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Rams win ugly (very ugly) on TNF. Plus, your NFL Week 15 preview 🏈

Jim Reineking   Paste BN

This is the Paste BN Sports NFL newsletter, 4th and Monday. If this newsletter isn't already getting conveniently delivered to your inbox, click here to subscribe.

NFL Week 15 is here. Our comprehensive weekly NFL preview includes (but is not exclusive to):

➤ About last night: Los Angeles Rams 12, San Francisco 49ers 6 — A dub is a dub is a dub. A week after winning an aesthetically pleasing, high-scoring shootout against a really good Buffalo Bills team, the Rams won ugly (very ugly) against the 49ers at soggy Levi's Stadium. It rained, but not points, as all scores came via field goals. The Rams won't care, as the win moved L.A. within a half-game of the division-leading Seattle Seahawks, who host the Green Bay Packers on "Sunday Night Football."

➤ Game of the week I: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions — Possible Super Bowl 59 preview? The Lions (12-1) are riding a franchise-record 11-game winning streak. Their last defeat came in Week 2 against the Buccaneers. The Bills (10-3) are coming off a defeat in the highest-scoring game of the NFL season so far, a 44-42 loss to the Rams. Josh Allen, however, played valiantly in defeat, becoming the first quarterback in league history with three touchdown passes and three touchdown runs in the same game. He's the MVP favorite, owning an edge over Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who's having a career season for a Detroit team looking for its first Super Bowl appearance.

➤ Sneaky-good game of the week/Game of the week II: Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles — Another possible Super Bowl 59 preview? We're slightly less sold on the championship chops of the Keystone State's two NFL entrants than the aforementioned Bills and Lions. However, the Eagles (11-2) and Steelers (10-3) remain relevant in the races for home-field advantage in their respective conferences. This week opens a real challenging stretch for the Steelers, who will play the Ravens in Baltimore in Week 16 and then host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 before finishing the season against the Cincinnati Bengals, who are fully capable of playing spoiler. The Eagles have the NFL's 31st-ranking passing offense, and there seems to be some concern in-house about the struggles in the forward passing game.

➤ Game I'm mildly interested in, and not just because I have Bucky Irving and Ladd McConkey on my fantasy team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Chargers — Riding a three-game winning streak, the Buccaneers (7-6) are trending toward a fourth consecutive NFC South title. The Chargers (8-5) are coming off a tough road loss to the Chiefs, who continue to find creative ways to win ballgames. The AFC playoff race currently features three teams at 8-5 (the Ravens and the Chargers' Week 16 opponent, the Denver Broncos, are the others), and the Buccaneers' lead in the division is just one game, despite a four-game losing streak by the spiraling Atlanta Falcons. It's seems a bit far-fetched to call this a must-win for both teams, but we're going to go there anyway, if only to help with the overall vibes of their respective fanbases.

➤ Dud of the week: New York Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars — Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention. For the Jets, it marks a 14th consecutive season with no playoffs. That represents the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. We did the research so you don't have to: Here are the longest playoff droughts in the major North American pro sports leagues ...

  • NFL: New York Jets — 14 seasons
  • NHL: Buffalo Sabres — 13 seasons
  • MLB: Los Angeles Angels — 10 seasons
  • NBA: Charlotte Hornets — 8 seasons
  • MLS: Chicago Fire — 7 seasons
  • WNBA: Los Angeles Sparks — 4 seasons
  • NWSL: Racing Louisville FC — 4 seasons

As you can see, the Jets have the longest in any league. Not great! In case you're curious, the Jets still are quite a ways away from matching the longest playoff drought in NFL history. That is 25 seasons, an unfortunate record that belongs to the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals of 1949-1973 and Washington from 1946-1970. In defense of those teams, however, the playoff field did not include 14 teams like it does today, so a strong case can be made that the Jets' run of futility is worse.

➤ Just going to rank some games I'm interested in watching without giving any context:

  1. Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos
  2. Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns
  3. Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings
  4. Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans
  5. Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers

📸: Fans, mascots, cheerleaders and celebrities at NFL games

NFL Week 15: Pigskin prognostications, betting tips, rankings

➤ Week 15 picks: This is where Paste BN Sports' panel of experts has provided fans with the great public service of making prognostications for every game this weekend, both straight up and against the spread.

➤ NFL Week 15 betting odds: Which teams are favored this week?

➤ Best bets for Week 15: Lorenzo Reyes is back with his favorite NFL bets for Week 15, including why he likes lines involving the Lions, Chiefs and Bengals this weekend.

➤ Power rankings: See how all 32 teams stack up after 14 weeks of play. The top three remains the same, but there's some shake-up after that.

NFL news, notes and analysis

➤ Bill Belichick to UNC. Can you believe it? Just 14 wins shy of matching Don Shula's all-time NFL coaching wins record, Belichick has opted to coach at the college football level, rather than wait and see what NFL opportunities might open up at the conclusion of the 2024 NFL season. While Paste BN Sports' Dan Wolken writes that Belichick/North Carolina is perhaps the most unlikely marriage in the history of college football, Nate Davis breaks down the winners (Tom Brady) and losers (the NFL) of the football world-altering move.

➤ Did Bill Belichick reject the NFL before the NFL could reject him? Belichick could have waited a few weeks for the next NFL hiring cycle to begin in earnest, including the three teams who have already fired their coach this season, but apparently, he was not about to set himself up for further NFL rejection, Jarrett Bell writes.

