Week 16 of the NFL season continues with 11 games Sunday afternoon, nearly all of which have postseason implications. The early window features the Buffalo Bills vs. the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, and the late window features the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. Follow along for live updates, news and highlights from around the league.
Bengals take a big lead on undermanned Ravens
The Cincinnati Bengals made an emphatic claim to the AFC North title, taking a 31-14 lead on a Baltimore Ravens team that is decimated by injuries.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 18 of 21 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns. Tee Higgins, who caught seven passes for 129 yards, caught one TD pass, Tyler Boyd caught one TD pass that covered 68 yards and Joe Mixon caught the third. Mixon also had 10 carries for 42 yards and another touchdown. Ja’Marr Chase had three receptions for 52 yards.
With Lamar Jackson out and Tyler Huntley on the covid-19 list, veteran journeyman Josh Johnson started for Baltimore and completed 16 of 22 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Mark Andrews was Baltimore’s leading receiver with five catches for 78 yards.
Bills have 10-point halftime lead on Patriots in Foxborough
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Buffalo Bills, trying to avoid being swept by the New England Patriots this season, have a 17-7 halftime lead at Gillette Stadium.
Quarterback Josh Allen threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the first half for the Bills. He also had a 25-yard scramble to set up a field goal.
Allen threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the final two minutes of the half.
The Bills converted on fourth and two from the New England 34-yard line on that drive, after the Patriots had jumped offside on fourth and seven.
The Bills had failed on fourth and one from the New England 1-yard line earlier in the second quarter, following a tipped-ball interception thrown by Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.
Tempers flared a bit very late in the half when Jones was shoved far out of bounds by Buffalo’s Jerry Hughes at the end of a run. The officials inexplicably chose not to penalize Hughes, and the Patriots received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty soon thereafter. That left Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and the home crowd understandably upset.
Buccaneers lead Panthers 19-6 at halftime
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and his crew are handling business as usual, leading the Carolina Panthers 19-6 at halftime after being shut out against their division rival New Orleans Saints just a week ago.
With a win today, the Buccaneers clinch an NFC South division title for the first time since 2007.
After a Panthers field goal, the Buccaneers kicked off their scoring on their second drive of the game when backup running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn, garnering a heavier workload with Leonard Fournette (hamstring) out, bolted for a 55-yard touchdown.
After three more field goals between the two teams in the second, Brady found tight end Cameron Brate for a 4-yard touchdown to give Tampa Bay a 19-6 lead.
The Panthers platooned both Cam Newton and Sam Darnold in the first half — Darnold completed 4 of 6 passes for 75 yards; Newton was 6-of-9 for 52 yards and an interception, adding 42 rushing yards.
Bengals take 17-7 lead after 63-yard touchdown pass by Joe Burrow
The Cincinnati Bengals, with an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the AFC North, have jumped out to a 17-7 lead against the Baltimore Ravens.
Ahead by three, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow hit wide receiver Tyler Boyd in stride for a 63-yard touchdown after a bust in coverage in the Ravens’ secondary left Boyd wide open and untouched into the end zone.
The Bengals have scored on their first three possessions of the ballgame and have picked up 202 yards of total offense on those drives. In the team’s first matchup of the season, Burrow threw for a season high 416 yards and three touchdowns in Cincinnati’s 41-17 victory. A win over the Ravens would give the Bengals a season sweep of the series for the first time since 2015.
Pats convert twice on fourth down on way to tying touchdown against Bills
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It’s a fourth-down fest at Gillette Stadium.
The New England Patriots converted twice on fourth down on their way to tying their game with the Buffalo Bills.
Tailback Damien Harris, back in the lineup after missing one game with a hamstring injury, had a 16-yard touchdown run to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive. The Patriots and Bills are tied at 7 in the second quarter.
The Patriots got first downs on fourth and one from their own 48-yard line and on fourth and one from the Buffalo 28-yard line during the drive.
The Bills had taken the lead with a fourth-down touchdown in the opening quarter.
Zach Wilson’s 52-yard touchdown run gives Jets the lead
In a matchup between Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, the top two picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, Wilson is off to a fast start.
