—The Buffalo Bills pushed the Kansas City Chiefs off their tightrope Sunday. The Chiefs came into the game as the league’s last unbeaten team at 9-0 but they were like walking a tightrope all season as they came from behind eight times. But this time Josh Allen made sure there was no Chiefs comeback with his touchdown scramble on 4th and 2 late in the game that gave the Bills a 30-21 win. And Allen became the first quarterback to beat Patrick Mahomes four times and left the Bills only one game behind the Chiefs in the battle for the top seed. Nobody will be surprised if they meet in the AFC title game. Despite his 4-1 record against Mahomes in the regular season, Allen is 0-3 against Mahomes in the playoffs. The Chiefs loss also left the 1972 Dolphins as the only unbeaten team but they only had to win 17 games to have a perfect season. A team today would have to win 20 or 21 games to do it and that is unlikely to happen in free agency era.
–In the other feature Sunday game, the Steelers didn’t score a touchdown and gave up two touchdowns but still managed to beat the Ravens 18-16 on six field goals It was only the 11th time in NFL history that a team has won without a touchdown while giving up two. Russell Wilson is now 4-0 as the starter despite failing to get a touchdown. Lamar Jackson could only put 16 points on the scoreboard for the Ravens and it wasn’t enough. The victory left the surprising Steelers at 8-2 while the Ravens are 7-4. Both are likely to make the playoffs and both teams have to prove they can win in the playoffs
–Detroit coach Dan Campbell has a good problem this year. He often has a problem deciding when to pull his starters in routs. He let Jerod Goff stay in until he led the Lions to touchdown drives on the Lions first seven possessions in a 52-6 rout of the Jaguars. The Lions are now favred to make the Super Bowl for the first time. They are in the lead in the battle for the top NFC seed at 9-1.The Jaguars are now 2-9 and both coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke are on the hot seat.
–Jim Harbaugh is making a difference as the Chargers coach. The Chargers lost a 21 point lead to the Bengals but still came back to win 34-27 to boost their record to 7-3. They are just two games behind the Chiefs in the battle for the division lead and should at least make a wild card spot. The Bengals are a disappointing 4-7 and wasting a good season by quarterback Joe Burrow.
–The Colts-Jets game was a battle of a young and an old quarterback. Youth was served when Anthony Richardson was inserted into the starting lineup after a two game benching and led them to a 28-27 win over Aaron Rodgers. Richardson thrw for 272 yards and a touchwown and ran for two more. The Colts are 5-6 while the Jets are 3-8. After the game, owner Woody Johnson, who previously fired coach Robert Saleh, fired general manager Joe Douglas. The timing was puzzling since he could have waited until the end of the season. It also turns out Johnson wanted to bench Rodgers after four games but was talked out of it by the coaches. The Jets just continue to spin their wheels.
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