San Diego Chargers 23-17 OT Indianapolis Colts
San Diego pulled off a big shock, despite being at home, by defeating the Indianapolis Colts, who had previously been on a 9 game winning streak. Recently announced MVP Peyton Manning had a good game, completing 25/42 for 310 yards and 1 touchdown (to Reggie Wayne), but the Colts didn’t get much going on the ground and their drives kept stalling. Coming into the game with a doubt over his groin, and only carried the ball 5 times all game, although did manage 25 yards. Darren Sproles was the games MVP, running for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the winner in overtime, on 23 carries. The Colts came into this game as favourites, took the lead in the first quarter and took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter but couldn’t add any more points to their score and failed to run the clock out, allowing Nate Kaeding to send the game into overtime with a late and successful 26 yard field goal. The Chargers go to the heavily-fancied Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Sunday 4th January 2009
Miami Dolphins 9-27 Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens advance pass the wildcards in the playoffs with a convincing victory in Miami. After the Ravens took a 10-3 lead on Ed Reed’s interception return of 64 yards for a touchdown, Miami never looked like coming back into this game. That was the first of 2 Ed Reed interceptions as Chad Pennington was picked off 4 times in this game as Miami turned the ball over 5 times, having tied last seasons New York Giants NFL record of just 13 turnovers in the regular season. Pennington threw the only touchdown pass in this game, to Ronnie Brown on a spectacular catch. That made the score 20-9 after the point after attempt was blocked but Miami’s next possession stalled on a big loss from Ted Ginn on a failed end around attempt. Miami only gained 52 yards on the ground whilst Le’Ron McClain 75 yards and 1 touchdown on 19 carries and Willis McGahee 63 yards on 7 carries for Baltimore. Joe Flacco didn’t have the best of games, completing 9/23 for 135 yards, but most importantly, he didn’t make any games and wrapped the game up in the fourth quarter with a 5 yard touchdown run. Baltimore travel to Tennessee next Saturday, the 13-3 Jeff Fisher-lead team they won at on their way to Superbowl glory in 2001.

Minnesota Vikings 14-26 Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles shut out the Minnesota Vikings in the second half to help book their place in the NFC divisional playoff games with a trip to divisional rivals the New York Giants on Sunday. Donovan McNabb threw for 300 yards in this game after the Vikings held Brian Westbrook to just 38 yards on 20 carries. Westbrook did however catch McNabb’s only touchdown pass, on a 71 yard play in the final quarter. Adrian Peterson scored both of Vikings’ touchdowns, both in the second quarter, but he saw little action in the second half, instead leaving it in the hands of quarterback Tarvaris Jackson who struggled. Asante Samuel scored on a 44 yard interception return, settling an NFL record of 4 playoff interception returns for touchdowns.

After recovering from knee surgery over the summer and a slow start, Manning and the Colts have been on fire and have won their last 9 games as they go into Saturday night’s game in San Diego as favourites.

Manning won with a landslide vote from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, receiving 32 votes, with Chad Pennington of the Miami Dolphins and Michael Turner of the Atlanta Falcons sharing the runner up spot with 4 votes.  Other candidates were Vikings’ Adrian Peterson (3), Steelers’ James Harrison (3), Chargers’ Philip Rivers (2), Cardinals’ Kurt Warner (1) and Titans rookie running back Chris Johnson who had 1 vote.

Manning increased his NFL record to nine straight seasons with over 4,000 passing yards despite a slow start that came after two operations on his left knee in the pre-season.

Manning’s first MVP award came in 2003 when he shared it with Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair.  He won it the following year on his own.  Brett Favre is the only other player in NFL history to win this award 3 times; winning them in 1995, 1996 and then in 1997, sharing it with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders.

