The season should be pushing toward a crescendo. Unfortunately, more than half of the league has already crashed.
Seventeen teams are below .500. Unless a few of them get hot late, there will be little drama in the final weeks of the season.
The top of the league remains clustered, with plenty of seeds still TBD — including the all-important No. 1 spot, in both conferences.
Those two races would have been a lot more interesting this weekend, if the Bears and the Raiders hadn’t botched basic game-management decisions that any kid who plays Madden can properly execute.
7-4 Chargers (-2.5) at 6-5 Falcons, Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS (Kevin Harlan and Trent Green)
L.A. makes the short-week trip to Georgia to face a Falcons team that didn’t play in Week 12. Advantage, Atlanta.
The Chargers’ running game has taken a hit with the knee injury to J.K. Dobbins, who’s week to week with an MCL sprain.
The Chargers’ four losses have come against teams with winning records; six of their seven wins have happened against teams more losses than victories.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris said his team needs more play-action on offense. The team also needs more wins; the Buccaneers are creeping up on the division leaders.
8-3 Steelers at 4-7 Bengals (-3), Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS (Ian Eagle and Charles Davis)
The Steelers have a 12-4 record against the Bengals since 2016.
Cincinnati emerges from the bye week with a 1-3 record over their past four games. Six of the Bengals’ seven losses have come against teams in playoff position.
Still, quarterback Joe Burrow is tied with Lamar Jackson for the most touchdown passes in the league this season, at 27. The last quarterback to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns but not make the playoffs was Russell Wilson with the Seahawks in 2017.
Pittsburgh has its five-game winning streak end in the snow against the Browns. Pittsburgh finishes with at Bengals, Browns, at Eagles, at Ravens, Chiefs, and Bengals.
7-5 Texans (-5) at 2-9 Jaguars, Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox (Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston)
The Texans are 11-2 against Jacksonville since 2018, but the teams split in 2022 and 2023. Houston won their first 2024 get-together in Week 4.
Many around the league were stunned by the failure of owner Shad Khan to not fire coach Doug Pederson during the bye. There’s a theory in league circles that Khan might have refrained in order to score points with potential 2025 head coach Bill Belichick, who abhors in-season coaching firings.
The Texans have lost four of six, but they hold a two-game lead and the tiebreaker over the Colts.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is expected to start, after missing two games with a left shoulder injury.
6-5 Cardinals at 9-2 Vikings (-3.5), Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox (Joe Davis and Greg Olsen)
The Vikings return home for three straight games at U.S. Bank Stadium, culminating in a Monday night visit from the Bears. Minnesota has won four in a row and swept a three-game road trip (Jaguars, Titans, Bears).
Arizona slipped into a first-place NFC West tie with the Seahawks, after losing 16-6 in Seattle. It was the first time the Cardinals failed to score a touchdown all season.
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has 14 turnovers, tied for the league lead with Gardner Minshew. Minnesota officially added Daniel Jones to the practice squad on Friday.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon was an assistant defensive backs coach with the Vikings from 2014 through 2017.
5-7 Colts (-2.5) at 3-9 Patriots, Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS (Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta)
Ten years after #DeflateGate, the Colts and Patriots get together in New England. The Colts are still alive for a wild-card berth at 5-7. The Patriots are cooked at 3-9.
The Patriots have lost four of five at home; four of the five games played at Gillette Stadium have been decided by one score.
The Colts remain in the mix for a division title and a wild-card berth, but their path isn’t an easy one. They’ve lost three of four after starting 4-4.
6-5 Seahawks (-2) at 3-8 Jets, Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, Fox (Adam Amin and Mark Sanchez)
The Jets return from the bye after more chaos, starting with the firing of G.M. Joe Douglas and continuing with real questions about Aaron Rodgers’s future with the team. The good news is that he’s off the injury report completely for the first time since Week 4.
For Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, it’s a chance to beat the team that drafted him in 2013. It will be his second start against the Jets, and his second start at MetLife Stadium since leaving New York. In 2023, the Seahawks beat the Giants in New Jersey.
While Smith is having another solid year, he leads the league in interceptions, with 12.
3-8 Titans at 7-5 Commanders (-5.5), Sunday 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS (Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber and Jason McCourty)
Reality has settled in for the Commanders, who have lost three in a row and could be in danger of blowing the No. 7 seed in the NFC. The offense averaged 29.2 points in the first nine games. In the last three, the per-game number has fallen to 23.7.
Tennessee upset the Texans in Week 12. Quarterback Will Levis had his second game with a passer rating above 123 in three weeks. While the Titans have little or no chance to make the playoffs, Levis has an opportunity over the final six games to convince the new coaching staff to stick with him in 2025.
5-6 Buccaneers (-6) at 3-8 Panthers, Sunday 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox (Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth)
The Buccaneers had four rushing touchdowns in Week 12; they previously had eight for the entire year. Running back Rachaad White has scored a touchdown in five straight games.
The Bucs remain very much alive in the NFC playoff picture; they trail the Falcons by one game (plus tiebreaker) for the NFC South lead. Tampa Bay trails the Commanders by 1.5 games for a wild-card berth; Tampa Bay holds that tiebreaker, from Week 1 win over Washington.
Bryce Young is beginning to improve significantly for the Panthers after being benched following Week 2. He had 263 passing yards in a 30-27 loss to the Chiefs last week.
5-6 Rams (-2.5) at 4-7 Saints, Sunday 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox (Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma)
A week after being shredded for 314 rushing yards (second most in franchise history) by the Eagles, the Rams go to New Orleans to face the one-two punch of Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill, who had 138 rushing yards against the Browns on only seven carries.
The Saints have won two in a row under interim coach Darren Rizzi; they’re only two games behind the Falcons in the NFC South.
Rams receiver Demarcus Robison will play despite an arrest early Monday for suspicion of DUI.
9-2 Eagles at 8-4 Ravens (-3), Sunday 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS (Jim Nantz and Tony Romo)
The game of the day features two elite teams and four MVP candidates. The Eagles, who have won seven in a row, seem to be the sure-fire No. 2 seed in the NFC — with a chance to catch the Lions for the top spot. The Ravens are chasing the Steelers for the AFC North crown.
The top two rushing offenses will collide in this one, fueled by the top two running backs in the league, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry. Meanwhile, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has 10 rushing touchdowns, and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson leads all NFL signal-callers with 599 rushing yards.
The Eagles are 8-0 this season when receiver A.J. Brown plays.
Jackson gets another chance to fatten up one of the most impressive stats in the league — he’s 23-1 against NFC teams.
5-6 49ers at 9-2 Bills (-7), Sunday 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock (Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth)
A lake-effect snow warning has been issued in the Buffalo area through 7:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
The Bills have won six in a row; they’re a game behind the Chiefs for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. (Buffalo holds the tiebreaker.) Buffalo has scored 30 or more points in five straight games.
The 49ers were blown out by the Packers last week. Several key players missed the game due to injury. At 5-6, the 49ers already have more losses than they did in all of 2023.
Christian McCaffrey hasn’t scored in three games back from an Achilles injury that delayed his debut until November. He’s averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
3-8 Browns at 7-5 Broncos (-5.5), Monday 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
The Broncos have a chance to solidify their playoff prospects against a team that likely would be in the playoff mix if it had gone with quarterback Jameis Winston sooner.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix has 20 total touchdowns in the last 10 games, and only two interceptions.
Winston signed with the Saints when Broncos coach Sean Payton was in New Orleans. In 2021, Winston was 5-2 in New Orleans before suffering a season-ending ACL tear.
