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The New England Patriots need a Week 16 win to keep their advantage over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East, especially after last week’s loss to the Bills. The Patriots will head to Baltimore to face the Ravens in a game that will have significant playoff implications for both — which is exactly why it was flexed from its original 1 p.m. time slot to become this week’s Sunday Night Football prime time game.

The Patriots vs. Ravens Sunday Night Football game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock; here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game and the rest of the Week 16 schedule.

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How to watch the New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens this Sunday:

Date: Dec. 21, 2025

Time: 8:20 p.m. ET

TV channel: NBC

Streaming: DirecTV, Peacock, YouTube TV, NFL+ and more

Patriots vs. Ravens game time:

The Patriots vs. Ravens game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET/5:20 p.m. PT this Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.

Patriots vs. Ravens game channel:

The Week 16 game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens will air on NBC.

How to watch the Patriots vs. Ravens game without cable:

You can stream NBC on platforms like DirecTV and Peacock. (Note that Fubo and NBC are currently in the midst of a contract dispute and NBC channels are not currently available on the platform.) The game will also be streaming on Peacock and on NFL+, though with an NFL+ subscription, you’re limited to watching this week’s game on mobile devices.

If you’re still alive in the fantasy football playoffs, nice work in getting one step closer to your championship round. We’re heading into Week 17 — which is the last week of the fantasy season for the vast majority of leagues. There are still plenty of injuries and teams with something to play for going into such a crucial slate — plus, we need to account for the schedule. There are three games on Christmas on Thursday, as well as a two-game Saturday slate, which will force some early lineup decisions.

Let’s go over early pickups to consider off the fantasy football waiver wire going into Week 17.

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Dylan Sampson/Raheim Sanders, RBs, Browns (11%/0% rostered on Yahoo)

Cleveland lost rookie RB Quinshon Judkins to a leg injury in the first half on Sunday versus the Bills. It looked bad as Judkins was carted off the field. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters after the game that the rookie suffered a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle.

Sampson has missed the past two games due to hand and calf injuries but if he’s able to get back on the field against the Steelers on Sunday, he should handle most of the work out of the backfield. If Sampson can’t get healthy, Sanders got the most work after Judkins was hurt, finishing with 11 carries for 42 yards, plus one catch for four yards. We also saw Trayveon Williams get snaps and operate as the passing-down back, grabbing four catches for 38 yards (and three carries for 17 yards). If you can’t grab Sampson, Sanders could make sense as a target in deeper formats.

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Blake Corum, RB, Rams (41% rostered)

The Rams fell to the Seahawks in a big TNF matchup to start Week 16. Los Angeles continues to offer the type of offensive volume to buoy two running backs. Despite lead back Kyren Williams having 26 touches, Corum was able to take his 15 and convert them into 61 yards and a score. He isn’t getting much work in the passing game but Corum has 37 carries for 247 yards and four TDs over the past three games. It feels like we’ve been pleading for you to add Corum since Week 13, yet, he remains widely available in Yahoo leagues going into the championship round.

If you’re in a shallow league (8-10 teams) and are dealing with injuries at RB (see above with Judkins), Corum is a great player to target. He’ll have flex appeal in Week 17 when the Rams face the Falcons with the No. 1 seed in the NFC still within reach.

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Tyjae Spears, RB, Titans (25% rostered)

We’re giving you another RB but sometimes that’s the hand you’re dealt in terms of options. We saw Spears come on late last season with three strong performances in December. Might history repeat itself? Spears still trailed Tony Pollard in touches, 21-19, but saw a lot of work in the passing game with five catches for 53 yards. Spears would finish with 104 total yards and a rushing score for 19 fantasy points. Tennessee has another matchup in Week 17 that should provide a good environment for points, going up against the Saints. Spears is an intriguing add in PPR formats and offers a safe floor out of the flex if you need a plug-and-play option.

Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley has been suspended for one game after he launched a water bottle into the stands and hit a child after the team’s loss to Xavier on Saturday, the school announced.

Xavier held on to beat Georgetown 80-77 on Saturday night in Washington, though the Hoyas had a look to tie the game at the buzzer. But, after Malik Mack’s game-tying shot was off the mark, Cooley squeezed a water bottle he was holding and then threw it into the stands out of frustration. That bottle then hit a young child who was being held by his mother a few rows away.

Cooley immediately apologized when speaking with reporters after the game, and said he was going to reach out to the woman and her family.

