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With Week 14 in the books, we only have four more Sundays of NFL football left this regular season! It always catches me off guard how fast the season comes and goes, especially with the holidays in sight. It'll be a mad dash to the playoffs, as each teams' playoff window tightens through these last four weeks.
Week 15 Power Rankings
Team to Note
Philadelphia Eagles (Rose 2 spots)
Philly makes their way back into the top 5 after dropping out earlier this season. They're playing at a high level, despite their close game against the Panthers. This defense is fully in lockstep with each other, and the offense is still moving the ball despite Jalen Hurts inability to read defenses as effectively as he was midseason.
Week 14 Awards
Awards | AFC | NFC |
Offensive MVP | Josh Allen | Sam Darnold |
Defensive MVP | Jordyn Brooks | Tykee Smith |
Special Teams MVP | Matthew Wright | Michael Dickson |
Trench Tyrant | Kendall Lamm | Chris Lindstrom |
Relentless Rookie | Jackson Powers-Johnson | Isaac Guerendo |
Winners to Note
Matthew Wright
Matt's been around the NFL for a few years now, but his best game was this past Sunday Night bash against the Chargers. While filling in for the Chiefs, he hit 4 out of 4 field goals, including a doink game winner from 31 yards out. He also added 33, 47, and 50 yarders to his total, giving him 12 of the Chiefs 19 points.
Tykee Smith
Tykee finally returned from a four week injury, and he picked up right where he left off. He feasted in coverage, allowing just 3 receptions on 7 targets for 24 yards and 0 TDs. His longest completion allowed went for 9 yards, and he added a strong interception while tightly covering his former college teammate: Brock Bowers. He also added 2 tackles, one of which was a stop, helping him generate a 90.9 overall defensive grade.
Isaac Guerendo
Isaac thrived in his first major game action since Week 8. On 17 total touches, he tallied 128 yards and 2 TDs. On his 15 carries, he averaged 3.87 yards after contact, and had a 30 yard carry as his longest on the day. He also had two receptions for 27 and 23 yards a piece, and set up his team nicely to score on both drives. He made the most of his chances with the entire RB room down, and he should be the lead bell-cow throughout the rest of the season.
Photo: Thearon W Henderson/GettyImages
Fantasy Football
Week 14 Recap
Points | QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex |
Player | Aidan O'Connell | Isaac Guerendo | Ladd McConkey | Grant Calcaterra | Elijah Moore |
Projected | 13.9 | 12.7 | 11.2 | 5.8 | 8.4 |
Actual | 6.76 | 26.8 | Inactive | 10.6 | 6.4 |
Difference | -7.14 | 14.1 | N/A | 4.8 | -2.0 |
Result | Bust | Boom | N/A | Boom | Bust |
Season Totals: 19 Booms / 27 Pushes / 23 Busts
Week 15 Prediction
QB: Tommy DeVito vs Baltimore Ravens (proj. 12.5 points)
Look, no one in their right mind is willingly starting Tommy DeVito - this is strictly to add to the Italian Mojo that Luigi Mangione shifted.
RB: Tank Bigsby vs New York Jets (proj. 10.0 points)
Tank has slowly taken over as the RB1 in the Jags backfield, as he commanded 20 touches compared to Etienne's 8. I expect him to have his best game yet against the struggling Jets defense, and he fully takes over as the lead RB moving forward.
WR: Adam Thielen vs Dallas Cowboys (proj. 11.9 points)
I have no idea why Thielen's projection is this low. In the past two games, he's been targeted 21 times, and has turn those targets into 43.1 fantasy points, all while scoring just 1 TD. Now, he'll go against a depleted Dallas defense, and he should put up another strong outing.
TE: Stone Smartt vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (proj. 6.9 points)
Stone did decently against the Chiefs in the absence of Will Dissly. He played just over a third of the snaps, and he produced 8.4 fantasy points on them. I expect him to be utilized a bit more in a must win game against the Bucs.
Flex: Rashod Bateman vs New York Giants (proj. 8.7 points)
Rashod's been boom or bust all season, and I'm expecting him to boom big time against the Giants. Calling it now, he'll have a 2 TD night for the first time in his career.
