NFL Power Rankings entering Week 16 after the Chiefs big win and the Jets first win.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The holiday season is upon us, sure; but more importantly, the 2020 NFL season is winding down. Subsequently, every win and every loss means more as it can have a serious impact on not only the playoff race but the 2021 NFL Draft order as well. And that was all in play in a wild Week 15, which was bound to shake up our NFL Power Rankings.
Not only did we get a potential Super Bowl preview with the Kansas City Chiefs facing the New Orleans Saints, a clash narrowly won by the former, but we also saw the lone winless team remaining in the NFL, the New York Jets, get their first taste of victory in 2020. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, the win came convincingly against a likely playoff team in the Los Angeles Rams.
So with all but the Monday Night Football matchup between the ailing Cincinnati Bengals and playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers left to be played, let’s check in on the 2020 NFL Power Rankings once again to see where things stand as we enter the final two weeks of the regular season.
New NFL Power Rankings for Week 16 of the 2020 season
On the field, nothing went the way of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday as they paid a visit to M&T Bank Stadium. Lamar Jackson, aside from one early interception, had his way with the young Jags defense and Gardner Minshew couldn’t mount any kind of consistent movement when he had the ball.
The end result was a 40-14 loss that drops the Jaguars to 1-13 on the season. It’s clear that this team will not only be moving on from head coach Doug Marrone after the 2020 season but that they will be looking for a new quarterback to guide the franchise into the future.
But while the team lost on the field, they were one of the big winners of the week in regards to getting their potential franchise quarterback. With the Jets winning their first game of the season to now have a matching record, the Jaguars are now currently in possession of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
If things continue on their current trajectory for the Jaguars — namely, not winning football games — they are likely going to get Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 and also have a first-round pick owed to them by the Rams. Things might be bleak now but the future could be bright in Duval County.
Leave it to the New York Jets to not even lose correctly. This team in its current state is clearly going nowhere. After the season, head coach Adam Gase will almost surely be fired, there’s a good chance Sam Darnold is shipped off and the rest of the roster needs to be seriously reshaped moving forward.
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Subsequently, the Jets’ 0-13 start to the 2020 season was exactly what they needed to help set themselves up properly for the future, namely putting them in a spot to take the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and use that selection to nab Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Now they won’t have that chance.
As mentioned, the most shocking result on Sunday — and perhaps of the entire year — was the Jets taking on the playoff-bound Los Angeles Rams and not just beating them but handling them. It was the defense’s best performance of the season and, while he wasn’t a superstar, Darnold played well and got help from the players around him.
The win also, unfortunately, currently knocks the Jets out of possession of the No. 1 pick. But it also knocks them out of the bottom spot in our NFL Power Rankings, where they’ve been for the majority of the year.
Play on Monday Night vs. Steelers – It’s not like the Cincinnati Bengals were going to win a lot of games with Joe Burrow at the helm of the offense but the rookie No. 1 overall pick at least provided some entertainment and reason to watch. Now that he’s injured and out for the rest of 2020, there is no such reason.
Brandon Allen has been bad and that’s been exacerbated by the fact that Joe Mixon has also been out of the lineup. The Bengals are simply in a bad spot with the same bad offensive and defensive lines that plagued them a season ago but now with worse quarterback play and without a bell-cow running back to lean on.
On Monday Night Football in Week 15, the Bengals will cap off the week as they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Given the state of Cincinnati, it feels safe to say that this one isn’t going to be pretty.
Sure, the Jets picked up a win but that’s a team that has been getting at least marginally better throughout the year. Cincinnati has been heading in the other direction and it would be even more shocking if they were to win another game in 2020.
If nothing else, you have to admire the fight of Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans. Bill O’Brien dealt this team a bad hand but, now that he’s out of the building, this team continues to fight their tails off to build some sort of confidence.
