Charlotte, N.C. — As the New England Patriots danced their way off the field to celebrate winning the AFC East title, the Carolina Panthers hung their heads, embarrassed by their 15th straight defeat.
Their coach, George Seifert, showed no emotion as he walked off probably for the final time with the Panthers. Carolina's 38-6 loss to the Patriots on Sunday is not the final memory Seifert wants from his tenure, but it's most likely out of his hands.
"I plan on coaching this team next year, absolutely," said Seifert, who has two years left on his contract. "I don't plan on resigning the job."
But speculation has begun that he'll be fired, with Steve Spurrier's name buzzing around Charlotte since his resignation as coach at Florida on Friday. Team owner Jerry Richardson declined comment, but he and Seifert were to meet this morning.
The Charlotte Observer posted on its Web site, citing an unidentified source, that Seifert would be forced out today. CBS Sportsline.com and ESPN.com, meanwhile, reported that Seifert would be fired.
That's what happens when a rebuilding effort goes terribly awry, as it did with the Panthers, the first team in NFL history to lose 15 straight games in a season.
"It's very depressing to be part of this dubious record," cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock said. "George's future hasn't crossed my mind, honestly, because the only thing I can think about is that we just lost 15 straight."
In doing so, they helped the Patriots continue their surprising turnaround. New England (11-5) rolled to its sixth straight victory while winning its first division title since 1997.
The Patriots earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs when the Oakland Raiders lost Sunday to the New York Jets. New England also had a bye last week.
"We worked so hard after winning five games last year and being written off early this year," Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy said. "We were in the same boat that the Panthers are in today, going home early, and it's a sickening feeling. We put in a lot of hard work to turn it around, and hard work pays off."
The win came with plenty of help from the woeful Panthers, who went out in the same hapless fashion they played all season committing six turnovers, two for touchdowns.
And they did so in near privacy. The announced crowd was 21,070, less than half the previous franchise low. Adding insult to Carolina (1-15) were the huge sections of Patriots fans waving red and blue and raucously celebrating every New England score.
"I couldn't believe how many Patriots fans there were in the stands," coach Bill Belichick said. "It was really an impressive number of people that supported us down here. It was a very large, very vocal throng and we were grateful to have them here."
Jets 24, Raiders 22
Oakland, Calif. John Hall kicked a 53-yard field goal with 59 seconds left as the New York Jets clinched a postseason berth.
On his only field-goal attempt of the game, Hall proved his leg is one of the NFL's strongest even strong enough to overcome three turnovers by the Jets (10-6), who made the playoffs for the first time since 1998 under first-year coach Herman Edwards. They'll open the playoffs on the road next week as a wild-card team, but they were 7-1 away from home this season.
With their third straight loss, the Raiders' collapse cost them a first-round playoff bye while handing a bye to New England. Oakland (10-6) will open the playoffs at home next week possibly against the Jets.
Rams 31, Falcons 13
St. Louis Marshall Faulk became the first player in NFL history with four straight 2,000-yard seasons, and Kurt Warner finished with more than 4,800 passing yards in St. Louis' victory over Atlanta.
Ricky Proehl caught two of Warner's three touchdown passes as the Rams (14-2) set a franchise record for victories. The NFC West champions, trying to reach the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, have a first-round playoff bye.
Both of the Rams' regular-season losses came in the Dome at America's Center, but they didn't want to slow down their high-flying attack with a cold-weather playoff game. So coach Mike Martz left both of his biggest stars in almost all the way, removing Faulk with about 5 minutes to go and allowing Warner to finish.
Dolphins 34, Bills 7
Miami Lamar Smith rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown as Miami clinched a home game in the first round of the AFC playoffs by beating Buffalo.
The game began shortly after New England won the AFC East by drubbing Carolina 38-6, which dashed the Dolphins' hopes of winning the division.
Miami (11-5), which clinched a playoff berth a week ago, will play Baltimore or the New York Jets in the opening round.
The Bills (3-13), out of the race since October, finished with their worst record since going 2-14 in 1985.
