NFL Week 14 Recap
With four games left now before we start the road to the Super Bowl, lets look back at all the action from Week 14. We had the worst game of the season, a superstar tantrum, and the number one seed in the NFC is now up for grabs!
Teams on Bye
Arizona Cardinals & Washington Commanders
Thursday Night Football
New England Patriots 21 – Pittsburgh Steelers 18
In less than a week the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to two 2-10 teams and didn’t look good in either contest. They allowed the Patriots to score their first opening touchdown of the season and made Zappe look like a young Tom Brady. The Steelers linebackers are depleted, their secondary has holes, the offensive play calling looks like Matt Canada has returned and Trubisky’s play resulted in “Mason Rudolph” chants breaking out from Steelers Nation. With a tough final four games the Steelers could face missing the playoffs once again and recording the first losing season in Tomlin’s career as Steelers Head Coach.
Bailey Zappe came out hot, like a young Tom Brady as he marched down the field with ease against the Steelers defence. Zappe threw a total of three touchdowns against the Steelers and Hunter Henry embarrassed the Steelers secondary for two of those touchdowns. JuJu Smith-Schuster, the former Steeler, returns to face his old team and like James Conner last week, had himself a day racking up 90 yards in clutch moments against his former team. Belichick continues his dominance over Pittsburgh…
Playoff Seeding: Steelers 6th Seed (Down 1) – Patriots Eliminated
Sunday Early Window
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29 – Atlanta Falcons 25
Baker Mayfield pulls it out of the bag and leads the Buccaneers to a division win over the Falcons. The worst division in football continues to be just that as three of the four teams are now tied with the same sub-500 record. But the Buccaneers are trying to claim the division title once again and made a statement on Sunday. Once again Mayfield had to do it himself as the Buccaneers run game cannot be relied on and with 31 seconds left Mayfield threw the go ahead touchdown to win!
The Falcons might feel hard done by as the referees clearly missed on replay a fumble on the Buccaneers game winning drive that they called down by contact. The Falcons kept the game close even with their offensive line being decimated throughout the game. Once again Ridder threw an ugly interception to cost the Falcons the game, a common theme in Atlanta this season.
Playoff Seeding: Buccaneers 4th Seed (Up 6) – Falcons 10th Seed (Down 6)
Baltimore Ravens 37 – Los Angeles Rams 31 (OT)
The Ravens escaped a close one against the Rams at home as their defence struggled to stop Stafford and his passing game. While Lamar Jackson remained as elusive as ever and extended plays constantly throughout the game, ending up in a shootout that went to overtime wasn’t what Ravens fans expected. Thankfully after the Ravens went 3 and out and punted to the Rams, they too went 3 and out and punted back to the Ravens only to have Tylan Wallace turn on the burners and return the punt for a touchdown, ending the game.
Matt Stafford is one tough SOB, and while he was hit and pressured all game, he still managed some beautiful side arm throws that would put Mahomes to shame and dropped some amazing balls into tight windows. The young Rams team hung tough with an AFC powerhouse and almost caused the upset on the arm of Stafford and the receiving ability of Puka and Kupp. The Rams are a team to watch down the stretch!
Playoff Seeding: Ravens 1st Seed (Up 1) – Rams 8th Seed (Up 1)
Chicago Bears 28 – Detroit Lions 13
The Bears win the rematch against the Lions to split the series and put a speed bump in the way of the Lion’s playoff drive. Justin Fields did what he does best, extended plays with his legs against the Lion’s defence. He never looked uncomfortable against the pass rush and picked apart the Lion’s secondary when key yardage was needed to extend drives. The Bears wanted to show the NFC the Lion’s might not be all that!
Goff started slow and then suffered with scattershot accuracy against the Bears secondary as they couldn’t rally back once the Bears took the lead. Goff seems to be hit and miss against the Bears as he threw two interceptions and struggled all game and the loss has provided an opening for the Vikings and Packers with four games remaining.
Playoff Seeding: Bears 13th Seed (No Change) – Lions 3rd Seed (No Change)
Cincinnati Bengals 34 – Indianapolis Colts 14
Jake Browning is bringing life back to the Bengals after Burrow went down for the season. After a shaky debut against the Steelers, Browning hasn’t looked back and has continued to impress and bring the heat. He only had one interception during the game and that was a tipped pass. Browning seems comfortable in the offense and can drive the field and pick up chunk plays. Suddenly the Bengals playoff hopes have life with Browning under centre!
The Colts needed the win, they are feeling the pressure from the Texans, Broncos, Bengals and Bills who are all 7-6 as well. With four games remaining the Colts need to find a way to win and play mistake free football through all phases otherwise they’ll quickly find themselves on the outside looking in. Minshew needs to shoulder a lot of this responsibility and bring the team down the field and score while the Colts coaching staff need to correct the mistakes before it’s too late.
