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The New England Patriots–Baltimore Ravens game was flexed to Sunday Night Football in Week 16, while the Cincinnati Bengals–Miami Dolphins game will move to the early window, the NFL announced.

The Patriots lead the AFC at 11-2 and are on a 10-game winning streak. The Ravens are 6-7 and were on a five-game winning streak before their Thanksgiving loss to the Bengals. After Sunday’s loss to the Steelers, the Ravens have dropped two straight games against divisional opponents.

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Sunday night’s matchup will have playoff and seeding implications for both teams and will feature a quarterback battle between New England’s Drake Maye and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. Maye has thrown for 3,412 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in his second season. He has emerged as one of the favorites to win MVP.

Jackson has won the MVP award twice and was the runner-up last season, but he is having a down season while dealing with multiple injuries. He’s thrown for 2,060 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has also run for 307 yards, which is on pace for a career low.

The Bengals are 4-9 and the Dolphins are 6-7. Both teams face nearly impossible odds of making the playoffs.

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward has entered concussion protocol for a third time this season, just weeks after he said his second concussion made him consider quitting football.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen announced the news Monday. Per the Colts, Ward reported concussion symptoms after Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars and remained in protocol as of Monday. It’s not clear when or how he sustained the injury that placed him in protocol. Ward did not speak with reporters Monday.

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Steichen didn’t offer much detail regarding his injury, but said this when asked if he was concerned about Ward’s repeated concussions:

“Yeah, I think it’s always concerning when you have that many concussions,” Steichen said. “He’s in the protocol, like I said. We’ll work through it with him and we’ll go from there.”

Ward’s previous concussion sidelined him for 5 games

That concern is exacerbated considering Ward said Nov. 21 his second concussion of the season was a “real-deal traumatic injury.”

Ward first sustained a concussion this season in Week 1 against the Dolphins. He described that injury as one that felt like “a little migraine.” He missed Week 2 against the Broncos before returning for a Week 3 game against the Titans.

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Ward sustained his second concussion of the season in pregame warmups ahead of Week 6 when teammate Drew Ogletree collided with him during a drill without pads or helmets. That concussion knocked Ward out cold.

Ward missed five games with the brain injury.

He described ahead of his Week 12 return a harrowing experience that included vomiting and dizziness that prompted him to consider quitting football.

“The one I had a second time, I was throwing up, getting dizzy,” Ward said Nov. 21. “I was getting dizzy for like a month. That was like a real-deal traumatic injury. A lot of emotions.”

Ward went on to talk about the inadvertent collision with Ogletree, a 260-pound tight end who outweighs him by more than 60 pounds.

“It’s crazy,” Ward continued. “One moment I’m going for the ball. The next moment I’m knocked out and laying on my back and being carted off the field in a wheelchair. …

“It was crazy. It definitely scared me, man. I was knocked out. I’ve never been knocked out. I had a black eye and everything. I was kind of doubting if I was gonna play football again. It was that scary. ‘Cause I was thinking of my life outside of football too. It was crazy.”

Ward, 29, is an eighth-year NFL veteran playing his first season with the Colts. He’s been a full-time starter since his second NFL season with the Chiefs and made a Pro Bowl and was named All-Pro in 2023 while playing for the 49ers.

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The severity of his latest concussion isn’t clear, nor is his timeline to return to the field. And considering his past concussion experiences and comments, it’s fair to wonder about his football future.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tarik Skubal probably isn’t getting traded. Let’s get that out of the way.

With the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner set to hit free agency a year from now, rumors have swirled about whether the Detroit Tigers would deal him for a haul this offseason. That’s because Skubal’s future in navy and orange looks increasingly hazy.

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A healthy 2026 from Skubal would nearly guarantee a record-breaking contract, regardless of how a work stoppage would impact the sport entering 2027. Skubal’s agent, Scott Boras, generally advises his top clients to avoid extensions in order to test free agency. And while Skubal could return to the Motor City via the open market, that outcome feels improbable considering the financial might of the teams in New York and Los Angeles.

And so the Tigers — coming off a bizarre season in which they bungled a division lead in historic fashion and then were a swing away from reaching the ALCS — face a fascinating and complex situation with the best pitcher on the planet.

But as it pertains to this offseason, one thing is abundantly clear: The Tigers cannot afford any half-measures.

