N.F.L. Week 15: What We Learned

In a week that had quite a few blowouts, there were thrillers in Tennessee and San Francisco and there was a scoring resurgence for New England (which came with some caveats). Overall, Week 15 will wrap up with eight of the league’s 12 playoff spots having been secured, giving a fairly clear picture of what we can expect going forward.

Here’s what we learned:

• The 49ers miss their injured defensive backs. Playing without Richard Sherman, K’Waun Williams and Jaquiski Tartt, San Francisco was helpless to stop Atlanta on a frantic final possession in which Matt Ryan marched his team 70 yards on 10 plays, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown to Julio Jones that, along with a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff, gave Atlanta a shocking 29-22 victory on the road. Adding some drama to the upset, Jones’s touchdown was initially ruled to have come up short, but was confirmed to have broken the plane after a review by officials. Sherman hopes to return next week despite having sustained a partially torn hamstring in Week 14, and Williams (concussion) and Tartt (ribs) could be back soon, but they were clearly missed as San Francisco lost on its opponents’ final possession for the third time this season.

• The best (Patriots) offense is a good defense. Turning the old saying on its head, New England broke out of a scoring slump by dropping 34 points on Cincinnati. A closer look turns down the enthusiasm a bit, at least in terms of the team’s recent offensive woes having dissipated. The Patriots had an impressive 75-yard opening drive, but their other 27 points came off a pick-6 and four other scoring drives that went an average distance of just 31.3 yards. New England was outgained by Cincinnati, 315 yards to 291, and won in a blowout thanks to five turnovers. If the win had come against a better team, the volume of turnovers would have played into conspiracy theories surrounding a videographer working for New England who was caught filming the Bengals’ sideline last week.

• The Titans are relentless, but the Texans can outlast them. Houston went up by 14-0 on Sunday, let Tennessee sneak back into the game, then held on for a narrow 24-21 victory. The game provided a fairly tidy synopsis of the A.F.C. South this season, with the Texans appearing to have had the division in hand only to have the Titans make them sweat. Houston now has a one-game lead, and will undoubtedly be favored when it hosts Tennessee in Week 17, but the Titans, who have scored 20 or more points in the second half of six straight games, seem to have a knack for making things dramatic.

• Travis Kelce is weatherproof — and automatic. On a snowy day in Kansas City, the Chiefs did not have to settle for running the ball thanks to Kelce’s accounting for nearly half of Patrick Mahomes’s 340 passing yards in a 23-3 win over Denver. The Chiefs were dominant on both sides of the ball, with Kelce grabbing 11 catches for 142 yards and Kansas City’s defense virtually eliminating Denver’s Drew Lock from the game. Through three quarters, Kelce had outgained the Broncos’ offense, 141 to 139. Kelce is up to 1,131 yards for the season, tying him with Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Jason Witten for the most 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end, and unlike the others, Kelce’s totals came in four straight seasons.

• All is not well in Los Angeles. The Rams had won three of four, and were looking dramatically better on both sides of the ball. The Chargers had been getting their turnovers under control, an upward trajectory that culminated in a blowout win over Jacksonville last week. It is hard to remember that enthusiasm after the Rams were demolished by the struggling Dallas Cowboys this week, 44-21, and the Chargers, with seven turnovers, were embarrassed at home by the Vikings, 39-10. At least the Rams could blame some of their failure on playing on the road.

• The Raiders believe in tradition. Playing in what is expected to be the team’s final game in Oakland Coliseum before moving to Las Vegas, the Raiders scored on the game’s first possession and proceeded to lead or be tied until the game’s final minute. Jacksonville’s Gardner Minshew then broke Oakland’s heart with a 4-yard touchdown pass with just 27 seconds left, giving the Jaguars a shocking 20-16 victory. There was some poetry to the loss, however, as Oakland also lost its last game in Oakland Coliseum before moving to Los Angeles following the 1981 season.

Sunday’s Top Performers

Top Passer: Jameis Winston

Winston threw an interception on his second official pass of the game, and then caught fire in a dominant win over Detroit. He completed at least one pass to 11 different receivers and threw for a career-high 458 yards. Tampa Bay will have a lot to think about this off-season, in terms of bringing Winston back, as he has thrown a career-best 30 touchdowns for the season, but has also thrown a career-worst 24 interceptions.

