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A week after their first loss since early October, the Rams racked up season highs in points (45) and yards from scrimmage (530) in a road beatdown of the Cardinals. Arizona played tough early but collapsed under the onslaught of Los Angeles' persistent and balanced attack. Right now, the Kyren Williams-Blake Corum backfield combo looks like a real winner. The Rams nearly ran for as many yards (249) as they threw for (281) on Sunday, and their only negative plays on offense came on a few annoying penalties. Other than that, they were dominant, rewarding my faith in them -- keeping them in the No. 1 spot -- after the Week 13 defeat at Carolina. Tough games lie ahead against the Lions and Seahawks, the latter of which likely will decide the NFC West and could seal the top seed for the Rams.

The Seahawks were surprisingly sluggish in the first half, but they cranked it up after the break, with Rashid Shaheed giving them a huge nudge via his 100-yard kickoff return. What makes these 'Hawks dangerous is that they have firepower in all three phases of the game. The special teams feature big legs and TD potential in the return games. Sam Darnold and the offense certainly can turn up the heat, as they did in the second half at Atlanta. But the defense might be the most incendiary unit on the team, holding the Falcons to three field goals and forcing three turnovers. Granted, Seattle hasn't faced the most fearsome group of quarterbacks (and will avoid Daniel Jones in this Sunday's game against Indianapolis), but Mike Macdonald's defense is close to full health and firing on all cylinders. 

By sweeping the Raiders, the Broncos secured a key tiebreaker with the Patriots, earning a common-opponents edge between the two teams if they finish with the same record. That gives them pole position for the AFC's No. 1 seed, even if this thing could -- and probably will -- go down to the wire. Bo Nix led a very efficient offensive attack, with Denver scoring its first opening-drive touchdown since Week 2 and not letting up. There wasn't anything mind-blowing about Sunday's performance, but it was what was expected from a strong Denver team against a weak Las Vegas club, with the Raiders' late TD and field goal making this contest look a lot closer than it actually was. The Broncos' final four games are a real test, and don't expect any mercy when they visit Kansas City in a few weeks, even if the Chiefs are officially eliminated from postseason play by then.

Ten straight wins, followed by a bye and a shot to end the Bills' division run this Sunday in Foxborough. The Patriots are flying high in what could be a post-Chiefs playoff field, with a chance to earn a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Beating Buffalo won't be easy, especially with Josh Allen heating up and undoubtedly champing at the bit for a second crack at that Patriots defense, which will be without Milton Williams. New England also will be shorthanded on the offensive line for a bit, and the run game has had its limitations. But Drake Maye and his receivers, with some brilliant guidance from Josh McDaniels, have made it work quite well to this point. The Pats aren't a perfect team, but they're pretty darned compelling, and they'll give anyone they face from here on out a great battle. That's guaranteed.

Jordan Love has stepped up in a major way over the past couple games, with four touchdown passes against Detroit and three more vs. Chicago, rallying on Sunday after a bad early interception. The big-play threat is back in the Packers' offense, even if it was surprising how much man coverage the Bears threw their way. Still, Christian Watson had two long touchdowns, Bo Melton added one of his own, and Jayden Reed reprised his old role (with three big first-down conversions) in his long-awaited return from injury. It also helps when Josh Jacobs is grinding out late yards, fueling the game-winning drive with some big plays. The defense looked gassed by game's end, but a third-down stuff and fourth-down pick were just what Green Bay needed. This is a tough team with Super Bowl potential, even if the Pack nearly coughed up a double-digit lead to the Bears. 

Down 10 points late, with the snow really piling up, Josh Allen and an opportunistic Bills defense dominated the final eight minutes with an incredible flourish against the scrappy Bengals, keeping Buffalo's faint divisional hopes alive. The Bills will need to beat the well-rested Patriots on Sunday in Foxborough -- and do more than that -- to even harbor those thoughts, but it's possible. Yet, I think this team remains dangerous as a wild card, if that's the way it goes. With the Bengals, Ravens and Chiefs all falling off, and even the upstart Colts falling on hard times, you simply cannot count out an Allen-led group in the playoffs. I'm not ignoring Buffalo's defensive limitations, nor am I looking away from James Cook's rising fumble total. But with Allen, the Bills nearly always have a chance.

