Tom Henigan
After week 15 we now have three weeks to go in the 2024 NFL regular season. The latest round of games provided us with the highest scoring game of the season and also saw the playoff race heat up in both the AFC and the NFC.
To start, there were a few games this week where the only real stakes were to determine where each team will pick in the 2025 NFL draft. In those games, the New York Jets beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 32-25 to move to 4-10, while the Jaguars are now 3-11. In that matchup, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams were at the top of their game and both had big days. Elsewhere, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers 30-14. The Cowboys now hold a 6-8 record. For the Panthers, they sit at 3-11.
Moving forward to look at the more meaningful games that took place, week 15 kicked off with an NFC West matchup on Thursday Night Football. The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers were both coming off of big wins in week 14 and faced off with both teams trying to continue their momentum.
Purdy also threw a 4th quarter interception with his team down 9-6
For the 49ers, this game was essentially a must-win to keep their season alive. Unfortunately for them, they could not get much going on offense all night. Deebo Samuel did drop a potential touchdown but, outside of that, Brock Purdy struggled to lead his offense down the field. Purdy also threw a 4th quarter interception with his team down 9-6 while they were in field goal range. While the 49ers defense did step up in this game, they could not stop a 12 play Rams drive on the resulting possession from Purdy’s pick. The drive lasted almost five minutes and extended LA’s lead to six points, with essentially no time left for Purdy when he got the ball back. The Rams won 12-6 and moved to an 8-6 record on the season. The 49ers are now 6-8 with that loss and their season looks to be all but over. While the team has suffered with injuries, this has been a very disappointing season for last year’s NFC representative in the Super Bowl.
The Rams would have been watching the games of the other two teams in the NFC West, who played on Sunday, and they wouldn’t have been happy with the first result. In a somewhat expected outcome, the Arizona Cardinals beat the New England Patriots 30-17 to move to 7-7 and keep their playoff hopes alive. With their loss, the Patriots dropped to 3-11. Then, on Sunday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers did the Rams and the Cardinals a big favour. Green Bay beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-13, meaning the Rams now lead the NFC West despite Seattle having the same record at 8-6. That is because the Rams beat the Seahawks when the two teams played earlier this year. They will meet again in the last week of the regular season, while the Cardinals play the Rams the week before that.
If Jordan Love continues to play at a high level late in the season, don’t count the Packers out
Speaking of the Packers, this was a big bounce-back win for them after their crushing loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving. Green Bay is going to be a wildcard team meaning they will most likely have to win on the road multiple times if they want to make the Super Bowl. But if Jordan Love continues to play at a high level late in the season, don’t count the Packers out.
Green Bay might be out of the race for the NFC North but the fight for that title is still being contested with three weeks to go. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. The Bears remain bottom of the division with a 4-10 record. The Vikings, however, are tied for the best record in the NFC at 12-2, which is also the second-best record in the NFL. Despite this, the Vikings are still the fifth seed in the NFC but they did have some help in their hunt for the division title this week.
The Detroit Lions fell to the Buffalo Bills, 48-42, in the highest scoring game of the season so far. Jared Goff threw for almost 500 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. It wasn’t enough to win, though, and now if the Vikings win their remaining games, including against the Lions in week 18, Minnesota will win the NFC North without having to worry about tiebreakers as they would have a better record than the Lions. Having said all of this, the Lions are still the number one seed in the NFC and, if they win their remaining games, they will remain as the NFC’s first seed heading into the playoffs.
The main problem for Detroit right now is injuries. Going into the game against the Bills, the Lions were suffering badly from the injury bug. After the Buffalo game, they have now also lost running back David Montgomery, as well as defensive lineman Alim McNeill, for the rest of the season. Their cornerback, Carlton Davis III, is also facing significant time out but could be back for the playoffs. The Lions and Vikings are battling to either get a first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs or having to be the fifth seed and likely play on the road throughout the playoffs.
There is a third 12-2 team in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles, who have now won ten in a row after they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-13. Jalen Hurts responded well after there was some drama last week about Philadelphia’s passing game as he threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Saquon Barkley was quiet but both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith had over 100 receiving yards as well as a touchdown each.
