NFL 2024-25: Week 15

The Game Room
1

The Lions and Chiefs both improved their records to 12-1 with narrow victories. The Lions won on a last-second field goal after converting a fourth down with 43 seconds left, their fourth such conversion of the game, out of five attempts. The Chiefs also won on a last-second field goal, an attempt that doinked off the left upright to give KC their second consecutive 19-17 victory. Buffalo QB Josh Allen set a record by scoring 3 TDs and passing for 3 more, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Rams won the shootout 44-42. The Vikes improved to 11-2 as they remain just a game behind Detroit. The Eagles are also 11-2, as they escaped with a 6-point win over Carolina. Seattle won their fourth in a row and solidified their lead in the NFC West, Tampa Bay now has the lead in the NFC South, and the Steelers maintained their two-game lead in the AFC North. And the Cowboys managed to lose a game in which the key play was a blocked punt…by the Cowboys.

This weekend features a couple of monster matchups, as the 10-3 Bills visit the 12-1 Lions, and the 10-3 Steelers travel across the state to play the 11-2 Eagles. Two possible playoff teams will meet when the Bucs play at the Chargers, and two more face off when the Packers visit Seattle. Miami will try to keep their postseason hopes alive against the Texans; the Colts will try to do the same at Denver. And for the last time this season, there are two Monday night games, as the Bears travel to Minnesota and the reeling Falcons will try to change their luck in Vegas.

Bill, Chiefs, Eagles, and Lions have clinched a playoff spot. Jets, Patriots, Browns, Jaguars, Titans, Raiders, and Giants have been eliminated.

This week’s games. All spreads taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday, December 10 at 9:10 am CT.

Thursday night:
Rams @ 49ers (-2.5)

Sunday early:
Chiefs @ Browns (-4.5)
Bengals @ Titans (+4.5)
Commanders @ Saints (+7.5)
Ravens @ Giants (+15.5)
Cowboys @ Panthers (-2.5)
Jets @ Jaguars (+3.5)
Dolphins @ Texans (-2.5)

Sunday late:
Colts @ Broncos (-4)
Bills @ Lions (-1.5)
Steelers @ Eagles (-4.5)
Patriots @ Cardinals (-6)
Buccaneers @ Chargers (-3)

Sunday night:
Packers @ Seahawks (+3)

Monday night:
Bears @ Vikings (-7)
Falcons @ Raiders (+4.5)

2

Marshon Lattimore might actually get back on the field this week, against his former team. Spicy!

3

Pointless factoid you’re probably going to hear a lot this week: the last time the Steelers won a game in Philadelphia was in 1965 at Franklin Field.

4

I’m shocked at this line; did the bookies even watch how horrid the Bills’ defense was vs. the Rams? Yeah their intrepid QB almost pulled it out anyway, but if the Rams scored 44 the Lions are going to score 54.

5

O/U on that game is 55, which is a touchdown more than the next closest game. Still seems low, especially in a dome.

6

It opened at -2.5, and somehow went down in the next 24 hours. I figured it would go the other way.

This one also surprised me, given how good the Steelers looked against the Browns and how average the Eagles looked against the Panthers.

7

This is funny.

8

The bizarre thing about this game is that I’d feel more comfortable about the Seahawks winning if they were in Green Bay.

Maybe it’s just a weird anomaly but for whatever reason, they have won every away game this year except for the game against Detroit (the best NFC team). They are 5-1 in away games and 3-4 in home games. This is a team that has typically enjoyed a massive home field advantage due to crowd noise, and that crowd can still get loud, but just the same, they are underperforming at home.

Maybe they’ll win on Sunday and actually break even on their home game record.

9

NFL will be considering a number of rule changes for next season, including expanding replay to aid in facemask penalties. Link is Sports Illustrated.

NFL Considering Multiple Rule Changes This Offseason: List of What Could Change

10

Normally, I would be against even more rules in a game that, as far as I’m concerned, is the most over officiated game on the planet. In this case, however and, after seeing several players getting their heads almost twisted off without even a single flag, I’m in favor of this one. The human neck is a terrible thing to break. LOL

11

Agreed. And as the article points out, there have been several obviously missed calls this season that could have significantly altered the outcome of the game. Last Monday, there was a missed facemask on Joe Burrows, which resulted in a Bengals punt late in a tie game. Had the Cowboys not fumbled that punt, the game could well have ended in a Bengals loss, rather than a win.

12

Maybe they’re figuring in how depleted the Lions’ defense is. I’m hoping that with 10 days recovery time the Lions get some defensive players back from injury, and it looks like they may. This is a huge game which I’m both looking forward to and dreading a little bit.

13

Well, the line is now back to Lions -2.5, FWIW.

14

Hmm, interesting. In any case, with two great offenses and two struggling defenses, Lions-Bills should be a high-scoring barn-burner of a game.

15

I believe that line is backwards.

Sunday begins the Chefs’, Steelers’, Ravens’ and Texans’ 10 days of hell. They will all play on Sunday 12/15, Saturday 12/21 and Wednesday 12/25. Merry Christmas - the NFL is totally concerned about player safety…

16

And the powers are salivating over adding an eighteenth game.

17

Sigh, yes, another typo. The line on DraftKings is now Browns (+4).

It’s 3 games in 11 days. Which is bullshit, but at least nobody will have an advantage.

18

3 games in 12 days is basically every team that plays on Thursday Night.

19

Yeah, I guess having these 4 teams play on Saturday gives them the same number of days off before the Wednesday game as a normal Thursday game.

Gotta have those games on Christmas Day, I guess. This year, the Chiefs will play on every day of the week except Tuesday–they played on Black Friday.

20

Just heard this little nugget: the Panthers are favored this week for the first time in two years.