After a big Sunday night of AFC North action, it is the Pittsburgh Steelers who have tightened their grip on the division after an explosive 44-38 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Couple that with the Baltimore Ravens' 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and it was a good weekend for Mike Tomlin and his Steelers.
So many Steelers wins have been driven by their defense in recent years and that side of the ball still made some huge plays. In fact, a fourth quarter strip-sack by Nick Herbig that was returned for a touchdown by Payton Wilson was the straw that finally broke Cincinnati's back, giving Pittsburgh a commanding 41-24 lead.
But, make no mistake, this performance was powered by Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense. And that needed to be the case in the first half when Joe Burrow was red hot for the Bengals. With a mix of well-executed screen passes and timely strikes downfield, Wilson threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first Steelers quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in a game in six seasons, going back to the days of Ben Roethlisberger in 2018.
For Wilson, the Steelers are offering up a chance for him to repair his reputation. In 10 seasons with Seattle, the nine-time Pro Bowler won a Super Bowl and was on a Hall of Fame charge. But two disastrous years in Denver took the shine off what was an illustrious career.
It was not a great start to 2024 as Wilson was sidelined with a calf injury early in the season. But since he has assumed control of Pittsburgh's offense, they have been in a position to be much more adventurous in the passing game.
With the ground attack producing 110 yards and a touchdown and with T.J. Watt wreaking havoc with a pair of sacks on a playmaking defense, the Steelers look complete and ready to sustain their playoff challenge at the top of the AFC North.
Around this time last year, Pittsburgh were not an easy watch. They were struggling to score points as they scrapped their way into the postseason. Now we have moved into December, it does feel as if Pittsburgh will march into the playoffs in a much more commanding frame of mind.
And we shouldn't really be surprised. This is what this team does year after year. Sunday's win over Cincinnati means the Steelers will enjoy a non-losing season or the 21st campaign in a row. Tomlin has opened his NFL career with 18 seasons in which he has never filed a losing record. That is four more seasons than any other coach in NFL history.
Like his quarterback, Tomlin can be a soundbite machine. But he should be taken very seriously indeed. An overlooked couple could be about to lead Pittsburgh on a deep and dangerous playoff run.
Who's Hot…
The Philadelphia Eagles… Sunday's win over the Ravens means the Eagles have now won eight games in a row, taking their season record to 10-2. What was most impressive about the road win was how the Eagles stuck with their plan and didn't panic after being tested in several ways. First, Philly fell behind 9-0 within the opening 12 minutes and Lamar Jackson was clearly not in the mood to be stopped. Second, star running back Saquon Barkley was held in check in a quiet first half. But the Eagles kept plugging away and they were excellent on defense, slowing Jackson and holding the Ravens to just one consolation touchdown when the game was well and truly put to bed with just three seconds remaining. And Barkley eventually woke up and took over the contest in the fourth quarter. For the eighth time this season, Barkley topped 100 rushing yards in a game and he seems to get stronger and stronger behind a massive offensive line. The Eagles showed on Sunday that they are no fluke in the NFC and that they could yet be the team that ends Detroit's Cinderella season come January.
The Green Bay Packers… A 30-17 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Miami Dolphins confirmed Green Bay's status as major players in the NFC playoff race. The Packers have now won seven of their last eight games and, like the Steelers over in the AFC, they look capable of winning in different ways. Thursday's win over the listless and freezing Dolphins was never really in doubt. What was most important in the victory was the fact that Jordan Love went without throwing an interception for a second game in a row. That had been a real issue for the $55 million-per-year quarterback. If he can keep the mistakes out of his game, the Packers are likely to be another very dangerous opponent in the NFC playoff battle.
The Buffalo Bills… Despite an offseason filled with chatter about another team like the New York Jets or Miami Dolphins rising up to take them down, the Buffalo Bills have just secured another AFC East division title. And they have done so with five weeks of their regular season still remaining! The good news for the Bills is that five of the last six teams to win their division with that much of their season left to play reached the Super Bowl. In a snow globe game against the free-falling San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo dominated from start to finish in a 35-10 victory. With blizzards creating treacherous conditions, especially for the passing attacks; Buffalo kept it simple by rushing 38 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Buffalo have won seven in a row and Sunday marked the ninth time in 2024 that they have scored more than 30 points in a game. This is the team to beat in the AFC.
Who's Not…
The Atlanta Falcons' offense… The Falcons have now lost three games in a row after Sunday's 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. On this kind of form, Atlanta are going to get run down and overtaken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions on Sunday, including a pick six and a game-ender at the death. In Atlanta's three-game losing streak, Cousins has failed to throw a touchdown pass and has been picked off six times. Any Falcons comeback needs to begin with their star quarterback tidying up his game.
