Week 15 of the 2021 NFL season will have a different feel thanks to postponements resulting from a leaguewide COVID-19 outbreak.
The Steelers kept their playoff hopes very much alive with a win over the Titans, who came up short on a last-minute fourth-down play, and the Dolphins hung on in a back-and-forth game with the Jets to move to 7-7.
On Saturday night, the Colts took an early lead and hung on, thanks to a late Jonathan Taylor touchdown, to beat the Patriots.
Plus, they each look at the bigger picture with their current team confidence rating — a 0-10 grade of how they feel about a team’s outlook coming out of the week.
If they win out — and this might have been their toughest remaining game in the final month of the season — they’ll get to 14-3 in the 17-game schedule after back-to-back 13-3 seasons to start LaFleur’s head-coaching career.
But they were bad ones: Cornerback Isaac Yiadom was called for fair catch interference when he blatantly ran into a Ravens returner; Patrick Taylor let a squib kickoff go through his legs but got bailed out when Jonathan Garvin recovered it; a holding penalty wiped out a decent kick return; and there was a delay of game on a fourth-quarter punt with the Packers backed up.
And they might even get some reinforcements back before the regular season ends in cornerback Jaire Alexander, outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, left tackle David Bakhtiari and/or center Josh Myers.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh once again went for a 2-point conversion to win late in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens came up short for the second time in three weeks.
Will Jackson return next Sunday for a huge AFC North game at the Bengals? The Ravens have a decision to make for a game that could decide the winner of the AFC North.
The defense held Denver at bay long enough for the Bengals to find a few bright moments on offense, including a 56-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Tyler Boyd with 30 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Given the trend of Cincinnati’s slow starts, the biggest issue surrounding this team remains a giant problem with three games left in the regular season.
What to know: Hanging on by the slimmest of margins in the AFC’s still-muddled playoff race, the Broncos might have to salvage their final three games without quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who suffered a head injury in Sunday’s season-crushing loss to the Bengals.
Keeping their razor-thin playoff chances alive will be largely dependent on avoiding anything the offensive staff showed in the first half Sunday.
With a quick turnaround to Thursday night in Tennessee, the 49ers have a short week but a great opportunity to prove they should be taken seriously come January.
Is this version of Jimmy Garoppolo here to stay? Since Week 8, Garoppolo has been one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks, entering Sunday’s game with the fourth-best QBR in the NFL in that span.
They have their flaws, but in a wide-open NFC, they increasingly look the part of a team nobody will be excited to play in January.
Almost all of those losses, except to Philadelphia, have come to likely playoff teams, which shows the obvious: While the Falcons have been as competitive as they can be this season, they don’t have enough to be in games against contenders.
What’s the biggest area of need for 2022? After another week in which Atlanta’s offensive line allowed quarterback Matt Ryan to be hit 10 times — and he was forced to scramble many, many other times — it has to be on the offensive line.
Quarterback Jared Goff said the team continues to play for “pride” and has embraced the “spoiler” role with the playoffs clearly out of the picture.
He’s not only the first rookie in Lions history to post seven-plus receptions in three straight games, but also the third rookie in team history to have 70 or more receiving yards, which he achieved over that three-game stretch, too.
Woodyard’s confidence rating : 3, up from 2.
Missing the postseason is unlikely at this stage, at 10-4, but finishing the year poorly may start putting coach Kliff Kingsbury’s ability to take a team deep in the postseason in question.
Arizona will have to face a hot Colts team on Christmas, and then a good Cowboys team before closing the season out against the Seahawks.
If the defense is playing as well as it is now — four more takeaways, no touchdowns allowed — and if the offense can get back into full rhythm, then the Cowboys can be a dangerous team.
To be fair, one trip inside the 20 last week came when the Cowboys were taking a knee to seal the win vs.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a victory that inched them closer to winning the division and a playoff spot.
Coach Joe Judge has talked about doing whatever is necessary in regards to the offensive game plan to win.
Why take any risk at this point? A source told ESPN last week that the team was losing hope that Jones would return this season.
What to know: Who cares who the Miami Dolphins have beaten during this six-game winning streak? Good teams find a way to win in tough conditions, and Miami faced adversity in Sunday’s win against the New York Jets, rallying from an early 10-0 deficit.
It’s the first time in his career that Johnson has received a 20-carry workload, and he did not disappoint, running with purpose for all four quarters.
He managed the game well in the first half, helping the Jets to leads of 10-0 and 17-10, but he failed to deliver any big plays in the second half.
What happened to the Jets’ run defense? The Jets struggle with pretty much everything on defense, and you have to put their run defense high on the list of issues.
What to know: A tackle by Joe Haden, playing in his first game since injuring his left foot against the Detroit Lions, kept the Titans from converting on fourth down by an eyelash and kept the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive.
They had 16 rushing yards in the first half, their third-fewest of the season, while the defense allowed a rushing touchdown for the ninth consecutive game, their longest streak since allowing 12 straight over the 1967-68 seasons.
Ryan Tannehill has five games with multiple turnovers this season, which is more than he had in his first two seasons with the Titans combined.
Julio Jones was targeted only once in the first half, which is far too few times for a player expected to be such an impactful weapon.
But there is still a lot of progress that’s needed from the offense, which at this point has no true strength.
Because the Lions, who came into the day with a 1-11-1 record, beat the Cardinals, the loser of Texans-Jaguars jumped into the top spot.
Have the Texans seen enough from Davis Mills to count on him next year? Although coach David Culley said he chose to replace quarterback Tyrod Taylor with Mills because the rookie gave the team the best chance to win, the final five games of the season are serving as an audition of sorts for the third-round pick.
Fixing the offense, rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s development and the franchise’s chances for success over the next decade depend on owner Shad Khan making the correct hire to replace Meyer.
It’s not a lock yet because the Jaguars do play the New York Jets next Sunday, but their final two games after that are at New England and home against Indianapolis — two teams fighting for playoff positioning.
What to know: Wide receiver Gabriel Davis was expected to see the field more with Emmanuel Sanders out with a knee injury, and he took full advantage of the opportunity.
The AFC East will be on the line with a trip to New England, and Buffalo will have plenty to prove after a 14-10 loss to the Patriots in Week 13.
That the score was as close as it was for most of the game is a testament to the defense continuing to play hard while the offense continues to struggle, particularly in the passing game, providing further evidence the offense needs a complete overhaul during the offseason.
With Cam Newton 0-4 as a starter for the Panthers this year and having lost 12 consecutive games as a Carolina starter, the Panthers need to find out what they have for next season since Darnold is the only quarterback under contract.
What to know: The Colts have gone from being the eighth seed, which was on the outside of the AFC playoff picture, to now the fifth seed in the conference.
Can the Colts rely on quarterback Carson Wentz? Wentz, outside of having three quarterback sneaks for first downs, didn’t play well.
Meanwhile, the Colts had made their defensive intentions clear leading into the game: Take away the run game, put the ball in quarterback Mac Jones’ hands and see how he responds.
How costly is the loss for playoff seeding? The Patriots had been in control of possibly earning the No.
But he delivered for the Chiefs on Thursday night against the Chargers in the biggest game of the season with a huge fourth quarter and overtime.
But the Chiefs not only played against a top-level quarterback and a strong offensive opponent, but they also did so without three key defensive players, including defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Coach Brandon Staley insists going for it on fourth down is the right course of action and is “how this team will play” because he believes in it.