With one game left on the Week 14 slate — Patriots at Cardinals on “Monday Night Football” — the NFL playoff picture continues to take shape.
The Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday become the first team to secure a playoff spot, while the Bills, Chiefs and Cowboys each inched closer with their 10th victories of the season.
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So, what did we learn this week, when the competition was fierce in many games? Here’s a game-by-game, team-by-team look.
Eagles 48, Giants 22
Philadelphia: Nick Sirianni’s Eagles cruised to victory over the Giants and, in so doing, improved to 12-1 and punched their ticket to the playoffs. That’s two postseason berths in each of the first two seasons under Sirianni. Impressive — even if the Eagles themselves don’t think so.
GO DEEPERNFL playoff picture after Week 14: Vikings loss helps Eagles' No. 1 seed oddsNew York: Brian Daboll’s squad was a surprising bright spot in the first half of the season. But the Giants have come back down to earth, losing three of their last four, with the one exception the tie with Washington. There’s no shame in losing to the Eagles, who own the best record in the league. But the Giants’ lack of effort in the tackling game was embarrassing: They gave up 253 rushing yards, with 144 by Miles Sanders and 77 from Jalen Hurts leading the way.
Chargers 23, Dolphins 17
Los Angeles: Justin Herbert looked like a man on a mission, and he delivered, outplaying 2020 draft classmate Tua Tagovailoa (taken at No. 5, one pick ahead of Herbert) by a mile to lead his team to victory. Herbert, who finally had a healthy Keenan Allen and Mike Williams together at the same time, completed a career-high 39 passes on 51 attempts for 367 yards and a touchdown and no turnovers. Meanwhile, coach Brandon Staley, who has drawn a degree of scrutiny this season, managed to push the right buttons this week. His defense, although short-handed once again, provided the backing necessary to cool off one of the hottest offenses in the game.
Miami: A two-game trip to California proved unkind to Mike McDaniel’s squad. After losing to the 49ers in Week 13, they fell short to the Chargers after trailing all game. In a rare occurrence, they lost a game that Tagovailoa (only 145 yards and a touchdown) started and finished. Asked what’s wrong with the offense, Tagovailoa said, “Everything. From the communication, to getting the details right with our guys.” McDaniel took the blame. But things don’t get any easier going forward. Can they end the slide next week when they travel to Buffalo?
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Bengals 23, Browns 10
Cincinnati: Joe Burrow finally got the monkey off his back and beat the in-state rivals for the first time in five tries. After welcoming offensive cornerstones Ja’Marr Chase (119 yards and a TD) and Joe Mixon (96 rushing yards) back from injury, the Bengals extended their win streak to five games.
Browns: Deshaun Watson still looks rather rusty but did record his first touchdown pass since returning from his 11-game suspension and 2021 season of inactivity. At 5-8, playoff hopes are fading in Cleveland, but the final month of the season could help Watson position himself for an impactful 2023 campaign.
Chiefs 34, Broncos 28
Kansas City: It’s kind of scary when you can turn the ball over three times, suffer a handful of defensive breakdowns and still win rather handily. The Chiefs improved to 10-3, Patrick Mahomes delivered another no-look pass along with other highlights, and Kansas City took another step toward clinching its seventh straight AFC West title.
Denver: Russell Wilson had his first three-touchdown game of the year and rushed for a season-high 57 yards, but had to leave early with a concussion. The 28 points scored represented a season high for Nathaniel Hackett’s team. But the outcome was familiar (a 10th loss), and with that defeat came another undesirable norm: the assurance that the Broncos will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive year.
49ers 35, Buccaneers 7
San Francisco: Mr. (not so) Irrelevant Brock Purdy helped lead the 49ers to a blowout win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers by throwing two touchdown passes, running for another and, more importantly, not turning the ball over. Was this Kyle Shanahan and quarterback coach Brian Griese’s finest work of the season? Meanwhile, Sunday featured another dominant performance by DeMeco Ryans’ defense. The 49ers remain on pace to win the division.