This was a humbling loss, not a demoralizing one, even if the Packers have seized temporary control of the division. The Lions aren't going away, either, and to demonstrate just how tenuous everything is at this time of year, the Bears fell from the top seed in the NFC last week to the last team in the playoff field. All for a team that was a few plays away from potentially stealing the game up in Green Bay. The rematch in two weekends remains huge and could shift the division back in the Bears' direction, but their hopes of a first-round bye might be gone now, and the wind's at Green Bay's back. Caleb Williams had his moments but couldn't finish, and the defense just gave up too many big plays, with not enough pressure and crossed wires in the secondary.

The league's most beat-up team rode into the Week 14 bye on a high, winning three straight, and you could make a strong case that having their week off earlier in the season might have helped more from a health standpoint. They're not going to get back any significant players from injury, and Kyle Juszczyk's status remains up in the air. That said, it's probably a great thing that San Francisco's stars -- especially workhorse Christian McCaffrey -- had a break. Winning out could actually give the Niners a shot at the No. 1 seed, and three of the final four are at home, with the lone road game (at Indianapolis) looking different following Daniel Jones' injury. Don't count San Francisco out, even with all the injuries.

If you were to ask me to identify Jacksonville's superpower, I'd probably stumble my way through an answer before mentioning the run defense. But once Daniel Jones was knocked out of Sunday's game, the Jaguars flexed their muscles and put the Colts away to wrest temporary control of the division. The Texans are coming, but these Jaguars are making things work in Liam Coen's first season. He might be running third in the Coach of the Year race behind Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson, but Coen's offense looked nice early against Indy before slowing down after halftime. All in all, though, this team is playing good football at the right time. Jacksonville has allowed just 13 points per game over the past four, and it's looking like the Jags could face undrafted rookie Brady Cook at QB when the Jets come to town this Sunday.

With their backs against the wall, the Lions willed their way to victory over the Cowboys and kept alive their streak of 15 straight wins following a loss. That's the kind of mental toughness Dan Campbell has instilled in his team, but that resilience is going to be put to the test with Brian Branch suffering a season-ending Achilles injury. The star safety is as much the heartbeat of Detroit's defense as Aidan Hutchinson is -- losing Branch at an already-thin position could be a massive blow to Kelvin Sheppard's unit. Adding to the degree of difficulty: three road games in the final four, with zero gimmes remaining. The Lions' only contest against a team that's not currently in the playoff field comes in a short week at Minnesota on Christmas Day. With Jahmyr Gibbs on their side, anything is possible. But no doubt, the Lions still have a ton of work to do and several obstacles in their way.

C.J. Stroud completed three passes in the second half -- three! -- but the Texans produced just enough offense to finish what the defense started. DeMeco Ryans' elite D has thrown some beauties this season, but Sunday night's effort was probably its most important performance of the season, with Houston intercepting Patrick Mahomes three times (even if the last one was a gift off the hands of Travis Kelce). Andy Reid rolled the dice twice on fourth downs, and in some ways, that was a nod to just how good the Texans are defensively. Reid felt he had to play that riskily in order to get any spark offensively. Houston also managed an injury to Nick Chubb, with Dare Ogunbowale spelling Woody Marks to score his first rushing TD since 2022 (on only his fourth carry of the season). The Texans keep finding ways to win games, and they could run their streak to seven straight, with the Cardinals and Raiders on tap in Houston. 

Justin Herbert was sacked seven times and hit a whole lot more, struggling to find open receivers and protect the broken left hand he had surgery on a week before Monday’s game. But it was Herbert’s running that gave the offense the tiny boost it needed, and though the Chargers failed to score a touchdown after their opening drive, they held on for dear life for a dramatic overtime win. The defense rose up time and time again, picking off Jalen Hurts four times, including the game-sealer just outside the end zone in overtime. Cameron Dicker remains the league's most underrated kicker, making five field goals, with three coming in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime. Just a gutsy, ugly, chaotic victory for Jim Harbaugh’s team, with style points absolutely unnecessary. The Bolts keep scraping by.

Jalen Hurts overcame a nightmarish first half to rally the Eagles and put them in position to beat the Chargers in overtime ... but then threw his fourth interception of the game on a pass forced into coverage. Hurts’ third INT clanged off A.J. Brown’s hands, but the other three -- plus his fumble after his own pick -- were on the quarterback. In the first half, the Eagles had a touchdown erased by a holding penalty, missed a field goal and generally looked listless offensively outside of Saquon Barkley. It was Barkley’s terrific, fourth-quarter TD run that put Philadelphia ahead for the first time, but the Eagles couldn’t contain Justin Herbert as a runner. Still, it’s hard to blame a defense that held the Chargers to 3.9 yards per play and didn't allow a touchdown after Los Angeles' opening drive. The Eagles consistently got good starting field position from the return teams but had eight empty drives and went 0-for-2 in the red zone. After a third straight loss, this will be another long week in Philly. If the Eagles can't get right in Sunday's home game against the lowly Raiders, the reigning champs are in serious trouble.