What’s tough to swallow is the fact that their efforts still leave them coming up short. That was evident on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts as Deshaun Watson had a monster game with 373 yards passing, two scores and no interceptions. Of course, the defense couldn’t come up with consistent stops and the offensive line allowed Watson to be sacked five times.
Moreover, this loss was even more heartbreaking than others before it. Down 27-20 in the final moments, Watson hit Keke Coutee inside the 5-yard line and the speedy wideout nearly found his way into the end zone. Instead, he came up just short as the ball was jarred loose for the game-ending fumble that was recovered by Indy.
Now at 4-10 on the season, the Texans are left in a bad spot as they are careening towards a top-five pick in the 2021 NFL Draft that they’ll have to send to the Miami Dolphins. At least they have Watson — but there’s a lot of work still to be done.
Is there a better microcosm of who the Carolina Panthers are in the 2020 season than their eight-point loss to the Packers on Saturday night at Lambeau Field? They fought hard, they were in the game late against a good team but they ultimately came up short and are now just 4-10 on the season in the first year under head coach Matt Rhule.
Perhaps the most costly play of the game came in the form of a Teddy Bridgewater fumble. After a nice drive by the Panthers, they were on the goal-line trying to punch it in. The veteran quarterback then tried to leap over the pile and reach the ball out over the goal line but the Packers punched the ball loose and recovered it to end the Carolina scoring chance.
Rhule was critical of that decision after the game and rightfully so as it was obviously costly in a one-score game. But it’s also indicative of where the team simply is at this stage of a likely short rebuild.
The Panthers are young and they aren’t ready to be a winner just yet. But the fact that they are close is a testament to Rhule and the job he’s done with this team. With some moves in the offseason, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Carolina compete for a playoff spot next season.
Hug the Atlanta Falcons fans in your life — or at least tell them you owe them one since we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Because for how impressive this team can often look at any point, their late-game woes and their overall lackluster results continue to be wholly troubling.
Early in the Week 15 matchup with the Buccaneers in Atlanta, the Dirty Birds were in complete control. They went into halftime up 17-0 and they seemed to have all the answers for Tom Brady and Tampa Bay. Then the second half rolled around and, especially in the fourth quarter, the wheels fell off.
Hanging on to a 24-14 lead, the Falcons’ final five drives included three three-and-outs, a field goal and a turnover on downs that ultimately ended the game. Meanwhile, the defense allowed three scoring drives and the Bucs to run out the clock on their last five drives. That’s got to be tough to swallow for fans.
The attention in Atlanta has now turned to the offseason as they now have a decision to make about the future of Matt Ryan and potentially other high-profile assets. What’s clear is that something has to change and it might be more than just bringing in a new head coach.
This is probably going to come off more hateful than it’s intended to but there are only one or two teams in the NFL right now that I have less interest in watching than the Denver Broncos right now. On both sides of the ball, this is a team that just looks like they’re ready for the 2020 season to be done with.
Drew Lock and the passing offense were downright bad against the Bills on Saturday in Week 15. He completed 20-of-32 passes but it was all dinking and dunking for the quarterback as he had just 132 yards passing with one score. Moreover, while Melvin Gordon III had a nice game with two scores and 5.5 yards per carry, they weren’t in a position where they could run the ball consistently.
Buffalo’s offense had their way against the Broncos defense. Whether it was Josh Allen airing it out for 359 yards or the Bills running backs each averaging over 6.0 yards per carry, the Denver defense had exactly no answers as they gave up 48 points in the losing effort.
The fact that Denver sits at 5-9 on the season is somewhat remarkable but both the Chargers and Raiders are in a spot where it seems like they should finish with an 11-loss campaign.
The jolt of life that Jalen Hurts has given the Philadelphia Eagles offense since taking over the offense has been nothing short of remarkable. That was again evident as he got into a duel with Kyler Murray on Sunday and held his own. His Hail Mary attempt came up empty but the Eagles were in the game because of their rookie quarterback.
Hurts had a big day as, even though he completed only 24-of-44 passes, he threw for 338 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for 63 yards and a touchdown. He consistently came up with big plays, especially in the clutch portions of the game.