Hindsight is 20/20 blah blah blah, but don't you think the Falcons would be better off right now if Belichick were the head coach? That team is in a death spiral at the wrong time of year. But that team continues to baffle, hence why Atlanta continues on its existence as one of the NFL's most snake-bitten franchises (28-3 anybody?).

➤ What was up with that awkward Brett Favre-Mark Gastineau exchange? As part of the run-up to ESPN's release of a 30-for-30 on the New York Jets' famed "New York Sack Exchange" defensive front of the early-to-mid 1980s, a video was released showing Mark Gastineau confronting Brett Favre over Favre's role during the 2001 season in Michael Strahan breaking Gastineau's 1984 sacks record. It was awkward ... "You hurt me, Brett." 😒

It's crazy that this sack thing keeps getting drummed up (thanks, Gastineau!). It's been 23 years, move on! T.J. Watt has since tied the record (and Pro Football Reference recognizes Al "Bubba" Baker as the single-season sacks leader; sacks didn't become an official stat until 1982, so players such as Baker and Deacon Jones get robbed in the official NFL record book). If Gastineau was a likable fella, people might empathize, but he was a selfish loudmouth showboat when he played and it doesn't seem as though anybody other than Gastineau cares about what Gastineau has to say. All that being said, it was obvious to everybody that Favre teed one up for his buddy Strahan. Also, poor Bubba Franks!

➤ Does Mark Gastineau belong in the Hall of Fame? Who can say? He might have been a transcendent talent as an "edge rusher" before "edge rusher" was a thing. However, even his former "New York Sack Exchange" teammate Marty Lyons — a mighty fine player in his own right who is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — isn't so sure of Gastineau's Canton credentials.

➤ Are the Chiefs becoming insufferable? On top of a real bingo card of wild and creative ways to win games, the Chiefs seemingly are grumpy about playing in high-profile games, which includes a three games in 11 days stretch starting Sunday. This week, Patrick Mahomes lamented the short turnaround between games, which will include playing on Christmas Day, which is a Wednesday, a day the NFL — outside of the crazy 2020 COVID season — doesn't play games on.

Well, sorry, not sorry that the NFL wants its two-time defending Super Bowl champions to play in front of a national television audience.

➤ Did you see the lineup Netflix will trot out for its Christmas Day NFL coverage? Netflix announced an extensive, star-studded lineup that features 22 (yes, 22!) broadcasters, analysts and reporters from a variety of networks for its two Christmas Day NFL games.

Fantasy football: Let the playoffs commence!

Playoffs?!? Yes, for many of you fantasy footballers, this weekend represents the first round of your league's playoffs. If you qualified for the postseason ... congrats!🍾🎇🎉🎊 If you didn't ... sorry! ☹️ At least there's the consolation bracket (if your league has such a thing!) to prolong interest in your team's fortunes (or lack thereof!). As always, you can count on Paste BN Sports to help you navigate through the postseason.

➤ Fantasy rankings for Week 15: These position-by-position rankings were updated for this week's games.

➤ Start 'em ⬆ and sit 'em ⬇ for Week 15: Here is where we list eight players to start, and eight to sit, this weekend. Find out why you should start Justin Herbert, but sit Sam Darnold.

➤ Start 'em/sit 'em by position: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | Kickers | Defenses/special teams

➤ Waiver wire: If you haven't already done so, these are the players to consider adding to your roster this week.

➤ Fantasy injury report: There are some key fantasy football players on the injury report for Week 15. Here's what we know about their status. 🩹

Week 15 NFL schedule

(All times Eastern)

Thursday

Sunday

Monday

📅: Complete 2024 NFL schedule

From the YouTube algorithm 🏈📺

This is where we reprise some NFL lore and recall a classic, memorable game from yesteryear that featured Week 15 opponents.

The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks meet on "Sunday Night Football" this week. No matter what happens, it won't match the drama the two teams provided during another prime-time game during Week 3 of the 2012 season: The infamous "Fail Mary" game.

Before diving into the crazy finish — a 24-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Golden Tate in the final seconds of a 14-12 Seahawks win — one has to recall the labor dispute between the NFL Referees Association and the league. This resulted in a lockout of the real referees and the hiring of replacement officials for the beginning of the 2012 season.

Despite two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on the field, the game was a low-scoring "Monday Night Football" affair at the then-CenturyLink Field in Seattle. It also was a penalty-riddled game; a combined 24 penalties for 245 yards, which was more than the 238 yards the Seahawks offense gained in the entire game.

The final controversial play sparked outrage and helped end the lockout of the real referees.

Wilson, then a rookie in just his third NFL game, lobbed a pass into the end zone on the game's final play. It was either caught by Tate for a game-winning touchdown or intercepted by M.D. Jennings for a game-clinching turnover for the Packers (nevermind the blatant offensive pass interference by Tate on Packers cornerback Sam Shields). The referees on the spot signaled for both a touchdown and touchback. It was chaotic. There was even a replay review, which ruled the play a touchdown for the Seahawks. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was ecstatic.

"Seahawks win, in the most bizarre finish you'll ever see!" ESPN's Mike Tirico said on the game broadcast.

Two days later, the NFL's lockout of the real referees came to an end.

📸: NFL teams wearing alternate or throwback uniforms

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