NFL Week 16: The good, the bad, the ugly and the Vikings

THE GOOD

The Eagles and Bengals were both 0-2-1 after they tied in Week 3 a year ago. Both finished 4-11-1. Today, the Bengals are 9-6 and holding the AFC's third seed while the Eagles are 8-7 and holding the NFC's seventh seed. Cincinnati's Joe Burrow threw for 941 yards in a season sweep of Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Eagles' top-ranked run game has reached at least 130 yards in nine straight games.

THE BAD

The Cardinals finally clinched a playoff berth, but their three-game losing streak continues a concerning trend under third-year coach Kliff Kingsbury. In 2019, the Cardinals started 3-3-1 and finished 2-7. Last year, they started 5-2 and finished 3-6. This year, they started 7-0 and are 3-5 since.

THE UGLY

Washington coach Ron Rivera has more to deal with than a three-game, season-killing losing streak. Things got uglier than that on the sideline Sunday when Jonathan Allen threw a right cross to the jaw of teammate Daron Payne after Payne jabbed him in the side of the head with his finger.

RANKING THE VIKINGS (7-8)

THREE UP

Bengals youth: Ja'Marr Chase, 21, and Tee Higgins, 22, are the first NFL teammates under 23 to both reach 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.

'Lil' Dirty' in Buffalo: With Cole Beasley on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the 5-8, 173-pound Isaiah "Lil' Dirty" McKenzie caught 11 of 12 targets for 125 yards and a touchdown in a huge win over the Patriots. Lil' Dirty never had more than nine targets, six catches or 65 yards in a game in his career.

Blowout wins: The NFL had winning margins of 42, 26, 26, 24 and 20 points last week. Tom Brady and the Bucs won by 26, reaching 30 points for the ninth time this season despite missing Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette.

THREE DOWN

Cordarrelle Patterson: The Lions held the former Viking to 13 yards on eight touches from scrimmage, including one catch for minus-1 yards. Patterson has 579 yards and six touchdowns rushing, and 523 yards and five touchdowns receiving.

Patriots in December: Bill Belichick and the Patriots are 2-5 (.286) in December without a certain G.O.A.T. playing quarterback. From 2001-19, the Patriots were an NFL-best 67-16 (.807) in December.

STATS OF THE WEEK

4: Consecutive games without a touchdown pass for Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He hasn't had one in seven of his last eight games.

6: Consecutive AFC West Division titles for Andy Reid's Chiefs. The same number of division titles the Chiefs won in the 42 years before Reid was hired in 2013.

THREE STATS TO WATCH

128: Receiving yards needed for Atlanta's Kyle Pitts to break Mike Ditka's rookie record for receiving yards by a tight end (1,076).

3: Touchdown passes needed by the 44-year-old Brady to join Drew Brees (2011-12) as the only players to throw 40 or more in back-to-back seasons.

4: Interceptions Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs needs in the final three games to break Hall of Famer Dick "Night Train" Lane's record of 14. Lane set the mark as a Rams rookie in 1952, when the NFL had 12-game seasons.

GAME OF WEEK 17