On a third and five from the Jets’ 48, Wilson eluded oncoming defensive linemen, escaped the pocket and sprinted up the right sideline. The No. 2 overall pick made two Jaguars defenders miss and scored a touchdown to put the Jets ahead, 7-3.
Wilson, since returning from a PCL injury in Week 12 after missing five weeks, has rushed for four touchdowns in his past five games after not having any through his first seven weeks. The Jets rushed for 66 yards on the first drive, including the run and Wilson added 25 yards through the air.
Bills get early fourth-down touchdown against Patriots
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Buffalo Bills have the early lead over the New England Patriots in the rematch of their Dec. 6 game, as a fourth-down gamble by Coach Sean McDermott paid off.
McDermott left his offense on the field on fourth and two from the New England 3-yard line. After a timeout, the Bills converted with a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Allen to wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie.
Allen had plenty of time in the pocket and eventually found McKenzie open in the back of the end zone.
The Bills lead, 7-0, after the first quarter at Gillette Stadium.
They could not finish their drives in the first game, a 14-10 victory by the Patriots. McDermott’s unwavering faith in Allen and his offense was rewarded this time.
NFL told teams ‘seeding and tie-breaking procedures’ regarding canceled games remain in effect
The NFL remains intent upon playing all games as scheduled in its 18-week regular season, even with the sharp recent increase in coronavirus cases.
But even if that cannot happen, the league does not appear particularly receptive to adding a Week 19 to the schedule to accommodate any postponed games.
It appears that the NFL is prepared to cancel games–and allow teams to play uneven numbers of games–if any games must be postponed during the remainder of the regular season and cannot be rescheduled during that week’s play.
In the Dec. 17 memo that he sent to NFL teams about the three Week 15 games that were postponed by two days each—resulting in them being played later in Week 15 last Monday and Tuesday—Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned the “seeding and tie-breaking procedures” that the league had in place last season. Those procedures included having playoff spots determined by winning percentage if teams had played different numbers of regular season games because of virus-related disruptions.
“The seeding and tie-breaking procedures approved by the membership for the 2020 season remain in place and will be used if necessary for the 2021 season,” Goodell wrote in the memo.
The NFL never had to utilize that provision last season. It managed to play a full season even with a series of rescheduled games.
And it hopes to not have to utilize that provision this season, as it readies to complete the Week 16 games Sunday and Monday.
“We will make every effort, consistent with underlying health and safety principles, to play our full schedule within the current 18 weeks,” Goodell wrote in the Dec. 17 memo.
Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter, the president of the NFL Players Association, told reporters last week that the league was prepared to cancel the trio of Week 15 games without rescheduling them. The NFLPA pushed for the games to be played so that players would be paid, Tretter said. Under the current rules, players on both teams would go unpaid for that week if a game is canceled.
New interviewing rule could prompt sooner-rather-than-later coach firings
Beginning this week, there will be incentive for any team planning to fire its head coach to do it immediately rather than wait until after the season.
At their meeting earlier this month in Irving, Tex., NFL owners formally ratified a new rule that allows teams to conduct head-coaching interviews with candidates from other franchises during the final two weeks of the regular season. The league initially had informed teams about the measure in October.
To take advantage of the provision, a team must have a different head coach than the one who started the season or must have informed its coach that he will not be retained. Two NFL teams currently qualify: the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jon Gruden resigned as coach the Raiders and the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer as their coach.
So could a team such as the Chicago Bears, amid regular speculation that Coach Matt Nagy will be dismissed, act sooner rather than later? That remains to be seen, given that the rule is new and no one quite knows what to expect.
NFL leaders said at the meeting in Texas that the owners considered the possibility that the provision could lead to more firings during the season but believed that the benefits of the measure outweigh any such concerns. The rule is designed to give teams more time to consider a deeper and more diverse pool of head-coaching candidates. The owners approved the rule on a one-year basis.
T.J. Watt to play against Chiefs despite cracked ribs
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt will play against the Kansas City Chiefs despite having cracked a couple of ribs in Pittsburgh’s victory over the Titans last week, according to the NFL Network.
