Dolphins owner Ross to meet with Sparano, Ireland this week

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross will be in Florida on Monday, and he plans to meet with coach Tony Sparano and general manager Jeff Ireland at some point this week, according to a team source.

Ross has been out of the country and didn't attend Sunday's game, a 38-7 loss to the New England Patriots. The Dolphins might have been playing for Sparano's job, but they crumbled in a fitting end to a dud of a season.

Neither Chad Henne nor Tyler Thigpen could do much with the offense as Miami fell behind 38-0 before a late touchdown helped the team avert its second shutout of the season.

"We don't want to be in this position again, and we shouldn't forget what just happened to us out there," said Sparano, who looks forward to meeting with Ross and sharing his ideas for improving the Dolphins. "It's not a good place to be, and we did it to ourselves."

Sparano, who has one year left on his contract, led the Dolphins to the playoffs in 2008 -- his first season as an NFL head coach -- for their only postseason appearance since 2001. But Miami is 14-18 since then.

"He is such a good coach," Dolphins cornerback Benny Sapp said of Sparano. "You just hate to see it go down like that, especially when (he) works so hard during the week getting us motivated."

The Patriots (14-2) already had clinched home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs, and the Dolphins had long been eliminated from postseason contention. But Miami (7-9) came into Sunday's game with a chance to finish .500 and end the season with a win that could help make the case for keeping Sparano.

Instead, the Dolphins' defense gave up touchdowns on two of the Patriots' first three possessions. And, after scoring on Julian Edelman's 94-yard punt return near the end of the first half, New England opened the second half with two quick touchdown drives to make it 38-0.

Only the Patriots' benevolence kept the game that close, with backup quarterback Brian Hoyer leading a 9-minute, 35-second drive to eat up most of the fourth quarter before New England ran the ball on fourth-and-9 from the Miami 19 instead of attempting a field goal.

"It was difficult, frustrating, disappointing and embarrassing. It was all those things," Dolphins defensive lineman Kendall Langford said of the loss. "We let each other down, the coaching staff and the organization. What went on out there is not acceptable at all."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bush on tenure running Texans' defense: 'It just didn't work out'

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Seahawks become first team to win division title with sub-.500 record

SEATTLE -- Pulled over his dapper shirt-and-tie combo, Leon Washington proudly wore a blue NFC West division champion T-shirt and hat.

Pete Carroll thought it was "pretty cool" to be going to the playoffs with a losing record.

Make jokes and laugh all you want at the Seattle Seahawks making the postseason as the champions of the weakest division in football, and with a losing record.

But they're not going to be embarrassed for setting some dubious NFL history on their way to the playoffs.

"There is no apologies for making it into the playoffs. The easiest way to make it to the playoffs is to win your division, period, point-blank," Seattle safety Lawyer Milloy said. "We did that."

The Seahawks became the first-sub. 500 division champs on Sunday night with a 16-6 win over the St. Louis Rams to wrap up their first division title since 2007. They secured a home playoff date with defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans on Saturday.

Seattle finished a laughable 7-9 and tied with St. Louis, but won the title thanks to a better division record than St. Louis, 4-2 vs. 3-3.

"I guess we won for all the teams that have a losing record and think they can't be champions. It can get done, you can do it," Carroll said. "Somehow it happened."

Critics have gladly taken shots about the NFC Worst, er, West this season and reignited the debate whether division champs should automatically be granted home playoff games. The New York Giants and Tampa Bay have better records within the NFC at 10-6 and both clubbed Seattle earlier this season.

But it's the Seahawks who are playoff-bound.

"It just shows that no matter what happens through an awkward year if a team sticks together they can have a shot at the end to accomplish what they talked about in the beginning," Milloy said. "We know it wasn't pretty getting here, but what we talked about was right there at the end and we took advantage of it. Nobody can take that away from us."

Making his second career start, backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst threw a 4-yard TD pass to Mike Williams on Seattle's first possession and kicker Olindo Mare connected on three second-half field goals.

That was more than enough thanks to a maligned defense that finally found some swagger just in time to rattle St. Louis' rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and end the Rams' feel-good turnaround from a year ago. At this time last year, St. Louis was preparing to draft Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick after winning just one game.

Sunday night, they were despondent after seeing their chance at a division title and becoming the third 8-8 division champ in league history slide away.

"I don't even know if I can tell you right now," Bradford said of his frustration. "The fact our defense played, in my opinion, pretty great, the fact that we let the team down, that we couldn't get anything going, that's what really hurts."

St. Louis (7-9) was kept out of the end zone for the second time this season and Bradford finished 19 of 36 for 155 yards, with a costly interception midway through the fourth quarter.

Seattle's defense that allowed at least 34 points in four of its last five games, suddenly showed a backbone, making St. Louis' conservative offensive approach seem even slower. The Rams managed just 63 yards in the second half and, with the exception of a fumble recovered at the Seattle 21, didn't even cross midfield until midway through the fourth quarter.