Playoff Seeding: Bengals 10th Seed (No Change) – Colts 7th Seed (No Change)
Cleveland Browns 31 – Jacksonville Jaguars 27
Joe Flaco, 38 years old, rolled off the couch, pulled on a Browns jersey and is now keeping them alive in the AFC playoff picture. Flaco kept the Jaguars off balance all game and only gave up one interception as he exploited the Jaguars inability to cover Njoku. Delivering a blow to the Jaguars in the AFC playoff picture all while keeping themselves alive and away from surging AFC teams.
Trevor Lawrence took the field and you couldn’t tell he had an ankle injury, his health wasn’t an issue against the Browns but his mistakes and decision making were. Lawrence threw three interceptions against the Browns on Sunday, killing all momentum the team were trying to build into comeback scores throughout the game. Without the support of a successful running game, the Jagus became one dimensional and the Browns preyed on this all game.
Playoff Seeding: Browns 5th Seed (Up 1) – Jaguars 4th Seed (No Change)
New Orleans Saints 28 – Carolina Panthers 6
And we’re back in the worst division in football as the Saints beat up a terrible Panthers team in order to remain in the hunt for the division title and a playoff berth. Starting slow and struggling to score, the Saints finally found a way to get points on the board and slowly wore down the Panthers defence in order to pull out the win. There was nothing pretty about this game other than you could get a ticket to the game for less than a Starbucks on Sunday.
The Panthers need to help Bryce Young otherwise his NFL career is going to be a short and ugly one. Young spent most of the game finding success with his legs rather than with his arm as the Panthers lost a sixth straight game for the second time this season. It will be a long offseason for the Panthers front office leading up to the draft and wondering what could have been.
Playoff Seeding: Saints 11th Seed (No Change) – Panthers Eliminated
New York Jets 30 – Houston Texans 6
Nobody expected this outcome, after being benched multiple times, Zach Wilson came out under centre in the rain and helped the Jets drop 30 on the Texans! Throwing for two touchdowns and leading his team to a couple more, even fumbling the ball away didn’t seem to stop the Zach Attack as the Jets soared past the Texans, hurting their playoff hopes in the process. Even if Wilson leads the Jets to win out, in a tight AFC that might not be enough for them to make the playoffs but it looks good for the Jets to see Wilson finally play well.
Facing one of the best defences in the league, the Texans struggled all game long. They couldn’t find ways to put points on the board and their only score came as a result of the Zach Wilson fumble. Without Tank Dell and then losing Nico Collins, CJ Stroud struggled all game before he left late in the 4th quarter due to concussion. The Texans defence couldn’t stop the Jets even in the rain when defences normally shine due to a slick ball, the Jets steam rolled them!
Playoff Seeding: Jets 14th Seed (No Change) – Texans 8th Seed (No Change)
Sunday Late Window
Minnesota Vikings 3 – Las Vegas Raiders 0
Welcome to the worst game of football this season, the final score is something you’d normally see in soccer as the Vikings and Raiders seemingly didn’t want to score or couldn’t score or both!
The only reason there was a score is due to the Vikings pulling Dobbs for Nick Mullens who just about got them into range for a field goal with two minutes remaining in the game.
Both teams played awful, enough said.
Playoff Seeding: Vikings 6th Seed (No Change) – Raiders 13th Seed (No Change)
San Francisco 49ers 28 – Seattle Seahawks 16
The 49ers became the first team to secure a playoff berth with their win and the Packers loss. Its not surprising to see the49ers punch their ticket to the postseason, after some rocky moments during the season they have gotten hot fast and their offense is explosive at the right time of the year. Yes there are still issues getting the ball moving consistently but they are peaking at the right time of the year. They’re all but a lock for the NFC Championship game at the very least!
The Seahawks stumble again for the fourth straight time and take a hit to their playoff hopes with the loss to their division rival. Without Geno Smith the Seahawks couldn’t remain consistent enough throughout the game to challenge the 49ers. While Lock looked good early, the longer the game went on the more mistakes he made against the 49ers defence, ultimately the Seahawks couldn’t do enough to win.
Playoff Seeding: 49ers 1st Seed (Up 1 & Clinched Berth) – Seahawks 9th Seed (Down 1)
Buffalo Bills 20 – Kansas City Chiefs 17
The Bills go on the road, and put down a statement win against the Chiefs while keeping their playoff hopes alive. While the statement win on the road was fantastic news for Bills Mafia, it was an ugly win as the Bills still struggle with self-inflicted errors which resulted in poor down and distances for the offense to overcome. Allen still threw an interception which plagues his career and will result in losses in the postseason if he cannot keep the ball secure.
