It was a wild weekend in the NFL, which began when Tampa Bay blew a 14-point 4th-quarter lead at home in a last second loss to the Falcons. But Carolina couldn’t take advantage, losing to the Saints on the road. The Bills came back from a 21-point deficit in New England to notch the win and move within a game of the Patriots. Trevor Lawrence had a monster day, throwing for 5 touchdowns and running for another in a rout of the Jets. The Texans routed the Cardinals, the Eagles did the same to the Raiders, as did the Bears to the Browns. The Ravens stayed in contention with a shutout win over the Bengals, and the Chargers won in Arrowhead to eliminate the Chiefs. Denver won yet another one-score game by beating the Packers, a win which clinched a playoff spot for the Broncos. The Rams won a shootout over the Lions, and they also clinched a playoff spot. The Seahawks couldn’t score a touchdown, but still managed to eke out a win over Old Man (Philip) Rivers. The Cowboys are on the brink of elimination after a home loss to the Vikes, and the Steelers eliminated Miami on Monday night. Two spots are clinched, and 13 teams are eliminated. Obviously, a lot to be settled in the last 3 weeks.
This week begins with a bang as the two top teams in the NFC meet on Thursday when the Rams visit Seattle. The Bears host the Packers in a huge NFC North game on Saturday evening, while the Chargers visit Dallas on Sunday. The NFC South lead is on the line when Tampa Bay travels to Carolina, and there is another big AFC game when Jacksonville visits Denver. Sunday night features Baltimore hosting the Patriots, and the Niners visit Indianapolis on Monday night.
Here are this week’s lines. All spreads taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday the 16th at 8:15 am CT.
Not unlike Adam Thielen’s departure from the Vikings a few weeks ago, the Jets released WR Allen Lazard today, at his request.
Lazard was the last remaining player with the Jets who had been brought in to help lure Aaron Rodgers to the team in 2023; he had played little this season, was a healthy scratch in four games, and only had 10 receptions. Just like Thielen, Lazard asked to be released in hopes of signing on with a contender.
I was going to jokingly ask if the Steelers need a receiver, but they, in fact, signed Thielen two weeks ago, and they have another of Rodgers’ former Packer receivers, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, on the active roster.
Washington (Quinn) finally realized that destroying QB Daniels in a series of meaningless games is bad. They’re shutting him down. It will take much of the off season to heal up the injuries he’s been playing through / or not playing.
Repeating what @Jasmine just said in the Week 15 thread: tomorrow night is absolutely a monster game in the NFC West. Both the Rams and Seahawks are 11-3, with the Rams having defeated Seattle in their earlier meeting. If the Rams win, the division is theirs for the taking, as they have the Falcons and Cardinals remaining on their schedule. Should the Seahawks win, they would have a 1 game lead with two to play, but still must face the Panthers and Niners.
A 3-way tie for the division with the teams finishing at 13-4 remains a possibility, especially if Seattle wins tomorrow.
I think there’s only one way they could all end up 13-4.
Niners are currently 10-4, so they would have to win their last 3 games. That would mean defeating the Seahawks, which would give Seattle their 4th loss.
If that happens, then Seattle has to win their other two games, one of of which is against the Rams. That would be LA’s 4th loss.
Which means that the Rams have to win their other two games to finish at 13-4.
Should all these outcomes occur, the Niners would win the division by virtue of a 3-1 head-to-head record against the other two teams, while both the Seahawks and Rams would have a 2-2 record.
It’s crazy that the 49ers have legitimate, if small, chance at the #1 seed after losing so many starters on defense and extended absences of offensive starters, including QB. It was really rough there weeks 6-10. Kyle Shanahan should be a strong coach of the year candidate for keeping his team together and going 5-3 with his backup QB.
The other wild-card will be either the Packers or the Bears. That team will have at least 5 losses, so it would be WC #3, behind the Rams and Seahawks.
As it stands now, the 49ers would play at Philly. While I like that matchup fot SF, I’d prefer someone else. My best friend is an Eagles fan, and I’d rather not face off in round one.
The Dolphins have benched Tua Tagovailoa, presumably for the rest of the season, and will be starting rookie seventh-round draft pick Quinn Ewers this week against the Bengals, with Zach Wilson as the backup, and Tua as the inactive emergency backup.
Tagovailoa has not had a good season: he leads the league in interceptions, his overall production has been low, and the Dolphins were mathematically eliminated from the postseason after last week’s loss.
Though coach Mike McDaniel refused to comment on Tua’s future with the team during yesterday’s press conference, it’s widely believed that the Dolphins are looking to move on – however, he has $54 million in guaranteed compensation for next year alone, and would cause a $99 million dead-cap hit if they release him before June 1st.
And, the Bears’ merry-go-round for building a new stadium continues.
After walking away from talks with the City of Chicago about a year ago, the team turned their attention back to the property which they own in northwest suburban Arlington Heights (the site of the now-demolished Arlington International Racecourse); in September, team president Kevin Warren had publicly stated that the Bears’ goal was to break ground in Arlington Heights by the end of this year, in order to have a completed, indoor stadium at the site in time to potentially host a Super Bowl in 2031.
However, team management now indicates that they are at an impasse with state government in Illinois over taxes and support related to developing the property. It appears that the legislature has told the Bears that the bill which the team sought, which would have included public assistance for improved infrastructure around the stadium itself (i.e., roads, utilities), isn’t a 2026 priority.
So, yesterday, Warren released an open letter to the public, stating that the Bears are now considering other options, including northwest Indiana; the Indiana state legislature, and some local leaders in the northwestern part of the state, have indicated initial support for attracting a major sports team to the region, which, despite being in another state, is still considered to be part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
The team’s current lease with the City of Chicago for Soldier Field runs through 2033.
Makes total sense. They have nothing to play for, so time to see if the rookie has any value and protect Tua from taking more hits to the head. And if they lose more games, then they get a better draft pick (though they would never say that part out loud). One could imagine McDaniel wanting to eke out a couple more wins just so it makes him look better, but he’s making a choice here that’s more in the long-term interests of the team, even though he is firmly on the hot seat.
The Dolphins had won 4 of the last 5 games, and, although Tua played very poorly last week at Pittsburgh, he is the QB who gives the Dolphins the best chance to win.
A QB picked in the 7th round isn’t one that you “need to see what they have”. That’s for the first couple rounds, where the QB is the potential future of the franchise. Not for some 7th round nobody.
This is about tanking, pure and simple. It’s about time we get that discussion out in the open.