Buffalo Bills (7-9) 0-13 New England Patriots (11-5)
The Buffalo Bills finished the the season losing 8 of their last 10 games after a bright start to the season. Fred Jackson had 136 yards on 27 carries but couldn’t string drives together as they ended up getting shut out. The wind didn’t make life any easier, with Rian Lindell seeing his 47 yard field goal blown wide right in the gail. The only closer Buffalo got to scoring was to New England’s 9 at the end of the first half when 22 seconds disappeared off the clock after a short run by Fred Jackson, leaving viewers confused and the Bills down 3-0. New England become the first team not to make the playoffs with an 11-5 record, despite San Diego going in as AFC West division winners at 8-8. Quarterback Matt Cassell has proved himself as a starter in the NFL this season and leaves the Patriots with a big decision to make with his contract up at the end of the season with Tom Brady returning.

Cincinnati Bengals (4-11-1) 14-6 Kansas City Chiefs (2-14)
Cincinnati finish the second half of the season with a winning record and end the season on a 3 game winning streak by seeing off the Kansas City Chiefs, who have earned the 3rd draft pick in April. Cedric Benson ran for 111 yards and 1 touchdown on 25 carries. Benson can become an unrestricted free agent now, but Cincinnati are probably the only team he has a chance to be a starter with. Larry Johnson, once a star for the Chiefs gained just 18 yards on 10 carries. Neither quarterback was impressive, but Tyler Thigpen completed 10 passes for 103 yards to Dwayne Bowe.

Houston Texans (8-8) 31-24 Chicago Bears (9-7)
The Houston Texans ended the Chicago Bears’ playoff hopes with a victory that takes them to .500 for the second straight season. Andre Johnson had a big game, catching 10 passes for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns. He finishes the season with the most receiving yards in the NFL; over 150 yards ahead of Carolina’s Steve Smith in 2nd. The Bears took an early 10-0 lead in this game but couldn’t hang on. Devin Hester caught 6 passes for 85 yards but Chicago couldn’t keep Johnson in check. Steve Slaton carried the ball 20 times for Houston, gaining 92 yards, and his touchdown in the fourth quarter all but ended Chicago’s playoff hopes.

Minnesota Vikings (10-6) 20-19 New York Giants (12-4)
The Minnesota Vikings left it late but did just enough to win this match and secure the NFC North title. In hindsight, the result was meaningless in regards of the division as the Chicago Bears also loss. But the victory will give the Vikings some added confidence going into the playoffs. Adrian Peterson finished the game with 103 yards off 21 carries and scored on a 67 yard run. He finishes the season as the leading rusher in the NFL with 1,760 yards, after finishing 2nd to LaDainian Tomlinson in 2007. Derrick Ward ran for 77 yards in this game, taking him over 1,000 on the season, making him and Brandon Jacobs only the fifth pair to do so in NFL history, and only the fourth running back tandem to do so. David Carr came in in the second half and completed 8/11 for 110 yards and a touchdown to Domenik Hixon. The Giant have next week off as number 1 seeds in the NFC.

New Orleans Saints (8-8) 31-33 Carolina Panthers (12-4)
The Carolina Panthers chucked away a 30-10 lead in the fourth quarter, to 3 touchdowns from Drew Brees before John Kasay’s 42 yard field goal got them out of jail and clinched the NFC South and 2nd seed. Last week, the Panthers would have had the number 1 seed if they had beat the Giants. It didn’t happen, and they were heading for the 5th seed. DeAngelo Williams ran for an impressive 178 yards on 25 carries for the Panthers as he finishes his first season as a starter with 1,515 yards; the 3rd most in the NFL. Drew Brees came up 16 yards short of breaking Dan Marino’s single season record of 5,084 yards set in 1984, after throwing 386 yards (and 4 touchdowns) in this game. He is only the second quarterback to throw over 5,000 yards in one season. He finishes the season over 700 yards ahead of Kurt Warner, 2nd in the NFL. Carolina have a bye in next weeks playoffs.