“Really frustrated, and realized I threw my water bottle, and it hit [him] and his mom,” Cooley said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Shelby Dermer. “Definitely out of character for me to be so frustrated, but really that’s not called for. I’ll call them and make amends to that. Just totally out of character, frustration. So I apologize to the fans, I apologize to our players, the university. Totally, totally out of character for me to be that way.”

Cooley met Sunday with athletic director Lee Reed, who then issued the suspension. The Big East said in a statement that it supported Georgetown’s decision to suspend Cooley in a statement on Sunday.

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Cooley will now miss Monday night’s matchup with Coppin State. Associate head coach Jeff Battle will take his place.

“I met with Coach Cooley today to discuss the incident which occurred after last night’s game against Xavier,” Reed said in a statement, in part. “I expressed that his conduct did not align with the standards we expect of our coaches, nor does it reflect the values of Georgetown Athletics or Georgetown University.”

Cooley, 56, is in his third season with the Hoyas. He first took over the program ahead of the 2023-24 campaign after a 12-year run at Providence. Georgetown currently holds an 8-4 record entering Monday’s contest at Capital One Arena, which marks its last nonconference game of the season.

It can be difficult to project who will perform well this late in the season. Of course, there are backfields with running backs who have been reliable all season long. But in this series, we’ve focused on splits that have been erratic — either due to injuries or inconsistent play. We got a lot of that in Week 16 and saw that teams playing for very little this late in the year seem to favor spreading the ball around a bit more.

Let’s break down some of those backfield splits and how to approach their RBs going into Week 17 and the fantasy football championship round.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We all anticipated this to be a big week for Bucky Irving. That was not the case on Sunday against the Panthers. While Irving had far-and-away the most usage with 19 total touches, he didn’t get any catches or targets and again ceded goal-line duties to Sean Tucker. Backups Tucker and Rachaad White combined for nine rushes for 48 yards and a TD, plus two catches and 15 yards (all to White).

Overall, Tampa Bay’s running game was held in check by the Panthers outside of a 39-yard rush for White and a 26-yard run by QB Baker Mayfield. If you eliminate those two rushes, the Bucs had 31 attempts for 104 yards (3.3 yards per attempt). A lot of that was Irving. So, should we be concerned going into Week 17 or was something else to blame here?

Well, the Bucs get a good matchup against the Dolphins in Week 17. We just saw Chase Brown tear up Miami for 30.9 fantasy points with over 100 total yards and three scores. Irving still got a huge share of the carries and the Bucs’ passing game remains very inconsistent. Week 17 feels like a spot Irving can get back on track and you shouldn’t question starting him as an RB2. White and Tucker aren’t playable.

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New Orleans Saints

First, the Saints have won three games in a row and the offense is looking pretty impressive with at least 20 points in each of those games. We knew the Saints would be without RB Devin Neal, who was placed on IR, as well as lead back Alvin Kamara, who remains out with a knee injury. Audric Estimé was expected to lead the backfield against the Jets in Week 17.

It was a familiar fantasy face, instead.

While not technically a running back, tight end Taysom Hill emerged from the fantasy depths to have a relevant week, using 17 touches (including one pass) for 78 total yards and a 38-yard TD pass to WR Chris Olave. Hill finished with 13.32 fantasy points on the week. Estimé only had eight touches for 36 yards. Evan Hull was also ineffective on five carries.

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New Orleans’ passing game is clicking with rookie Tyler Shough and the team has a good matchup against the Titans in Week 17. The issue is what to do with Estimé going forward. We’ve seen the team incorporate the versatile Hill in the past, so we can expect him to be involved again. We also know the type of ceiling Hill has if he’s getting goal-line work, throwing the ball and catching passes. Estimé will be a risky RB3/flex play against Tennessee. Hill (1% rostered in Yahoo leagues) is an interesting TE target who has flex value if he sees a similar workload next week.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns have had a rough season and things didn’t get any easier in Week 16 when RB Quinshon Judkins went down with a gruesome leg injury, ending the rookie’s season.

With Judkins down, the Browns leaned on Raheim Sanders, who had 11 carries for 42 yards on Sunday against the Bills. Trayveon Williams was also involved in the passing game with four catches for 38 yards. Rookie back Dylan Sampson has missed the past two games with hand and calf injuries. TE Harold Fannin Jr. also had a one-yard TD carry, something we could see more of next week.