GO DEEPERNFL Week 14 takeaways: 49ers on a roll with Brock Purdy; Lions roaring, Giants crumblingTampa Bay: The Bucs looked nothing like contenders: They turned the ballover three times (two Brady interceptions and a Rachaad White fumble), converted just four of 16 third downs and gave up 209 rushing yards while falling to 6-7. Todd Bowles said it best: “We got outplayed in all phases. We coached bad. We got outcoached. … We got our ass kicked on offense. Got our ass kicked on defense.”
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Cowboys 27, Texans 23
Dallas: After playing with their food for the better part of 60 minutes, the Cowboys kicked it into high gear with a ferocious goal-line stand by the defense, an 11-play, 98-yard scoring drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott and a last-second interception in the end zone to complete the comeback. Dallas captures back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 1996, when it went 10-6 one year after a 12-4 finish.
Houston: Give Lovie Smith and his staff props for composing a game plan that gave Houston a chance to pull off the upset of the year. But, as bad teams often do, the Texans managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They blew a chance for a game-clinching touchdown following a late-game Dak Prescott interception at the Dallas 4-yard line, then laid down on defense in the final three minutes.
Lions 34, Vikings 23
Detroit: A huge upset for the Lions, who have now won five of their last six to improve to 6-7 after opening the year 1-6. Dan Campbell’s aggressive rolls of the dice continue to pay off as his team plays well in all phases of the game. Flying under the radar, but quietly drawing praise around the league, is 36-year-old offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. His unit topped the 30-point mark for the seventh time this season while seeing Jared Goff extend his streak to five games without an interception.
Minnesota: The Vikings blew a chance to clinch the division and a playoff berth after allowing the Lions to largely turn them one-dimensional. Kirk Cousins (425 yards, two touchdown passes) and Justin Jefferson (223 yards on 11 catches) filled up the stat book. But Minnesota mustered only 22 rushing yards. An even more alarming stat: Minnesota’s defense has now allowed five consecutive opponents to amass 400-plus yards of offense.
Bills 20, Jets 12
Buffalo: A win is a win, and the Bills improved to 10-3 to ensure their fourth straight 10-win season. But Josh Allen still has yet to regain his dominant form, throwing for a season-low 147 yards. Fortunately for Buffalo, Leslie Frazier’s defense is dominant even without Von Miller.
New York: Robert Saleh is good. His defense again gave Allen and the potentially explosive Bills offense trouble. Had the Bills not knocked Mike White out of the game twice, maybe the Jets complete the season sweep.
Jaguars 36, Titans 22
Jacksonville: Trevor Lawrence (career-high 368 yards, three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown) got the memo that it’s time for him to start playing like a franchise quarterback. Equally impressive: the performance of the Jacksonville defense, which held Derrick Henry to just 2 rushing yards in the second half.
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Tennessee: Mike Vrabel celebrated winning his power struggle with now-fired GM Jon Robinson by … directing a stinker of a performance. Jacksonville scored 29 unanswered points from the second to the fourth quarters and, as a result, the Titans (7-6) find themselves on their first three-game losing streak since 2018.
Ravens 16, Steelers 14
Baltimore: Playing without Lamar Jackson and then losing Tyler Huntley (concussion) sounds disastrous. But the Ravens leaned heavily on a defense that racked up three takeaways and a rushing attack led by J.K. Dobbins’ 120 yards and a touchdown to remain atop the AFC North.
Pittsburgh: With Kenny Pickett exiting early with a concussion, Mitch Trubisky reminded everyone exactly why the Steelers went away from him after just four starts. His three interceptions almost single-handedly lost his team a very winnable game over the short-handed Ravens.
Panthers 30, Seahawks 24
Carolina: Steve Wilks made another strong case for having his interim tag removed by guiding the Panthers to an impressive victory in one of the most hostile environments in the league. Although just 5-8, the Panthers aren’t out of the hunt for the NFC South.
Seattle: Here’s a crazy fact for you: Despite all of their surprising success this season, the Seahawks are now 0-4 against NFC South opponents, all of whom own losing records.
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
Mike Jones joined The Athletic as a national NFL writer in 2022 after five years at USA Today, where he covered the NFL, and eight years at The Washington Post, where he covered the Washington Commanders. He previously covered the Washington Wizards for The Washington Times. Mike is a native of Warrenton, Va.
