NFL winners and losers, Week 14: Are the Steelers the best team in the AFC?

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will recap the best and worst from around the league. Here are our winners and losers from Week 14:

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers

With a 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the Steelers took a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North and improved to 6-1 with Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback. A five-point loss in a snowy Thursday night game in Cleveland a few weeks ago is the only blemish for the 36-year-old veteran since he took over for Justin Fields.

While Wilson isn’t playing at nearly the same level as Most Valuable Player candidates such as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, he’s done what coordinator Arthur Smith has asked him to do. According to ESPN, Wilson ranks fourth in QBR on passes 20 or more yards downfield and is hitting 2.5 of those throws per game, more than any other quarterback. It’s been enough to push Pittsburgh to wins over high-powered offenses in Washington, Baltimore and Cincinnati, as well as a Cleveland attack that had Jameis Winston throw 41 passes Sunday.

The Steelers rank 10th in scoring at 24.8 points per game, which sits above much more highly regarded offenses in Kansas City, Houston, Seattle, Arizona, Atlanta and Los Angeles (both the Rams and Chargers). Pittsburgh has more field goals (36) than touchdowns (31) this season, but that’s a testament to kicker Chris Boswell, who is 36 for 39 overall and 11 for 13 from 50-plus yards. Imagine how many points the Ravens would score with a kicker like that.

That’s before getting to the Pittsburgh defense, which leads the league with 28 takeaways and is allowing just 18.3 points per game. T.J. Watt is still playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level, while fellow edge rushers Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig and defensive tackle Cameron Heyward are thriving. The Steelers are 4-0 this season against teams with a winning record and have held those opponents to an average of 14.8 points.

For all of coach Mike Tomlin’s wizardry during the regular season, it hasn’t extended to January. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and haven’t hosted one since 2020. But during a final stretch against the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs and Bengals, we’ll find out just how good Pittsburgh really is.

Loser: New York football

Before the Giants’ game Sunday, a small plane circled MetLife Stadium carrying a banner that read, “MR MARA ENOUGH – PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.”

If only it were that easy.

President and CEO John Mara has the unenviable task of rebuilding a team that fell to 2-10 with a 14-11 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The game ended with Bryan Bresee blocking Graham Gano’s potential game-tying 35-yard field goal attempt after a woeful performance by New York that included 12 penalties for 112 yards, a holding penalty that negated a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown and a personal foul that wiped out a field goal.

The Giants have now missed the playoffs in 11 of the past 13 seasons, but that’s not quite as bad as their fellow tenants at MetLife Stadium. With a 32-26 overtime loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, the Jets dropped to 3-10 and will officially miss the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year, extending the longest drought in the four major American pro sports leagues.

After a magical three-year run that included back-to-back AFC championship game appearances by the Rex Ryan-led Jets in 2009 and 2010 and Eli Manning and the Giants’ stunning Super Bowl victory over Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2011, the teams from the Big Apple have combined for just one playoff victory: the Giants’ wild-card round upset of the Vikings in the 2022 season.

There isn’t much hope for the future, either. Daniel Jones is now on the Vikings’ practice squad, while Aaron Rodgers just turned 41 last week and is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. Both teams will have high draft picks, but this year’s quarterback class is one of the least exciting in years.

Hey, at least the Mets and Yankees are good. New York is a baseball town, anyway.

Winner: The NFC playoff race

The 12-1 Lions might seem like a shoo-in to win the NFC and reach the Super Bowl, but the crop of teams behind them is fascinating.

On Thursday night, the Packers (9-4) nearly knocked off Detroit on its home turf before a bold fourth-down call by coach Dan Campbell led to a game-winning field goal as time expired. On Sunday, the Seahawks (8-5) beat the Cardinals, 30-18, for their fourth straight win and extended their lead in the unpredictable NFC West. Sam Darnold continued his breakout season with five touchdown passes in the Vikings’ (11-2) impressive 42-21 win over the Falcons, while Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua put on a show in the Rams’ (7-6) thrilling 44-42 victory over the red-hot Bills. Even the 49ers (6-7) showed signs of life, rolling to a 38-13 win over the Bears to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

The Eagles (11-2) also won their ninth straight, though it almost felt like a loss considering how close Bryce Young and the Panthers came from pulling off the upset as rookie Xavier Legette dropped the potential go-ahead touchdown pass with seconds remaining. A “bad day” at the office still featured 124 rushing yards from Saquon Barkley and two touchdown passes from Jalen Hurts.

The Commanders (8-5), meanwhile, have one of the most exciting players in football in rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, while the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield (7-6) knocked off Philadelphia in the playoffs last year and nearly took down Detroit in the divisional round.

The Lions have been dominant at times, but they are far from perfect. No matter how well Jared Goff plays, there will always be questions about whether he’s good enough to lead his team to a championship. Mounting injuries on defense have not derailed Detroit’s 11-game winning streak yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The Lions need Alim McNeill, DJ Reader and Brian Branch at full strength to make a deep playoff run.

With the NFC West race coming down to the wire — and perhaps decided in a Week 18 game between the Seahawks and Rams — and the NFC North continuing to impress week after week, the final playoff push will be fun to watch. If the season ended today, we’d get Eagles (No. 2 seed) vs. Commanders (7), Seahawks (3) vs. Packers (6) and Buccaneers (4) vs. Vikings (5) in the wild-card round. Sign me up for that.

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