After Caleb Williams’ throw, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s push-off and K’Lavon Chaisson’s punch-out, the NFL’s playoff field is coming into focus. And with two weeks left in the regular season, we have a surprise contender for the AFC’s top seed.

Make it six straight for the Jacksonville Jaguars after Sunday’s 34-20 win over the Denver Broncos, one of the more impressive victories by any team this season.

Denver’s 11-game win streak is history, and thanks to the New England Patriots’ 28-24 win in Baltimore on Sunday night — the Patriots clinched a playoff spot for the first time in four years after Chaisson forced a Zay Flowers fumble on the Ravens’ final drive — we have a three-team race for the AFC’s top seed with two games to play. Both the Broncos and Patriots are 12-3, but at 11-4, the Jaguars still have a path to the No. 1 seed and coveted playoff bye.

For the 19th straight year in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers will finish at .500 or above. Pittsburgh survived Detroit’s comeback bid Sunday, 29-24, exhaling after wideout St. Brown was flagged for offensive pass interference on the game’s final play, negating the lateral-turned-touchdown that would’ve sealed a stunning comeback for the Lions.

Instead, the Steelers (9-6) stayed in front of the AFC North. The Lions, last year’s No. 1 seed in the NFC, are now 8-7 and likely headed for a January at home. Detroit’s playoff chances sit at 6 percent. To make the postseason, the Lions need to win their final two and have the Packers lose their final two.

“We have nobody to blame but ourselves,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “It’s on us. It’s also on us to finish.”

The NFC, meanwhile, has a new front-runner. Thanks to a memorable Thursday night comeback over the Los Angeles Rams, the Seattle Seahawks are eyeing the franchise’s first No. 1 seed since the Legion of Boom days.

But let’s not overlook another contender that’s made its name excelling in the clutch all season: After erasing a 10-point deficit to the Green Bay Packers in the final two minutes of regulation Saturday night, then winning on a 46-yard walk-off touchdown throw from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore, the Chicago Bears are now firmly in front of the NFC North. Who saw this coming back in September? Since starting 0-2, Chicago has won 11 of 13. And thanks to the Steelers’ win over the Lions, the Bears have officially punched a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 (yes, they can thank old rival Aaron Rodgers for that).

The NFC East race is over, and the division has its first back-to-back champ in 21 seasons. For all the drama that’s trailed the Philadelphia Eagles this season — and there has been plenty — the reigning Super Bowl champs are back in the playoffs after a 29-18 victory over the Washington Commanders on Saturday. That’s eight playoff trips in nine years for Philly. One of the league’s juiciest soap operas also happens to be one of its most consistent winners.

That means the Dallas Cowboys will miss the playoffs for the second straight year. A three-game win streak in late-November — including victories over both of last season’s Super Bowl participants, the Eagles and Chiefs — offered hope, but Brian Schottenheimer’s team fizzled down the stretch. A 34-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday was the Cowboys’ third straight. That defense was never good enough.

As for the Chargers, Justin Herbert continues to play with a broken left hand and move L.A. closer to a second straight playoff berth under coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers have won four straight and seven of eight.

“It’s definitely MVP caliber,” Harbaugh said of his quarterback’s play of late. “He’s doing things game after game that are reserved for only the best that are in the game, and that have ever played the game.”

While the Broncos are in front of the division, it’s not over. If the Chargers win their final two — including a Week 18 meeting in Denver — they’d clinch the AFC West.

On Sunday night in Baltimore, the Patriots rallied for a gutsy win over the Ravens, who lost Lamar Jackson to a back injury in the first half. An 11-point lead for the Ravens early in the fourth quarter vanished because of Drake Maye’s late-game mettle, a monster night from Stefon Diggs (nine catches for 138 yards) and a go-ahead 21-yard touchdown burst from Rhamondre Stevenson. Chaisson’s punch-out sealed it.

That keeps New England (12-3) one game in front of the Buffalo Bills (11-4) in the AFC East. The Bills leaned heavily on James Cook in a 23-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Cook had 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns and has now climbed over the 100-yard mark nine times this season. Buffalo clinches a playoff spot with a Colts’ loss to the 49ers on Monday night.

