10 key takeaways from Week 12
Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines the significance of those events moving forward.
Mason Rudolph's time is up
Setting aside the sideshow brawl with Myles Garrett and what was or wasn't said, there's no reason Mason Rudolph should throw another pass this season.
The Steelers reportedly gave Rudolph a first-round grade and saw him as a successor to Ben Roethlisberger when they drafted him 76th overall in 2018, but he's appeared unfit for pro football in his nine appearances this season.
Last week, before the Garrett fracas overshadowed everything else, Rudolph had thrown four interceptions. He tossed another one Sunday before the Steelers finally pulled the plug, benching him for Devlin Hodges in the second half of a narrow win over the Bengals.
Hodges, an unimpressive prospect who went undrafted, almost immediately threw a 79-yard touchdown because the Bengals are the NFL's worst team and it's not that difficult for an even halfway competent quarterback to pick them apart.
Mike Tomlin was noncommittal about next week's starter after the game, but with a rematch versus the Browns on the slate, it's a virtual certainty that the Steelers will leave Rudolph on the sideline.
Carson Wentz is broken
The Eagles committed $128 million over four seasons to Carson Wentz in June. They didn't make it through one year of that pact without raising questions about whether Wentz is their long-term answer at quarterback.
Philly fans are notoriously hard to please, but the boos that rained down on Wentz as he missed pass after pass in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks weren't undeserved. The former No. 2 pick committed four turnovers and failed to lead a touchdown drive until the final 20 seconds. He lacked his full arsenal of receiving weapons and a few key linemen, but that can't explain why he looked like a novice throwing the football. On several occasions, Wentz badly over- and under-threw teammates on short tosses that a Pop Warner passer would describe as routine.
Health might have been a factor. Wentz briefly left the contest for X-rays on his hand, but the results were reportedly negative. Might Wentz still be feeling the effects of the stress fracture in his back that cost him the Eagles' final three regular-season games and playoff run a year ago?
Benching Wentz probably isn't on the table with 40-year-old journeyman Josh McCown as his backup and the playoffs still mathematically within reach. But if the Eagles' brass believes time away from live fire might help Wentz recalibrate, the idea shouldn't be ruled out.
Raiders not there yet
Well, that was fun while it lasted.
After emerging as surprise playoff contenders in Jon Gruden's second year back at the helm, the Raiders came crashing back down to earth in the form of an embarrassing blowout loss to the Jets. With a defense that constantly gets picked apart in the passing game and an offense that isn't built to play from behind, it's becoming more and more clear that Oakland just isn't a playoff-caliber team.
The Raiders are technically still alive in a wide-open AFC wild-card race at 6-5, but next week's game - on the road against the Chiefs - could be even uglier than the loss in New York. Coming off a bye, which has always been huge for Andy Reid teams, Patrick Mahomes and Co. should be primed to light up the scoreboard.
The Raiders are heading in the right direction with Gruden and Mike Mayock leading the way, and the rebuild is taking shape faster than many expected, but there just aren't enough pieces to make any real noise this year. Another rookie class filled with instant-impact players, like this year's group, would go a long way toward making next year a realistic target.
Jets still alive
Easy as it may be to pile on the Raiders, we also must acknowledge just how much better the Jets have looked in recent weeks. It's been night and day from the disaster we saw early on.
The offense is finally starting to come together now that Sam Darnold has had the chance to settle in, and Adam Gase deserves a lot of credit for some well-designed concepts that help his young quarterback get the ball to playmakers in space.
And with such a dominant front in the ground game - New York is the NFL's top-ranked defense against the run - deficiencies in the secondary can at least occasionally be masked by favorable down-and-distance situations.
There's still plenty of work to do, but if the Jets can continue to play like this, they could have an opportunity to challenge for a playoff spot. Next up on the schedule are matchups with the Bengals and Dolphins, which should get New York to 6-7. The Ravens, Steelers, and Bills follow to close out the regular season, with Baltimore representing the biggest challenge. But perhaps we shouldn't even count that as a loss just yet.
If any team stands a chance of slowing down Lamar Jackson and a dynamic Ravens offense, it just may be the one that's already suffocating opponents' running games.
Keep your eye on the Jets in December.
Browns still kicking, too
Speaking of disappointments with an outside chance at salvaging their seasons: How about those Browns? All of a sudden, the Baker Mayfield-led offense is beginning to resemble the high-flying attack we expected to see after such an exciting offseason.
Cleveland is 5-6 after rattling off three consecutive victories against the Bills, Steelers, and Dolphins - not the best competition, but wins are wins. And there are plenty of opportunities to stack a few more given the team's remaining schedule.
After next week's rematch with the Steelers, the Browns close out the season with games against the Bengals, Cardinals, Ravens, and the Bengals again.
As long as the Browns' recent success isn't a mirage, collecting four wins in that relatively favorable five-week stretch doesn't seem all that unrealistic. Pending potential tiebreakers, nine wins could be enough to give Cleveland a chance in the AFC wild-card race.
