We’re one game shy of being through Week 14. Bye weeks are done, Saturday games are on the horizon, as is the Wednesday Christmas slate and that means we’re hitting the home stretch. As we've been doing all season, we'll publish the takeaways Sunday and update them live through Monday morning. So come back again if not all 10 are here yet …
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams may not be loaded like they were three years ago—but Sunday showed that, on a given game day, there isn't a team in the league they can't knock off. You could see one element of it in their early dominance of a really good Buffalo Bills team at SoFi. The second piece, which showed itself thereafter, was probably more significant.
Sean McVay's crew went haymaker for haymaker with the Bills as the sun went down in Southern California and somehow, with Josh Allen playing at an absolutely mind-bending level, the Rams were the ones standing in the end, surviving for a 44–42 win.
The reality of the situation that unfolded before a crowd mixed of locals and Western New York transplants was that, for the better part of the second half, the Bills had the Rams on the run. After the Rams seized a 31–14 lead in the third quarter—by forcing a three-and-out and then going on an 11-play, 76-yard touchdown drive to open the second half—Allen and the Buffalo offense jammed on the accelerator and didn't ease off the rest of the way.
Allen piloted touchdown drives of 80, 70, 91 and 70 yards. Over those four possessions, Buffalo's final four of the game, the Bills ran up 279 yards from scrimmage on 32 plays, which averages out to 8.7 yards per offensive snap. And yet, as the avalanche of production struck the Rams, they weren't overrun by it and goaded into mistakes or sloppy play.
“It's just going out there and executing,” quarterback Matthew Stafford told me, as he exited the locker room. “It starts up front. Our guys did a great job of owning the line of scrimmage today. We ran the ball efficiently, and they kept me clean in the pass game. When they're doing that, it allows the other guys to go do their job and operate at a high level, and we were able to do it.”
In this case, it allowed for Stafford to keep the Rams' offense on the field. That, in the end, didn't result in a ton of points after L.A. took the aforementioned 31–14 lead, but it did shorten the game—and the opportunity for the Bills to come back.
In no spot was that more critical than the two big ones on L.A.'s second-to-last possession.
The first was a fourth-and-5 with 3:53 left from the Bills' 35. The Rams were up 38–35. And for this one snap, the Bills did seem to solve the Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua puzzle. So Stafford had to look elsewhere, to a streaking Tutu Atwell.
“Our guys up front did a great job of letting me get to the back side of my read there,” Stafford says. “We were working a little concept with Puka and Cooper to the right, and they did a nice job of taking that away. Tutu was No. 3, on the back side. He did a hell of a job of winning in there and making a nice play.”
Stafford dropped his arm angle to get the ball around a defender's arm, and slung it into a window where Atwell could chase it down.
Three plays later, Stafford had to do it again. This time on third-and-5, and with 2:00 left, the challenge became more mental than physical, with the Bills moving every defender toward the line. The ball was at the Buffalo 19. A field goal would give the Rams a six-point lead. A first down would force the Bills to start burning their timeouts. A touchdown would most likely end it. Stafford's adjustment determined which outcome was coming.
“They were coming out and trying to force the football out with a bunch of guys at the line of scrimmage,” Stafford says. “I was able to get to a check, and our guys executed great.”
That “zero check”—zero referencing the type of blitz coming—called for a screen to Nacua, keyed by a block from Kupp and, as Stafford says, it was executed beautifully. Kupp flared out from the slot and lit into corner Ja'Marcus Ingram, who was lined up head up on Nacua. Nacua cut inside of them and covered the 19 remaining yards.
And it was nice symbolism that it was those two, since those two loom large as a perfect illustration of why the Rams will be a headache for someone, if they make it to the playoffs. It's not like the Bills didn't know to cover Kupp and Nacua. It's that the Rams kept finding ways to make it borderline impossible to.
“Sean [McVay] does a really good job of building game plans around those guys and moving them around,” Stafford says. “We're not just breaking the huddle and defenses can know where they're going to line up. We're moving them. We're putting them in different spots in the formation. That allows their physical ability to show.
“It's a whole lot of fun to play with those guys.”
Add that to a Kyren Williams–Blake Corum-fueled run game, and a defense with a rising young group full of stars—guys such as Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Braden Fiske—and you can see why Sunday may be more than just a fun one we'll forget in a few weeks.
