Super Bowl rematch between Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts

Around the AFC

Birds soar, Bengals sore. Baltimore hammered Cincinnati Thursday night to take further control of the AFC North. Big-time performance. Just as impactful, though, was Cincinnati losing star quarterback Joe Burrow to an apparent right hand injury. Depending on the severity, it could change the complexion of the AFC postseason race. In fact, it already did. The Bengals were trailing when he got hurt, but had no chance of keeping up once he left the game. Now they’re 5-5 and the Ravens, led by MVP candidate Lamar Jackson (264 passing yards, two TDs, 54 rushing yards) are 8-3.

Black and silver (and winning). The Raiders have won two straight since Antonio Pierce took over for fired head coach Josh McDaniels. It wasn’t pretty against the Jets, but hey, Las Vegas is 5-5 now. Only trouble? The next two before a bye week are at Miami and home against Kansas City. If Pierce gets those two – or, heck, even if he splits — that’ll be a major accomplishment for the interim head coach.

MV-C.J.?. Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud’s brilliance continued in a win over Cincinnati and he put himself in the MVP conversation, too. He threw for 356 yards (9.1 per attempt) against Lou Anarumo’s defense and is up to 15 touchdown passes against two interceptions for the season. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick this spring, leads the NFL at 291.8 passing yards per game. A Houston win at home against Arizona would ensure that, at the least, first place in the AFC South will be on the line when the Texans host Jacksonville next week.

Around the NFC

Cowboys rolling. Five of Dallas’ six wins this year are by three scores or more, including a 49-17 shellacking of the New York Giants in Week 10. They’ve scored 38-plus points four times this season and are averaging 40 per game at home. They’re on the road this week, but against a Carolina team with real problems. There’s already speculation about whether Frank Reich will get a second season and the early returns on taking Bryce Young over Stroud in April’s draft are not promising.

Sneaky Seattle. The Seahawks are 6-3 and tied with San Francisco in the NFC West heading into a tricky division road game against the Los Angeles Rams. After that, Seattle has about as tough a stretch as any team: The 49ers, at Dallas, at the Niners and home against Philadelphia. If Geno Smith and company are still in the division title picture after Dec. 17, they will have earned it big time.