Watt has missed only two games this season despite groin, hip and knee injuries and has had a career-best 17.5 sacks over 12 games for the 7-6-1 Steelers. He had 1.5 sacks last week and has three regular season games in which to continue his pursuit of Michael Strahan’s single-season record of 22.5, set in 2001. (Sacks became an officially recognized statistic in 1982.)
Bears bring some Chicago weather to Seattle
The Bears are going to feel right at home in Seattle, where they play the Seahawks at 4:05 p.m. Eastern time.
That’s because it’s snowing up a storm — a real storm — in the Pacific Northwest.
The forecast calls for snow to taper off in the early afternoon with a game-time temperature of 26 and a wind chill of 15 with 12 mph winds.
As Packers roll to 12th win, Aaron Rodgers’s pinkie toe is a concern
On a day when Aaron Rodgers broke Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers record for career touchdown passes, a great deal of attention centered on something else that was broken, namely his left pinkie toe.
The Packers held on for a 24-22 win over the Cleveland Browns and retained their hold on the top spot for the NFC playoffs, but the sight of Rodgers limping after offensive lineman Royce Newman stepped on his foot was of far greater concern. He headed for the locker room before the end of the first half to have treatment for the pain in his toe, which he initially injured while he was in isolation for 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus Nov. 3.
Rodgers told Fox Sports Erin Andrews that his toe was back to where it was a few weeks ago after the incident.
“This was the best I’ve felt in weeks,” Rodgers told reporters after the game. As has been the custom since he was injured, he did not practice last week, but did walk-throughs.
“Didn’t get [an] injection before the game. You know, was feeling really good,” he continued. “Then kind of got rolled up there at the end of the first quarter. Kind of got past that. Then got stepped on directly on the toe. And that’s when the pain was pretty intense. Took care of it at halftime and obviously felt better. We’re over six weeks past this now, so we’re hoping that it wasn’t a major setback tonight.”
During the Packers’ Week 13 bye, Rodgers visited doctors in California and it was determined that he would not have surgery, which he said would require putting a pin in the toe, at that point. Since then, Rodgers has received some numbing injections before games and had treatments during the week.
“I think any decision that’s made would be one that allows me to play. I’m not going to miss any games,” he told “The Pat McAfee Show” in early December. “I’ve obviously played with much bigger injuries, different parts of my body. And although it’s a small pinkie toe, it’s definitely painful and creates some issues. But I’m not going to miss any games because of it.”
On Saturday, he passed Favre with his 443rd TD pass.
Matt Rhule set to juggle playing time for Cam Newton, Sam Darnold
It will be interesting to see exactly how Coach Matt Rhule divides the playing time at quarterback between Cam Newton and Sam Darnold in the Carolina Panthers’ early-afternoon game at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rhule said at midweek that Newton will start the game but Darnold will play.
Darnold is returning from a shoulder injury. He was the team’s starter earlier in the season after being acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Jets. The Panthers already have picked up the $18.858 million option for next season in his original rookie contract.
Newton has had a few eye-catching moments but mostly has struggled — with four touchdown passes, four interceptions and a passer rating of 67.8 — since being signed around midseason for his second stint with the franchise.
He’s not under contact for next season and if he’s not re-signed, this would be his final home game with the Panthers. They play their final two regular season games on the road.
Tyreek Hill expected to play Sunday for Chiefs; Travis Kelce out
The Kansas City Chiefs activated wide receiver Tyreek Hill from their covid-19 reserve list Saturday.
He is expected to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Kansas City.
But the Chiefs will be without tight end Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs also added Kelce, offensive tackle Lucas Niang and linebacker Nick Bolton their active roster Saturday even though they hadn’t been cleared to rejoin team activities following their positive coronavirus tests.
The protocols allow teams to activate players in that way, in anticipation of the possibility that they could test out of isolation on game day. If such a player fails to test negative on game day, he must be de-activated for the game and the team cannot replace him on the roster. That was the case with the Chiefs, who ruled out Kelce, Niang and Bolton on Sunday morning.
