NFL mayhem: NFC's race for No. 1 is now a wild one
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the NFL playoff picture came into clearer focus as five teams clinched postseason berths on Sunday.
In all, only four playoff spots are up for grabs. The most prominent might be the slog that has been the NFC East title race. After the Eagles needed a last-minute touchdown to put away the Redskins, the Cowboys put forth a statement win against a Rams team that desperately needed a win.
The Texans made a big move toward their fourth AFC South title in five seasons by dispatching the Titans in Nashville.
The 49ers, meanwhile, were defeated after a wild finish in Santa Clara. This setback for San Francisco opened the door for as many as five teams to stake claim to home-field advantage in the NFC.
Quick hits: Catch up on Sunday's best
- 32 things we learned: December is the time that records fall in the NFL. In Week 15, some teams and players set the bar pretty high -- or pretty low.
- Playoff picture: The seedings remain up for grabs, but the playoff outlook became a little firmer on Sunday as five teams clinched postseason berths.
- Winners and losers: The 49ers' loss opened up the race for home-field advantage in the NFC. Meanwhile across the Bay, the Raiders had a bummer of a finale in Oakland.
- As far as game-ending sequences go, few are wilder than what happened Sunday in Santa Clara.
- The Cowboys avoided a coin-toss catastrophe after Dak Prescott's language sparked confusion. After the game, the Cowboys' defensive captain was like, my bad.
- Jason Garrett's pregame hype speech helped spark the Cowboys' turnaround Sunday.
- Eli Manning fought back tears in the waning moments of Sunday's 36-20 victory over Dolphins in what was likely his farewell as starting quarterback.
- The Eagles' meaningless, last-second touchdown made for a crazy bad beat.
- The Bengals' sad season was summed up with an incredibly sad onside-kick attempt in Sunday's loss to the Patriots.
- Fox Sports showed the clip of the controversial Patriots video that the NFL is investigating.
- Raiders fans booed Derek Carr off the field after an ugly meltdown against the Jaguars.
- In the wake of Sunday's loss to the Chiefs, Von Miller says the Broncos' failures "defeats my soul."
- The Chiefs got warmed up for Sunday's game against the Broncos with a pregame snowball fight at Arrowhead Stadium.
- A referee needed to tell Raiders fans to stop pointing lasers at the players.
- 2020 NFL draft first-round order: The Giants' win over the Dolphins didn't hurt their positioning near the top of the first round.
- PHOTOS: Best of Week 15 | Cheerleaders | NFL at 100
What our experts are saying
- Raiders fans deserved better: The Raiders' final home game was supposed to be an all-out celebration. Instead, the day served as a sour separation for Oakland fans, writes Jarrett Bell.
- Can Texans be trusted as a legitimate contender? It's hard to know what to make of the Texans because of the lack of consistency. They’re clearly not as good as the team that thumped the Patriots, writes Mike Jones.
- Why would anyone hire Urban Meyer as an NFL coach? No matter what you thought of Meyer, he had two undeniable strengths that made him an elite, championship-winning college football coach, writes Dan Wolken.
Week 15 rundown
- Bills 17, Steelers 10: The playoff-bound Bills have their first double-digit win season since 1999 and second playoff berth in 20 years.
- Cardinals 38, Browns 24: Frustration continued to mount for Cleveland as its playoff hopes were buried in the desert.
- Falcons 29, 49ers 22: The Falcons scored one of the season's biggest upsets after a wild game-ending sequence.
- Cowboys 44, Rams 21: The Cowboys snapped out of their funk in a big way against the Rams.
- Vikings 39, Chargers 10: Seven turnovers is probably six too many if you want to win a football game.
- Jaguars 20, Raiders 16: The Raiders' finale in Oakland ended on a sour note.
- Buccaneers 38, Lions 17: While Tampa Bay has won four straight, Detroit now has lost seven consecutive games.
- Chiefs 23, Broncos 3: The Chiefs won easily in the winter wonderland that was Arrowhead Stadium.
- Eagles 37, Redskins 27: A rookie RB and a former AAF WR helped keep the Eagles' division title hopes alive.
- Giants 36, Dolphins 20: If this was Eli Manning's final game with the Giants, he went out in style.
- Texans 24, Titans 21: Houston moved a step closer to its fourth AFC South title in five seasons.
- Seahawks 30, Panthers 24: Seattle remains in the thick of the chase for home-field in the NFC playoffs.
- Patriots 34, Bengals 13: The Patriots clinched a playoff berth with this victory, making the 11th consecutive season New England has reached the postseason.
- Packers 21, Bears 13: Green Bay made the 200th meeting between these two long-time rivals more interesting than it needed to be.
- Ravens 42, Jets 21 (Thursday): Lamar Jackson set the single-season rushing yardage record for a QB as Baltimore won its 10th straight.
Coming this week
Monday: Week 15 wraps up the New Orleans Saints hosting the Indianapolis Colts at the Superdome (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Colts have lost five of six, while the Saints look to keep pace in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.
Tuesday: Paste BN Sports' NFL experts offer their power rankings for all 32 NFL teams after Week 15.
Thursday: "Thursday Night Football" is a wrap for the season, sorry football fans. Still, make sure to check out Paste BN Sports for expert picks for every Week 16 game.
NFL Facebook group: Join now!
If you're into football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with football enthusiasts and our NFL insiders.
Want to keep this NFL conversation going? Head to Facebook, and/or give a Twitter follow to your friendly neighborhood football guy who put together this newsletter, @jimreineking.