The Rams, who were at one point 1–4, are now 7–6, with McVay at the controls, Stafford with the trigger and a crew of title-tested vets leading a raft of talented young guys. In three more days, they'll get another big test when they visit a desperate NFC champion from San Francisco that’s trying to stay in the hunt. And winning this one only makes that game bigger.
“It keeps us alive.” Stafford says of Sunday's win. “It keeps the games in December meaningful for us. That's what we're fighting for every single week. Doing our job to try to prepare during the week to go out there and play well. And to have no regrets at the end of the thing.”
I can't imagine Stafford has many from Sunday.
Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold has given the Minnesota Vikings a champagne problem. And Kevin O’Connell really summed up the feelings of the organization in his postgame address to his players.
“This guy’s been on one for a few weeks, and he just keeps getting better and better and better and better,” O’Connell said. “And if people don’t understand now? Then, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Sunday was billed as Kirk Cousins’s return to the Twin Cities. And Darnold didn’t just double up his predecessor in points scored (42–21). He did the same in passer rating (157.9-70.1) and left little doubt on whether the Vikings made the right call back in March.
Darnold finished 22-of-28 for 347 yards and five touchdowns without throwing a pick. The Vikings scored the game’s final 21 points. Justin Jefferson hadn’t scored since Oct. 20, and Darnold got him two. Jordan Addison scored twice, too, with the first coming on the first big third down of the second half. Darnold’s passer rating was a franchise record, and also his 11th of the season in triple-digits, another Vikings best (with four games left).
So look, again, at the point O’Connell made. … If people don’t understand now …
If I’m translating that, it means roughly this: Stop indicting him for being a draft bust, and start to realize that he was worthy of his draft position after all. It makes sense, too. Think about it. Darnold entered Week 14 in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating, and then had the 347-yard, five-touchdown game. His team is 11–2. He plays in the NFL’s toughest division.
He's 27 now and was taken with the No. 3 pick in 2018, and he’s playing like it. As for the team that drafted him, the New York Jets have fired two coaches and two general managers since drafting Darnold, and have the longest playoff drought (14 years) in the four major U.S. men’s pro sports leagues.
Who was the problem again? You think it was Darnold?
Of course, the result of this, for the Vikings, is a champagne problem. At some point in the offseason, J.J. McCarthy, whom Minnesota took with the 10th pick in April, will be cleared. The staff loved his work before he tore his meniscus in August. So the next domino for the franchise, after the season ends, will be a decision on whether to try to re-sign Darnold or just turn to McCarthy, who’s on an affordable rookie contract.
One factor in that decision will be Darnold’s price point. To work to ascertain that, I asked a few execs Sunday night where they saw Darnold’s market. One guessed he’d command a three-year, $110 million contract, with more than $40 million guaranteed. Another said he thought the Vikings should consider franchise tagging him, even though the price on that projects to top $41 million, and that he’d probably get $40 million per year if he hit the open market.
So it’s a healthy inflation bump off what Baker Mayfield got coming off his own revival season in Tampa—a three-year, $90 million deal last March. And it’d be justified, too, as a recognition of the coming of age of a guy who always had the talent to make it.
Because, at this point, if you throw your preconceived notions out, that’s who Darnold is.
Chargers-Chiefs
The Los Angeles Chargers had the Kansas City Chiefs right where they wanted them—and the Chiefs showed why they’re the Chiefs. When you’re playing against a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, the idea, almost uniformly, is to limit his chances. You do that, of course, by drawing out drives, draining clock and using that snail’s pace approach to knock down the number of possessions each offense gets.
Even after entering the second half down 13–0, the Chargers went with that approach Sunday night at Arrowhead. They ate up more than half the third quarter on a 13-play, 79-yard drive, capped by a Gus Edwards touchdown, out of the break. They then took a 14–13 lead on a four-play, 74-yard drive. And after that, the Chiefs forced the Chargers to grind out 45 yards on 12 plays just to kick a 50-yard field goal.
In the end, the Chiefs had the ball just three times in the second half.
But they scored on the last two of those drives, and it was enough for a 19–17 win.
Why is this worth pointing out? They say styles make fights, and the Chiefs have evolved into the sort of team that can win any style its opponent wants to play. This was the second slugfest in a row they’ve won, but they also took shootout victories over the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in November. And that, to me, was the idea behind the Tyreek Hill trade three years ago, giving the team a chance to build a balanced roster around Mahomes that didn’t need to rely on him and four or five other guys to win a certain way every week.
