The Bills are showing why they’re smart money to win the wide-open AFC.
After trailing the Patriots 24–7 at halftime, Buffalo roared back to win 35–31, scoring touchdowns on five consecutive drives, including 28 second-half points in the road victory. Josh Allen threw for 193 yards and three touchdowns while running for 48 yards. New England’s Drake Maye was limited to 155 passing yards on 6.7 yards per attempt with an interception.
In Kansas City, the Chiefs had the worst day possible. Patrick Mahomes was forced to leave late in the fourth quarter with a left knee injury, while the team lost 16–13 and was officially eliminated from postseason contention.
Meanwhile, the AFC South saw the Jaguars and Texans both win in blowouts, while in the NFC East, the Eagles finally broke through after losing three consecutive games, beating the Raiders, 31–0.
In the late window, 44-year-old Philip Rivers will make his return to the field after retiring in 2020 when the Colts take on the Seahawks in Seattle. And at SoFi Stadium, Matthew Stafford will square off against his former team when the Rams face the Lions.
But we’ll start with Philadelphia and New England, who walked away from Sunday with very different feelings.
Good: Eagles had their get-right game, but will it carry over?
It’s only one week, and against arguably the worst team in the league, but the Eagles looked the part of a contender.
After losing on Monday night to the Chargers amidst five Jalen Hurts turnovers, Philadelphia went home and hammered the inept, two-win Raiders by a 31–0 count. The win all but ensures another NFC East title, giving the Eagles, now 9–5, the honor of being the first repeat champion of that division since Philly won it four consecutive seasons from 2001 to ’04.
The defense was phenomenal against former friend Kenny Pickett and first-round running back Ashton Jeanty, limiting Las Vegas to only 75 total yards. It’s the second time this year the Raiders have been held under 100 yards. The Eagles also got two sacks from Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement and has three sacks in six games.
Ultimately, this means nothing if the Eagles can’t back it up. Over the final three weeks of the regular season, they’ll play the Commanders twice and the Bills in a Week 17 tilt in Buffalo. If Philadelphia looks competent in those three games, perhaps this was a turning point. Otherwise, it’s just an instance of beating a terrible team.
Bad: The Chiefs are cooked in 2025, and now Patrick Mahomes is hurt
Forget 2025. That’s officially over for the Chiefs, who were eliminated from playoff contention after losing 16–13 to the Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. But after Patrick Mahomes was injured in the final moments, needing help to walk off the field with an apparent left knee injury, 2026 might be in jeopardy, too.
Mahomes is at the epicenter in Kansas City. Without him, nothing works. And this year, even when Mahomes played well, it still didn’t work. The Chiefs are 6–8, and Mahomes, after failing to complete 50% of his attempts last week against the Texans with three interceptions, threw another pick against Los Angeles while completing 16-of-28 attempts for 189 yards.
Moving forward, the Chiefs need to clear cap space, likely through a Mahomes restructuring, along with the releases of linebacker Drue Tranquill, right tackle Jawaan Taylor, corner Kristian Fulton and edge rusher Mike Danna. They may also need a replacement for 36-year-old Travis Kelce, who hasn’t committed to playing in 2026.
More than anything, the coaching staff needs to change. While Andy Reid has ultimate control, the offense has clearly gone backward since Matt Nagy was installed as coordinator in 2023. Over the past three years, Kansas City hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher or receiver, Mahomes hasn’t sniffed an MVP award and the unit hasn’t ranked in the top 10 in points once.
However, Nagy and general manager Brett Veach were college teammates at Delaware. Reid has employed Nagy for two different stints, so it’s tough to see the Chiefs moving on from him, but they must.
Nobody can complain in the heartland. Kansas City won nine consecutive AFC West titles, reached the AFC championship game in seven consecutive years and advanced to five of the past six Super Bowls, winning three. It’s one of the best, if not the best, runs in NFL history. But the future is unsettling, and Mahomes’s injury makes it a scary proposition.
Ugly: New England’s blown lead could have emotional ramifications
The Patriots could have lost to the Bills on Sunday and not fretted much. After all, being 11–3 and in firm control of the AFC East is fine.