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President of baseball operations Scott Harris must act aggressively to try to build a legitimate World Series contender for what might well be Skubal’s final year with the team. Detroit should add significant pieces to supercharge what is already a very balanced and talented roster. Players such as Skubal do not come around often, meaning Harris and Co. owe it to themselves, their fan base and their ace to push their chips in right freakin’ now.

And if that’s not the plan, then they might as well trade him.

For the first half of 2025, the Tigers smelled like the American League favorite. On July 8, they held MLB’s best record at 59-34 and were 14 games up on the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. Riley Greene was mashing. Spencer Torkelson was rejuvenating his career. Javy Báez was authoring an implausible renaissance. And the interchangeable roster of misfits that stormed into October the year prior was clicking on all cylinders. Zach McKinstry was a deserving All-Star, for Pete’s sake. Everything was rosy in the D.

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[Get more Detroit news: Tigers team feed] 

Then everything fell apart. From that date forward, the Tigers had a worse winning percentage than the Nationals, Pirates and White Sox. The arms behind Skubal, particularly Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty, hit a skid. The lineup stopped scoring runs. Things completely cratered, and only a similarly embarrassing schneid from the Astros enabled Detroit to save face and sneak into October.

The Tigers’ eight postseason games — three in a wild-card victory against Cleveland and five in an ALDS loss to Seattle — showcased both the good and the infuriating sides of the roster. Detroit can prevent runs, no matter who’s on the mound. They play a hard-nosed style of ball that makes them a pest in October against superior competition. But the majority of their lineup looked overmatched time and time again when faced with top-flight arms. Nobody but Kerry Carpenter instilled fear or discomfort. Detroit scored two or fewer runs in five of those eight games.

It might sound reductive, overly straightforward, but the Tigers simply need more elite hitters.

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Gleyber Torres, who accepted the qualifying offer and will return to Detroit on a one-year deal, is a professional hitter and a great supplementary piece. Greene has a ton of swing and miss but is still only 25 and already has two All-Star Games under his belt. Dillon Dingler has developed into an above-average every-day catcher. And while Carpenter can’t hit lefties, few players in the game are more fearsome against righties.

Beyond that quartet, the Tigers should seek to improve their position-player group. Of course, not every other spot needs an upgrade, plus the team’s positional versatility allows for a plethora of paths to take. Alex Bregman, with whom Detroit got close last winter, would be a superb fit. Same with Cody Bellinger. Same with either of the two Japanese sluggers coming over, Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto. Bo Bichette would require an infield reshuffling, but that matters less than acquiring a primetime, needle-moving player.

Harris has done a stellar job since taking over as the chief executive following the 2022 season. Two trips to the postseason are nothing to sneeze at, and they’ve helped rejuvenate the team’s popularity in a city hungry for a title. The organization’s systems and processes are strong. The farm system is top-heavy, but it contains a pair of potential future All-Stars in Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark. Things are good. If Skubal leaves, the Tigers won’t fall into total disrepair.

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But the time is now, and the window is open.

Both last winter and after the most recent trade deadline, Harris received criticism for being overly cautious. He failed to sufficiently reinforce a lineup that desperately needed a jolt. Most crucially, he has not taken a big swing during his time in charge. The Tigers have not handed out any long-term deals or struck any high-risk, high-reward trades.

Perhaps Harris plays it straight once again, and the 2026 Tigers look a lot like the 2025 Tigers. Maybe that works and Skubal leads the team to postseason glory. But in the shadow of a postseason that proved, once again, that you need game-changing players to win a title, the Tigers, as currently constructed, look unworthy and incapable.

Skubal is a generational force with an expiration date. The Tigers must take advantage of the time they have left.

The Kansas City Chiefs dropped another game, losing 20-10 to the red-hot Houston Texans, putting their postseason hopes in legitimate peril for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. At 6-7, they’re currently the 10th seed in the AFC playoff race with the Ravens, Colts and Texans in their immediate vicinity as competition for the seventh and final postseason spot. The Chiefs haven’t missed the playoffs in over a decade, and have never failed to reach at least the AFC championship game with Mahomes as their starting quarterback.

Even though they have one of the elite offenses in the NFL this season, it’s undeniable that the Chiefs have many flaws that need to be corrected in order to get back to sustaining their standard level of dominance.