This version of the Chiefs plays an uglier style, for sure. But it’s still plenty effective, and it travels better in the playoffs. That doesn’t mean, by the way, they couldn’t have kept winning the other way. It does mean that doing it that way sure isn’t the only way—and that having Mahomes to make plays like the throw he had on the naked bootleg scramble to Travis Kelce can enable a lot of things..
Of course, the past two Super Bowls could’ve shown you that.
Pittsburgh Steelers
It's hard to ignore what Russell Wilson is doing. He's started seven games, won six of them and posted a triple-digit passer rating in five. He took the helm at a point when plenty of Pittsburgh Steelers players and coaches, with the team at 4–2, would have rather had Justin Fields, who competes and carries himself like a born Steeler, just stay in there.
Wilson has the Steelers 10–3. He just avenged his only loss, the snow-splashed Thursday night upset in Cleveland, by beating the Browns 27–14. He is playing selfless ball, putting aside old agendas, and embracing what he did well against Cleveland.
Most of all, he's paying off the bet Mike Tomlin made on him in October, when the 18th-year Steelers coach followed his instincts in swimming upstream against the internal tide. And the payoff is coming, with Wilson's teammates now getting behind him, because, as they tell the story, he earned their respect.
“Not that we ever didn't have respect for Russ. It was tough when he was hurt, but he did a great job when he was hurt of being involved, and helping Justin any way he could,” tight end Pat Freiermuth says. “That's what helped him when he came back—guys knew that he had our back. He had Justin's back. There was no animosity between the two. It was all about winning. It couldn't really happen without both of them, and how they handled it.”
On Sunday, it manifested with Wilson throwing to nine different receivers and connecting with eight of them. He took care of the ball, the Steelers won the turnover battle and he kept the offense on schedule (he only took one sack). He did what Tomlin wants from his quarterback on a day when George Pickens, Pittsburgh's No. 1 option by a mile, didn't play.
And the fact that he understands what Tomlin wants and how to carry it out gives everyone on offense, not just Wilson himself, a nice starting point.
“It's just his experience and his leadership,” Freiermuth continues. “Being there, being that vet, he's seen a lot of things on the football field. Just him being able to rely on that and get us into great looks for situations, he's a hell of a quarterback. Any time you can mix that with the playmakers we have on offense holding us accountable, it's a recipe for success.”
And now all that success will get put to the test. The Steelers will visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens the following Saturday, then host the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day. The three-game sprint should make the difference between going on the road or staying home for the first round, or even a divisional-round game or the AFC championship.
When it's done, we'll have a better idea of where the Steelers stack up.
“We're ready for it,” Freiermuth says. “It's going to be tough with physical teams and really good teams—three games in 10 days. That's why we get paid the big bucks, is to get out there and get our bodies ready to perform. There are really no excuses.”
There's also no longer confusion at quarterback for the Steelers.
Which is a credit to Wilson. Full stop.
Miami Dolphins
Credit is due for Tua Tagovailoa, too. Or, at least, that's what Jonnu Smith, the Miami Dolphins’ veteran tight end, would tell you. And that's something I learned when I asked him to describe his game-winning touchdown from overtime Sunday against the Jets.
“It was kind of off schedule,” Smith told me after the game. “Tua just sat in the pocket and found me. I just locked eyes with him. I knew what was coming. We got the best quarterback in the world. He couldn’t have thrown a better ball.”
I stopped Smith, in the midst of his excitement over the 32–26 win, one that was a bit ugly, but did the job in keeping the Dolphins in the playoff race. I wanted to make sure I had him right.
The best quarterback in the world?
“I’m here with him day in and day out,” Smith says. “I see it. If you were a receiver, pass catcher, you’d want this guy as a quarterback, end of story. He throws the most catchable ball you can imagine, beyond accurate. Just poise in the pocket, a great person, a great leader, all of these things that you want in your quarterback. I’ve been around a lot of guys, a lot of great quarterbacks.
“This guy, to me, right now, I always say it, he’s the best quarterback in the world right now."