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This is likely a situation you’ll want to avoid at all costs in Week 17. Cleveland will face the Steelers, who sport one of the best run defenses in the NFL and will still have plenty to play for in the AFC playoff picture and AFC North division standings. If Sampson is back, he’s the most appealing play given his previous role in the passing game. Sanders and Williams would be desperation plays in such a big spot. Either look to your bench or other waiver options if you had Judkins and don’t land Sampson/he isn’t healthy.

New York Jets

I want to talk a bit about the Jets despite the team being a complete dumpster fire on offense right now. New York isn’t playing for anything and we saw a bit of a shift in Week 16 against the Saints. Breece Hall still led the backfield split with 18 total touches but only turned that into 63 yards. Isaiah Davis was more heavily involved, particularly as a pass-catcher with four receptions for 52 yards.

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The passing game isn’t going to move the ball much under Brady Cook. With the Jets looking toward 2026, might we see Davis get more work against the Patriots in Week 17? New York will have some motivation to spoil New England’s hopes of an AFC East title. Hall might be looking to free agency and Davis could be hungry to prove himself. If we see some of that narrative take shape, Davis could be a sneaky add off the waiver wire (he’s available in 97% of Yahoo leagues) and an okay start in deeper formats with multiple flex spots on your roster. Davis clearly has PPR upside and if the carries are split more, he could surprise in Week 17.

There’s a new candidate for the catch of the year in the NFL this season.

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell was on the ground, after he was interfered with by Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, and somehow Aaron Rodgers’ deep pass bounced off his right hand. Gainwell kept his concentration and managed to haul the pass in. Anzalone was on the ground too and didn’t touch Gainwell down after he made the catch, so he got up and ran the final few yards into the end zone.

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What made it even more dramatic is it came with two seconds left in the first half. That tied the game 10-10.

The catch is similar to another famous catch in NFL history, when Antonio Freeman of the Green Bay Packers made a catch when he was on the ground against the Minnesota Vikings. He somehow kept the ball from hitting the turf and gathered it when it looked like an interception, then ran in for a touchdown to win the overtime game. That catch came from Rodgers’ old teammate Brett Favre.

Gainwell’s catch might not be as enduring as Freeman’s famous catch. But it was one of the craziest plays of this NFL season.

Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac will miss several weeks due to a left ankle sprain, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Zubac was diagnosed with a Grade 2 ankle sprain, per the report. A specific timeline for his return is not yet known.

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Zubac went down late in the first quarter of Saturday’s 103-88 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Intuit Dome. Zubac went up for a shot near the elbow, then came down and landed directly on LeBron James’ foot — which sent him down to the court hard. Zubac remained down as the play went the other way, and then he limped off the floor to the locker room. He didn’t return.

Zubac had five points and two rebounds in 11 minutes in the game when he went down. The 28-year-old has averaged 15.6 points and 11.1 rebounds this season, his eighth with the Clippers.

Zubac has spent his entire career in Los Angeles, after the Lakers selected him in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft.

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[Get more Clippers news: L.A. team feed]

The win for the Clippers came amid a rough stretch for the franchise. They hold a 7-21 record entering Tuesday’s game against the Houston Rockets and have won just three games in their past 16 outings. The win for the Clippers was their first on their home court since Oct. 31. Kawhi Leonard dropped a season-high 32 points in the victory, and Lakers star Luka Dončić left the contest early due to a lower leg contusion.

The Clippers have a ways to go to get back on track this season. Losing their reliable center is going to make getting out of the current slump even more difficult for the franchise.

A drab slate of NFL games on Christmas was made worse Sunday with the news that the Kansas City Chiefs will likely be down to their third-string quarterback.

A week after Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL, his backup, Gardner Minshew, is also reportedly feared to have sustained a torn ACL in Sunday’s 26-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Minshew will undergo further testing on his injured knee, but the concern in Kansas City is for an ACL tear.

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If so, the Chiefs will be down to third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun for Thursday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Denver Broncos unless they sign somebody else to start. That’s difficult news for Minshew and the Chiefs. It’s also bad news for football fans hoping to watch compelling football on Christmas.

Minshew suffered his knee injury in the first half of Sunday’s game. Oladokun, making his second NFL appearance, took over to lead a Chiefs offense that tallied just 133 yards of offense against a Titans team that won its third game of the season.

That’s not watchable football. And there’s not much promise for Thursday’s game amid a three-game Christmas slate that was already lacking punch.

