NFL: WEEK 16 Results - Late Afternoon Games

LIONS/49ERS

San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Alex Smith threw a touchdown and Frank Gore ran one in as San Francisco took down Detroit, 20-6, at Candlestick Park.

Smith went 20-for-31 with 230 yards while Gore totaled 71 yards on 28 carries for the 49ers (7-8), who have won two of their last three. Gore was also the team's leading receiver with four catches for 81 yards while Vernon Davis caught a touchdown.

"I'm very thankful for the win and thankful that everything worked out the way we did," said San Francisco head coach Mike Singletary. "We started off slow offensively, but we got it together later in the game and were able to pull out the victory."

Drew Stanton, making his first career start in place of an injured Matthew Stafford and an ineffective Daunte Culpepper, went 11-for-21 with 130 yards, three interceptions and a fumble for the Lions (2-13), who have dropped their past five games. Calvin Johnson had seven catches for 96 yards and added 32 rushing yards but also fumbled the ball twice.

"You're not going to win many games in the NFL when you turn the ball over as many times as we did today," said Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz. "Our defense was able to keep us in the game, but obviously we didn't do enough today to win the game. We had plenty of chances, but we didn't get it done today."

Detroit started the game with the ball and kept it for almost eight minutes over a 15-play, 76-yard drive that was capped on a Jason Hanson 27-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 7:01 left in the first quarter.

Each team then went three-and-out, and San Fran tied the game with a 33-yard field goal from Ricky Schmitt with 54 seconds left in the first. It was the first field goal attempt of his career and was set up on a 50-yard catch from Michael Crabtree.

In the second, Stanton fumbled the ball when his arm was hit by Ahmad Brooks, and the 49ers recovered the ball at their own 47.

The Detroit defense stuffed Gore on a 4th-and-1 to get the ball back, but Johnson fumbled a reception near midfield.

Another exchange of punts saw the Niners get the ball at their own 46, and the team took a 6-3 lead on a 39-yarder from Schmitt that just wobbled its way inside the right goalpost with 2:11 left in the first half.

Stanton was picked off by Patrick Willis on Detroit's ensuing drive, but Lions defense again held tough and limited San Francisco to a 28-yard field goal attempt by Schmitt. His first attempt sailed through, but Detroit had called timeout right before the snap. On the second attempt, Detroit blocked the kick and it was a three-point game at the break.

After each team punted on its first drive of the second half, the 49ers went on a six-play march of 49 yards to get into the end zone. The drive was capped on a bootleg out to the right which Smith finished with a two-yard toss to Davis.

The play was challenged by Detroit to determine if Smith went over the line- of-scrimmage, but the ruling on the field stood and San Francisco had a 13-3 lead with 7:17 left in the third.

Detroit was stuffed on its next touch, and San Francisco took the ball 63 yards over seven plays on the next drive, finishing it with a one-yard run up the middle by Gore for a 20-3 lead with 1:08 to play.

With Culpepper under center, Detroit put up a 38-yard field goal from Hanson with under four minutes to play to cap the scoring in the contest.

Game Notes:

San Francisco, which finished the home portion of its schedule with a 6-2 mark, closes out its season at St. Louis next Sunday...Detroit, which went 0-8 on the road and has lost 20 straight as the visitors, closes out its season next Sunday at home against Chicago...The 49ers have won seven straight against the Lions...Detroit totaled six turnovers in the game...Culpepper went 7-for-12 for 51 yards.

RAMS/CARDINALS

Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Kurt Warner tossed two touchdowns and became just the second player in NFL history to throw at least 100 TDs for two teams, as the NFC West-champion Cardinals earned their third consecutive season sweep of pitiful St. Louis behind a 31-10 decision.

Warner finished with 313 yards on 24-of-38 attempts for Arizona (10-5), which posted its first 10-win season since 1976. Anquan Boldin hauled in eight balls for 116 yards, and Larry Fitzgerald caught a TD for the victors.

"I was very pleased that we were able to get a 10th victory for our football club, especially after starting out 1-2," Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "I was very pleased with the way our team played today. We obviously played a pretty clean game, which is what you want heading to the playoffs."

Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower each rushed for a score, adding 68 and 32 yards on the ground, respectively, in the win, the club's third in four games.

Keith Null was picked off three times and logged 171 yards on 20-of-31 attempts for the Rams (1-14), owners of the worst record in the league following their seventh straight loss.

Workhorse running back Steven Jackson did not play for St. Louis due to a nagging back injury.

After a scoreless opening quarter, Warner hit Steve Breaston down the left sideline for a 45-yard gain, setting up Fitzgerald's 10-yard TD reception on a crossing route with 2:47 gone in the second frame.

Arizona went up 14-0 when Early Doucet made a nice grab across the middle for an 18-yard touchdown, the first of his career.

Mike Nugent's 19-yard field goal at the end of the half capped a 14-play, 82- yard drive, as the hosts went into the locker room ahead 17-0.

LaJuan Ramsey forced a Warner fumble on the first possession of the second half, and Brandon Gibson halved the Rams' deficit by making a sensational 21- yard reception in the back of the end zone. The play was originally ruled as incomplete, but St. Louis won its challenge when it was revealed the receiver got his right knee down before landing out of bounds.

The Rams forced a three-and-out, but Danny Amendola was stripped in Arizona territory on the punt return. The turnover turned into a two-yard touchdown run by Hightower with 4:32 remaining in the third stanza.

Josh Brown's 33-yard field goal at the 8:36 mark of the fourth made it a two- possession game, 24-10.

The Cardinals then took four minutes off the clock despite failing to score, and Adrian Wilson's interception was quickly followed by Wells' three-yard run to paydirt, sealing the game's outcome.

"It got a little away from us in the second quarter," Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "We kept battling there in the end. Unfortunately we had a couple of turnovers."

