After Sunday, two weeks remain in the regular season. More teams clinched postseason berths and a few teams were eliminated from playoff contention. Some teams also secured their divisions and still have chances at the number one playoff seed. The final two weeks set up more anticipation for and after the holidays. It’s time to see who or what else stood out in week 16.
Winners: Tennessee Titans
It has mostly been a season to forget in Tennessee. The Titans have been undermanned and lacked talent to stay close in a lot of games. However, there have been times Tennessee has been on a similar level with some teams, and the depleted Chiefs were one. For the first time this season, the Titans had a home-field advantage.
After a scoreless first quarter, Tennessee started a scoring barrage led by defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. Simmons tackled Kansas City runningback Kareem Hunt in the opposing endzone for a safety. After the Chiefs got a one point lead from a Harrison Butker 54 yard field goal, the Titans went on to score their first touchdown when quarterback Cam Ward completed a seven yard score to Chig Okonkwo. Tennessee never lost the lead again.
Ward threw another touchdown and running back Tyjae Spears ran for an additional score. On defense, the Titans had four sacks on two Kansas City quarterbacks and gave up less than 200 yards of offense. Tennessee gave their fans something to celebrate for Christmas with their first home win of the season. The game was another reminder of how special Ward is and how the organization should involve him in their coaching decisions moving forward.
Zac Taylor
Many serious NFL analysts believed the losers of Sunday’s Cincinnati-Miami game would get their head coach fired after the regular season. Since the Bengals Zac Taylor decided to play his starting quarterback and has the more consistent offense, it’s possible he saved his job for another year.
Offense is Taylor’s specialty, and it showed in a dominant win against the Dolphins. Quarterback Joe Burrow played much better and completed 25 of 32 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Runningback Chase Brown ran 12 times for 66 yards and scored once. After the Bengals took a three point lead into halftime, head coach Zac Taylor made some defensive improvements and got the offense to pile on points the last two quarters.
Taylor is certainly in an unenviable situation in Cincinnati. He’s responsible for getting the most out of a top-tier offense, solid special teams, and an all-time worst defense. A cheap owner, general manager and front office has over-stressed one of the most experienced head coaches, and Burrow’s personal issues are another serious problem that should be addressed and fixed in the offseason. That’s why Sunday’s win was big. The Bengals won’t make the playoffs, but the team hasn’t quit on their head coach. That should be a rallying point for 2026.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville now has one of the hottest NFL teams after Sunday. Many believed the Jaguars didn’t stand a chance against Denver especially on the road. Rookie head coach Liam Coen is one of the best stories of the season and has amazed audiences with how well his team plays.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence completed 23 of 36 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran six times for 20 yards and another score. Receiver Parker Washington had another great game, recording six catches on ten targets for 145 yards and a touchdown.
An underrated part of Sunday’s win was Jacksonville’s defense. Although they sacked and intercepted Broncos quarterback Bo Nix once each, the Jaguars stifled Denver’s running game, forced and recovered a fumble, and made them commit two turnovers on downs.
Head coach Liam Coen had Jacksonville ready to play and left no doubt which team was better. The win keeps the Jaguars close in the first seed race and on top of the AFC South. Closing out the regular season with a wounded Colts and less talented Titans the last two weeks makes Jacksonville one of the biggest conference threats for any playoff contender.
Losers: New York Jets defense
New York hired then-Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as head coach because of how he gradually turned around Detroit’s terrible defense starting in 2021. Unfortunately for Glenn, it seems the Jets defense wasn’t going to like anyone who wasn’t former head coach Robert Saleh. That meant if Glenn tried to implement some of the same aggressive styles, the team wouldn’t buy in after the last head coach had a similar system.
There is usually one game a season where a team’s defense takes over and records a number of turnovers. That’s why the Jets not having an interception at any point this season stuns even a casual viewer. You read that right. You, me, your sleepy next door neighbor, or your pet fish have the same number of interceptions as the entire 2025 New York Jets defense. There has been some effort to play better, notably in the games after cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were traded. Yet before the trades, neither players performed well to make quarterbacks fear Aaron Glenn’s defense.
The Robert Saleh firing looks worse no matter how New York plays every week. The entire defense needs to be re-built. They don’t seem to enjoy taking the field, even if the opposing offense is undermanned or the quarterback is a rookie trying to keep the starting job. It’s embarrassing for everyone involved with the franchise.
Darien Porter
Las Vegas came so close to an upset win in Houston. The operative word here is close. The Raiders pushed the Texans to their limit and the defense was about to give quarterback Geno Smith a chance to put together a game-winning drive with four minutes left. All they had to do was hold the Houston offense on 3rd and 20 and force a punt from deep in their own territory. Las Vegas held…in the worst way.
Raiders cornerback Darien Porter held and committed a defensive pass interference on the pivotal play. The sideline official immediately threw a flag and gave Houston not just a first down, but a chunk of yardage that brought the ball close to mid-field.
That penalty was the difference between a possible game winning drive and a heart-breaking loss. The Texans got Las Vegas to use all three of their timeouts and wound all four minutes down to seal the win. The Raiders offense never got a chance.
Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions offense
It could be premature to call head coach Dan Campbell’s tenure in Detroit over, but it sure looked it Sunday afternoon against Pittsburgh. The Lions offense was favored to push around and throttle Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt-less defense. Instead they were bullied most of the game.
Detroit’s offense finished the game with 15 rushing yards. Not only is that uncharacteristic of how the Lions offense should play, CBS’ Nate Burleson pointed out in the post-game that the aggressive and in-your-face style of play wasn’t there. The Steelers defensive and offensive lines did what they wanted all four quarters against Detroit’s offensive and defensive lines.
More bad habits returned and were an issue whenever the Lions did play well. Penalties on both sides of the ball punished a lot of Detroit’s gains. The biggest ones came at the end where two last-minute touchdown plays could have given the Lions a win, but were negated because of offensive pass interference. According to ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, it was the first time in 30 years the officials called two OPI penalties on a final game possession. Detroit’s playoff chances are now slim. They need to win their last two and Green Bay to lose their last two games to make the playoffs. Given how this season has gone for both head coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator John Morton, that looks unlikely. The Lions may have had a hard schedule this season, but there were a good number of opportunities to pull away and win the NFC North. The organization will look back after the season and regret how many chances were wasted.
JD's Sportscorner 