The Buffalo Bills overturned a half-time deficit to defeat the Chicago Bills 35-13 on Saturday and clinch the AFC East title.
The freezing conditions in Chicago gave this the feel of a home game for the Bills, but they were far from comfortable early on and threatened to blow their lead in the race for home-field advantage in the AFC.
Josh Allen responded to Justin Fields' opening touchdown drive by leading Buffalo down the field and completing a 19-yard TD pass to Gabe Davis.
But the Bills missed the PAT, and the only score for the remainder of the half was a successful Bears field goal, giving Chicago a 10-6 lead through two quarters.
The hopes of the Bears – and the Bills' AFC rivals – were quickly dashed in the second half, however, as Devin Singletary dashed in from 33 yards and then James Cook followed him from 27 yards for a second score in double-quick time either side of a Chicago fumble.
An unconvincing Allen display, which included two interceptions and a recovered fumble, kept the Bears in contention, yet they could not capitalise.
And the Bills QB finished in more familiar fashion with a rushing score and a TD pass to Dawson Knox in the closing stages as Buffalo took another step towards the first seed.
Bills feel the heat in AFC
The pressure had been on the Bills because there never appeared any possibility of the Kansas City Chiefs not defeating the stumbling Seattle Seahawks. A 24-10 victory was Patrick Mahomes' first against the Seahawks, meaning the Indianapolis Colts are the only team he has now played but not beaten.
The Cincinnati Bengals also remain in contention at the top of the AFC after a dominant first half against the New England Patriots. Joe Burrow completed 28 passes – a season high for any QB in any half – for 284 yards and three touchdowns before half-time, meaning the Bengals could just about withstand a second-half pick six in a 22-18 win.
The Patriots' defeat meant the Baltimore Ravens clinched their playoff berth with a 17-9 defeat of the Atlanta Falcons.
Another manic Minnesota finish
Having claimed a record-breaking comeback win last week, the Minnesota Vikings had to hold off a rally from the New York Giants, who tied the game late on. However, a 40-yard field goal from Greg Joseph had defeated the Colts, and he topped that effort with a 61-yard conversion as time expired for a 27-24 Vikings victory.
The Detroit Lions, Minnesota's NFC North rivals, saw their three-game winning run ended by the Carolina Panthers. Both the Panthers and the New Orleans Saints improved to 6-9, firmly in contention in the miserable NFC South.
Cardinals release three-time All-Pro WR Hopkins
The Arizona Cardinals have released wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins after failing to find a trade partner.
The team announced the move Friday on Twitter.
Hopkins spent three seasons with the Cardinals after being acquired via trade from the Houston Texans in March 2020.
The 30-year-old had a stellar debut season with Arizona, being voted to his fifth Pro Bowl after tying his personal best with 115 catches totalling 1,407 yards.
In 2021 and 2022, Hopkins had a combined 106 catches as a torn knee ligament and a six-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances limited his playing time.
Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals brought in a new leadership team in general manager Monti Ossenfort and defensive-minded head coach Jonathan Gannon, leading to trade rumours circling Hopkins.
Arizona were unable to find a trade partner to take on Hopkins' $22.6million salary cap hit during the draft last month, leaving the rebuilding Cardinals no other choice but to release the three-time All-Pro receiver.
Amid the offseason trade rumours, Hopkins had been notably absent from voluntary OTA workouts and caused a stir earlier this week when he discussed the NFL's top quarterbacks on a podcast and omitted now-former teammate Kyler Murray.
In three seasons with the Cardinals, Hopkins recorded 221 receptions for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns in 35 games.
The 10-year veteran has 853 career catches for 11,298 yards and 71 touchdowns.
Mahomes concerned with 'winning rings more than making money'
Patrick Mahomes' focus is on "winning rings" and not making more money, as the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback aims to cement his legacy as an NFL great.
Mahomes was the driving force yet again as the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in the space of three years to cap the 2022 season.
The Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Arizona, with league MVP Mahomes completing 21 of 27 passes for three touchdowns.
In the process, Mahomes, who was battling injury throughout the Chiefs' postseason, became the first player since Kurt Warner in 1999 to be crowned NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season.
Yet Mahomes, who became the NFL's highest-paid player when he signed a $450million, 10-year contract in 2020, is now only the seventh-highest-paid QB in the league when it comes to average annual salary.
The 27-year-old, though, is not concerned by money, even though the Chiefs have hinted they will look at improving his terms.
"I've always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment," he told reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by ESPN.
"We see what's going on around the league, but at the same time, I'll never do anything that's going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me.
"So it's kind of teetering around that line.
"You just want to do whatever to not hurt other quarterbacks [financially]. Whenever their contracts come up, you want to keep the bar pushing [higher]."
Mahomes wants to find a sweet spot where he is earning a fair salary that also enables the Chiefs to retain other players who have proved crucial to their success.
He explained: "It's not about being the highest-paid guy; it's not about making a ton of money. I've made enough money that I'll be set for the rest of my life.
"But at the same time, you got to find that line where you're making a good amount of money but you're still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these Super Bowls and you're able to compete in these games.
"If you look at the greats in the league, they find that right spot where they're getting paid a lot of money but at the same time keeping a lot of these great players around.
"I understand you look at the team and you've got guys like Chris [Jones] and [L'Jarius] Sneed and even Travis [Kelce], all these guys that you need to keep around you to have these great teams. But at the same time, you want to make sure you're taking care of yourself."
NFL approves rule allowing ball to be placed on 25-yard line on fair catches on kick-offs
The kick-off return is moving closer and closer towards extinction.
The NFL owners approved a rule on Tuesday that allows teams receiving a free kick (kick-off or safety kick) to get the ball at their own 25-yard line if the team calls for a fair catch anywhere behind their own 25.
The rule has been put in place for just the 2023 season, and will be revisited next offseason.
The intention behind the new rule stems from player safety with concussion rates on kick-offs will be reduced by 15 per cent, according to NFL executive Jeff Miller.
Kick-offs are considered the most dangerous play in the NFL, as data shows concussions occurs more than twice as often on them than on plays from scrimmages.
While the new rule should help with head injuries, it also takes away an exciting part of the game. Under the new rule, models suggest that the kick-off return rate will decrease from 38 per cent to 31 per cent.
There will almost certainly be a backlash among players and coaches, as the new rule will likely bring about more squib kicks and other unreturnable kicks.
This is the second major rule change made to kick-offs in the last decade with the backdrop of player safety in mind.
In 2016, the NFL moved touchbacks on kick-offs up to the 25-yard line from the 20, with the rationale teams will take the ball five yards closer to their own end zone rather than risk getting tackled behind the 25. And fewer returns would also likely mean fewer injuries.
The rule change, however, has taken the ball out of the hands out of kick-off returners, and decreased the likelihood of an exciting return.
There were only nine kick-off returns for touchdowns last season – the fewest in a non-strike season since the 1970 merger.
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