Gore as rare as they get
Frank Gore quietly took another step up the NFL's career rushing yards list in Sunday's win over the Broncos, passing Barry Sanders for third all time and now sitting behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.
He'll probably never be considered one of the true greats at the position, so in that sense, the number is a little misleading - but it still provides more confirmation that he's one of the most underappreciated running backs we've ever seen.
Gore has been the epitome of consistency throughout his 15-year career, which includes an NFL-record run of 12 straight seasons with at least 1,200 yards from scrimmage.
At a position where careers are so often cut short either due to injuries or a swift decline caused by the overall physical toll of playing, Gore's longevity is incredible. The five-time Pro Bowler is still chugging at 36 years old and now handles an early-down role for the contending Bills. That's just not supposed to happen.
Here's hoping he has a few years left in the tank to continue building his Hall of Fame resume.
Tannehill reviving career in Tennessee
He may not be a franchise quarterback, but Ryan Tannehill is positioning himself to start somewhere in 2020 thanks to his surprising renaissance in Tennessee. He threw two touchdowns and rushed for two more in the Titans' blowout win over the Jaguars on Sunday, and has now won four of five starts since replacing Marcus Mariota. Whereas Mariota could never figure out when to take a chance downfield, check down, or run, Tannehill has seemingly mastered it. He's completed 71% of his passes as the Titans' starter, totaling 13 touchdowns (10 passing, three rushing) against three interceptions, and Tennessee is suddenly back in the playoff picture as a wild-card candidate.
Tannehill will hit free agency in the offseason at the age of 31. While he's unlikely to cash in the way he did with the Miami Dolphins several years ago, he could land a starting-caliber deal, either with the Titans - who probably won't finish poorly enough to draft the quarterback of their choice - or elsewhere. The Bears, Buccaneers, and Broncos could all be looking for a quarterback in March.
You can buy that Burrow jersey, Bengals fans
Now two losses clear of the NFL's next-worst teams in Miami and Washington, the Bengals can rest assured they will have their pick of every player in the draft next spring.
It's a great spot to be in - if you can get past the overwhelming sadness that comes with an 0-11 start.
The Bengals can now play out the season's final five games without fear of accidentally winning a game and ruining their draft position. In other words, they can unabashedly try to win and avoid the ignominy of 0-16, and their fans can root for the same.
It's reasonable to assume Cincinnati won't beat the Patriots, so the team will have four other chances to crack its goose egg: a home game against the Jets next week, a set of home-and-away contests against the Browns, and a Week 16 "Toilet Bowl" against the Dolphins that was once expected to determine the first overall pick.
Cowboys don't grasp basic math
The Cowboys attempted a 29-yard field goal while trailing the Patriots by seven points with just over six minutes left in the game Sunday. Brett Maher made the kick, meaning his Cowboys went from needing to score a touchdown to ... needing to score a touchdown.
The Cowboys began their next possession on their own 8-yard line (a slightly worse position than deep in Patriots territory, it must be said) and with the two-minute warning looming. Their hurry-up offense failed to produce the touchdown they needed and they lost the game.
Trailing the Vikings by seven points in the fourth quarter of Week 10, head coach Jason Garrett also chose to attempt a field goal of fewer than 30 yards. Maher made that kick, too, and the Cowboys also lost that game by four points instead of seven.
The analytics of football can be difficult to grasp, but there's nothing complicated about needing to score a touchdown and deciding not to try doing so with the ball deep in the opponent's territory. Doing it once is inexcusable; doing it twice in a month is fireable.
Rodgers going cold
Full credit to the 49ers. The defense was relentless again Sunday night, proving in its biggest test yet that its flashes of utter dominance this season have been no fluke. The rise of this unit has been incredible to watch.
Still, that doesn't give the Packers a pass for what's becoming a pattern of underwhelming play on the offensive side - not when your quarterback is Aaron Rodgers. After they got blown out 37-8 by San Francisco in prime time, it's fair to start wondering what's going on with the Green Bay offense and its future Hall of Famer.
All seemed to be well when Rodgers put together one of the best performances of his career back in Week 7, but let's not pretend the Raiders presented much of a challenge. Defenses on par with the Chargers, Panthers, and 49ers are more like what the Packers can expect to face in the playoffs, and the star quarterback's three-game total of 498 yards and two touchdowns against those teams over the last three weeks (with a 1-2 record) is at least mildly concerning.
Green Bay is fine - we're not hitting the panic button yet, and neither should you. The Packers are 8-3 and still in the hunt for a first-round bye. There's lots of time to get things right before it really starts to matter.
But they had better make good use of that time, since this very same opponent - along with other defensively stout teams like the Saints and Vikings - awaits in the NFC playoffs. What we've seen over the past few weeks will not fly if the Packers plan on going anywhere in January.