KWON ALEXANDER

The New Orleans Saints just missed making the playoffs on Sunday, despite beating the Atlanta Falcons 30-20.

Josh Allen passed for 260 yards and four touchdowns, Buffalo’s defense stifled New Orleans’ short-handed offense and the Bills rolled to a 31-6 victory that sent the injury-ravaged Saints to their fourth straight loss.

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)The NFC playoff field features the usual cast of quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 45, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Feb. 6, 2011, at Arlington, Texas. Last Lombardi: Super Bowl 48, 43-8 over the Denver Broncos on Feb. 2, 2014, at East Rutherford, N.J. Last year: No. The Bears’ leading tackler left in the first quarter of the Green Bay game with an elbow injury. DBs Buster Skrine, rookie Jaylon Johnson and Deon Bush missed the loss to Green Bay.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Francisco 49ers will be without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and All-Pro tight end George Kittle for an extended period of time after they got hurt against Seattle. A person familiar with the injuries said Monday on condition of anonymity that Garoppolo’s ankle injury and Kittle’s foot injury will sideline them indefinitely. San Francisco already has been forced to play without defensive ends Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and Solomon Thomas; top cornerback Richard Sherman, No. He hurt his shoulder in New England in 2016 and had a season-ending injury for San Francisco in 2018. San Francisco also traded linebacker Kwon Alexander to New Orleans on Monday in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round draft choice.

Wilson and Metcalf tormented San Francisco and its banged up secondary as the top-scoring offense in the league continued to pile up points. Wilson found rookie DeeJay Dallas on a 2-yard TD pass after San Francisco went three-and-out to open the second half for a 20-7 lead. The momentum from two straight wins for San Francisco (4-4) evaporated in a hurry as more injuries continued to pile up. On Metcalf’s second TD, Moseley was flagged for interference but couldn’t keep Metcalf’s size and strength from still making the catch. San Francisco played without starters Deebo Samuel, Jeff Wilson Jr., Kwon Alexander and safety Jaquiski Tartt.

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jimmy Garoppolo’s early NFL education came going up against Bill Belichick’s complicated defense each day in practice with the New England Patriots. Now Garoppolo gets his first chance to go up against his former coach and team since being traded away to San Francisco nearly three years ago when the 49ers visit the Patriots on Sunday. “It set me up for everything here, made the transition a lot easier,” Garoppolo said about the work he did with the Patriots. I’m glad that it’s worked out for him and San Francisco. “I think that’s one of the most impressive things about Jimmy,” Shanahan said.