A sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan State, Edinger kicked a career-best 54-yard field goal with two seconds left to lift the Chicago Bears to a 23-20 victory over the Detroit Lions and enable the defending Super Bowl champion Rams to grab the last NFC wild card playoff berth.

With Marshall Faulk rushing for a career-high 220 yards and eclipsing Emmitt Smith's single-season record for touchdowns, the Rams posted a 26-21 win over the New Orleans Saints moments before Edinger's winning kick.

"Thank you, Chicago," Rams defensive tackle D'Marco Farr said. "Our fans will adopt their team and we'll root for them until we play them again."

The Miami Dolphins clinched the AFC East with a wild 27-24 victory over the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts earned the final AFC wild card spot with a 31-10 rout of the Minnesota Vikings after the New York Jets blew their chance.

Despite their loss, the Vikings (11-5) clinched the NFC Central title when the Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime. And the Oakland Raiders (12-4) won their first AFC West crown since 1990 with a 52-9 rout of the Carolina Panthers.

St. Louis could not have expected it to come to this after starting the season 6-0. But today, the destiny of the defending Super Bowl champions was in the hands of the lowly Bears (5-11), who finished last in the NFC Central.

And Edinger and cornerback R.W. McQuarters were the unlikely Chicago heroes for the Rams.

Edinger had not converted a field goal longer than 50 yards before today. But he booted a 50-yarder in the second quarter and drilled the game-winner with plenty of distance to spare, eliminating the Lions (9-7) from the playoff race.

"There was a lot on my mind, but you don't think about it," Edinger said. "You just go out and make the kick."

McQuarters returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 20-17 lead with 6:31 left and forced the fumble by Lions quarterback Stoney Case that set up the winning kick.

"We didn't win the big game," Lions defensive end Tracy Scroggins said. "This is definitely one of the most disappointing moments I've had here."

Making a final claim for NFL MVP honors, Faulk scored three TDs to give him a league-record 26, surpassing the 25 set by Smith in 1995 for the Dallas Cowboys.

"It was a big game for us. We wanted to not worry about the whole Chicago-Detroit thing," Faulk said. "We just wanted to come out and play the kind of game that we are capable of playing."

The Rams (10-6) and New Orleans (10-6) shared the NFC West title, but the Saints won the tiebreaker on the basis of a better division record. Next weekend, the teams will meet again in the wild card round at the Superdome.

Despite being soundly outplayed today, Saints receiver Joe Horn relishes the chance to face the Rams next week in the playoffs.

"That is good," he said. "So all you Ram bandwagoners hop on with them. I'm glad they're coming back next week. I could care less if Chicago won or lost."

Rams cornerback Todd Lyght isn't buying Horn's bravado.

"A lot of teams don't want to see us (in the playoffs)," Lyght said. "They might say they want to play us, but deep down they don't want to see us. They know the type of character we have in this room."

How could the Saints want to see Faulk again? Today, he carried the ball 32 times and scored on runs of nine and one yard. He also caught seven passes for 41 yards, including a 13-yard TD.

St. Louis' win officially eliminated the Packers (9-7) from the NFC playoff race. Ryan Longwell's 22-yard field goal 6:31 into overtime lifted Green Bay over Tampa Bay.

The loss denied Tampa Bay (10-6) a chance to win the NFC Central title. The Buccaneers will visit the Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) in the NFC's other wild card game next weekend. The Eagles finished the regular season today with a 16-7 win over Cincinnati.

In one of the most bizarre endings in NFL history, the Dolphins (11-5) captured their first division title in six years with a come-from-behind 27-24 victory over the New England Patriots.

Olindo Mare redeemed himself with a 49-yard field goal with nine seconds left, breaking a 24-24 tie. After the ensuing kickoff, Drew Bledsoe was penalized for an illegal forward pass and the game ended -- apparently.

While Dave Wannstedt was celebrating Miami's fourth straight playoff berth, he was interrupted by referee Johnny Grier, who informed the first-year coach that a review of the final play determined that Bledsoe threw an incompletion before the forward lateral that resulted in a penalty.

So, more than 30 minutes after time ran out and fans left Foxboro Stadium, both teams were called back onto the field and three seconds were put back on the clock.

"That was as bizarre as anything I have seen on a football field," said Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas. "It was like the Florida recount all over again. This was a game I'll never forget. We battled through adversity, big deficits and won the division."

In front of two dozen stragglers and with many players wearing towels on the sidelines, backup Michael Bishop's desperation heave fell incomplete.

With an opportunity to make the playoffs after the Jets (9-7) lost earlier in the day, Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison carried the Colts (10-6).

Manning completed 25-of-36 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Harrison.

Needing 10 catches to reach 100 for the second straight year, Harrison had 12 for 109 yards. He caught touchdown passes of four, 15 and 18 yards.

James rushed for 128 yards on 26 carries and likely won his second rushing title in as many NFL seasons. Today's performance raised his total to 1,709 yards. Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans has 1,426 yards and plays his final game on Monday.

The Colts closed the season with three straight wins to earn the final AFC wild card spot and will meet Miami in the wild card round next weekend.

"It's a good feeling," James said. "Everybody stuck together. We had a lot of people that were down on us and we still came out on top. We got help from friends, you could say, and now it's an even slate and everybody's equal right now."

The Vikings (11-5) finished the season with three consecutive losses but clinched the NFC Central title when Tampa Bay lost to Green Bay and have a first-round bye.

Indianapolis' win officially eliminated the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7), who needed both the Jets and Colts to lose today. Pittsburgh posted a 34-21 victory over the San Diego Chargers, who finished with a league-worst 1-15 record.

Cornerback Chris McAlister ran back an interception 98 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter and Jermaine Lewis returned two punts for scores in the second half to lead the Baltimore Ravens to a 34-20 win over the Jets.

Baltimore also set an NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season with 165. The 1986 Chicago Bears yielded 187.

"As a whole, you have to be proud a little bit of what we did," Ravens safety Rod Woodson said. "This doesn't happen every year. I think it will stand for a very long time."

In the playoffs for the first time in team history, the Ravens (12-4) can win the AFC Central and gain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if the Dallas Cowboys upset the Titans (12-3) on Monday night.

If Tennessee wins, the Ravens will host the Denver Broncos (12-4) in an AFC wild card game next weekend.

New York looked like a sure bet to make the playoffs three weeks ago with a 9-4 record but suffered losses to Oakland and Detroit before today.

"I would have bet the whole house that we would not lose three games in a row," Jets running back Curtis Martin said.

Rich Gannon threw a career-high five touchdown passes in Oakland's rout of Carolina. Along with winning the division, the Raiders secured a first-round playoff bye.

Gannon, a candidate for NFL Most Valuable Player honors, stated his case in today's regular-season finale, throwing three touchdowns in the first half, when the Raiders built a 24-9 advantage. He completed 26-of-32 passes for 230 yards before leaving late in the fourth quarter.

In other games today, the Washington Redskins finished off a disappointing season with a 20-3 win over Arizona and the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 29-13.

On Saturday, the NFC East champion New York Giants clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 28-25 win over Jacksonville and the Broncos rolled to a 38-9 rout of San Francisco in the final game at Mile High Stadium.

On Monday night, the defending AFC champion Titans will need a win against Dallas (5-10) to capture the Central Division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Securing home-field would be a huge advantage for Tennessee, which is 15-1 all-time, including the playoffs, at Adelphia Coliseum.