Saquon Barkey’s dwindling MVP hopes; Jonathan Gannon helps Eagles; Steelers win again: NFL Week 14

What Jonathan Gannon didn’t do in Super Bowl LVII he did Sunday: Come through for the Eagles.

The Birds’ former defensive coordinator, who oversaw the second-half collapse against the Chiefs two years ago just before he left town as a tampered head-coach hire in Arizona (he actually stayed in town, technically, since the Super Bowl was played in Glendale, Ariz.), saw his club lose to the visiting Seahawks. That locked up a playoff berth for the Eagles.

To be fair, it was more Kyler Murray’s doing than Gannon’s. Murray threw two first-half interceptions that the Seahawks converted into touchdowns in the 30-18 win.

The Eagles didn’t just need Gannon and Murray; they needed Kirk Cousins and the Falcons to lose, too.

Done.

» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni’s flat Eagles ignored A.J. Brown and looked terrible behind Jalen Hurts in a trap-game win. The locker room seethed.

Cousins returned to Minnesota on Sunday for the first time since he left for a four-year, $180 million free-agent deal with Atlanta. One sign at U.S. Bank Stadium vowed, “Kirk, we’ll never forget you.”

A lot to unpack there. Cousins went to three Pro Bowls as a Viking and went to the playoffs twice with them. However, he went 1-2 in the playoffs. Also, in 2021, having declined to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, he missed the Vikings’ Week 17 game while in COVID quarantine. The team lost and was knocked out of the playoffs.

Anyway, Cousins added to his league lead with two more interceptions, bringing his total to a career-high 15. That was the good news for the Eagles.

The bad news for the Birds: The Vikings, behind five TD passes from Sam Darnold, Cousins’ replacement, improved to 11-2, which means, like the Eagles, they’ve got a chance at the No. 1 overall seed, too. As it stands, the Vikings hold the top wild-card slot, since they’re second in the NFC North behind the 12-1 Lions.

It would take two losses by the Lions to give either team a chance to overtake them, but there’s a chance. The Lions have injury issues; they play the Bills on Sunday; and they finish the season against the Vikings.

A week before their visit to Philly, the Steelers are hot again. Russell Wilson continued his resurrection season with the Steelers: two more TD passes for 12 scores against three picks in his seven starts. The Steelers avenged their loss in Cleveland two games earlier, as Jameis Winston threw his eighth and ninth interceptions in the last five games for the Browns.

The Steelers are one of the best run-stopping teams in the league, so it will be strength against strength Sunday evening. The Eagles have won 10 straight at home against the Steelers. They last lost to the Steelers at Franklin Field, on Oct. 24, 1965, a couple of weeks after Gatorade debuted on the sideline at a University of Florida football game.

On the day MVP hopeful Saquon Barkley passed LeSean McCoy for the Eagles’ single-season rushing record in a win over the Panthers, MVP favorite Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history to pass for three touchdowns and run for three TDs in the same game. The Bills lost at the Rams, 44-42, but Allen was incredible, and he had no turnovers. Barkley has 1,623 rushing yards in 13 games (McCoy needed 16), and he has a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105, set in 1984, but it’s been a quarterback’s award since Vikings back Adrian Peterson won it in 2012. With Allen cooking for a fifth straight season — he’s finished in the top five of MVP voting in three of the last four years — Barkley might have no real shot.

» READ MORE: Do the Eagles have a passing problem? A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith voice their frustration despite Eagles win.

When you have the best coach, Andy Reid, and the best quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and when you’ve won three Super Bowls, you’re going to have the advantage in close games. But this is getting ridiculous.

The Chiefs got their second game-winning field goal of the season from a second anonymous kicker, this time in slapstick style. Matthew Wright’s 31-yarder as time expired doinked off the left upright, kicked right, and sneaked behind the right upright for a 19-17 win over the visiting Chargers. This came two weeks after undrafted rookie Spencer Schrader kicked another 31-yarder to beat the Panthers as time expired.

It was the 10th comeback win for the 12-1 Chiefs, who sealed their ninth straight AFC West title, all under Reid. They’re tied with the Lions for the best record in the NFL but their point differential is just plus-56, which is 10th best; by comparison, the Lions are plus-183.

Nine of their wins were within seven points, five were within three points, and four were within two points, including the past two, both of which were 19-17 wins.

Last week, a botched snap cost the Raiders a chance at a game-winning field goal.

You can’t make it up.

» READ MORE: The education of Eagles rookie Cooper DeJean continued against Adam Thielen and the Panthers

The Aaron Rodgers Season of Karma continued with the Jets’ overtime loss to the Dolphins. They’re now 3-10, having fired both their coach and GM, with a declining, 41-year-old quarterback. … Doug Pederson’s Jaguars snapped a five-game losing streak and moved to 3-10. … For the contingent that contends quarterbacks should dive instead of slide, Saints quarterback Derek Carr is believed to have broken his hand while diving in a win over the Giants. … Tampa Bay, the last team to beat the Eagles, had lost four in a row but won its third straight and stands atop the NFC South at 7-6.