National Football League

[movingtarget]

Flat performance by the Ravens.Burrow looked good and the Bengals defense was better than usual.

Kansas don't have much more wriggle room and it could come down to the final game for them while the Cowboys have been improving.

Lions like Kansas haven't looked as good as last season while the Packers looked like the team they were supposed to be. Still think the NFC is wide open and the AFC probably doesn't look as sharp as the previous few seasons . Once again the NFL looks looks more open than ever leading up to the playoffs. Maybe the Rams look more like SB material than most other teams at the moment especially with the form Stafford has been in.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Rams have to be the hot favorite to win and if they do, Stafford is HOF bound. With how all the teams are performing maybe this is the year we finally see the seventh seed do something.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'm awaiting the Rams-Seahawks rematch. I'm also awaiting a team to get pressure on Stafford. Also to see if their health holds up. But I agree Stafford is HOF bound at this point. Might take a while, but he's had a long, positive career, plus a ring, and doing very well in the twilight of his career. Too bad he looks like he could be Elon Musk's brother. Poor guy.

Regarding 4Q in that Cowboy-Chief game, that was maybe the first time in memory it looked like key calls went against the Chiefs. But I too was worried the refs were going to toss the game back to them. Just a lot of questionable calls, and too many flags, period. Though in the end the better team did win.

Bengals only chance is to both win out (game at Buffalo will be hard), and the Steelers basically have to lose 3 games. Or a lot of other teams have to win for Cincy to make a wildcard, and I don't see that happening.

 

[Nomad]

Chiefs have to be considered about done at this point. They don't have to win out, but at most can afford 1 single loss, and they have three tough games to go. Texans, Chargers, and Denver twice. All three have a significantly better defense than Dallas.

They already played Denver at Mile High a couple of weeks ago - the 2nd game is at Arrowhead on Xmas day. The Chiefs now have equaled the total amount of losses when they finished 11-6 in 2023 & still won the division (but they didn't have to content with a much improved Denver & LAC).

Yesterday's game was interesting because Mahomes played his heart out. Vintage Mahomes throwing for 261 & 4 scores (no picks) & a sizzling 129 Rtg. He also added 30 yds rushing. And man-o-man, his scrambling ability is unreal - about to be sacked late in the 4Q, he gets tripped up & just before he tumbles to the ground, he launches a 45 yd bomb to Worthy. Mahomes accounted for all their scoring. Another bad day rushing the football as Pacheco & Hunt accounted for only 74 yds rushing (they were out rushed by the Cowboys (137-119). Mahomes outplayed Prescott, who looks really good on play-action but doesn't have the mobility that Mahomes has. The Chiefs offense is better than I thought. They are 7th in points scored (305) averaging 25.4 pts per game - that would make any OC jump for joy. Their D doesn't look as good in year's past.

I think the Chiefs have to win out to be assured a playoff spot. Sure, with one more loss they finish 10-7 & could squeak in (but it depends on how many other teams finish 10-7). Fortunately, for them the 3 hard games against Houston, LAC & Denver are all at home. They only have the hapless Raiders & Titans on the road who no doubt will be trying to play spolier.

 

[Oldman]

I'm awaiting the Rams-Seahawks rematch. I'm also awaiting a team to get pressure on Stafford. Also to see if their health holds up. But I agree Stafford is HOF bound at this point. Might take a while, but he's had a long, positive career, plus a ring, and doing very well in the twilight of his career. Too bad he looks like he could be Elon Musk's brother. Poor guy.

Seahawks re-signed Quandre Diggs on the 26th. Ernest Jones and linebackers coming off of injuries are now set for Vikings game. Doubt Diggs would see time but it bodes well for healthy depth during playoff run.

Now to get that former Viking to only throw to Seahawks or not at all. Running game will help that alot.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Add the Eagles to the teams not likely to get far into the preseason unless something really changes. But give Chicago and Ben Johnson credit. This win was legit!