What a difference a week made. Mike Tomlin's future in Pittsburgh was , it felt like it could be it for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers were cooked ... until they went out and beat the Ravens in Baltimore. Rodgers came out like a man on a mission. He didn’t complete a pass of 20-plus air yards in the entire month of November, but he against the Ravens. Granted, the offense ran out of steam in the fourth quarter, and the defense started cracking, allowing Baltimore to score on four straight drives. But the Steelers were terrific in the red zone, holding the Ravens to two field goals and turning them over on downs in that area of the field, with Alex Highsmith’s sack deep in Pittsburgh territory ending it. The Steelers now have stolen the momentum back in the AFC North. Can they hang on to give Tomlin an eighth division title (and first since 2020)?

No way to sugarcoat it: Sunday went about as poorly as the Colts possibly could have imagined. Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, Indianapolis lost in Jacksonville (again), and now the Colts are a game back in the division race. We've elevated the concern level to DEFCON 1, with Indy falling to a 32 percent chance to make the playoffs. Even if the Colts can get back DeForest Buckner and Sauce Gardner on defense, the offense is adrift without Jones, and now backup QB Riley Leonard is dealing with of his own. Jones' Achilles tear could significantly impact the team's future plans for him, with the quarterback now set to hit free agency while rehabbing a major health setback. Just an awful turn of events that has thrown the franchise into a state of desperation. At the beginning of November, Indianapolis owned the best record in the NFL at 7-1. On Tuesday, the Colts signed 44-year-old Philip Rivers, who hasn't taken an NFL snap since January of 2021.

The Ravens’ playoff chances aren’t dead, but they absolutely coughed up a great chance by losing two straight at home to division rivals. After Baltimore was blown out by Cincinnati, it felt that the Ravens understood the assignment against a battered Steelers team, yet they fell behind by two touchdowns early and ultimately couldn’t make up enough ground. John Harbaugh's team probably needs to win out (vs. the Bengals, Patriots, Packers and Steelers) in order to get in, and that just doesn’t look likely after another disjointed, uneven performance. Watching Jaylen Warren go untouched for a long catch-and-run TD was a painful sight after all the progress the Ravens had made defensively, and Lamar Jackson -- as it’s been much of the season -- just couldn’t find a consistent rhythm.

Less than three minutes into Sunday’s game in Tampa, the Buccaneers found themselves in a hole they’d spend much of the game trying to dig themselves out of. They turned the ball over on downs a whopping five times, with Tampa Bay scoring only three points after the Saints gave the ball up in three possessions via a missed kick, an interception and their own fourth-down failure. Twice, the Bucs took the lead, only to see the Saints take it back both times. There would be no third-time charm. The Bucs remain the statistical favorites to win the NFC South, but they’ve made it harder on themselves and given the dangerous Panthers even more hope and opportunity to steal the division. Tampa Bay just hasn't looked right for a month or more.

The league's most curiously competitive team (along with the Jaguars), the Panthers floated into their Week 14 bye following the dramatic home victory over the Rams that gave them a real path to the postseason. Tampa Bay's crushing loss to New Orleans just made it a little smoother, too. Of course, the way this Carolina season has gone -- ping-ponging between wins and losses since Week 7, and having some interesting results along the way -- we're not taking anything for granted. The Saints are no gimme this Sunday; they beat the Panthers, 17-7, a month ago. But the division should be decided in Carolina's showdowns with Tampa Bay in Weeks 16 and 18. Can Bryce Young deliver? He, like the team, has been alternately hot and cold, but Young has a chance to fully secure his future in Carolina with a big finish.

The Cowboys' playoff chances are on life support after the loss at Detroit, a game in which the defense reverted to old form and the offensive line couldn't protect Dak Prescott consistently enough. CeeDee Lamb also was knocked out with a concussion, and George Pickens couldn't pick up the slack -- even if Ryan Flournoy did, in an eye-opening performance for the second-year pro. It will be interesting to see how much Flournoy is featured down the stretch and whether Pickens plays well enough to convince the Cowboys to make him a strong contract offer in the offseason. The 'Boys will still have plenty to play for down the stretch, even with the postseason dreams essentially cooked.