In order to attain the AFC’s number one seed, the Bills will need to win their last three games and hope that the Kansas City Chiefs lose two of their last three matchups
The results in Detroit’s and Philadelphia’s games had big ramifications in the NFC but also in the AFC. The win for the Bills was big for Josh Allen’s MVP campaign and also for Buffalo’s quest in the race for the AFC’s first seed as they are now 11-3. But, in order to attain the AFC’s number one seed, the Bills will need to win their last three games and hope that the Kansas City Chiefs lose two of their last three matchups. That is after the Chiefs beat the Cleveland Browns 21-7 to move to a record of 13-1, the best in the NFL. In that game, Patrick Mahomes did unfortunately suffer an injury which could keep him out of Kansas City’s week 16 game against the Houston Texans. The loss for the Steelers against the Eagles practically eliminates Pittsburgh from contending for the AFC’s number one seed. Now, the Steelers have a massive game in week 16 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens defeated the New York Giants, who are now 2-12, 35-14, as Lamar Jackson threw five touchdown passes. If the Steelers beat the Ravens, they lock up the AFC North. If the Ravens win, the two teams will both be 10-5 with two games remaining.
The Houston Texans have won the AFC South for the second year in a row
Turning our attention to elsewhere in the AFC, the Houston Texans have won the AFC South for the second year in a row after they defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-12, and the Denver Broncos beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-13. The Texans win over the Dolphins means Miami would now need a minor miracle to make it to the playoffs.
In Denver’s win, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was running freely into the endzone before he inexplicably dropped the ball short of the goal line and gave possession back to Denver. At the time, the Colts were leading 13-7 and it would have been 19-7, and probably then 20-7, had Taylor just held onto the ball. Either way, the Texans were crowned division champions after the Colts loss and will be pleased that they have done it now as they face the Chiefs and the Ravens in their next two games.
The Broncos are now 9-5 and look like they will make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season, the year they last won the Super Bowl. Denver will travel to Los Angeles next week to face the Chargers in a game which could decide the sixth and seventh seeds in the AFC. The Chargers will be coming off of a disappointing 40-17 defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving Justin Herbert’s team at 8-6.
The Cincinnati Bengals will be watching the Broncos versus Chargers game closely as Cincinnati’s 37-27 win against the Tennessee Titans kept their slim playoff hopes alive as Joe Burrow’s team now has a 6-8 record. The Titans, who are now 3-11, have named Mason Rudolph their starter for week 16. Like the Dolphins, the Bengals need a minor miracle to make the playoffs, but they should be rooting for the loser of Broncos versus Chargers to also lose the rest of their games this season.
Going back to the result in the Chargers game, it was a big win for the Buccaneers as they remain atop the NFC South. Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns to help move his team to 8-6. The Atlanta Falcons managed to stay in the race for the NFC South, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders 15-9. Despite the win, Kirk Cousins continued to struggle at quarterback for Atlanta and has now been benched for rookie quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. For the Raiders, they are now 2-12, bottom of the AFC West, but at least have a bright spot in the form of their rookie tight end, Brock Bowers.
The New Orleans Saints came into this week with a small chance at getting back into the race for the NFC South with a win, but they were defeated by the Washington Commanders 20-19. The game came down to a two-point attempt after Spencer Rattler found Foster Moreau for a touchdown with zeroes on the clock. But the unsuccessful two-point attempt leaves the Saints at 5-9 and without a chance at the division.
The Commanders are now 9-5 and will most likely be a wildcard team in the sixth or seventh seed after a strong season with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The last two weeks have given us the two highest scoring games of the season so let’s hope that week 16 can continue the trend. That might be wishful thinking but there are several matchups between likely playoff teams in the next round of fixtures which sets up an exciting week of games. The biggest of all the games is the Steelers travelling to the Ravens in a battle for the AFC North, kicking off on Saturday, December 21st, at 9:30pm UK time.
Tom Henigan
Featured image courtesy of London Bridges via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @nfl via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @nfl via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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