BRANDIN COOKS

The Tennessee Titans clinched the top seed in the AFC for the first time in 14 years, beating the Houston Texans 28-25 on Sunday behind Ryan Tannehill’s four touchdown passes that tied his career high.

Odell Beckham Jr. arrived in Los Angeles on Friday and made his way north to the Rams’ training complex.

Tyrod Taylor threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns filling in for Deshaun Watson to lead the Houston Texans to a 37-21 win over Trevor Lawrence and the mistake-prone Jacksonville Jaguars.

There are veterans who joined up for one final run at the title, and wide-eyed rookies who were thrust into the Super Bowl spotlight. AdHALL OF FAMERSThree of Brady’s Super Bowl teammates have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame with more likely to come down the road. Julian Edelman and Deion Branch, who both won Super Bowl MVPs with Brady, are tied for the most catches with 24 apiece. MISSING RINGSOnly two players went to the Super Bowl with Brady more than once and never got a ring out of it. COMMON NAMESA few first names have stood out more than others when it comes to Brady’s Super Bowl teammates, led by the nine Brandons: Bolden, Browner, Deadrick, Gorin, King, LaFell, Meriweather, Mitchell and Spikes.

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)The Week 17 scoring bonanza provided the perfect finish to a record-setting season on offense. Teams combined for 100 touchdowns in the final week of the season for the second-most in NFL history in a single week behind only the 104 scored in Week 14 of the 2013 season. He became the first player with at least 4,500 yards passing, 35 TD passes and five TD runs in a single season. The Browns joined the 2012 Colts (minus-30) as the only teams to win 11 games in a season when they were outscored. EVEN STEVENIn a bit of a statistical oddity, the Vikings gained the exact same number of yards this season as they allowed: 6,292.

Tennessee Titans kicker Sam Sloman (2) kicks a 37-yard game-winning field goal against the Houston Texans during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Houston. But it was a lucky bounce that gave the Tennessee Titans a win over Houston Texans and their first AFC South title since 2008. Henry ran for a career-high 250 yards to surpass 2,000 yards rushing and rookie Sam Sloman’s 37-yard field goal bounced off the upright and through for the 41-38 victory. Henry had touchdown runs of 52 and 6 yards in his third straight 200-yard rushing game against the Texans. The Titans then capped a long drive with a 5-yard TD run by Tannehill with less than two minutes remaining.

The Ravens would love to savor the memory of Lamar Jackson coming off the bench to throw a pivotal fourth-down touchdown pass before setting up Justin Tucker for a 55-yard winning field goal. So if the Ravens experience a letdown Sunday against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars (1-12), then Jackson's heroics in that epic 47-42 win over the Browns could turn out to be meaningless. “These are professional players, and they understand that to make the last win matter, you have to win the next one," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I don’t know if it’s hitting their stride or just really executing on a real high level, both in the run game and in the pass game," coach Doug Marrone said of Baltimore. Rookie Jake Luton started three games while Minshew was out with a thumb injury and Mike Glennon started the following three games.

Indianapolis left tackle Anthony Castonzo and starting linebacker Bobby Okereke are both active for the Colts’ visit to the Las Vegas Raiders. ___GREEN BAY AT DETROITPackers: QB Jordan Love, CB Ka’dar Hollman, LB Jonathan Garvin, G Simon Stepaniak, WR Malik Taylor, TE Jace Sternberger. Raiders: QB Nathan Peterman, CB Damon Arnette, RB Theo Riddick, OT Brandon Parker, OG John Simpson, DE Carl Nassib. Eagles: CB Michael Jacquet, QB Nate Sudfeld, WR John Hightower, RB Jason Huntley, DB Grayland Arnold, S Rudy Ford, LB T.J. Edwards. Jaguars: QB Jake Luton, CB Luq Barcoo, LB Kamalei Correa, LB Quincy Williams, C Brandon Linder, TE Tyler Davis, DE Reggie Gilbert.

Indianapolis Colts middle linebacker Anthony Walker (54) celebrates with teammates after he recovered a fumble by Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)HOUSTON – With their offense sputtering in the second half Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts turned to their defense to seal a win over the Houston Texans. Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes in the first half and the defense dominated after that, lifting the Colts to the 26-20 victory. Their offense didn't score after that, but the defense held Houston (4-8) scoreless in the second half and Justin Houston added a safety with a sack of Watson in the end zone. With Sunday's shutout in the second half, the Colts are allowing an average of 7.33 points in the second half of games this season.

Fans watch the Kansas City Chiefs during NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Chiefs coach Andy Reid no longer carries around the heavy and ignominious tag of best coach never to win a championship. This is the best opportunity you can have to start the season.That contract extension is the second largest in NFL history. Very, very dynamic players, Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. They also will miss cornerback Bashaud Breeland and defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who are suspended for the start of the season.

Listen, the first game is always that way, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, because you're never quite sure what they're going to do. Even with preseason games, the first few games are up in the air. If we would have had our four normal preseason games then we wouldve seen 25 to 30 snaps of their first group. But the speed of practice never quite matches that of a preseason game, and the speed of a preseason game never quite matches a regular-season one. But without preseason games to work on such fundamentals, the Chiefs had to tweak the way they approached tackling.