Joey Porter yanked off his helmet and gave it a jubilant fling, done with it for the day. With that, the Dolphins' latest victory celebration was under way.

The former Steelers linebacker's game-clinching sack punctuated another strong defensive effort, and the surprising Dolphins helped their playoff chances yesterday by beating visiting San Francisco (5-9), 14-9.

The Dolphins had possession for less than 22 minutes but held the opposition without a touchdown for the third game in a row, their first such stretch since 1973. San Francisco reached Miami's 21 before its final threat ended when Shaun Hill was sacked by Porter on fourth-and-10 with 1:02 left.

"We kept bending but never breaking," Porter said. "We made the plays when we had to."

The Dolphins (9-5), who began the day tied with the Patriots and Jets for the AFC East lead, won for the seventh time in eight games. It's quite a turnaround for a team that went 1-15 last season.

"We hung in there, as we have all season, and look at us now," defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "It's a great time to be a Dolphin, no doubt about it."

• Chargers 22, Chiefs 21: Philip Rivers rallied San Diego from a 21-3 third-quarter deficit, throwing two touchdown passes in the final 73 seconds, and the visiting Chargers stunned Kansas City. The Chiefs (2-12), aided by a delay of game penalty against the Chargers, tried a 50-yard field goal on the final play, but Connor Barth's kick missed. The victory kept alive the slender playoff hopes of the Chargers (6-8).

• Panthers 30, Broncos 10: Steve Smith caught nine passes for 165 yards and a score and led Carolina (11-3) to a home win against Denver (8-6). The win clinched at least a tie for the NFC South title for Carolina and prevented Denver from clinching the NFC West. Carolina improved to 8-0 at home.

• Colts 31, Lions 21: Visiting Detroit, seemingly on its way to the first 0-16 season in NFL history, was victimized in the fourth quarter by Peyton Manning and the Colts. Despite a litany of missed tackles and two lost fumbles, Manning kept the Colts (10-4) on track for a playoff run. And he kept the Lions (0-14) on track for a winless year.

• Falcons 13, Buccaneers 10: Michael Turner ran for 152 yards, John Abraham had three sacks and Jason Elam kicked a 34-yard field goal in overtime to give Atlanta a crucial home win against Tampa Bay. Atlanta twice turned it over near the Tampa Bay end zone and had a huge breakdown on special teams, allowing the Buccaneers to block a punt with less than three minutes left in regulation. That set up Matt Bryant's tying field goal with 48 seconds left. But the Falcons (9-5) stuffed Tampa Bay on the first possession of overtime as Abraham sacked fill-in quarterback Brian Griese on third down. After the punt, Atlanta drove downfield for Elam's winning kick, handing the Buccaneers (9-5) their second consecutive loss and tightening up the NFC South.

• Seahawks 23, Rams 20: The Seahawks (3-11) tied the score on T.J. Duckett's 1-yard run with 2:47 to go and then won it on Olindo Mare's 27-yard field goal as time expired for a road victory against the Rams (2-12).

• Jaguars 20, Packers 16: Green Bay's slim playoff chances ended in fitting fashion -- with another fourth-quarter collapse. David Garrard threw two touchdown passes, Maurice Jones-Drew scored twice and the Jaguars (5-9) won at Green Bay. The Packers (5-9) lost on a late drive for the third consecutive week. Carolina beat Green Bay, 35-31, two weeks ago with a 55-yard drive in the final two minutes. Houston kicked a winning field goal as time expired to win 24-21 last week.

• Jets 31, Bills 21: The Jets' defense was battered all game, with the Bills (6-8) primed for an upset. One big hit and one favorable bounce kept New York in control of its playoff destiny. Abram Elam sacked J.P. Losman and Shaun Ellis picked up the fumble and rumbled 11 yards into the end zone with less than two minutes left to give the Jets (9-5) the go-ahead score for a critical home victory.

• Patriots 49, Raiders 26: Randy Moss pointed to his name on the back of his jersey after each touchdown catch, as if he needed to introduce himself to the fans who rarely saw that kind of performance in his two seasons in Oakland (3-11). Moss caught two of Matt Cassel's career-high four touchdown passes in his first game against the Raiders since his trade to New England last season, leading the Patriots (9-5) to a road victory.

• Vikings 35, Cardinals 14: Playing in place of injured Gus Frerotte, Tarvaris Jackson threw for four touchdowns and the visiting Vikings (9-5) beat NFC West champion Arizona (8-6) to stay alone atop the NFC North.

• Cowboys 20, Giants 8: DeMarcus Ware added three sacks to his NFL-leading total and the Cowboys took down Eli Manning eight times on their way to a crucial home victory.