NFL delivering bag of coal for Christmas

Thursday’s schedule will kick off with an NFC East matchup of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders, two teams that are already eliminated from the playoffs. Washington will play without Pro Bowl quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom the Commanders shut down amid multiple injuries in a lost season.

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The day’s second game features an eliminated Minnesota Vikings team hoping to spoil the faint playoff hopes of the Detroit Lions in what now projects as the most compelling matchup of the day. And for the nightcap, the likely Oladokun-led Chiefs will take on the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos in a matchup that does not project as anything close to competitive.

To be fair, this was a compelling matchup when the schedule was announced in May. As were the other two. Denver-Kansas City featured the juggernaut Chiefs against the up-and-coming Broncos as challengers to unseat their nine-year reign as AFC West champions.

The reality is that the 6-9 Chiefs are irrelevant regardless of who plays quarterback Sunday, and the Broncos are locked into the playoffs. A capable backup with starting experience, Minshew at least gave the Chiefs faint hope of playing spoiler to their division rivals as the Broncos seek to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But now even that storyline is a long shot.

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What should the NFL do?

And thus is the problem with scheduling standalone NFL games in late December. Matchups that look appealing on paper in May can be completely upended seven months later.

By Week 17, attrition has taken its toll across the league and changed the dynamic of most of the NFL’s rosters. And the playoff picture will have eliminated several teams from contention.

The weak Christmas slate has prompted some to float the idea of flex scheduling for Christmas. That brings its own set of issues, mainly around upending people’s holiday plans at the last minute.

Maybe it’s best if the NFL just doesn’t schedule games on Christmas.

Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman’s ejection Saturday is going to cost him.

The NBA fined Adelman $35,000 for directing inappropriate language at game officials and for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after he was ejected in his team’s 115-101 loss to the Houston Rockets, the league announced Sunday. The ejection was the first of Adelman’s career.

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Adelman, who drew a technical foul in the first half at Ball Arena on Saturday, was arguing with officials in the fourth quarter over two questionable foul calls on Nikola Jokić. Then suddenly, after Jokić was smacked on the arm and lost the ball, Adelman erupted and sprinted at the official.

“You are f***ing terrible, man!” Adelman screamed at the official loud enough to get picked up on the broadcast. Adelman continued to follow the official, and had to be held back by his assistants. The official immediately hit Adelman with a second technical foul, which led to his automatic ejection.

Adelman said after the game that he was “confused,” and was “just looking for answers.”

“It seemed like [the official] just kept walking away farther and farther,” he said, via The Associated Press. “I thought we would talk, and it turns out they told me I had to leave. So yeah, it was a tough night for us for sure.”

Adelman is in his first full season leading the Nuggets. He took over on an interim basis at the end of last season after the franchise split with head coach Michael Malone, and was then promoted to the top job this past offseason. The 44-year-old has been on staff in Denver since the 2017-18 season.

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The Rockets led the entire second half and rolled to the win Saturday, thanks to a 31-point night from Kevin Durant. That snapped a six-game win streak for the Nuggets, who now hold a 20-7 record. Jokić had a team-high 25 points with seven rebounds and five assists. The Nuggets shot just 8-of-29 from the 3-point line.

Denver will be back in action Monday night against the Utah Jazz.

The Detroit Lions aren’t officially eliminated from playoff contention, but it’s probably only a matter of time now.

The Lions have been on a great run the past two seasons, advancing to the NFC championship game in the 2023 season and then going 15-2 last season. That run is fading fast after the Lions came up short in a 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Detroit struggled to pick up first downs against a shorthanded Pittsburgh defense for three quarters, then its defense couldn’t get a stop in the fourth quarter when the game was still in the balance. And when the Lions had a shot to steal a win in the final two minutes, trailing 29-24 after a missed field-goal attempt by Pittsburgh, a touchdown by Amon-Ra St. Brown was wiped out due to an offensive pass interference call against rookie Isaac TeSlaa and the offense couldn’t rebound to score after that.

On fourth-and-goal, which was the final play of the game, St. Brown caught a pass near the goal line and lateraled to quarterback Jared Goff for a touchdown, but the score didn’t stand. St. Brown was called for an offensive pass interference penalty on the play and the game was over. On the play, St. Brown ran straight into cornerback Jalen Ramsey, also extending his arm to create space, before coming back for the ball and it was called. Detroit fans will argue it shouldn’t have been called, and it wiped out what would have been a phenomenal touchdown for a Lions win.

