New England preserved their perfect National Football League season on Sunday, while Dallas, Green Bay and Seattle locked up division titles and Indianapolis booked their playoff berth.
After couple of close calls in recent weeks, the New England Patriots were again dominant in a 34-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, with New England quarterback Tom Brady tossing four touchdown passes.
New England became the fifth team in NFL history to start a season 13-0, the first since the Indianapolis Colts did it in 2005.
Randy Moss had seven catches for 135 yards, including two touchdowns. He took his total of touchdown passes to 19 -- a club record and second only to Jerry Rice's career NFL record of 22 for receivers set in 1987.
New England are now within three games of the first 16-0 season in NFL history.
The Patriots host the New York Jets and winless Miami Dolphins before finishing the regular season at the New York Giants.
Brady, who completed 32-of-46 attempts for 399 yards, has 45 touchdowns this season -- the third-highest total in league history and four short of the single-season record set by Peyton Manning in 2004.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finished 19-of-32 for 187 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers saw their two-game winning streak snapped. The Steelers fell to 9-4 and hold a one-game lead over Cleveland in the AFC North.
The Dallas Cowboys clinched the NFC East division crown in dramatic fashion as Tony Romo fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 18 seconds left to give the Cowboys a 28-27 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Romo drove Dallas 83 yards on 11 plays in the last two minutes -- without any timeouts -- for the victory, which saw the Cowboys improve to 12-1.
"Ninth time that we've come from behind this year, and it shows you the character and the heart of this team," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said.
"It wasn't the prettiest game for us overall, but it was the best in that we came out the Eastern division champs, and that was our goal going into the game," Phillips added.
"I enjoy being in those situations," Romo said. "It gets your juices flowing a little bit. It makes the game a lot of fun -- every once in a while. I probably wouldn't want it every game."
The Cowboys claimed their first division crown since 1998 and stayed one game in front of Green Bay in the fight for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Green Bay Packers claimed their first NFC North division crown since 2004 with a 38-7 drubbing of the Oakland Raiders.
Will Blackmon scored two special teams touchdowns, returning a punt 57 yards for a touchdown and recovering Tim Dwight's fumble in the end zone.
Packers quarterback Brett Favre made his 250th straight start, shrugging off a bruised right elbow and separated left shoulder suffered in Green Bay's 37-27 loss to Dallas earlier this month.
Despite his injuries, Favre threw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half.
In other games it was
* Colts 44, Ravens 20
* Chargers 23, Titans 17
* Broncos 41, Chiefs 7
* Jaguars 37, Panthers 6
* Bills 38, Dolphins 17
* Browns 24, Jets 18
* Bengals 19, Rams 10
* Vikings 27, 49ers 7
* Giants 16, Eagles 13
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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