Top 10 takeaways from Sunday’s Week 14 NFL action

About that two-game New England Patriots losing streak. Well, that came to an end in a big way Sunday night against the Houston Texans.

Speaking of the Texans, they are now just one game up on the Jacksonville Jaguars and tied with the Indianapolis Colts for first in the AFC South.

Over in the NFC, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks put up another dominating performance. Their 35-6 win over the Baltimore Ravens represents the defending NFC champs fourth consecutive victory.

Staying out west, the San Francisco 49ers absolutely embarrassed themselves against what was the worst team in the NFL heading into Sunday’s action.

With this, there will certainly be questions regarding Jim Tomsula’s job status moving forward.

These are among the top-10 takeaways from Sunday’s Week 14 NFL action.

Cincinnati Bengals season changes on a dime

Depending on the severity of Andy Dalton’s thumb injury, any hope the Bengals had of earning their first trip to the Super Bowl in a quarter century might have just been thrown completely out the window.

At the very least, Dalton is slated to miss next week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. Though, there are rumors around the Bengals that the franchise quarterback may be out for the remainder of the season.

We do know that it’s a fractured thumb on his throwing hand — something that is usually a long-term injury.

If Dalton is forced to miss the rest of the year, postseason included, the Bengals are as good as done.

AJ McCarron came in on Sunday and promptly threw a pick-six in Cincinnati’s 13-point loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. No matter his success in college, there is no reason to believe the Alabama product can win a game in January, let alone lead a team to a postseason run.

Unfortunately, these types of injuries have derailed multiple teams this season. From Andrew Luck in Indianapolis to Tony Romo in Dallas, franchise quarterbacks going down have sent potential Super Bowl contenders into a surprise meeting with mediocrity. It could be much of the same in Cincinnati.

Oakland Raiders stun the Broncos in Denver

Denver put up 224 yards compared to -11 for Oakland in the first half. It also tallied 17 first downs compared to one while holding the ball for over 23 minutes.

Many figured the game was completely over at that point. Those people (this one scribe included) would prove to be wrong.

Despite the huge statistical disparity at the half, Denver held a 12-0 lead on four Brandon McManus field goals. It wouldn’t score another point in what ended up being a disheartening 15-12 home loss.

Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack got to Brock Osweiler for a franchise record five sacks. Meanwhile, a crucial drop by Vernon Davis on fourth down late in the final quarter pretty much put the game away.

All said, Oakland put up just 126 yards and eight first downs. On the other side, Denver tallied over 300 yards with 20 first downs.

It was all about the turnover differential — plus-two in Oakland’s favor — as well as crucial lapses in the waning moments for the Broncos.

By virtue of this win, Jack Del Rio’s squad put up that signature performance it has been looking for all season. It wasn’t pretty. But any time you can go into Denver and win in December, you are doing something right.

At 6-7 on the year, Oakland is still two games out of the final wild card spot. With the playoffs unlikely, it’s still nice to see some progression from a Raiders team that’s been downtrodden for far too long.

As it relates to the Broncos, this loss hurts. By virtue of Cincinnati’s loss to Pittsburgh, Denver had a chance to come closer to locking up a first-round bye.

Instead, it is now the third seed in the AFC and would have to host a wild card game if the season ended today. That’s a less-than-ideal scenario for Gary Kubiak and Co.

The NFL product is at a near all-time low

It’s been a really bad product this season. Even some of the top teams around the NFL have put up dud performances throughout the year.

Whether it is the uptick of injuries to some of the sport’s top players or something else, we are in the midst of a downturn when it comes to the quality of play on the field itself.

From the Seattle Seahawks putting up multiple dud performances earlier in the year to the New England Patriots recent two-game losing streak, the two teams coming off a Super Bowl appearance have had their rough patches.

More than this, some of the worst teams in the NFL have continually put up eye sores of performances — the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons being the most-recent examples on Sunday.

Heading into Week 15, all but 10 teams around the NFL find themselves with a somewhat realistic shot at the playoffs.

While this parity can be good for late-season drama, it also tells us a story of a league that’s been mired in mediocrity this season. That’s not good for anyone involved.

