Our NFL Week 16 grades are now live to see how every team who took to the field Thursday through Sunday performed.
Things opened up in Southern California Thursday night with the Los Angeles Rams acing their test in a win over the New Orleans Saints.
Saturday’s action saw the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills increase their playoff odds. Meanwhile, Sunday’s action included the Cleveland Browns doing their thing in a win over the Houston Texans as the Jacksonville Jaguars lost their fourth consecutive game.
Without further ado, here is a look at our NFL Week 16 grades.
Related: NFL Week 16 power rankings
Los Angeles Rams: A
An argument can be made that Matthew Stafford is playing the best football of his career. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback now has the Los Angeles Rams in the midst of a stretch in which they have won five of six. Thursday night’s win to open NFL Week 16 is the latest example of this. Stafford completed 24-of-34 passes for 328 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in a 30-22 win over the Saints. Star young running back Kyren Williams went for 104 yards on the ground, too. Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua gained 164 yards on nine receptions.
New Orleans Saints: D
New Orleans now finds itself at 7-8 and on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFC Playoff race heading into Week 17. The Saints’ most-recent loss was defined more by a struggling defense that enabled the Rams to put up 458 total yards and 23 first downs. This comes after the team yielded a combined 12 points over the previous two games. It now has New Orleans behind the proverbial eight-ball heading into next week’s huge outing against the division-rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Los Angeles Chargers: B+
Giff Smith had his team ready to play Saturday night. Sure, it resulted in a narrow 24-22 home loss to the Buffalo Bills. But the interim head coach had the Chargers playing inspired football. The same thing could not be said about recently-fired former head coach Brandon Staley, who oversaw a humiliating 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders back in Week 15. We have no idea how the remainder of the Los Angeles Chargers‘ lost season is going to go. But if Saturday night is any indication, they are in good hands with Smith.
Buffalo Bills: C+
One week after destroying the Dallas Cowboys, Sean McDermott’s squad nearly suffered what would have been a season-defining loss Saturday night. Josh Allen threw another interception. James Cook and Deonte Hardy both lost fumbles in what was a mistake-filled game for the Bills. Even then, they were able to come out on top by two points via a late-game field goal. The question is now obvious. Are these Bills legitimate contenders? They looked nothing like it during NFL Week 16.
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Pittsburgh Steelers: A+
Mason freaking Rudolph. Who had this on your Bingo card for NFL Week 16? Replacing a benched Mitchell Trubisky against the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals in a must-win game, Rudolph put up the best performance for a Steelers quarterback all season. He completed 17-of-27 passes for 290 yards with two touchdowns in a 34-11 win. The embattled George Pickens put up a career-best performance, too, catching four passes for 195 yards. That included an 86 yarder. It has Pittsburgh at 8-7 and very much alive in the AFC Playoff picture.
Cincinnati Bengals: F
Jake Browning turned into a pumpkin Saturday afternoon as the former undrafted free agent from Washington threw three ugly interceptions. He also fumbled the ball in what was a disastrous 23-point loss for Cincinnati. This comes after Browning had led Cincinnati to three wins in four starts since Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending injury. It has Cincinnati at 8-7 and as the 10th seed in the AFC heading into Week 17. Browning could not have picked a worst time to fall back down to Earth.
Carolina Panthers: A-
Bryce Young put up a career-best performance as the rookie No. 1 pick nearly led Carolina to what would have been an epic comeback. Young completed 23-of-35 passes for 312 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He led Carolina to two fourth-quarter touchdown-scoring drives. Unfortunately, it was not enough as Green Bay would come out on top with a game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter to come out on top by the score of 33-30. At the very least, interim head coach Chris Tabor has the Panthers playing much more competitive football.
Related: NFL Week 16 defense rankings
Green Bay Packers: B
That was a much-needed win for the Packers. At 6-8 heading into NFL Week 16, Jordan Love did his thing in leading Green Bay to a narrow win over Carolina. The young quarterback threw two more touchdowns. Aaron Jones added 127 yards on the ground. Sure, the Packers’ defense struggled again. But a win is a win at this point in the season. Now at 7-8, Green Bay has an outside shot of earning a playoff spot in the NFC.
Detroit Lions: C+
It was Detroit’s defense that stepped up when Dan Campbell’s squad needed it the most. After giving up 411 passing yards to Nick Mullens, a late-game interception sealed the deal in a 30-24 road win over the Minnesota Vikings. At 11-4 on the season, Detroit has earned its first division championship since all the way back in 1993. It is also still alive for the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. What a turnaround it has been for the Lions under Campbell.
Minnesota Vikings: C
Minnesota wasted an elite performance from Justin Jefferson (141 yards, 1 TD) in a six-point loss to the division-rival Lions during NFL Week 16. Nick Mullens was a mistake waiting to happen (four interceptions). The Vikings could get anything going on the ground (17 yards on 11 attempts). The end result was an ugly loss and a 7-8 record on the season. Just brutal stuff for Kevin O’Connell and Co.
Tennessee Titans: C-
For a while during NFL Week 16 it looked like the Titans would pull off an upset win over Seattle. They found themselves up 10-6 after three quarters before Tennessee’s defense yielded two touchdown-scoring drives in the final 15 minutes. Ryan Tannehill then took two sacks late in the game with Tennessee down 20-17 and attempting to drive into field goal range. It those mistakes from the veteran that have defined his career recently. The end result on Sunday was a three-point loss and a 5-10 record on the season.
Seattle Seahawks: C
Seattle is now the third NFL team since 1970 to have recorded four game-winning touchdown drives in the final two minutes of a game. Living on the edge might have worked against an inferior Titans team during NFL Week 16. But this isn’t going to fly moving forward into the final two regular season games and potentially the playoffs. Despite boasting an 8-7 record, the Seahawks have been outscored by 32 points this season.