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Houston’s defense has made many offenses look completely incompetent this season, but its strengths exacerbated some of the Chiefs’ critical issues. There’s only so much the Chiefs could have done with their backup offensive tackles in the game, but their wide receivers continued to show an inability to finish plays at the catch point. The Texans have one of the most talented secondaries in the league, but Mahomes gave his receivers chances on the ball, and sometimes those drops and failed contested catches turned into turnovers.

The Chiefs already know this, but to win more titles they’re going to have to get players who can battle with the best defenses in the league. On nights like Sunday, it really does show how heavy Mahomes’ workload is in this offense — especially when Rashee Rice has an off night.

The makeshift wide receiver room is one problem, and their complete and total complacency at running back the last few seasons has been just as troublesome. Again, the Chiefs had several offensive linemen out against an elite front, but they managed only 67 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Kareem Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco aren’t dynamic enough to provide a boost when the offense is in need of a spark. They are completely reliant on what the offensive line can afford them, which wasn’t much in this game. According to TruMedia, their 31.8% success rate on non-scramble rushing plays was their third-lowest mark of the season.

[Get more Chiefs news: Kansas City team feed]

It doesn’t make sense for life to be this difficult when THAT GUY is your quarterback. The floor of KC’s operation is basically at the ceiling. There has been some poor luck involved with losing so many close games this season, but the losses make it harder to ignore the obvious flaws on this team, unlike last year when the one-score game luck was flipped.

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The Chiefs need firepower. Real deal, gamebreaking talent. Their braintrust has struggled immensely trying to find supporting talent and depth for Mahomes. Adequate is all you really need to compete with a player like that. However, that can’t be the goal. Perhaps missing the playoffs is the medicine this team needs because it has coasted on the back of Mahomes and the game-planning of Steve Spagnuolo for too long.

The fact that the Chiefs are still top five in many offensive efficiency categories shows how important Mahomes is to the operation because they were largely outmatched going against the Texans’ supercharged defense. Kansas City’s own defense isn’t blameless here either, as it’s been up and down, but the focus has become how sloppy this team looks on offense. After all, the Chiefs did enough to hold the Texans to 20 points, including a field goal on their last drive of the game.

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It’s impossible to count the Chiefs totally out of the playoff hunt as they rank 10th in point differential this season with +63! But the fact is they’re one more loss away from essentially being eliminated, and they need to run the table to even have a chance at slipping into the playoffs. It’ll be entertaining to see if they can do it, but this should never be their reality in a world where Mahomes is healthy. 

Now that the College Football Playoff bracket is in place, it’s time to turn our attention to the Heisman Trophy.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love were all named finalists for the Heisman Trophy on Monday night.

Mendoza is the heavy betting favorite to win the award after he led the Hoosiers to a win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. It marked the program’s first conference title since 1967. That completed their undefeated 13-0 season and gave them the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. Mendoza, who transferred into Indiana from Cal, threw for 2,980 yards with 33 touchdowns and just six interceptions this season.

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If Mendoza pulls it off, he’d be the first player in Indiana history to win the Heisman.

Sayin got Ohio State both past Michigan and to the Big Ten title game while completing better than 78% of his passes this past season, which was the best output in the nation. He threw for 3,323 yards with 31 touchdowns and six interceptions with the Buckeyes, who claimed the No. 2 spot in the College Football Playoff bracket with a 12-1 record.

Pavia had a dominant run with the Commodores, too, though they fell short of a college football bid and will instead take on Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Pavia threw for 3,192 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading the program to its first 10-win season.

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Love was one of the best running backs in the nation this past season. He racked up 1,372 yards with 21 total touchdowns, and averaged 6.9 yards per carry with the 10-2 Fighting Irish. Notre Dame, however, was left out of the College Football Playoff. The school has opted not to play in a bowl game, either, and even called out the ACC for advocating for Miami to get in instead of them.

The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced during a ceremony at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night on ABC. Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter won the award last season, which made him the first non-quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy since 2020.

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Both Mendoza and Sayin will receive first-round byes in the College Football Playoff. Ohio State will take on either No. 7 Texas A&M or No. 10 Miami in the quarterfinals on Dec. 31, and Indiana will go up against either No. 8 Oklahoma or No. 9 Alabama on Jan. 1.

