Now that you’re probably sick of those leftovers and I have your attention, I have some dark horse Super Bowl contenders for you

The 49ers have tallied 125 rushing attempts in their last three games. Their win on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings was their lowest total of rushes in all three games, 39. This overemphasis on grinding their opponents like sausage comes from the success they’ve had running the ball all season. The 49ers have rushed for less than 100 yards as a team only twice in 2021.

Their best effort on the ground was Sunday against the Vikings. They totaled 208 yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. No. 1 running back Elijah Stewart was great with 133 yards and a touchdown, but it was wide receiver Deebo Samuel that changed the game on the ground. While still finding time to become one of only three 49ers wide receivers to gain 1,000 yards receiving in 11 games — the others are Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens — he had six carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns. The first touchdown was a 20 yarder to tie the game in the first quarter, and the second was a three-yard scamper that capped a drive he got inside the 10-yard line with a 49-yard run.

It’s a rushing attack that is beginning to look like 2019, when the 49ers’ three running backs combined for 1,939 yards on the ground that season. Once again everyone is taking part in it. Stewart couldn’t play last week with a finger injury so Samuel led the 49ers with 99 yards rushing and backup running back Jeff Wilson Jr. contributed 50 yards.

Samuel went down with a groin injury in the 4th quarter but didn’t look terribly bothered, and told the media after the game that he was just being cautious by exiting the game. With a defense that has been on a tear the last three weeks — of the Vikings’ four touchdowns on Sunday one followed a Jimmy Garappolo interception and another was a 99-yard kick return — a healthy George Kittle at tight end, and the 29th-most difficult schedule remaining in the NFL per Football Outsiders, this is a squad that can pound its way to the Super Bowl just like in 2019.

Ignore the final score, the Titans were competitive in their Week 12 loss on the road to the New England Patriots. With a defense missing four linebackers and a nose tackle, it still managed to force the Patriots into six field-goal attempts, and account for 15 of the Titans 36 points.

It is a defense that while dealing with injuries all season has been impressive as of late. The Titans defense had held their previous three opponents under 25 points. The offense, however, has not contributed its fair share. Since Derrick Henry’s injury against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8, the Titans have surpassed 100 yards on the ground just once, and rushed for less than 70 yards twice. The passing game also suffered even in the two wins against the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. Now after two consecutive losses, not only is wide receiver Julio Jones on injured reserve but A.J. Brown joined him on Saturday.

Against the Patriots, the Titans’ rushing attack returned like a college student for seconds at Thanksgiving. They cut Adrian Peterson during the week, and went with a two-headed rushing attack with D’Onta Foreman and Dontrell Hilliard. Those two plowed through the second-best defense in the NFL, each for 100-plus yards and more than 5.5 yards per carry. Hilliard even scored on a 68-yard run, as Tennessee totaled 270 yards on the ground.

However, for the second consecutive week they suffered from a severe case of the turnovers. Instead of quarterback Ryan Tannehill throwing for 323 yards and four interceptions, as he did last week, he threw just one pick against the Patriots while he and every other Titans ball carrier fumbled, losing three of them. That makes nine turnovers in two weeks. Cut that number in half and they likely would still have the best record in the AFC.

Brown and Jones are due back in December, as well as the defensive players who missed the Patriots game, and there might be a 6-foot-3, 250 pound gold nugget for the Titans and the end of the 2021 regular-season rainbow. ESPN’s Diana Russini reported on Nov. 18 there is “optimism” that Henry will return from injury at the beginning of January, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said the day news of the surgery broke that Henry is “expected” back this season.

The Titans are not losing the AFC South, and they’re currently right behind the Baltimore Ravens and Patriots for best record in the conference. If they get healthy at the right time, don’t forget who beat the Chiefs and Bills in consecutive weeks during a six-game winning streak.

As far as Super Bowl dark horses go, this one is 5:30 p.m. after daylight savings time. They are a .500 team that is currently the 10th seed after a 38-31 loss to the Buccaneers at home. They have also been battling injuries all season. Linebacker Darius Leonard has been dealing with an ankle injury all year, offensive linemen have missed games, and quarterback Carson Wentz suffered two ankle sprains in late September after missing all of preseason with a foot injury. They started the season 0-3, losing two of those by multiple scores.

Since their six-point, Week 5 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Colts have gone 5-2. Their offensive line is healthy and showing what it can do to some of the best competition in this league.

The Colts tallied a 45-15 win last week against the Football Outsiders’ top-overall defense, the Bills, on the road. Running back Jonathan Taylor ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns, and as a team the Colts rushed for 264 yards.

Against the Buccaneers on Sunday, they went with a more balanced approach. Wentz threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns while the team rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Colts were up 24-14 at the half, scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and received the kickoff coming out of the locker room.

How did the Buccaneers get the lead back? Strip sack, tough 37-yard pass interference penalty on the Colts, a gorgeous interception by Buccaneers cornerback Antoine Winfield Jr., another pass interference penalty. Result? A 28-24 Bucs lead.

The Colts would have to overcome another terrible turnover, a Nyheim Hines’ muffed punt that put the Buccaneers in the red zone. However, they held the Buccaneers to a field goal and eventually took the lead. Then there was Tom Brady, three minutes to go, yada yada yada, Colts are 6-6.

Still, it took five total turnovers and some fortunately timed, for the Buccaneers, penalties to take down a Colts team that pushed them all game on both sides of the ball. If the Week 11 and 12 Colts are the team that takes the field the rest of this season, they are capable of beating anyone, especially in the wacky AFC.