Jacksonville Jaguars very much alive after blowout win over Indianapolis

The Jaguars might be 5-8 on the season. They might have also taken advantage of a hapless Colts team that was without Andrew Luck. We might not be taking this team too seriously.

None of that really matters.

Jacksonville is now just one game out of first place in the AFC South heading into Week 15. This was made possible by its 51-16 win over Indianapolis and the Houston Texans loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

With Indianapolis leading 13-9 at the half, it looked like the Jaguars were going to be victimized by yet another close loss. After all, this is a team that had lost its past two games by a combined nine points.

Instead, the Jaguars laid the smack down on what is quickly becoming a really bad Colts squad. Jacksonville put up six second half touchdowns, including four total touchdowns from Blake Bortles.

We really have no idea how the AFC South race is going to play out. What we do know is that the trajectory is squarely pointing upwards for a Jaguars team that has been downtrodden for so long.

Whether that equates to a division title is a completely different question.

Russell Wilson continues to dominate

After putting up five touchdowns in a 35-6 blowout win over the hapless Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Wilson has now thrown 16 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions in his past four games.

During that span, the Super Bowl winning signal caller is completing 75 percent of his passes with a 145.9 quarterback rating. It’s not a coincidence that Seattle is undefeated while averaging 35.3 points per game during that span.

Now at 8-5 on the season, Seattle finds itself as the fifth seed in the NFC. This means that it would be playing the winner of the NFC East if the season ended today.

Regardless of any home-field advantage said team might have, Seattle is simply playing at a much higher level. With Wilson upping his level of play, there is no limit to what Pete Carroll and Co. might be able to do in January.

In fact, a third consecutive NFC title isn’t completely out of the question here. That’s a dramatic turnabout from just a month ago when Seattle found itself at under .500 on the season.

Some clarity regarding NFC East race

Clarity being that the Dallas Cowboys are pretty much out of it right now. Following a 21-point loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys now find themselves two games out in the division.

Meanwhile, the Washington Redskins found a way to win their first road game of the season against the Chicago Bears. They are now 6-7 on the season and tied with the suddenly surging Philadelphia Eagles for first place.

It wasn’t a great overall performance from Washington. After jumping out to a 14-0 first half lead, Washington allowed a bad Bears team to gain some confidence heading into the half, yielding a five-play, 58-yard drive that culminated in an Alshon Jeffery touchdown.

Chicago would go on to nod the game up at 21 after three before a lone Dustin Hopkins field goal represented the scoring in the final stanza. Style points won’t be rewarded here, but that’s not what Jay Gruden and Co. are looking for.

Instead, Washington finds itself tied atop the NFC East with an Eagles squad that went into Buffalo and handed the Bills a horrible loss on Sunday.

It was a game that saw Philadelphia also let the opposing team back in it after putting up a two-score lead early in the third quarter.

As with the Redskins, Philadelphia would go on to win by three after holding the Bills scoreless in the final stanza.

Pending the outcome of the New York Giants game Monday night, we could be looking at a three-way tie ahead the NFC East heading into Week 15.

What we do know is that Dallas is pretty much completely out of it. Putting up another dud of a performance, Matt Cassel completed 13-of-29 passes for 114 yards with zero touchdowns an interception.

Unable to prop up its offense the entire game, the Cowboys defense finally yielded to the pressure put forth by the Green Bay Packers run game, giving up two unanswered fourth quarter touchdowns runs en route to a 28-7 loss.

Now comes the realization that the Cowboys season — mired in injuries and drama — is all but over.

For the other three teams, we can look forward to a drama-filled and equally mediocre final three weeks of the season.

A new high for the New York Jets

Yet another stellar performance from Ryan Fitzpatrick helped the Jets dispose of an over-matched Tennessee Titans team early on Sunday. Taking a 27-0 lead into the half, New York barely broke out into a sweat in the second half.

Fitzpatrick completed 21-of-36 passes for 263 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions in the 30-8 victory. It was the Jets third consecutive win — a span that has seen the veteran put up nine touchdowns compared to zero interceptions.

