By DAVE GOLDBERG
The Associated Press
Monday, January 1, 2007; 4:28 AM

-- Denver seemed headed to the playoffs. Then the 49ers' Walt Harris, Frank Gore and Joe Nedney got in the way, giving Kansas City the NFL's last playoff spot by knocking out the Broncos 26-23 in overtime.

The New York Jets also made it and so did the Giants, who had all but clinched their NFC postseason berth by beating Washington on Saturday night.

But the most improbable team was the Chiefs, who started the day at the bottom of the potential playoff teams.

It looked especially dark after the Broncos took a 13-0 lead against double-digit underdog San Francisco. But the 49ers rallied behind Gore's running; an interception return for a touchdown by Harris, and Nedney's four field goals, the last a 36-yarder with 1:56 left in overtime.

That knocked out Denver (9-7) and put in Kansas City (9-7) which beat Jacksonville 35-30. The Chiefs needed more help than that and got it _ losses by Tennessee, 40-23 to New England and Cincinnati, which was beaten 23-17 in overtime by Pittsburgh.

The Chiefs took care of their own business first.

"My thoughts were real simple _ we had to win," coach Herman Edwards said. "And I wanted to make sure that our guys understood that.

"I said, `If we win, I've been in this situation before. Things can happen. We ended up winning, and it all worked out for us."

The Chiefs' also thought the victories were a tribute to the team's founder, Lamar Hunt, who died on Dec. 14.

"I've had some people in the locker room suggest that maybe my father hand a hand in that," said his son, Clark Hunt.

The Jets got the other wild-card spot by beating Oakland 23-3 and moved up to the fifth seed when Denver lost. The Jets will go to New England next Sunday after splitting the season's series with the Patriots, including a 17-14 win Nov. 12 in Foxborough.

The top seeds stayed the same.

San Diego (14-2) beat Arizona 27-20 to secure No. 1 in the AFC and Baltimore (13-3) stayed No. 2 and got the other first-round bye by beating Buffalo 19-7. Indianapolis (12-4) beat Miami 27-22 and will play host to the Chiefs on Saturday.

In the NFC, Chicago (13-3) had already wrapped up the top seed before its 26-7 loss to Green Bay and New Orleans (10-6) had a first-round bye and the second seed before losing to Carolina 31-21. Brett Favre, who threw for 285 yards, hinted strongly after the game that he might retire.

Philadelphia won its fifth straight by beating Atlanta 24-17 to win the NFC East, which has three playoff representatives. The Eagles had already clinched by the time they played because Dallas lost to lowly Detroit 39-31 in an early game.

The Eagles will play host next Sunday to the Giants while the Cowboys play Saturday night in Seattle, which beat Tampa Bay 23-7.

In other games Sunday, it was St. Louis 41, Minnesota 21; and Houston 14, Cleveland 6.

Packers 26, Bears 7

In Chicago, the Packers totally outplayed the Bears even though Green Bay (8-8) had been eliminated earlier in the day.

The 37-year-old Favre was superb in what he said could be his finale.

"If this is my last game, I want to remember it," Favre said, his voice cracking and tears streaming from his eyes. "It's tough. I love these guys. I love this game. What a great way to go out against a great football team. I couldn't ask for a better way to get out."

Favre said he would discuss retirement with his family and make his announcement soon _ "probably within the next couple of weeks."

The three-time MVP completed 21-of-42 passes with a touchdown and interception in what could be his last game. He had 209 yards in the first half alone as the Packers grabbed a 23-0 lead.

Lions 39, Cowboys 31

At Irving, the Cowboys were done in by repeated mistakes from Tony Romo and a few more by Terence Newman.

Roy Williams caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Lions, Mike Furrey and Mike Williams each caught one and Jason Hanson kicked four field goals, helping Detroit (3-13) score its most points of the season and win a game the franchise might have been better off losing. Now Oakland gets the top overall pick and the Lions will go second.

Dallas (9-7) goes into January having lost consecutive games for the first time all season. The Cowboys also have dropped three of four since owning a two-game division lead in early December.

Jets 23, Raiders 3

At East Rutherford, Chad Pennington threw a touchdown pass to Chris Baker, Leon Washington ran for a score and Mike Nugent kicked three field goals. New York (10-6) never trailed and took control in the second half. The Jets were 4-12 last year.

The Raiders (2-14) got one consolation, the first overall pick in next April's draft.

Chiefs 35, Jaguars 30

In Kansas City, Larry Johnson scored three touchdowns and rushed for 138 yards on 33 carries, giving him an NFL-record 416 carries this season. His 1,789 yards beat the record of 1,750 he set last year. Atlanta's Jamal Anderson had the NFL record for attempts in a season with 410 in 1998.

Jacksonville finished the season with three straight losses and wound up 8-8 with its third-team quarterback on the field.