NFL Playoff Prediction
With just four weeks left in the season, I figured now would be a great time to predict how the playoff field is going to shake up. If the season were to end right now, here's how each conference would align:
Seed | AFC | NFC |
1 | Kansas City Chiefs | Detroit Lions |
2 | Buffalo Bills | Philadelphia Eagles |
3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Seattle Seahawks |
4 | Houston Texans | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
5 | Baltimore Ravens | Minnesota Vikings |
6 | Los Angeles Chargers | Green Bay Packers |
7 | Denver Broncos | Washington Commanders |
*Italics indicates team has already clinched*
For the AFC, only the Colts, Dolphins, and Bengals are still in the mix with the teams above, as the rest of the conference has been eliminated. If the Colts can beat the Broncos this weekend, they have a much easier path to the postseason, as they finish their year against the Titans, Giants, and Jaguars. Even so, winning out isn't enough, as they would need either the Broncos and/or Chargers to lose at least two games, or the Texans to drop three games. A tall task, but given the matchups, at least one of those sequences is a reality.
For the Dolphins and Bengals, it gets much harder, as Miami lost to the Colts earlier this season, and would need to have a better record than them to make playoffs. Essentially, Miami has to go undefeated the rest of the way, all of the scenarios for the Colts to make the playoffs need to happen, and the Colts need to lose at least one game - but if the Colts get beat by the Broncos in Week 15, it gives Miami the thinnest of margins to make the postseason. For Cincy, they need to win out and hope the Wild Card hopefuls ahead of them either split their matchups or lose 3+ games.
The NFC gets a bit crazier, as only the Giants have been eliminated. I won't go into all of the details, but there is a fun reality where the Panthers can make the playoffs if they win out, the Falcons and Buccaneers lose out, and the Saints win either one or two of their remaining games - in either case, they have to beat the Bucs in Week 18 for the Panthers to clinch at 7-10 if everything else happens. If the Saints beat the Bucs, and beat two of the Commanders, Packers, or Raiders, then they sneak in with an 8-9 record.
With all of this in mind, here is how I think each conference will play out:
Seed | AFC | NFC |
1 | (14-3) Kansas City Chiefs | (15-2) Detroit Lions |
2 | (13-4) Buffalo Bills | (14-3) Philadelphia Eagles |
3 | (13-4) Pittsburgh Steelers | (11-6) Seattle Seahawks |
4 | (11-6) Houston Texans | (10-7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
5 | (12-5) Baltimore Ravens | (12-5) Green Bay Packers |
6 | (11-6) Los Angeles Chargers | (12-5) Minnesota Vikings |
7 | (10-7) Indianapolis Colts | (10-7) Washington Commanders |
Based on current standings, the only shake ups I have are the Packers and Vikings swapping seeds thanks to a Green Bay victory in Minnesota during Week 17, and a surprising 7th seed clinch by the Indianapolis Colts! I have them overtaking the Broncos, as I see Denver dropped three of their last four matchups, thus skidding to a 9-8 finish. Mile High doesn't have a single easy matchup from now until the end of the season, as they take on the Colts, Chargers, Bengals, and Chiefs to finish their year off.
Week 15 Game Predictions
AFC Games
Chiefs vs Browns
Bengals vs Titans
Dolphins vs Texans
Jets vs Jaguars
Colts vs Broncos
NFC Games
Rams vs 49ers (TNF)
Commanders vs Saints
Cowboys vs Panthers
Packers vs Seahawks (SNF)
Bears vs Vikings (MNF)
Cross Over Games
Ravens vs Giants
Buccaneers vs Chargers
Patriots vs Cardinals
Bills vs Lions
Steelers vs Eagles
Falcons vs Raiders (MNF)
Record from Week 14: 9-4
Season Record: 126-82
Photo: Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Final Notes
If you made your fantasy playoffs, that means you ignored half of my takes all year - great job! If you missed your fantasy playoffs, that means you took half of my takes to heart all year - sorry to let you down.
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