As to KC, they have a few things going for them. They are 5-1 at home. Also, their points differential is still +73, which is sixth best in the NFL. Better than Denver, LAC, and others. Even if you take away the easy blowout win over the hapless Raiders, they are still about 12th best in the league.

 

[Unchained]

Add the Eagles to the teams not likely to get far into the preseason unless something really changes. But give Chicago and Ben Johnson credit. This win was legit!

As to KC, they have a few things going for them. They are 5-1 at home. Also, their points differential is still +73, which is sixth best in the NFL. Better than Denver, LAC, and others. Even if you take away the easy blowout win over the hapless Raiders, they are still about 12th best in the league.

Both teams have threatening quarterbacks.. Bears made Eagles pay multiple times for not respecting QB running ability. Eagles defense, defensive coordinator were just beat..can't have linebackers assigned for pass coverage against receivers, can't have frozen flat footed linebackers trying to chase down a fairly fast quarterback if he decides nothing is available and tucks it away and starts running.
Eagles couldn't control line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. Philadelphia coach tried different things just nothing worked on offense. Hardly looked like defending Super Bowl champions.
Kansas City is looking great but Rashee Rice and especially Kareem Hunt are playing at 110% of their potential.
Isiah Pacheco did practice and maybe it will be lucky 14, because the prediction that he would play week 13, not so lucky.. If he comes back at even @80% Chiefs are going to improve. Hunt can't catch as well but the guy is a monster.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Only issue is at home Chiefs still usually struggle and the games are close against the Broncos and Chargers. Plus Texans defense is really good and have a great pass rush which the chiefs have been struggling against and have further offensive line issues. Offensively they’ve been way better than the last two seasons but they still all consistently make mistakes that come back to bite them. They also can’t run the ball and the GM not trying to get Hall is glaring. To top it all off they’re being even more penalized but that’s not an easy fix because they’ve always committed those penalties, they just weren’t called on it as frequently as now. I think they’ll lose one or two more, they just have to hope it’s not to the Texans or Chargers. What’s even worse for them, Broncos will be playing hard on Christmas since they could potentially end the Chiefs season, while the Raiders have their Super Bowl 1/4.

They’d need a lot of help of the sixth seed and second seed would be a hard fight if they end up seventh. I’ve seen some now saying they should mail the season in and go for a RB in the draft, I forget his name but I’m sure Nomad or Alpe might know.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Oh Bears fans are rejuvenated after they won the division in 2010. Honestly a sleeper team to reach the Super Bowl, and dangerous.

 

[movingtarget]

Bears ran all over the Eagles. Their run defense was poor.Add to that the scrambling ability of Williams and the first downs kept piling up. Bears have won nine of their past ten. Have put together a nice run.

 

[SHAD0W93]

REPORT: Amon-Ra St. Brown Likely To Miss “Multiple Weeks” With Ankle Injury

Not only did the Detroit Lions drop a crucial NFC North matchup to the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, but they also lost their best wide receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown for a while. According to Lions coach Dan Campbell, St. Brown is expected to miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury he suffered during...

dailysnark.com

 

[Nomad]

As to KC, they have a few things going for them. They are 5-1 at home. Also, their points differential is still +73, which is sixth best in the NFL. Better than Denver, LAC, and others. Even if you take away the easy blowout win over the hapless Raiders, they are still about 12th best in the league.

They have a ton of things going for them. Their 6-6 record has to be a total anomaly - something that can not be logically explained. Considered these stats & tell me that this sounds like a struggling 6-6 team:

- 5th in total offense
- 2nd in passing offense (only behind the Cowboys)
- 14th in rushing offense (but still better than good teams such as the Packers, Chargers, Eagles, Texans, Rams & Seahawks!)
- 9th in scoring offense (25.4 PPG)

2025 NFL Offense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats | FOX Sports

Find out where every NFL team ranks on offense following Week 12 of the 2025 season.

www.foxsports.com

And Mahomes has been playing some of his best football of his career. Consider this:

- 3rd in QBR
- 2nd in passing yardage (3238)
- 4th in TDs passes (22)
- 7 INTs (13 lowest)
(In last year's 15-2 season, he was 26-11 on TD/INT ratio & in the 2023 11-6 SB winning season he was 27-14 - he's on pace to significantly beat the those ratios).