Whether you quite see him that way or not, Tagovailoa’s worth has been made clear this year, and it was again Sunday. Playing from behind for much of the game with a suddenly feisty Jets team, Tagvailoa went 33-of-47 for 331 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. The Dolphins were 1–4 from the time Tagovailoa got hurt to his return. With Tua in, they're 5–3. And here are the quarterback numbers from both stretches.
Tagovailoa: 9 starts, 240-of-324 (73.8%), 2,456 yards, 17 TDs, 4 INTs, 107.4 rating.
Others: 4 starts, 75-of-125 (60.0%), 717 yards, TD, INT, 75.32 rating.
Then, there’s the eye test. Which the other quarterbacks failed, and Tagovailoa has passed with flying colors, in both how he’s played individually and how the offense looks with him.
It’s part of what’s giving the Dolphins a shot, with the Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and another game with the Jets left on the schedule, and two games to make up with the three teams tied at 8–5 for the final three spots in the AFC playoff picture.
“You don’t have room for error. We shot ourselves in the foot earlier in the season. It’s hard to win games when your franchise quarterback is not playing,” Smith says. “Those guys that came in and stepped up, did a heck of a job. But Tua is the guy.”
And 2024 has made that clear, whether the Dolphins get in or not.
New York Giants
The New York Giants' 2025 quarterback isn't on the roster. Watching Drew Lock on Sunday made that plainly obvious, even while accounting for a valiant comeback at the end (and if you thought it was going to be Tommy DeVito, that's on you).
The team's dreary 14–11 loss to the New Orleans Saints made it eight straight. They Giants have averaged 14.6 points per game, and cut their 2019 first-round pick, Daniel Jones, during that stretch.
And the reality is the Giants have been moving on, really, for the balance of the season. Two weeks ago, pictures surfaced of Giants GM Joe Schoen, assistant GM Brandon Brown and director of player personnel Tim McDonnell visiting Colorado practice. The three were in Boulder to get an up-close look at Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders on their way to the team's Thanksgiving game in Dallas.
In a vacuum, it was an opportunity to see Sanders. In reality, it was part of a bigger effort.
The Giants got their high-end evaluators multiple live exposures to seven different college quarterbacks—Sanders, Miami's Cam Ward, Georgia's Carson Beck, Texas's Quinn Ewers, Ole Miss's Jaxson Dart, Alabama's Jalen Milroe and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier—headed into the week they went out to see Sanders in a practice setting. Over Thanksgiving weekend, they sent guys out again to get one last live look during the final full weekend of college games.
So what does this show? To me, it's two things. First, the Giants were under no illusion that they should bank on Jones breaking through to another level—the way he did in 2022—again, to justify picking up the $30.5 million on his contract for next season. Second, it makes it apparent that the plan has been, as John Mara has said, to stay the course with the current regime and give Schoen and Brian Daboll the chance to draft a quarterback.
Will they still? It's a fair question. There are the aforementioned eight consecutive losses, and the lack of a win at MetLife Stadium, a stadium over which some colorful commentary on the team's season flew Sunday. But there's also the fact that the Giants have, as I've mentioned a few times, pulled the plug quickly three times in the past decade, and the premise that Mara most certainly doesn't want to do it again.
A plane with this message for Giants ownership is flying over the stadium hours before they play the Saints: “Mr. Mara Enough — Plz Fix this Dumpster Fire.” pic.twitter.com/7DOUsGof1z
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) December 8, 2024
Which is to say, yeah, I still think Daboll and Schoen will be back next year, with some changes on the staff. But given where the Giants are right now, it's probably best to wait before saying that with complete certainty.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers have been through a lot—and it's paying off now. Three weeks ago, it was tempting to bury the Bucs. They'd lost four straight, five of six, and six of eight. They were decimated by injury, particularly at receiver. They'd been swept by the Atlanta Falcons, and were two games behind their rivals from the NFC South. At 4–6, it was bleak.
Now, they're all alone in first in the NFC South.
Surprised? These Bucs are not.
“We just focus on what we can focus on in each game. We'll keep on grinding like that,” 13th-year linebacker Lavonte David told me postgame. “Our main thing is just worry about what's going on in the building and nothing outside. At the end of the day, at the end of the season, we'll end up where we end up and be happy with it.”
It helps that they've been here before. And by that, I mean last year.
In 2023, the Bucs had a 2–7 stretch that included another four-game losing streak. Just like last year, this year, they've found a soft landing from the rough patch with a soft spot in the schedule. The three-game winning streak has come with victories over the Giants, Panthers and, on Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders. Those three project to have picks inside the first four of April's draft, as things stand now.
