While players around him were constantly shuffled in and out, Jamaal Jackson held the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line together.

Jackson will miss the rest of the season after tearing a knee ligament in Sunday’s win over Denver.


“It’s obviously a big loss. He’s a good football player,” coach Andy Reid said Monday.

Jackson made his 71st consecutive start against the Broncos and had been Philadelphia’s only offensive player to play every snap until he got hurt in the first half.

He had an MRI exam on Monday that revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. It’s an injury that sometimes takes a full year for recovery, so Jackson may not be ready for the start of next season.

“I don’t want to take anything away from losing Jamaal,” Reid said. “But at the same time, we’re fortunate enough to have guys that have played in games, and big games, that we can fill in those spots.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

There’s still a tomorrow for the Pittsburgh Steelers, all they could have asked for only days ago. There’s also a next week for the Baltimore Ravens, or exactly what they didn’t want.

Jeff Reed’s 38-yard field goal put Pittsburgh ahead with 5:25 remaining and the Steelers finally preserved a fourth-quarter lead, beating rival Baltimore 23-20 on Sunday to further jumble the complicated AFC postseason race.

The Steelers (8-7), their season seemingly ended by a late-season five-game losing streak, followed their last-second 37-36 victory over Green Bay with another tight victory helped by Reed’s three field goals and Rashard Mendenhall’s touchdown run. Now, their final regular season game at Miami will have some meaning, although the Steelers could win and still be eliminated.

According to the NFL, the Ravens (8-7) will clinch an AFC wild-card playoff spot if they win Sunday at Oakland. The Steelers must win and hope for some losses as the Jets, Ravens, Broncos, Texans and Pittsburgh all go into the final weekend with the same record.

“It’s been do or die for us for a while, fighting to the last minute. We’re like the cardiac kids,” said Ben Roethlisberger, who threw a touchdown pass while becoming the first Steelers quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith broke his left arm in Sunday’s 41-9 victory over the New York Giants.


Coach John Fox said that Smith broke his radius and will have surgery on Monday.

Smith seemingly was hurt after catching a 27-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter. He finished the game with five catches for 60 yards and the season with 65 catches for 982 yards and seven touchdowns.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Justin Tuck has been to the mountain with the New York Giants, winning an NFL title. The defensive end and the rest of the Giants tumbled into a deep valley in their final game at Giants Stadium.

Matt Moore and the Carolina Panthers (7-8) turned the Giants’ 273rd and final game in the 34-year-old stadium into one of their ugliest moments in their franchise history with a 41-9 rout on Sunday.

Coupled with Green Bay’s win over Seattle and Dallas’ victory over Washington on Sunday night, the loss eliminated the Giants (8-7) from playoff contention for the first time in five years, something totally unexpected after a 5-0 start.

New York will close out the season next Sunday at Minnesota.

“It’s tough,” Tuck said after the Giants (8-7) lost for the seventh time in 10 games. “Like you said, we had everything at stake playing a team that was only playing for pride, and I guess pride won today. We should have been playing with a little pride ourselves.”

The Giants knew that they probably needed to win their final two games and hope that either Green Bay or Dallas lost one of their remaining two to get to the postseason.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

After turning down chances to return to the NFL in previous offseasons, former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher is primed to get back in the game this time.

Those who know Cowher firmly believe that he plans to coach in 2010, according to two league sources. He is laying the groundwork, making calls to piece together a coaching staff and acting like a man who will be patrolling the sidelines once again next season


Many around the league have expected Cowher’s name to surface in connection to the Carolina job, and it might. But others also believe that a more likely landing spot might be the Panthers’ division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Over the past year, Tampa Bay has undergone more changes than any NFL team. More are coming. At the very least, associate head coach/special teams coach Rich Bisaccia is expected to leave the staff. He’s widely considered to be on his way to join the University of Tennessee coaching staff, but could also get looks as a college head coach.

Defensive line coach Robert Nunn and defensive backs coach Joe Baker were part of the Jim Bates package, and will not return.


Click here to read the full article – By Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com

The head coach was dry as he ran off the field after clinching a title — no celebratory sideline dousing. Players’ eyes were dry, too — all the tears had been wrung out.

Either way, they were in the playoffs.

Carson Palmer’s touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco completed a 98-yard drive in the closing minutes Sunday, sending Cincinnati to a 17-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that clinched the AFC North title five days after the Bengals buried teammate Chris Henry.

They wore the receiver’s No. 15 on their helmets and their hearts.

“I’m not jumping for joy or glee, just thinking about 15 once that clock hits zero,” Ochocinco said. “That was everybody’s mindset, to go out and win this one for him.”

The Bengals (10-5) reached the playoffs for only the second time in the past 19 years after dealing with Henry’s death. His wooden locker stall still has his shoulder pads resting on the top shelf, an assortment of shoes on the bottom rack and his helmet hanging from the side — almost as though he would show up at any moment and suit up.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Randy Moss stared at the scoreboard after his third touchdown catch and saw a fan wearing a Randy Moss mask on the screen.

The real Randy — the one who played hard Sunday — stood on the sideline with a huge grin as he made his parting-of-the-defense motion, sweeping his arms from his chest to his sides.

“That was very entertaining,” Moss said after the New England Patriots clinched the AFC East title with a 35-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I had a lot of my teammates wanting me to mess with the guy. So he put a little humor into it and I enjoyed it.”

After his last home game, a 20-10 win over Carolina, several Panthers questioned his effort. So did Patriots fans the following week. But on Sunday they chanted his name, “Randy, Randy, Randy.”

And Moss, who has sold the mask on his Web site , appreciated it.


Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Cowboys’ special teams coach Joe DeCamillis has gone through a difficult year physically.

Sunday night, DeCamillis underwent an appendectomy at a Virginia hospital, about 90 minutes before kickoff between the Cowboys and the Redskins.

DeCamillis experienced pain on Sunday and then was rushed to the hospital. He will not coach in Sunday’s game. DeCamillis’ status for the rest of the season is uncertain. The Cowboys leave for Dallas after the game and it’s not determined if DeCamillis will be on the team charter.

Wes Phillips, head coach Wade Phillips’ son, will take over the special teams duties. Other coaches will also help Wes Phillips.


Click here to read the full article – By Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com

New Orleans running back Pierre Thomas left the Saints’ game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with bruised ribs.


The injury appeared to occur during the second quarter of Sunday’s game on a 26-yard run. After being looked at by trainers on the sideline, Thomas went back into the game, but team officials said in the second half that he would sit out the remainder of the game.

Thomas is New Orleans’ leading rusher with 793 yards this season, including 60 yards and an 8-yard touchdown in the first half against the Buccaneers.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The moment Garrett Hartley’s foot drove through the ball, the Louisiana Superdome crowd erupted and Saints owner Tom Benson raised his arms in triumph.

The presumption was that these Saints, in this magical season, were going to pull out another win in the clutch.

Not so fast.

Hartley’s 37-yarder hooked to the left, and those who’d allowed themselves to celebrate prematurely were sent home soon after in stunned silence.

Carnell Williams rushed for 129 yards and a score, and Connor Barth kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime, lifting Tampa Bay to a 20-17 upset on Sunday that, for the time being, prevented New Orleans from securing home field throughout the NFC playoffs.

Even in what will go down as the best regular season in Saints history, a franchise long known more for its stumbles than success found a way to make history with a loss. According to STATS LLC, the result marked the first time a 13-win team lost to a team that came in with only two victories.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com