NFL Games today: Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and 49ers shake up playoff race and Super Bowl picture

The NFL games today did more than just fill a Sunday slate – they detonated the playoff race, shook up the MVP conversation, and sent a loud message about who is really in Super Bowl form. From Patrick Mahomes surgically carving up coverages to Lamar Jackson improvising his way out of chaos, the NFL Games today delivered the kind of high-wire drama that defines a season.

[Check live NFL scores & stats here]

Mahomes back in assassin mode, Chiefs send a statement

You could feel it from the opening drive: Patrick Mahomes was in one of those moods. The Chiefs offense, which has looked oddly human at times this year, snapped back into full-on juggernaut mode in one of the signature NFL games today. Kansas City shredded coverages with motion, option looks and deep crossers, turning a supposed heavyweight matchup into a showcase.

Mahomes finished with another big day through the air – over 300 passing yards with multiple touchdowns – but the box score only tells part of the story. The timing was back. The pocket presence was vintage. He stepped up against pressure, extended plays, and hit tight-window lasers on third-and-long that felt like playoff football in midseason.

Travis Kelce once again anchored the passing game, working the seams and option routes that are the heartbeat of Andy Reid's scheme. Even when the defense bracketed Kelce in the red zone, the gravity he created opened easy windows for role players on slants and choice routes. The Chiefs mixed in just enough run game to stay balanced, but this was Mahomes' show from start to finish.

Defensively, Kansas City continues to play like a real Super Bowl contender. The pass rush consistently collapsed the pocket, forcing hurried throws and off-schedule reads. A late interception – a near pick-six that flipped field position – essentially slammed the door and turned the final minutes into a coronation rather than a nail-biter.

Lamar Jackson turns chaos into art

If Mahomes was surgical, Lamar Jackson was pure improvisational jazz. In one of the must-watch NFL games today, Jackson took over in the second half and reminded everyone why his name belongs firmly in the MVP race. Down the stretch, every snap felt like a coin flip between a broken play and a highlight reel.

Jackson once again cleared 200 yards passing with efficiency while adding chunk gains on the ground that completely warped the defensive structure. Defenses tried to spy him, mix in zone blitzes, and crowd the line to take away read-option looks, but once the Ravens got into their tempo game, it was over. On a pivotal third-down scramble in the red zone, Jackson escaped what looked like a sure sack, reversed field, and dove inside the pylon – the kind of backyard-football moment that swings a season.

His connection with his receivers, especially on dig routes and deep overs, continues to grow. A perfectly timed strike between two defenders mid-fourth quarter was as big-time as it gets. The Ravens leaned into play action and RPO concepts, using Lamar's run threat to freeze linebackers and open vacated windows. When the game tightened under the two-minute warning, Jackson calmly milked the clock, staying in bounds on scrambles and forcing the opponent to burn timeouts. That's winning quarterbacking, not just flashy stats.

49ers bully ball: physical dominance travels

As electric as the quarterbacks were, the San Francisco 49ers once again reminded everybody that sheer physicality can still dictate terms in modern football. In one of the defining NFL games today, the Niners bludgeoned their opponent at the line of scrimmage, winning on both sides of the ball in classic bully-ball fashion.

Christian McCaffrey looked every bit like an MVP dark horse again, racking up over 100 scrimmage yards with a touchdown while constantly staying ahead of the chains. His vision and patience in the outside-zone game, combined with Kyle Shanahan's ruthless motion and misdirection, had defenders a step late all afternoon. Play after play, San Francisco lived in second-and-4, and from there the entire playbook was open.

Brock Purdy might not light up the highlight shows like Mahomes or Lamar, but he was ruthlessly efficient – operating from the pocket, ripping throws off play action, and hitting timing routes to Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. He took what the defense gave him, avoided the killer mistake, and kept the offense on schedule. For a team with Super Bowl ambitions, that's exactly what you want from your quarterback.

Defensively, the Niners front again dominated. Nick Bosa and the pass rush camped in the backfield, forcing early checkdowns and off-platform throws. A key sack on third-and-long in the red zone forced a field goal instead of a touchdown, a four-point swing that loomed large in the fourth quarter. It felt like playoff intensity – the kind of game where every hit echoed and every yard was earned.

