NFL Games today: Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Eagles shake up playoff race and Super Bowl chase
17.01.2026 - 23:02:49
The latest slate of NFL games today did more than fill a Sunday schedule. It rewrote the playoff picture, jolted the MVP race and reminded everyone why Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts still define the Super Bowl conversation heading into the stretch run.
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From Arrowhead to Baltimore and Philly, NFL games today swung momentum in both conferences. The Chiefs leaned on Patrick Mahomes’ late-game magic, Lamar Jackson turned a heavyweight matchup into a statement win for the Ravens, and the Eagles survived another slugfest to stay firmly in the hunt for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Around them, contenders slipped, wild card hopefuls clawed back into the picture, and injuries reshaped the road to Vegas.
Mahomes steadies the Chiefs and reminds everyone who still runs the AFC
When the Chiefs’ offense sputters, the entire league starts asking the same question: Is the dynasty slipping? NFL games today gave a pretty blunt answer. Mahomes didn’t post a cartoonish box score, but he controlled the game, ripped off key throws in the red zone and once again owned the final two minutes.
Official game books from NFL.com and ESPN confirmed the pattern we have seen all year: Kansas City’s offense is more workmanlike than explosive, but Mahomes’ pocket presence and situational awareness remain unmatched. He pushed the ball downfield when needed, took the underneath throws versus split-safety looks, and avoided the back-breaking turnover that has haunted other AFC hopefuls.
In the locker room, the tone was clear. Teammates talked about how Mahomes “settled everybody down” after an early miscue and stressed that they “never felt out of it.” That is the day-to-day reality inside this franchise: as long as No. 15 is under center, the Chiefs believe they are one drive away from flipping any script.
In the AFC playoff picture, that matters. With another win in the books, Kansas City tightened its grip on a top seed and kept pace with the Ravens and Dolphins in the race for home-field advantage. Every first-round bye, every tiebreaker, every head-to-head result in these NFL games today is magnified, and Mahomes just banked another one.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens send a message: this is a Super Bowl roster
If you were looking for a statement from a true NFL Super Bowl contender, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens delivered it. Against a fellow AFC heavyweight, Baltimore’s offense hummed and its defense suffocated. The box score on NFL.com shows Jackson stacking efficient passing numbers with trademark designed runs and scrambles that broke the opponent’s back on third down.
It was not just the raw yards. It was when and how they came. Jackson converted key third-and-longs with darts over the middle, manipulated safeties with his eyes and froze linebackers in run-pass conflict all afternoon. In the red zone, Baltimore leaned into its power run game and option looks, turning drives into touchdowns instead of field goals.
On the other side, the Ravens’ defense looked every bit like a unit built for January. Edge rushers collapsed the pocket, the secondary drove on underneath routes and a late interception in the two-minute drill felt inevitable more than fortunate. From the press box, you could feel the air leave the building with that pick; in the postgame, one Ravens veteran called it “a playoff atmosphere in November.”
This win helped keep Baltimore in position for the AFC’s No. 1 seed, a crucial edge for a team whose physical style plays even louder in cold, hostile environments. Check any updated standings page — whether on NFL.com, CBS Sports or Yahoo Sports — and you will see the Ravens either atop or right on the shoulder of the conference’s best. In the current NFL games today landscape, Lamar has his team in the middle of both the Super Bowl race and the MVP conversation.
Eagles grind out another one and stay atop the NFC pecking order
It would not be a Sunday without the Eagles walking the tightrope. Jalen Hurts once again played through contact, both literal and metaphorical, turning a bruising matchup into another line on Philly’s contender resume. It was not always pretty, but winning in this league rarely is in November and December.
Hurts pushed the ball vertically more than in recent weeks, punishing single-high looks when defenses crept into the box to slow the run. He hit tight windows on in-breaking routes, extended plays outside the pocket and cashed in with his legs in the red zone. The "tush push" / Brotherly Shove snuck back into the script at exactly the right moment, turning a crucial fourth-and-short into a tone-setter early.
The defense bent in spots but stiffened in the red zone, forcing field goals that kept the game inside one possession but never let it tilt completely away. A key strip-sack in the fourth quarter flipped field position and had the Linc roaring like it was late January. By the time the final whistle blew, the Eagles had protected their standing near the top of the NFC, trading style points for another notch in the win column.
