Le’Veon Bell’s record day lifts Steelers; Bucs, Packers, Redskins, Texans and Titans get key wins

Le’Veon Bell scored three times and set a franchise record with 236 yards rushing in finding traction on a slick, snow-covered field, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 27-20 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon.

The Steelers overcame three interceptions thrown by Ben Roethlisberger to win their fourth consecutive game and improve to 8-5 and keep pace in the AFC playoff race.

The loss all but mathematically eliminated the Bills (6-7) from contention, and puts them in jeopardy of extending the NFL’s longest active playoff drought to 17 years — the longest since New Orleans ended a 20-year drought by reaching the postseason for their first time in 1987.

After scoring in the first half on three- and seven-yard runs, Bell put the game away on the opening drive of the third quarter. He had nine rushes for 72 yards alone and capped the 82-yard drive by waltzing into the end zone from 5 yards .

Bell also had 62 yards receiving to account for 298 of the 460 yards gained by Pittsburgh. It was the second three-TD game of his career, and first in which he scored three times rushing. Bell broke the franchise rushing record set by Willie Parker, who had 223 yards against Cleveland on Dec. 7, 2006.

Buccaneers 16, Saints 11

Streaking Tampa Bay bolstered its playoff hopes by building an early lead and holding off Drew Brees and New Orleans for a fifth straight victory.

Doug Martin scored on a 1-yard run, Roberto Aguayo kicked three field goals and an improving defense intercepted Brees three times while holding the NFL passing leader without a touchdown pass.

Brees began the day leading the league in completions, attempts, completion percentage, passing yards and TD passes, but failed to throw for a touchdown for the second straight week, the first time he’s done that in consecutive games since 2009.

Rookie Vernon Hargreaves III and Brent Grimes, cornerbacks brought during the offseason, to overhaul a secondary, had two of the interceptions.

Safety Keith Tandy picked off the quarterback’s final pass on fourth-and-1 from near midfield in the final minute.

The Bucs (8-5) have won five straight for the first time since 2002, the season they went on to win their only Super Bowl. The surge has them in contention for their first playoff berth since 2007.

New Orleans (5-8) entered hoping to tighten the NFC South race, but instead dropped three games behind division co-leaders Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

Packers 38, Seahawks 10

Aaron Rodgers passed for 246 yards and three touchdowns to lead Green Bay’s rout of visiting Seattle, which had Russell Wilson throw a career-high five interceptions.

The Packers (7-6) kept alive their playoff hopes with their third straight victory. They’re two games back of first-place Detroit in the NFC North, but play division opponents in the last three weeks of the season.

Green Bay gained more than 300 yards in Seattle’s first game without former All-Pro safety Earl Thomas, who is out for the season with a broken leg. Rodgers set the tone on the opening drive after connecting with receiver Davante Adams on a perfectly-thrown pass down the right sideline for a 66-yard touchdown. Cornerback Jeremy Lane slipped on the play.

The Packers also took advantage with touchdown drives after two other interceptions. Wilson completed 22 of 39 for passes 240 yards and a touchdown. Two interceptions came off passes that deflected off receivers’ hands, including one that caromed off Doug Baldwin’s helmet to cornerback Damarious Randall.

Dolphins 26, Cardinals 23

Ryan Tannehill threw three touchdown passes before being sidelined because of a knee injury, and Andrew Franks kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to help Miami turn back visiting Arizona.

Tannehill limped to the locker room late in the third quarter after being hit around the legs by defensive tackle Calais Campbell as he released a completion. The Dolphins led 21-9 when Tannehill departed, and backup Matt Moore failed to lead Miami to a first down in his first three series.

The Cardinals mounted touchdown drives of 99 and 50 yards to tie the game, but Miami forced a punt to start at the Arizona 47 with 1:29 left. Moore threw a 12-yard completion to Kenny Stills for a first down, and then threw long to Stills for 29 yards to set up Franks’ winning kick.

The Dolphins (8-5) won for the seventh time in the past eight games and helped their bid to end an eight-year playoff drought. The Cardinals (5-7-1) fell further behind in the race for the final NFC wild-card berth.

Lions 20, Bears 17

Matthew Stafford ran for a go-ahead, seven-yard touchdown with 3:17 left after having two passes intercepted in the fourth quarter, one that was returned for a score on the previous possession, and Detroit held on for the win over visiting Chicago.

Matt Barkley completed two passes that put the Bears in a position to at least attempt a tying field goal in the final minute, but both were negated by penalties, before turning the ball over on downs from the Detroit 44.

The NFC North-leading Lions (9-4) have won five straight and eight of nine, moving them a step closer to winning a division title for the first time in 23 years. Chicago (3-10) has lost four of five.

Barkley, in the first road start of his career, perfectly led Cameron Meredith on a 31-yard TD to pull the Bears within three late in the third quarter.

Stafford, who put a white glove on his right hand during the game for an undisclosed reason, was picked off twice after he threw only one interception the previous eight games.