And even when the Rams caught a break on Marshawn Lynch's third-quarter fumble, they could only get three points out of it on Josh Brown's 27-yard field goal.

"For the most part we just were out of sync ..." Rams running back Steven Jackson said. "But I don't think they completely shut down the offense."

Now the question for Seattle is who will be the quarterback for its first home playoff game since a January 2008 win over Washington. Carroll was noncommittal late Sunday night who would start against the Saints. Matt Hasselbeck was active against the Rams and went through pregame warmups, but Carroll held to his word and the Seahawks went with Whitehurst after Hasselbeck injured his hip last week against Tampa Bay.

Whitehurst didn't fail in the second start of his career. He wasn't spectacular, but he avoided any critical mistakes: no interceptions, no dumb throws, no miscues a team like Seattle couldn't afford. Carroll said he kept Hasselbeck out fearing the injury would have made him "vulnerable" to the Rams' pass rush.

For his part, Whitehurst did scramble for 30 yards rushing, part of the 141 yards on the ground by the Seahawks.

"You know, this is what I love to do, this is what we all love to do, this is why we're here," Whitehurst said. "So after the first few plays it's kind of business as usual."

Whitehurst finished 22 of 36 for 192 yards with his lone touchdown, a 4-yard toss across the field to Williams on Seattle's first drive. Mare connected from 31, 38 and 34 yards in the second half and Seattle spent the final minute with Carroll screaming into the air and players slapping hands with fans in the end zone.

"It's been rough the last couple years," Seattle running back Justin Forsett said. "I've never been in this position before. I just want to seize it and run with it."

While the Seahawks could celebrate, Steven Jackson slumped on the bench in the final minutes after the Rams' best offensive threat went mostly unused. Jackson had just 11 carries for 45 yards, continuing a streak of failing to crack 100 yards in his career against the Seahawks.

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When the Rams did cross midfield in the fourth quarter, down just 13-7, Bradford followed with his one big mistake, an interception thrown right at linebacker Will Herring, the first pick of his career.

Seattle then ran off the next 7 minutes as Mare connected from 34 yards with 1:37 left, ending the Rams' chance at their first division title since 2003.

"It's just frustrating to get this far and have an opportunity to make the playoffs, and to come up short," Bradford said. "Just frustrating."

Notes: Seattle G Chester Pitts left in the second half with a head injury and did not return. ... Seattle LT Russell Okung left briefly in the first half after injuring his left ankle, but returned after halftime. Seattle had just seven active offensive linemen. ... Jackson was the Rams' leading receiver with four receptions for 39 yards. ... St. Louis has lost 11 of 12 to Seattle.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Bills decide to keep Merriman; 'he’ll make plays for us,' GM says

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University of Pittsburgh interested in Bengals coach Lewis

Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is on the short list of candidates to take over the University of Pittsburgh's football program, a league source said Sunday.

Lewis was emotional following Sunday's 13-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis might not be back next season, although the University of Pittsburgh job could be an option. (Gail Burton/Associated Press)

"I can't answer where things are for me," Lewis said after the game. Responding to questions about his future with the team, Lewis said, "Officially, today I'm unemployed," ending with a laugh.

The Bengals' Twitter page followed Lewis' remarks with a post that read: "We need to talk and i need to sleep on it."

Lewis' contract with the Bengals expires after this season and might not be renewed. Cincinnati managed just four wins through 16 weeks and earlier this season tied a franchise record with 10 consecutive losses.

In eight seasons under Lewis the Bengals recorded a 60-67-1 record, posted just two winning seasons and lost in both of their playoff appearances.

Pittsburgh's vacancy appeared when the school fired head coach Mike Haywood on Saturday, saying he couldn't continue in the job he held for just 2½ weeks because of his arrest on a domestic-violence charge.

Haywood was released Saturday from St. Joseph County Jail in Indiana on $1,000 cash bond, said an officer at the jail who declined to give her name, after the charge was upgraded from a misdemeanor to felony domestic battery in the presence of a minor.

Within hours of Haywood's afternoon release, Pittsburgh put out a statement from Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, saying the coach had been dismissed, "effective immediately," and the school was reopening its search.

Haywood was arrested about 3 p.m. Friday after a custody issue developed with a woman with whom the coach has a child, police said. The unidentified woman told police that Haywood grabbed her by the arm and neck and pushed her as she tried to leave the home that the coach owns in South Bend, Ind., where he once was a Notre Dame assistant.

Assistant St. Joseph County Police Chief Bill Redman said the woman had marks on her neck, arms and back.

Haywood's hiring by athletic director Steve Pederson was greeted unenthusiastically by fans, boosters, alumni and students who questioned why a school with annual Top 25 aspirations hired him away from mid-major Miami of Ohio. Dave Wannstedt, forced to resign last month following a disappointing 7-5 season, coached the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins before his 2004 hiring at Pittsburgh.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bears go in for the kill, but Packers stand strong to gain playoff berth

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There's no such thing as an ugly win when it clinches a playoff berth.

Especially when it comes against a division rival playing all-out for a knockout.