Eagles grind out another close one

The Philadelphia Eagles might not always win pretty, but they keep stacking wins, and that matters when the standings tighten. In one of the grinder NFL games today, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense sputtered early before finding just enough rhythm with their trademark physical run game and Hurts' dual-threat ability.

Hurts made the kind of throws that don't always make the highlight montages but show why he is trusted in the biggest spots: back-shoulder fades on the sideline, tight-window slants on third-and-medium, and the occasional deep shot to keep the safeties honest. The "tush push" QB sneak once again showed up in the red zone and on short yardage, turning what should be 50-50 situations into near-automatic first downs and touchdowns.

What stood out most was the Eagles' resilience. After a costly turnover swung momentum, the defense answered with a red zone stand, holding to a field goal. Then Hurts orchestrated a late scoring drive that chewed clock, moved the chains methodically, and ended in points – a textbook example of closing time football. Philadelphia still has flaws, especially in the secondary, but they keep finding ways to survive in one-score games. That matters in the playoff cauldron.

Standings snapshot: who controls the playoff picture?

With the NFL games today in the books (and a Monday Night Football showdown still looming), the playoff picture on NFL.com and across the league tightened in a big way. The Chiefs and Ravens both strengthened their grip near the top of the AFC, while the 49ers and Eagles continue to jockey for NFC supremacy and the crucial No. 1 seed that everyone wants for the first-round bye.

Here is a compact look at the key division leaders and top seeds in each conference based on the latest standings from NFL.com and ESPN:

Right behind them, the wild card race is a traffic jam. Several teams sit within a game of each other, locked in a high-wire wild card hunt where every mistake in the red zone and every blown coverage can swing both a single game and an entire season.

Every result in the NFL games today fed directly into that wild card math. A single upset can turn a presumed Super Bowl contender into a team suddenly glancing nervously at the standings and tiebreaker scenarios. Coaches know it; they talk about "one week seasons" for a reason.

MVP race: Mahomes, Lamar and McCaffrey lead the charge

The MVP race after the NFL games today feels like a three-lane sprint with Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Christian McCaffrey all making strong cases.

Mahomes has the narrative and the numbers. When the Chiefs needed a definitive performance to reassert themselves as the AFC's top dog, he answered with a classic performance: more than 300 yards, multiple touchdowns, and zero panic against disguised coverages and late safety rotations. He manipulated the pocket, got to late progressions, and turned the two-minute drill into a training tape.

Lamar Jackson counters with raw electricity and impact. He continues to post strong passing efficiency while sitting near the top of all quarterbacks in rushing production, and his fingerprints were all over the Ravens' win today. Big third-down conversions, red zone wizardry, and clock-killing scrambles in the fourth quarter – that is MVP-level winning, not just fantasy football greatness.

Then there is Christian McCaffrey, who keeps putting up monster all-purpose numbers. Once again, he logged over 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in a game that never really felt in doubt for the 49ers once they seized control. His combination of patience, acceleration and route-running makes him almost impossible to handle in space. In the red zone, he is a cheat code – motioned out wide to expose linebackers in coverage one snap, then hammering inside zone the next.

The voting tends to favor quarterbacks, but if the season ended after the NFL games today, McCaffrey would absolutely belong in the inner circle of the MVP discussion alongside Mahomes and Lamar. And with the standings so tight, every primetime drive and every late-game moment from here on out will tilt the race.

Injury report: who got banged up and why it matters

The NFL injury report after today's slate will be appointment reading for every contender. Several key players limped off, went to the blue medical tent, or were ruled out – exactly the kind of developments that can tilt the Super Bowl picture even if they don't show up in the final score.

One starting offensive lineman for a playoff hopeful exited with a lower-body injury, forcing a backup into action and immediately changing the protection plan. You could see the ripple effect: more quick-game concepts, fewer long-developing shot plays, and an increased emphasis on the run to protect the edge. If that injury lingers, it will matter in pass protection against top-tier pass rushes like San Francisco or Dallas.

A skill-position weapon on another team appeared to tweak a hamstring on a deep route. Even when he tried to return, he clearly lacked his normal burst. Coaches often go conservative in those cases, knowing that one extra week of rest could be the difference between having that player in January or watching him ride the inactive list when the lights are brightest.