What makes Hurts even more impressive is the lack of help he’s getting, The Eagles defense was quite bad once again on Sunday as Murray threw for over 400 yards on the day and the lack of consistent receiving options continues to be an issue.
However, with Carson Wentz now expressing his frustrations about being benched — though he doesn’t have a leg to stand on given the stark difference in performance between him and Hurts — the good news for the Eagles is that their rookie signal-caller is giving them promising early returns.
Talk about limping to the finish line in the 2020 NFL season. Matthew Stafford was questionable for this game and, while he made a handful of pretty throws, it was evident throughout that he was not operating at full capacity. Moreover, D’Andre Swift might’ve been the Lions’ most consistent weapon on offense but they didn’t get a chance to ride him because they were so far behind so early in this matchup.
Detroit’s defense is a bonafide problem right now, not that this is a diversion from their trajectory early in the year. This unit was torched both through the air and on the ground throughout the game on Sunday and didn’t have enough answers with their handful of offensive plays to make a statement.
The 2021 offseason is going to be absolutely crucial for the future in the Motor City. Not only do they need to nail their head coach and general manager hires but they need to find ways to find consistency on both sides of the ball moving forward. Regardless, it’s clear that the Lions are heading straight towards another top-10 pick in the NFL Draft.
Any uncertainty about the current state of the San Francisco 49ers was clarified on Sunday as they visited the Dallas Cowboys. Nick Mullens and the Niners offense made a bad defense look more than capable, even as they scored 33 points, while Kyle Shanahan’s club dropped to 5-9 on the season.
Mullens was quite bad in Week 15, completing just 21-of-36 passes for 219 yards with two scores and two interceptions along with a lost fumble. The rushing attack was fine but the Niners found themselves in a hole and couldn’t rely on the ground game solely to get them out of it. It was a bad showing as they coughed the ball up four times.
In fact, you could easily say that the 49ers weren’t as close as the final score would indicate. Dallas returned a late onside kick for a touchdown that game the Cowboys a 14-point lead before C.J. Beathard, inserted after an injury for Mullens, hit a touchdown pass as time expired to give us the final score.
With all the injuries that the 49ers have been dealt this season, it’s a lost year for San Francisco. But even then, it’s tough to watch a team that was in the Super Bowl a year ago be in this type of spot.
Who would’ve thought that, in a game in which the Dallas Cowboys were without Ezekiel Elliott in addition to the laundry list of other injuries that they’ve been dealt throughout the season, that this team would submit one of their best performances of the year? Yet, that’s where we are and it puts the Cowboys in an interesting spot.
Tony Pollard had a big day in relief of Zeke, totaling 154 yards and two touchdowns in the game. CeeDee Lamb also had a big day while leading the team in receiving and putting an exclamation mark on the win with the Cowboys’ first kickoff return touchdown in over a decade. More importantly, the downtrodden defense forced four turnovers in their best game of the year.
After two straight wins, the Cowboys are somehow still alive in the NFC East race, trailing Washington by just one game in the standings. With two winnable games left on their schedule, it’s not out of the question for Dallas to wildly make it into the playoffs and host a game.
But really, that’s not what fans should want. The Andy Dalton-led Cowboys aren’t what anyone wants to see in the postseason. Moreover, this team would be better served with high-end draft capital rather than a playoff loss.
It’s hard to truly fault the New York Giants for losing in primetime to a playoff team when they were forced to start Colt McCoy at quarterback once again but, at the same time, you have to play the hand that you’re dealt in the NFL. And with this hand, New York completely folded on the national stage.
McCoy did throw for over 200 yards with no turnovers but the fact that he hit that first mark is surprising to anyone who watched the game. He never truly got into a great rhythm after two early turnovers on downs that stopped decent drives by the Giants and, in turn, the team never found their mojo either.
