DeMarcus Ware recovered a fumble in overtime sealing Denver's 20-17 victory over Cincinnati on Monday night.
Russell Bodine's catchable shotgun snap eluded AJ McCarron, who was making his second start in place of Andy Dalton. He raced to recover it, but Ware swept past right tackle Andrew Smith and secured Denver's fifth consecutive trip to the postseason.
Ware's recovery followed a 37-yard field goal by Brandon McManus, whose shanked 45-yarder at the end of regulation made necessary the extra drama.
The Bengals blew a chance to earn a bye in the playoffs and move ahead of the New England Patriots in the race for the AFC's top seed.
AJ McCarron drove the Bengals on two long first-half drives, covering 80 and 90 yards and eating up a total of 16:24 to put Cincinnati ahead 14-0. He threw a 5-yard TD pass to A.J. Green and Mohamed Sanu scooted in from 6 yards out on a direct snap.
Brock Osweiler finished 27 of 39 for 299 yards and a TD.
McCarron finished 22 of 35 for 200 yards.
Green hauled in five catches for 57 yards and Jeremy Hill rumbled for 63 yards on 19 carries.
Owen Daniels had five receptions for 70 yards for the Broncos.
>>Seahawks DE Bennett Calls Rams Punter 'Little Girl'
If Johnny Hekker keeps it up, there's a good chance the Rams punter is going to be the most hated player in the NFL by the end of the regular season.
Hekker made a few new enemies on Sunday after he took out Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril with a cheap shot following a second quarter punt.
On the play, Seahawks' punt returner Tyler Lockett called for a fair catch, which is what made the blindside hit so cheap. Hekker was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play.
As you can imagine, Avril wasn't happy about being blindsided.
"It was uncalled for, for sure," Avril said, via the Seattle Times. "Especially coming from a punter. You don't expect that from a punter."
On Hekker's next punt, Avril teamed up with teammate Michael Bennett to teach Hekker a lesson. Both players pretended like they were going to hit Hekker, who fell to the ground so he could avoid contact with the Seahawks players.
Even though Hekker went down on his own, the plan worked, according to Bennett.
"He was scared. He squealed like a little girl," Bennett said.
After the game, Hekker promised that he would try and avoid any future personal foul penalties.
Hekker has a history of taking cheap shots, something that the Ravens official Twitter account pointed that out on Monday.
Back in November, Hekker took a cheap shot on Ravens safety Will Hill during Baltimore's 16-13 win over St. Louis.
Hekker also did the same thing to a Saints defender in 2013.
