NFL hot reads: End could be just a loss away for 49ers

USA TODAY Sports' Tom Pelissero goes around the league for 11 snap reactions from the 14th Sunday of the NFL season:

— The Seahawks have a chance to crush the 49ers' hopes in Seattle again — this time with two weeks to go in the regular season. And considering the way Jim Harbaugh's crew stumbled through Sunday's 24-13 loss to the woeful Raiders, it's hard to imagine a magical rebound next week at CenturyLink Field, where San Francisco lost a thriller in the NFC title game 10½ months ago. These 49ers don't look that much different on paper. But as 49ers great Ronnie Lott tweeted Sunday night, "The distractions this season have taken so much out of this great @49ers team." It all goes back to tension surrounding Harbaugh and his uncertain future with the organization, which has done nothing to dispel the speculation. The defense remains a talented group, but it got carved up by rookie QB Derek Carr on Sunday and the 49ers offense remained impotent, failing to exceed 17 points for the sixth time in seven games. This is the third time this season the 49ers have been in this spot: On a two-game skid, with questions rising about whether they're finished. The first two times, the 49ers responded with a three-game winning streak. The difference this time is the end — perhaps of a lot of things — is one loss away.

— If the Seahawks do win — their defense's domination in Sunday's 24-14 win over the high-octane Eagles is one more reason to think they will — it will officially be a six-team race for five NFC playoff spots (with the other slot filled by whoever comes out of the Falcons-Saints-Panthers mess in the South). Best part of that: Head-to-head match-ups will help decide each race. The Cowboys visit the Eagles next Sunday night, the Cardinals host the Seahawks in Week 16, and the Packers host the Lions in Week 17. In contrast, 12 teams remain alive in the AFC — nine of them with either seven or eight wins. Will anybody run the table to seize a spot? Or will it be like the stretch run last season, which became a game of hot potato for the final berth?

— What's certain in the AFC is this: The Patriots and Broncos remain the class of the conference and on a collision course for another title game rematch. They'd get the first-round byes if the playoffs began now (along with the Cardinals and the Packers in the NFC) and each play a divisional playoff game at home, where neither has lost. The location of the AFC title game depends on the next three weeks, and the Broncos appear to have the tougher road: At San Diego and at Cincinnati, then back home against the Raiders. The Patriots host the Dolphins and Bills with a road game against the Jets in between.

— The vitriol was swift from the Patriots sideline and on social media after CB Brandon Browner was flagged for an illegal hit on Chargers TE Ladarius Green, wiping out a Devin McCourty interception and 56-yard TD return. But it's not hard to see why an official threw the flag while watching the play live. At a time the operative words from the league are "lower your target," Browner hit Green shoulder-to-shoulder, causing his neck to snap back and leaving him with a concussion. Green was technically defenseless as he tried to secure the catch. And Browner left his feet on impact, giving the appearance of launching. In Jacksonville, Texans WR Andre Johnson was knocked out Sunday on a big hit by Jaguars LB Telvin Smith, who also was called for a personal foul. Everywhere in the league, there are frightening collisions on a weekly basis — and that's football. It's a violent, dangerous game. But officials are being instructed to correct the behavior, which means throwing a flag even if it's close, without the benefit of replay. That's an unenviable task, to say the least.

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— The Steelers' 42-21 win at Cincinnati showed what was suspected here: Their multitude of offensive weapons and explosive-play ability creates a bad match-up for the Bengals, who are working with a lot of old parts in the secondary and aren't built to win shootouts. Rookie WR Martavis Bryant added a 94-yard TD catch to his résumé. RB Le'Veon Bell is the second player ever to post 200 yards from scrimmage in three straight games, joining Hall of Famer Walter Payton. WR Antonio Brown has a chance to lead the NFL in all three major receiving categories. Injuries haven't helped the Bengals defense, but this is worth noting, too: Coach Marvin Lewis' defenses ranked 27th or worse in yards allowed four times in five seasons before Mike Zimmer arrived as coordinator in 2008. The Bengals ranked seventh or better four times and never worse than 15th in six seasons under Zimmer, who left to become the Vikings' head coach in January. Minnesota has jumped from 31st to 12th in yards allowed this season ... and the Bengals are tied for 28th.

