MIAMI - As Dave Wannstedt trotted off the field and disappeared into a stadium tunnel, fans above him cheered and offered thumbs-up gestures in support.
The beleaguered Dolphins coach closed the season with a win. The question is whether he'll be back.
Wannstedt's job situation would be less precarious if the Dolphins played all season the way they did in a meaningless finale. They showed some offensive spark and Olindo Mare kicked a 22-yard field goal with three seconds left.
Miami became the first team since Philadelphia and San Francisco in 1991 to win 10 games and miss the playoffs. As a result, Wannstedt's job is in jeopardy and owner Wayne Huizenga said he'll make an announcement regarding the coach's future today. Wannstedt, 41-23 in four seasons at Miami, has one year left on his contract.
"I'm going to meet with Wayne (today)," Wannstedt said. "We're going to talk about the direction of the team. We've had no discussions about next year."
Jay Fiedler threw for a career-high 328 yards and completed three passes to drive the Dolphins 45 yards in the final 2:56 for the winning score.
The game had the atmosphere of an August exhibition, with some 20,000 empty seats.
"It was real tough to get up for this game, even the Jets," Miami defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "I was slapping myself to get ready."
Chiefs 31, Bears 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - People have stopped questioning Priest Holmes' future in the NFL and begun talking about his place in league history.
Kansas City's muscular running back scored twice, knocking Emmitt Smith and Marshall Faulk down a notch in the record book.
Offseason hip surgery led to questions about Holmes' ability to regain the form that allowed him to lead the league in yards from scrimmage in consecutive seasons.
But he strutted into the end zone on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to break Smith's season record of 25 touchdowns rushing.
And he vaulted over the goal line in the third for his 27th TD, breaking the overall touchdown record Faulk set in 2000.
"I feel joy, excitement," Holmes said.
The Bears finished 7-9 amid speculation about the job security of coach Dick Jauron, who is 35-46 in five seasons.
"We'll find that out pretty quickly, I would think," Jauron said when asked about his status.
"I've loved being here. It's a great franchise. It is the charter franchise."
Greg Wesley intercepted Kordell Stewart's pass in the third and Holmes capped the ensuing 28-yard drive with a 2-yard TD for a 21-3 lead with 58 seconds left in the quarter.
Kansas City has a team-record 13 consecutive wins at home.
Cardinals 18, Vikings 17
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona's Nathan Poole was Randy Moss' college teammate and spent all week pretending to be him on the scout team.
The impersonation reached perfection Sunday with Poole's 28-yard touchdown from Josh McCown as time expired that knocked the stunned Vikings out of the playoffs.
The play came on fourth and 25 and took the NFC North title from the Vikings.
Poole caught the ball near the sideline in the end zone and was ruled forced out by Denard Walker and Brian Russell. Green Bay won the NFC North.
"We said "Let's be the best receiver corps on the field,"' Poole said. "I don't know about statswise, but we came out with the victory, so we was the best receiving corps out there."
Officials reviewed the play to see if Poole had control when he went out of bounds.
McCown had been sacked on second and third downs, and Arizona barely got the final play off with four seconds to go.
Arizona cut the lead to 17-12 on McCown's 2-yard touchdown to Steve Bush with 1:54 to play on fourth and goal. A pass to Emmitt Smith fell a yard shy on the two-point conversion try. But Damien Anderson recovered the onside kick for Arizona, and a 30-yard pass-interference call against Walker put the Cardinals at the Minnesota 31.
Chargers 21, Raiders 14
SAN DIEGO - What more can the Chargers say about LaDainian Tomlinson that they haven't already said in his brief, sensational career?
At this point, not much. They'll just sit back and continue to be thrilled every time he touches the ball.
Tomlinson took some sting off an otherwise awful season for the Chargers by rushing 31 times for a career-high 243 yards and two touchdowns against AFC West rival Oakland.
The third-year pro has four career 200-yard games, tying him for second on the career list with Jim Brown, Earl Campbell and Barry Sanders. O.J. Simpson had six.
"I'm an English major and I run out of superlatives," coach Marty Schottenheimer said.
It was Tomlinson's second 200-yard game this season. He finished with 1,645 yards. He also became the first full-time running back in NFL history to catch 100 passes.
It was the second-best rushing performance in the league this season, behind the single-game record 295 yards by Baltimore's Jamal Lewis. It tied for 10th best in NFL history.
"The main focus was just trying to win this last game, obviously, against the Raiders," Tomlinson said. "It just felt good to just play well."
The Chargers and Raiders finished 4-12, tying with the New York Giants and Arizona for the worst record. The Chargers get the No.1 pick in the draft for the second time in four years, based on strength of schedule.
Lions 30, Rams 20
DETROIT - Grant Wistrom stewed on a chair in front of his locker, with an ice pack on his elbow and a disgusted look on his face.
With the top seed in the NFC to play for, St. Louis could not beat a team with only pride on the line.
Joey Harrington threw three touchdowns and Rams counterpart Marc Bulger was knocked out of the game in one of the season's biggest shockers.
The Lions scored 20 consecutive in the first 15:31 of the second half to take a 30-20 lead, which they easily maintained against the suddenly shaky Rams, who had won seven straight.
"We came out flat," Wistrom said. "It was evident when we warmed up and on the first snap. Football is an emotional game, and they obviously wanted it more than we did."
St. Louis squandered a chance to be at home throughout the playoffs, something it had en route to the 2001 and 1999 NFC championships.
"This team was not prepared and ultimately, that comes back on me," St. Louis coach Mike Martz said. "I just felt like we weren't as excited about playing as we normally are, and that's my responsibility."
Marshall Faulk was held to 35 yards rushing and a score, and 40 yards receiving. Torry Holt had five catches for 54 yards.
"For today, we were the best team in football and that feels good," Harrington said. "It gives us as a team and as a city a taste of what that is like."
Browns 22, Bengals 14
CINCINNATI - Chad Johnson had nothing to celebrate. The Bengals again do not have a winning record. The playoffs vanished. One last time, can you say Bungles?
Rookie Lee Suggs ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns, leading Cleveland to a victory that eliminated Cincinnati from playoff contention.
A renaissance season ended in a gut-wrenching disappointment for the Bengals. The crowd of 65,362, the largest for a Bengals game in Cincinnati, filed out silently after Jon Kitna was intercepted by Robert Griffith with 41 seconds left.
Suggs, getting a chance during William Green's suspension, had a 78-yard touchdown run in the first half and a 25-yard run that put the Browns ahead to stay with 7:54 left.
"Teams passed on me 114 times," said Suggs, the 115th overall pick. "I've got to prove I'm better than a fourth-round pick, the 11th back taken. I'll carry that with me the rest of my career."
A makeshift offensive line punched big holes in Cincinnati's defense. The Browns rushed for a season-high 178 yards in the first half.
Johnson, who promised a memorable, fine-inducing touchdown celebration, failed to score and left in the third quarter to get intravenous fluids because of leg cramps.
"This was a good year. It wasn't a great year," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "We've got more to do."[Last modified December 29, 2003, 01:01:24]