Inside the building, players talked openly about chasing the conference’s top seed. The arithmetic is straightforward: every win now makes the road to the Super Bowl go through Philadelphia or San Francisco instead of Detroit or Dallas. And with NFL games today tightening the standings, there is zero margin for letting one slip.
Shockwaves from upsets: contenders stumble, bubble teams breathe
Every NFL Sunday delivers at least one heartbreaker, and this week was no exception. A couple of would-be contenders walked into traps and paid the price. A heavily favored team, looking ahead on the schedule, got punched in the mouth by a desperate opponent fighting to stay in the wild card race.
The box scores on ESPN and CBS Sports told a familiar story: turnovers, red zone failures and special-teams miscues flipped what looked like a routine win into a fourth-quarter scramble. One veteran coach summed it up postgame with a shrug: “In this league, you turn it over, you go home.”
Those upsets shook the standings. In the AFC, a wild card hopeful pulled even in the loss column with one of the early-season darlings. In the NFC, a fringe playoff team suddenly sits firmly "in the hunt" on every graphic you will see this week, backed by a defense that is hitting its stride and a quarterback who is finally protecting the football.
For fans locked into NFL games today, the biggest takeaway is simple: the gap between contender and pretender is razor-thin, and one sloppy Sunday can change the whole bracket.
Playoff picture: where the league stands after this week
Scanning the latest standings across NFL.com, SI.com and Yahoo Sports, a clear hierarchy has emerged at the top of both conferences. The names are familiar, but the order has been shifting almost weekly thanks to tiebreakers and head-to-head results.
Here is a compact look at the current conference leaders and wild card landscape, based on the most recent official standings and results from the last game week:
| Conference | Seed | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 1 | Ravens | No. 1 seed, control for home-field advantage |
| AFC | 2 | Chiefs | Division leader, chasing bye |
| AFC | 3 | Dolphins | Explosive offense, battling for seeding |
| AFC | 4 | Jaguars | Division lead, inconsistent but dangerous |
| AFC | 5 | Browns | Wild Card, defense-first identity |
| AFC | 6 | Steelers | Wild Card, winning ugly |
| AFC | 7 | Texans | Wild Card, rookie QB surge |
| NFC | 1 | Eagles | No. 1 seed, battle-tested |
| NFC | 2 | 49ers | Dominant roster, elite on both sides |
| NFC | 3 | Lions | Division lead, high-powered offense |
| NFC | 4 | Buccaneers | Division leader in tight race |
| NFC | 5 | Cowboys | Wild Card, elite offense at home |
| NFC | 6 | Seahawks | Wild Card, defense improving |
| NFC | 7 | Vikings | Wild Card, surviving injuries |
Those slots will churn again after the next round of NFL games today and tomorrow, but the tiers are crystallizing. The Ravens, Chiefs and Dolphins look like the three true AFC heavyweights, while the Eagles, 49ers, Lions and Cowboys have separated themselves in the NFC.
Below them, the wild card race is a weekly coin flip. One loss can send a team from fifth seed to "on the bubble" in a hurry. That volatility is why coaches keep leaning on the oldest cliché in the book: “Every game is a playoff game from here on out.”
MVP race: Mahomes, Lamar, Hurts and a rising star
You cannot talk about NFL games today without checking the MVP thermometer. This week’s results tightened an already crowded field.
Lamar Jackson’s performance stood out again. His efficient passing line, paired with timely rushing yards and clean decision-making, has pushed him into or near the top slot on most MVP big boards. He is piloting an offense that ranks near the top of the league in efficiency while avoiding the kind of turnover spikes that usually drag quarterbacks down in this race.
Patrick Mahomes remains very much in the conversation, even if his counting stats lag behind some pass-happy peers. Voters will not ignore the tape: he is carrying an offense without a dominant wide receiver and still out-dueling opposing QBs when it matters most. If the Chiefs lock up the No. 1 seed, his narrative and resume will be impossible to ignore.
Jalen Hurts, for his part, keeps stacking wins. He may not lead every stat column, but his dual-threat impact in the red zone and on third down drives the Eagles’ entire identity. Inside that building, players talk about his toughness and poise in the huddle long before they mention passer rating or yards per attempt.