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) 31-0 Cleveland Browns (4-12)
Cleveland end the season being shut out in back-to-back games and heavily beaten in Pittsburgh. They finish the season with just 1 touchdown in their last 6 games, and that came on defence. Romeo Crennel’s future is bleak to say the least as Cleveland finish bottom of the AFC South after high expectations at the start of the season. Ben Roethlisberger, expecting to only play one half, ended up down on the turf for 15 minutes receiving treatment late in the second quarter after receiving a big hit from Willie McGinest and D’Qwell Jackson. It turned out to be a concussion and Roethlisberger should be fine to play the playoffs when Pittsburgh enter in two weeks time, having already wrapped up the 2nd seed. Willie Parker ran for 116 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 attempts. Jamal Lewis ran for 94 yards on the same number of carries in a meaningless game. Cleveland threw for 26 yards in this game. D’Qwell Jackson finished the season with an NFL-leading 154 tackles.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) 24-31 Oakland Raiders (5-11)
A surprise win for Oakland in Tampa Bay eliminated the Buccaneers from the playoffs. At 9-3 4 weeks ago, Tampa Bay looked destined for the playoffs, but finishing the season with 4 straight defeats put an end to that and their post-season thoughts. JaMarcus Russell threw 2 touchdowns in this game, finishing the season with 2 touchdowns in each of his last 3 games, finishing the season with 13 touchdown passes from 15 starts. Michael Bush came in for the hurt duo of Justin Fargas and Darren McFadden, and ran for a career-high 177 yards and 2 touchdowns from 27 rushes. Cadillac Williams had a nice end to the season after missing most of it with his serious knee injury that threatened to end his career. He ran for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries. Interim head coach Tom Cable ends the season with 2 impressive victories as he puts his name forward for the job permanently.

Indianapolis Colts (12-4) 23-0 Tennessee Titans (13-3)
Both of these teams played their backups after their opening drives, and it was the Colts who came out with a resounding victory. It will mean little, although Tennessee does have a two week break, being the number 1 seeds which effectively means come January 10th they wouldn’t have played a full game since their victory over Pittsburgh on December 21st. Too longer rest? Only time will tell. Peyton Manning opened the scoring on the first drive on the game, with a 55 yard touchdown pass to Joseph Addai. Vince Young played most of the game at quarterback for the Titans and was harassed by the Colts defence all day long. He finished the game 9/13 for 55 yards. He ran 5 times for 25 yards but couldn’t get Tennessee on the scoreboard. Peyton Manning has had an NFL record ninth straight season with over 4,000 passing yards and Marvin Harrison has moved into second place on the all-time receptions list. The last time Tennessee finished 13-3 and were the number 1 seeds, they were knocked out at home to Baltimore in the playoffs. Could history repeat itself?

Green Bay Packers (6-10) 31-21 Detroit Lions (0-16)
The Detroit Lions put themselves into the history books this weekend, becoming the first 0-16 team ever in the NFL. Detroit put up a fight in this one but in the end, to no avail as Green Bay put up touchdowns at ease when they needed. DeShawn Wynn started the game with a 73 yard touchdown run and Donald Driver ended it with a 71 yard receiving touchdown. DeShawn Wynn ended the game with 106 rushing yards on 7 carries, whilst Ryan Grant had the same number of yards from 19 carries, but didn’t get in the endzone. Donald Driver had 111 yards from 6 catches, whilst Greg Jennings had 101 yards from 5. This was more history, with Green Bay becoming the first team to have to have a pair of backs with over 100 yards and a pair of receivers over 100 also. Mason Crosby came up just short of a 69 yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half, which would have smashed the NFL record of 63 yards originally set by Tom Dempsey for the New Orleans Saints, and matched only by Jason Elam of Denver in 1998. Detroit have now won just 1 of their last 24 games. Presumably Detroit will be looking for a new coach in the near future…

Baltimore Ravens (11-5) 27-7 Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
Joe Flacco ended the regular season with a career-high 297 passing yards in his rookie season as he completed 17/23 pass attempts and lead the Ravens to the playoffs as the number 6 seed, travelling to Miami next weekend in the wildcards. Mark Clayton caught 4 of those for 127 yards. Le’Ron McClain ran for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Jaguars had no answer. Ed Reed’s 2 interceptions of David Garrard take him up to 9; most in the NFL. A very disappointing season for Jacksonville who were expected to compete for the AFC South this season and wound up finishing clear bottom.