Still, the Bucs had to go out and win those games, and on Sunday it happened against a plucky Raiders team that, at the very least, has been a pain in the you-know-what to superior teams. It also tested what the Bucs focused on during their bye, all the way back in Week 11—when a tough self-evaluation showed a bunch of incomplete games played.
“We just had to stay locked in for four quarters, had to be on the same page,” David says. “You got to play a full football game at the end of the day.”
On Sunday, that meant riding out a tough second quarter through which the Bucs' four possessions ended in a three-and-out and three turnovers, the Raiders cut a two-touchdown deficit to 14–10 at the half. In the end, Tampa wound up outlasting Vegas, after taking all of a resurgent Carolina's punches in an overtime win, and routing the Giants.
And that puts Tampa back, again, on top in the South, with the Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Panthers and Saints left on the ledger. It's a manageable schedule. The Bucs have a shot to get healthier and build some momentum. In a lot of ways, it sets up a little like last year, when a late-season rally carried over into a playoff win over the Eagles.
Remember, this is the only team to beat the Detroit Lions this year. I'd say there's a decent chance the Bucs will show us why again in January—and they're giving themselves a shot to do that now.
Bill Belichick
There's real cold logic to Bill Belichick sniffing around college jobs. And I think the best way to explain it is to go step by step through what the legendary former New England Patriots coach would be thinking in talking with North Carolina, and considering the broader context of the job.
• I think Belichick was stunned by the tepid interest he got from NFL teams last year.
He won six championships, nine AFC titles and 17 division crowns over a glorious 19-year stretch, as part of his 24-year run in charge in Foxborough. Sure, he's in his 70s. But was there any way teams wouldn't be falling over themselves to get him?
It turns out there was a way. In some cases, it was easy to see the reason—the Tennessee Titans were too far away to hire a coach that old. Ditto for the Panthers. The Raiders weren't going to fire Josh McDaniels to hire Bill Belichick, and the Seattle Seahawks had just moved off an iconic septuagenarian of their own. For other teams, though, Belichick would've made sense. Until he didn't.
• The Falcons' situation also can help to explain why he'd be picky about jobs.
I love that the Falcons hired Raheem Morris, and think he's going to be a really good long-term answer for them. That said, Belichick was the only candidate who sat down with owner Arthur Blank during the first round of interviews, and the only one to board his yacht in the Caribbean at all during the process. They had a win-now sort of situation, and an aging owner running short on patience. For a bit, it seemed destined to happen.
Then, word emerged of internal resistance against a Belichick hire being voiced to Blank, which was followed by Belichick abruptly being left on the outside looking in. Could Belichick's takeaway from that experience be a hardened belief that an organization needs to be set up in a certain way in order to win? It sure could be. And in college, while there are plenty of hands in the pot, there's never any question that the coach is king.
• Belichick and folks around him have really studied the current state of the college game, and what they've found has, well, a lot in common with the NFL. If NIL is the salary cap, and the transfer portal is free agency, then you can see where Belichick might have confidence that what some folks would see as adjustment for him being a potential advantage.
How about recruiting? Well, I was told NCAA rules that now allow for noncoaches to hit the road and recruit got Belichick's attention. It essentially means that Belichick could hire coaches to coach, and recruiters to recruit, and wouldn't need to do home visits to land 18-year-olds. Deion Sanders, for one, doesn't go on the road to recruit, using his star power instead. Presumably, that's an approach Belichick could easily employ, too.
So adding all this up, you can see where Belichick would believe he could flip a college program faster than he could an NFL team. Using the transfer portal, he could feast on players looking to improve their draft stock, with his half-century of experience in pro football dangling into the recruiting waters as the lure. He could bring in third-, fourth- and fifth-year guys, the way Curt Cignetti did at Indiana, and set it up his way. He could do it without interference, and clear the rubble left for him faster than it'd be possible to in the NFL.
What's his preference? I still believe it's the NFL.
I've been told repeatedly, though, he mostly wants to get back to doing his life's work and coach again. That was emphatically reiterated to me last week, with the addendum that it didn't have to be in the pros. I bet he'd hope that's where his best opportunity would come. But it sure looks like the last year has shown him that there's no promise that'll wind up being the case.
