Biggest Winners and Losers in the NFL: Week 15
Three teams stay afloat in the playoff race with big wins, while the losers need to regroup fast before it’s too late.
Winners
Chicago Bears
It has been a rocky road for the Chicago Bears up to this point. Despite this, they find themselves at 7-7 and just a game out of the final wild-card spot in the NFC. In a huge divisional matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bears came out on top by a score of 33-27. Since Mitchell Trubisky went back in as the quarterback, Chicago’s offense has looked much better and has resulted in two straight wins. The Bears will close out the regular season with games against Jacksonville and the Packers, who may not play their top guys. Because of this, Chicago still has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs if they take care of business.
Arizona Cardinals
Like the Bears, it has been an up and down year for the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona finished the season sweep of the NFC East by holding on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 33-27 at home. QB Kyler Murray had a big day, throwing for 406 yards and four total touchdowns on his way to victory. At 8-6, Arizona controls their own destiny but also have a chance to move up if they win out. The Cardinals will finish off the year against the injury-riddled 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, both divisional matchups. If Arizona can take care of their own business, they will make the playoffs and look to make a run for the Super Bowl.
Miami Dolphins
Arguably the most surprising team of the year is the Miami Dolphins and they just keep on winning. After starting 1-3, Miami caught fire, winning eight of their last ten to bring their record to 9-5, holding on to the final AFC playoff spot. Against the Patriots, QB Tua Tagovailoa became the first rookie quarterback to beat Bill Belichick since Geno Smith. Miami won 22-12 to stay hot and will need to keep this up to hold off the Baltimore Ravens, who are also 9-5. Miami draws a very winnable game against the Las Vegas Raiders, which might feature the Raiders backup quarterback, in Week 16. To end off the season, they will have a very tall task against the Buffalo Bills, who have already clinched the AFC East and currently hold the two seed. Expect Miami to put up a good fight and put themselves in a great position to make the playoffs, as long as they win the games in front of them.
Losers
Minnesota Vikings
Just when the tides started to turn, it now looks like they turned right back for the Minnesota Vikings. After winning five out of six to get their record to 6-6, Minnesota has now lost their last two games and will need a miracle to make the playoffs in 2020. In Week 15, the Vikings lost a tough game to their division rival, the Chicago Bears, by a score of 33-27. At 6-8, they are in danger of officially being eliminated with a loss to the Saints, which would bring their record to 6-9. Even if they do win out, it is going to take two Arizona losses and one Chicago loss just to have the same record. It looks like the Vikings will be thinking ahead to 2021 soon.
Los Angeles Rams
While many will say that the New York Jets winning makes them losers, a win is still a win. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Rams lost in a catastrophic upset against New York, who had yet to win a game this season before this game. The Rams got dominated in the time of possession battle and lost the turnover battle. They were also 2-11 on third down, generating just 303 yards of offense. While they are still 9-5, the Rams had a chance to move to 10-4 before a big matchup against the Seattle Seahawks to take the lead in the division. Instead, they now must win this game to have a chance at the division, while two straight losses can have them tied for the seventh spot. I doubt this happens, but anything is possible in the NFL, just like the Jets proved in Week 15.
Pittsburgh Steelers
When you are 11-3, you usually are feeling good about the direction of your team. As for the Pittsburgh Steelers, this is certainly not the case. After starting 11-0, the Steelers have lost three in a row, including two losses to teams under .500 (WFT, CIN). The latest was an embarrassing loss to the Bengals on Monday Night Football. Cincinnati, who are 3-10-1, beat Pittsburgh 27-17, limiting the Steelers to 244 yards of offense. This has been the theme of Pittsburgh’s losing streak, lack of offense. The defense is elite and will keep them in games, but if they want to seriously compete and not give the Browns a chance to win the division, they need to start finding a rhythm on offense and start putting up points to take the pressure off the defense. It is likely that Pittsburgh will prevail and take the AFC North, but they need to play better to be respectable come playoff time.
Info from profootballreference.com
Writer
-By: Richie Dordas
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