Giants come up short

The New York Giants didn’t need a reminder to turn out the lights Sunday after playing their last game at a stadium they’ve called home for 33 years.

They threw the switch before kickoff.

“It’s shocking and it’s disappointing,” quarterback Eli Manning said after the lifeless Giants were embarrassed at home by Carolina, 41-9. “When you have a shot to get into the playoffs and everything is right in front of us, to come and have mistakes and turnovers and penalties. . . . We did about everything we could to try to lose that game.”

In that case, let it be said they did succeed at something.

It might be of little comfort to them, but the Giants were far from the only team to suffer a major power outage in Week 16.

Indianapolis benched Peyton Manning with a five-point lead in the third quarter, rationalizing it was best not to risk his health, and had its bid for a perfect season vanish. The Colts lost at home to the New York Jets, 29-15, dropping to 14-1 and leaving their fans miffed the franchise took a pass on history.

New Orleans, which had incurred its first loss a week earlier against Dallas, stumbled again, this time to Tampa Bay, which won its third game. What’s more, the Saints blew a 17-0 lead at home on their way to a 20-17 defeat.

“It’s hard to explain,” quarterback Drew Brees said. “We started off fast, then after that there was a big lull.”

That opened the door for another team to claim home-field advantage. If Minnesota wins its final two games -- tonight at Chicago and Sunday against the Giants -- the Saints need to win their finale at Carolina to secure the No. 1 seeding.

“The fact is we need to play better,” Brees said. “I don’t feel like we’ve played our best football in a while, and there’s definitely some things that need to be corrected.”

A lot of teams could say the same thing. But for most of them, it’s already too late. Jacksonville, for one, was still clinging to hopes of reaching the playoffs but traveled to New England and wound up on the wrong end of a 28-point blowout.

It was a lopsided outcome few could have predicted, even though the Jaguars are 0-6 on the road against the Patriots.

“It was embarrassing,” safety Sean Considine said. “When a playoff spot is on the line, and the opportunity is in front of you, it’s hard to believe we got physically handled like that.”

It was the third consecutive loss for a Jacksonville team that at one point had won seven of 10 games.

“We were in the front seat for the playoffs and we just fell apart,” running back Maurice Jones-Drew said. “I don’t understand how we as players can do that.”

If he’s confused, just think how the Miami Dolphins feel. They’re 0-5 against the Houston Texans, the only franchise the Dolphins have never beaten. That streak is alive and well thanks to Houston’s 27-20 victory at Miami on Sunday, one that dealt a crippling blow to Miami’s playoff hopes.

“It’s unacceptable for us to play like this when the season is on the line,” said running back Ricky Williams, echoing the sentiments of so many players around the league Sunday.

Players in Cincinnati might have been saying the same thing, but they pulled out a victory over three-win Kansas City just in time. Receiver Chad Ochocinco caught the winning touchdown with 2 minutes 5 seconds to play, lifting the Bengals to a 17-10 victory that decided the AFC North.

It marks the second time in 19 years the Bengals have made the playoffs, although the celebration was muted for a team still trying to cope with the death of receiver Chris Henry.

“To win this game, no matter how ugly, makes you closer as a team,” defensive tackle Tank Johnson said. “Winning makes everything feel better -- a broken leg, a broken heart.”

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

WILD-CARD STANDINGS

In addition to the division champions, the remaining top two teams in each conference advance to the playoffs as wild-card entries. First tiebreakers are head-to-head games, division records (for division teams), best winning percentage in common games (division teams only, minimum four games), conference records, strength of victory, strength of schedule, best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points given up.

*--* AFC NFC 1. N.Y. Jets 8-7 1. x-Green Bay 10-5 2. Baltimore 8-7 2. x-Dallas 10-5 3. Pittsburgh 8-7 4. Denver 8-7 5. Houston 8-7 6. Miami 7-8 7. Jacksonville 7-8 8. Tennessee 7-8 *--*

x-clinched wild-card spot.