A loaded NFL schedule produced results that didn’t reveal much that wasn’t already known.
These are not the same Kansas City Chiefs who’ve owned the AFC West for nine seasons. Their struggles over the first nine games showed up again in a 22-19 loss at Denver.
The Buffalo Bills will go as far as Josh Allen takes them — as usual. His six touchdowns made up for two picks in a 44-32 win over Tampa Bay.
The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are even teams with two of the best defenses in the NFL. The Rams took a one-game lead over Seattle in the NFC West after holding on for a 21-19 victory when Jason Myers missed a 61-yard field goal try as time expired.
The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are still the team to beat in the NFC, even if their offense is underachieving. Vic Fangio’s defense has been dominant against dynamic offenses, including a 16-9 victory over the Lions.
Detroit is going to live and die with coach Dan Campbell’s aggressive play-calling. When it works, the Lions are unstoppable. When it doesn’t, they have a tough time.
Kansas City’s reign of dominance in the division is over. The Chiefs (5-5) will have to battle just to make the playoffs and they have a tough matchup next week against the Indianapolis Colts (8-2). A poor offensive line isn’t helping Patrick Mahomes, who threw one costly interception in field-goal range after a pick-6 was negated by a penalty. The offense isn’t making enough plays to win one-score games, going 0-5 this season. Still, the Chiefs will be considered a dangerous team in the playoffs, if they get in. They won twice on the road on their way to a second consecutive Super Bowl title two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Broncos (9-2) have won eight straight games but still look beatable. Six of those wins have been by four points or fewer, including five fourth-quarter comebacks. Denver’s last three wins have come by a three-point margin. The Broncos beat the Giants by one and the Jets by two. Bo Nix is making big plays in the fourth quarter and a dominant defense keeps the team in games. But it’s going to be hard to sustain success with an inconsistent offense that has to rally each week.
The Bills (7-3) are chasing the New England Patriots (9-2) in the AFC East. But they can beat anyone when Allen plays the way he did against Tampa Bay. The reigning NFL MVP overcame a poor interception on the first drive to finish with 317 yards passing with three TDs in the air and three TDs rushing. Buffalo has a tougher schedule than New England with upcoming road games against Houston (5-5) on Thursday night and Pittsburgh (6-4) on Nov. 30. But like the Chiefs, the Bills are a team nobody wants to face in January.
The Buccaneers (6-4) still look like a team that’s good enough to win a weak NFC South but won’t go anywhere in the playoffs. Their defense has been a problem against top teams since 2021.
Sam Darnold struggled in another big game, throwing four interceptions. His fantastic turnaround season in Minnesota last year ended with clunkers in back-to-back important games.
However, Seattle’s defense kept the team in the game and Darnold drove the Seahawks (7-3) into position for what would’ve been a remarkable comeback victory if Myers could’ve hit the long field goal. He has to play better start to finish in playoff-type games.
The Rams (8-2) couldn’t do anything on offense in this battle between two of the league’s best defenses. The defense baffled Darnold and two of the four picks turned into touchdowns on drives of 3 yards and 25 yards.
The teams will meet again on Thursday night in Week 16 in a matchup that will likely determine the division winner.
Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown still can’t get going but the Eagles relied on an elite defense to fluster Jared Goff and the Lions. After surrendering just one score to Green Bay in a 10-7 win on Monday night, they held Detroit to three field goals.
The Eagles (8-2) are the NFC’s No. 1 seed and keep finding ways to win games. They’ll need more production from the offense to have a chance to repeat but the defense has been getting better each week since shutting down Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Detroit was 0-for-5 on fourth down, including a fake punt. The Lions (6-4) fell one game behind the surging Chicago Bears in the NFC North. But the Lions are more talented. The two teams meet in Chicago in Week 18.
Eleven weeks into the season, it’s a wide-open race in both conferences.
___
On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