Steelers 23, Bengals 17, OT

At Cincinnati, Santonio Holmes' 67-yard touchdown catch on the third play of overtime ended the Bengals' season and gave Steelers coach Bill Cowher a reason to smile as he decides whether his Pittsburgh career is over.

With only three games left in the season, Cincinnati (8-8) was in position to clinch an AFC wild-card berth with one more a victory. Instead, the Bengals imploded while losing all three.

This time, Shayne Graham was wide right on a 39-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds left in regulation.

Patriots 40, Titans 23

At Nashville, Corey Dillon ran for two touchdowns and Tom Brady threw for a TD as New England stopped the Titans' attempt to become the first team to start 0-5 and make the playoffs.

The Titans (8-8) had won six straight games and needed to beat New England and hope Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Denver all lost.

The Patriots (12-4) were in control so well that 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde got in for the final few snaps, and he tossed a 6-yard TD pass to Troy Brown and set an NFL record with at least one TD in 20 straight seasons.

Chargers 27, Cardinals 20

At San Diego, Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes after injuring his right foot, and LaDainian Tomlinson also limped off after wrapping up his first NFL rushing title.

San Diego heads into the playoffs with a 10-game winning streak and its first perfect home record since 1963. The Chargers' 14 wins and eight home victories are club records.

Tomlinson ran for 66 yards against the Cardinals (5-11), giving him 1,815 and the league rushing title. Tomlinson did not score for the second straight game.

Ravens 19, Bills 7

In Baltimore, Chris McAlister returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown and the Ravens yielded only 39 yards rushing. Baltimore will enter the playoffs with a four-game winning streak and nine wins in its last 10 games.

Matt Stover kicked four field goals for Baltimore, which didn't score a touchdown on offense.

Buffalo finished 7-9.

Eagles 24, Falcons 17

At Philadelphia, the Eagles (10-6) clinched the NFC East title earlier when Dallas lost. So coach Andy Reid pulled his starters to keep them healthy.

A.J. Feeley threw for a career-best 321 yards and three touchdowns to help the Eagles win their fifth straight game without Donovan McNabb. The Falcons (7-9) played almost the entire second half without Michael Vick, who sprained his right ankle on the first play of the third quarter.

Colts 27, Dolphins 22

At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning threw two touchdowns, ran for another and watched his maligned defense limit Miami to five field goals before giving up a late touchdown.

The Colts completed their first perfect season at home since 1958, when the Baltimore Colts won the NFL championship. Miami (6-10), which was 5-0 against Manning in Indianapolis, closed the season with three straight losses.

Panthers 31, Saints 21

In New Orleans, Drew Brees played only one full series and led a scoring drive that ended with Reggie Bush's short touchdown run that put New Orleans up 7-0. Brees, coming back from complicated offseason throwing shoulder surgery that left his future in doubt, finished the regular season with a career-best 4,418 yards passing.

Carolina (8-8) got back starting quarterback Jake Delhomme from a thumb injury that kept him out for three games. Delhomme was 23-of-27 for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Steve Smith.

Seahawks 23, Bucs 7

At Tampa, Seattle broke a three-game losing streak to get some playoff momentum. Shaun Alexander ran for one touchdown and Matt Hasselbeck threw for a second.

The Seahawks (9-7) had clinched the NFC West title, assuring themselves of starting the playoffs with a home game.

Tampa Bay (4-12) has missed the playoffs with a losing record three of four seasons since winning the Super Bowl.

Rams 41, Vikings 21

In Minneapolis, Steven Jackson had a career-high four touchdowns and 166 yards from scrimmage, helping the Rams finish the year 8-8.

With his team leading 34-7 early in the fourth quarter, Jackson raced up the left sideline for a 59-yard score. That prevented Minnesota (6-10) from establishing a post-merger (since 1970) NFL record for fewest yards rushing allowed in a season, missing by 15 the mark of 970 yards set by the Ravens in 2000.

Texans 14, Browns 6

In Houston, the Texans were outgained 306 to 177 yards, but got a win over Cleveland (4-12) thanks to several costly errors by the Browns.

The victory gives the Texans (6-10) back-to-back wins for the first time since 2004 and marks the first time Houston has won a season finale. It also triples its win total from last year's dismal season.

Rookie Chris Taylor scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard run and finished with 99 yards.

Giants 34, Redskins 28

In Landover, Tiki Barber put the Giants in the playoffs Saturday night with the best game of his 10-year NFL career _ 234 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. It put New York (8-8) in the playoffs, confirmed when a number of results went in their favor.

The Giants had lost six of seven and had home fans chanting for coach Tom Coughlin's firing last week. Now they are in the playoffs, their first back-to-back appearances since 1989-90. The game is likely to be Barber's last unless he changes his announced plans to retire after the season.