Rodgers keeps hopes alive but end of the line for Chiefs? Best of NFL week 14

Every game counts from here on in, with some huge results in week 14 of the NFL that could settle play-off spots come the end of the season.

A 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers struck a big blow to Lamar Jackson’s play-off hopes, while Josh Allen all-but ended Joe Burrow’s.

Houston’s defence is the biggest problem in the NFL and they may have ended the Kansas City Chiefs’ season earlier than ever before with Patrick Mahomes as quarterback, while the Packers and Bears played out one of the best games in their long rivalry.

Here’s what else caught the eye in week 14.

Three huge divisional battles did not disappoint – with Aaron Rodgers, fractured wrist and all, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a gritty 27-22 success in Baltimore to lead the AFC North outright.

Veteran Rodgers scored his first rushing touchdown for almost three years, but it was his deep throws to DK Metcalf that made all the difference – three of them alone going for 121 yards.

Lamar Jackson was out of kilter as the Ravens missed chances – although they were left fuming by a late touchdown being chalked off. The two teams meet again on the final day of the season.

The oldest rivals in the NFL met for the 211th time and it was classic as Jordan Love threw touchdown bombs but an exhausted Packers defence had to thwart another fourth-quarter comeback from Chicago’s Caleb Williams at a frigid Lambeau Field.

Green Bay take a slender lead in the NFC North while the Bears plummeted from the NFC’s top spot down to seventh despite some really positive aspects of their game.

Williams was elusive and made some great ad-lib plays down the stretch, and they dominated possession, but allowing big plays cost them dearly. That’s something to work on for the quick rematch in a fortnight.

And in the final divisional crunch game things went from bad to worse for the Colts, who not only lost their 11th straight visit to Jacksonville but also Daniel Jones with a suspected torn Achilles.

Jones had led a high-flying Colts attack that raced to a 7-1 start – but they’re now 8-5 after losing to the Jags , outside the play-offs and with all four remaining games against sides currently occupying post-season berths.

NFL stats give the Chiefs a 15% chance of making the play-offs, but in all likelihood this will be a first missed post-season for Patrick Mahomes – and first for the Chiefs in a decade.

In Mahomes’ seven full seasons he’s reached seven AFC Championship games and five Super Bowls – so incredibly the team has played all but two games it possibly could during his tenure.

Kansas City have a great defence, the reasons for failure are clear and were wonderfully encapsulated during Sunday’s defeat to Houston – firstly the already dodgy offensive line had three starters missing.

A fourth was then injured on the opening play.

Even then, Mahomes gave the Chiefs a chance, but a missed field goal was followed by crucial drops, including on a pivotal fourth-down try with 10 minutes left.

Mistakes and missed chances will sum-up this failed Chiefs season, and in some eyes it will tarnish the previously almost flawless Mahomes legacy.

The AFC top seed Denver Broncos won the last Super Bowl held at February’s venue Levi’s Stadium in 2016, while the NFC leaders Los Angeles Rams won in their own SoFi Stadium and would love to add one just up the California coast.

They’re built very differently to chase the same goal, as they showed on Sunday as sack masters Denver, who lead the league with 55, the second-most after 13 games in NFL history, squeezed the life out of the Raiders.

They’ve now won 10 in a row, the last five by a combined 17 points, the second-fewest in such a stretch in history. They dominated posssession with three scoring drives of at least 14 plays and around nine minutes or more.

Matthew Stafford’s Rams, meanwhile, showed they can strike from anywhere as they had two touchdown drives of just a single play, and covered 92 yards in 90 seconds for another.

Along with Puka Nacua’s receiving excellence, the Rams now have a two-headed monster of a run game with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combining in what can be an offensive juggernaut.

The Rams have a defence there, make no mistake, but that offence will make the headlines if they make a run at another Lombardi trophy – whether they can handle a defence like Denver’s would be a fascinating watch.

Among the fallout from the Chiefs defeat, Mahomes’ quotes on Travis Kelce raised more talk of whether one of the best tight ends in history could retire at the end of this season.

Hearing Mahomes saying “every season that I’ve had with him these last few years I try to cherish because you never know” certainly seemed like he was preparing for the 36-year-old to call it a day.

“He’ll have the option to do whatever he wants to do after this season,” Mahomes added, and if the season ends prematurely for him then with some much else going on in his life that could be that for the three-time Super Bowl winner.

Josh Allen did it all again for the Buffalo Bills as they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the snow – throwing three touchdowns and running in another.

With 22 passing and 12 rushing scores, Allen has accounted for 34 of Buffalo’s 44 touchdowns this season – and is the first player in NFL history with 3,000 passing yards, 20 touchdown passes and 10 rushing touchdowns in three consecutive seasons.

He’s putting the Bills on his shoulders again as they try and chase down the New England Patriots in the AFC East. Oh, and look who they play next? Yep, the Patriots on Sunday.

Week 15 big games

We will have live text commentary on all of these games on the BBC Sport website and app on Sunday from 17:30 GMT.

Seattle Seahawks went in tied at 6-6 against Atlanta at half-time, but Rashid Shaheed returned a kick-off for a 100-yard score and the longest play of the season to kick-start a scoring blitz.

Jaxson Smith-Njigba scored twice and remains on course for the first ever 2,000-yard receiving season, while second-year head coach Mike Macdonald won his 13th road game in charge – only George Seifert (16) has more in the first two seasons of a career.

Myles Garrett had his 20th sack of the season and is now just three away from breaking the single-season record. Cleveland still managed to lose the game to the one-win Titans after a last-play mix-up going for a two-point conversion.

Charlie Smyth helped the Saints upset the Buccaneers in a soggy Tampa, with the hosts losing a fourth in five to drop level with the Panthers in the NFC South lead. The Bucs and Panthers play twice in the last four weeks.

A week after being shutout in Seattle, the Minnesota Vikings kept a clean sheet against the struggling Washington Commanders – with JJ McCarthy having a welcome three-touchdown game.

Jayden Daniels return for the Commanders but left the game after hurting the same elbow that’s kept him out recently. Washington have now lost eight games in a row.