New York had a grand opportunity to get back into the thick of the NFC East race with a win on Sunday night but, instead, they only made the race more complicated as now both they and the Dallas Cowboys are just one game back of the Football Team.
If the G-Men have to move into the final two weeks of the season with McCoy and with injuries piling up on defense, we could simply be watching the playoff chances of this team slowly dissipate over their final two outings of the 2020 season.
Not that we weren’t already aware of this but it’s the turning of the page for the New England Patriots dynasty, officially. With a 22-12 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, Bill Belichick’s club was officially eliminated from the postseason and it’s hard to find any positives outside of that either after this performance.
Sony Michel might’ve been the lone bright spot but he wasn’t enough. Cam Newton’s inefficiencies as a passer were evident with 17-of-27 for 209 yards on the day. Moreover, the defense suffered a big blow as cornerback Stephon Gilmore suffered a non-contact injury that took him out of the game.
The Dolphins were able to put up 22 points on the Pats despite not having their three best pass-catchers on the active roster for Sunday. It’s clear that New England must go into the offseason looking to aggressively improve, especially on offense.
New England is ailing in the post-Tom Brady era as they may not only miss the playoffs but could also finish below .500 as they sit at just 6-8 on the season. The Patriots have some serious work to do moving forward to build for future success.
For much of the season, the Los Angeles Chargers have been the poster-child for a team that is impressive when you watch them but is incapable of winning games, especially contests that wind up being close in the fourth quarter. But over the past two weeks, they have seemingly flipped a switch.
First in Week 14 with a win over the Falcons and then on Thursday Night Football with a 30-27 overtime win over the Raiders, the Chargers not only have two straight wins but two straight wins that came on the heels of late-game execution.
Rookie quarterback Justin Herbert continued to be a revelation as he went 22-of-32 for 314 yards and two touchdowns. Moreover, he rushed for the game-winning touchdown in overtime after the defense held Las Vegas to only a field goal in the extra frame.
The Chargers clearly still have some holes to fill moving forward. After all, they beat a bad Falcons team and a Raiders team that was forced to turn to Marcus Mariota in this game due to a Derek Carr injury. But with the way Herbert is playing, there is hope for the future and for a strong finish to 2020.
When it became clear that the Washington Football Team was going to have to host the Seattle Seahawks in Week 15 while starting Dwayne Haskins at quarterback and with rookie running back Antonio Gibson out of the lineup, it figured to be a long day for Ron Rivera’s club. And early on, things were playing out in that exact manner as Seattle jumped out to a 13-0 lead and then took a 20-3 lead in the third quarter.
To the credit of Washington, though, they never relented and showed a ton of fight. That shouldn’t be a surprise for a team under Rivera’s watch but it was still impressive to watch play out. Largely on a strong fourth-quarter performance from Haskins, despite being under constant pressure thanks to an injury to Morgan Moses, the Football Team clawed back into the game and ultimately had a drive to potentially take the lead late. They fell short but they were still in the mix.
Thanks to a loss by the Giants, the Football Team remains atop the NFC East for now with a 6-8 record on the year. Their lead is narrowing, though, as the Cowboys are now only one game back of them as well. If Washington can get their offense steadied, however, their defense is capable of helping them punch a playoff berth — even if it only leads to a Wild Card Round exit.
After eeking out a win over the Panthers to conclude November, the Minnesota Vikings appeared to be a team that was hitting its stride with the potential to make some noise in the playoffs after charging into the field. But instead, the Vikings have reverted to their early-season form of struggling.
They needed overtime to beat the Jaguars in Week 13, were handled quite decisively last week by the Buccaneers and then were handled again in Week 15 with a matchup against Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears. The loss now drops them to 6-8 on the season and takes them out of the postseason mix.
You have to feel bad for Dalvin Cook as the running back is enjoying a monster season, which he added to with a 24-carry, 132-yard, one-touchdown showing against the Bears. And Justin Jefferson remains on track to win Offensive Rookie of the Year after another 100-yard outing.