The race for next spring’s No. 1 draft pick will likely be decided Sunday in Las Vegas, when the 2-13 Raiders host the 2-13 New York Giants. How bad was it Sunday for the lowly Giants? In a 16-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, quarterback Jaxson Dart didn’t even complete a pass until late in the second quarter. He finished with 33 passing yards. Total. The Raiders put up more of a fight in a 23-21 loss to the Houston Texans. Ashton Jeanty was electric, with two touchdowns and 188 all-purpose yards.

The Texans, meanwhile, have won seven in a row and notched a third straight 10-win season under DeMeco Ryans.

Beyond the Giants and Raiders, another contender for the top pick, the Tennessee Titans, won a home game for the first time in over a year, beating the Patrick Mahomes-less Kansas City Chiefs, 26-9. Mahomes’ replacement, Gardner Minshew, left the game with a knee injury, leaving the Chiefs in unrecognizable territory: finishing a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations with a losing record and a third-string quarterback. Meanwhile, the 2025 No. 1 pick, Cam Ward, shone for the Titans, tossing two touchdowns and making the kind of throws that offer hope to the beleaguered fans in Nashville.

Another team that will have to address some serious questions this coming offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals, took care of the Miami Dolphins, 45-21. Joe Burrow threw four touchdowns in his best outing of an injury-plagued 2025.

They’re not getting a ton of notice, but Kellen Moore’s New Orleans Saints are putting together a really nice December. The team has now won three straight after a 29-6 rout of the New York Jets. Rookie Tyler Shough threw for a career-best 308 yards and a touchdown, and a team that was 1-8 in early November is suddenly 5-10. The Jets, meanwhile, have now gone 15 games without intercepting a pass — an NFL record.

In a game pitting two coaches whose seats seem to be warming by the week, the Atlanta Falcons edged the Arizona Cardinals, 26-19. Raheem Morris’ Falcons have won two straight after being eliminated from the playoffs. Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals have dropped seven in a row.

Here’s what stood out from a wild Week 16 in the NFL:

Time to take Jags seriously

The Packers couldn’t do it. The Chiefs couldn’t do it. Not the Cowboys or Bengals, either.

The Broncos hadn’t just won 11 straight entering Sunday, but they also hadn’t lost a game at home in over a year. Every contender to come into Empower Field at Mile High this season exited with a loss. Until the Jaguars showed up Sunday.

Jacksonville’s 34-20 triumph in Denver was the latest testament to the job Liam Coen’s doing in Jacksonville. In a showdown pitting two Coach of the Year candidates, Coen outshone the Broncos’ Sean Payton. That’s saying something, because Payton has had the Broncos rolling all season.

“Just grateful that a small-market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done,” Coen said, a nod to Payton’s comments about Jacksonville earlier in the week.

Coen’s team has quietly become one of the hottest in the league — Sunday’s win was the Jaguars’ sixth straight, and they now have victories over the Broncos, 49ers, Chargers, Chiefs and Colts this season. The biggest reason is the quarterback, who’s playing the best football of his career. Across his last four starts, Trevor Lawrence has thrown 12 touchdowns to go with no interceptions. During their six-game streak, the Jags’ wins are coming by an average of 18 points a game.

“We really don’t care about the narrative,” Coen said, asked about the Jaguars being overlooked despite their play of late. “I’m sorry to say, but it’s only helping us, so I want the narrative to keep coming.”

To earn the AFC’s top spot, the Jaguars will have to win out and have both the Broncos and Patriots lose at least one of their final two.

Here come da Bears

Caleb Williams flung it. Then he felt it.

“I knew it was good,” he said later.

He was talking about the throw, the one in overtime that soared 46 yards through the chilly December air above Soldier Field and landed in the arms of DJ Moore in the end zone, cementing an unthinkable comeback that spoke to what’s become a special season in Chicago.

Down 10 points with under two minutes to go? Against their hated rivals with first place on the line?

Ugly as it can look, the Bears — and their quarterback — are never out of it.