— If an NFC South rival's third-string tight end throwing haymakers can't knock some life into the Saints, what chance does coach Sean Payton have to do the same? Things only got worse after a brawl led to Panthers TE Brandon Williams' ejection in a 41-10 trashing that may be the lowest moment yet for the NFL's worst division. It's one thing to get embarrassed on your home field. It's another to have it happen against a Panthers team that had been winless and mostly incompetent for over two months. Yet now Carolina is one game back of first place in the win column. And unless the Falcons pull a shocker against the Packers on Monday night, the division winner is guaranteed to be 8-8 or worse (probably the latter). There's blame to go around in New Orleans. But it doesn't reflect well on Payton that his team and his offense could flop this hard at this stage.

— The streak is 14 quarters and counting since Browns QB Brian Hoyer threw a touchdown pass. In the same span, he has thrown eight interceptions and completed just 49.6% of his passes as Cleveland lost three of four, including Sunday's 25-24 decision against the Colts. The score was deceiving because the Browns defense scored two TDs and set up a field goal with another takeaway in Indianapolis territory, only for Hoyer and the offense to net 2 yards on its next three plays. If the Browns don't go to rookie QB Johnny Manziel now, it probably says more about the development of Manziel than their faith in Hoyer, who hasn't performed at an NFL level for the better part of a month at a time Cleveland's first playoff berth in 12 years is slipping away.

— It's probably a bad sign for the state of your football operation when a franchise that hasn't had a winning season in over a decade is mocking you. Rams coach Jeff Fisher didn't even wait for kickoff in a 24-0 rout of the Redskins to get the first laugh, trotting out six players for the coin toss who all were acquired through the trade that brought QB Robert Griffin III to Washington. The Redskins have now lost five in a row to fall to 3-10. Griffin heard chants for his name and got on the field Sunday only because Colt McCoy suffered a neck injury on an abominable day for coach Jay Gruden's offense. And Gruden is having to answer questions about whether he'll survive and get a second season from owner Dan Snyder. It all makes Fisher look like a relative hero for coaching the QB-challenged Rams to 6-7 — keeping alive a shot at an above-.500 finish, even if the postseason is a pipe dream in the top-heavy NFC.

— Nineteen NFL teams are above .500 right now and the Lions have beaten two of them: the Packers on Sept. 21 (right before Aaron Rodgers flipped to MVP mode) and the Dolphins on Nov. 9, both at Ford Field. The Vikings come to town next week and then the Lions visit Chicago, meaning Detroit — 34-17 winners Sunday over another bottom-feeder, Tampa Bay — could well be 11-4 entering the regular-season finale at Green Bay and still be every bit as anonymous as it has all season. The Lions don't pick their schedule. There's no shame in beating the man across from you. But Detroit's offense fell flat in its two marquee match-ups last month, scoring 15 points total in losses to the Cardinals and Patriots. There will be skepticism and rightly so if the result is similar at Green Bay, even if that's not enough to keep the Lions out of the playoffs.

— The Titans continue to strengthen their case for worst team in the NFL. Since stunning the Chiefs 26-10 in the Sept. 7 opener at Kansas City — a result that has become more perplexing as the season has gone on — the Titans have lost 11 out of 12, the lone win coming Oct. 12 against the then-winless Jaguars. They're three quarterbacks in, but the problems run deeper than that. Titans president and CEO Tommy Smith acknowledged as much last week, saying "the roster is going to look a lot different next year," while also expressing confidence in GM Ruston Webster and coach Ken Whisenhunt. That was before the Giants snapped their seven-game losing skid by pasting the Titans 36-7 in Nashville. Rock bottom? Not yet, if the slide continues the next two weeks against the Jets and Jags, who are the only team with a worse point differential than Tennessee's minus-154.

— Road teams are 10-5 so far this week with an average margin of victory of 16.7 points, thanks in part to lopsided wins by the Panthers, Rams, Giants and Steelers. It's the second time this season road teams have hit double-digit wins in a week. They were 10-4-1 in Week 6.

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.

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