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What should we make of the AFC with a month left in the regular season? Yahoo Sports’ Andrew Siciliano and Frank Schwab analyze the crucial results from Week 14 including the Denver Broncos gaining back the conference lead, the Jacksonville Jaguars taking control of the AFC South and much more. We also recap all things SNF with the Houston Texans’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs as well as the Green Bay Packers taking back the NFC North with a win over the Chicago Bears. Closing things out, the crew breaks down what it means for Shedeur Sanders after he becomes the Cleveland Browns’ starting QB for the rest of the season before giving their “One More Thing.”

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(3:25) – AFC chaos: Broncos, Colts, Jaguars, Steelers

(24:10) – Texans beat Chiefs on SNF

(39:45) – Packers take the lead over Bears in NFC North

(47:10) – Breaking down Shedeur Sanders’ big day

(59:25) – One More Thing

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called the league on Monday, looking for clarification after a critical touchdown was called back in the team’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers the day before.

When he hung up, Harbaugh was just as confused as he was before he made the call.

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“It’s about as clear as mud right now,” Harbaugh said of the NFL’s catch rule, via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. “That’s how I feel about it.”

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson found Isaiah Likely late in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon, and it appeared like Likely had scored a go-ahead touchdown. Even CBS analyst Tony Romo was fully confident in the play as officials were looking at it.

But after a review, officials reversed their call and determined that it was not a touchdown. The Ravens did not score again after that, and the Steelers ended up escaping with a 27-22 win.

“The receiver controlled the ball in the air, had his right foot down, then his left foot down,” NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said. “The control is the first aspect of the catch. The second aspect is two feet or a body part in bounds, which he did have.

“Then the third step is an act common to the game, and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out. Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.”

Plenty of Ravens players were livid in the locker room after the game. DeAndre Hopkins deleted a social media post criticizing the referees, and running back Derrick Henry said it was tough “when the game’s in the ref’s hands.”

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Harbaugh spoke with the league about that call, and an Aaron Rodgers interception that was reversed, on Monday.

“It didn’t clear anything up,” Harbaugh said. “It didn’t make it any easier to understand either one of the two calls. They’re very hard to understand how they get overturned, but they did and that’s where it stands.”

As for whether or not that call cost the Ravens the game, Harbaugh stopped short.

“You never know what cost you the game,” he said.

Regardless, the result stands. The Ravens now sit at 6-7 and fell out of first place in the AFC North with the loss. They are now ninth in the AFC standings, and will have to be just about perfect the rest of the way — starting on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals — if they are going to make a fourth straight postseason appearance.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was ejected from their 108-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night after checking Mark Williams in the air with his forearm as he was going up for a dunk.

Midway through the third quarter of the contest at the Target Center, Williams drove through the lane and started to rise up for what should have been an easy dunk. He had a clear path to the rim, as Gobert was well out of the way to his right.

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But once Williams was in the air, Gobert stepped in and drilled him hard in the ribs with his forearm — which sent Williams flying off track and down to the court hard.

Gobert seemed to know that he had committed a foul, as he raised a finger up to take credit for it instantly. But officials upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 due to significant contact to Williams’ ribs, which led to Gobert’s ejection.

Gobert had 15 points and eight rebounds when he left the game. The 33-year-old entered Monday night averaging 11 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season, his 12th in the league. He’s in the first year of a new three-year, $109.5 million deal with the Timberwolves.

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Williams stayed in the contest after initially remaining down on the floor, shaken up after the foul, and he split his free throws. He threw down a dunk right after the second free throw, too, which put the Suns up by two points at the time.

The Timberwolves went on a 7-0 run and held the Suns scoreless for nearly three full minutes down the stretch to cut the game back to just a single point, thanks to a short bucket from Anthony Edwards. But that came with just 8.9 seconds left. The Suns hit a pair of free throws after that and came up with one final stop to escape with the three-point win.

Williams led the Suns with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Collin Gillespie added 19 points. Dillon Brooks finished with 18 points. The win pushed the Suns to 14-10 on the season.

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Edwards had 40 points and shot 15 of 21 from the field to lead the Timberwolves. Julius Randle finished with 21 points and eight assists, and Bones Hyland added 14 points off the bench. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Timberwolves, who now sit at 15-9 on the season.