Here’s the full sequence:

“The one where [St. Brown] caught it and we thought was a touchdown, in my opinion that’s a bad call,” Goff said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “But those happen. They have a tough job, they make calls that go our way all the time. But that one in particular, [TeSlaa] shouldn’t hang his head about.”

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The Lions fell to 8-7 with the loss. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh (9-6), who maintained its lead in the AFC North with the upset win, deserves credit. Its defense was without pass rushers T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig, and it shut down the Lions until a fourth-quarter rally. Running backs Jaylen Warren had two long touchdowns and Kenneth Gainwell had one on a phenomenal catch to give the offense what it needed.

The Steelers are a cool story this season but Sunday was about a team that had Super Bowl dreams before the season falling even further out of the NFC’s playoff picture.

Detroit needs to win out against the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, and get a lot of help to make it back to the playoffs now. The Lions haven’t shown enough consistency all season to prove they’re worth a spot.

Steelers take control early

The Steelers kept the game low scoring early, which wasn’t the best news for the Lions. Both offenses struggled to get much going. The Steelers tied the game 10-10 at the end of the first half, but they needed a miraculous catch from Gainwell to do it. Gainwell ran a deep route, was brought down on a defensive pass interference by linebacker Alex Anzalone, but when he was on the ground the ball hit his right hand. Gainwell was able to gather the pass, and since he wasn’t touched after he made the catch, he got up and ran in for a touchdown with two seconds left in the half.

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That play was most of the Steelers’ offense, but the Lions couldn’t really take advantage. The Lions were passing the ball OK but the run game was completely ineffective in the first half, and they scored just one touchdown before halftime.

The Steelers took the lead in the second half on a safety when Goff was sacked in the end zone, then went on a long drive to kick a field goal and take a 15-10 lead. The Lions hardly had the ball in the third quarter. They ran three plays in the period and the Steelers ran 25. Detroit held the ball for just 51 seconds in the quarter.

That made it impossible for the Lions to get in a rhythm on offense, which had to be the Steelers’ goal.

Lions have a shot in final quarter

The third quarter got worse for the Lions.

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The Steelers weren’t getting many big plays but the Lions couldn’t get off the field. Pittsburgh had drives of nine and 17 plays. They fumbled deep in Lions territory on the first drive but Detroit took a safety right after that. When Warren broke a 45-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Lions trailed 22-10.

The Lions went for it on fourth-and-2 with less than nine minutes left, and Goff hit Kalif Raymond in stride for a 27-yard touchdown. That kept the Lions alive. But Warren had another 45-yard touchdown after that.

An injured Lions defense hasn’t been good enough to give the team a chance to make the playoffs this season. But Detroit still had a chance in the final two minutes.

The Steelers had another long drive but it stalled, and Chris Boswell’s 37-yard field-goal attempt missed when it clanged off the right upright. Detroit trailed by five points and needed a touchdown to win it.

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A pass interference call on the Steelers on fourth down kept the drive alive. A tripping penalty on Pittsburgh gave the Lions 15 more yards. St. Brown picked up 24 yards on a quick screen to get the Lions to the 12-yard line. St. Brown scored a touchdown but it was called back on an offensive pass inference penalty on TeSlaa.

Detroit didn’t rally to score after that, despite what looked like a memorable touchdown on a lateral to Goff, and the Steelers escaped with a win.

The Steelers are closer to winning the AFC North after the win. And the Lions are closer to missing the postseason altogether.

When the Carolina Panthers watched Saturday night’s Bears-Packers game, it could have been a reminder of a mistake.

DJ Moore, a key part of a massive trade that the Panthers made to move to draft Bryce Young No. 1 overall, scored a game-winning touchdown for the Chicago Bears on a great catch in overtime. A big reason the Bears are 11-4 is the bounty they got in that trade. The Panthers haven’t come close to that type of breakthrough with Young. But this season has marked some progress.

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The Panthers lead the NFC South with two games to play after a huge win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Regardless of what happens next, this season has to already be considered a success for the Panthers.

Panthers rookie safety Lathan Ransom, who took a very costly penalty late in the Panthers’ loss to the Saints last week, had an interception with 42 seconds to go to seal the 23-20 win. The Buccaneers fell to 7-8 as their late-season swoon continues. Baker Mayfield in particular continued to struggle. He had just 145 yards passing and there was no Buccaneers receiver even close to where he was throwing on Ransom’s game-clinching interception.

