Seattle Seahawks shut out Giants in possible Super Bowl rehearsal

The Seahawks hit the mark for what they hope was their Super Bowl rehearsal by posting a shut out, the Chiefs reached the play-offs and the Patriots were denied clinching a spot in the weekend NFL action.

Twelve games had play-off implications with just two weeks’ worth of games left on the regular season calendar.

Seattle, who have already reached the play-offs, cut down the hosting New York Giants 23-0 at the winter-weather site of Super Bowl 48.

The Seahawks coolly closed in on securing a first-round bye as West Division winners as their defence stole the show, intercepting two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Eli Manning five times in shutting down the hosting Giants (5-9).

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who completed 18 of 27 passes including a touchdown and ran eight times for 50 yards, notched his 23rd win – a record for a quarterback in his first two seasons.

The Kansas City Chiefs clinched a berth in the play-offs with a 56-31 road victory over the Oakland Raiders.The Chiefs improved to 11-3 as quarterback Alex Smith tossed five touchdown passes in completing an economical 17 of 20 against their AFC West rivals.

Smith hit running back Jamaal Charles for four of his TD passes. Charles, who also scored on a one-yard plunge, totalled a remarkable 195 receiving yards on eight catches.

The New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints failed to take advantage of opportunities to clinch play-off positions.

Intercepted
New England (10-4) appeared poised for a fourth straight come-from-behind win and claim the AFC East title before quarterback Tom Brady's fourth-down pass was intercepted by safety Michael Thomas in the end zone with two seconds left to preserve a 24-20 win for the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins (8-6), desperately needing a win to stay in the thick of the AFC wildcard race, recovered from a 20-17 deficit when quarterback Ryan Tannehill hit Marcus Thigpen with a 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:15 left in the game.

Also squandering a chance to book a play-off berth were the New Orleans Saints, who lost to the St Louis Rams 27-16.

The visiting Saints fell behind 24-3 and could not recover as they dropped to 10-4 and into a tie for first place in the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers,who moved up with a 30-20 victory over the Jets (6-8), that crippled the New Yorkers’ play-off chances.

The San Francisco 49ers firmed up their hold on an NFC wild card spot by walloping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-14.

The Arizona Cardinals (9-5) stayed in the NFC wild card chase by scraping by the Tennessee Titans (5-9) in overtime 37-34 on a 41-yard field goal by Jay Feel, whilethe Philadelphia Eagles suffered what looked to be a damaging defeat when they fell 48-30 to the Minnesota Vikings (4-9-1).