Judgements XIII

 By Clark Judge 

Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs

The biggest winner Sunday wasn’t a team that played Sunday. It was the Buffalo Bills.

The last time we saw them was last week … or when they erased New England on Thursday to move to 9-3. Then they took the weekend off, sat back and watched Cincinnati beat Kansas City and San Francisco dissect Miami.

So what? So now it’s the Bills, not Kansas City, on top of the AFC. And now it’s the Bills, not Miami, in sole possession of the AFC East.

Trust me, that’s a big deal.

First of all, if they win their division, the Bills host at least one playoff game. Repeat: A playoff game … in Buffalo … in January. We saw what that meant a year ago when New England had to go there.

Second, if they gain home-field advantage for the playoffs (they win the tiebreaker by virtue of an October defeat of the Chiefs) they’d not only gain a first-round bye; they could host the conference championship game if they get that far.

That means Kansas City wouldn’t, breaking a four-year run.

A surprise? Not really. Preseason forecasts had the Bills making it there, and they seemed up to the task … until a recent hiccup, brought on by an elbow injury to quarterback Josh Allen, made them vulnerable.

Now they’ve returned to the head of the class … with a warning: Beware the schedule. The Bills face a brutal last lap, starting with the Jets next Sunday and Miami the following weekend. Both have beaten them this season. Then it’s on to the defending AFC champion Bengals on Jan. 2 and New England on Jan. 8.

Put them together, and you have four opponents with a combined record of 33-19. The Chiefs, meanwhile, have only one remaining opponent with a winning record (Seattle).

So stay tuned. Maybe the Chiefs wind up hosting a fifth consecutive AFC championship game, and maybe they don’t. All I know is that Buffalo is back where it was supposed to be … and not because of anything it did Sunday.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

1.       The 49ers and Ravens lost more than they won. Both held on to first place in their divisions with victories. But both lost their starting quarterbacks, too. The 49ers subtracted Jimmy Garoppolo after he suffered a broken left ankle. He’s lost for the season. The 49ers might be, too, if they didn’t have a run game and the league’s best defense. Then there’s Baltimore. The Ravens lost quarterback Lamar Jackson to a sprained knee, but the injury isn’t expected to be season ending. Now the better news: The Ravens don’t play an opponent with a winning record until the season finale (Cincinnati).

2.       Joe Burrow is Kansas City’s Kryptonite. With Sunday’s victory, it’s Joe 3, Patrick Mahomes 0. Cincinnati has beaten the Chiefs three times in the past 12 months, including a 27-24 overtime defeat in the 2021 AFC championship game. Joe Cool? The record speaks for itself.

3.       The Jalen Hurts/Patrick Mahomes MVP race will be a photo finish. It’s not that Mahomes hurt his candidacy Sunday; it’s more that Hurts boosted his. More to the point: He keeps making a case that gets stronger as the season grows longer. This time it was three TD passes for 380 yards and a 130.3 passer rating, one touchdown run and another victory … vs. the Tennessee Titans, no less. Hurts has now won 14 of his last 15 regular-season starts and quarterbacks the NFL’s best team.

4.       Aaron Rodgers still owns the Bears.  With Sunday’s victory, he’s 25-5 vs. them (including the playoffs) and won his last eight and 12 of the past 13 against Chicago. Oh, yeah, he doesn’t have an interception in his last eight vs. the Bears, either. I think you get the idea.

5.       Christian Watson just joined the Offensive Rookie of the Year field. I know, he did next to nothing the first half of the year. But now? Now he’s scored eight TDs in his last four games, and that’s more scores than Justin Jefferson … or Mike Evans … or CeeDee Lamb … or DK Metcalf this season. You can look it up. I did.

THIRD AND 20

1.       Move over, A-Rod. Davante Adams owns the AFC West. In five games vs. division opponents, he has 37 catches for 684 yards (an average of 136.8 per) and seven TDs. He also scored at least once in each game.

2.       Don’t tell the 49ers’ Faithful that Brock Purdy is Mr. Irrelevant. He was anything but in Sunday’s win over Miami.

3.       More evidence that Philadelphia is a legit Super Bowl threat: Entering Sunday, Tennessee had held eight consecutive opponents to 20 or fewer points. Then the Eagles put up 21 … in the first half.

4.       Maybe now you understand how invaluable Derrick Henry is to Tennessee. Look, the Titans will win the AFC South. We know that. But how far do they go in the playoffs? Only as far as King Henry carries them. In his last two games, he ran for 68 yards on 28 carries, with no TDs. Result: Twenty-six points and two defeats.  “We don’t look like a good football team right now,” said safety Kevin Byard. Bingo.

5.       Detroit will be playoff factor. No, the Lions won’t be playing in mid January. But Minnesota will, and the New York Jets might. The two are next on Detroit’s schedule, and beware, people. The Lions are hot, hot, hot, winning four of their last five and scoring 31 or more in three of those victories. Their only loss? A 28-25 nail biter to Buffalo on Thanksgiving Day.

