NFL scores and more, Week 16: What happened Saturday

The NFL gave us an early Christmas present, a dozen games on Saturday, Dec. 24. Unfortunately, the league picked these games up in the last chance bin at TJ Maxx, the bin with the old iPhone cords and Johnny Manziel jerseys.

Saturday’s game also came with a stocking full of disappointment thanks to a pair of significant injuries to the best two young quarterbacks in the AFC. Marcus Mariota of the Titans suffered a broken fibula in a matinee loss to the Jaguars. Derek Carr broke his fibula in a late afternoon win over the Colts.

Houston’s win on Saturday night eliminated the Titans from the playoffs.

The Raiders pretty much have the second seed in the AFC sewn up at 12-3. There are still some quirks to come with the Chiefs playing the Broncos on Sunday night and the Broncos hosting the Raiders next week.

Oakland had the ingredients to be one of the more exciting teams in the playoffs this year. They still can be, but Carr was a big part of their magic formula this year.

A Super Bowl contender has to be a lot of things, but the most important requirement is being healthy. The playoff chase got a little less exciting without Carr and Mariota.

The closest game during the 1:00 p.m slate just so happened to be the Dolphins’ 34-31 overtime win. Give the Dolphins credit, this was that resilient bunch we wrote about last week. It used to be a cinch that they’d collapse in the face of adversity, but it’s been the opposite under Adam Gase.

These Dolphins weren’t in the mood to take any crap from a kicker either.

For the Bills, for head coach Rex Ryan, this game should pretty well mark the end of his coaching tenure, even with one more left to play. After promising that his defense would be ready for the Dolphins running game, the Bills let Jay Ajayi run for 206 yards and a touchdown, the score came on a play where they should’ve tackled him for a 5-yard loss.

No one incident summed up Ryan’s tenure as a head coach more than this half-assed attempt to ice Miami’s kicker.

The defense that was supposed to be ready missed a dozen tackles. The only reason the game went to overtime was because Tyrod Taylor and the offense bailed them out in the second half. The whole thing underscored the rumors that the Bills want to make offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn their next head coach after firing Ryan.

Speaking of teams with no clue, the Vikings defense went off script for the first half of the game, scraping Mike Zimmer’s game plan for whatever it was they did. Surprise! It did not work.

Aaron Rodgers had 268 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He could have thrown as many as he needed to throw. But he only needed four all together because the Vikings played one of their most pathetic games of the year.

Oh, and Rodgers has the best case of anyone for MVP right now.

The Packers have now won five in a row since Rodgers promised that they’re “run the table” after losing to Washington in Week 11. Since that time, Rodgers has completed 115 of his 161 pass attempts along with 1,367 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.

The best game of the day might have been the Browns’ 20-17 win over the Chargers. They’re saved from infamy!

Oddly enough the win might just drop them to the second pick in the draft. It doesn’t matter, they have oodles of picks to work with anyway.

More importantly, they’re rebuilding effort has even more credibility now. This is a team that could have very easily quit on the season before it ended, like the Jets did this week. But Hue Jackson has his roster, a group without a lot of talent, playing their asses off.

The win was even sweeter for the Browns when the 49ers beat the Rams in the late afternoon set to give the No. 1 pick back to Cleveland.

Speaking of teams that had life, the Jaguars looked like an entirely different bunch with Doug Marrone on the sideline in place of Gus Bradley.

The defense held Marcus Mariota to a paltry eight-for-20 with 99 yards and a touchdown, before Mariota left with a broken leg. Mike Mularkey’s exotic smashmouth rushing attack couldn’t muster more than 2.9 yards per attempt on 20 carries.

Nobody for the Jags flipped the script more than Blake Bortles. After playing terrible all season long, Bortles finished 26-for-28 with 325 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. None. He even CAUGHT a touchdown pass.

Maybe Marrone should get an interview for the Jags’ job. He’d certainly be better than Tom Coughlin.

I’m just not sure the sadness that was the New York Jets is worth spending too much time on here. It was hard to watch that game and see anything positive for them. Teammate Sheldon Richardson and Brandon Marshall exchanged unpleasantries after the game, which tells you all you need to know about the state of the Jets.

Todd Bowles probably should’ve stayed in the hospital.