Minnesota will be back in action on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors.

This is one of the wilder turnovers of this or any season — and a bad look for Jalen Hurts in arguably the worst game of his career.

With Philadelphia threatening to score its first touchdown Monday night in the second quarter against the Chargers, the Eagles faced third-and-2 at the Los Angeles 21.

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Hurts forced a pass to A.J. Brown on a slant as Brown was surrounded by three defenders. Da’Shawn Hand was positioned perfectly for the interception and picked the ball off just beyond the line of gain.

Hand, being a defensive lineman, is not too familiar with handling the ball. And it showed. As he returned the ball, running back Will Shipley punched it out from behind, sending it hurtling back in Hurts’ direction.

Hurts was able to corral the ball. But just for a moment.

Almost as soon as Hurts gained control, 340-pound defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell was on top of him. And Caldwell successfully dislodged the ball.

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Chargers linebacker Troy Dye got to it first from there and made the wise decision, considering all that he’d just witnessed. Dye jumped on the ball and secured it on the turf with no effort for a return. The end result of the play saw the Chargers take over possession.

If you’re counting, that’s an interception thrown by Hurts to Hand, a lost fumble by Hand, a fumble recovery by Hurts, a lost fumble by Hurts and a fumble recovery by Dye. And yes, that’s two turnovers on one play for Philadelphia’s quarterback.

According to Elias Sports, Hurts was the first NFL player since 1978 to commit two turnovers on the same play.

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The Chargers converted the turnover into a field goal for a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter. And they went on to a 22-19 win in overtime that ended with Hurts throwing his fourth interception of the game on a night when he committed five total turnovers.

In a season filled with frustration for Philadelphia’s offense, this is a new low point.

AFC East: Buffalo Bills | Miami Dolphins | New England Patriots | New York Jets

AFC North: Baltimore Ravens | Cincinnati Bengals | Cleveland Browns | Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South: Houston Texans | Indianapolis Colts | Jacksonville Jaguars | Tennessee Titans

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AFC West: Denver Broncos | Kansas City Chiefs | Las Vegas Raiders | Los Angeles Chargers

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys | New York Giants | Philadelphia Eagles | Washington Commanders

NFC North: Chicago Bears | Detroit Lions | Green Bay Packers | Minnesota Vikings

NFC South: Atlanta Falcons | Carolina Panthers | New Orleans Saints | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West: Arizona Cardinals | Los Angeles Rams | San Francisco 49ers | Seattle Seahawks

The common perception is that a team needs an elite quarterback and powerhouse offense to win a Super Bowl. While that’s the ideal path, it’s not the only one. We don’t need to look too far in the past to find a champion that wasn’t in that mold.

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We like to remember the 2024 Eagles as an offensive power because Saquon Barkley had a historic season, but they were first in defensive DVOA and just 13th in offensive DVOA. It was a champion founded on a fantastic defense, even if that might not be the Eagles’ legacy.

The question for the Houston Texans is if their offense can be good enough for a deep playoff run. Because there’s no question Houston’s defense is of championship quality. The Texans are first in the NFL in yards allowed, points allowed and EPA (expected points added) allowed per play and second in defensive DVOA behind the Seahawks. Anyone who has seen the Texans wreck Josh Allen (career high eight sacks taken) and Patrick Mahomes (career low 19.8 passer rating) the past few weeks would likely vote Houston as the best defense in the NFL. Its offense, however, is 24th in DVOA and 24th in EPA per play, and a unit that subpar might be a problem.

But look around at a weird AFC: Everyone has a flaw this season. The Texans’ defense might be the most bankable asset in the AFC playoffs, other than Allen. And we saw what happened when Houston faced Allen in Week 12.

There seems to be a good chance we get a somewhat random Super Bowl matchup this season. It doesn’t look like there are any great teams. It might come down to which team gets hot. There aren’t many teams hotter than the Texans, who have won five in a row, with four coming against good teams (Jaguars, Bills, Colts, Chiefs) behind a defense that is battering opponents. They are giving off a bit of a vibe similar to the 2015 Broncos, who won Super Bowl 50 with a superior defense after Peyton Manning hit the wall that season. In a season defined by parity, especially in the AFC, a Super Bowl team that started 3-5 and has a bottom 10 offense might actually be fitting.