But this Vikings defense has been a glaring issue all year and the Bears made that obvious on Sunday. As it turns out, the midseason surge from Minnesota was the mirage, not their struggles to start the year. And you now have to wonder what changes await the Vikings in the 2021 offseason.
Remember when the Las Vegas Raiders seemed like a lock to make the playoffs? Jon Gruden’s club was 6-3 on the season and was playing quality football on both sides of the ball. The wheels have since fallen off, however, and we are currently in the heart of another late-season collapse for the silver and black.
Thursday’s loss to the Chargers was a real punch to the gut for the Raiders. Not only did they lose in overtime but they saw Derek Carr exit the game. Marcus Mariota performed beautifully when thrust into action but it wasn’t enough for the team to overcome as they were also short-handed on defense due to injuries.
Now at 7-7, the Raiders’ playoff hopes are all but done as they have a matchup with the Dolphins and then the season finale against the Broncos looming. An 8-8 finish to the year seems likely, even if Mariota is forced to start the final two games of the year.
But given how they started, that has to be seen as a disappointment in Las Vegas. The Raiders are reaching the point in the Gruden era where they are steadily improving but need to take a big step forward sooner rather than later. Because right now, they can’t quite get over the hump.
On the heels of losing six straight games after starting the season at 5-1, we were all ready to pour dirt on the Chicago Bears. That seemed even more true given the fact that an injury to Nick Foles put them in a spot where they were forced to start Mitchell Trubisky once again. But lo and behold, the Bears are still alive in the NFC playoff race.
In Week 15 as they went on the road to play the rival Vikings, the Bears submitted an impressive performance. Running back David Montgomery was the star of the show, rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns on the day. But Trubisky also played well enough as he went 15-of-21 for 202 yards with a score and an interception.
It should be noted that the concerns about the Bears’ viability weren’t exactly quelled with this performance. Chicago jumped out to a 20-7 lead in the first half but then allowed Kirk Cousins and the Vikings to climb back into things with a fourth-quarter touchdown making it 30-27.
Next week’s matchups against the Jaguars should be a win for the Bears that will move them to 8-7 and keep their thin playoff hopes alive. But really, this all feels like it’s building to the Packers putting the final nail in Chicago’s coffin for the 2020 season in Week 17, a real salt-in-the-wound situation.
You would think that head coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals would look at what they did on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles and not deviate from that plan. That plan, of course, is for quarterback Kyler Murray to look the way of DeAndre Hopkins early and often and it worked beautifully in Week 15.
As the second-year signal-caller guided the Cardinals to a 33-26 win over Philly, Murray completed 27-of-36 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 29 yards and a score. And Hopkins was at the heart of that, catching nine of 11 balls for 169 yards and a touchdown on the day.
Arizona is far from a perfect team. The defense had fits trying to contain Jalen Hurts on Sunday and they had to fend off a last-second Hail Mary attempt to secure the victory. But they are winning and making plays when it matters, which is a step in the right direction.
In all likelihood, the Cardinals are going to make the playoffs and then have an early exit from the postseason. They are an ascending team that is likely a year away from contention. But even then, they remain a fun team to watch and one that is clearly on the rise.
What the heck happened to Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams in Week 15? Prior to facing the Jets on Sunday, the Rams legitimately looked like one of the best teams in the NFC with the playoffs approaching. Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and the defense were playing awesome football and Jared Goff had recaptured some of the magic he and the offense possessed that helped lead them to a Super Bowl appearance. The needle was pointing decidedly up for the Rams.
Then Sunday happened and it’s impossible to say what exactly caused their struggles against the worst team in the league prior to the matchup but they were undeniably there. Goff made a litany of mistakes, Cam Akers and the rushing attack were wholly ineffective and the Rams defense couldn’t consistently come up with stops. It was the type of game that raises serious concerns about LA.
