Broncos roar to top, Steelers edge thriller

Panthers clinch 1st playoffs since 2017

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Denver grabbed an NEL playoff top seed, Carolina backed into a first playoff berth since 2017 and Pittsburgh captured a winners-take-all showdown to reach the postseason ona hectic final Sunday of the campaign.

The Denver Broncos took the AFC top seed, a first-round bye and a homefield playoff edge with a 19-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.

“We understood what was at stake and nowwe sit here with the... one seed, which is pretty good,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

The Broncos (14-3) have not been a top seed since 2015, the Super Bowlwinning season they last won a playoff game.

This week's AFC playoff openers find the Chargers at New England, Buffalo at Jacksonville and Houston at Pittsburgh, who beat Baltimore 26-24 for the AFC North division crown and final playoff spot.

In a fourth-quarter seesaw drama, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers with touchdown passes of 50 and 64 yards while Kenneth Gainwell had a two-yard touchdown run and 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 55 seconds remaining, but Chris Boswell missed the extra point, creating the final margin.