NFL Winners and Losers: Geno Smith saves Seahawks, maybe his job, with clutch drive

Geno Smith might have needed Sunday's clutch drive. The Seattle Seahawks surely did.

The Seahawks struggled on offense for most of their game against the Tennessee Titans. Smith, who was put right back in the starting lineup as he was healthy from a groin injury despite Drew Lock having just led Seattle to a dramatic win over the Eagles last week, had a tough time getting the offense going.

The Titans took a lead with 3:21 left and the Seahawks' season was in a dangerous place. Head coach Pete Carroll was about to be in for a week's worth a questions over why he started Smith. Smith was going to hear about how Sunday was the continuation of a poor encore to his incredible 2022 breakout season.

More importantly, the Seahawks seemed on the verge of dipping back under .500 and likely seeing their playoff hopes disappear.

Smith didn't write back this time, either. He put together a huge game-winning drive, throwing a touchdown in the final minute, to lead the Seahawks to a 20-17 win over the Titans. The Seahawks are back to 8-7 and could still make the playoffs.

It also gave Smith a reprieve.

At halftime, against a poor Titans pass defense, with one of the best sets of receiver talent in the NFL to throw to, Smith had 69 yards on 10-of-16 passing. That's four yards per attempt. The Seahawks trailed 10-3 at the half, fighting for their playoff lives against a 5-9 Titans team that had to turn back to Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. Seattle has DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba at receiver, and also Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet at running back, and there was no pop at all on offense in a must-win game.

It was disappointing, like most of of Smith's season. Last season he was a revelation as the Seahawks moved on from Russell Wilson. Smith led the NFL with a 69.8 completion percentage, and had 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns. He signed a three-year, $75 million deal to stick with Seattle. Then he didn't replicate that success this season. Lock started to look like a viable option, especially during a great 92-yard drive to beat Philadelphia last Monday night.

"I feel like Drew did a great job last week and we had a chance to match it this week," Smith told reporters postgame.

There seemed to be a question if the Seahawks would move on just one season into Smith's deal. (Long story short, it wouldn't be oppressive from a salary-cap aspect if Seattle moved on in the offseason.)

Those conversations can rest for at least a week. Smith led a 14-play, 75-yard drive when the Seahawks needed it most. The Seahawks faced a couple of critical situations during the drive and Smith made the necessary plays to keep the drive alive. A huge pass interference call set up the Seahawks inside the 10-yard line with 1:09 to play. A second-and-goal run lost 3 yards, putting the Seahawks in another tough spot. But Smith hit Colby Parkinson for a go-ahead touchdown pass with 57 seconds left, delivering it after Parkinson had used his body to box out the defender in the end zone.

This season hasn't looked the same for Smith, and there was a legitimate question over whether the Seahawks should stick with Lock for at least another week. If there's another trip to the playoffs for the Seahawks, few will remember the struggles that came before it. Smith helped Seattle take a big step toward that in the final minutes Sunday.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 16 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Baker Mayfield’s contract numbers: With each week, Mayfield’s price to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should rise.

Mayfield signed a cheap one-year deal to be the Bucs’ starting quarterback this season and it has paid off for both sides. The Buccaneers continued to look like the future NFC South champion in dismantling the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-12.

Mayfield stated hot in the win. He had 283 yards, two touchdowns and a 116.7 passer rating. NFL Media reported that Mayfield and the Buccaneers are mutually interested in having Mayfield back as the team’s starter next season, and that’s no surprise. It’s just a matter of how much Mayfield’s contract will be worth, and that number continues to rise.

Division champion Detroit Lions: For the first time, the Lions have won the NFC North.

The last time the Lions won a division title, it was 1993 and their division was the NFC Central. The 30 years between division titles was the third-longest streak in NFL history, according to Fox. But that's over now.

The Lions got an interception in the final minute and hung on to beat the Minnesota Vikings 30-24. There will be a home playoff game at Ford Field for the first time. The stadium opened in 2002.

Vikings QB Nick Mullens threw for 411 yards but also had four interceptions. Give the Lions' defense credit for taking advantage of his mistakes. That was the key to the Lions hitting a goal they hadn't reached in three decades.

Joe Flacco, Amari Cooper and the surging Cleveland Browns: The Houston Texans were 8-6 before Sunday and are in the playoff race. The Browns made them look like they're in the running for the No. 1 pick in next year's draft.

When the Browns took a 36-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, they held a 406-105 advantage in yards. Houston's only score had come from a kickoff return. Cleveland cruised to an easy 36-22 win and is looking more and more like a team that could make a surprising run through the AFC playoffs.