Fans in Los Angeles looking for optimism could certainly write this loss off as simply overlooking their opponent, a Jets team that has played a bit better as of late. Having said that, the defeat drops the Rams out of the NFC West lead and could potentially make their road through the playoffs harder, which is disconcerting given how they played against Gang Green.
Miami Dolphins certainly have to enjoy the taste of being the team that officially ended the playoff hopes of the rival Patriots with their 22-12 win at home on Sunday. But they should also feel confident in the fact that this team faced some pretty tall odds coming into the Week 15 game and still came out on top.
Rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa came into this game already behind the 8-ball as arguably his three top pass-catching weapons — DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki and Jakeem Grant — were all unavailable for this game. But that didn’t stop the offense from finding success and the defense from being dominant once again.
Tagovailoa completed 20-of-26 passes for only 145 yards and threw a red-zone interception but he stepped up and showed his toughness and moxie with two crucial rushing touchdowns. With Salvon Ahmed and Matt Breida rushing for over 200 combined yards, the defense did its job and the rest was history.
The Dolphins are in a precarious spot in terms of their playoff chances as they likely need to beat the Bills in Week 17 to make the field. But even with that, this team is clearly in a great spot moving forward whether or not they make the playoffs or not.
Just watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they don’t feel like a 9-5 team with the very likely potential to finish the year at 11-5. But that’s what they are in reality, which is a testament to them. But Tom Brady and the Bucs are most certainly not winning any beauty contests right now. And more pressingly, this is a team that does not look like it’s primed to make a run when the playoffs roll around.
On Sunday in Atlanta, the Buccaneers couldn’t get anything going offensive in the first half as they fell into a 17-0 hole. Moreover, the Tampa Bay defense that looked like one of the most dominant units in the league early in the season continued the concerning trend of being quite porous and not helping out the offense in really any capacity. But, of course, Brady cooked up some comeback magic — a familiar situation for Falcons fans — and a deep touchdown to Antonio Brown got the Bucs the win.
Tampa Bay finishes out their 2020 regular season slate with matchups against the Lions and Falcons. Based on what we’ve seen from those two opponents, those should be wins for the Buccaneers. However, everyone should be watching this team to see if they can put together four quarters of quality play on both sides of the ball to determine if they’re an actual postseason threat.
There has been no one questioning the Tennessee Titans offense in the 2020 season. And those questions aren’t going to start after their Week 15 win over the Detroit Lions as they were simply scoring at will at home in Nissan Stadium, winning to the tune of 46-25.
Everything was clicking on that side of the ball for the Titans. Derrick Henry, the straw that stirs the drink in Nashville, was dominant as he rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Moreover, Ryan Tannehill was lethal with his arm and legs, going 21-of-27 for 273 yards and three scores while rushing for two scores as well.
But what should give Titans fans a ton of optimism is that this defense is finally getting healthy, which could be a big boon going into the postseason. Outside of D’Andre Swift and a few plays to Marvin Jones, the Lions couldn’t get a rhythm going offensively and you have to believe that the returns of Adoree’ Jackson and Kristian Fulton played a big role in that.
We saw the Titans go on a big run in the playoffs last season and they’re showing no signs of slowing up. They play a brand of football that can lead to postseason wins and they are playing it at an extremely high level right now.
The Cleveland Browns dropping from last week’s NFL Power Rankings has nothing to do with their performance in Week 15 but, rather, the fact that these rankings publish on Monday morning before this team suffered a tight loss to the Ravens. But make no mistake, the Browns are clearly a top-10 NFL team after they handled the Giants on Sunday Night Football this week.
For much of the year, the success of the Cleveland offense has been predicated on their rushing attack, which makes sense given the prowess of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. But over the past few weeks, Baker Mayfield has been coming into his own and that was evident vs. New York.
With Chubb and Hunt held under 80 combined yards on the night, Mayfield was nearly perfect. He completed just shy of 85 percent of his passes while also throwing for 297 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. The defense had no issue keeping Colt McCoy quiet as they cruised to a win.
