Welcome to the Week 14 grades!
When you get this late in the season, almost every game seems to have some playoff implications, and that was definitely the case on Monday night. The Chargers stayed firmly in the AFC playoff picture after beating the Eagles, 22-19, in an overtime thriller.
If the Chargers lost, they would have dropped to the eighth spot in the AFC, which would have put them on the outside looking in. Instead, the Chargers will now head into Week 15 as the fifth overall seed in the conference.
The win by Los Angeles was one of several big games during a Week 14 slate that saw three first- and second-place teams from the same division face off.
Here’s a quick look at those three games:
AFC South: The Jaguars made a statement with their 36-19 win over a Colts team that’s suddenly reeling. At 9-4, it feels like the Jags are now in total control of the division, especially since the Colts just lost Daniel Jones to a season-ending Achilles injury.
AFC North: Just when you thought Mike Tomlin might be on the hot seat, he goes out and leads his team to its biggest win of the season. Tomlin’s Steelers took control of the division by taking out the Baltimore Ravens in a 27-22 win.
NFC North: The Packers moved to the top of the division with a 28-21 win over the Bears in Green Bay. With the loss, the Bears dropped all the way down from the No. 1 seed in the NFC to the seventh seed, just one spot ahead of the Lions, which could certainly add some drama to the NFC North race down the stretch.
There was also a big game on Sunday night with the Texans going into Kansas City and knocking off the Chiefs, 20-10. The Chiefs’ playoff hopes aren’t officially dead yet, but they’re certainly on life support following the loss.
We’re not here to talk about the playoffs, though. We’re here to talk about grades, so let’s get to them, starting with the Chargers’ win over the Eagles.
L.A. Chargers 22-19 over Philadelphia
Houston 20-10 over Kansas City
BIt’s not every day you see a defense manhandle the Chiefs offense, but that’s exactly what Houston did on Sunday night. The Texans have great players at every level of their defense and that was on display in Kansas City: Up front, the pass rush got eight hits on Patrick Mahomes and that led to two sacks. In the secondary, Kamari Lassiter recorded six tackles while coming up with one of Houston’s three interceptions. Offensively, all the Texans had to do was not give the game away and they were able to handle that. Woody Marks (76 total yards, 1 TD) and Nico Collins (121 yards receiving) combined for 197 of Houston’s 268 yards and that was all the Texans needed. This is a Super Bowl-caliber defense and if the the Texans (8-5) can find a way into the playoffs, they could be dangerous. C-The Chiefs have watched Patrick Mahomes save the day so many times that it seemed destined to happen once again on Sunday night, but instead, the Texans defense landed a knockout punch on the Chiefs. Mahomes struggled against Houston, throwing for just 160 yards with three interceptions, but he also got no help from his teammates, who dropped a total of six passes. Two of those drops came from Travis Kelce, including a back-breaking drop in the fourth quarter that led to a game-sealing interception for Houston. Basically, the Chiefs didn’t make the plays that we’ve become accustomed to seeing them make in crunch time. Andy Reid also made an aggressive decision to go for it on fourth down from his own 31-yard line in the fourth quarter. After the Chiefs failed, the Texans took over and ended up scoring what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. The Chiefs look old this year: They look a step slow, they’ve been sloppy at times and the offensive firepower hasn’t been there since the calendar hit November. At 6-7, it’s looking more and more like the Chiefs are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes’ career.
Pittsburgh 27-22 over Baltimore
BAaron Rodgers finally figured out how to get the Steelers offense going: Just throw the ball to DK Metcalf. Rodgers threw for 284 yards and 148 of that went to Metcalf, including a 52-yard pass on Pittsburgh’s first play from scrimmage that set the offensive tone for the game. Defensively, the Steelers almost always go a good job slowing down Lamar Jackson and that was the case here: The Ravens QB got sacked twice and James Pierre came up with a huge interception in the first half that set up a Steelers touchdown. The Steelers (7-6) don’t win pretty, but they do win, and that’s all that matters. With this victory, they now have control of the AFC North.CIt might be time to file a missing person’s report for the Ravens offense. Lamar Jackson is struggling, Derrick Henry can’t find room to run and an offense that used to be the most explosive in the NFL has turned into a shell of itself. The Ravens offense struggled early and although it did turn things around by piling up 217 rushing yards, most of that went to waste, because Baltimore couldn’t score in the red zone. In the fourth quarter alone, the Ravens got inside of Pittsburgh’s 20-yard line on three different drives, but they came away with zero touchdowns. The AFC North is still within reach, but the Ravens are going to need to get their offense straightened out if they want to have a chance to win the division.
Green Bay 28-21 over Chicago
B-The Bears have been a good team all season, but to make the jump to great, this was a game they needed to win and they weren’t quite able to pull it off. The roller-coaster ride that is Caleb Williams was on full display against the Packers: The Bears QB made several spectacular plays, but he also made several errant throws, including a game-ending interception on a fourth-and-1 in the red zone. Defensively, the Bears played reasonably well, but they couldn’t get off the field on third down, letting the Packers convert 8 of their 12 attempts (Three of Green Bay’s four touchdowns came on third down). The Bears are now 0-2 against the Lions and Packers this year and they’re going to have to figure out how to get over that hump if they want to have any chance of winning the division. BFor the second straight week, the Packers were in a huge divisional showdown, and for the second straight week Jordan Love delivered an impressive performance with 234 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers QB got off to a rough start with an early interception, but he caught fire in the second quarter, throwing for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Although the offense moved the ball well, the defense almost gave the game away during a second half where the Bears were able to move the ball at will. The Packers had trouble stopping the run in the second half, which allowed Chicago to chip away at the lead. The Bears might have even tied the game if not for a game-sealing interception by Keisean Nixon. If you’re the Packers, you have to be mildly concerned at how the defense played late in the game. On the other hand, the Packers probably aren’t worried about much of anything right now after taking control of the NFC North with this win.
Denver 24-17 over Las Vegas
B-The Broncos defense has been bullying teams all year long and it bullied the Raiders on Sunday. The Broncos pass rush totaled four sacks in the game with two of those coming from Nik Bonitto, who has been doing a good job of earning every dollar from his $120 million extension that he signed in September. With the defense playing so well, the Broncos didn’t need much offense in this game, but they still got an impressive effort from RJ Harvey, who ran for a career-high 75 yards and a touchdown while adding 25 yards receiving. If the second-round rookie continues to play like this, that will make the Broncos offense even scarier down the stretch. C-The Raiders offense sputtered against the Broncos: Geno Smith rarely had time to throw, Ashton Jeanty had no room to run, and outside of their opening possessions, the Raiders just couldn’t move the ball. If the past seven weeks have proved one thing, it’s that the Raiders are probably going to have to blow things up and start over on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. And maybe the defensive side, too. You know what? It might just be time for a total reset.
L.A. Rams 45-17 over Arizona
A+The Rams time traveled back to 1999 on Sunday because they looked like