This week’s games got off to a thrilling start in Denver between division rivals the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. What was dubbed as the upset of the year with the Chargers beating the Bronco’s 27-20 also opened the race for the 1 seed position in the AFC- one that remained in control of the Broncos after the Patriots’ loss in Miami to the Dolphins. The Chargers came off a Sunday game, where they beat Eli’s Giants only to take on Peyton’s Broncos. A tall order indeed, but Philip Rivers shows again how strong his arm is and beat both Manning brothers within a week’s time. San Diego remains in the hunt for a wildcard spot heading towards the end of the season.
Mike Shanahan has caught a tremendous amount of flack for benching RGIII, but with all of the difficulties and bad decisions the quarterback has made this year, I’m not convinced it was the wrong thing to do. Of course, there is a level of trust that has to be established between a coach and quarterback to stick through the difficult times, but in a situation where so many skeletons are coming out of the closet between Shanahan’s relationship to Daniel Snyder and his bumpy road with Robert Griffin III, it may be the better route to bow out quietly for the remainder of the season. Not to mention, RGIII is injury-prone and since there is no reason to play for the playoffs, there is no obvious reason that Kirk Cousins shouldn’t see some playing time. Needless to say, the added rejuvenation wasn’t enough and the Redskins fell to the Atlanta Falcons 27-26.
The Buccaneers looked like Tampa Bay’s team of old and fell to the 49ers 33-14. San Francisco has had a resurgence and has continued to ride the momentum these past few weeks. Colin Kaepernick is looking more comfortable in the pocket and we’ve seen Jim Harbaugh run both pass and run plays these past few weeks.
The Seattle Seahawks, division rivals with the 49ers, rebounded from last week’s loss with a shut out of the New York Giants 23-0. The problems for the Giants continue to grow. Despite their bleak record, both Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning have said that there will be no quarterback change and that it will remain as is through the end of the season.
The Buffalo Bills pulled one out against the Jacksonville Jaguars with an identical score to Thursday night’s 27-20. The Bills postseason dreams may be gone, but they remain competitive and have diffused some of the life Jacksonville has found over their past few winning weeks. The Bills remain at the bottom of their division behind wildcard chasers, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
Speaking of the Dolphins, they took care of business against the visiting Patriots on Sunday in Miami. New England was presented with the AFC’s prized 1 seed by the Chargers only to gift it back to the Broncos. New England had an opportunity to clinch their division, but couldn’t hang on. The Patriots couldn’t execute when they needed to and let the Dolphins score 17 unanswered points through the middle of the game. The Dolphins keep their playoff dreams alive as they remain in the hunt for a wildcard spot. Tom Brady said it came down to “some good plays and a lot of shitty plays”. A quote that seemingly felt appropriate to their efforts in the red zone. The Patriots have another shot at clinching their division this Sunday when they face off against the Baltimore Ravens.
Don’t count the defending Superbowl champions out yet. Despite the rocky season they’ve had and the decimated team they’ve played with in contrast to the one they had last year, Baltimore came back to win a thriller in Detroit against the Lions thanks to Justin Tucker’s 61-yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the game. This game was close all the way down to the final score, 18-16. Somewhere along, that dropped pass by Megatron remains the “What If” moment within the game. Even if the Lions wouldn’t have scored a touchdown, they would have been in field goal range during that drive.
St. Louis came off a statement win against the New Orleans Saints as the Rams dominated Sean Payton’s team 27-16. Even with a score-heavy fourth quarter led by Drew Brees, the Rams earlier scores kept the Saints from getting too close. Give the Rams credit, though. They came to play and showed a lot of heart against a team that was favored to win. The battle for the division between the Saints and the Panthers remains open as both teams are tied 10-4 going into week 16 as Carolina beat the New York Jets 30-20. The two clubs will face off this week in a must-see matchup.
The Bengals had a chance to knock New England into the 3 seed after their own loss, but fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-20. Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to an opening quarter lead with 21 unanswered points. Despite Cincinnati’s strong play, they couldn’t overcome the difference and go into week 16 remaining in the same 3 seed position they were in before. The Steelers improve to 6-8 on the season and remain in the hunt for a wildcard spot despite being under .500.
Tony Romo’s December struggles continue to mount as the Dallas Cowboys fell to the Green Bay Packers 37-36. With an emphasis on how many yards their defense has given up this season, Dallas was challenged with improving their defensive strategy against the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers. With plenty of chances to win, Tony Romo was intercepted two times within the final three minutes as the Packers found a way to come out with a win. The Cowboys find themselves sitting at .500 again with a record of 7-7 behind Philadelphia.
Nick Foles proved to the world that he is indeed human as he threw his first pick of the season. The Minnesota Vikings, playing without an injured Adrian Peterson, beat the Philadelphia Eagles 48-30. Michael Vick stood by Foles as he said that there is no reason that Foles should not be the quarterback of the Eagles with the way he’s been playing lately. The position is his to lose.
Elsewhere in the league, The Indianapolis Colts handed the Houston Texans their 12th loss of the season, the Arizona Cardinals beat the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime and the Chicago Bears took care of the Cleveland Browns 38-31. The Kansas City Chiefs reminded the remainder of the league why they held the number 1 spot for so long in an enthralling win against the Oakland Raiders 56-31. Despite their impressive score, the defense still gave up 31 points to a team that currently sits at 4-10. Expect Andy Reid’s Chiefs to make some defensive adjustments for their upcoming game in week 16 against the Colts.
With only two weeks left of regular season football, the playoff picture is beginning to solidify as teams nestle into their spots or move around depending on how the rest of the league pans out. Both the AFC and NFC remain competitive and it remains to be anyone’s year this year with so many dynamic and exciting teams. Expect week 16 to be more exciting than previous weeks as weather, preparation and strategy all play pivotal factors for the upcoming games.
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