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Here are the power rankings after Week 14 of the NFL season:

Congrats, Raiders. You finally reached the bottom. The Titans have at least been frisky for most of the past few weeks, and it paid off with a win at Cleveland. The Raiders continue to look worse every week. The last time the Raiders had a competitive game they could be proud of was Nov. 2, when they lost to the Jaguars in overtime. They might not play another competitive game for the rest of the season either. What a bad organization.

Not that beating the Browns is worthy of a parade, but the Titans got their first legitimate win of the season (the first actual win, over the Cardinals, was the flukiest victory of the NFL this season and maybe this decade). The one downside is draft positioning. According to Tankathon, the Titans went from first in the draft order to third with the win. The Giants would pick first if the season ended today. But there’s a lot of time for that to be settled, and winning is good for the Titans.

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The Cardinals haven’t been blown out too often, but Sunday’s 45-17 loss to the Rams was ugly. The Cardinals might not really be the fourth-worst team in the NFL, but it is also hard to give the benefit of the doubt to a team that has lost 10 of 11 games, even if many of those losses were in close games. It has been a horribly disappointing season for a Cardinals team that seemed to be making strides under Jonathan Gannon.

The Giants don’t want to be 2-11, but the front office had to be happy to see themselves sitting with the first pick of the NFL Draft with four games to go. That would put them in an advantageous position, though there isn’t some Myles Garrett-level No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft class. The Giants could entertain offers from teams looking for a quarterback though. It’s a lost season but having another high first-round pick is a good consolation.

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The Jets had been playing better, but losing by 24 at home to the Dolphins is a reminder of how bad they are. There were “Sell the team” chants during the loss, but it’s not like owner Woody Johnson believes he’s the problem. There’s not much to look forward to until the offseason, and the last four weeks might get really rough with quarterbacks Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor dealing with injuries.

The Saints have road wins over the Panthers and Buccaneers, the top two teams in the division. Plenty of teams down in this portion of the rankings don’t have any quality wins. The organization, which has refused to admit it needs a rebuild, shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that it’s closer than it is due to those wins. But the Saints might. At very least, it’s a great sign that the team is fighting hard still in Kellen Moore’s first season.

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The Browns didn’t truly “move up” in the rankings after a home loss to the Titans, but the Jets surely had to move down after whatever they were doing Sunday. So the Browns got an undeserved bump. For Browns fans, Sunday should have felt like a win. Shedeur Sanders continues to show promise. It’s too early to say if he’s the answer, but he’s closer than almost every other fifth-round quarterback we’ve seen. And the loss helped out the Browns’ draft position, too.

Players should play if they’re healthy enough, but Washington should make an exception for Jayden Daniels. Seeing him get injured again Sunday and leave the game was a sign that this isn’t his season and shutting him down is best for everyone involved. Having him suffer another injury when the team is 3-10 would be egregiously bad leadership. This is a completely lost season for a very good player. Just start again in 2026.

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Getting a Thursday night game in Week 15 might be the worst thing for Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, who is clearly on the hot seat. The team is falling apart, and its season looks even worse because the NFC South was there for the taking. Now Atlanta gets three hours on a national broadcast at Tampa Bay, with everyone paying attention to how it has bungled things. “Our fan base deserves a winner,” Morris said. “The only thing you can do is try to go give them the best effort you can on Thursday night.”

J.J. McCarthy had a good game. He had 163 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It doesn’t mean that he has arrived, but it’s a more promising step than we’ve typically seen from him this season. The Vikings’ season is lost, and the rest of it has to be spent figuring out if McCarthy can be a viable starter in 2026. Sunday’s performance gives the team hope.

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We have to rank the Colts for what they are now, with major quarterback issues the rest of the way. And this ranking might be too high for that. Perhaps Riley Leonard can keep the Colts afloat (if he’s healthy, that is), but that’s a long shot. If a 7-1 start fizzles into missing the playoffs due to a losing streak and then Daniel Jones’ injury, it’s a depressing turn. And it’s not like Jones’ injury doesn’t have a major impact on the Colts in 2026, too.