The Green Bay Packers are in the playoffs thanks to their 10-3 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Sunday. And as might be expected in a season that began with Super Bowl expectations but nearly was derailed by injuries and inconsistency, it wasn't easy.

"I'm very proud of our football team, just what we've accomplished," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Nothing's come easy for us, and we wouldn't want it any other way."

Aaron Rodgers' 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Donald Lee gave the Packers the lead in the fourth quarter, and their defense did the rest. Nick Collins' interception of Jay Cutler stopped the Bears on a late drive.

The Packers (10-6) will play at Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.

"Tonight was a struggle, but it's nice to keep that momentum going," Rodgers said. "We've won two in a row and now we've got to go (on the road). And we can't have the kind of inconsistent performances we've had this year that have forced us to be the No. 6 seed."

Needing a win to get into the postseason, the Packers trailed 3-0 at halftime and were tied going into the fourth quarter with the Bears (11-5) -- a team that didn't have anything to play for in terms of playoff seeding but still played its starters, just as Bears coach Lovie Smith promised he would all week.

"Knowing that we had the bye week we weren't playing for an awful lot," Smith said. "We just wanted to keep momentum going. We haven't peaked yet, still, I thought there were some things that we could've improved upon."

Now that the Packers are in, Donald Driver believes they can be a dangerous playoff opponent.

"Those guys told us during the game they didn't want us in," Driver said. "That tells you how much people are scared of us. They didn't want to see us, and now they've got to see us."

But Green Bay didn't look anything like the team that steamrolled the New York Giants to keep its playoff hopes alive last week, at least not for three quarters.

Rodgers threw for 229 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He saluted the defense after the game, but noted that the offense will have to be better to win in the playoffs.

"We can't expect them to hold every team to three points," Rodgers said.

Matt Forte had 91 yards rushing and 60 yards receiving for Chicago, which came into Sunday's game assured of a first-round playoff bye as the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

"We weren't playing for anything," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "Everything we needed to do was done already. The crowd was loud because there was a lot on the line for them. It didn't seem like a playoff game to me."

Jay Cutler threw for 168 yards with a pair of interceptions and was sacked six times, but he stayed in the game. Smith said he never considered taking his quarterback out of harm's way.

"Why would we do that? I mean, there's a game on the line, we're trying to win a football game," Smith said. "No. That was never part of the mindset at all. We have a week off and we saw it like that."

Cutler joked afterward that he told his coach to rethink his approach to the game, but didn't seem overly concerned about the protection breakdowns.

"There's no real problems out there," Cutler said.

The Packers came into Sunday's game knowing they needed to win to get into the playoffs after Tampa Bay beat New Orleans earlier in the day. The Bears didn't have anything to gain in terms of playoff seeding but played to win.

They didn't quite pull it off, but linebacker Lance Briggs said they made some progress on defense.

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"The last couple of weeks teams have been scoring a lot of points on us," Briggs said. "It was important to us for the Packers to only get 10 points. We were effective when we did the things we needed to do."

Rodgers finally made some big plays in the fourth quarter, throwing for 21 yards to Driver and 46 yards to Jennings to set up the touchdown to Lee, giving the Packers the lead with 12:42 left in the game.

"I like our chances," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We feel good about our team. We've had some down moments this year, we've had a lot of injuries, but if you look at this team, we just kept fighting and now we find ourselves with a chance to get into the playoffs and make some noise."

Notes: Smith said linebacker Nick Roach sustained a shoulder injury, safety Chris Harris had a stinger and safety Major Wright had a leg injury, but Smith said he didn't think any of the injuries were serious. ... Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the team had no additional injuries coming out of Sunday's game. "Highlight of the day so far," he joked. ... An awkwardly timed time out by the Bears' bench nullified a long third-down conversion in the third quarter, but Smith didn't dwell on it. "I called timeout," he said. "We weren't in the right formation for the play."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Report: Jones-Drew set for scope on knee hurt during preseason

Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a right meniscus injury suffered during the preseason, The Florida Times-Union reported Saturday, citing a team source.

Jones-Drew hadn't practiced in the past two weeks and was ruled out of Sunday's regular-season finale against the Houston Texans because of the lingering knee problem. He also didn't play in last Sunday's overtime loss to the Washington Redskins.

The surgery calls for a knee scope to repair cartilage nestled between bones in the knee, which started bothering Jones-Drew after his sixth consecutive 100-yard game Dec. 12.

Jones-Drew doesn't have ligament damage, the source said, and he could be available if the Jaguars make the playoffs. To do that, they need to beat the Texans and have the Tennessee upset the Indianapolis Colts, giving Jacksonville the AFC South title.

Jones-Drew's 1,324 rushing yards through 14 regular-season games this season was second only to Houston's Arian Foster at the time. Statistics aside, the Jaguars prize Jones-Drew's health above rushing titles, so they monitored their star as he played through pain from Week 1.

"They told him going into this year -- that knee may not hold up," Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter told The Times-Union. "It's really pretty remarkable that he put up the numbers that he did and ran the way he did for as long he did."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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