Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers shut up the folks calling for Mike Tomlin’s departure — for one week at least.
The Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars defended their home turf and took over first place in their respective divisions.
The Houston Texans moved another step toward a playoff berth while damaging Kansas City’s hopes.
Week 14’s biggest games didn’t disappoint.
Rodgers played his best game of the season and the Steelers held on for a 27-22 victory in Baltimore to move one game ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North.
In a week where former Steelers star players Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison said it’s time for a new coach in Pittsburgh, the team rallied around Tomlin and came up with its biggest victory of the season.
“Awesome team win,” Tomlin said. “I’m just appreciative of the effort of the men in that locker room. It’s classic Steelers vs. Ravens.”
The Steelers (7-6) will host Lamar Jackson and the Ravens (6-7) in Week 18 so the division could be decided that day.
Rodgers, who turned 42 last Tuesday, had a season-high 284 yards passing, one interception and wasn’t sacked. He also scored his first rushing TD in three years.
“That’s why you go do business with a guy like Aaron,” Tomlin said. “Thick days, like today, he’s a been there, done that guy. Beyond the experience component of it, he relishes it. You can just tell. That’s the benefit of having a guy like him.”
The Steelers host Miami (6-7) next Monday night while the Ravens visit Cincinnati (4-9).
“I feel like each and every week there’s no room for error. We are professionals,” Jackson said. “Now, I feel like we are just trying to win as much as we can right now. We’ve just been talking about the four-game stretch. You just have to lock in and put it all on the line.”
Pack on top
In Green Bay, Jordan Love threw three TD passes and Keisean Nixon intercepted Caleb Williams’ pass in the end zone to secure a 28-21 victory over Chicago that moved the Packers ahead of the Bears in the NFC North.
The Packers (9-3-1) and Bears (9-4) face off again in Chicago in Week 16. The Lions (8-5) also remain in the mix in the division and they’ll meet the Bears in Week 18 after beating them in Detroit earlier in the season. With a tough schedule down the stretch, Chicago could go from first place to out of the playoffs.
The difference on Sunday was Love overcame an early pick and outplayed Williams, making big plays when the Packers needed them.
“Outside of (the interception), I thought he did a really good job,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Love. “No. 1, taking care of
the ball, but just making huge plays. The third-down throw to Christian Watson, he sees man coverage and he checks to that play and that’s a hell of a job by him. Same on the first touchdown pass to him. He’s in all-out
pressure and he checks to that play, and just a great job by him.”
Green Bay has a tough game next week on the road at the AFC West-leading Broncos (11-2) in Denver. The Bears are home against the dismal Browns (3-10).
Colts collapse
In Jacksonville, the Jaguars gained control of the AFC South with a convincing 36-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Trevor Lawrence played mistake-free, efficient ball to lead Jacksonville, which is seeking its second division title in four years with first-year coach Liam Coen.
The Jaguars (9-4) host the lowly Jets (3-10) next week. Meanwhile, the Colts (8-5) lost Daniel Jones to an Achilles tendon injury and head to Seattle (10-3) with rookie Riley Leonard at quarterback. They’re now in danger of missing the playoffs entirely despite a 7-1 start.
The Colts have lost four of five to fall to eighth in the AFC. They’ll host the Jaguars in Week 17 and also play the 49ers (9-4) and finish against the Texans (8-5) in a game that could determine a wild-card spot.
Dynasty over
The Chiefs’ defense was dominating Houston, holding the Texans to just 17 yards on five possessions that ended with punts in the second half before coach Andy Reid made an inexplicable decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 from Kansas City’s 31 in a game that was tied at 10 with just under 11 minutes remaining.
Patrick Mahomes’ pass to Rashee Rice was incomplete and the Texans got the ball already in field-goal range. They scored a go-ahead TD and the Chiefs couldn’t recover in a 20-10 loss.
On Kansas City’s next possession, Rice dropped a pass on fourth down. But the defense held and gave Mahomes another shot to pull off some of his magic. Instead, Travis Kelce dropped a pass on first down and then bobbled another one that landed in Azeez Al-Shaair’s hands for an interception.
The Chiefs (6-7) will not win a 10th straight AFC West title. After reaching the Super Bowl five times in the past six years, winning three times, they’ll need to win out and get a lot of help to reach the playoffs.
Thanks to C.J. Stroud’s heroics and a suffocating defense, the Texans have won five in a row and have a shot to win their third straight division title after rebounding from an 0-3 start.
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