Sunday's Games

New York Giants 21, Dallas 17
The New York Giants and quarterback Eli Manning downed the Dallas Cowboys, the top team in the NFC, 21-17 in Sunday's divisional playoff matchup.

New York advanced to next week's NFC championship game, where they will face the Green Bay Packers.

Manning was 12-of-18 passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

For the Cowboys, quarterback Tony Romo was 18-of-36 for 201 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The Giants got on the board first when Manning hooked up with Amani Toomer for a 52-yard touchdown reception to post a 7-0 first quarter lead.

The Cowboys evened the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter when Terrell Owens, playing in his first game since recovering from an ankle sprain he suffered at the end of December, caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Romo.

Dallas broke the tie late in the second when Marion Barber rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys a 14-7 lead.

But the lead didn’t last long as the Giants scored right before halftime when Manning connected with Toomer on a 4-yard TD pass to even the game at 14-14.

The Cowboys retook the lead in the third on a 34-yard field goal by Nick Folk to put Dallas ahead 17-14.

The Giants jumped back in front on a 1-yard touchdown run by Brandon Jacobs to go ahead 21-17 early in the fourth.

San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24
With a trip to Foxborough, Mass., for a meeting with the unbeaten New England Patriots in the AFC championship game on the line, the Colts and Chargers showed up to play Sunday.

But at the end of the offensive back-and-forth, San Diego earned the 28-24 victory to earn the right to face the Patriots for a berth in the Super Bowl.

Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning made key mistakes Sunday, throwing two interceptions that ricocheted off of his receivers deep into Chargers' territory. He finished the game 33-of-48 for 402 yards and three touchdowns.

The Chargers played the second half of the game without the NFL's leading rusher, LaDainian Tomlinson. He suffered a bruised knee at the end of an 8-yard run in the second quarter and didn't return to action. He finished the game with 28 yards on seven carries.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers was 14-of-19 passing for 264 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He left the game in the third quarter after suffering an apparent leg injury.

The Colts struck first, capping a nine-play opening drive with a touchdown when Manning connected with Dallas Clark on a 25-yard pass for a 7-0 lead.

Then it was Indy's defense's turn. The Colts stopped San Diego's opening drive when Kelvin Hayden intercepted Rivers' pass that was intended for Craig Davis. Indianapolis' offense got back on the field and tried to capitalize on the turnover, but their drive ended when Marvin Harrison, playing in his first game since late October, fumbled the ball after making a 17-yard reception.

The Chargers took advantage of the turnover and drove 78-yards on 10 plays to tie the game at 7-7. Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson on a 14-yard pass for the score.

Indianapolis regained the lead in the second quarter when Adam Vinatieri connected on a 46-yard field goal attempt to put the Colts up 10-7 at the half.

San Diego took its first lead of the game early in the third when Rivers connected with Chris Chambers on a 30-yard touchdown reception for a 14-10 lead.

Indianapolis responded quickly after the San Diego score, driving down field and in position to score before Manning was intercepted. But the Colts defense responded and forced San Diego into a three-and-out, resulting in the first punt of the game.

The Colts' offense took advantage of good field position off of the punt and drove back into Chargers' territory. This time the Colts kept possession of the ball and Manning was able to connect with Reggie Wayne for a 9-yard score to put Indianapolis back in the lead, 17-14.

But Indy's lead didn't last long.

The Chargers came back and retook the lead when Rivers orchestrated a five-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in a 56-yard touchdown pass to Darren Sproles for a 21-17 advantage.

But the drive wasn't all good news for San Diego, as Rivers was injured. He left the field for treatment in the team's locker room before later returning to the Chargers' sideline while Billy Volek took over at quarterback.

Indianapolis took advantage of Rivers' absence, forcing the Chargers to punt. The Colts then struck quickly, needing only three plays to regain the lead when Anthony Gonzalez caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Manning to put Indianapolis ahead 24-21.

Then San Diego answered right back. Volek led the Chargers' offense down the field and capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put San Diego ahead 28-24 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

Saturday's Games

New England 31, Jacksonville 20
Jacksonville put up a fight against unbeaten New England in the AFC divisional playoffs, but the Jaguars couldn't pull out the win as the Patriots held on for a 31-20 victory to improve to 17-0 on the season.

New England quarterback Tom Brady flirted with perfection in the outing, completing 26 of his 28 passing attempts for 262 yards and three touchdowns.

The Patriots advanced to next week's AFC championship game where they will face San Diego.

The Jaguars did all they could to prevent New England from extending its season.

In its opening drive, Jacksonville made a gutsy call at 4th and 1, opting to go for it. Quarterback David Garrard kept the Jaguars' drive alive by completing a 34-yard pass to Marcedes Lewis. Three plays later, the mobile quarterback found Matt Jones in the end zone to complete an 8-yard pass while being brought down to the ground by New England's defensive line.

The touchdown gave Jacksonville an early 7-0 lead.

Then it was New England's turn. After struggling through the first part of their opening drive, the Patriots tied the game at 7-7 when Brady connected with Benjamin Watson on a 3-yard pass for a touchdown.

The Patriots took their first lead of the game early in the second quarter after Garrard fumbled. New England's Laurence Maroney ran for a 1-yard touchdown to cap a seven-play drive and take a 14-7 lead.

Jacksonville evened the game at 14-14 when Garrard connected with Ernest Wilford on a 6-yard touchdown pass to complete an 11-play scoring drive.

New England tried to break the tie before the half, but Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal attempt late in the second quarter.

The Patriots regained the lead early in the third quarter when Brady completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker to take a 21-14 lead.

The Jaguars trimmed the deficit to 21-17 with a 39-yard field goal before New England added to its lead with another touchdown late in the third for a 28-17 advantage.

Jacksonville made it a one-score game with a field goal in the fourth to cut New England's lead to 28-20.

The Patriots pushed their lead back to 11 when Gostkowski connected on a 35-yard field goal attempt for a 31-20 New England advantage.

For the game, Garrard was 21-of-32 for 266 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Green Bay 42, Seattle 20
The Seattle Seahawks struck first against the Green Bay Packers, taking an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter of the teams' NFC divisional playoff meeting.

But in the end, the snow and Packers quarterback Brett Favre were too much for Seattle to contend with as Green Bay won 42-20 to advance to next weekend's NFC championship game against the New York Giants.

Favre was 18-of-23 passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns. He also collected another milestone in the victory, becoming the second quarterback to pass for more than 5,000 yards in the postseason. Joe Montana is the only other passer to accomplish the feat.

Seattle got on the board first when Shaun Alexander scored on a 1-yard run into the end zone. The Seahawks extended their lead to 14-0 when Bobby Engram caught an 11-yard TD pass from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

The Packers evened things up before the end of the quarter when Greg Jennings caught a 15-yard pass from Favre and Ryan Grant ran for 1 yard to even the game at 14-14 entering the second quarter.

Green Bay pulled away before halftime, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter on another Favre-to-Jennings score and another short TD run for Grant. The Seahawks added a field goal when Josh Brown connected on a 29-yard attempt. Green Bay led 28-17 at the half.

The Packers added to their lead in the third quarter. Favre connected with Brandon Jackson for a 13-yard score to make it 35-17 before Seattle added another field goal to pull within 35-20.

Green Bay secured the victory with a touchdown in the fourth quarter when Grant ran 1 yard for the score to extend the Packers' lead to 42-20. Grant tallied 201 yards and three TDs in the game.

Hasselbeck was 19-of-33 passing for 194 yards and a touchdown.