Belichick, on the other hand, was in fine form. Leading the 20-0, the Patriots were perfectly content to kneel out the end of the first half and head to the locker room. But the Jets called a time out to stall. That made the Patriots mad, so they scored a touchdown for a 27-0 lead at the half.

Even the refs were laughing at the Jets.

The Cardinals-Seahawks really shouldn’t be a thing this year with the Cardinals out of contention for most of the season. But it is. Both times these two teams have squared off this season it’s come right down to the wire in a great game.

They tied last time, and it looked like this one might go to overtime when the Seahawks scored a dramatic last-minute touchdown then missed the extra point to tie the game at 31-31.

Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson’s reaction to the missed kick was perfect too.

Seattle has the division wrapped up, but a second seed and first-round bye is slowly slipping away behind a terrible offensive line. Wilson got hammered again this week because of his line.

It’s going to be a problem for them in the postseason too. Just ask Bruce Arians.

Thursday

Philadelphia Eagles 24, New York Giants 19

Saturday

New England Patriots 41, New York Jets 3

Washington 41, Chicago Bears 21

Jacksonville Jaguars 38, Tennessee Titans 17

Green Bay Packers 38, Minnesota Vikings 25

Cleveland Browns 20, San Diego Chargers 17

Atlanta Falcons 33, Carolina Panthers 16

Miami Dolphins 34, Buffalo Bills 31 (OT)

Oakland Raiders 33, Indianapolis Colts 25

San Francisco 49ers 22, Los Angeles Rams 21

New Orleans Saints 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24

Arizona Cardinals 34, Seattle Seahawks 31

Houston Texans 12, Cincinnati Bengals 10

Sunday

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, 4:25 p.m., NFL Network

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:30 p.m., NBC

Monday

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Undrafted tight end Joshua Perkins made a miraculous TD catch while getting sandwiched by two Carolina defenders.

Jay Ajayi showed off his strength on an impressive touchdown run.

Nobody could stop Kenyan Drake, even after he ran backwards in a loop to cut upfield.

Here’s one of the worst snaps you’ve ever seen, courtesy of the Vikings.

Minnesota wideout Adam Thielen ran circles around the Green Bay secondary in the first half.

Tom Brady threw a touchdown to his new tight end target Matt Lengel.

The Jets wouldn’t let the Patriots run out the clock in the first half, so New England went and scored a touchdown instead.

Even the referees were laughing at the Jets’ struggles on Saturday afternoon.

The Bills were robbed of a touchdown when Miami’s Spencer Paysinger got away with a defensive pass interference.

A trick play gave Blake Bortles his first career NFL touchdown reception.

The Bills and Dolphins weren’t in the holiday spirit during a sideline fight in Buffalo.

The Browns avoided 0-16 because the Chargers rushed and missed a last-second, game-tying field goal attempt.

Rex Ryan made a weak attempt to ice the Dolphins kicker. The Bills lost in OT and extended their playoff drought to 17 straight seasons.

Russell Wilson never stood a chance when the Seahawks OL let a Cardinals defender go untouched for a sack.

The Rams have something to celebrate: Punter Johnny Hekker broke an NFL record with his 47th punt inside the 20.

Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers went for the two-point conversion — and got it — to beat the Rams.

Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll couldn’t believe that the Seahawks missed yet another kick against the Cardinals.

No one was more excited about Jadeveon Clowney’s sack than J.J. Watt.

The Bengals blocked an extra point late in the game, but then Randy Bullock (former Texans kicker) missed a field goal that would’ve given Cincinnati the win.

Jets quarterback Bryce Petty suffered a left shoulder injury while tackling a Patriots defender after a fumble. He did not return to the game.

The Packers had a scare when Aaron Rodgers stayed down following a sack, but he soon returned to the game.

Marcus Mariota had to be carted off the field during Titans-Jaguars after breaking his leg.

Robert Griffin III left the Browns’ game against San Diego after taking a big hit in order to be evaluated for a possible head injury.

Thomas Rawls missed the second half against the Cardinals due to a shoulder injury.

Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett suffered a gruesome leg injury and is done for the year.

Derek Carr had to be helped off the field. He was later diagnosed with a broken fibula and is out indefinitely.

Carlos Hyde was ruled out in the fourth quarter against the Rams with a knee injury.