Brandon Marshall also added yet another tremendous performance in his first season in New Jersey. By collecting 125 yards and a touchdown on six receptions, Marshall tallied his third consecutive 100-yard game and his eighth of the season.

Showing that the domination wasn’t one dimensional, Chris Ivory led a ground attack that went for 183 yards by putting up his first 100-yard game since back in Week 6.

Now at 8-5 on the season, the Jets remain in control of their destiny in the AFC wild card race. If they win out, they are in. That might prove to be difficult with New England on the schedule in Week 16, but there’s little reason to doubt this team.

Two first-year head coaches with disastrous losses

It seems a bit reactionary to call for a first-year head coach to be fired before he has even finished his first season.

With that said, the embarrassment of a performance that the San Francisco 49ers put up on Sunday will likely lead to speculation that Jim Tomsula could be one and done.

In Carolina, the Atlanta Falcons lost their seventh game in eight tries after starting the season 5-0.

The 38-0 loss represented Atlanta’s first shutout defeat since December of 2004 when a then young Michael Vick put up a horrendous performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While Dan Quinn has to be given the benefit of the doubt following a surprising start to the season, Sunday’s performance was absolutely dreadful.

As it relates to Tomsula and the 49ers, it’s a complete dumpster fire. Not only did San Francisco lose by 14 points against a two-win Cleveland Browns team, the score isn’t representative of just how much the 49ers were dominated.

Led by the ultra enigmatic Johnny Manziel, Cleveland put up 481 total yards and a season-high 28 first downs. Meanwhile, San Francisco tallied 127 total yards prior to a meaningless 96-yard touchdown scoring drive in the last minutes.

For the 49ers, it was the seventh time this season that they failed to record more than 13 points.

Unable to make any real adjustments, San Francisco’s coaching staff was to blame for this disaster of a performance. That’s magnified by the fact that Blaine Gabbert was sacked a total of nine times on the day.

More than that, the team appeared to quit about midway through the third quarter. This is a representation of a staff that might have lost its players.

Tomsula appears to be in over his head — something a few skeptics concluded even before he coached a game. It’s now all about whether the front office, CEO Jed York included, can admit it made a mistake with the hiring when all is said and done in less than a month.

If so, Tomsula could very well be one and done as the team’s head coach.

Carolina Panthers may in fact go undefeated

By virtue of a dominating 38-0 win over the hapless Falcons, the Panthers are three wins away from just the second undefeated 16-game season in the history of the NFL.

This game was over from the get go.

Jonathan Stewart scored from one-yard out less than four minutes into the game. That was followed up by a 74-yard touchdown strike from Cam Newton to Ted Ginn to give the Panthers an insurmountable 14-0 lead.

Carolina would go on to rack up 24 more unanswered points in what would be a blowout win over the fledgling Falcons.

This game didn’t come without its scares. Both Jonathan Stewart and Greg Olson were forced from the action with knee injuries. Fortunately, neither injury appears to be too serious.

That’s pretty much the only thing that can derail a perfect season for the Panthers. With games coming up against the New York Giants, Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out the season, Carolina should cruise to a 16-0 record.

Its demolition of Atlanta on Sunday did absolutely nothing to suggest otherwise.

Football gods again work to the Patriots advantage

The New England Patriots are too good to have this type of luck. They headed into Sunday night’s game with a chance to retake the top overall position in the AFC standings.

That was made possible by the Bengals losing to Pittsburgh and the aforementioned Broncos loss to Oakland. With Andy Dalton likely lost for the remainder of the regular season, Cincinnati becomes irrelevant when it comes to the battle for a first-round bye.

Now one game ahead of Denver for the top spot, New England has a clear shot to earn home-field advantage in the playoffs. Its final three games include a home outing against Tennessee next week followed by two road dates against the Jets and Dolphins.

More than that, New England got Rob Gronkowski back after a one-game absence on Sunday night. He proceeded to catch four passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Now that Julian Edelman was seen practicing this past week, he might also be rejoining the mix at some point soon.

With (almost) all hands on deck, the Patriots have a real shot to repeat as AFC champions. Their own injury issues aside, the football gods really smiled on Tom Brady and Co. on Sunday.

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