American Football: Soaring Jets seize on Dolphins' collapse

One of the most complex and gripping regular seasons for many years reached a conclusion on Sunday, with a couple of genuine Super Bowl candidates falling by the wayside as a result of some late twists to an intriguing campaign.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the failure of the Miami Dolphins to qualify for next month's post-season. Hot prospects two weeks ago, the Dolphins were then beaten by lowly Minnesota, setting up a tense encounter against the New England Patriots in which victory was essential for both teams.

The Dolphins have been plagued by late-season collapses in recent years, but those demons seemed to have been exorcised as they cruised to a 21-7 lead in the third quarter, the running back Ricky Williams pounding his way to 120 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. Then familiar self-doubts began to surface.

Instead of finishing the job, the Dolphins became edgy, and an 11-point lead evaporated inside a frenetic last three minutes. New England, the defending Super Bowl champions, finished the job in overtime, Adam Vinatieri converting a 35-yard field goal to give the home side an improbable 27-24 triumph.

The action was being watched with interest in New York, where the Jets, preparing to host Green Bay Packers, now knew their fate. A loss would eliminate them, but a win would allow the New Yorkers to leapfrog both the Dolphins and the Patriots, and enable them to gatecrash the play-off party.

The result was never in doubt. Chad Pennington, the Jets' impressive young quarter-back, confirmed his growing reputation by throwing four touchdowns as the Jets crushed the Packers, 42-17. Having seemed doomed with only one win from their first five matches, the Jets have timed their run to perfection.

"We've definitely opened some eyes and people realise we are not a fluke," Pennington said. "We have a lot of character on this team. It's about coming together when no one else thinks you can."

New York's joy meant despair for New England and Miami, both of whom have been eliminated. "This team does not have a killer instinct," Zach Thomas, the Miami linebacker, said. "I am sick and tired about hearing how good we are. We cannot win a big game."

Those results meant that the Cleveland Browns had the chance to sneak in at the death if they could beat the Atlanta Falcons. Things looked bleak when their quarter-back, Tim Couch, broke his leg in the third quarter with his side trailing 16-10. However, his replacement, Kelly Holcomb, displayed great poise by throwing a touchdown to Kevin Johnson with seven minutes to go. The running back William Green made things safe for Cleveland at 24-16 with a 64-yard touchdown run three minutes later.

Atlanta's loss meant that their prospects of qualifying for the play-offs now rested on the New Orleans Saints losing at home to the lowly Carolina Panthers. It looked a forlorn hope, but the Saints suffered a late-season swoon every bit as dramatic as Miami's: Rodney Peete's early touchdown to Brad Hoover helping Carolina to a 10-6 upset, a result which ended the New Orleans challenge while also giving the Falcons an unexpected reprieve.

The end of the regular season means that some coaches will pay for failure with their jobs. Dave Campo of the Dallas Cowboys looks the most vulnerable, but others pondering fresh career options are Tom Coughlin, who was sacked by Jacksonville yesterday, and possibly Denver's Mike Shanahan. Bill Parcells, the former New York Giants coach who led his team to two Super Bowl wins, has been linked with all three jobs, and looks set to return to the fray less than a year after announcing that he would never coach again. Another head coach to go yesterday was Dick LeBeau, whose contract was not renewed by Cincinnati.