Kevin Stefanski’s club is now 10-4 on the season and is in prime position to make the playoff, even if they haven’t officially locked up a spot. With the way this offense is playing under Mayfield right now, though, this shouldn’t be a team anyone in the AFC wants to see right now.
Better late than never should be the motto of the Baltimore Ravens as they come into the home stretch of the regular season. Not long ago, there were serious questions about what was wrong with Lamar Jackson and the offense. Moreover, it appeared as if the team was in real danger of missing the playoffs after finishing last year with the AFC’s best record.
Over the last two weeks, the narrative has decisively changed. Yes, there was the now-infamous cramping/bathroom break incident for Jackson but that moment somewhat overshadowed a phenomenal performance from the Ravens. Against a team that is now 10-4 in the Browns, they got into a shootout and were with Cleveland every step in the way, ultimately pulling out the victory. Then they finished that off this week with a dominant rout of the Jaguars, a lowly team but one they needed to beat nonetheless.
Though the Ravens currently sit outside of the playoff picture in the AFC right now, they are right on the cusp. And with the way they’re currently playing, Baltimore could undoubtedly come up with a big late-season move to get into the postseason field.
The engimatic nature of the Seattle Seahawks is truly relentless. Early in their Week 15 trip across the country to play the Washington Football Team, it looked as if Russell Wilson and his cohorts were going to boat-race a fraudulent club masquerading as a playoff team because they play in the NFC East.
But as the game wore on, that changed. The success that the Seahawks had early on with the football in their possession went away. Moreover, the defense that caused Dwayne Haskins and short-handed Washington offense problems early on started to give up ground inch-by-inch.
At the end of the day, the Seahawks came away with a 20-15 win but they allowed a team without its starting quarterback and running back to have a chance at a fourth-quarter comeback, a good chance at that. That’s got to be a concern, especially for a team that just recently lost to the New York Giants.
The good news for Seattle is that, with their win and the Rams losing to the Jets, they are now back atop the NFC West standings. The race in that division is extremely tight, however. So if the Seahawks want to secure a home playoff game, they need to figure out a way to play 60 minutes of quality football, especially in regards to the offense that has carried them for much of the year.
The Indianapolis Colts are much like a train moving at a relatively slow speed right now. They don’t appear all that menacing and you might not be afraid looking at them. But if a team gets in their way, they are more than likely going to be slowly crushed. And that’s just the way head coach Frank Reich wants it.
Nothing that the Colts did, aside from securing the game-sealing fumble in the final moments, to beat the Texans 27-20 on Sunday was all that impressive. Yet, when it was all said and done, Indianapolis picked up the win and moved to 10-4 on the season.
With DeForest Buckner back in the lineup, the defense is back to looking like a force as they were consistently dominant in the trenches. Moreover, rookie running back Jonathan Taylor has been playing the best football of his young career, which continued with 16 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown against Houston.
Philip Rivers has also quietly been playing steady football as of late. While this isn’t a team that anyone is going to be fearsome of like the Chiefs or Packers, the Colts also look the part of a team that no one should want to face in the playoffs.
How should we feel about the New Orleans Saints coming off of a 32-29 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday? On one hand, they put a bit of a scare into the reigning Super Bowl champions and took the game down to the wire. Yet, Drew Brees’ first game back was less than impressive and the offense sputtered quite often, especially early in the game.
You have to wonder how much the absence of Michael Thomas affects the Saints when Brees is under center. The wideout is clearly his favorite target and a high-profile security blanket in the passing attack. It was evident that Brees and the Saints missed him on Sunday, which could explain some of the woes.
At the same time, the Saints defense continues to be a unit that makes some big plays but also has some key lapses. Most importantly, though, Brees didn’t look 100 percent prior to his rib injury and he certainly looked lesser than even that against the Chiefs as he returned from his time out of the lineup.
Sitting at 10-4 on the season, the Saints are clearly a playoff team and still have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the NFC. But if they don’t find a way to get things operating more smoothly, it could be another disheartening playoff exit for New Orleans.
