What We Learned From Week 16 in the N.F.L.

Saturday

Steelers 13, Raiders 10: The Raiders burned all of the offense they’d on their opening possession. They mounted a 14-play landing drive to kick issues off, however then operating again Josh Jacobs stalled out, leaving the Raiders’ passing sport with a number of third-and-longs in snowy, 13-degree climate. The Steelers’ offense didn’t get many factors in response for a lot of the sport, however quarterback Kenny Pickett rose to the problem and scored on a two-minute drive, hitting George Pickens down the center for the go-ahead rating. Derek Carr, with all three timeouts and 43 seconds to work with, threw an interception to Cam Sutton, virtually actually ending the Raiders’ playoff hopes for the 12 months.

Cowboys 40, Eagles 34: There’s a case to be made that Jalen Hurts would have received this sport if he had been capable of play, however it’s not as if the Eagles collapsed with their backup quarterback, Gardner Minshew. The Eagles’ offense scored 27 factors, thanks partially to Minshew’s willingness to feed his talent gamers, and their protection scored a pick-6 on the Cowboys’ first drive. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys went nuclear after that opening drive blunder, nevertheless, and proved too explosive for the Eagles protection.

49ers 37, Commanders 20: Brock Purdy isn’t excellent, however he’ll uncork the ball to the 49ers’ handful of elite talent gamers. Kyle Shanahan normally makes that fairly simple to do, too, simply as he did on this one. Tight finish George Kittle had himself a day, scoring one landing on a deep submit and one other on a 33-yard catch and run. The 49ers’ move rush bought after Taylor Heinicke to the purpose the place he was pressured right into a fourth-down misfire for an interception that bought him benched in favor of Carson Wentz.

Bengals 22, Patriots 18: Every crew scored in just one half, the Bengals dominating the primary earlier than the Patriots rallied within the second. Joe Burrow diced up the Patriots for the primary two quarters, leaning closely on the big-bodied large receiver Tee Higgins to dunk on the Patriots’ small cornerback group. However a few key errors — two interceptions thrown by Burrow and a Ja’Marr Chase fumble — made it powerful for the Bengals to drag away, and the Patriots clawed their method again, narrowing the lead earlier than fumbling contained in the Bengals’ 10-yard line on what might have been a game-winning drive.

Kansas Metropolis 24, Seahawks 10: Geno Smith was in hell all day. Kansas Metropolis’s move rush swarmed him for 4 quarters, producing a ton of inside strain led by Chris Jones. When paired with the bodily, tight-window model of protection performed by Kansas Metropolis, it was powerful sledding for a Seahawks’ passing offense that has in any other case carried the crew. For Kansas Metropolis, the ever-reliable Patrick Mahomes-to-Travis Kelce connection did its magic. Kelce snagged six catches for 113 yards, incomes simply over half of the crew’s complete receiving yards on the day.

Payments 35, Bears 13: Not many groups throw two interceptions and are available away with a 22-point win anyway. The Payments will not be most groups. Josh Allen was principally good outdoors of some numbskull performs, the type of efficiency he may be liable to when nothing is absolutely on the road. The Payments’ protection was the true purpose for the crew’s success, although. Bears quarterback Justin Fields had simply seven carries for 11 yards, the primary time he’s been held to beneath 50 yards since early October.

Ravens 17, Falcons 9: A surging Ravens’ protection held its personal towards a troublesome Falcons’ run sport. The Falcons slammed their operating backs ahead 33 instances however netted simply 115 yards, roughly 3.5 yards per carry. The Ravens ran the ball significantly better, incomes 5.4 yards per carry, and have been capable of management the tempo of the sport. Atlanta’s rookie quarterback, Desmond Ridder, led the offense into the purple zone twice within the fourth quarter, however the first drive ended on downs and the second led to a discipline aim that was too little, too late.