{"id":24575,"date":"2023-12-21T13:14:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T18:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=24575"},"modified":"2023-12-21T13:14:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T18:14:07","slug":"what-we-learned-nfl-week-15-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/what-we-learned-nfl-week-15-3\/","title":{"rendered":"WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK 15"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY ADAM GREENE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have officially entered the final three weeks of NFL football and have a surprising number of teams still technically, and mathematically, alive for the playoffs. While many of the division winners are getting sorted out, this might be the most fun batch of potential Wild Card teams we\u2019ve had in recent memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the contenders, the \u201cbest team in the league\u201d seems to change out every Sunday, with the current two top dogs \u2014 the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, both taking bad losses at points in their campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the others, let\u2019s talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE EAGLES AND COWBOYS FACEPLANT HARD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s not odd for contending teams to take bad losses at some point in the season as  they do play in the league of \u201cAny Given Sunday,\u201d the losses in Week 15  for the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys were telling and troublesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Philadelphia, it was a ridiculous road loss to the Seattle Seahawks, 20-17, where the defense made Drew Lock look like Tom Brady, especially on that final scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Worse than that, it was the Eagles\u2019 third loss in a row and the only one of the three, the other two being against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, that was even close. They were blown out by the last two good teams they\u2019ve faced and lost in the final minutes to a Seahawks team that I\u2019ve been telling you is overrated, if not downright bad, all season. And I\u2019m still not wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankly, I expected the worst as soon as it was announced that Matt Patricia would be calling the defense for the Eagles against Seattle. There\u2019s white flags, then there\u2019s white flags covered in dog crap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles, of course, had the chance to take a one-game lead in the NFC East and remain even, at least record-wise, with the San Francisco 49ers in the their quest for home field advantage because the Cowboys were blown out by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, 31-10. Now, I picked Dallas to lose that game and dropping a road game to a legit contending opponent isn\u2019t a bad thing in itself. Especially in Buffalo, a notoriously tough place to play even when the weather has not turned the field into an icy hellscape. But to get blown out by three scores? To only put up 10 points when you boast one of the best offenses in the league? It\u2019s bad. And even worse when they could have taken over first place alone in the NFC East if they\u2019d won because of how poorly the Eagles played Monday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it is, both teams remained tied atop the division with all the tiebreaks going to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned, bad losses happen to good teams. But they don\u2019t generally happen in December. Those usually come in your midseason slumps, much like the 49ers experienced this year. The Los Angeles Rams lost three in a row, two by multiple scores, in 2021, bounced out of it and won the Super Bowl. The streak, the bad performance, the toe stubbing is not uncommon. To see it happen during Happy Hondadays and the Toyotathon is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eagles have a considerably easier road to the NFC East title and, probably, the No. 2 overall seed. They have the New York Giants twice and the Arizona Cardinals sandwiched in between. Dallas has to play at the Miami Dolphins this week, then hosts the Detroit Lions, before wrapping it all up with a cakewalk against the Washington Commanders. The safe money is still on Philly and I\u2019m not convinced they won\u2019t right the ship. But, if they can\u2019t or lose early in the playoffs, I\u2019d certainly toss Patricia overboard the first chance I got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Dallas, the fact remains that, as good as they\u2019ve been, Mike McCarthy is coaching or his job. Which is a shame because this is, easily, the best coaching performance of his career and I count the Super Bowl year with the Green Bay Packers in that. He\u2019s put Dak Prescott in the MVP conversation and called one of the best offenses in the league. I was a firm believer that this was a bad hire and, maybe it was, but McCarthy will keep a job in the NFL after what he\u2019s done with the Cowboys, regardless of what happens at the end of this season. I would have never believed that back in August. But, yeah, if Dallas doesn\u2019t make it at least to the NFC Championship, he\u2019ll be shot out the nearest airlock and replaced by Dan Quinn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alright, here\u2019s where everybody stacks up heading into Week 16;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Baltimore Ravens 11-3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Miami Dolphins 10-4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Kansas City Chiefs 