A Hail Mary that left the Detroit Lions stunned. A fourth-quarter comeback that came up a touchdown short. Trading touchdowns until a failed two-point conversion ended the Lions’ two-decade-long road losing streak to the Green Bay Packers.

Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers will face each other again on Sunday when the Rams (8-6) travel east to face the New York Jets (4-10). It will be the 18th meeting between the two, who played for NFC North rivals Detroit and Green Bay, respectively, for much of their careers.

Asked to pick any games that stand out between the two in the series, which Rodgers leads 13-4, none came to mind immediately for Stafford.

“I’ve had too many to even think about, to be honest with you,” Stafford said. “It’s always a good battle.”

Entering this weekend, the two quarterbacks are facing different circumstances.

Rodgers, 41, was traded to the Jets prior to the 2023 season with Super Bowl expectations. But a torn Achilles suffered in Week 1 ended that campaign, and the aftereffects have lingered into 2024. Just now in December is he starting to regain some of the mobility and effectiveness that have defined his career.

But it’s come too late to save the Jets’ season, or the jobs of the head coach, offensive coordinator and general manager who helped orchestrate Rodgers’ arrival in the Tri-State Area.

On the other hand, Stafford, 36, has led the Rams to three straight wins and a 7-2 record since the bye, putting them in position to win the NFC West for the first time since 2021.

“I’m just excited to go out there and play,” Stafford said. “Obviously meaningful football in the month of December is an awesome thing to be a part of. We’ve earned that and we’ve got to continue to earn that opportunity to play games that matter. This just happens to be the next one on the list. Obviously have a ton of respect for Aaron and competed against him a bunch of times in my career. He’s a helluva player and does a great job.”

Whether or not this is the last meeting between Stafford and Rodgers remains to be seen. The latter spent most of his press conference on Wednesday fielding questions about whether or not he would retire after this disappointing Jets season.

Regardless, the two former Super Bowl winners figure to be tied together as players who helped define their generation of quarterbacks.

“The essence of playing quarterback involves so many different things, but you talk about changing arm slots, creating off-schedule, understanding of what are the defensive structures and how do you move and manipulate defenders,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “Both of those guys have been doing those types of things at a really high clip. ... It’s two greats, two guys that I look at as Hall of Famers.”

— Adam Grosbard

CHIEFS GET HEALTHY

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is expected to play against Houston on Saturday, less than a week after sustaining a high-ankle sprain in a win over Cleveland, and he will likely have wide receiver Marquis Brown available for the first time in a regular-season game.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after a short practice Thursday that Mahomes had looked good moving around on his ailing ankle and “he’ll most likely end up playing.” That echoed what Mahomes professed earlier in the week, when the two-time NFL MVP said he planned to play unless the ankle hindered his ability to protect himself.

“He moved around pretty good,” said Reid, who acknowledged some concern about Mahomes’ availability immediately after the injury. “You’re always looking to make sure he can get out of the way, so there’s no further harm to him. That’s what I look at.

“We’re taking it day by day,” Reid added, “but he did look good out there.”

So did Brown, who dislocated the sternoclavicular joint in his shoulder on the first play of the preseason against Jacksonville. The resulting surgery had kept one of the Chiefs’ premier free-agent acquisitions off the practice field until last week.

Brown was able to move around during his rehab process, though and that allowed him to stay in shape. And given that he had an entire offseason program to learn the offense, Brown was able to quickly get up to speed with Mahomes and Co.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

T.J. Watt is hopeful his ankle injury won’t keep him from trying to help the Pittsburgh Steelers win the AFC North title on Saturday in Baltimore.

The star outside linebacker was a full participant in practice on Thursday and seems to be trending toward playing when the Steelers (10-4) attempt to sweep the season series from the Ravens (9-5) and lock up their first division title since 2020. Pittsburgh did not even give Watt an injury designation when the game report was released on Thursday afternoon.

Alvin Kamara’s groin injury is “a little bit more significant” than the Saints initially thought, but it remains unclear how many of New Orleans’ final three games he’ll miss, coach Darren Rizzi said Thursday.

“It doesn’t look great for this week,” Rizzi said.