It was a big game in the NFC South race, though it’s not like either team was on a streak coming in. Last week the Buccaneers blew a 14-point lead and lost to the Falcons at home, and then the Panthers blew a 10-point lead and lost to the Saints. That was a big help to the Buccaneers, who then needed to just win two of their final three games to clinch the division title. But for a team like the Panthers, which has had six straight seasons with double-digit losses, any sniff of being in the playoff hunt is a big step forward.

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The Panthers took a 23-20 lead just ahead of the two-minute warning. Young wasn’t great but he did enough to maneuver the Panthers into position to have the lead in a huge game. Earlier, Young made perhaps the biggest play of his career when, on third down, he scrambled to avoid the rush and found tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 20-17 lead late in the third quarter.

The Panthers haven’t arrived, and the massive trade to the Bears still looks like it set back the franchise. But they’re getting better. There should be excitement in Carolina for being in the NFC South hunt. The division could still come down to a Week 18 rematch against Tampa Bay. But the Panthers showed Sunday they’re capable of winning — and being a surprise division champion.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Sunday’s action in Week 16 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Mike Tomlin: The streak lives.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers won their ninth game of the season, meaning Mike Tomlin still has never had a losing season as Steelers head coach. And it was an impressive and important win Sunday.

The Steelers beat the Detroit Lions 29-24 despite being road underdogs to improve to 9-6 and maintain their lead in the AFC North. The Steelers’ defense was great for three quarters, and when the Lions rallied in the fourth quarter and had a shot to win, two offensive pass interference calls wiped out touchdowns and the Steelers held on.

There has been a lot of talk about Tomlin’s future this season, and even “Fire Tomlin” chants at one of the Steelers’ home games. But he keeps winning.

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Houston Texans, but it wasn’t pretty: The Texans have been on a roll lately, and the Las Vegas Raiders have been the worst team in the NFL for a while.

The Texans almost took a terrible loss to a moribund Raiders team Sunday. Luckily, they did just enough to win.

Las Vegas got a big game from rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, a rarity this season and unexpected against the Texans’ stellar defense. A 60-yard catch for a touchdown by Jeanty gave the Raiders a 14-13 lead, and a 51-yard touchdown run by Jeanty cut Houston’s lead to 23-21 late in the game. But the Texans put together a drive to kill the clock, with Nico Collins’ 24-yard catch sealing the 23-21 win.

The Texans got the win and that’s what matters. But their offense wasn’t great and their defense had its worst game in weeks against a terrible Raiders offense. It’s wise to give the Texans a pass for having one flat game, but it was still alarming.

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James Cook III: It was a rare day for the Buffalo Bills. They didn’t get a massive performance out of Josh Allen but won 23-20 anyway. That doesn’t happen too often.

The biggest reason the Bills won was they were playing the Cleveland Browns, but the Browns were in the game late. Instead of Allen saving the day, it was Cook who shouldered most of the offensive load. Cook had 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Allen had an unusually quiet day with just 130 yards passing and no touchdowns. That’s a reason the game was close at the end, but the Bills’ defense backed up the Browns and forced a punt on fourth-and-32, then the offense got the first down it needed to kill the clock.

It’s the NFL and no wins should ever be taken for granted, but the Bills’ lukewarm performance doesn’t make it easier to buy them as the favorite to win the AFC. But in games against tougher competition, Allen will presumably be a much bigger factor. Cook, one of the NFL’s best running backs this season, will be there to help as well.

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Jim Harbaugh: Harbaugh isn’t going to get any NFL Coach of the Year votes, but maybe he should.

The Chargers have dealt with plenty of injuries, including to both star offensive tackles, but they keep winning in spite of that. The Chargers were underdogs for some reason against a Dallas Cowboys team that was officially eliminated from the playoffs Saturday, but Los Angeles got an easy 34-17 win. The Chargers are 11-4 and not out of the race for the AFC West championship.

That’s a credit to Harbaugh, one of the NFL’s best coaches, and also his defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who has done a fantastic job all season and will be in demand this offseason for head coaching jobs. Before then, the Chargers have some work to do in the postseason.

Brian Flores: Speaking of defensive coordinators who should get some interest in head coach openings this offseason, Flores had a great day for the Minnesota Vikings in their 16-13 win over the New York Giants. The Vikings lost J.J. McCarthy to a hand injury and the offense didn’t do much with Max Brosmer in the game. It didn’t matter much because Flores’ defense was so good.

