Every week in the NFL season brings a host of new questions … and answers some old ones, too. Let’s run down what we learned in Week 14 … and what we’ll be wondering about in Week 15 and beyond.
This weekend saw a couple ignominious milestones in the NFL. First, the Jets lost (shocker) and extended their run of playoff-free seasons to 14, longest in any of the major American professional sports. Meanwhile, the Bears, in the first game of the post-Eberflus era, got their doors blown off by San Francisco, 38-13, in a game that didn’t even look that competitive. Combined, they’re 7-19, and the hopes that flickered when Aaron Rodgers signed, and when the Bears won a couple games early this season, are now extinguished.
So that brings up a crucial question. Assuming you’re not a fan of either of these teams — if you are, condolences — which one would you rather root for? I know, it’s like choosing whether to eat live, wriggling worms or three-month-old leftovers. But which of these teams has the higher potential upside? If you say “Bears,” that’s reasonable — Chicago does have Caleb Williams, after all — but the Bears’ front office has an uncanny ability to hire the worst possible personnel to maximize their stars’ potential. If you say “Jets,” that doesn’t account for the mysterious aura of suckitude that leeches the talent from every single player who dons the green, even a four-time MVP. Chicago probably has the brighter immediate future, but “brighter” in the sense that a 40-watt bulb is brighter than candlelight.
Either way, it’s a grim, dark future for these teams and their fans. Like Bono sings in the holiday classic “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”: “Thank God it’s them instead of you.”
ANSWERED: The Chiefs are beyond infuriating
Some teams are across-the-board good. Some teams are ridiculously lucky. Only one team in the NFL — indeed, perhaps in all of professional sports — is both good and lucky to a championship-winning degree. The Kansas City Chiefs are the most maddening team in sports, not because of the fact that they win, but how they win — with good fortune built on talent, with skill that always seems to benefit from a healthy dose of good fortune.
Once again, an AFC West team had Kansas City on the ropes in the game’s final seconds, and once again, the Chiefs wriggled free. This time, the opponent was the Los Angeles Chargers, and this time, the luck came in the form of a fortuitous doink with no time on the clock on Sunday night:
The Chiefs are headed to the playoffs, obviously. And probably the AFC championship, obviously. And if they’re down 14 in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, somebody somewhere will think, “Now we got ‘em.” And they will be so, so wrong.
ASKED: Is there hope in Carolina?
Watching a losing team find itself is like watching a baby take its first steps. You don’t want to invest too much hope in the enterprise, because it’ll likely end in catastrophe. And you definitely don’t want them to catch you looking, because that’ll screw up the whole endeavor. But there’s slow, steady progress all the same.
Yes, the Panthers have only three wins on the season. But their last three losses have been by one possession, all to playoff contenders: Kansas City, Tampa Bay (in OT) and, on Sunday, Philadelphia. A key reason: the emergence of Bryce Young. (You can’t really call it a resurgence if there was no surgence in the first place, after all.) Hell, the Panthers nearly upset the Eagles, only for Xavier Legette to drop a potential go-ahead touchdown pass in the game’s final minute. And that pass came at the end of a would-be 97-yard drive on the road, the kind of test that makes many more experienced quarterbacks wilt.
It’s a long way to even get to the surface for Young and the Panthers. But at least now they’re swimming in the right direction.
ANSWERED: Russell Wilson is a magician
In a league where most careers grind inexorably downward, it’s good to see one reverse that trend and head up and to the right. Russell Wilson has revitalized a career most thought dead, and were it not for Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield, he’d be the runaway Comeback Player of the Year. He’s not lighting up fantasy stats — he threw for only 158 yards in Sunday’s win over Cleveland — but he’s doing exactly what he needs to in order to lead Pittsburgh to win after win. He threw for two touchdowns Sunday, and published his latest hype video shortly thereafter:
The Steelers got Wilson for a paltry $1.2 million (“paltry” being a very relative term) this season, but it will cost a whole lot more to bring him back next year. As late as October, that seemed unlikely, but Wilson has magically conjured himself up a hell of a second act.
ASKED: How far can the Rams go?
Trying to pick a winner in the NFC West right now is like trying to find true love at a holiday party. Maybe you’ll get it right and sail happily through New Year’s Day, more likely you’ll get it wrong and have a messy breakup right before the holidays.
The current hot commodity is the Rams, who just punched mighty Buffalo right in the face on national television. Matthew Stafford threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, Puka Nacua accounted 162 of those yards and one of the touchdowns. Sean McVay showed why he’s still one of the sharpest, most inventive sideline minds in the game … and Sean McDermott showed why there will always be concerns about the Bills unless and until they lift a Lombardi Trophy.
Los Angeles is currently one game out of first in the NFC West, but in good position to make the playoffs. Would you want to face this team in January?
ANSWERED: The AFC South must be relegated
At one point on Sunday, every early start game went to halftime except for Jaguars-Titans. It was a peculiar form of torture for NFL fans, being forced to watch AFC South football, and it brought back memories of the pre-Prime Video Thursday night games. (Amazing how a billion dollars a year can buy you Lions-Packers and Rams-49ers games, isn’t it?) The Jaguars won 10-6, an ugly game whose first (and only) touchdown wasn’t scored until late in the fourth quarter.
At this point, just fold up the division and send these two teams to the SEC. On the plus side, both the Titans and Jaguars would have a good shot at making the College Football Playoff. Their strength of schedule, at least, would be unmatched.