Justin Tucker… It felt like we were watching the demise of a true NFL legend on Sunday night as Baltimore's great kicker, Justin Tucker, continued to fall apart before our very eyes. Tucker missed an extra point that would have given the Ravens a 10-0 lead early on. And when the score was 14-12 to the Eagles, Tucker missed field goals of 47 and 53 yards. Had his kicks been converted, Baltimore would have been leading 19-14 deep into the second half. His misses took the air out of the Ravens and that opened the door for Philadelphia to take control. Tucker has now missed 10 kicks in a season that has been hard to fathom. Tucker's field goal percentage of 70.4 is 10 percent fewer than in any other year of his career. Could John Harbaugh make the bold decision to cut the future Hall of Famer.
The Cincinnati Bengals' defense… Joe Burrow threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, leading the Bengals to 38 points. And, once again, he found himself on the losing side. The Bengals have now lost six games this season in which they have scored at least 25 points. Burrow is an outstanding quarterback who is at the very top of his game. He is so good, but he constantly gets let down by one of the worst defenses in the league. The triumvirate of Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins must be kept together in 2025 and beyond, but I worry the Bengals may not want to pay both game-breaking receivers. And then the rest of the offseason must be spent focusing on upgrading on the defensive side of the ball. If that doesn't happen, Burrow could face years of the kind of frustration he endured in Week 13.
The Fast Five…
- Matt Eberflus was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears just one day after letting his team down badly in their 23-20 Thanksgiving Day defeat to the Detroit Lions. With time ticking down, Caleb Williams either lost track of the clock or couldn't get the play called and lined up in time. That's where the head coach has to come in and call the time out. But the clock ran out in the most frustrating fashion without a field goal being kicked. It was an unforgivable error for a head coach and is the major reason the Bears made their first in-season firing in team history. And that's a franchise that's been around since 1920!
- The Colts put their faith in second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson when inserting him back into the starting lineup a couple of weeks back. And he repaid that trust on Sunday by delivering a late victory over the New England Patriots. Richardson threw a touchdown pass to Alec Pierce with just 12 seconds remaining and then bulled his way into the endzone for the two-point conversion and a 25-24 victory. Those back-to-back plays were the exact reason why the Colts picked Richardson in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
- It was far from perfect on Sunday night, but the Minnesota Vikings recorded a late 23-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals when Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Jones with a little more than a minute on the clock. Other teams are getting more headlines of late, but the Vikings recording 10 wins in a season is a major story in 2024. And they're not done yet!
- With the Falcons slipping up, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew that a win would draw them level with a 6-6 mark at the top of the NFC South. But the Bucs didn't bank on Carolina giving them all they could handle. Tampa dug deep and won 26-23 on Chase McLaughlin's overtime field goal. The Panthers have impressed in the past month, winning two games and then losing their last two on last-second field goals. As for the Bucs, they need to make up one more game along the way as the Falcons hold the tiebreaker.
- I know things happen fast on a football field and it must be so hard to play defender, but I think the hit that Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair put on Trevor Lawrence was cheap and nasty. The Jaguars clearly agreed because a massive brawl broke out after Al-Shaair delivered a brutal forearm to the head of a sliding Lawrence. Former NFL GM and friend of our Sky show Scott Pioli messaged me an interesting concept on Sunday night. The offending player – who was ejected from the game in this case – should be banned for as long as the injured athlete is sidelined. There is no place in the NFL for that sort of hit.
Fact of the Week
Josh Allen, of the Bills, is being reported as the first QB to have a rushing, passing and receiving TD in the same game. But, courtesy of our Sky Sports' stats guru Benedict Bermange, Philadelphia's Roy Zimmerman did the same thing against the Giants at the Polo Grounds in 1944. To add to his tally, Zimmerman also kicked a field goal and three extra points. Either way, Allen showed his true superstar status again on Sunday.
Final Thought…
The Kansas City Chiefs racked up their ninth one-score victory of this season and have now won all 14 of their last 14 one-possesion games. But Black Friday's 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders should raise some serious alarm bells. Is this team good enough to compete with the likes of Buffalo and Pittsburgh in the playoffs? I don't think they are. The Chiefs are to be credited for finding ways to win these games, but they've also been incredibly lucky. They remind me of the 2022 Vikings, who won 11 one-score contests before going one and done in the playoffs, being knocked out at home in the first round by the New York Giants. The Three-Peat is alive, but it's hardly been convincing in recent weeks.
