After many weeks of waiting, teams are finally clinching playoff berths. Some teams secured their divisions and have chances at the number one playoff seed. Even more exciting are the teams that had chances to clinch and couldn’t, setting up more anticipation for the holidays. It’s time to see who or what else stood out most for week 15.
Winners: Jake Browning
Cincinnati’s backup quarterback hasn’t just won the games he’s started the past three weeks, he’s been the better passer. Jake Browning is undefeated in his three starts for the Bengals, changing the AFC playoff picture.
Many assumed after franchise star Joe Burrow was put on injured reserve with a torn ligament in his throwing wrist that Cincinnati would finish last in their division. It couldn’t be more opposite with Browning under center. He’s elevated head coach Zac Taylor’s offense, averaging 32 points per game in three needed wins against playoff hopefuls Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Minnesota.
Many AFC teams are struggling with multiple backup quarterbacks, poor offensive play-calling and holding leads in the second half of divisional games. The Bengals have dodged all three of these issues with a confident Jake Browning leading the offense. While two of their remaining three games are against divisional opponents with similar postseason hopes, Cincinnati is in a better position to lock up one of the three wild-card spots.
Jacoby Brissett’s chance to be a starter again
Washington’s loss in Los Angeles might have sealed head coach Ron Rivera’s fate, but it didn’t seal backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s. The eight year veteran played less than a quarter and almost stole a win against the Rams.
Brissett came in with seven minutes remaining and the Commanders down 28-7. He finished both drives completing eight of ten passes for 124 yards, two touchdowns and an almost perfect passer rating. Los Angeles squeaked out a 28-20 win.
Jacoby Brissett has been an unfortunate journeyman passer the last five years. When given the chance, he can lead teams and give them hope for a postseason run. The high number of injured quarterbacks this season will make Brissett a popular target for general managers once the offseason begins.
James Cook
It was appropriate for Bills quarterback Josh Allen to tell the press after a dominant home win against Dallas that, “the win for me was like getting an ‘A’ on a group project when you did nothing.” On offense, James Cook put most of the work in for that ‘A’.
Cook diced Dallas’ defense all four quarters Sunday. He ran 25 times for 179 yards and a touchdown. He also had two catches for 42 yards and caught Allen’s only passing touchdown. His seven yards per run took so much time off the clock, Buffalo posted the fastest final of the late afternoon games.
The Bills have needed a runningback to take pressure off Allen from constantly making big plays. James Cook is quietly less than 200 yards away from a 1,000 yard rushing season. Buffalo might have found their young, franchise runningback that can attack defenses in a dimension the team hadn’t been able to do in prior years.
Baltimore Ravens (and yes, John Harbaugh’s coaching)
The first team in the AFC to clinch a playoff spot Sunday was Baltimore. After constant criticism against head coach John Harbaugh, he’s led the Ravens to a conference best eleven wins.
Baltimore took advantage of every Jacksonville blunder Sunday night. While the Jaguars wasted four scoring opportunities, Ravens quarterback and leading MVP candidate Lamar Jackson dazzled audiences with his performance. The team has dealt with injured play-makers on both sides of the ball this season but the difference is coach Harbaugh making all the right decisions that eluded him in 2022.
The Ravens have a top five scoring offense and total defense. The offense is also top ten in time of possession and total yards per game. Both upper management and the coaches took last year’s failures seriously and made necessary upgrades to make sure there wasn’t a repeat of last year’s monthly embarrassments. Baltimore is a true, Super Bowl favorite before Christmas.
Losers: Mike Tomlin
Consistency in sports journalism is something audiences look for and hold in high regard. Just as there was harsh criticism towards John Harbaugh, so there should be for head coach Mike Tomlin.
Saturday’s loss in Indianapolis when the Steelers had a 13 point lead might be the lowest point of Pittsburgh’s season. While the offense, led by backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky started off with two easy touchdowns, nothing after went right. Despite firing unpopular coordinator Matt Canada last month, Pittsburgh’s gotten worse in almost every offensive category. Part of that is because starting quarterback Kenny Pickett’s missing time with an ankle injury. It’s believable if the Steelers’ problems were just on offense. However, star players on defense have also gone out with injuries. The defense is missing three impactful players and mostly plays better than an offense that won’t average more than 16 points a game.
A new issue creeping in is lack of discipline. The ejection of safety Damontae Kazee due to his vicious tackling of Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. adds to the growing concern of Tomlin’s management the past two months. Previously it was receiver George Pickens making media headlines with his angry tirades of not being involved in the offense. Now players on defense are getting ejected (and suspended by the league) for making dangerous plays.
Audiences who have watched the Steelers play the last few seasons will admit they’re one of the worst teams to watch almost every weekend. The organization has to consider serious changes on every level, including a head coach who’s helped re-build a roster that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016.
Tennessee Titans
For anyone who watches a team lead by double digit points and wonder, “What’s the worst that could happen?”, Tennessee’s home loss to rival Houston (while wearing throwback jerseys of Houston’s original football team) will become a definition of what possibly could go wrong for many years.
After the Titans took a 13 point lead to start the second quarter, things went downhill. First, the Texans tied their rival late by scoring their only touchdown of the afternoon. Tennessee had led most of the game until Noah Brown caught the three yard score from Case Keenum. Rookie and possible franchise quarterback Will Levis struggled to evade defensive linemen and almost left with a serious injury. The Titans couldn’t move the ball past 19 yards on any of their second half possessions.
Things have gotten worse as not only the loss officially eliminated Tennessee from the postseason but star runningback Derrick Henry tweeted cryptic messages indicating he could move on if the organization doesn’t make necessary changes before January. Merry Christmas Titans fans.
Green Bay Packers
Heading into last Monday night, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur hadn’t lost in the month of December since his hiring in 2019. In one week, LaFleur’s lost two games against teams Green Bay was nationally favored to beat.
The Packers are in the thick of the playoff race and recently won two important games in Kansas City and Detroit. The confidence and good feelings Green Bay had after those wins are gone after being dominated against Tommy DeVito and Baker Mayfield-led offenses.
It’s easy to forget at times the Packers have one of the NFL’s youngest rosters. Audiences will wonder from a competitive viewpoint where would the team be if they focused on and won games against inferior opponents in one week. The losses sting more when looking at the close NFC North divisional standings and knowing the Packers own some tie-breakers.
Whoever decides to watch Christmas Eve’s Sunday night game
Christmas Eve is a wonderful time of year. Family, christmas carols, It’s a Wonderful Life and wrapping presents are what most people in the United States focus on before having a lovely holiday.
Any sane or rational minded person would also decide not to watch New England play Denver on Sunday night. The Patriots are trying their best to set NFL offensive standards back at least 50 years while Sean Payton either verbally grills his quarterback or whatever poor referees call penalties against his team.
The league decided not to flex New England’s win against Pittsburgh on Amazon two weeks ago and paid for it with low ratings. Perhaps we can all write to Roger Goodell (and Santa Claus! Think of the children!) to encourage more flexing of primetime games, no matter what network airs them. Two years of bad American football on Christmas is enough for one’s lifetime.
Notes: The writer, editor and publisher is officially on break with the publishing of this article. This is the last Winners and Losers for the NFL season. Wild-card weekend playoff picks will be up before January 13th.
Happy Holidays to you all. Many thanks to those who have read, liked, commented on and shared jdsportscorner.com articles this year. The first post of 2024 will contain updates of my growing writing career in the sports journalism field. May you all enjoy the rest of 2023.
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