The Kansas City Chiefs finally won in comfortable fashion, but the victory may have come at a cost.

Patrick Mahomes injured his right ankle in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs' 21-7 win over the sloppy Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

X-rays on the ankle were negative and after the game, the three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback said he would've tried to re-enter if the score was closer.

He will undergo further tests on Monday, and the injury is considered week-to-week, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

 

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes considered week to week with right ankle injury. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/S5eXEki2B4

— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2024

Mahomes finished 19 of 38 for 159 yards with two touchdowns as the AFC-best Chiefs (13-1) won a game by more than one score for the first time since defeating the San Francisco 49ers 28-18 in Week 7 on October 20.

Kansas City was led by its defence, which held Cleveland (3-11) to 266 total yards and forced six turnovers - the most takeaways by the Chiefs in a game since they recorded eight in a 24-3 win over the New York Jets in 2016.

 

Allen has four TDs as Bills beat Lions in potential Super Bowl preview

Josh Allen bolstered his case to win the league MVP, totalling four touchdowns in the Buffalo Bills' 48-42 win over the Detroit Lions in a matchup between two of the favourites to reach this season's Super Bowl.

Allen ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter, passed for two TDs in the second half and threw for a season-high 362 yards in leading the AFC East-champion Bills (11-3) to their eighth win in nine games.

Buffalo reached 40 points for the second week in a row and extended a franchise record with its eighth straight game tallying at least 30 points - the first team to achieve that feat since the 2013 Denver Broncos.

 

The @BuffaloBills' 8th straight game with 30+ points ties the most in a single season in NFL history pic.twitter.com/Cx6BLNrgZ8

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 16, 2024

The NFC North-leading Lions (12-2) saw their franchise-record 11-game winning streak come to an end despite Jared Goff matching his career high with five touchdown passes.

Goff threw for a season-best 494 yards - his most since 2019 - with Amon-Ra St. Brown hauling in a career-best 193 receiving yards.

The Lions, though, struggled to get the ground game going with Jahmyr Gibbs rushing for 31 yards and David Montgomery running for only four yards on five carries.

 

Eagles beat Steelers for franchise-record 10th straight win

The Philadelphia Eagles overcame a sluggish start to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-13 to extend their franchise-best winning streak to 10 games.

Jalen Hurts, who is playing with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand, threw touchdown passes to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and also had a short TD run on a tush push as Philadelphia (12-2) prevailed after losing two fumbles in less than a minute in the first quarter.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it @JalenHurts | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/X3bVg3fWwm

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2024

The NFC East-leading Eagles also triumphed despite an injury scare to NFL leading rusher Saquon Barkley.

Barkley missed most of the second quarter after enduring a low hit from Pittsburgh's Minkah Fitzpatrick. Barkley finished with just 65 yards on 19 attempts, but still leads the league with 1,688 rushing yards.

The Steelers also sustained a significant injury with T.J. Watt hurting his left ankle. His status for next week's huge matchup against the division rival Baltimore Ravens is uncertain.

Pittsburgh (10-4) failed to clinch the AFC North, but did secure a playoff spot thanks to losses by the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts.

 

Jackson throws five touchdowns as Ravens trounce Giants

Lamar Jackson had a fantastic performance with more touchdown passes than incomplete passes in the Baltimore Ravens' 35-14 win over the New York Giants.

The two-time league MVP tied a career-high with five touchdown passes, completing 21 of 25 passes for 290 yards for a 154.6 passer rating - his third game this season with a QB rating of at least 150.

Lamar Jackson today vs. Giants:

PASS TD = 5
INCOMPLETIONS = 4 pic.twitter.com/Dc9hk9SrzI

— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 15, 2024

Rashod Bateman was on the receiving end of scoring passes of 49 and 20 yards, Devontez Walker had a 21-yard touchdown reception, running back Justice Hill caught a 27-yard pass to cap a 97-yard TD drive and tight end Mark Andrews opened the scoring for the Ravens (9-5) with a 13-yard touchdown grab. 

Andrews' TD was the 48th of his career, breaking a tie with running back Jamal Lewis to establish a franchise record for touchdown receptions.

The Giants (2-12) only had touchdowns from Devin Singletary and Malik Nabers en route to suffering a franchise record-tying ninth straight loss.

Making matters even worse, New York lost Tommy DeVito to a concussion, leading to Tim Boyle entering the game - the fourth quarterback used by the woeful Giants this season.

 

Love leads Packers to win in Seattle

Jordan Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Romeo Doubs and Josh Jacobs ran for a score as the Green Bay Packers pulled out an impressive 30-13 road win over the Seattle Seahawks, who lost Geno Smith to a knee injury.

Love threw for 229 yards and Jacobs had 136 yards of offence in helping the Packers (10-4) reach the 10-win mark for the first time since going 13-4 in 2021.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE CATCH!#ProBowlVote + #RomeoDoubs pic.twitter.com/P8Zu0eEgoD

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 16, 2024

Green Bay's defence bounced back from last week's 34-31 loss to the Lions by holding the Seahawks to 208 total yards of offence while forcing two turnovers.

The Seahawks (8-6) lost for the first time in five games and in the process fell into a first-place tie atop the NFC West with the Los Angeles Rams.

Winning the division could prove difficult if Smith's injury ends up being serious.

Backup quarterback Sam Howell was just 5 of 14 passing for 24 yards with an interception and was sacked four times.

 

Texans beat Dolphins, clinch AFC South

The Houston Texans' defence led the way in their win over the Miami Dolphins, forcing four turnovers in a 20-12 victory.

Hours after the win, the Texans (9-5) secured a second consecutive AFC South title with the Indianapolis Colts losing to the Denver Broncos 31-13.

BACK-TO-BACK DIVISION CHAMPS pic.twitter.com/5aS12CoyQk

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) December 16, 2024

Houston cornerback Derek Stingley accounted for two of Houston's takeaways, intercepting Tua Tagovailoa twice.

Tagovailoa was responsible for all the giveaways for Miami (6-8), fumbling once and throwing three interceptions.

Tagovailoa's counterpart, C.J. Stroud, threw two touchdowns - both six-yarders to Nico Collins. Stroud, though, finished with just 131 yards and Joe Mixon was limited to only 23 yards on 12 carries.

The game was halted for several minutes in the third quarter due to a scary scene in which Dolphins receiver Grant DuBose took a helmet-to-helmet hit and needed to be taken off the field on a stretcher. The team said he is in stable condition.