Opinion:<\/strong>Panthers create NFC South chaos, put Christmas pressure on Tom Brady, Buccaneers<\/p>\nJacksonville Jaguars<\/h2>\n They started the week in second place in the AFC South. Now they’re in position to host a home playoff game.<\/p>\n
The Jags dispatched the Jets with relative ease Thursday night, and they now hold the No. 4 seed in the AFC thanks to their head-to-head tiebreaker over the Titans, who they’ll face in the season finale.<\/p>\n
Trenton Irwin and Shane Zylstra<\/h2>\n The Bengals and Lions both relied on players low on their depth chart to provide a spark. But how about multiple touchdowns each for both Bengals receiver Trenton Irwin (two) and Lions tight end Shane Zylstra (three)?<\/p>\n\n
Irwin took advantage of Tyler Boyd’s time on the sideline with a finger injury to catch three passes for 45 yards and two of Joe Burrow’s three touchdowns in the first half at New England.<\/p>\n
As for Zylstra, he was a bright spot in an otherwise dull performance by the Lions, catching his touchdown passes from Jared Goff in the first, third and fourth quarters of a 37-20 loss in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy<\/h2>\n Brock Purdy joined Dan Marino as just the second quarterback since 1950 to throw multiple touchdowns while posting a 100-plus QB rating in each of his first three starts.<\/p>\n
Purdy threw two touchdowns to George Kittle and improved to 3-0 as the 49ers’ starter with a 37-20 win over the Commanders.<\/p>\n
And with the Eagles losing to the Cowboys, the 49ers gained a game toward Philadelphia for the No. 1 seed. San Francisco might not catch Philly, but Purdy has done his job to keep the 49ers afloat in Jimmy Garoppolo’s absence.<\/p>\n
LOSERS<\/h2>\nCleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson<\/h2>\n The Browns will finish Deshaun Watson’s first season with a losing record.<\/p>\n
Watson, who is 2-2 as starter, and the Browns failed to convert on fourth down twice in their contest freezing at home against the Saints, falling to 6-9 and out of the playoff mix.<\/p>\n
The Browns’ season was hampered by Watson’s 11-game suspension amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct, and they have nothing left to play for with two games remaining.<\/p>\n\n
New England Patriots<\/h2>\n Down 22 points at the half, and needing receiver Scotty Washington to tip a deep pass from quarterback Mac Jones to receiver Jakobi Meyers for a 48-yard touchdown on third-and-29, the Patriots pulled within four points of an upset of the Bengals .<\/p>\n
But their comeback effort was ripped away from them as Bengals safety Vonn Bell stripped running back Rhamondre Stevenson at the 5-yard line with 1:05 left to slam the door shut.<\/p>\n
For the second straight week, the Patriots lost in dramatic fashion. Somehow, they’re still mathematically in the playoff mix at 7-8. <\/p>\n\n
Washington Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke<\/h2>\n Down 30-14 in the fourth quarter against the 49ers, Washington coach Ron Rivera decided to bench starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke for Carson Wentz.<\/p>\n
On consecutive drives in the second half, Heinicke was sacked and fumbled and then threw an interception to put the game out of reach for Washington.<\/p>\n
The 49ers kicked field goals on both ensuing drives, but the damage was already done as San Francisco increased a 10-point lead to 16 after the turnovers. The 49ers won 37-20.<\/p>\n
Now, Heinicke’s job may be in jeopardy heading into the final two games.<\/p>\n
Tennessee Titans<\/h2>\n The Titans appeared primed to win another AFC South title during their 27-17 win on the road against the Packers on Nov. 17.<\/p>\n
But since then? It hasn’t been good.<\/p>\n
The Titans lost their fifth straight game, this time to the worst team in the NFL, 19-14 to the Texans. <\/p>\n\n
Tennessee has fallen to 7-8, seeing the Jaguars leapfrog them in the division standings. The teams will play in the season finale to decide their division.<\/p>\n
NFL kickers<\/h2>\n The elements were not kind to several kickers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a field goal and an extra-point kick in New England. Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed two extra points.<\/p>\n
Bills kicker Tyler Bass also had a frustrating day with a missed field goal and point-after attempt despite a victory.<\/p>\n
NFL players on Saturday<\/h2>\n With the exception of three games \u2013 Giants-Vikings, Eagles-Cowboys and 49ers-Commanders \u2013 every NFL team played in freezing temperatures on Saturday. At least, they’ll have Christmas Day to warm up at home.<\/p>\n
Fantasy owners eliminated from playoffs<\/h2>\n Hey, we’re really sorry your fantasy team didn’t make it to the fantasy championship this year. There’s always next year. <\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Dallas Cowboys outlasted the Philadelphia Eagles at home. The Cincinnati Bengals narrowly escaped a loss on the road to the New England Patriots. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers took care of business. And the Minnesota Vikings continued to thrill their way to victory. Even the Houston Texans \u2013 the …<\/p>\n
Eagles’ No 1 seed on hold<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nEagles' No 1 seed on hold - harchi90<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n