Then there is the rising star: a young quarterback who has dragged his team from the bottom of the standings into the heart of the wild card race. His box scores over the last few NFL games today have been electric — big passing yardage, multiple touchdowns, and a knack for late-game heroics. Maybe he does not win the award this year, but he has kicked down the door to future MVP discussions and turned his franchise into a serious long-term threat.
NFL injury report: how health is reshaping the Super Bowl race
The other silent storyline running through NFL games today is the injury report. Scan the latest updates on ProFootballTalk, USA TODAY and team sites, and you see how fragile this entire playoff picture is.
A couple of star wide receivers popped up as late scratches this week, forcing their teams to lean on backup options and tight ends in high-leverage spots. A Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle left his game with a lower-body injury, immediately changing the way his offense called protections and limited deep shot opportunities. On defense, several high-usage edge rushers and corners are nursing soft-tissue issues that will be monitored day-to-day.
Coaches tried to keep details vague postgame, using the usual phrases: "day-to-day," "we will see how he responds," "next man up." But privately, there is real concern in a few buildings. Losing a top pass protector or shutdown corner for multiple weeks can turn a legitimate NFL Super Bowl contender into a team just trying to survive.
Front offices are reacting accordingly. Practice squad elevations, veteran signings and creative rotations are already being discussed. With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror, roster flexibility is limited. That puts an even brighter spotlight on the training rooms and the next wave of depth players who will be thrown into playoff-caliber minutes before they have a chance to overthink it.
Coaching hot seats and locker room vibes
While the top teams are talking about seeding, a couple of struggling franchises are whispering about the future. Another flat performance this weekend nudged one veteran head coach further onto the hot seat. The box score looked ugly, but the postgame body language was worse: players shuffling off without much conversation, coaches sprinting to the locker room with their heads down.
Local reports from outlets like Fox Sports and SI.com have already started connecting dots about potential offseason changes, from head coach to coordinator to front-office structure. Losses stack quickly in this league, and once a team slips out of the NFL playoff picture, the conversation tends to shift from scheme tweaks to big-picture philosophy.
In healthier locker rooms, you can feel the contrast. Players on winning teams talk about "complimentary football" and "trusting the guy next to me." Struggling teams talk about “execution” and “doing your job,” code words that often mask deeper issues in communication and buy-in. One veteran safety on a playoff-bound squad put it plainly: “We are not perfect, but nobody’s questioning the standard. That is the difference.”
What to watch next week: must-see NFL games and storylines
The best part of the chaos from NFL games today is what it sets up for next week. The schedule is loaded with matchups that carry both seeding and narrative weight.
Chiefs vs. another AFC contender might decide tiebreakers that define the top two seeds. Ravens heading into a tough road environment could either cement their claim as conference favorites or pull the rest of the AFC back into a free-for-all. The Eagles face another physical opponent that will test Hurts’ health and Philly’s depth in the trenches.
Do not sleep on the wild card showdowns, either. A surging young quarterback will get a prime-time stage against a battle-tested defense that loves to blitz. A pair of 6–6 type teams meet in what is essentially an elimination game, where every third-and-7 feels like a season on the line.
From a pure entertainment standpoint, expect more two-minute-drill drama, aggressive fourth-down decisions and at least one controversial flag that lights up social media for 48 hours. From a big-picture lens, next week could either lock in the current hierarchy of NFL Super Bowl contenders or blow it wide open again.
Bottom line: NFL games today reshaped the road to Vegas
By the time the lights went out across stadiums this week, a few truths were clear. NFL games today confirmed that Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts still sit at the center of everything that matters in this league. Their teams control the top of the AFC and NFC, they drive the MVP race, and they set the standard for what a modern contender looks like.
Behind them, a pack of hungry teams is fighting through injuries, scheme questions and coaching pressure just to stay in the wild card race. Every snap, every red zone trip, every tipped pass on third down is amplified by the standings we all hit refresh on at NFL.com and every major outlet.
If you are circling the next must-watch window, start with the games that feature those top-tier quarterbacks and teams clinging to playoff life. The margins are thin, the stakes are brutal and the drama is real. NFL games today reminded everyone: one Sunday can change everything, and the road to the Super Bowl is only getting wilder from here.
Do not miss the next kickoff. Keep one eye on the live scoreboard, another on the playoff picture, and settle in — this stretch run has all the makings of a classic.