The Chiefs are still struggling with their pass catchers, Mahomes still is frustrated and now you can add throwing tantrums to that mix. Toney lined up so far offside, the referees could not see the ball in the centre’s hand. Toney didn’t check within and assumed he was onside, the flag was correct but the tantrums still came. The Chiefs need to worry about their receivers catching the ball and not making silly mistakes in alignment situations if they want to beat some of these AFC playoff teams.
Playoff Seeding: Bills 11th Seed (No Change) – Chiefs 3rd Seed (No Change)
Denver Broncos 24 – Los Angeles Chargers 7
They started 2-5 and now the Broncos are pushing hard for an AFC Wild Card spot with an impressive win over the Chargers. Wilson to Sutton connection continues to grow and prove to be an issue for opposing defences. The Broncos defence continue to be punishing and unforgiving, it seems ever since they allowed 70 points they decided that was it and have stepped up big time.
The Chargers are not the Chargers, and after Herbert went down with a finger injury the Chargers season is absolutely done and dusted. After only putting up 6 points against the Patriots last week they only managed to put up 7 against the Broncos. Against the unforgiving Broncos defence Herbert couldn’t move the ball, when Easton Stick came in in place of Herbert the Chargers managed to score their only points.
Playoff Seeding: Broncos 9th Seed (No Change) – Chargers 12th Seed (No Change)
Sunday Night Football
Dallas Cowboys 33 – Philadelphia Eagles 13
Dak and dem boyz showed up big against their division rivals and made sure to beat down the Eagles on prime time. The Cowboys started strong and never looked back, with Dak leading them on four back to back scoring drives to send the Eagles stumbling to the locker room at half time down 24-6. Their defence smothered the Eagles offense and contained Hurts for the majority of the night. Now the Cowboys find themselves tied atop the NFC at 10-3 with the Eagles and 49ers with four games left in the season.
The Eagles could have locked up a playoff berth by beating the Cowboys on Sunday Night, instead they fumbled, stumbled and fell to the unrelenting Cowboys. The biggest issue on the night was ball security as the Eagles coughed the ball up three times via fumbles and couldn’t figure out the Cowboys defence. Now tied with the Cowboys and 49ers at 10-3, the NFC #1 Seed is up for grabs!
Playoff Seeding: Cowboys 2nd Seed (Up 3) – Eagles 5th Seed (Down 4)
Monday Night Football
Tennessee Titans 28 – Miami Dolphins 27
The Titans pulled out a shocking win against the Dolphins, although they did everything in their power to lose the game. Muffing a punt and fumbling the ball, both allowing the Dolphins to score in the 4th quarter, the Titans didn’t give up. Will Levis, DeAndre Hopkins and Derek Henry, its unsurprising these names are linked to the Titans amazing comeback win, they authored it and the Titans defence stepped up to close out the Dolphins last gasp attempted at a comeback. While their playoff hopes are all but dead, they made sure to put a dent in Miami’s seeding.
The Dolphins dropped the chance to keep pace with the Ravens who are now alone atop the AFC. The biggest issue they faced was Tyreek Hill missing a chunk of the game with an ankle injury before finally coming back in to help his team generate offense again. Hill is showing his MVP worth as without him on the field the Dolphins couldn’t move the ball against the Titans. With every game a must win now, the Dolphins need Hill to be 100% as the postseason approaches.
Playoff Seeding: Titans 15th Seed (No Change) – Dolphins 2nd Seed (Down 1)
New York Giants 24 – Green Bay Packers 22
Is there going to be a quarterback controversy in New York come the offseason as Tommy DeVito, now known as “Tommy Cutlets” brings home another impressive win over the surging Packers. DeVito took whatever the Packers defence gave him, through the air and on the ground he moved the ball just enough to close out the game. The Giants fans seem to be completely on the side of DeVito and who knows how Daniel Jones will be greeted when he returns to assume the starter position. With the Giants basically out of the playoffs, fans can enjoy the remaining games with the new legend, Tommy Cutlets!
The Packers were surging, Jordan Love looked like he was all set for a late season surge to bring the Pack within spitting distance of the postseason and then Tommy DeVito decided no more. In prime time, this young Packers team couldn’t seem to handle the pressure and Jordan Love couldn’t quite figure out the Giants defence. Now they need to push to win out the remainder of their games as they hang onto the final seed and the hope of a postseason.
Playoff Seeding: Giants 12th Seed (No Change) – Packers 7th Seed (No Change)