If you have been watching the NFL for the whole season, Week 15 was one of, if not the wildest week of football this season. We saw the largest comeback in NFL history, the Patriots lose a game in mind-breaking fashion, the Chiefs go to overtime against the Texans, the Bengals scoring three touchdowns, while only totaling 82 combined yards on those drives, and the Bills-Dolphins game having a delay because fans were throwing snowballs at Dolphins’ players. It was a reality show in week 15.
NFL Week 15 recap: Jaguars should be favored to win the AFC South
Trevor Lawrence’s resurgence in the last month has propelled Jacksonville into serious playoff contenders. In the last six games, Lawrence has completed 70.4 percent of his passes, averaged 280 passing yards per game, while throwing for 15 touchdowns and one interception. During that stretch, the Jaguars are 4-2, and have come within a game of the Titans in the division race.
Sunday’s comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys was another example of how good Lawrence has been in the second half of the season. The Jaguars found themselves down 27-10 late in the third quarter. The second-year quarterback would throw three touchdowns in an eight-minute span before leading a game-tying field goal drive to force overtime later in the fourth quarter. Jacksonville would prevail on a game-winning pick-six, winning 40-34. Lawrence completed 27 of 42 pass attempts for 318 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.
While the Jaguars have been picking up steam, the Titans have entered a freefall, losing four straight games. Tennessee currently leads the division at 7-7, while the Jaguars are 6-8. Jacksonville’s remaining schedule features three very winnable games against the Jets, Texans, and Titans in the final week that could decide the division.
Meanwhile, the Titans face the Texans, Cowboys, and as mentioned earlier, the Jaguars in week 18. If the Titans slip up once prior to their week 18 meeting against the Jaguars, and Jacksonville wins their next two games, the Titans and Jaguars will have the same record going into week 18.
If you are a true football fan, you want to see Lawrence in the playoffs. Especially in the AFC where there are so many good quarterbacks, and Lawrence is quickly ascending into one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. It is also important to mention that Doug Pederson should be given a lot of credit for this team’s recent success, and the Jaguars are becoming one of the most exciting teams to watch on a weekly basis.
The Jets will miss the NFL playoffs
Zach Wilson made his highly anticipated return to the starting lineup against the Lions in week 16. The second-year quarterback was fine in his return, but the Jets ultimately came up short in a 20-17 loss to Detroit.
I have never been a fan of Wilson’s dating back to the draft process, and there is some arm talent there, but you simply cannot trust Wilson play-to-play. He makes the really difficult throws look easy, but the easy throws look extremely hard too many times. While the 23-year-old quarterback threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns, Wilson just completed 18 of 35 pass attempts and threw an egregious interception where he simply did not see the safety coming over the top.
At the moment, New York is a better team with Mike White at the helm, but White is unavailable to suit up for the time being with a rib injury he suffered in week 14 against the Bills. With Wilson being the starter for potentially the rest of the season, the Jets are in grave danger of missing out on the playoffs. At 7-7 and with teams like the Chargers and Dolphins ahead of them, the Jets have an uphill battle to make a wild card spot.
New York’s defense is still a top unit in the league and will have to continue to carry the load as long as Wilson is the starting quarterback. It is a very weird situation because Wilson has talent, but he simply cannot connect the dots right now. Wilson had seven completions of 20 yards or more against the Lions, showing that he can make plays down the field, but those plays come with head-scratching incompletions on easy throws.
Wilson’s attitude and play must improve drastically if the Jets want to find themselves in postseason play. New York’s remaining schedule includes Jacksonville, Seattle, and Miami. The Jets will probably have to win out to at least have a chance for the NFL playoffs.
Don’t overreact to the Chiefs’ overtime win over the Texans
Yes, the Chiefs struggled against the Texans. Yes, I never thought that game would go into overtime. But the Chiefs are going to be just fine. We have seen the Chiefs from time-to-time play down to their competition, and this was another example of how Kansas City can have lapses. However, we have seen many times when the Chiefs have a big game and it’s time to show up, it happens more often than not.
People talk about the last two weeks as proof that the Chiefs are in trouble or that they are falling behind the Bills and Bengals. First of all, the Chiefs were up 27-0 against the Broncos and simply took the foot off the gas on both sides of the ball. Patrick Mahomes made uncharacteristic decisions, and that may have been because of the Broncos’ defense or simply the fact that the Chiefs lost interest and focus in a game where they were up by nearly four touchdowns.
As for the Texans game, this was simply an example of a very good team overlooking a terrible football team late in the season. The Chiefs went into the game with the notion that the Texans were going to fold and give Kansas City the game. The Texans viewed the Chiefs letting their guard down as an opportunity to steal a game, which they almost did.
Defensively, the Chiefs were atrocious. Committing penalty after penalty, extending Texans’ drives. The secondary has been a unit that has been heavily criticized this season, but when you are playing three rookies on the back end, these types of things are going to happen. Cornerback is arguably the toughest position to play after quarterback. When you are depending on a rookie to be your number one cornerback, then, yes, you will struggle to contain the pass. These growing pains were expected to happen going into the season. It is still a concern of course, but I expect the Chiefs to patch things up against better teams and when the playoffs roll around.
Another reason I think the Chiefs’ struggles in this game are overstated is the fact that Kansas City’s defense made a play when it really counted. In overtime, Davis Mills was scrambling to this left, and Frank Clark punched the ball out, leading to a Willie Gay fumble recovery. This is an example that when the defense buckles down and knows that it needs to make a stand, it is a formidable unit.
Another reason I am not overly concerned with the Chiefs is the fact that this offense moved up and down the field. Mahomes went 36-41 for 336 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score. Isiah Pacheco ran 15 times for 86 yards and Jerick Mckinnon ran 10 times for 52 yards. The offense shot itself in the foot with penalties and turnovers.
Of course, I did not want to see the Chiefs needing to beat the Texans in overtime, but the last two weeks have simply been examples of the Chiefs taking their foot off the gas and not taking their opponents seriously.
I think the Chiefs are a completely different team in big games, and Kansas City has been there and done that over the last few seasons. Don’t overreact to this situation.