Top Runner: Kenyan Drake

Drake set a new career-high last season by rushing for four touchdowns. He matched that total in one game thanks to a breakout performance in a blowout win over Cleveland. Considering he was acquired by Arizona in October for a conditional sixth-round pick, Drake is looking like an extreme bargain.

Top Receiver: Julio Jones

An injury to Calvin Ridley left Jones to fend for himself against San Francisco, which did not prove to be a problem. The 49ers’ injury-depleted secondary was overmatched, and Jones used his strength to force himself over the goal line to secure an unlikely victory.

One* Sentence About Sunday’s Games

*Except when it takes more.

Patriots 34, Bengals 13 Tom Brady passed for only 128 yards, but his two touchdowns left him just one short of Peyton Manning’s career record of 539. Manning’s mark is certain to fall, and the only question is whether Drew Brees of the Saints, who has 537 heading into Monday night’s game, will get there first.

Falcons 29, 49ers 22 San Francisco’s primary issue was injuries on defense, but the 49ers need a lot more production from receivers not named George Kittle, as the tight end accounted for 134 of Jimmy Garoppolo’s 200 passing yards.

Texans 24, Titans 21 With the game tied, 14-14, in the fourth quarter, Houston turned to DeAndre Hopkins, and the superstar wide receiver delivered a pair of 35-yard receptions, each of which was the key play in the Texans’ final two scoring drives.

Bills 17, Steelers 10 Powered by a defense that produced four interceptions, Buffalo clinched its second playoff berth in three years. The Bills are up to 10 wins for the first time since 1999.

Seahawks 30, Panthers 24 In his 100th victory as Seattle’s coach, Pete Carroll got a balanced effort from his offense, which generated 428 yards, and an uneven one from his defense, which gave up 414 yards and 24 points, but survived thanks to three turnovers. The win, combined with San Francisco’s loss, put Seattle back in the No. 1 seed in the N.F.C.

Chiefs 23, Broncos 3 The switch from Joe Flacco to Drew Lock at quarterback did not seem to matter as far as this A.F.C. West rivalry was concerned, as Kansas City finished a two-game sweep of Denver this season having outscored the Broncos by a combined total of 53-9.

Packers 21, Bears 13 With two rushing touchdowns on Sunday, Aaron Jones is up to 14 for the season. And after sweeping the season series between the teams for the seventh time in the last 11 years, Green Bay improved its record against Chicago to 99-95-6.

Eagles 37, Redskins 27 A meaningless play at the end of this one swung plenty of bets: Philadelphia was favored at many books by 4.5 points and was leading by 4 in the final seconds when a failed lateral by Washington’s Dwayne Haskins resulted in a 47-yard fumble recovery for a meaningless touchdown, thus allowing the Eagles to cover.

Cardinals 38, Browns 24 Baker Mayfield may well be the quarterback to lead Cleveland to its first winning season since 2007 (and its third since the team re-entered the league in 1999) but it will not happen this year, as this loss guaranteed the Browns will finish at .500 or worse.

Cowboys 44, Rams 21 “How many rushing yards did we have today? Like 300? Close to it?” Ezekiel Elliott asked reporters after he, Tony Pollard, Dak Prescott and Tavon Austin combined for 263 yards on 45 carries. “Yeah, I mean we ran the ball really well today. The O-line, I don’t know what they ate for breakfast, but they did a hell of a job and made it easy on us.”

Vikings 39, Chargers 10 Minnesota was hardly able to enjoy a win in which its defense generated seven turnovers once running back Dalvin Cook reinjured his shoulder. His absence could severely limit the Vikings (10-4) going forward.

Jaguars 20, Raiders 16 Since the team’s new stadium in Las Vegas is not yet completed, and the Raiders have the right to play games at the Oakland Coliseum next year if the team so chooses, this finale was anti-climactic. Of course, with the team having already left and come back once, it was bound to lack closure regardless of how quickly things come together in their new home.

Buccaneers 38, Lions 17 A fourth straight win kept open the possibility of Tampa Bay eking out a winning season, but that will be hard with the Buccaneers having lost wide receiver Chris Godwin to what could be a serious hamstring injury a week after losing wide receiver Mike Evans in the same way.

Giants 36, Dolphins 20 A win is a win, even if it comes against Miami, and this one was fairly vital for Eli Manning, as it brought the veteran quarterback’s career record as a starter back to .500 (117-117).