Go beyond the scoreboard
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Las Vegas got a pair of defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, including a pick-six of the struggling Patrick Mahomes, and the resurgent Raiders held off the sloppy Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 on Monday to keep their slim postseason hopes alive.
Big defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returned a fumble 8 yards for a touchdown, and Jack Jones took an interception 33 yards for another score 7 seconds later, helping the Raiders (7-8) snap a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs.
Kansas City (9-6) squandered an opportunity to clinch the AFC West for the eighth consecutive year with one of their worst performances of the Mahomes era.
Along with two defensive touchdowns, Harrison Butker missed a chip-shot field goal, penalties and dropped passes were again a problem, and twice they failed to convert on fourth down in the second half.
The Rams need to beat the Giants on the road before they can worry about what kind of 49ers team they’d face in the season finale with a playoff spot on the line.
The Chiefs had a chance after Mahomes hit Justin Watson for a touchdown with 2:42 to go. But on the ensuing possession, the Raiders’ Zamir White got loose for a 43-yard gain, the first down that allowed them to run out the clock.
Mahomes finished 27-of-44 passing for 235 yards and an interception; he nearly threw a second but it was overturned upon review.
The Raiders, playing without injured running back Josh Jacobs, won despite a dismal day from their own offense.
Aidan O’Connell was nine-of-21 passing for 62 yards, never completing a pass after the first quarter, while White had 145 yards on the ground.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid had spent the last few weeks lamenting the sloppy play that kept costing the Super Bowl champions.
They couldn’t have been much sloppier on Christmas Day.
They went three-and-out on consecutive series to start a game for only the second time with Mahomes at quarterback. They were held to minus-18 yards in the first quarter, the second-worst total for the club since at least 1991. And the reigning league MVP was sacked twice in those two series, while two more offensive penalties only made matters worse.
With Giff Smith as interim coach for his first game, the Chargers gave the Bills all they could handle before Buffalo kicked a field goal in the final seconds.
The Chiefs finally pulled ahead when Isiah Pacheco took a direct snap 12 yards for a touchdown. Las Vegas gave the ball right back after a punt. Pacheco again took a direct snap but this time tried to hand off to Mahomes, who lost the exchange, and the 315-pound Raiders defensive tackle Nichols was there to scoop it up and run for the touchdown.
On the next offensive play for Kansas City, Mahomes was picked off by Jones, who returned it 33 yards for his second pick-six in consecutive weeks. The Raiders’ fourth defensive TD in the two weeks, and their second in a span of seven seconds, gave them a 17-7 lead over their longtime divisional nemesis.
Then, Jones appeared to play the Grinch when he faked giving the ball to a kid wearing Chiefs clothes in the crowd.
It was still 17-7 when Butker, one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers, missed a chip-shot field goal before halftime, and the Raiders tacked on a field goal late in the third quarter to take a 20-7 lead heading to the fourth.
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Baltimore Ravens 33, San Francisco 49ers 19
Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill runs past diving San Francisco 49ers linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles during the second half Monday.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes in a span of 18 seconds in the third quarter and Baltimore intercepted Brock Purdy four times in its win.
Jackson and the Ravens (12-3) turned a highly anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the NFL into a lopsided win with strong performances on both sides of the ball.
Kyle Hamilton and the defense set the tone early by intercepting Purdy on three of the first four drives of the game for the 49ers (11-4) before Jackson started to take over the game.
He scrambled 30 yards to set up a field goal on the final play of the first half to give the Ravens a 16-12 lead and then helped put the game away early in the third quarter.
After Baltimore forced a punt on the opening drive of the second half, Jackson capped a drive by throwing a six-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor.
Purdy then was intercepted by Patrick Queen on the next play from scrimmage. Jackson immediately turned that into another score with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers that made it 30-12.
Jackson threw for 252 yards, ran for 45 more and vaulted past Purdy to become the MVP favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. His only real mishap came when he got called for intentional grounding in the end zone after nearly tripping over the umpire, leading to a safety in the first quarter.
Purdy had his roughest game as a pro, becoming the first 49ers quarterback to throw four interceptions in a game since Colin Kaepernick in 2015, adding a few more near interception and being unable to generate the big plays that made him the league’s most efficient quarterback coming into the game.
Purdy finished 18 for 32 for 255 yards before getting replaced by Sam Darnold after getting a stinger in the fourth quarter.
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Philadelphia Eagles 33, New York Giants 25
(Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
Jalen Hurts scored on the “tush push” that gave him the NFL record for most rushing scores by a quarterback in a season, threw for a touchdown, and the Eagles kept their chance at the NFC East title alive with a win.
The Eagles (11-4) snapped a three-game losing streak that put Philly fans on edge — and led to a shakeup in defensive play-calling. The losses to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle essentially ended Philadelphia’s bid for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
But the path to a second straight division title is a clear one. The Eagles need to beat Arizona next week and defeat the Giants again in the season finale to finish atop the NFC East.
After three crushing defeats, it took a visit from the Giants to straighten out the Eagles. The Eagles are 11-0 at home against New York since 2014 and beat the Giants three times last season.
Adoree’ Jackson gave the Giants (5-10) a late spark when he returned an interception 76 yards for a score and Saquon Barkley converted a 2-point conversion that made it 20-18 late in the third quarter.
Hurts and the Eagles held on thanks to the play calls of the fans, many dressed as Santa Claus.
Fed up with the pass-heavy offense, Eagles fans chanted “Run the ball! Run the ball!” in the fourth.
Hurts threw an incomplete pass and the crowd erupted in boos. But coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson eventually listened, and fans went wild when Kenneth Gainwell ripped off a 22-yard run. D’Andre Swift scored on a five-yard run that made it 27-18.
That touchdown came in handy when New York’s Tyrod Taylor — who replaced Tommy DeVito to open the second half — connected with Darius Slayton for a 69-yard score late in the fourth that made it 30-25.
With the Giants driving and at the Eagles 26, Taylor was picked off in the end zone by Kelee Ringo on the final play of the game.