The Bengals were on the verge of beating the Bills — they outplayed Buffalo on the road for three-plus quarters — and the Ravens’ continued implosion was a positive for Cincinnati too. Then Joe Burrow threw a pick 6 to Bills corner Christian Benford, who made a remarkable play on a blitz, and the Bills pulled away after that. We’ll see if the Bengals continue their momentum now that their slim playoff hopes (3% according to The Athletic’s projections) are practically over.

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The Dolphins can get back to .500 with a win over the Steelers this weekend. Miami has beaten a lot of bad teams, which means it shouldn’t be ranked any higher than this, but it’s still a remarkable rebound from a 1-6 start. The Dolphins are doing this all with Tua Tagovailoa being a low-volume passer, which is weird. He hasn’t thrown for more than 173 yards in any game in Miami’s four-game winning streak, but Miami has found other ways to succeed. Is Mike McDaniel safe for 2026 already?

The Ravens are somehow a bad team. Losing to the Bengals and Steelers in back-to-back home games leaves no doubt that even if the Ravens somehow win the AFC North, there’s just nothing better coming for this team. They’re 21st in EPA (expected points added) per play on offense and a matching 21st in EPA per play allowed on defense. It’s a strong organization with a great quarterback so the odds they bounce back in 2026 are strong, but the best outcome for this Ravens team seems to be a division title with a record barely above .500 and a quick playoff exit.

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Carolina had to perk up at Tampa Bay’s home loss on Sunday. That gives the Panthers a better shot to win the division by simply splitting the two remaining games against the Bucs. The Panthers are up and down and still have a tough game remaining against Seattle in Week 17, but they’re in the mix. That’s a positive outcome for this season, no matter how it turns out.

The Buccaneers hadn’t had a loss to a team currently under .500 before Sunday. But it’s hard to take them too seriously anymore after a 24-20 home loss to the Saints, who had won only two games this season before beating Tampa Bay. Baker Mayfield’s play has really slipped since early in the season, and injuries have to be a factor. The Buccaneers are still favorites to win the NFC South but it’s getting tougher to trust them to finish the season strong.

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Given all the negativity surrounding the Steelers a week ago, Sunday’s win at Baltimore had to be one of the most satisfying of Mike Tomlin’s career. Will the noise about Tomlin and the team parting ways quiet if they win the AFC North, which they are favored to do now (75.3% chance via DVOA)? Probably not. But Sunday was a reminder that he is still a pretty good coach. The Steelers are a very flawed team, but one with an inside track at a division title.

The overreaction to the Chiefs’ season will be fierce. People have been dying to dunk on the NFL’s current dynasty, and now is their chance. No, the Chiefs don’t need a full rebuild. They just haven’t won close games. Kansas City is still the No. 7 team in DVOA this season after Sunday’s loss, ahead of teams like Denver, Buffalo, Philadelphia and New England. Haters will get in their licks now. Level-headed people will understand it’s just an unlucky season for a team that’s still good.

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The Cowboys technically moved up in the rankings, but that’s artificial because the Chiefs, Buccaneers and Colts had to move behind them and others this week. Still, Dallas is playing at a near playoff level lately, and a loss at a good Detroit team doesn’t change that much. But starting 3-5-1 put the Cowboys in a place they couldn’t afford any losses, and now their playoff dream is all but dead.

Sunday changed everything in the AFC South. The Colts lost Daniel Jones, and the Jaguars picked up a critical win. It’s hard to watch the Jaguars and Texans and believe Jacksonville is the better team right now (more on the Texans in a bit) but they do lead the division. The AFC South might come down to whether the Jaguars can beat the Broncos or the Texans can beat the Chargers, because the other remaining games for both teams are all winnable.

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Jalen Hurts had two interceptions in the first 13 weeks of the season. He had never thrown four interceptions in an NFL game until Monday night, with the fourth pick coming in overtime to clinch a loss to the Chargers. On a night when Saquon Barkley finally broke out with his second 100-yard game, Philadelphia’s offense still scored only one touchdown. Philadelphia’s defense is still good enough to carry the team to some wins in the playoffs. The offense simply isn’t good enough at the moment for Philly to have more than a very brief stay in the postseason. And 14 weeks into the season, that’s unlikely to be fixed.