Patrick Mahomes 2025 Stats per Game - NFL - ESPN

The 2025 NFL season stats per game for Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs on ESPN. Includes full stats, per opponent, for regular and postseason.

www.espn.com

And now Mahomes has joined the ranks of the dual-threat QBs as 3rd in QB rushing stats averaging 29 yds per game (only behind Fields & Allen):

NFL Qb Rushing Yards Leaders 2025 | StatMuse

Justin Fields has the most rushing yards by a quarterback this season, with 383 yards.

www.statmuse.com

So, I thought it must the defense that is letting the team down? Wrong again.

The Chiefs are top-10 in most defensive categories including 6th in scoring defense:

2025 NFL Defense Rankings: Team Pass and Rush Stats | FOX Sports

Find out where every NFL team ranks on defense following Week 12 of the 2025 season.

www.foxsports.com

The only stat they're not top 10 is turnover differential margin where they're currently 14th at +2. However, still better than teams such as the Broncos, Patriots, Bills, Seahawks, 49ers & Cowboys (most of these teams are in the negative category with the mighty Broncos at a -3!)

https://www.footballdb.com/statistics/turnovers.html

Again, based on these stats & excellent performance by Mahomes - does this sound like a struggling 6-6 team?

 

[Nomad]

Only issue is at home Chiefs still usually struggle and the games are close against the Broncos and Chargers. Plus Texans defense is really good and have a great pass rush which the chiefs have been struggling against and have further offensive line issues. Offensively they’ve been way better than the last two seasons but they still all consistently make mistakes that come back to bite them. They also can’t run the ball and the GM not trying to get Hall is glaring. To top it all off they’re being even more penalized but that’s not an easy fix because they’ve always committed those penalties, they just weren’t called on it as frequently as now. I think they’ll lose one or two more, they just have to hope it’s not to the Texans or Chargers. What’s even worse for them, Broncos will be playing hard on Christmas since they could potentially end the Chiefs season, while the Raiders have their Super Bowl 1/4.

They’d need a lot of help of the sixth seed and second seed would be a hard fight if they end up seventh. I’ve seen some now saying they should mail the season in and go for a RB in the draft, I forget his name but I’m sure Nomad or Alpe might know.

I don't think the Chiefs would ever draft a RB in the 1st rd after the debacle when they drafted Clyde Edwards-Helaire with their 1st pick in 2020. The guy is a bust & lost his starting job in 2022 when they drafted Pacheco. As an unproductive rotator, they eventually released him in 2024 (he's lucky he's still in the league when the Chiefs surprisingly signed him to their practice squad this season).

The only top RB & projected 1st rounder that I'm aware of is Heisman candidate Jememyiah Love of Notre Dame. He's an excellent dual-role RB with size & speed that would be a day 1 starter. Nicholas Singleton of Penn St was supposed to be other top dual-role RB who had broke some of Barkley's rushing records at PSU. However, due to injuries, he's had a significant performance drop starting in only 4 games this season with his draft projection dropping down to 3rd or 4th rd.

Unless Alpe has some other top RBs that he's aware of, I can't think of any other standouts.

 

[Nomad]

Interesting take by Stroud on Purdy:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/KgRrPgLhOmo?si=DIybHu1_NzKNvaGl

 

[SHAD0W93]

I don't think the Chiefs would ever draft a RB in the 1st rd after the debacle when they drafted Clyde Edwards-Helaire with their 1st pick in 2020. The guy is a bust & lost his starting job in 2022 when they drafted Pacheco. As an unproductive rotator, they eventually released him in 2024 (he's lucky he's still in the league when the Chiefs surprisingly signed him to their practice squad this season).

