Victory would have clinched a Miami play-off berth, while at the same time eliminating the Colts. Instead, Peyton Manning steered the visitors to a victory which leaves both sides facing vital games next weekend.The Green Bay Packers maintained their slender hopes with an impressive 33-28 triumph in Minnesota. Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes while the running back Ahman Green rushed for a career-high 161 yards.The Vikings may have qualified for the post-season, but two successive heavy defeats have raised questions about their ability to mount a sustained challenge.The New Orleans Saints effectively claimed a post-season berth with a comfortable stroll past Atlanta. The quarterback Aaron Brooks continues to catch the eye, completing 23 of his 35 passes for 285 yards.Results on Saturday only served to further cloud the post-season picture. The Pittsburgh Steelers stayed alive with an emphatic victory over the woeful Washington Redskins.

The Steelers' 24-3 win was the last game to be played at the legendary Three Rivers Stadium, which is due to be demolished within the next few days.However, the Oakland Raiders, already through, hardly enhanced their cause with a shock defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks.That setback gave the Denver Broncos a chance to claim the leadership of the AFC Western division, but they looked horrible in a 20-7 mauling in Kansas City. The Chiefs rushed for 264 yards, Tony Richardson claiming 157 of them, as Denver wilted in hostile territory.With only one week of the regular season remaining, 16 teams remain in contention for the 12 play-off places, and with every weekend throwing up a variety of shocks, a strong finish could be sufficient.. This year's King George VI Chase could still prove to be one of the more competitive renewals of recent years but opposition to the the favourite, See More Business, is starting to melt away even before today's declaration stage for the Boxing Day feature. This year's King George VI Chase could still prove to be one of the more competitive renewals of recent years but opposition to the the favourite, See More Business, is starting to melt away even before today's declaration stage for the Boxing Day feature. The breadth of opportunities open to staying chasers at this time of year - providing the weather does not intervene - is one of the causes for the field cutting up. Marlborough, who looked prime King George and Gold Cup material when winning at Cheltenham last time, will be declared today but is more likely to run in the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby the following day.

That is regarded by connections as a safer stepping stone towards his prime target at the Cheltenham Festival in March.The Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown is another counter attraction and last year's King George runner-up, Go Ballistic, could be heading to the Foxrock course. Now with Richard Phillips, the gelding scored over hurdles on his last run at Cheltenham earlier this month.The connections of Bobby Grant, who impressed in beating the Hennessy Gold Cup winner, King's Road, in the Tommy Whittle Chase at Haydock last time, prefer a return visit to the Lancashire track and the Peter Marsh Chase on 20 January is the likely target.As a result, William Hill have shaved See More Business to 11-8 favourite, while Ladbrokes are as short as 5-4 about the dual King George winner.One contender who is still prepared to take on the favourite is Direct Route, who will certainly be among today's confirmations for the race and who will make the journey to Sunbury if the underfoot conditions indicate that the trip might be worthwhile."He'll be confirmed and we'll have a look," Direct Route's Co Durham-based trainer, Howard Johnson, said yesterday. "But we'll not go down unless it's genuinely good ground."Soft ground on the racecourse and waterlogged ground on the gallops delayed Direct Route's return to action this season but the nine-year-old eventually reappeared in the Tingle Creek Trophy at Cheltenham where he finished fifth behind Flagship Uberalles.The Irish bookmakers Cashmans have opened betting on the Ericsson Chase and make Native Upmanship their 11-8 favourite following his victory over Florida Pearl in the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown this month. With Nick Dundee, who also runs in the same colours - those of Susan Magnier - on 9-4 and the Hennessy Gold Cup third, Alexander Banquet, also likely to be in the line-up, the Irish have a formidable team to see off Go Ballistic and any other British challengers.* To add to the 16 meetings lost to waterlogging already this month, yesterday's all-weather meeting at Southwell succumbed to the weather, thick fog making racing impossible.KING GEORGE VI CHASE (Kempton, Boxing Day): Ladbrokes: 5-4 See More Business, 11-4 First Gold, 6-1 Florida Pearl, 7-1 Legal Right, 10-1 Beau, 12-1 Edredon Bleu, 14-1 Go Ballistic, 16-1 Lady Cricket, 20-1 Direct Route, Lord Noelie, Upgrade, 25-1 others. William Hill: 11-8 See More Business, 5-2 First Gold, 5-1 Florida Pearl, 8-1 Legal Right, 10-1 Edredon Bleu, 12-1 Beau, 16-1 Fadalko, Go Ballistic, 20-1 Direct Route, Lady Cricket, Lord Noelie, 25-1 others.ERICSSON CHASE (Leopardstown, 28 December), Cashmans: 11-8 Native Upmanship, 15-8 Alexander Banquet, 9-4 Nick Dundee, 14-1 Dorans Pride, 20-1 Mickos Dream..

For the second time in succession, Yves Parlier, one of France's most highly respected single-handed sailors, has been knocked out of the Vendée Globe race, when lying third. For the second time in succession, Yves Parlier, one of France's most highly respected single-handed sailors, has been knocked out of the Vendée Globe race, when lying third. Yesterday he reported that his 60ft Aquitaine Inovations had been dismasted as he was trying to close the gap on the leaders, Michel Desjoyeaux and Roland Jourdain.In 1997-98 he was forced to abandon the race when his rudder was smashed in a collision with a "growler", a semi-submerged small fragment of iceberg. In 1993-94 he came fourth after being dismasted soon after the start, returning to fit a new mast and then re-starting.He has told the race controllers in Paris that all is well and he is heading to Perth, Western Australia, which is 1,545 miles away. But the race director, Philippe Jeantot, has asked two of his rivals, Britain's Ellen MacArthur and the man who recently set a new world record for distance covered in 24 hours by a single-hander, Switzerland's Dominique Wavre, to divert and ensure he has help at hand.MacArthur is still recovering from her ordeal at the weekend when, during repairs to her sails, the boat was flattened and she had to climb the mast to sort out problems with the mainsail. After being bruised and battered for over an hour she said that the experience had brought her "the closest to death I have come''.But she was fifth, just 12 miles behind Thomas Coville when the call for help came through and would, therefore have been disputing third overall, as Parlier drops out of the reckoning.