Week 14 was eventful and the playoff race got tougher. Let’s take a look at the action.
Green Bay 27 Cleveland 21
Green Bay survived a scare in Cleveland. The 0-13 Cleveland Browns blew a lead and allowed Brett Hundley to earn a 111 QB rating with 3 touchdowns. The Packers run game was shut down at 3.1 YPC but Jamaal Williams had a big early touchdown.
Green Bay now gives Aaron Rodgers a chance to run the table in the last 3 games. Green Bay is 7-6 and has a shot at the wild card if they win out.
Detroit 24 Tampa Bay 21
The Lions won ugly on Sunday by forcing a whopping five turnovers from Tampa Bay. Detroit kept the Buccaneers in the game with 3 turnovers of their own including two bad Matt Stafford interceptions. Stafford was great other than those two throws. Stafford completed over 80% of this attempts for 381 yards and 1 TD.
The Lions continued to struggle running the ball at 2.9 YPC but Theo Riddick had two big red zone TDs for the Lions. Eric Ebron had his best game with 90 receiving yards but lost a fumble. Golden Tate caught a big TD and Marvin Jones had another deep ball this week.
Detroit’s defense gave up three long TD drives and let Tampa Bay come back after Detroit led 21-7. However, the Lions clamped down on the second to last drive and got a big stop. Stafford marched the Lions down the field and Matt Prater continued to be perfect for game winning field goals. Prater hit the 46 yarder for the 24-21 lead with 20 seconds to play. Ansah closed the game sacking Winston. Detroit stays in the wild card race and must win out.
Carolina 31 Minnesota 24
The Vikings had one damn job and they couldn’t do it. Minnesota broke their winning streak and lost at Carolina on Sunday. This hurts Green Bay and Detroit in the wild card race but Carolina still has two tough matchups this year.
Case Keenum had 2 interceptions and only a 73 QB rating. The Vikings offensive line is now very banged up with Mike Remmers and Pat Efflein missing the game. Riley Reiff hurt his ankle in the 3rd Quarter as well. Keenum was sacked 6 times against the Panthers strong front 7.
The Vikings ran the ball well and got back into the game late but the Panthers held on for the big victory.
Other Games and Playoff Race
Seattle (8-5) lost to Jacksonville which helps Green Bay and Detroit. Seattle plays the Rams next week for a big game for the NFC West lead. Seattle travels to Dallas in Week 16 and host the Cardinals in the final week.
The Falcons (8-5) beat the Saints on Thursday which hurts the Packers and Lions in the wild card. The Rams lost to the Eagles but Carson Wentz hurt his knee. The Eagles may be much weaker for the playoffs now.
Dallas (7-6) beat the Giants to keep their playoff hopes alive with Ezekiel Elliot returning next week. The Cowboys must win out and get some help for the playoffs. Also, the Bears crushed the Bengals proving the Bengals are terrible.
Detroit and Green Bay must win out. Seattle must lose one more game. One of the Panthers or Falcons need to lose two games of three. Carolina plays Green Bay this week in a huge game for the wild card. Go Packers.
Falcons host Carolina in Week 17 so two losses for Carolina is on the table if they lose to Green Bay. The Falcons travel to Tampa and travel to the Saints so they could lose to the Saints. Atlanta and Carolina will be a big Week 17 matchup.