Game Notes

Warner has 100 TDs for Arizona and also had 102 while playing in St. Louis (1998-2003)...Fitzgerald's TD was his 12th of the year...The loss was the Rams' 23rd in the last 24 games...Chris Ogbonnaya led the Rams with 45 yards on nine carries, while Gibson ended with 51 yards on five receptions... Fitzgerald logged five catches for 48 yards...Wilson also had a sack, becoming just the 10th player in NFL history with 20-plus sacks and 20-plus interceptions in a career...Arizona closes out the regular season at home against Green Bay next week, while St. Louis hosts San Francisco.

BRONCOS/EAGLES

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - David Akers nailed a 28-yard field goal with four seconds left in the game, as the Eagles overcame blowing a 17-point lead in the second half to hold off Denver, 30-27, in a matchup packed with far-reaching playoff implications.

Donovan McNabb passed for 322 yards and three touchdowns with an interception, completing 20-of-35 throws.

Brent Celek caught two scores amid a 121-yard receiving effort, while DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant also had receiving scores for Philadelphia (11-4), which secured an invitation to the playoffs with last Sunday's victory over San Francisco.

The win over Denver puts the Eagles on the precipice of clinching the NFC East. However, that depends on the outcome of Dallas' divisional matchup with Washington in Sunday's nightcap. The Cowboys, 1 1/2 games back in the standings, will host Philadelphia in the regular-season finale on January 3.

Kyle Orton threw three touchdown passes and an interception amid a 189-yard passing effort. He finished 27-of-41 passing, with two of his scores going to Jabar Gaffney, who made seven grabs for 69 yards.

Knowshon Moreno had the other receiving touchdown, and Brandon Marshall caught eight passes for 39 yards for Denver (8-7), whose playoff chances diminish with each passing week. Losses in seven of the last nine games have placed the Broncos' once-certain chances of reaching the playoffs in clear jeopardy.

The defeat further muddled the AFC's wild card picture; Denver is now tied with the Jets, Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore at 8-7 with two spots up for grabs. Miami and Jacksonville remain a game back heading into the final week of the regular season.

JETS/COLTS

Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Marques Douglas' score off a Curtis Painter fumble in the third quarter put the Jets in front for good, as New York capitalized on the Colts resting starters to hand Indianapolis its first loss, 29-15, at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Colts, who had already locked up the AFC's top seed, carried a 14-0 record and an NFL-record 23-game winning streak into the contest. But the undefeated season and the streak both ended after Peyton Manning was removed late in the third quarter, along with a number of other Colts starters.

Manning finished with 192 yards to become the fourth player all-time to throw for 50,000 yards in his career, but had to watch from the sideline -- with his helmet still on -- as the Jets (8-7) finished the game with 19 consecutive points to take the victory.

New York now controls its playoff destiny, and can get into the postseason with a win at home next week against Cincinnati, which clinched the AFC North title earlier Sunday.

Thomas Jones ran for 105 yards and a score for the Jets, while Mark Sanchez was an efficient 12-of-19 for 106 yards, with no interceptions. Brad Smith returned the second half's opening kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown.

In Manning's place, Painter was 4-of-11 for 44 yards, with an interception and the critical fumble. Donald Brown and Joseph Addai had rushing scores in the loss, the first in the regular season for Indianapolis since October 27 of last season against Tennessee.

The Colts held a 9-3 halftime lead, but the Jets went on top on Smith's return. He got to the right sideline and began speeding down the field, escaping an ankle tackle before getting across the goal line.

But Indianapolis came right back down the field, as Manning's 19-yard pass to Dallas Clark set up a 1st-and-goal. Brown bowled through a few people to get to the one, and scored on the next play. He was bottled up on the two-point conversion try, though, keeping the Colts' edge at 15-10.

After the Jets punted, the Colts kept Manning on the sideline and sent in Painter. They went three-and-out, though got the ball back with 1:38 in the third after another New York punt.

On the first play of the series, Painter was sacked from behind by Calvin Pace and lost the ball. It bounced back toward the end zone, and Douglas leapt on it before crawling across the goal line for a score that was upheld after a Colts challenge. The two-point conversion made it an 18-15 game, and the Jets didn't trail again.

The Colts again went three-and-out, gaining no yards, to allow the Jets to start a drive at the Indianapolis 45. Jay Feely drilled a 43-yard field goal, pushing the Jets' lead to 21-15 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

New York essentially put the game away with a 79-yard scoring drive on its next series. Jones' 29-yard run down the right sideline got the ball to the one, and after he was stuffed twice, got into the end zone on 3rd-and-goal. Another two-point conversion made it 29-15.

Painter completed a 22-yard pass to Tom Santi on the opening play of the next Colts drive, but he was intercepted by Dwight Lowery just two plays later, as the Jets cruised to the victory.

Aside from their first drive of the third quarter, with Manning at the helm, the Colts had just 23 net yards and one first down in the second half.

Indianapolis took the lead on Addai's 21-yard touchdown run with 6:55 left in the first quarter, though a deflected extra point kept it a 6-0 game. Adam Vinatieri connected on a 22-yard field goal shortly into the second quarter, and Feely's 35-yarder with 1:44 left trimmed the Jets' deficit to 9-3 heading into halftime.

Game Notes:

The Jets hold a tiebreaker over Houston (head-to-head), Pittsburgh (conference record) and Baltimore (common opponents). The Texans, Steelers and Ravens are all 8-7 and aiming for one of the AFC's wild card spots...Manning entered the game with 49,841 passing yards. Brett Favre, Dan Marino and John Elway are the other quarterbacks who have thrown for 50,000 yards...Smith's return tied for the second-longest in NFL history...The Colts had a chance to set a franchise record for most wins in the regular season.

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