Passing

Drew Brees, Saints, was 24-for-31 for 381 yards and four touchdowns in New Orleans’ 42-17 win over Tampa Bay to earn a wild-card berth. Brees eclipsed 5,000 yards passing in a season for an unprecedented fourth time, finishing with 5,162 yards to go with 39 touchdowns.

Peyton Manning, Broncos, was 25-for-28 for 266 yards and four touchdowns before sitting out the seoond half of Denver’s 34-14 win over Oakland. He finished the season with NFL records of 5,477 yards and 55 touchdown passes. A week after breaking the touchdown mark, Manning eclipsed Brees’ record of 5,476 yards passing set in 2011.

Colin Kaepernick, 49ers, was 21-for-34 for 310 yards and two touchdowns in San Francisco’s 23-20 win over Arizona to earn the No. 5 seed in the NFC. The 49ers will visit Green Bay in the wild-card round next weekend.

Aaron Rodgers, Packers, was 25-for-39 for 318 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard scoring pass to Randall Cobb in the final minute to lift Green Bay to the NFC North title with a 33-28 win over Chicago.

Carson Palmer, Cardinals, was 28-for-49 for 407 yards and two touchdowns in Arizona’s 23-20 loss to San Francisco.

Philip Rivers, Chargers, was 22-for-33 for 229 yards and three touchdowns in San Diego’s 27-24 overtime win over Kansas City to earn the AFC’s No. 5 seed.

Chad Henne, Jaguars, was 30-for-51 for 331 yards and a touchdown in Jacksonville’s 30-10 loss to Indianapolis.

Rushing

LeGarrette Blount, Patriots, had 24 carries for a career-high 189 yards and two touchdowns and also had two long kickoff returns in New England’s 34-20 win over Buffalo.

Ryan Mathews, Chargers, had 24 carries for 144 yards in the Chargers’ 27-24 overtime win against Kansas City.

Chris Johnson, Titans, had 27 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee’s 16-10 win over Houston.

Matt Asiata, Vikings, had 14 carries for 115 yards in Minnesota’s 14-13 win over Detroit in the final game at the Metrodome.

Matt Forte, Bears, had 22 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns and also had 47 yards receiving and a scoring catch in Chicago’s 33-28 loss to Green Bay.

C.J. Spiller, Bills, had 19 carries for 105 yards in Buffalo’s 34-20 loss to New England.

Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks, had 23 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown in Seattle’s 27-9 win over St. Louis.

Receiving

Demaryius Thomas, Broncos, had six receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns in Denver’s 34-14 win over Oakland.

T.Y. Hilton, Colts, had 11 receptions for 155 yards in Indianapolis’ 30-10 win over Jacksonville.

Golden Tate, Seahawks, had eight receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown in Seattle’s 27-9 win over St. Louis.

Jerrel Jernigan, Giants, had six receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown and also ran twice for 57 yards and a touchdown in New York’s 20-6 win over Washington.

Special Teams

Phil Dawson, 49ers, had three field goals, including the game-winner from 40 yards as time expired, in a 23-20 victory over Arizona. He also matched a career best with a 56-yarder to put the 49ers up 20-17 with 1:45 to go.

Stephen Gostkowski, Patriots, kicked four field goals in New England’s 34-20 win over Buffalo.

Rob Bironas, Titans, had three field goals, including a season-best 55-yarder in Tennessee’s 16-10 win over Houston.

Defense

Dre Kirkpatrick, Bengals, had two of Cincinnati’s four interceptions, returning the second 21 yards for a touchdown in a 34-17 win over Baltimore.

Malcolm Smith, Seahawks, returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to get Seattle started in a 27-9 win over St. Louis.

Greg Hardy and Melvin White, Panthers. Hardy had four of Carolina’s nine sacks – both team records – in Carolina’s 21-20 win over Atlanta. White had a 7-yard interception return in the second quarter for the Panthers’ first touchdown.

Associated Press