stadium. Carolina drove for a touchdown in the closing seconds but opted to go for two points with 17 seconds left rather than a tying extra-point kick, and Greg Olsen slipped in the end zone as Cam Newton's pass fell incomplete. Tampa Bay (9-7) completed a season sweep of Carolina (6-10) but fell short of a playoff berth. -- Titans 24, Texans 17 Fill-in quarterback Matt Cassel threw for 150 yards and a touchdown as Tennessee finished their first winning season since 2011 with victory over AFC South champions Houston. Playing in place of Marcus Mariota, who broke his leg last week, Cassel completed 16 of 26 passes as Tennessee ended the season 9-7. Houston (9-7) quarterback Tom Savage, making his second career start, left the game in the second quarter and was checked for a possible concussion. -- Steelers 27, Browns 24 (OT) Landry Jones threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Cobi Hamilton in overtime and playoff-bound Pittsburgh won their seventh in a row by rallying past mistake-prone Cleveland after the Browns blew a two-touchdown lead. The Browns (1-15) were in a position to win it late in regulation but running back Isaiah Crowell fumbled at the 3-yard line and the Steelers (11-5) recovered. -- Vikings 38, Bears 10 Sam Bradford was 25 of 33 passing for 250 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, and Kyle Rudolph had 11 catches for 117 yards and a score as Minnesota beat Chicago. Jerick McKinnon added 110 total yards and scored touchdowns by rushing and receiving for the Vikings, who ended up 8-8 after a 5-0 start. Jordan Howard had 135 yards rushing for the Bears, who at 3-13 had their fewest wins ever in a 16-game season. -- Bengals 27, Ravens 10 Rex Burkhead rushed for a career-high 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Andy Dalton passed for 226 yards and a score, lifting Cincinnati over Baltimore at Paul Brown Stadium. The Ravens finished the season 8-8, with Joe Flacco setting a single-season team record with 4,317 yards passing, while the Bengals completed a 6-9-1 campaign. -- Jets 30, Bills 10 Ryan Fitzpatrick, likely making his final appearance for the team, threw a pair of short touchdown passes as New York routed Buffalo in their season finale at MetLife Stadium. Fitzpatrick, who threw a franchise-record 31 touchdown passes last season but was benched twice this year, finished 20-of-30 for 210 yards. The Jets finished 5-11 and Buffalo at 7-9. -- Colts 24, Jaguars 20 Andrew Luck's 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Doyle with nine seconds remaining gave the Colts the victory and an 8-8 finish to the season at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Jaguars (3-13) thought they had pulled it out on Jason Myers' 41-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining. But that gave Luck too much time. (Editing by Larry Fine)