American Football: Dolphins and Eagles through in week of upsets

In a weekend of shocks and surprises, the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles secured their playoff places, but little else went according to form. The Pittsburgh Steelers were upset by the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco surprisingly lost in Dallas, the New York Jets were stunned at home by Buffalo, and the Oakland Raiders went down for the third time in five games. With a week remaining in the regular season, it seems little can be taken for granted.

The Steelers were the biggest losers. Leading 23-10 with less than three minutes remaining, they lost their way under an assault from the Cincinnati quarterback Jon Kitna. The former Barcelona Dragon first threw a touchdown pass to Ron Dugans, then found Danny Farmer from 18-yards out with 37 seconds remaining. All it needed was for Neil Rackers to convert the extra point to ensure a Cincinnati win. Instead Rackers, who had already missed two short field goals, hit the post, sending the game to overtime.

Both teams had chances to win, but Kitna was outstanding. He threw the ball 68 times, the third-highest tally in league history, for 411 yards, ultimately engineering an 86-yard drive which set up Rackers with a 31-yard game-winning kick.

The only positive for the Steelers was that their closest rivals also lost. The Raiders went down 23-17 in Denver, in an error-strewn contest which does not bode well for their post-season aspirations. The Raiders could have won, only for Rich Gannon's 70-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice to be called back for holding.

"Discipline is our problem," Gannon said. "We need to be more disciplined and detailed in every phase of the game. We had penalties and mistakes, and you can't beat a team like Denver like that."

The Jets cannot win in December, not even at home to a Buffalo Bills side which had won only two previous matches. Larry Centers' five-yard run and Alex Van Pelt's 22-yard pass to Peerless Price ensured Buffalo's 14-9 triumph, a result which leaves the Jets on the brink of elimination.

If they lose in Oakland next week, and Seattle beat Kansas City, the Jets will be out of contention. The Seahawks kept their hopes intact at the death, beating San Diego 25-22 when Rian Lindell converted a 54-yard field goal as time expired.

A milestone for the evergreen running back Emmitt Smith, who became only the second player in history to gain 16,000 career rushing yards in the Cowboys 27-21 verdict over San Francisco. Smith had his best day of the season, but so did the rookie quarterback Quincy Carter, who threw a pair of touchdown passes, then ran for another himself as the play-off-bound 49ers dropped their guard.

"Our receivers are starting to get a feel for Quincy, and he's starting to get a feel for our receivers," his coach, Dave Campo, said. "Quincy's growing, and he's got a great feel for the game."

The Miami Dolphins joined the post-season party with an unconvincing 21-14 verdict over the Atlanta Falcons. The Dolphins owed much to their defence, which stopped Atlanta's Bob Christian at the goal-line on the last play of the game.

Also through are the Philadelphia Eagles, who prevailed in an intense affair against the New York Giants. Needing a win to keep their season alive, the New Yorkers went ahead on Ron Dayne's 16-yard run with less than three minutes left. Philadelphia's impressive quarterback Donovan McNabb kept his composure, throwing his second touchdown pass of the affair to Chad Lewis, and David Akers ignited Eagle celebrations when he kicked the winning field goal with seven seconds on the clock.