Defensively, a starting corner on a fringe wild card contender left with an upper-body injury after a collision on a contested catch. With how pass-happy the modern league is, losing a CB1 or CB2 in December is a nightmare scenario. It forces more zone coverage, softer cushions, and invites elite quarterbacks to hunt mismatches relentlessly. For teams hovering around the seventh seed, that is the kind of injury that can flip a season from "live underdog" to "also-ran" fast.

Official designations on NFL.com and the league's injury report will firm up over the next 24-48 hours, but every contender woke up Monday hoping to have escaped the NFL games today without losing a star for the stretch run.

Pressure cookers: quarterbacks on the hot seat

Not every quarterback walked out of the NFL games today with their stock rising. While Mahomes and Lamar strengthened their cases, a couple of starters felt the walls closing in.

One veteran starter on a would-be playoff team threw multiple interceptions, including a brutal pick in the red zone that turned at least three points into none. Another misread on a shallow cross led to a near pick-six that had the home crowd booing heading into halftime. The body language on the sideline told the story: frustrated receivers, hands on hips, and a coordinator cycling through call sheets searching for answers.

In another game, a young quarterback missed two wide-open deep shots that could have flipped the script. Instead, drives stalled near midfield and turned into punts, letting the opponent control field position and clock. The numbers might not look awful in the box score, but in the context of the playoff hunt, those misses sting. Coaches talk about "layups" – throws you cannot miss in this league – and right now, a couple of young passers are failing to hit theirs.

When the playoff picture tightens, patience evaporates. One more dud performance after the NFL games today, and we could start hearing louder noise about potential offseason moves, high draft picks, or even late-season auditions for backups in garbage-time situations.

What today's results mean for the Super Bowl race

The Super Bowl contender conversation crystalized a bit after the NFL games today. In the AFC, the Chiefs and Ravens look like the clear tier at the top, with Kansas City holding the edge in pedigree and Mahomes' postseason resume, and Baltimore flashing the kind of balanced, physical profile that travels in January.

In the NFC, the 49ers have the most complete roster in football: a top-tier pass rush, a diverse run game, multiple yards-after-catch monsters at wide receiver and tight end, and a quarterback in Brock Purdy who at minimum runs the offense at a high, efficient level. The Eagles are right there, powered by maybe the best offensive line in football and a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who is unshakable in fourth-quarter moments.

The gap between those four and the rest of the league feels real after this slate. A few other teams still absolutely deserve "puncher's chance" status – especially those with high-volatility offenses that can drop 30-plus on any given Sunday – but they will need to clean up turnovers, penalties and situational football in the red zone to truly crash the party.

Looking ahead: must-watch games next week

Next week is loaded, and it starts with another primetime showcase that will have massive implications for the playoff bracket. A marquee Sunday Night Football showdown between contenders will not only shape seeding but could also become a de facto MVP stage for one of the league's star quarterbacks.

Circle these matchups on the calendar:

First, keep an eye on any game involving the Chiefs or Ravens. If Kansas City keeps humming on offense and the defense continues to fly to the ball, the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC might tilt decisively their way. If the Ravens answer with another statement win, the AFC could come down to tiebreakers that make every divisional game feel like a playoff elimination battle.

In the NFC, any collision between the 49ers, Eagles, and the best of the rest is appointment viewing. A tough road test for San Francisco could reveal how well their bully-ball style travels in harsh conditions. For Philadelphia, another late-game thriller could be the difference between playing a championship game at home or on the road.

The wild card race also promises chaos. Several "on the bubble" teams face each other head-to-head, which is essentially a double swing: you get a win, they take a loss, and the tiebreaker math gets a whole lot friendlier. Those games often come down to situational football – third down, red zone efficiency, and mistakes on special teams.

Every fan who rode the roller coaster of the NFL games today should lock in again next week. The stakes are only going up from here.

Final whistle: what to watch for the rest of the way

The NFL games today reminded everyone why this league owns Sundays. The margins between Super Bowl contender and wild card hopeful, between MVP front-runner and "nice season," are razor-thin. Mahomes and Lamar Jackson flexed. The 49ers and Eagles leaned into their identities. A few teams saw their playoff dreams brighten; others watched the window start to close.

If you care about the playoff picture, the wild card race, and the MVP chase, you cannot afford to check out now. Every drive, every blitz, every red zone snap from here on out tilts the balance of power.

Stay locked into the NFL Games today and every week, and keep one tab open on the official league hub for real-time updates, box scores, and standings swings.

[Check live NFL scores & stats here]