Arizona Cardinals (9-7) 34-21 Seattle Seahawks (4-12)
Arizona will head into the playoffs off the back of a win after losing 4 of their last 5 coming into this game. Kurt Warner completed 19/30 for 263 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in Mike Holmgren’s final game after a decade in Seattle. Larry Fitzgerald caught 5 of those completions for 130 yards and 2 of those touchdowns. Edgerrin James added 100 yards on the ground from 14 carries as the Cardinals finish 6-0 in the NFC West and qualify for the playoffs with a home game despite a 3-7 record outside the division. Deion Branch caught both of Seneca Wallace’s passing touchdowns as he wound up with 90 yards from 6 receptions. Former Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora (“don’t call me Junior”) will replace Mike Holmgren as head coach for next season having worked as assistant and defensive backs coach this season.

San Francisco 49ers (7-9) 27-24 Washington Redskins (8-8)
San Francisco came out on top in a close game that had nothing on the line. This victory for the 49ers has kept Mike Singletary in his job for next season, with a 5-4 record after replacing Mike Nolan in October and finishing 2nd in the NFC West. Jason Campbell avoided throwing an interception in this game, leaving him at just 6 for the season. Patrick Willis made 4 tackles in this game and finishes 5th in the NFL with 134 after leading the charts last year as a rookie.

New York Jets (9-7) 17-24 Miami Dolphins (11-5)
The Miami Dolphins finished their great turn-around with a victory over the New York Jets to win the AFC East after finishing 1-15 last season. Chad Pennington completed 22/30 for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns against his old team. Brett Favre threw 3 interceptions in this game (2 to Andre Goodman), with the final one ending any chance of a comeback. Favre finished his first season with the Jets with the league most 22 interceptions. He also threw 22 touchdowns. There is no news regarding his future or the future of head coach Eric Mangini after locals have been calling for his head after lots of money spent last off season and losing 4 of their last 5 games, shooting themselves in the foot. The Dolphins host Baltimore in the wildcards next Sunday.

Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1) 44-6 Dallas Cowboys (9-7)
Both of these teams were handed a lifeline for a place in the wildcards after a surprise defeat for Tampa Bay earlier. And it was the Philadelphia Eagles who took full advantage of that to book their place in the post-season with a massive win over Dallas. The pre-season favourites for the Superbowl never looked like winning this and rolled over big losers. Chris Clemons (73 yards) and Joselio Hanson (96 yards) returned back-to-back fumbles for touchdowns in the third quarter to make the scoreline emphatic. Clemons also recorded 2 sacks. The Cowboys, a team full of stars have failed to put it together as a team and finish 3rd in the NFC East after a pre-season full of high expectations.

San Diego Chargers (8-8) 52-21 Denver Broncos (8-8)
San Diego pulled off a miracle by coming back from 4-8 to win the AFC East and go into the playoffs, the first team in the NFL to get into the playoffs after starting at that record. Philip Rivers completed 15/20 for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns, Darren Sproles run for 115 yards and 1 touchdown on 14 carries, and also caught a touchdown. LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 96 yards and 3 touchdowns on 14 carries before he left in the 3rd quarter. He is expected to be back in time for the Colts visit next weekend. Denver went down early and lost discipline before San Diego established a running game that Denver never stopped. Tatum Bell scored 2 touchdowns on the ground for Denver who never looked like winning the AFC West in this game after becoming the first team to lead their division for 16 weeks and not win it.

Hull City’s recent form is true to what most critics expected of them at the start of the season, winning just 1 of their last 10. A great start to the season has helped them remain in the top half of the table during this form, but will need to pick their form up in the near future if they want to stay there. Sam Ricketts returns from suspension for this game to try help a defence that shipped 5 at Manchester City just a few days before.