Kansas City isn't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs -- yet -- but Sunday felt like a funeral at Arrowhead, with the 20-10 loss to Houston officially ending the Chiefs' streak of division titles at nine. Patrick Mahomes didn't have anything close to a vintage game against a terrific Texans defense, but he also didn't drop two catchable passes with a chance to tie or win the game in the fourth quarter. First came Rashee Rice's brutal flub on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Texans. Then, after a great defensive stand, Travis Kelce's bobble ended up as a game-killing Texans interception. There couldn't have been a more cruel, painful knife twist than that ending -- a surefire sign that this offense is broken, even if we've known it for a while. We've done various pre-eulogies, maybe even retracting a few along the way, but this feels like it. A shocking end to an incredible run.

The Dolphins have won four straight games, and they’ve all come with Tua Tagovailoa failing to reach the 200-yard passing mark. They’ve undergone an identity shift in those four games, holding all four opponents to 17 points or fewer and leaning heavily on the run game. We’ll see if that can continue after De'Von Achane left the game with a rib injury (apparently, it's not too severe), although Jaylen Wright had a career game and Ollie Gordon II also chipped in with his own score. With its own playoff hopes dwindling, Miami continues its quest to play the role of spoiler down the stretch (three of its four remaining opponents harbor playoff hopes). But Mike McDaniel deserves credit for getting these Fins back on track. The fourth-year head coach appears to have cooled his seat considerably, even as the postseason remains the longest of long shots. 

Granted, it happened against a Washington defense that has made all kinds of opposing quarterbacks sparkle this season, but while many weren't looking, J.J. McCarthy had his most efficient and encouraging performance of the season on Sunday. Derailed by injuries and ineffectiveness to this point in his career, McCarthy put together a good showing on which to build. He moved around efficiently, didn't throw the ball into harm's way and generally made quicker, smarter decisions. And though Justin Jefferson was quiet again, McCarthy leaned heavily on his tight ends. That and a lights-out game defensively appeared to stun the home crowd after four straight losses. Other than the dip in draft position that resulted from this win, McCarthy playing a good game can only be viewed as a positive development.

We had fully bought into the Bengals' absurd and improbable playoff dream, but it almost certainly required holding on for victory Sunday against the Bills. Up 10 with eight minutes left, Joe Burrow was picked twice (on two of the shorter, stranger INTs you'll see on back-to-back passes), and Cincinnati allowed two quick TD drives to completely flip the game. The Bengals made their own bed with a disastrous string of games while Burrow was hurt, so blaming him after Sunday's two rather unlucky plays feels like a giant stretch. For most of the game, he matched Josh Allen blow for blow. Eventually, the Bengals must figure out how to avoid an early-season meltdown, lest they might perpetually find themselves in "There's always next year" mode.

Sunday's depressing defeat guaranteed that the Falcons will finish with a losing record, but honestly, that has felt clinched for a few weeks now. They're also 2-4 in Atlanta, with a home date left against the Rams. There just aren't many things to get excited about now, especially with DROY candidate Jalon Walker leaving the game with a quad injury. Bijan Robinson lost a fumble in the red zone, Kirk Cousins was picked twice and the special teams melted down for a second straight game, with a blocked field goal and a 100-yard TD allowed on a kickoff return, giving Seattle the momentum it needed to get going. Rookie James Pearce Jr. stepped up and played well, which is great, but then you remember where Atlanta's traded first-rounder is likely to land -- in the top 10 -- and it's depressing all over again.

Tyler Shough hasn't been amazing, but he's played well enough for the Saints to consider him as the possible starter in 2026. Even with an interception and limited passing success in Sunday's win over Tampa, Shough dealt well with heavy pressure and made big plays with his legs on his first two career rushing TDs. The rookie has looked pretty composed in leading two Saints victories in his five starts, and the Saints might have a chance to finish with five or six total Ws. It might be foolish at this moment to simply hand Shough the starting job next year. But this feels a little different than, say, when Desmond Ridder -- another former Day 2 pick -- finished his rookie season with a solid four-game opportunity for the 2022 Falcons, winning a few games down the stretch and needing only to beat out Taylor Heinicke for the starting job in Atlanta the next season.