Atlanta Falcons: A
Arthur Smith needed this. The Falcons needed this to remain alive in the NFC South race. At 6-8 heading into Sunday’s action, the Falcons’ offense stepped up big time by tallying 406 total yards and 23 first downs in a 29-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Replacing a benched Desmond Ridder for the second time this season, Taylor Heinicke completed 23-of-33 passes for 229 yards. Atlanta also went for a whopping 177 rushing yards as the team used NFL Week 16 to remain very much alive for a postseason spot.
Indianapolis Colts: F
Winners of four out of five heading into Sunday’s game, the Colts fell completely flat in a 19-point loss to Atlanta. Gardner Minshew completed just over 50% of his passes with zero touchdowns and one interception. Indianapolis’ previously stout defense also allowed north of 400 total yards. The end result was a 29-10 loss and an 8-7 record.
Houston Texans: D
Not having C.J. Stroud (concussion) for a second consecutive game had a major impact on the Texans during NFL Week 16. Case Keenum and Davis Mills completed a combined 26-of-49 passes for just 178 yards with two interceptions in the 36-22 loss. However, it was Houston’s defense that came up small here. That included yielding an absurd 368 passing yards to Joe Flacco. Now at 8-7 on the season, Houston remains in a three-way tie in the AFC South.
Related: NFL Week 16 offense rankings
Cleveland Browns: A
The 10-win Cleveland Browns. No one could have seen this coming when star running back Nick Chubb went down with a season-ending injury back in Week 2. Once Deshaun Watson followed him on the sideline, most figured the Browns were toast. About that? Joe Flacco has energized this team big time. Meanwhile, Amari Cooper went off for a franchise record 265 yards in Sunday’s win over Houston. It has Cleveland looking very much like a playoff team.
Washington Commanders: D
Losing 27-7 at the half to a New York Jets team that entered NFL Week 16 averaging just over 14 points per game is humiliating enough. While Washington did show some fight to take a late-game lead before falling by the score of 30-28, it’s simply another bad look for soon-to-be-fired head coach Ron Rivera. Meanwhile, Sam Howell was benched for the second consecutive game. What a disaster class of a season it has been for the 4-11 Commanders.
New York Jets: C
Shocking. New York scored more points in the first half Sunday (27) than Robert Saleh’s squad had scored in all but two games this season. Not so shocking. The Jets tallied three points in the second half and almost blew the game against a bad Commanders team. Despite the 30-28 win, this season can’t end soon enough for Gang Green.
Miami Dolphins: B+
With Miami trailing 20-19 late in the fourth quarter, Tua Tagovailoa pulled off a master class of a drive against the Dallas Cowboys. He led Miami down the field 64 yards on 12 plays in 3:27, culminating in a walk-off game-winning field goal. This came after Dak Prescott had led Dallas on a 17-play touchdown-scoring drive to take the lead. Tagovailoa now enters the NFL MVP conversation following this thrilling win with Miami at 11-4 heading into Week 17.
Dallas Cowboys: C
The Cowboys are now 3-5 on the road this season following Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins in South Beach. This is not ideal given that Dallas will likely be forced to play a road game in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs against the eventual winner of the NFC South. As for the game itself, the ‘Boys did show some fight after last week’s blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. Dak Prescott was much better than last week, completing 20-of-32 passes for 253 yards with two touchdowns. The end result was a two-point loss. There are no moral victories in today’s NFL. Dallas knows that all too well.
Arizona Cardinals: F
Arizona just did not come out to play early during NFL Week 16 against the Chicago Bears. They fell down 21-0 before making this somewhat of a game when Kyler Murray hit Greg Dortch on a 38-yard touchdown. But it just wasn’t good enough in an 11-point road loss to Chicago. That includes Arizona’s turnstile of a run defense yielding 250 rushing yards to the Bears. Just gross.
Chicago Bears: B
Don’t look now. But the Bears have won six of 11 since an 0-4 start to the season. They are now 6-9 and still somewhat alive in the NFC Playoff race. Sunday’s win over Arizona consisted of Khalil Herbert (112 yards) and Justin Fields (97 yards) going off on the ground. It might not be enough for Matt Eberflus to save his job. But this team has turned it around big time.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: A+
Not only are Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers playing great football, but they could also be a major threat in the playoffs should this team earn the NFC South title. Tampa Bay has now won three consecutive games with Mayfield playing the best football of his career. He completed 26-of-35 passes for 283 yards with two touchdowns in a blowout 30-12 win over Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Jaguars: F
Ouch. The Jaguars have now lost four consecutive games and don’t look anywhere near a playoff team. Jacksonville fell down 30-0 to the Bucs on Sunday before scoring two garbage-time touchdowns. Trevor Lawrence suffered a shoulder injury and is undergoing tests. For a team that started 6-2, the Jaguars’ standing as an 8-7 team has to be considered a disaster. It’s that simple.
Denver Broncos: F
What a brutal loss for Sean Payton’s squad. Denver found itself up 7-3 at halftime against the three-win New England Patriots Sunday night. The team then gave up 20 unanswered points in the third quarter before coming back from down 16 in the final stanza. It was not to be. The Broncos’ defense let New England drive down the field for the game-winning field goal, much to the dismay of the home fans. By virture of this loss, Denver is 7-8 on the season and one game behind four teams for the final playoff spot in the AFC.
New England Patriots: B
We have to hand it to Bill Belichick and the Patriots. At the very least, they are playing inspired football right now. Sunday night’s 20-point explosion in the third quarter was something else. Bailey Zappe (25-of-33 passing, 256 yards, 2 TD) played stellar football in the 26-23 road win over Denver. It’s not enough to salvage a lost season, but New England has shown well recently.