But losing a game in which you led 24–7 at home is another story. It’s the kind of loss that, for a team many have accused of beating up on bad teams all year, makes you wonder if there’s validity to the argument.
In a 35–31 loss to Buffalo at Gillette Stadium, the Bills scored on five consecutive drives. Incredibly, New England averaged 7.2 yards per play compared to 5.9 for Buffalo, but the Bills were able to overcome that difference by winning the turnover battle, taking 50 fewer penalty yards and converting 8-of-14 on third downs and 5-of-6 opportunities in the red zone.
Up next for the Patriots is a trip to Baltimore for Sunday Night Football, before they take on the Jets and Dolphins to finish the regular season. Provided New England wins at least twice in that stretch, it’ll win the AFC East for the first time in the post–Tom Brady era.
Still, Sunday’s loss stings. A win over the Bills would have been a signature win for New England. Now the Patriots will need to be tough-minded because their collapse is the kind of moment that can linger.
Good: Houston might be the AFC’s best team coming down the stretch
After starting 3–5, the Texans looked like a team headed for an early winter since ripping off six consecutive wins, including Sunday’s 40–20 demolition of the Cardinals.
While winning the AFC South is likely a tall order, sitting a game behind the Jaguars with no head-to-head matchups left, a wild card is their likely path. That said, if there’s ever a season to be on the road and not feel overwhelmed in the playoffs, this is it.
The Texans have the league’s top-ranked defense by points and yardage, and held Arizona to 14 non-garbage time points in the victory. The pass rush has the best set of edges in football, with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combining for 22.5 sacks.
In the postseason, there’s a good chance Houston would need to face two of either the Broncos, Patriots and Jaguars to reach the AFC title game for the first time in franchise history. While not easy, that’s also not a brutal path, even if it means a few cold-weather games. The Texans won in the cold in Kansas City in Week 14.
There’s no great team in the AFC, but nobody is hotter than Houston.
Bad: It’s time to have a Jonathan Gannon conversation in Arizona
Staying in Houston for a moment, the Cardinals can’t be allowed to escape criticism.
Going into the season, many believed Arizona was a playoff contender after adding Calais Campbell, Josh Sweat, Walter Nolen and others to a team that went 8–9 last year.
Instead, the Cardinals are a complete disaster. After starting 2–0 with wins over the Saints and Panthers, Arizona has gone 1–11. During that stretch, ownership fined coach Jonathan Gannon for his handling of running back Emari Demercado after his premature celebration that helped give the awful Titans an October win.
It’s hard to make the case for Gannon to keep his job. To this point, he has a record of 15–33; Arizona doesn’t have a long-term answer at quarterback; the defense has allowed 40-plus points in four of the past six games, and the franchise seems to be more in need of a rebuild than a retool.
So why let Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort be in charge of the team’s future?
Ugly: Everything about the Joe Burrow situation in Cincinnati
On Wednesday, Joe Burrow’s 29th birthday, the Bengals’ quarterback talked about struggling with issues on and off the field. He also spoke about needing to have fun if he was going to continue playing football.
After that, the Bengals would have come out and given maximum effort against the division-rival Ravens at home. Instead, Cincinnati was demolished 24–0 to officially end their season, with Burrow throwing two interceptions on 5.8 yards per attempt.
Cincinnati has to be horrified. Burrow talking about his future in a murky way is bad enough, but then there’s the on-field product. The Bengals rank dead last defensively in points and yardage, and their only star defensive player, Trey Hendrickson, will hit free agency in March 2026.
At some point, owner Mike Brown needs to sit Burrow down and ask him what he wants. Does he want Zac Taylor as head coach despite Cincinnati missing the playoffs in five of his seven years? Does he want general manager Duke Tobin ousted after being in his chair since 1999? In short, what would make Burrow more confident with the organization’s direction?
If those questions aren’t being asked directly to Burrow, it’s a failure from the top down.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Good, Bad and Ugly, Week 15: Josh Allen Leads Bills to Another Epic Comeback.