Check in on the rest of the conference
The Las Vegas Raiders certainly hurt their postseason chances by losing yesterday but luckily, the other teams in the AFC keep beating up on each other and leaving the door open for the Raiders. Las Vegas has some work to do but they’re only a game behind Buffalo for the seventh playoff spot in the conference.
Indianapolis Colts 41 Buffalo Bills 15
- Carson Wentz, QB, Colts: 11/20, 106 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 2 carries, 18 rushing yards
- Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts: 34 total touches, 204 total yards, 5 total TDs
- Michael Pittman, WR, Colts: 2 catches, 23 yards
- Darius Leonard, LB, Colts: 5 total tackles, 2 solo
- Josh Allen, QB, Bills: 21/35, 209 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 2 carries, 18 rushing yards
- Dawson Knox, TE, Bills: 6 catches, 80 yards
- Stefon Digs, WR, Bills: 4 catches, 23 yards, 2 TDs
- Matt Milano, LB, Bills: 9 total tackles, 3 solo, 1 TFL
By the time you’re done reading this article, Jonathan Taylor will have scored another touchdown. This one was an absolutely dominating effort by the Colts who just turned back the clock and played some old-school, smash-mouth football. Meanwhile, the Bills have now lost three out of their last five and the division lead to the Patriots, who won on Thursday night.
Buffalo will head to New Orleans on Thanksgiving and Indianapolis will stay at home to take on Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Baltimore Ravens 16 Chicago Bears 13
- Tyler Huntley, QB: 26/36, 219 passing yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 7 carries, 40 rushing yards
- Devonta Freeman, RB: 22 total touches, 80 total yards, 1 TD
- Mark Andrews, TE: 8 catches, 73 yards
- Tyus Bowser, EDGE: 5 total tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 QB hits
Lamar Jackson was out with an illness and that was part of the reason for the Ravens rather low offensive production. However, Tyler Huntley and Baltimore’s defense were enough as the team was able to get down the field and win late and the Bears’ offense struggled to get much going outside of a few big plays.
That win bumps the Ravens up to the two seed in the AFC as they get set to take on the Browns at home on Sunday night football
Detroit Lions 10 Cleveland Browns 13
- Baker Mayfield, QB: 15/29, 176 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 4 carries, 9 rushing yards
- Nick Chubb, RB: 24 total touches, 144 total yards, 1 receiving TD
- Jarvis Landry, WR: 5 total touches, 42 total yards, 1 rushing TD
- John Johnson III, S: 8 total tackles, 5 solo, 1 TFL
We’ll file this one in the “when wins really feel like losses” category for the Browns. Not only were the Browns playing the winless Lions, but the Lions were also starting their backup quarterback and almost came back to win this game in the fourth quarter. The nightmare of a season continued for Baker Mayfield as he continues to battle through injuries but is also starting to look like a detriment to his team.
At 6-5, Cleveland owns the 10th spot in the conference with Indy holding the current tiebreaker, and the Browns have to go to the Ravens’ place next week.
Houston Texans 22 Tennessee Titans 13
- Ryan Tannehill, QB: 35/52, 323 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs
- Adrian Peterson, RB: 9 carries, 40 yards
- A.J. Brown, WR: 5 catches, 48 yards
- Jeffery Simmons, DT: 5 solo tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD
Upsets have been the theme of the last few weeks and this one might be the most surprising. This was the first time it felt like the Titans were missing Derrick Henry, partially because they played in a monsoon that made throwing the ball difficult. More bad news on the injury front could be coming Tennessee’s way too as A.J. Brown left the game and didn’t return with a chest injury.
They still hold the top spot in the AFC, but the Titans have to play the surging Patriots on the road next week.
Dallas Cowboys 9 Kansas City Chiefs 19
- Patrick Mahomes, QB: 23/37, 260 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT
- Tyreek Hill, WR: 10 total touches, 110 total yards
- Travis Kelce, TE: 5 catches, 74 yards
- Chris Jones, DL: 5 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 TFLs, 1 PD
The Raiders’ upcoming opponent couldn’t give them any help in the division. Kansas City’s offense didn’t look great, or at least not as impressive as last week, but their defense is starting to figure it out. The Chiefs have allowed just under 12 points per game in their last four contests and Chris Jones was virtually unblockable yesterday.
Kansas City maintains the AFC West lead and the fourth seed, and they’ll have a week off before taking on Denver at home on December 5th.
Pittsburgh Steelers 37 Los Angeles Chargers
- Justin Herbert, QB: 30/41, 382 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 9 carries, 90 yards
- Austin Ekeler, RB: 17 touches, 115 total yards, 4 total TDs
- Mike Williams, WR: 5 catches, 97 yards, 1 TD
- Joey Bosa, EDGE: 4 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 3 QB hits
The Chargers tried to Charger this one by giving up 27 points in the fourth quarter, but Justin Herbert wasn’t having it and put together a comeback of his own. Los Angeles’ offense just dominated the game as they had over 533 total yards and 7.7 yards per play. Their defense did give up a decent amount of yards and points late, but Joey Bosa and Co. were good enough at the end of the game to shut the door on Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers.
With the AFC’s second wild card spot in hand, Los Angeles will head to Denver next Sunday, who was on a bye this week.
In other Raiders’ links:
- 5 things we learned against Bengals: check out Williamson’s takeaways from yesterday’s game.
- “20 years of this crap is enough. I’m fed up”: Derek Carr was visibly frustrated during his post-game press conference.
- Dallas down top-two wideouts?: Amari Cooper has already been ruled out for Thursday with COVID-19 and the Cowboys’ No. 2 receiver, CeeDee Lamb, suffered a concussion against the Chiefs, putting his status for Thanksgiving in doubt.
- Steve Smith passes away: the Raiders’ former fullback had a lengthy battle with ALS before passing away on Saturday at 57 years old.
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