St. Louis Downs Seattle, Bears Break Losing Streak

After making a habit of giving Russell Wilson fits in St. Louis, the Rams ended a decade-long drought in the Pacific Northwest.

For the first time since the 2004 playoffs the Rams left Seattle on Sunday as winners.

"We've come up here the last three years and we've come up short. ... I just felt like the last three years, in the fourth quarter we always slip up and let them win. I'm glad we got the W," St. Louis cornerback Trumaine Johnson said.

Todd Gurley scored on a 2-yard TD run with 10:34 left, Akeem Ayers returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Rams ended Seattle's five-game win streak with a 23-17 victory.

St. Louis swept the season series from the Seahawks (9-6) having won 34-31 in overtime in Week 1. And the Rams (7-8) caused the same kinds of problems they did in the opener by flustering Wilson and slowing down a Seahawks offense that had not been stopped for the previous five weeks.

Gurley rushed for 85 yards on 19 carries. Case Keenum won his third straight start for the Rams, completing 14 of 23 passes for 103 yards and a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt in the second quarter.

Bears 26, Buccaneers 21

The Chicago Bears are determined to prove a losing record isn't the best indicator of what kind of team they're going to be in the future.

Running back Ka'Deem Carey delivered a glimpse of what he might be able to contribute moving forward, rushing for one touchdown and catching a pass for another Sunday to help the Bears stop a three-game losing streak with a 26-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Rebounding from a disappointing performance in a 21-point loss to Minnesota, the Bears (6-9) surpassed their victory total for a year ago to create some momentum heading into next week's season finale against Detroit.

Coach John Fox, hired after Marc Trestman was fired following a 5-11 finish in 2014, is confident the team's headed in the right direction.

"We feel it; those guys feel it. We're getting there," Fox said. "We need to improve. They know it, but they're still trying to finish this year well. We've got one more game to try to avoid a double-digit losing season."

Carey caught a 1-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler, and the third-string running back also scored on a 1-yard run while teaming with Matt Forte and Jeremy Langford to spearhead a rushing attack that gained 174 yards and kept Tampa Bay's Jameis Winston off the field for long stretches.

The victory was only the second in the past six games for the Bears. Tampa Bay has lost four of five, including three straight after rebounding from a slow start to climb into contention for a wild-card playoff berth.

Colts 18, Dolphins 12

On the brink of elimination from the playoff race, the Indianapolis Colts dug in. Their defense made a last-minute stand, third-string quarterback Charlie Whitehurst again came off the bench and the Colts kept alive their faint postseason hopes Sunday, beating the Miami Dolphins 18-12.

Miami had first-and-goal at the 5 with 40 seconds left, but after three consecutive incompletions, rookie backup center Jamil Douglas snapped the ball prematurely, and Ryan Tannehill was sacked by three Colts.

Indy backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left with an injury for the fourth game in a row, and Whitehurst did just enough in relief, completing two scoring drives.

The Colts (7-8) would have been out of the playoff race with a loss, and they can still be eliminated in Week 16 if Cincinnati wins at Denver on Monday.

Miami (5-10) was eliminated two weeks ago, and a half-empty stadium reflected the sad state of the franchise. The Dolphins have lost three in a row and are 4-7 under interim coach Dan Campbell, who is likely to be replaced after the season.

Jets 26, Patriots 20

The Patriots gave the Jets the ball, and New York might carry it right into the playoffs.

Eric Decker's 6-yard touchdown catch on the first drive of overtime -- after New England stunningly chose to kick off -- lifted the Jets to a 26-20 victory Sunday that put New York in position to make the playoffs.

A win next week at Buffalo gives the Jets a wild-card berth.

"It was thrilling," Decker said. "Those are the moments that you cherish."

New England (12-3) won the overtime coin toss and elected to kick to the Jets (10-5). Patriots coach Bill Belichick (BeliKICK?) said there was "no confusion" on the call; he'd done it once before in 2013, but a hefty wind was involved against Denver. That decision worked, this one flopped.

Special teams captain Matthew Slater called heads and won the toss. He told referee Clete Blakeman the Patriots wanted to kick in a specific direction. But once he said they wanted to kick, whatever followed didn't matter, according to NFL officiating chief Dean Blandino.

"I just thought we would be able to choose the direction we kicked off from," Slater said.

It was the third time since the 2012 rule change a team chose to kick off for OT. The other times, New England and Minnesota, were winners.

Saturday, December 26 Scoreboard

Washington 38, Philadelphia 24

Sunday, December 27 Scoreboard

New York Jets 26, New England 20 (OT)

Houston 34, Tennessee 6
    
Kansas City 17, Cleveland 13

Indianapolis 18, Miami 12
    
Detroit 32, San Francisco 17

Buffalo 16, Dallas 6

Chicago 26, Tampa Bay 21
    
Atlanta 20, Carolina 13
    
Baltimore 20, Pittsburgh 17
    
New Orleans 38, Jacksonville 27
    
St. Louis 23, Seattle 17
     
Arizona 38, Green Bay 8

Minnesota 49, New York Giants 17

Monday, December 28 Schedule (Time Central)

Cincinnati at Denver, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York at Buffalo, noon

New England at Miami, noon

New Orleans at Atlanta, noon

Baltimore at Cincinnati, noon

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, noon

Jacksonville at Houston, noon

Tennessee at Indianapolis, noon

Washington at Dallas, noon

Philadelphia at New York, noon

Detroit at Chicago, noon

Tampa Bay at Carolina, 3:25 p.m.

Oakland at Kansas City, 3:25 p.m.

San Diego at Denver, 3:25 p.m.

Seattle at Arizona, 3:25 p.m.

St. Louis at San Francisco, 3:25 p.m.

Minnesota at Green Bay, 7:30 p.m.