Week 14 in the NFL

Examining some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the 14th week of the season.

•   The Falcons showed me something Sunday. When the Panthers took a 23-7 halftime lead, and Cam Newton was making regular highlight appearances on the NFL Sunday Ticket RedZone Channel, I thought they were cooked. They were in big-time danger of losing to a four-win team one week after falling to a Houston team headed by a third-string rookie quarterback (T.J. Yates). Instead the Falcons shut out Newton and the explosive, if still developing, Carolina offense and won 31-23. Matt Ryan, who's been frequently criticized for his lack of production in an offense that includes Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez, threw for a total of 320 yards and 4 touchdowns. Assuming the Falcons hold off the Bears in the wild-card race, I wouldn't rule them out of winning a playoff game or two.

•   Speaking of Yates and the Texans, they won again, stunning the on-life-support Bengals 20-19 in a finish that was every bit as exciting (and playoff-race relevant) as Bears/Broncos and Cowboys/Giants even though it got only a fraction of the publicity. I've used this space fairly extensively in the past to question how Texans coach Gary Kubiak remained employed despite leading some talented teams to nothing in six seasons. This year, with much of that talent injured, Kubiak's got the Texans in the playoffs for the first time. I'll give him credit, but a big assist has to go to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. He's got Houston playing the kind of defense that allowed it to win Sunday despite Arian Foster being held to 41 rushing yards.

•  Cincinnati may be fading fast, but the Bills have already clinched Biggest AFC Collapse of 2011 honors in a landslide. The same Chargers team that recently lost six straight pounded Buffalo 37-10 Sunday, and the same Phillip Rivers who has been among the league's biggest disappointments looked like his old brilliant self. Remember when the Bills were 3-0, then 4-1 and 5-2? They've since had their own six-game losing streak and will miss the playoffs for a 12th straight year. I know they lost Fred Jackson. That's not a good enough excuse for this. Instead of being one of the league's up-and-comers, the Bills look like they were total mirages.