▪ The Bills were soft and sloppy in the snow, letting the Bengals jump out to a 14-3 lead, and take a 28-18 lead midway through the fourth quarter. James Cook fumbled twice at the goal line trying to reach the ball out, the Bengals converted 10 of 12 on third down, and Joe Burrow threw four touchdowns.

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But the Bengals (4-9) eventually turned into the Bengals, suffering a nuclear meltdown over the final 8 minutes with a pick-six, another interception, and multiple defensive letdowns as the Bills scored 21 quick points to secure the win. Allen had a career-long 40-yard touchdown run, and sealed the game with a 17-yard scramble on third-and-15.

The Bills picked up their second straight victory and improved from seventh to fifth in the AFC playoff race.

“All we had to do is score one more point than them. It didn’t matter how good or bad it looked,” Allen said. “We have supreme trust in each other that we’re going to figure it out.”

The 11-2 Patriots are now two games ahead of the Bills with four to play, and will clinch the division title with a win next Sunday over Buffalo. But a Bills win will shrink the Patriots’ lead to just 1 game with three to play.

The Bills haven’t looked like a serious contender all season, but they are doing enough to keep the pressure on.

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens stumbled again, this time to bitter AFC North rival Pittsburgh, to seriously damage their already thin playoff hopes. Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press

▪ The Patriots are supposed to have two “tough” games to end the season against Buffalo and Baltimore, but that Ravens game isn’t looking too daunting right now.

The Ravens dropped to 6-7 with their second straight loss, this one a 27-22 defeat to the Steelers (7-6), who reclaimed the top spot in the AFC North and the No. 4 seed. The Ravens fell to No. 10.

Lamar Jackson hasn’t looked like himself since returning from a hamstring injury, and again had a modest game with 43 rushing yards and 219 passing yards, two total touchdowns, an interception, and a 54 percent completion rate. Tight end Isaiah Likely also had his second goal line mishap in two weeks, having a touchdown knocked out of his hands in the end zone a week after losing a fumble out of the end zone in a loss to the Bengals. (Yes, the officials got the call right — Likely got two feet down but didn’t make a football move before the ball was knocked out.)

For all the talk about Mike Tomlin being on the hot seat in Pittsburgh, it’s also starting to seem like the John Harbaugh era has run its course after 18 years in Baltimore.

▪ No one hates the city of Jacksonville more than the Colts. They have lost 11 straight games there after a 36-19 defeat to the Jaguars. It was where they lost to a 2-14 Jaguars team in Week 18 of 2021 to miss the playoffs. And it is where their 2025 season ended when quarterback Daniel Jones tore his Achilles Sunday.

With Anthony Richardson still on injured reserve after suffering a broken orbital bone in a pregame workout mishap, the Colts were forced to turn to rookie sixth-rounder Riley Leonard, who threw for 145 yards and an interception.

The Colts were once 7-1 and No. 1 in the AFC, but have lost four of five to fall to 8-5 and the precipice of the playoff bracket.

The Colts schedule was difficult enough with a healthy quarterback — they end with the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars, and Texans. Now with a rookie third stringer behind center, their playoff hopes look grim.

▪ Credit the Dolphins for not giving up when they were 2-7. Sunday’s 34-10 win over the Jets was their fourth in a row to improve to 6-7, and they still have a prayer in the AFC playoff race, though they currently sit 11th.

The Dolphins probably need to win out — against the Steelers, Bengals, Buccaneers, and Patriots — plus get some help to reach the playoffs, but stranger things have happened. More likely, the Dolphins have won just enough to give owner Stephen Ross the excuse to keep coach Mike McDaniel for one more year, which he seems to want to do.

Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and the Jaguars were up in arms as they stormed past the Colts. Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

▪ Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett: Had another good fantasy day (271 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) but is now 1-7 this year. Feels like a house-cleaning is coming in Arizona.

▪ Jaguars WR Jakobi Meyers: Had 4 catches for 39 yards and a touchdown in the win, his third straight game with a score. A great deadline pickup for Jacksonville.

▪ Bengals TE Mike Gesicki: Had 6 grabs for 86 yards and what looked like a game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, until his team fell apart.

▪ Ohio State DC Matt Patricia: The Buckeyes lost the Big Ten championship to Indiana, but the defense did its part in a 13-10 defeat. The OSU defense has allowed only 10 touchdowns in 13 games.

▪ The Broncos’ 24-17 win over the Raiders was a big one. It vaulted them to 11-2, ahead of the Patriots for the No. 1 seed because of a better conference record (7-2 vs. 6-2). If it ever gets to the next tiebreaker, common opponents, the Pats and Broncos both have wins over the Titans, Bengals, Jets, and Giants, but the Broncos have two wins over the Raiders, and the Patriots lost to the Raiders in Week 1.

▪ The Bears offense is limited with Caleb Williams, and he threw a bad interception at the end of the 28-21 loss at the Packers, but that is one hard-fighting team that won’t be a fun opponent in the playoffs.

▪ Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford have been the MVP front-runners for weeks, but Jordan Love has now entered the chat.

▪ It’s admirable that Jayden Daniels returned to the lineup, but the Commanders should’ve protected him from himself. Instead, they let him take way too many hits for no good reason in a 31-0 bashing by Minnesota, suffering another injury to his left elbow that forced him to miss the prior three games.

▪ I’m usually a curmudgeon when it comes to snow games, but Bills-Bengals was great drama in addition to being aesthetically pleasing.

▪ It’s supposed to be the Year of the Kickoff Return, but instead punt return touchdowns have exploded. The Jets’ Isaiah Williams and Broncos’ Marvin Mims scored the 12th and 13th punt return TDs this season, more than double last year’s total (six) with four weeks to go. The NFL only had two punt return scores the entire 2021 season. Williams is one of four players this year with two punt return TDs.

Jets returner Isaiah Williams (18) breaks free for a 78-yard punt return touchdown against the Dolphins.Yuki Iwamura/Associated Press

▪ The Falcons dropped to 4-9 with a 37-9 loss to the Seahawks. Coach Raheem Morris might not survive past his second season.

▪ Losing to the previously one-win Titans is pretty embarrassing, but Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 364 yards, scored four total touchdowns, and kept fighting until the final whistle of a 31-29 setback. Dillon Gabriel was never close to throwing for 300 yards.

▪ Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy led a 19-play, 98-yard touchdown drive that took 12:01 off the clock in the shutout of Washington.

▪ The Bucs fell to 7-6 with a home loss to the 3-win Saints and are clearly running out of gas. They play the 7-6 Panthers in Week 16 and 18 for the NFC South title.

The Patriots continue to win but things are heating up in the AFC race. Ben and Tara discuss the Patriots’ competition going forward.

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.