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By halftime, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart had completed 1 of 5 passes for 2 yards, and threw an interception. He had a 0.0 passer rating at the half. That might be a statement on the Giants rookie regressing, but any quarterback will have issues against Flores’ defense. It was excellent Sunday.

The Vikings aren’t going anywhere this season, but Flores is still showing he’s one of the better defensive play-callers in the NFL.

Kellen Moore: By this time in the season, plenty of teams with double-digit losses have no chance to win. Some of it is due to talent deficiencies, injuries or both. Sometimes teams playing out the last few games of a miserable season look completely unmotivated and it shows.

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The Saints’ season has been done for a while, but they’re still playing hard. The New York Jets are one of those teams that looks like it can’t wait for the season to be over, but it’s still a good sign that the Saints beat New York 29-6 on Sunday. It’s a sign they’re buying into what Moore is selling in his first season as head coach.

After going 2-10, the Saints have won three in a row. That includes victories over the Buccaneers and Panthers. The Saints still need an infusion of talent, but they should feel pretty good they made the right coaching hire.

LOSERS

Denver Broncos: The Broncos worked for 15 weeks to take over the top seed in the AFC, get control of the AFC West and also get some respect as one of the best teams in football. They might have blown it all with their first blowout loss of the season.

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The Jacksonville Jaguars came to Denver and handed the Broncos a 34-20 loss. The Jaguars continue to ascend late in the season, and Trevor Lawrence had another strong game. Lawrence had 279 yards passing and three passing touchdowns, and added another rushing TD.

The Jaguars came into the game trying to hold off the Texans for the AFC South title, and getting a win at Denver was a huge step toward that. The Jaguars also are just a game behind the Broncos for the first seed in the AFC.

The Broncos are 12-3 but can’t be comfortable anymore. The Chargers are 11-4 and right behind them in the AFC West. The road to the No. 1 seed in the AFC got tougher with the loss. Hopefully they don’t look back on Sunday as a loss that changed their season for the worse.

Jacoby Brissett: When Brissett took over as quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, the offense looked better than it had under Kyler Murray. That has been fading lately.

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Brissett had just 203 yards and threw an interception in the final minute that was snagged on a great catch by Atlanta Falcons cornerback C.J. Henderson, which clinched the 26-19 win for the Falcons.

Everything about the Cardinals has been a difficult watch this season. They’ve lost 10 of 11 games. For a while Brissett was making plays, but like the rest of the Cardinals, he is fading fast into the offseason.

The irrelevant Kansas City Chiefs: It had been a long time since the Chiefs played a game after being eliminated from the playoffs. It was strange that their game against the Tennessee Titans meant nothing.

The Chiefs, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season, will have an odd finish to the season. It got even weirder in the first half when Gardner Minshew, who was replacing an injured Patrick Mahomes, left the game with a reported torn ACL. He was replaced by Chris Oladokun, who you might not have heard of before Sunday.

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Oladokun was the Steelers’ seventh-round pick out of South Dakota State in 2022. He had appeared in one NFL game, rushing once for 5 yards last season, before he got in the game Sunday. He struggled against the Titans, as should be expected, not leading any touchdown drives in the Chiefs’ listless 26-9 loss to Tennessee, who might have played its way out of contention for the first pick of the NFL Draft with its third win of the season.

Oladokun could end up getting some starts to finish the season. That would include what is becoming a depressing Christmas game against the Denver Broncos.

It’s not like it matters. The Chiefs are playing out the string to end the season. After playing so many enormous games the past few seasons, the Chiefs quickly faded into obscurity this season.

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Quinn Ewers: Even though Mike McDaniel said he went with Ewers over Tua Tagovailoa because it gave the Miami Dolphins the best chance to win, everyone knew that was nonsense. The team decided Tagovailoa was done as its quarterback and it was wise to get a look at Ewers, a seventh-round draft pick, before the season ended.

Ewers needed to play very well to become the unquestioned top option heading into the 2026 season, and it’s not like that happened Sunday. The Dolphins had a rough game and Ewers wasn’t great in a 45-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He padded his stats in a blowout, throwing for 260 yards, but threw two key interceptions that helped the Bengals pull away.

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Ewers is likely to start the final two games of the season, so he still has a chance to make an impression. But his time to do so is short.