The only top RB & projected 1st rounder that I'm aware of is Heisman candidate Jememyiah Love of Notre Dame. He's an excellent dual-role RB with size & speed that would be a day 1 starter. Nicholas Singleton of Penn St was supposed to be other top dual-role RB who had broke some of Barkley's rushing records at PSU. However, due to injuries, he's had a significant performance drop starting in only 4 games this season with his draft projection dropping down to 3rd or 4th rd.

Unless Alpe has some other top RBs that he's aware of, I can't think of any other standouts.

It was Jememyiah Love but with those accolades will probably be drafted before Chiefs are on the board.

 

[Nomad]

Add the Eagles to the teams not likely to get far into the preseason unless something really changes. But give Chicago and Ben Johnson credit. This win was legit!

No kidding...and a wild Bears locker room with a shirtless Ben Johnson going hypermode! Lol

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/JC-30AT8trk?si=pvis4uJG2vMzpSdY

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

A team would have to be fairly set, and have a good, young OL to draft a RB in the first round these days. My guess is the Chiefs first pick next season will be an OL player, followed by DL, and maybe a TE or WR. Draft a RB too high and you have the Raiders - a terrible OL, and Ashton Jeanty is running for about 50 yards a game, and 3.6 yards per carry. He's also hit behind the line of scrimmage in probably 40% of all carries.

I've been somewhat out of the loop lately with college. The one thing I have concluded is I would want my team to:

1. Not have to play in a conference championship.
2. Not get a first round playoff bye (all four teams that did last year lost).
3. Get a home game for my first playoff game.
4. Not have to play Ohio State.

Texas A&M, Oregon, Ole Miss, etc.

 

[Nomad]

Definitely an OL player...and they need to get it right. Recall they drafted a top LT with their 1st rd pick; Josh Simmons out of Ohio St. He was good enough in preseason to win the starting job. However, he miss several weeks mid-season due to a leave of absence for personal reasons. And now after he comes back, he dislocates his wrist in the Cowboys game & looks to go on IR. What a crazy season this has been for the Chiefs.

  

Chiefs offensive line nightmare gets worse with brutal Josh Simmons injury

The initial news on Josh Simmons was not good following the Chiefs' loss on Thanksgiving Day.

arrowheadaddict.com

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Not very many compelling games this Sunday:

HOU@INDY - Very important game. Daniel Jones playing with a small fracture of his tibia. CJ back for Houston.
SF@CLE - Will be interesting to see how Shedeur does against a legit team.
LAR@CAR - Rams defense could spell misery for Bryce.
MIN@SEA - Should be an easy win for Seahawks and Darnold. Could be a real challenge for Brosmer.
BUF@PIT - Rodgers back for Steelers. Neither team can afford to lose.
LV@LAC - Borderline trap game for Chargers. Raiders so bad, but also just fired Chip Kelly, and LA a bit of a mess.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Not very many compelling games this Sunday:

HOU@INDY - Very important game. Daniel Jones playing with a small fracture of his tibia. CJ back for Houston.
SF@CLE - Will be interesting to see how Shedeur does against a legit team.
LAR@CAR - Rams defense could spell misery for Bryce.
MIN@SEA - Should be an easy win for Seahawks and Darnold. Could be a real challenge for Brosmer.
BUF@PIT - Rodgers back for Steelers. Neither team can afford to lose.
LV@LAC - Borderline trap game for Chargers. Raiders so bad, but also just fired Chip Kelly, and LA a bit of a mess.

To keep things interesting for the AFC; Bills, Jaqs, Texans, and Chargers need to win. Or Texans tie that way Colts stay well ahead in case Texans win the division.