9-5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Jacksonville Jaguars 8-6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Cleveland Browns 9-5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Cincinnati Bengals 8-6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Indianapolis Colts 8-6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinched:<\/strong> Baltimore Ravens (playoff spot)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mix:<\/strong> Houston Texans (8-6), Buffalo Bills (8-6), Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7), Denver Broncos (7-7), Las Vegas Raiders (6-8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminated:<\/strong> Tennessee Titans (5-9), New York Jets (5-9), New England Patriots (3-11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Los Angeles Chargers might be mathematically alive at 5-9, we don\u2019t trust math around these parts. It\u2019s never been kind to us. Even with the Jaguars taking a stumble lately (mostly due to Trevor Lawrence not being 100 percent), I\u2019m confident that our 1-4 seeds will hold up. The Wild Cards remain very much up for grabs and the fact that all three of the teams currently holding down those spots are being run by back up quarterbacks with the starters out for the season is very interesting, but, at the same time, makes for bad matchups in the Wild Card Round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playoff scenarios:<\/strong> The Ravens clinch the NFC North title with a win this week and a Browns loss or tie or with a tie and a Cleveland loss.  The Chiefs clinch the AFC West with a win or a tie and a Broncos loss. The Dolphins clinch the AFC East with a win and a Bills loss or tie or with a tie and a Buffalo loss. Miami clinches a playoff berth with a win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like we, as a civilization, will be poorer for it if the Bills and Broncos don\u2019t make it into the playoff bracket. As for the teams currently holding down the three spots, I\u2019m curious what Joe Flacco will do when unleashed once again in the postseason. The man is one of the best playoff quarterbacks of his generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key games in Week 16:<\/strong> Bengals at Steelers, Browns at Texans, Colts at Falcons, Jaguars at Buccaneers, Cowboys at Dolphins, Raiders at Chiefs, Ravens at 49ers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. San Francisco 49ers 11-3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Dallas Cowboys 10-4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Detroit Lions 10-4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Philadelphia Eagles 10-4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Minnesota Vikings 7-7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Los Angeles Rams 7-7<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinched:<\/strong> San Francisco 49ers (NFC West), Dallas Cowboys (playoff spot), Philadelphia Eagles (playoff spot)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the mix:<\/strong> Seattle Seahawks (7-7), New Orleans Saints (7-7), Atlanta Falcons (6-8), Green Bay Packers (6-8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliminated:<\/strong> Washington Commanders (4-10), Arizona Cardinals (3-11), Carolina Panthers (2-12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playoff scenarios:<\/strong> The Lions clinch the NFC North with a win or a tie. They can clinch a playoff spot with a Rams loss or tie or a Seahawks loss or tie. The 49ers clinch the top seed with a win along with an Eagles loss, a Cowboys loss and a Lions loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Eagles and Cowboys have both clinched, that leaves just two Wild Cards up for grabs. As for the division winners, the Niners have the NFC West locked already and the Lions, even if they faceplant, will still likely win the North regardless of what happens Sunday. That leaves the NFC South still up for grabs, but the Buccaneers could find themselves firmly in the driver\u2019s seat Sunday because the team they\u2019re currently tied with, Saints, plays Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, my old foe math says the New York Giants (5-9 and Chicago Bears (5-9) are still alive, but it\u2019s more of a Resident Evil<\/em> type of alive. Like, technically they\u2019re still moving, but for more of a jump scare than any actual danger of making the postseason. They\u2019re way more likely to ruin it for someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019ve written most of the latter half of the season that only one NFC South team will make the playoffs, there\u2019s a chance now I was wrong thanks to stumbles by the Packers and Vikings. If you actively root for any of those teams, I\u2019m sorry. Whichever head coach in the NFC South makes the playoffs gets to remain employed and they all, to a man, should be fired. It\u2019s bad scene, man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key games in Week 16:<\/strong> Saints at Rams, Seahawks at Titans, Colts at Falcons, Lions at Vikings, Jaguars at Buccaneers, Cowboys at Dolphins, Giants at Eagles, Ravens at 49ers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter <\/em><\/a>@TheFirstMan<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with us our socials on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ADAM GREENE We have officially entered the final three weeks of NFL football and have a surprising number of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":24576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-24575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24577,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24575\/revisions\/24577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}