The biggest game this weekend had to have been the Buffalo Bills visiting Detroit to take on the Lions. These are both two of the best teams in the league so far, and it was a possible Super Bowl preview. Buffalo came into the game with a 10-3 record, while the Lions were tied with Kansas City for the best record in the league, at 12-1, and sporting a franchise record 11 straight wins.
As it turns out, the Bills played extremely well. Their offense looked explosive, and the Lions just could not stop them. The defense simply had no answers for Josh Allen, who had another MVP caliber performance. On the day, Allen completed 23 of 34 passes for 362 and 2 TD's. He also added another 68 yards on the ground, with 11 carries, and two more rushing touchdowns. James Cook helped out with an additional 105 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries Overall, the Bills amassed 559 total yards of offense. Ultimately, all of this proved too much for Detroit's defense, which really felt scorched and more vulnerable than perhaps their 12-1 record entering this game would have suggested.
Both offenses looked great. Combined, they produced 90 points, which I believe ranks as the second highest scoring game this season (behind the Rams-Bills game last week). That said, the Lions managed to score a touchdown with just seconds left, making the final score appear closer than this one actually proved to be. Detroit amassed 521 total yards, although 473 of those yards were in the air, which perhaps revealed a serious imbalance. In short, if you like offensive football, this would have been a fun game to watch.
With the win, the Bills improve to 11-3, and keep their hopes for the AFC's top seed alive. With the Steelers losing at Philadelphia and dropping to 10-4, the Bills now have the second best record overall in the AFC, and are the only team who can catch the defending champion Chiefs. However, they did not gain any ground over Kansas City, as the Chiefs bested the Browns in Cleveland, 21-7.
Detroit, meanwhile, drops to 12-2. That means that they are now tied with Philadelphia (who again, soundly defeated the Steelers yesterday) for the NFC's top spot. It also means that they might be tied with the Vikings by tonight, if Minnesota defeats the Bears in the first Monday Night Football game scheduled. So this was a big loss for the Lions, and frankly compromises the lead that they have long held for the top spot not only in the NFC overall, but the NFC North division title, for that matter.
In other action, the Bucs solidified their hold on the NFC South by earning an impressive 40-17 road win against the Chargers yesterday. With the Saints losing to Washington, 20-19, 8-6 Tampa Bay now will await the results of the 6-7 Falcons game against the 2-11 Raiders in the second Monday Night Football game tonight to see if they now will open up a two-game lead in the division race, with each team having three games remaining on their schedule.
There was a pretty big game with serious playoff ramifications up in Seattle last night, as the 8-5 Seahawks hosted the 9-4 Packers. Seattle was looking to preserve their narrow lead over the Rams. Meanwhile, Green Bay wants to remain in the NFC North divisional race, or at least strengthen their position to qualify for the postseason. Ultimately, they were able to tame the Seahawks and inch closer to what feels like an inevitable playoff appearance, as they improve to 10-4. On the other hand, the Seahawks drop to 8-6, and it is starting to look like their regular season finals in Los Angeles against the Rams will probably be for the division title, and possibly for the playoffs hopes for both teams along with that.
Another game with some big playoff ramifications took place in Houston, when the Texans and Dolphins clashed. The Texans could expand their lead in the AFC South if they won and the Colts - the only other team in the division still with a chance at the division title - lost. Houston took care of business, beating Miami, 20-12, and hurting the Dolphins flickering playoff chances in the process. Then, the Colts got blown out at Mile High in Denver, as the Broncos romped, 31-13. So the Texans finally became the third team - all of them so far in the AFC, for some reason - to clinch the division title. Denver, with that win, solidified their playoff hopes even more. They are almost certain to qualify, and the impressive win seriously compromised Indianapolis's fading chances of qualifying for the postseason.
In Arizona, the Cardinals also kept their flickering hopes for both the playoffs and a division title alive, earning a solid 30-17 win over the Patriots to improve to 7-7. So they remain in third place, a game behind both the Seahawks and the Rams, the two teams currently tied atop the NFC West. The Cardinals will have one more crack at the Rams in a couple of weeks when they travel to Los Angeles, so they still might have something to say about the NFC West division race. We shall see.
Baltimore also is likely heading to the postseason. They improved to 9-5 by earning a solid, dominant 35-14 road win at the Meadowlands against the hapless Giants. The G-Men now have dropped nine straight games, tying a franchise record. Next week, they will try to avoid establishing the kind of history that no team wants when they visit the Falcons in Atlanta. If they do lose that one, then their current losing streak becomes the longest one in franchise history.
Yikes.
Otherwise on Sunday, the Jets earned a road win over the Jaguars to improve to 4-10, dropping the Jaguars to 3-11 in the process. Also, the Cowboys earned a 30-14 win in their desperate hopes to cling to their slim playoff hopes. With the win, Dallas improved to 6-8 on the year.
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