It was Williams’ second dazzling touchdown throw in four snaps; the first tied the score with 24 seconds left in regulation, the second sealed a walk-off victory that now has Chicago in firm control of the NFC North with two games to go. It’s a division the franchise has won just once since 2010.

This group is different, first-year coach Ben Johnson says, and it’s easy to see why: No team has consistently excelled in long-shot, late-game situations like Chicago. The Bears, like their quarterback, can look dreadful for three quarters, then break their opponent’s heart in the fourth. Before Williams’ flurry late Saturday night, he’d completed just seven passes for 107 yards. Then he turned into Joe Montana.

“He’s clutch like that,” Johnson said.

The Bears are 7-2 in one-score games this season, plenty of which have been comebacks. At 11-4, the division is theirs to lose. The Packers are 9-5-1 after dropping two straight, and quarterback Jordan Love will enter concussion protocol this week, his status uncertain for Sunday’s game against the Ravens.

Meanwhile, out west, the Seahawks are in front and can clinch the conference’s top seed with wins over the Panthers and 49ers. The Rams are a game back and have a much easier two-game stretch to close the regular season: They’ll see the Falcons and Cardinals. And, somehow, the 49ers are not out of the NFC West race or the chase for the No. 1 seed. Three wins to wrap the regular season — starting Monday night in Indianapolis — would deliver Kyle Shanahan’s team the division title, top seed and first-round bye.

Steelers escape

For a few minutes in Detroit, chaos reigned. The sidelines waited. The fans inside Ford Field grew agitated. The coaches begged for an explanation.

Had the Lions just pulled off a last-second miracle? Or had the Steelers escaped?

Finally, the call came: offensive pass interference on St. Brown. No play. Game over.

Pittsburgh celebrated. Detroit groaned.

The call had massive playoff ramifications for both sides: Not only does it inch the Steelers a little closer to the franchise’s first division title in five years, but it also all but extinguishes the Lions’ chances of making a third straight trip to the postseason. The Steelers’ three-game win streak has been buoyed by an offense that’s found itself and suddenly looks dangerous. Pittsburgh is averaging 28 points per game during the streak and scored three separate 45-yard touchdowns Sunday, two of which came from Jaylen Warren on the ground in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens’ playoff odds are now at 8 percent. Baltimore will have to win out and hope Pittsburgh drops its Week 17 game in Cleveland.

Panthers’ time in NFC South?

Six weeks into the season, the Buccaneers were 5-1 and looking like legitimate NFC contenders. The quarterback was playing like an MVP candidate and leading last-second comebacks almost every week. The team was a no-brainer to win a fifth straight division title.

What’s unfolded since has been the league’s most stunning second-half collapse this side of the Indianapolis Colts: The Bucs have won just once since Halloween.

Last week, Bucs coach Todd Bowles unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at the postgame podium, a moment that was highly out of character for the typically measured coach. But it spoke to Bowles’ budding frustrations. His team wasn’t right, and time was running out.

Sunday offered a reprieve, a chance for the Bucs to reclaim their spot atop the division they’ve owned since Tom Brady was their quarterback. Again, they wasted it.

It was Bryce Young and the Panthers that engineered a go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, then the Carolina defense that secured a game-sealing interception with 42 seconds left. On the play, Mayfield thought veteran wideout Mike Evans was going to break off his route toward the sideline, not the middle of the field. When Evans cut inside, Mayfield’s throw ended up in the hands of safety Lathan Ransom.

It was the kind of play the Bucs used to make.

Suddenly, it’s the kind of play they can’t keep screwing up.

Tampa Bay (7-8) has now lost three straight division games and six of seven overall. The Bucs are a game behind the Panthers (8-7) in the NFC South, with the two meeting on the final day of the regular season. The Panthers can clinch the division with one win in their final two and a Bucs loss; Tampa Bay has to win out.

It has been a remarkable run for Dave Canales’ team, which started 1-3 but has rallied for wins over the Packers, Rams and Bucs in the second half of the season. Now, Carolina is eyeing its first playoff berth since 2017 and first NFC South title since 2015, Cam Newton’s MVP season.

“Everything’s right in front of us still, to give ourselves a chance to continue to play meaningful football this time of year,” Canales said. “They’ve earned that.”