Aston Villa came from 2-0 down against Arsenal to draw 2-2 and get their 4th point against them this season and remain 3 points above them in the table, in a Champions League place. Zat Knight came in for the injured Martin Laursen to score the late equaliser and he will continue in defence as Laursen has now been ruled out for four weeks with his knee injury. John Carew is also out and Carlos Cuellar is a doubt at right back.

Hull City to win 3/1

Draw 13/5

Aston Villa to win 11/10

Manchester United are without Rio Ferdinand for up to 10 days after he suffered a back injury in the warm up of their boxing day game at Stoke City. Jonny Evans replaced him at the back as United struggled to a 1-0 victory against 10 men. They are also without the suspended Patrice Evra for this game as he continues his four game ban against a team who haven’t scored in their last two games. Manchester United have kept clean sheets in their last 6 games, since conceding two to Samir Nasri at the Emirates in November. They did concede at least 1 goal in all 3 of their meeting with Middlesbrough last season, including one game in the Carling Cup.

Middlesbrough were unimpressive in defeat to Everton on boxing day and are now seven games without a win as they near the relegation zone. Afonso Alves was guilty of missing a good chance in that game as the striker has gone without scoring since a penalty against Manchester City on October 29th. Middlesbrough go into this game without Didier Digard who is out with a groin injury.

Manchester United cruised to a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford against Middlesbrough last season with a brace from Carlos Tevez, but Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at the Riverside when Brazilian Afonso Alves scored twice for Gareth Southgate’s men.

Best bet: Manchester United to win 2/9

Ricky Sbragia took over from Roy Keane after the former Manchester United captain called it quits at the beginning of December after losing 5 of his last 6 games and leaving Sunderland in the relegation zone.  Sbragia’s first game in charge was a late 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford, before he beat fellow strugglers West Brom 4-0 and Hull 4-1.  Following a point on boxing day, Sunderland are now 14th in the table, 1 point away from the top half, going to Everton on Sunday.

Sbragia is a former Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers coach, but this is his first management job.  After his initial good start it will be interesting to see how well he can do with Sunderland and that chairman Niall Quinn hasn’t made a risky decision, with the likes of Avram Grant, Alan Curbishley and Gerard Houllier all having been linked to the Tyne and Wear side.

A win for Blackburn here could get them out of the relegation zone after picking up a point at Sunderland on boxing day. It could have been more if not for Jason Roberts missing a guilt-edge chance in stoppage time. It’s 4 points from 2 games for Sam Allardyce’s men, keeping a clean sheet in both. Making it 3 in a row may be difficult with Manchester City scoring 5 just 2 days before this game and being the 2nd highest scorers in the league (behind Chelsea) despite lying 15th in the table. Right back Andre Ooijer picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will be suspended for this game. Roque Santa Cruz still hasn’t returned from a calf injury as speculation continues of a big money January move despite only scoring 3 goals this season.

Mark Hughes was a happy man on boxing day after his side thrashed Hull City 5-1, thanks to first half doubles from both Felipe Caicedo and Robinho. All 3 Brazilians; Robinho, Elano and Jo made a return in this match after some speculation of them leaving for Christmas ahead of their defeat to West Brom last weekend. This was City’s first win in five games and puts them 15th in the table, out of the relegation zone with a much superior goal difference. Daniel Sturridge made a return to the bench, along with Darius Vassell. Benjani is out with a thigh injury, but Manchester City don’t look weak in attack anymore on the basis of one result!

Mark Hughes’ Blackburn won this fixture 1-0 last season before drawing 2-2 at Manchester City. He’s swapped teams now and goes up against new Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce.

