Drew Brees capped a 326-yard passing performance with 2-yard touchdown to Michael Thomas with 1:25 left Marshon Lattimore Saint Jersey , and the New Orleans Saints clinched the top seed in the NFC playoffs with a 31-28 victory over Pittsburgh that dealt a significant blow to the Steelers‘ playoff hopes.Pittsburgh drove into potential tying field-goal range on its final drive, but JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled when he was stripped by defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins as the receiver landed on top of his tackler. Linebacker Demario Davis recovered.Alvin Kamara gained 105 yards from scrimmage and ran for two touchdowns for New Orleans (13-2), which rallied for the lead after two defensive stops in the fourth quarter. New Orleans ended one Steelers drive when Kurt Coleman forced Stevan Ridley‘s fumble and ended another by narrowly thwarting a fake punt.Ben Roethlisberger passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns for the Steelers (8-6-1), connecting 14 times with Antonio Brown for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Pittsburgh fell into second in the AFC North behind Baltimore and out of playoff position.The Steelers can’t make the playoffs as a wild card, but they still would win the division with a victory next week and a loss by the Ravens. Pittsburgh’s loss also clinched a playoff spot for the AFC South-leading Houston Texans.New Orleans went up 24-14 in the third quarter when Kamara dove over blockers at the line of scrimmage, capping a drive highlighted by his career-long 42-yard reception.But the Steelers seized momentum back with a nine-play, 75 yard drive that included three passes to Brown, the last a 3-yard TD toss. Pittsburgh then took a 28-24 led with on its next drive, which again ended with a TD pass to Brown, who split double coverage by Coleman and Marshon Lattimore for his 20-yard score.The Steelers briefly preserved their 4-point lead when L.J. Fort blocked Wil Lutz‘s 50-yard field goal attempt with 6:16 left. But New Orleans quickly forced a fourth-and-5 and then stopped upback Roosevelt Nicks a yard short of a first down when he took the snap on a fake punt with a little more than four minutes to go.The Saints drove for the go-ahead score with the help of a pass interference call on fourth down, marking the third Saints touchdown drive of the game aided by such a call.The first also came on a fourth-down play in the first quarter when Joe Haden placed his hand on Kamara’s back on a pass that appeared overthrown. Pittsburgh complained about the flag, but to no avail, and Mark Ingram scored from a yard out for his franchise-record 50th rushing touchdown, surpassing Deuce McAllister’s mark set in 2008.KICKING STREAKBefore Lutz had a kick blocked, he made his franchise-record 26th straight field goal to close out a highlight-filled end to the first half.Lutz’s kick was good from 43 yards less than 40 seconds after Pittsburgh drove 97 yards to tie the score.Brown had four catches for 64 yards on the tying drive, which ended with Jaylen Samuels‘ short TD catch and Eli Rogers‘ reception for a 2-point conversion.When the Saints took over Womens Michael Thomas Jersey , Brees completed three straight passes, the last to Kamara, who turned a short crossing route into a 31-yard gain before going out of bounds near the Steelers 25.Lutz then surpassed the Saints mark set by Hall of Famer Morten Andersen during the 1992 and ’93 seasons.BEN AND BROWNRoethlisberger now has 33 TDs passing, breaking his single-season mark of 32 set in 2007 and 2014.Brown clinched a sixth straight season with at least 100 catches 鈥?making him the only NFL receiver to do so 鈥?and six straight seasons with 1,200 yards receiving. He also has 15 touchdown catches, surpassing his career best.INJURIESSteelers: Nickel cornerback Mike Hilton was examined in the blue tent by team medical staff but returned to action. … Starting linebacker Vince Williams left the game in the second half.Saints: Left tackle Terron Armstead left the game in the first half, returned to action a few series later, but then left the game again for good in the second half. After that, Andrus Peat moved to left tackle and rookie Will Clapp took over at left guard.UP NEXTSteelers: Host Cincinnati on Sunday, needing a win to have any hope of advancing to the playoffs.Saints: Finish the season at home against Carolina on Sunday. Whether it's a quartet of players getting arrested for failing to pay a tab at a British nightclub or a locker-room spat or a four-game losing streak, things couldn't get much worse for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the moment 鈥?on the field or off it.A club that reached the AFC championship game last season and seemed to cement its status as a contender by beating the New England Patriots in Week 2 last month is now in total disarray."It's a good week for a bye," was the way coach Doug Marrone put it Sunday after the Jaguars dropped to 3-5 and tied for last in the AFC South with a 24-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Wembley Stadium.Yes, a break now gives him a chance to try to save the season.But there's little reason to think that's even possible at this point.Quarterback Blake Bortles' playoff competence sure now seems as if it were the mirage many suspected, and while he got off to start again after being yanked midgame a week ago, he led Jacksonville's offense to only one touchdown and four field goals against Philadelphia.The defense is dealing with injuries and inconsistencies and a sudden inability to tackle.A week ago, after a 20-7 loss to the Houston Texans Womens Drew Brees Jersey , Calais Campbell was seen holding back fellow defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in the locker room, fallout from some postgame shouting and finger-pointing.The Jaguars are averaging just 11.5 points per game during the current slide.Their opponents? More than twice that, 28.5."We've got a lot to do," Marrone acknowledged, "in a lot of different areas."That includes out-on-the-town discipline and internal team harmony.Out into the wee hours of Saturday morning in London, safety Barry Church and three teammates were detained, although not charged, by the Metropolitan Police over their bar bill.Church called the whole thing "a misunderstanding."Bortles said it had no effect on the team's showing Sunday.Marrone, though, conceded: "A lot of things that you do during the week have an impact."In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL season's eighth Sunday:TRADE DEADLINEIf the recent moves are any indication, Tuesday's NFL trade deadline could more closely resemble what happens in baseball than the usual football humdrum. Some of the very worst clubs, such as the Arizona Cardinals (2-6 after edging San Francisco 18-15), should consider the example set by the New York Giants (1-7 after losing to Washington 20-13). The Giants sent away two defenders last week and could do something else, even if Eli Manning declared Sunday he wants to stay. What could Patrick Peterson bring in return for the Cards? Maybe Tampa Bay (3-4 after a 37-34 loss to Cincinnati) should think about getting something for Jameis Winston or Ryan Fitzpatrick or DeSean Jackson. We already know Jon Gruden's Oakland Raiders (1-7 after being beaten 42-28 by the Colts) are willing to deal, so perhaps benched safety Karl Joseph will follow the same path already taken by Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper.HALFWAY TO 16-0Todd Gurley and the Los Angeles Rams are halfway to 16-0 after a comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers. Gurley accounted for 195 yards 鈥?114 on 25 carries Michael Thomas Jersey White , and another 81 on six catches 鈥?and a TD, but he also was smart enough to know when not to tack on another score. On his way to the end zone, Gurley let himself get tackled, so the Rams could run out the clock as they improved to 8-0 by beating Aaron Rodgers and Co. 29-27 after trailing 10-0. But what about all those folks out there who could have used the fantasy points? "Man, forget fantasy. Forget Vegas," Gurley said. "We got the win, so that's all that matters."SAINT PATRICKPatrick Mahomes just keeps putting up numbers, and his Kansas City Chiefs just keep on winning. Mahomes is only the third QB in NFL history to throw for at least 300 yards in seven consecutive games during a season, and only the fourth with four TD tosses in each of three games in a row. The other trio? Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Not too shabby. After leading KC past Denver 30-23, Mahomes is already up to 26 TD passes this season for the Chiefs, who are 7-1.AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in Los Angeles and freelancer Zac Boyer in London contributed to this report.Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at ://HowardFendrich