Detroit Lions
The time is now for the Detroit Lions. By today's standard for the franchise—and certainly not yesterday's—the past couple of weeks have had some bleak moments. Dan Campbell's crew entered Thursday's showdown with the Green Bay Packers with 13 defensive players on injured reserve, six more than anyone else in the NFL. They were dropping like flies against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving. Against Green Bay, they lost Alim McNeill in-game, and Brian Branch got nicked, too.
The Lions have responded with answers, because this version of the Lions always has those.
They hung on for long enough on defense against Chicago to open the door for the Bears to snatch defeat from the claws of victory. They went blow-for-blow with the Packers, getting even more aggressive on offense in order to protect that wounded defense. They're 12–1 now, having won 11 in a row, and getting there with a ridiculous resilience that shows up even when every reason for an off week is there.
And here's the thing: Even the injury situation promises to resolve itself. The most beat-up group, linebacker, should get everyone except Malcolm Rodriguez back (though Jalen Reeves-Maybin's status is a little up in the air). There'll be improved health in the secondary and up front, too. Even Aidan Hutchinson, who got pretty lucky with how clean his leg break was (no nerve, ligament or artery damage), is back running in a pool, and is on a feasible return timetable now (a timetable that's feasible because the Lions getting to the Super Bowl is feasible, too).
So all these elements are aligning, and in a year when the Lions were lucky to keep their coaching staff intact, when it seemed like other teams would surely swoop in and poach some of the high-level lieutenants that helped Campbell build this monster.
Even now, I don't think OC Ben Johnson is in a rush to leave. As we reported last week, his tact for this year's hiring cycle will be different from the past couple. He won't chase interviews. The ones he takes will be out of genuine interest in getting that job, not just a job. He has two criteria: organizational alignment, and recognition from a team of its mistakes with a willingness to fix them. He will sell teams on his vision, to see whether they're willing to go all in on it.
DC Aaron Glenn, on the other hand, might have to be a little more aggressive, because he's older, he's a defensive coach, and there are two teams with open spots he has a very natural connection to (he played for the Jets and coached for the Saints).
Bottom line: It's possible both will be gone next year. Maybe only one will leave. It seems unlikely that both will be back in Detroit in 2025.
Which only underscores our larger point. The Lions have a very special group, and, because it's the NFL, and even while considering how sustainable their model looks, there's no guarantee that things will come together like this again.
Yup, that sure puts pressure on everyone.
But given where so many people there found their starting point in Detroit in 2021, and how long the city and fan base have waited for a team like this, you can bet it's a type of pressure that a lot of folks in the Motor City will gladly sign up for.
Quick-hitters
And let’s go ahead and wrap up the weekend with the quick-hitters …
• Bryce Young made some legit plays down the stretch against the Eagles—none bigger than the downfield strike off a scramble out of his own end zone for 31 yards to Xavier Legette on a third-and-11 with 2:47 left. Young’s making plays for the Panthers, and Dave Canales deserves credit for his handling of the young quarterback.
• Canales, while we’re at it, should get a hat tip for how Carolina is playing. Since their bye, the Panthers have taken the Chiefs to the wire in a three-point loss, forced overtime with the Bucs and nearly pulled off a win over the Eagles. Their game with Dallas next week is interesting for a bunch of reasons.
• The Niners’ absolute beatdown of the Bears should serve notice for where San Francisco’s ceiling still is. We’ll have a ton more on that on the site Monday morning.
• Four wins in a row for Geno Smith, Mike Macdonald and the Seahawks. And with a win over the Packers (on Sunday night) and a Niners win over the Rams next week, the Seahawks would open a two-game lead on the rest of the NFC West. Just as everyone expected.
• The shine is coming off the Arizona Cardinals a bit. But I still really like what Jonathan Gannon and Monti Ossenfort are building.
• I love that New Jersey’s own Darren Rizzi got a win as Saints interim coach in his homecoming game, and it happened with a blocked field goal locking up the 14–11 victory over the Giants for the old special teams coach.
• Josh Allen sure played like the NFL MVP in that loss. The Rams treated him that way, too.
• Not much to say about the Jaguars-Titans showdown, other than I never thought I’d say this but I miss color rush.
• Someone’s going to have to explain The Simpsons thing to me Monday night.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Week 14 NFL Takeaways: The Rams Can Beat Anybody.