The defense has been great since Week 1, and the offense continues to overcome the season-ending injuries to Nick Chubb and Deshaun Watson. Joe Flacco's feel-good story continued with another big game on Sunday. He had 368 yards and three touchdowns. His plan Sunday was to throw it to Amari Cooper as often as possible, and that looked smart. Cooper had a massive game, with a new Browns record 265 receiving yards, making the Browns' low-cost trade for him in 2022 look better and better.

The Browns are playing as well as just about anyone, and their fans will happily remind you they're the only team to beat the 49ers and Ravens this season. It's a team nobody will want to see in the playoffs.

The Green Bay Packers, though it was close: The Packers should be better than having to survive an upset bid by the Carolina Panthers, but a winning streak a few weeks ago was a bit of a mirage. The Packers are far from great. But they're still in the playoff mix.

The Packers beat the Panthers 33-30 to improve to 7-8. The Panthers tied it late, Jordan Love responded with a huge drive that included a 36-yard pass to Romeo Doubs and another 20-yarder to Tucker Kraft, which set up a go-ahead field goal. The Panthers completed a long pass downfield in the final seconds but time ran out before they could spike it. Green Bay held on.

The Packers might need to win out to make the playoffs but they needed to start that process by beating Carolina. Love threw for a couple touchdowns and ran for one. Aaron Jones rushed for 127 yards and looked healthy for the first time in many weeks. It wasn't dominant but it was enough.

LOSERS

Dallas Cowboys defense: Dak Prescott did his job. He led the Cowboys on a long drive, capped with a touchdown to Brandin Cooks, to give the team a 20-19 lead. That put it on the Dallas defense to get a stop.

The Cowboys couldn't do it. Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins drove all the way downfield, picking up key third-down conversions, setting up a Jason Sanders field goal as time expired for the 22-20 win. That clinched a playoff spot for the Dolphins and kept them ahead of the Buffalo Bills in a tightening AFC East race.

The Cowboys are 10-5 and played much better on the road than they had for most of the season. Prescott came through with some huge plays. The Cowboys shouldn't feel like losing on the final play to a good Dolphins team is a step back. But a win would have been nice. The defense couldn't get the key play it needed on the final drive. They'll need to get that right, because it's very likely they end up in a similar situation, on the road, in the playoffs.

Father Time vs. Marcedes Lewis: Lewis’ first career touchdown catch came against the Bills on Nov. 26, 2006. He caught it from Jaguars quarterback David Garrard. Willis McGahee and Maurice Jones-Drew were two of the other scorers in that game.

Most people probably didn’t know Lewis was still in the NFL, but he caught another touchdown Sunday for the Chicago Bears in a 27-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Lewis’ 1-yard touchdown was the 40th of his 18-year NFL career.

Lewis has had a remarkably long career, especially considering he has been a Pro Bowler just once. This year he broke an NFL record, which he shared with Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten, for most seasons played by a tight end. At 39 years old, Lewis is still popping up on highlights, reminding everyone he’s still in the league.

The 2023 Washington Commanders: It fits the Commanders' season very well that they teased their fans with a comeback from a 20-0 deficit to take a 28-27 lead, only to let Trevor Siemian and the Jets drive for a game-winning field goal.

The Jets pulled out a wild 30-28 win when Greg Zuerlein barely snuck a 54-yard field goal inside the left upright with five seconds to go. The Commanders looked to have finished off a great comeback, but then couldn't kill the clock and couldn't stop the Jets from driving for the win.

The Commanders looked like a train wreck to start Sunday's game. There was a dropped pass that led to an interception. Then a blocked punt led to a touchdown. Washington's defense gave up an easy, long touchdown run to Breece Hall. The Jets, who most weeks would have trouble scoring 17 points if they were given 12 quarters, were up 17-0 just over six minutes into the game. It was the Jets' most points in the first quarter since 2014, CBS said.

Washington came back. And then the Commanders blew it again. Fitting.

Indianapolis Colts' playoff chances: The Colts were 8-6 coming into Sunday's games and everyone knew they were on the winning side of .500 due to the coaching staff getting every drop out of the roster.

But some games, the Colts' deficiencies have been exposed and Sunday's 29-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was another one of them. Gardner Minshew struggled, Jonathan Taylor didn't get much going in his return to the lineup, none of the receivers stepped up with Michael Pittman Jr. out with a concussion, and the defense was unable to slow down Taylor Heinicke and the Falcons' offense.

The Colts are 8-7 and while the loss Sunday doesn't eliminate them from a competitive AFC wild-card race, it doesn't help. Indianapolis has to beat teams like the Falcons to make the playoffs. The Colts weren't supposed to be in the playoff race anyway, but Sunday's loss still stung, mostly because it was a reminder of how much work needs to be done this offseason.