2019 NFL power rankings, Week 12: Falcons rolling, Texans rolled

Recap: The first-place team in the AFC South headed north to Baltimore to take on a Ravens’ team that owned an NFL-best five-game winning streak entering Sunday’s contest. The Texans remained winless on the road in this series and were completely overwhelmed by a Ravens’ offense that rolled up 491 total yards – including 263 yards on the ground. It was a rough afternoon for Deshaun Watson as he was limited to 169 yards through the air, was sacked six times and threw a careless interception. Running back Carlos Hyde’s 41-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter was Houston’s lone score of the game. The Texans surrendered a season-high 41 points in the loss.

Next Week: The Texans return home and looking to snap a brief three-game losing streak to the Colts. That not only includes a 30-23 road loss last month (Week 7) but a pair of games at Houston a year ago – the most notable a 21-7 setback in the wild card round. Including playoffs, the Texans own an 8-28 lifetime record in the series.

Playoff hopes: It’s been quite a long time since the Texans were pushed around like they were in Baltimore. A Houston defense that came into the week allowing the third-fewest rushing yards per game looked helpless against Ingram, Jackson and company. And O’Brien’s team doesn’t have a lot of time to get things fixed.

Recap: Sean McDermott’s Bills had dropped two of their last three games prior to their rematch with Miami. Not long ago (Week), Buffalo managed a 31-21 victory in Orchard Park over a stubborn Dolphins’ club. The team’s run defense had been a big concern as of late and on Sunday in South Florida. But the Bills limited Miami to 112 total yards in the first half, including a mere seven yards on the ground and just a total of 23 yards rushing by game’s end. Quarterback Josh Allen had a big afternoon, throwing for 256 yards and three scores while running seven times for 56 yards and one touchdown. Buffalo’s defense racked up seven sacks of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Next Week: The Bills play host to the Denver Broncos for the second time in three seasons as these clubs clash for the third time in six years. In 2017, McDermott’s club came away with a 26-16 win. Buffalo owns a 3-1 record in this setting dating back to ’08 and has prevailed in the last two home games in the series dating back to 2011.

Playoff hopes: The team from Orchard Park now has one more victory than it did a year ago. And the Bills not only completed a sweep of the Dolphins but raised its record to 3-1 within the AFC East and stayed within shouting distance of the first-place Patriots. This was a nice bounce back performance by a defense that had been slumping.

Next: Nos. 8 and 7