That’s now three contests, each roughly a month apart, where Jayden Daniels has left a game he started with injury. It’s fair to wonder if we’ll see him again in 2025, because why would we? Entering the season, he was viewed as the crown jewel of an ascending franchise that went 12-5 and reached the NFC Championship Game, and now the Commanders are suddenly in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick. Eight straight losses will have that kind of effect on a team. Throw in Zach Ertz's torn ACL, and the suffering only has gotten worse. Dan Quinn was a Coach of the Year candidate last season, but he has had no solutions for the Commanders’ issues, which suddenly run deep and wide. This is going to be a fascinating offseason for this wayward team.

With Arizona's fifth straight loss (and 10th in 11 games) and the news that Kyler Murray won't return this season, it feels like we could be headed for another organizational shift of some note in the offseason. It's not clear who will survive and who'll be deemed expendable, but changes figure to come after a lost season. For the glass-half-full folks, yes, there have been more close losses than embarrassments this season, but we half-empty people also can't help but notice how three of the past five defeats have come via blowout, with 41 or more points allowed in each. This after the defense was provided a lot of resources last offseason. In a stacked NFC West, the Cardinals just can't compete as they're currently constructed.

Brady Cook was thrown into a tough spot in his NFL debut after Tyrod Taylor left with a groin injury, asked to pull the Jets out of a 21-0 hole without many weapons or good protection. The Jets' special teams did their part, but the other two units came up way short in the loss to Miami. Cook certainly missed a few throws against the Dolphins, including a pair of red-zone picks, but his receivers didn't do him many favors, either. Taylor isn't the Jets' future. Justin Fields probably isn't, either. And Cook has a long way to go just to prove he deserves a roster spot next summer. So, the Jets almost certainly will focus their energies on solving the long-running QB concern this team has been dealing with for, well, decades. The Jets are currently slotted to pick fifth in the 2026 NFL Draft, and there's no guarantee they can get the right one there, although it helps that a few teams above them might already have their quarterbacks rostered. Not to mention, New York has a second first-rounder to play with, thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade.

Shedeur Sanders is still only completing 52.4 percent of his passes, and his stressed-out prayer throw into traffic -- which was predictably intercepted -- is the kind of play he'll need to work out of his system as he grows into NFL quarterbacking. But Sanders has provided more high notes than lows to this point, adding a clever rushing touchdown, with two of his three TD passes being absolute beauties. He hasn't done enough to be anointed anything after this season, but it's very tough to say he hasn't earned this shot to start for the rest of the year -- and Sanders had nothing to do with the second disastrous two-point try that prevented the Browns from tying the game late. The defense's failure to hem in the Titans' run game was one of the stranger developments of the season. Then again, losing in disappointing fashion is old hat for these Browns. 

Coming off a pretty humbling loss, even by 2-11 team standards, the Giants had an interesting bye week. GM Joe Schoen took some bullets during a pretty stressful press conference -- hat tip to him for taking it like a man and accepting blame. It seems for now that Schoen will return in 2026, although no final decisions have been made. On Sunday, two of the Giants' QBs did the pre-game circuit, hamming for the cameras -- and no, Jaxson Dart was not one of them. He's had a really promising rookie season and is probably the biggest feather Schoen has in his cap, even with other high-end talents on injured reserve. How the Giants play out the string against, presumably, four non-playoff teams will tell us a lot about how the subsequent offseason could look.

Someone will have to explain to me how a Titans rushing offense that ranked 32nd entering Week 14 racked up 184 yards -- tied for the most the Browns have allowed in a game this season -- against a unit that is barely allowing 100 yards on the ground per game even after Sunday. Whatever the case, the Titans put forth their best all-around effort of the season, functionally good in all three phases. Yes, Cam Ward had a pick and averaged only 4.2 yards per pass attempt; he also threw two impressive TD passes and avoided the huge mistakes. Cleveland gifted the Titans two short-field touchdowns, but Tennessee's defense showed up when it needed to most, and it was a gutsy outing for a team that has been through the ringer. Mike McCoy certainly had to enjoy that one after losing his first six games as interim coach by a combined 80 points.

I preemptively moved Las Vegas into the cellar a couple weeks ago, even though Tennessee had a worse record, and it was one of my smarter calls of the season. Not to dance on the Raiders' grave or anything, but even after a moderately respectable showing against Denver, they still looked eons away from truly competing on Sunday. Hey, at least Vegas didn't turn the ball over once for the first time since Week 3. But the run game remains anemic, putting a lot of pressure on the Raiders to figure out how to unlock Ashton Jeanty going forward. The Raiders somehow ran for 240 yards against the Bears in Week 4 but have just 232 rush yards combined in the past five games. That's ... something.