LOS ANGELES: Atlanta and Pittsburgh routed their opponents while Indianapolis and Green Bay punched their tickets to the playoffs on the final day of the NFL's regular season Sunday. Seattle was the last team to join the post-season party by beating St. Louis 16-6 in the late game. The Packers earned the final wild-card berth with a 10-3 win over Chicago while the Falcons, Steelers, Seahawks and Colts clinched division titles. The other wild-card berth went to defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. “It's an exciting day for our organization,” Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy said. “It's an exciting day for our fans, and we're excited as a football team. We're really looking forward to preparing this week and competing against Philadelphia.” Kicker Adam Vinatieri lifted the AFC South champion Colts (10-6) over Tennessee 23-20 with a game-ending 43-yard field goal. It's the ninth consecutive season the Colts have reached the playoffs, equalling the league record Dallas set from 1975-83. “A good way to finish it off,” quarterback Peyton Manning said of the victory. Indianapolis hosts the New York Jets (11-5) in a rematch of last season's AFC championship game Saturday. New Orleans (12-4) are at the NFC West winner Seattle, which became the first division champ in league history with a losing record with seven wins and nine losses. Next Sunday, NFC East champion Philadelphia (10-6) hosts Green Bay (10-6) and AFC West winner Kansas City (10-6) is at home against Baltimore (12-4). The Falcons routed Carolina 31-10 to clinch the NFC South title. Atlanta now get a bye next week and home-field advantage throughout the post-season. “It was a fun day for the Falcons and the Atlanta Falcon fans,” Atlanta head coach Mike Smith said. “To go through the 17 weeks and be the division champs here in the south and to have a home game in the playoffs is going to be very beneficial for us.” The Falcons will be looking to quarterback Matt Ryan for leadership throughout the playoffs. They are 20-2 at home with Ryan as a starter. The Steelers took the AFC North with a 41-9 rout of Cleveland. They beat out Baltimore for the division, giving the Ravens a wild card spot. Pittsburgh will have a bye next weekend. “Mission accomplished for us. We're excited,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “We're proud to be AFC North champs and to have the bye week.” New England finished with the best record in the NFL with 14 wins and just two losses after beating Miami 38-7. The win extended their win streak to eight games. “It's good to end the season on this note, but right now we're just like everybody else; everybody is 0-0 at this point in the playoffs, so it's time for us to get focused on the next target,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. Oakland dominated Kansas City 31-10 giving Indianapolis an opportunity to become the number three seed. Baltimore defeated Cincinnati 13-7 to finish its season, while the Jets routed Buffalo 38-7. The Jets won two road games in last year's playoffs before being eliminated by the Colts. Chicago (11-5) is also hoping to make a run in this year's playoffs and make the most of their bye. – Agence France