Here are the Lions’ results since the start of October: win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win. The win over the Cowboys hinted at their potential again, but it’s hard to rank them much higher than this when they haven’t put together a two-game winning streak in more than two months. Also, Detroit’s ability to make a deep playoff run probably relies on the Lions not catching any cold-weather games, given how much worse they are in outdoor games. The Lions are a good team but it’s hard to talk yourself into a Super Bowl run for them.

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The Chargers have their issues. The offensive line allowed Justin Herbert to get pounded all Monday night by the Eagles’ pass rush, resulting in the offense scoring just one touchdown. But Herbert did just enough, and L.A.’s defense was fantastic as it picked off Jalen Hurts four times, including the game-winner in overtime. Had the Chargers’ offensive line stayed remotely healthy, this might have been the best team in football. As it stands, it’s still a very well-coached team with a star at quarterback. In a wide-open AFC, that might be enough to make a run.

The 49ers seemingly had three difficult games to end the season: at Colts, vs. Bears, vs. Seahawks. Daniel Jones’ injury affects the NFC playoff race too, because if Indianapolis can’t magically find a quarterback down the stretch, that game becomes a lot easier for the 49ers. So would their path to a wild-card spot, which is remarkable given their injuries through the season.

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We’re looking at the very real possibility of the AFC playoffs beginning without Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. Can Josh Allen and the Bills take advantage of that? They were on upset watch again for most of Sunday against the Bengals. Allen, who is up to 34 total touchdowns (22 passing, 12 rushing) this season, gives them a chance against anyone. It’s just hard to depend on everything else around him.

This is a big jump for the Texans, but they pass the eye test of a team that is peaking at the right time. Their defense continues to be fantastic, holding Patrick Mahomes to a 42.4% completion percentage and a 19.8 passer rating, the lowest marks in a game for his career. Houston’s offense is inconsistent, but there’s no complete team in the AFC. Houston’s defense is the most reliable unit in the conference.

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Maybe there will be a time when the Bears get exposed and move way down in the rankings, but not after a 28-21 loss at Green Bay that was decided in the last minute. And not less than two weeks after a decisive win at the Eagles. For now, it was just a competitive loss to a good team, which wasn’t a bad outcome for a Bears team that had no signature win this season before beating the Eagles. Let’s see how the Week 16 rematch against the Packers goes.

Hey, remember a few weeks ago when there was a weird groundswell to put Matt LaFleur on the hot seat? How cute. LaFleur never deserved that treatment, and now the Packers have consecutive wins over the Lions and Bears to get back to first place in the NFC North. Packers at Broncos is a fascinating Week 15 matchup between two very good teams that still have some questions.

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It’s hard to believe but true: The Patriots can clinch the AFC East title with three games to go. If New England beats Buffalo on Sunday, the Patriots will have a three-game lead and own the tiebreaker due to a sweep, so the division race would be over. The Patriots are still fairly low in the advanced metrics despite their record — 14th in total DVOA, 10th in offense and 25th in defense — but this has been a wildly successful season no matter how it turns out.

The Broncos might need the Patriots to lose on Sunday to the Bills. Because there aren’t many other difficult games remaining for New England, and the Broncos have four tough ones left: vs. Packers, vs. Jaguars, at Chiefs, vs. Chargers. The good news for the Broncos is they clinched the common opponents tiebreaker (second tiebreaker after conference record for non-divisional teams) over the Patriots with a win over the Raiders, a team New England lost to in Week 1.

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The Seahawks’ 37-9 win over Atlanta brought Seattle’s road record to 6-1 and also strengthened their claim as the best team in the NFL. That spot still goes to the Rams, but it’s a 1A and 1B situation atop the rankings. The gap between those two teams and everyone else continues to grow. If Seattle beats a Daniel Jones-less Colts team at home Sunday, that sets up a massive Week 16 Thursday night showdown against the Rams. And that rematch is in Seattle.

The Rams put up 530 yards and 45 points against the Cardinals, which is how a No. 1 team should look. Margin of victory doesn’t matter in the standings but it is a pretty good indicator of which teams have staying power and which are just getting by for now. The Seahawks lead the NFL with a +161 point differential, the Rams are second at +152 and no other team is above +110. The loss at Carolina wasn’t great, but it happens and the Rams are as good as anyone this season. They do have a tricky game vs. Detroit on Sunday, four days before the NFL’s regular-season matchup of the year at Seattle.