6.       Former coach and NBC analyst Jason Garrett is right: “Hurts and A.J. Brown are an unstoppable combination.”

7.       Is it me or has it been weeks since we heard Aaron Donald’s name?

8.       Minnesota isn’t the best team in the NFL or the NFC. Philadelphia is. But nobody is better in tight games. With Sunday’s victory, the Vikings have nine victories in games decided by eight or fewer points and are 5-0 in games decided by six.

9.       Another reason to get behind Geno Smith as the league’s Comeback Player of the Year: That was his first game-winning drive since 2014.

10.   Coming soon to theaters in Denver: “Gone,” starring Broncos’ coach Nathaniel Hackett. He was supposed to squeeze more greatness out of Russell Wilson, but it hasn’t happened … and it’s not even close. The Broncos are the lowest scoring team in the NFL, failing to produce 17 or more points 10 times. Now get this: If Denver simply produced 17 per … 17… they’d be 10-2. Instead, they’re 3-9.

11.   Carson Wentz might as well go home for the holidays. The Commanders are Taylor Heinicke’s team. Nowhere was that more apparent than Sunday’s tie with the Giants. Down 20-13 with just over two minutes left, Heinicke converted a fourth-and-4 from the Washington 27 when he was pressured, scrambled left and threw what looked like a prayer … but wasn’t. It was a 20-yard completion to Curtis Samuel that kept the drive alive and, eventually, led to the tying score.

12.   The Jets’ Zach Wilson can join Wentz. He won’t see the field again, either, unless Mike White gets hurt. The Jets are a different team with White at quarterback. A week ago he threw for 315 yards and three TDs. On Sunday he threw for 369 yards and scored the Jets’ only touchdown. I’m not sure if Gang Green has its quarterback of the future. But it has its quarterback for the rest of the season.

13.   According to reports, Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson showed “signs of progress” during mandatory therapy sessions. Swell. I’m sure that makes his 20-plus victims feel a whole lot better. What a crock. For $230 million guaranteed, I’d show “signs of progress,” too in whatever I was doing.

14.   Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a quarterback. Yours truly, Jeff Saturday.

15.   The Texans are worse than a bad team. They’re a disgrace. Lovie Smith, adios.

16.   Jets’ fans should be frustrated. Their team deserved better. It had one TD in six Red Zone series, their worst Red-Zone performance in six possessions since 2014. “Today,” said rookie receiver Garret Wilson “was the definition of a game of inches – over and over.”

17.   Justin Fields puts up a lot of fantasy-football points but not a lot of victories. Reason: He’s more a threat as a running back than a quarterback. I know, he missed only five of 25 passes Sunday, but two of those misses were interceptions in the last three minutes when he could’ve led the Bears to victory.

18.   Wait a minute, Harold Baines is in Cooperstown and Don Mattingly isn’t? Life isn’t fair.

19.   The unsung hero of Baltimore’s last-minute victory wasn’t backup quarterback Tyler Huntley. He got the attention he deserved after leading the Ravens on a 16-play, 91-yard game-winning drive, and he should. But the unsung hero was tight end Mark Andrews, and not because of a catch or a block but because of a 1-yard run. It was his quarterback sneak that converted a fourth-and-1 and kept the drive going.

20.   The NFC East doesn’t have a losing team, and look no farther than the NFC South for an explanation. With the Cowboys’ defeat of Indianapolis Sunday night, the NFC East is 11-1 vs. the South.

SUNDAY’S GOLD JACKET STATS

n  The Rams’ 3-9 record is the worst 12-game start for a defending Super Bowl champion. They now become the first team since the 2003 Tampa Bay Bucs to have a losing season immediately after winning a Super Bowl.

n  When Cincinnati leads after the first quarter, they’ve won their last 13 games.

n  The Chiefs have a turnover in seven consecutive games, the longest streak in Andy Reid’s tenure there.

n  Philadelphia is the first NFL team since the 1987 L.A. Raiders to produce 350 yards passing immediately after a game where they produced 350 yards rushing.

n  Washington is the only NFL team since 2015 not to score an overtime victory.

n  Minnesota is 8-0 in games when the Vikings score first.

n  Cleveland is the first team since the 2014 Packers to have one game with two defensive TDs and a special-teams’ score.

SUNDAY’S GOLD JACKET QUOTES

n  “I know I’d go to war for that boy. He’s got something special about him.” – Jets’ wide receiver Garrett Wilson on quarterback Mike White.

n  “We’ll see if he can go back this week. If not, it’ll be sometime after that shortly.” – Baltimore coach John Harbaugh on the Lamar Jackson injury.

n  “I think we’re at a crossroads as to how we want to continue down the season.” – Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel.

n  “They’re supposed to boo.” – Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson on Houston fans’ response to his return after an 11-game suspension.

n  “The Texans continue to be so dreadful they’re sucking the spirit out of Christmas.” – Former Houston Chronicle columnist John McClain on – who else? -- the Texans.

n  “He’s played against the best defense in the league for the past 13 weeks. He’ll be fine.” – 49ers’ linebacker Fred Warner on Brock Purdy.