Week 14 gave us a blockbuster lineup of games with significant implications up and down the schedule. There was dramatic movement in playoff position and in the draft order, and an epic AFC snow game between two of the best quarterbacks on the planet, complete with snow angels. It was all a very nice tablesetter for the final month of the season.
Let's go straight to the winners and losers because there are plenty of them.
WINNERS
1) Silence in Pittsburgh
At least for one week, the din around the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin can go quiet. The Steelers held on to beat the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday to take sole possession of the lead in the AFC North. They play again in the final game of the regular season, but in the meantime, the Steelers offense showed signs of life. Aaron Rodgers threw for one touchdown and ran for another and had 284 passing yards. The Steelers finally got some explosive plays, too. Rodgers had deep passes that went for 52, 41, 31 and 28 yards. There's still plenty to clean up -- the run defense got gashed again, this time for 217 yards, and the rushing offense was non-existent -- but a win is a win and the Steelers needed this one badly.
2) Philadelphia Eagles
No matter what happens Monday night against the Chargers, the Eagles won big when the Cowboys lost to the Lions on Thursday night. That loss ended the Cowboys' three-game winning streak, which had begun to threaten the Eagles' lead in the NFC East, with the Eagles losing two in a row and continuing to struggle on offense. The loss kept the Eagles comfortably ahead in the wins column and dropped the Cowboys all the way to the 10th seed. Maybe the Positivity Rabbit will help in Philadelphia, but probably not as much as the Cowboys did.
3) Buffalo Bills
Their win over the Bengals kept them two games behind the division-leading Patriots with a huge game between the two next week. Just as importantly, it kept the Bills firmly in the wild-card field. Josh Allen carried the Bills with his arm and legs, but the defense -- often maligned this season -- came up with two game-turning fourth-quarter interceptions of Joe Burrow that propelled the Bills' come-from-behind victory. The Bills have been up and down this season, but this game makes a spot in the playoffs much more likely and also provided viewers with a thrilling game in the snow. It doesn't get much better than that for the Bills or football fans.
4) Las Vegas Raiders
A two-win season that has already cost two coordinators their jobs and has Pete Carroll on the hot seat is a disaster. But the Raiders should send the Titans a nice fruit basket for beating the Browns on Sunday and handing the first overall draft pick to the Raiders. The Raiders don't have the look of a team that will win another game this season, and that will put them in position to draft a franchise quarterback of their choosing. Then the onus will be on the Raiders to support him with good players and a good coaching staff. Can they be trusted to do that? Here's hoping Tom Brady is already brainstorming solutions and in the meantime, the Jets, who have two first round draft picks next year, should be formulating their offers to the Raiders.
5) Carolina Panthers
They didn't play this week, but the Bucs’ loss to the Saints pushed the Panthers into a tie with the Bucs for first place atop the NFC South. The teams face each other twice in the final three weeks of the season. The Panthers won just five games last season and this season has been decidedly up and down, but the Panthers have won enough -- including shockers over the Packers and Rams -- to stay close to the Bucs, who have endured an avalanche of injuries, especially on offense. The Bucs should be close to full strength by the time these teams play in a few weeks, but credit the Panthers for making those games meaningful and keeping the pressure on the Bucs, who started the season 6-2.
6) Jacksonville Jaguars
They're surging at exactly the right time and their win over the Colts not only kept them ahead of the Texans before the Texans even took the field Sunday, it also virtually assured that the Jaguars will make the playoffs (Next Gen Stats had them at a 97 percent chance after the win). They've won four in a row, the offense is playing better and in the final four weeks, they face the Jets, Broncos, Colts and Titans. They could easily go 3-1 in that stretch.
7) The Packers-Bears rivalry
The Packers took over first place in the NFC North with their victory over the Bears, sending the Bears from the NFC's top overall seed all the way down to the seventh seed. It was a wild finish, with the Bears driving with fewer than 30 seconds left before Caleb Williams was intercepted in the end zone. Williams and Ben Johnson have made the Bears relevant again and that has made this rivalry fun again. The rematch is in two weeks in Chicago, with the division title and playoff seeding on the line. And did you see that very cursory handshake between Johnson and Matt LeFleur? That's the kind of edge this rivalry needed.
8) NFC West
The NFL's best division is going to be a dogfight to the end. The Rams and Seahawks both rolled on Sunday, with the Rams taking over the NFC's top seed with Chicago's loss. The Seahawks are currently the NFC's top wild-card team and both the Rams and Seahawks are only one game ahead of the 49ers, who are currently the sixth seed. The Rams have the Lions and Seahawks the next two weeks, the Seahawks have the Rams, Panthers and 49ers in the last three weeks, and the 49ers close with the Bears and Seahawks. Buckle up.
LOSERS
1) Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones suffered one of the most brutal, and brutally-timed, injuries of the season. An Achilles' rupture would mean Jones, who was playing with a fractured fibula, will miss the rest of the season, have surgery and go to free agency while rehabbing and uncertain to be ready for the start of the 2026 season. Jones had rewritten his career story this season and will have to do it again whenever he returns.
2) Indianapolis Colts
They went from 7-1 and the AFC's best team to losing four of their last five games, falling to the AFC's eighth seed, and potentially lost their starting quarterback for the season. Does the front office survive missing the playoffs? Does Shane Steichen? And what do they do about Jones, whom they wanted back before this injury but who now may not be ready for the start of the 2026 season? If they opt to keep Jones, what does that contract look like? And where else could they turn for a starting quarterback with no first-round draft pick in 2026? Carlie Irsay-Gordon faces her first full season as team owner with big decisions on deck.
3) Cleveland Browns play-calling
What was that two-point conversion attempt, exactly? Why take Shedeur Sanders off the field for the potential game-tying two-point play on a day when he finished with 364 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown to run a wildcat play that blew up spectacularly?
4) NFC wild-card bubble teams
We still have four weeks to go and the NFC's seventh seed (the Bears) already has nine wins. The fifth seed (the Seahawks, who crushed the Falcons on Sunday) has 10. Is it going to take 12 wins to get into the NFC playoff field? It's entirely possible we'll see 11-win teams on the outside looking in.
