NFL Scores Week 14: AFC, NFC Playoff Picture, Results and Top Fantasy Stats

Week 14 went a long way toward clearing up both the NFC and AFC wild-card races, with bubble teams suffering crushing losses and playoff hopefuls consolidating their advantages.

The Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons all lost in Sunday's first wave of NFL action, putting a two-game gap between themselves and their respective wild-card competitors. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets all won, essentially turning the AFC wild-card contest into a three-horse race—though anything can happen in the final three weeks.

The Seattle Seahawks rolled to an easy win over the Baltimore Ravens, thanks to another superb performance from quarterback Russell Wilson. The Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings are now two games ahead of the Falcons, who have lost six of their last seven, and the Buccaneers.

There's still plenty of intrigue at the top of the playoff standings and tight division races in the AFC South, NFC East and NFC North. Much is left to be decided, but there are far fewer teams that can say they are in the playoff hunt.

Here are the scores, updated playoff standings and top fantasy stars for Week 14. Fantasy stars are determined by the ESPN.com leaderboard, with precedence given to running backs, wide receivers and tight ends over quarterbacks when the point totals are close. 

Away	Score	Home	Top Fantasy Star
Minnesota Vikings	20-23	Arizona Cardinals	Carson Palmer (ARI): 25-of-35, 310 YDS, 2 TD
Detroit Lions	14-21	St. Louis Rams	Todd Gurley (STL): 16 CAR, 140 YDS, 2 TD; 1 REC, 7 YDS
Atlanta Falcons	0-38	Carolina Panthers	Ted Ginn Jr (CAR): 2 REC, 120 YDS, 2 TD
Washington Redskins	24-21	Chicago Bears	Jordan Reed (WAS): 9 REC, 120 YDS, 1 TD
Buffalo Bills	23-20	Philadelphia Eagles	Sammy Watkins (BUF): 5 REC, 81 YDS, 1 TD
San Francisco 49ers	10-24	Cleveland Browns	Isaiah Crowell (CLE): 20 CAR, 145 YDS, 2 TD; 1 REC, 9 YDS
New Orleans Saints	24-17	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Drew Brees (NO): 31-of-41, 312 YDS, 2 TD
Seattle Seahawks	35-6	Baltimore Ravens	Russell Wilson (SEA): 23-of-32, 292 YDS, 5 TD
San Diego Chargers	3-10	Kansas City Chiefs	Albert Wilson (KC): 4 REC, 87 YDS, 1 TD
Indianapolis Colts	16-51	Jacksonville Jaguars	Blake Bortles (JAX): 16-of-30, 250 YDS, 3 TD; 4 CAR, 17 YDS, 1 TD
Tennessee Titans	8-30	New York Jets	Ryan Fitzpatrick (NYJ): 21-of-36, 263 YDS, 3 TD; 3 CAR, 23 YDS
Pittsburgh Steelers	33-20	Cincinnati Bengals	DeAngelo Williams (PIT): 23 CAR, 76 YDS, 2 TD; 2 REC, 15 YDS
Dallas Cowboys	7-28	Green Bay Packers	James Starks (GB): 11 CAR, 71 YDS, 1 TD; 4 REC, 32 YDS, 1 TD
Oakland Raiders	15-12	Denver Broncos	Raiders D/ST: 12 points allowed, 4 FF, 2 FR, 5 SCKS
New England Patriots	27-6	Houston Texans	Tom Brady (NE): 22-of-30, 226 YDS, 2 TD; 4 CAR 10 YDS

Seed	AFC	NFC
1	New England Patriots (11-2)	Carolina Panthers (13-0)
2	Cincinnati Bengals (10-3)	Arizona Cardinals (11-2)
3	Denver Broncos (10-3)	Green Bay Packers (9-4)
4	Indianapolis Colts (6-7)	Washington Redskins (6-7)
5	Kansas City Chiefs (8-5)	Minnesota Vikings (8-5)
6	New York Jets (8-5)	Seattle Seahawks (8-5)
In the Hunt	Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5)	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7)
In the Hunt	Oakland Raiders (6-7)	Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
In the Hunt	Buffalo Bills (6-7)	Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)
In the Hunt	Houston Texans (6-7)	New York Giants (5-7)

Top Fantasy Players from Early-Sunday Slate

Isaiah Crowell, RB, Cleveland Browns

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

Don't act like you saw this coming. Isaiah Crowell was probably a hero to a bunch of desperate fantasy owners in 14-man leagues in Week 14, exploding for a career-high 145 yards and two scores. 

It's been quite some time since a Browns back put up that many rushing yards in a game, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Crowell did the majority of his damage on 50- and 54-yard runs. He also did well on red-zone and goal-line carries, getting his shoulders square and driving forward for the necessary yards.

The Browns have been a mess all season long, with the running game no exception. Crowell and rookie Duke Johnson have jockeyed for the lead role in the Browns backfield all season, with neither player doing much to establish themselves as go-to guys.

Ron Schwane/Associated Press

Crowell did pop up for a solid effort against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13, carrying the ball 11 times for 62 yards. After this week's performance, the Browns might let him take the lead role the rest of the way.

However, he isn't necessarily a great fantasy start, as his standout afternoon came in the midst of a game in which Cleveland racked up 481 yards of total offense against a poor San Francisco 49ers team. 

The Seahawks are up next for Cleveland. Crowell is a dicey play against their stout defense. But hey, if you were one of the rare few who started him this week, you might as well roll with him again. 

Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis Rams

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

It's been tough lately for Todd Gurley to show off his considerable talent with the rest of St. Louis' offense crumbling around him. After two games in which he totaled 60 rushing yards and was shut out of the end zone, Gurley got back to his sparkling ways with 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns against a middling Detroit Lions team.

Both of his touchdowns were the result of him exploiting a tight angle and running full tilt toward the pylon. His first score was the more spectacular one, a high-degree-of-difficulty leap over a defender, per the NFL: 

New Rams offensive coordinator Rob Boras made a point earlier this week to single out the rookie sensation as the player the team has to get involved on offense as much as possible.

“Todd’s a special player. We have a number of special players on offense,” Boras said, via StLouisRams.com's Myles Simmons. “Between Todd and ‘Tav’ [Tavon Austin], we’ve got special guys. For that to happen, obviously, it’s got to be the type of game where we can keep handing him the ball. He’s too good a player.”

Gurley's still worth trusting in all fantasy lineups as the season winds to a close, even if St. Louis isn't going to factor into the postseason chase, except as a potential spoiler. 

Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

No Jimmy Graham or Thomas Rawls, no problem. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been on fire lately and hasn't skipped a beat without his talented tight end on the field. With Rawls exiting the game early with an ankle injury, per SportsCenter, Wilson would have to shoulder the load on offense against a hapless Baltimore team.

Wilson further buried those glorified-game-manager arguments Sunday, throwing for 292 yards and five touchdowns.

ESPN Stats & Info noted two of his past three games have been rare scoring bonanzas for the QB: 

Here's Wilson with an absolute peach of a pass, a 49-yard touchdown toss to Tyler Lockett, per the NFL:

Lockett scored twice and Baldwin, who's been Wilson's most reliable target as of late, scored three times in the win.

In the past four weeks, Wilson has thrown for 16 touchdowns without throwing an interception. Baldwin has reeled in eight of those scoring passes. Baldwin's targets are well above his usual rate right now, and he's making the most of them. Here's Baldwin's third touchdown grab of the afternoon, courtesy of the NFL: 

Both guys in this tandem are fantastic fantasy plays to end this season, especially when you consider the team can't let up whatsoever in the wild-card race after early-season struggles.