Play on Monday Night vs. Bengals – After losing their last two games to Washington and Buffalo, respectively, the Pittsburgh Steelers have dropped from 11-0 to 11-2, which has taken them out of the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The dominant defense hasn’t looked quite as elite as of late but that’s only a problem because the offense has been lackluster.
For much of the year, Ben Roethlisberger and the offense have relied on a lot of big plays to put points on the board. At the same time, James Conner and the rushing attack have been almost wholly ineffective. As a result, with the big plays not coming as frequently, the defense can’t bail them out of every situation.
Luckily, a matchup against the short-handed Bengals should be just what the doctor ordered. T.J. Watt and the defense should feast on a bad offensive line and Big Ben should find enough success to get by.
More importantly, though, the Steelers need to use this as a get-right game. The Bills are nipping at their heels right now in the AFC standings and, with Pittsburgh having matchups against the Colts and Browns in the final two weeks, this could be a tricky race if the Steelers don’t find their form.
Don’t look now but the Buffalo Bills are one of the most dangerous teams in the league right now. They locked up the AFC East on Saturday with a win over the Broncos, the first time that they’ve captured the division crown in 25 years. But with the way this team is performing, their aspirations should indeed be bigger than that.
The ascension of the Bills undeniably starts with the ascension of quarterback Josh Allen in his own right. In his third season, the young signal-caller has taken a massive leap forward and that was evident against the Broncos. He was tossing the ball all over the yard at will and using his legs as well. He ended the game with 359 yards passing, two passing scores and two rushing scores as well. With his play in relation to the likes of Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley and Devin Singletary also stepping up and the defense finally finding their form, this team is dangerous.
Just because he’s a young quarterback — even if he did experience a playoff game last year — you have to wonder if Allen and the Bills are ready to drive through the postseason this year. While that may be true, if they play at the level they currently are when the playoffs roll around, this is a team that can compete with anyone.
On the surface level, the Green Bay Packers just took care of business on Saturday night in Week 15 as they earned a 24-16 victory over the Panthers to move to 11-3 on the season while maintaining their position atop the NFC standings. But overall, it was a pretty ho-hum effort for the potential No. 1 seed in the conference.
Aaron Jones was the driving force for the offense, which was good to see after some less-than-pedestrian performance. The running back took 20 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown on the night while catching three balls for 13 yards. That was good because Aaron Rodgers and the passing attack weren’t at their best.
Green Bay’s passing offense came out of the gates running early on but they hit a wall as the game went on. That’s becoming somewhat of a troubling occurrence for the Packers as they seemingly take their foot off the gas far too often.
While that may be the case, this team is dominant when they have their foot on the gas. The goal over the final two weeks as they try to lock up a first-round bye should be to find that extra gear in stay in it, because that’s what they need to realize their Super Bowl aspirations.
In the biggest matchup of the week, a game billed as a possible Super Bowl preview between the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, the reigning champions emerged with a 32-29 victory to move to an impressive 13-1 on the year. They are on a crash course for the No. 1 seed in the AFC but it wasn’t an easy victory for the Chiefs.
Not only did rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire suffer a scary injury that could be costly down the stretch but the offense was out-of-sync on a number of instances, as evidenced by Patrick Mahomes going just 26-of-47 on the day. And even though Drew Brees looked rusty, the Saints still clawed their way back to make it a close game late.
But in reality, when you watch the Chiefs right now, it does sometimes appear that they are on cruise control. They have been in a number of close games but, when they need to flip the switch and make plays to win the game, they’ve been capable of doing that.
If that is, in fact, where Kansas City is operating at right now, that’s bad news for the rest of the NFL. Because when the playoffs roll around and the AFC runs through Arrowhead, they are playing with the confidence of a team that feels like they’re never out of any game and that can beat anyone. And given what we’ve seen, that assessment might not be incorrect.