Vikings 25, Jaguars 16

Matt Asiata scored on a short touchdown run, Kai Forbath kicked four field goals and Minnesota won at Jacksonville for the Vikings’ second time in nine weeks.

Asiata had a chance to score three times, but he was stopped on a fourth-and-goal run in the second quarter and fumbled at the goal line in the fourth.

Those mistakes hardly hurt against the hapless Jaguars (2-11), who dropped their eighth consecutive game and fell to 0-6 at EverBank Field this season.

Minnesota (7-6) hadn’t won on the road since Sept. 25 at Carolina. A loss to the Jaguars would have weakened their playoff chances.

Sam Bradford completed 24 of 34 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown. His three-yard TD toss to Kyle Rudolph with 2:13 remaining sealed the victory. Bradford did even more damage on deep throws early.

Redskins 27, Eagles 22

Chris Thompson’s 25-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left to lift Washington to the victory at Philadelphia. Kirk Cousins threw two touchdown passes, including an 80-yard toss to DeSean Jackson, but had a pick-six.

The Eagles took a 22-21 lead when Caleb Sturgis hit a 41-yard field goal with 4:59 left after holder Donnie Jones got the high snap from third-string long snapper Trey Burton down in time. Carson Wentz drove Philadelphia to the Redskins 14 in the final minute, but Ryan Kerrigan sacked him to force a fumble and seal the win for Washington.

The Redskins (7-5-1) snapped a two-game losing streak and remained in the middle of a jumbled playoff race. The Eagles (5-8) have lost four in a row and eight of 10 after a 3-0 start.

Texans 22, Colts 17

Lamar Miller scored Houston’s only touchdown and the Texans defense stopped Andrew Luck on Indianapolis’ final drive to preserve the road win.

Houston (7-6) retained a share of the AFC South lead with by ending its three-game losing streak. The Texans won for the second straight year in Indy, have won nine straight against division foes and got their first sweep of the Colts in franchise history.

It wasn’t easy, though. Luck drove the Colts (6-7) to the Texans 42-yard line with 1:24 left. But on fourth and one, a blitz forced an errant screen pass to Robert Turbin and the Texans ran out the clock.

Miller finished with 21 carries for 107 yards, while Brock Osweiler was 14-o-24 passing for 147 yards with one interception.

Titans 13, Broncos 10

DeMarco Murray ran for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Tennessee kept a piece of first place in the AFC South with the win over visiting Denver. With the victory, the Titans (7-6) also climbed above .500 for the first time all season.

The Titans came in with the NFL’s third-best rushing offense and the AFC’s top runner in Murray, and they ran right over a Denver defense that came in 28th in that category. By halftime, the Titans ran 26 times for 138 yards — the second-most rushes by any team in the first half this season and most allowed in the first half by Denver since 2014.

Tennessee then had to hold on as Trevor Siemian tried to rally Denver (8-5) after a sprained left foot that kept him out last week. He threw a 3-yard TD pass to Emmanuel Sanders with 9:58 left and drove the Broncos to first-and-goal at the Tennessee 7 before rookie Aaron Wallace sacked him.

Coach Gary Kubiak settled for a 34-yard field goal by Brandon McManus on fourth and goal at the 16 with 4:28 left. Siemian was driving the Broncos again when A.J. Derby fumbled after a catch. Safety Daimion Stafford recovered with 53 seconds left, and the Titans finished off their biggest win in years.

Jets 23, 49ers 17 (OT)

Bilal Powell ran for 145 yards, including the game-ending 19-yard touchdown in overtime, to help Bryce Petty and New York rally from 14 points down for the win at San Francisco.

Petty threw an interception on his first pass of the game and the Jets (4-9) trailed 14-0 less than 5 minutes into the game. San Francisco (1-12) led 17-3 at halftime, but fell flat after that and lost a franchise-worst 12th straight game.

Powell took over from there and scored his second TD of the game on New York’s first possession of overtime after Petty’s scramble and 26-yard pass to Robby Anderson put the Jets in field goal range.

Petty completed 23 of 35 passes for 257 yards in his second career start.

Bengals 23, Browns 10

Robert Griffin III returned from injury but couldn’t keep Cleveland from falling closer to infamy as Cincinnati built a big early lead and held off the winless Browns in the snow.

Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes to Tyler Eifert as the Bengals (5-7-1) kept their playoff chances pulsating for another week.

Griffin started for the first time since getting hurt in the opener. He couldn’t produce a win for the Browns (0-13). RG3 did score on a one-yard sneak in the third quarter, but the Browns lost their 16th in a row dating to Dec. 13 last season. Cleveland has lost 23 of 24 and 31 of 34 since the end of 2014. The Browns have three games left to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the NFL’s only 0-16 teams.

Griffin finished 12 of 28 for 104 yards. Isaiah Crowell was a bright spot for Cleveland, rushing for 113 yards on 10 carries.