Packers 34, Giants 25
East Rutherford, N.J. The Packers got what they wanted the right to open the playoffs next week against San Francisco in Green Bay. And the Giants' Michael Strahan got what he wanted with the NFL single-season sacks record, a late present from Brett Favre.
Before lying down and letting Strahan fall on him with 2:42 left, Favre threw two touchdown passes and Ahman Green scored on runs of 25 and 1 yard. Strahan finished with 221/2 sacks, a half more than Mark Gastineau's record in 1984.
New York (7-9) missed the playoffs one year after playing in the Super Bowl. The only thing that prevented the Packers (12-4) from having a perfect day was the Bears, who clinched the NFC Central by beating Jacksonville.
Lions 15, Cowboys 10
Pontiac, Mich. A record for Emmitt Smith and a rare victory for Detroit brightened the last NFL game at the Silverdome.
The Dallas Cowboys' standout became the first running back to reach 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons in the Lions' win. He broke the record he shared with former Lion Barry Sanders on a 13-yard run on his 13th carry late in the third quarter.
Smith ran for 77 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries to finish his season with 1,021 and increase his career total to 16,187, behind only Walter Payton's 16,726.
Bears 33, Jaguars 13
Chicago Chicago's defense, as it has all season, carried the Bears to their first NFC Central title since 1990 and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The Bears (13-3) intercepted three passes and sacked Mark Brunell four times, and Anthony Thomas rushed for 160 yards as Chicago clinched the division a year after it finished 5-11.
49ers 38, Saints 0
New Orleans Jeff Garcia threw four touchdown passes for the second time this season against New Orleans, and completed 14 of 21 passes for 263 yards.
San Francisco (12-4), which recorded its third shutout in the last six games, had a chance to get a home game in the first round of the playoffs until a 27-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday. Green Bay's 34-25 victory over the New York Giants meant the 49ers will visit Lambeau Field next weekend.
Steelers 28, Browns 7
Pittsburgh Troy Edwards scored on a 32-yard fumble return to start the second half and the Steelers regained some playoff momentum by beating the Browns. In a game that meant little to Pittsburgh except that it was against a rival, many of its starters played only a half, and some didn't play at all due to injuries.
Bengals 23, Titans 21
Nashville, Tenn. Neil Rackers kicked three field goals, including the game-winner with 20 seconds left, as the Bengals beat the Titans. The Bengals (6-10) finished as they started, with a two-game winning streak and ended up with the most wins in a season since 1997. They also ended a seven-game losing skid to the Titans (7-9).
Redskins 20, Cardinals 17
Landover, Md. For the second time this season, backup QB Kent Graham won a game after starter Tony Banks was injured. Stephen Davis broke his own franchise season rushing record and scored the winning touchdown with 3:11 left as the Redskins beat the Arizona Cardinals in a battle for .500.
On the third offensive play after Banks left with a knee injury, Graham set up the winning touchdown by fighting off a rusher to complete a left-handed flick to Ki-Jana Carter for an 8-yard gain on third-and-7.
The Redskins finished 8-8 after starting 0-5 under new coach Marty Schottenheimer just as they did under first-year coach Joe Gibbs in 1981. Arizona finished 7-9, its 12th sub-.500 season in 14 years in Arizona.
Colts 29, Broncos 10
Indianapolis Peyton Manning threw for two touchdowns, Dominic Rhodes rushed for 141 yards and the Colts forced four turnovers and allowed a season-low points total.
Eagles 17, Bucs 13
Tampa, Fla. First-round playoff opponents Philadelphia and Tampa Bay closed the regular season against each other, and both rested most of their starters as the Eagles came back to win.
Third-string quarterback A.J. Feeley threw two touchdown passes to Dameane Douglas within a 26-second span of the fourth quarter to bring Philadelphia back from a 13-3 deficit.
The Eagles (11-5) and Bucs (9-7) will meet again next Saturday in Philadelphia in a rematch of the NFC wild-card game that the Eagles won 21-3 last season.
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