 

[SHAD0W93]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1995290532935774405

View: https://x.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1995290532935774405

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

That was one impressive win by Carolina, and clutch play by Bryce. Just six days after he looked flat against SF, he gets the biggest win of his career.

Bears now have top seed in NFC at 9-3, with only a +6 point differential (Rams are +124. Seattle +133).

Texans win over Colts was big. Seattle looked impressive. Aaron Rodgers looks old. Bills rushing attack impressive, most running yards Pitt has been given up in aeons. They could still win that division.

SF looked good, but Browns sticking with Shedeur (like I predicted!). Tampa a different team with Chris Godwin back. Still unsure when Mike Evans will return. Jags win to move into first (tie). Chargers sloppy win over Raiders.

Incredible catches by Pucua, and Brock Bowers. Season ending highlight reel impressive!

 

[movingtarget]

49ers got the job done against a team that always gives them trouble at home. Purdy had a much tidier game. 49ers O line did surprisingly well against Garrett.Browns special teams had a shocker while the 49ers special teams are now number one in the league after being terrible for the last three years or so. 49ers defense played well again. Sanders didn't show much, lot's of dink and dunk and one missed throw that could have led to a TD and probably should have.

Shocked by the Rams result after watching a poor Panthers last week against the 49ers. But three turn overs is enough in this league to force a result

Herbert broke his left hand re the Chargers win. Good win for Seattle. Steelers loss no surprise. Tomlin's tenure must be getting closer to the finish line. Looks like another wishy washy season for them. Texan's continue to improve with a good win. Bears have a tough schedule with their remaining games but have done very well so far. Number one seed still up for grabs in the NFC while the Patriots and Denver will probably fight it out in the AFC.. Bills continue their up and down form week to week. Cardinals had another narrow loss. story of their season so far.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Wild game tonight. Thought the refs were going to shaft the Commanders, but what a battle to the end.

Denver may be like this year's version of KC. Are they the best team in the AFC? Does it really matter if you just keep winning?

 

[Nomad]

Broncos squeaked out another one-score win against a bad team. I thought for sure this might be a trap game with more at stake for the Commanders at home on SNF. Mariota played very well except for the 2 pt conversion play in OT where he had a wide open receiver but his pass was tipped by Bonitto on the blitz. But a win is a win. Maybe another close one with the rematch against the Raiders next week? Lol. Are the Broncos the best team in the AFC...you ask? Answer: NO.

Houston is on a tear & they look like one of the most dangerous teams in the league right now. Their D dominated the Colts while Stroud & the O were solid. Houston has won 4 in a row now. They are now 3-0 in one-score games after going 0-5 in one-score games in the 1st half of the season. Huge game next week vs KC.

The most entertaining game, IMO, was the donnybrook between the Bills & Steelers. The was one of the most physical hard hitting games I've seen in awhile. A lot of skirmishes & near fights. Allen & Heyward had some kind of conflict going on as they were ready to fight several times during the game. Allen under constant pressure running for his life. He rushed for 38 of the hardest yardage I've ever seen as he was drilled, hammered, clocked, etc. Great Bills run game as they put 249 on the Steelers - the most rushing yardage put on a Steelers team at home in 50 yrs!

And Rodgers looked bad out there playing with a cast on his left wrist. Totally ineffective throwing ball. He was throwing weird passes: side-arm type stuff that was getting deflected & grounders hitting the turf. Lol. Then came the BIG ONE: On a rollout he was drilled from behind by Bosa so hard that he fumbled & lacerated his nose. Thought he was done for day but he later return with his nose patched up. He was lucky this hit didn't result in a more serious season-ending injury. At the end of the game he looked like one beat-up, weary, old QB that you use to see back in the 50s & 60s. Lol.

Allen's 4Q rushing TD breaks Cam Newton's all-time QB rushing TD record:

Josh Allen Makes History As He Breaks NFL’s All-Time Rushing Touchdown Record for a QB

Josh Allen is now the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.

www.si.com