Blackburn to win 13/8

Draw 12/5

Manchester City to win 15/8

An amazing second half solo performance from Craig Bellamy lead West Ham to an impressive-looking 4-1 victory over Portsmouth. They were the second best team for the first half, and arguably so up to when Carlton Cole tapped in an open goal rebound that gave West Ham the lead. The pace of Craig Bellamy caused Portsmouth so much trouble on the counter attack and he ended up scoring the last 2 for West Ham, days after West Ham were believed to have rejected an £8,000,000 bid for Tottenham. Bellamy did pick up his fifth yellow card of the season and will miss this game through suspension. That and Carlton Cole’s goal will continue to keep him in the starting lineup, despite his obvious lack of talent . There are no signs of injuries picked up on boxing day, leaving Kieron Dyer, Dean Ashton and Danny Gabbidon as West Ham’s only absentees.

Stoke put it a much better performance than expected against a jaded Manchester United team, but were ultimately undone after Andy Wilkinson’s stupid sending off with nearly 20 minutes remaining. Carlos Tevez finally broke the deadlock late on, with Stoke having caused a few problems and chances before the sending off. Ricardo Fuller did appear frustrated with the lack of service and support up front, but Stoke will probably play their 4-5-1 formation in this game in an attempt to get something out of it. Neither Salif Diao, Mamady Sidibe, Andy Griffin or Leon Cort even made the subs bench last time out so are unlikely to get back into the first 11 here. Liam Lawrence was on the bench though, so Dave Kitson (knee) joins Wilkinson as the only players definitely ruled out of this game for Stoke City.

West Ham need to keep their concentration and not get carried away with their win on Friday if they want to pick up 3 points against relegation-placed Stoke in this game.

West Ham to win 4/5

Draw 13/5

Stoke to win 4/1

West Brom can be forgiven for losing at Chelsea on Friday, but Tony Mowbray’s men will be hoping to come away with something as they lie 5 points from safety now, halfway through the season. They lost Abdoulaye Meite in the first half hour too. Leon Barnett is favourite to replace him in this game after a good performance after coming on. Craig Beattie started up front alone, and was later replaced by Luke Moore but neither did anything. Roman Bednar could be recalled to the starting lineup after making only a substitute appearance last time. Young Arsenal striker Jay Simpson is set to join on loan in January.

Tottenham were held to a goalless draw at home to Fulham on boxing day, and not for some excellent saves from Gomes, it could have been less. Harry Redknapp’s men are now only out of the relegation zone on goal difference and he knows his team need to win games like this if they’re to pull away from it and fight for a place in the top half. Spurs haven’t won either of their last 3 games now but should be eyeing up a few victories over the winter period with homes games against Stoke and Portsmouth also on the cards next month. Jermaine Jenas returned from the bench against Fulham after an early injury to Tom Huddlestone on Sunday.

West Brom to win 12/5

Draw 5/2

Tottenham to win 5/4

Fulham continued their unbeaten run with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham on boxing day, now having gone 8 games without defeat, although only 3 wins in that period. It’s good enough to put them 8th in the table and come into this game with confidence. This run has also seen them keep clean sheets in 5 of their last 6, with only Benjani scoring against them in that time. The clean sheet at White Hart Lane was also kept without the presence of their captain and rock at the back, Brede Hangeland who was the victim of flu and is a doubt for this game. Chris Baird done a fine job in his absence. Jimmy Bullard was substituted for Dickson Etuhu in the first half with a dead leg and is also a doubt for this game. Fulham had been fortunate with injuries this season prior to this game.

Chelsea comfortably beat West Brom 2-0 on boxing day thanks to goals from Didier Drogba and captain Frank Lampard. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka will need to show more if they’re to partner each other for more games this season, but it’s too early to judge their partnership for now. The partnership of Alex and Ivanovic in the centre of defence was tested by West Brom, only playing one striker. Ricardo Carvalho is unlikely to be needed or fit enough to return whilst John Terry’s 3 match ban continues.

Chelsea won here 2-1 last season whilst Fulham held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge last season.

Fulham’s defence has been in awesome form and the new partnership of Anelka and Drogba up front could be receiving bad reviews if they fail to breach it here.

Fulham to win 11/2

Draw 3/1

Chelsea to win 4/6