Vincent Frank
With only three more weeks left in the NFL season, we’re getting down to nail-biting time. There are multiple playoff clinching scenarios in play here, and a whole heck of a lot of top-end matchups.
It starts Saturday with the Chiefs and Chargers battling for first place in the AFC West. Fresh off suspension, can Marcus Peters contain a Chargers receiver in Keenan Allen who has been dominating recently?
In the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Pittsburgh and New England do battle in Steel Town. How do the Steelers plan on stopping Rob Gronkowski with their best cover linebacker sidelined?
And in the NFC, the Rams hope to clinch a surprising playoff spot against the division-rival Seahawks. Russell Wilson is looking for some type of protection against one of the best defensive fronts in the game. These are among the top matchups for NFL Week 15.
Keenan Allen vs Marcus Peters
Fresh off serving his team-sanctioned one-game suspension, Peters will now have the tall task of going up against one of the most dominating receivers in the NFL right now. He’ll do so with his Kansas City Chiefs looking to break a tie atop the AFC West with the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, this is a tremendous matchup on the first Saturday of regular season NFL football.
With his Chargers having won seven of the past nine games, Allen himself is on an absolutely brilliant run. He’s caught 39-of-49 targets for 547 yards and four touchdowns over the past four games. He should have an advantage here against a corner in Peters who has been known to give up the big play and is afraid of physicality on the field.
If so, the Chargers could very well earn their eighth win in the past 10 games and take a stranglehold on the division heading into the final two weeks of the season.
Rob Gronkowski vs Mike Mitchell
We hate to focus on the football aspect of Ryan Shazier’s injury, especially after he had to undergo spine surgery. But the NFL season itself moves on, and the Pittsburgh Steelers must do whatever they can to honor Shazier by performing well on the field.
Following Sunday night’s epic comeback win over Baltimore, the Steelers find themselves atop the AFC with an 11-2 mark. The team has won eight consecutive games and is averaging 33.3 points over the past four outings. That’s all fine and dandy, but Sunday’s game against New England will be an entirely different story.
Gronkowski has caught 65 percent of the 85 balls thrown in his direction this season. He’s averaging a whopping 15.4 yards per catch. And in his first game back from suspension, we can be pretty sure the Pro Bowler will want to perform at a high clip. With Shazier sidelined, the onus will be on Mitchell to provide coverage from over the top here.
Cam Robinson vs Jadeveon Clowney
One of the most underrated aspects of the Jaguars’ surprising season has been the performance of rookie second-round pick Cam Robinson as Blake Bortles’ blindside protector. Bortles has been sacked just 20 times in 13 games, which has led directly to him putting up twice as many touchdowns as interceptions. As one of the better rookies this season, Robinson has been one of the primary reasons why.
Though, it’s going to be exceedingly difficult for Robinson to fend off Clowney in this week’s game against the Texans without help being thrown to his side. As we saw when he went up against Myles Garrett earlier in the season, Robinson tends to struggle with more athletic pass rushers. And for his part, Clowney has recorded a career-high nine sacks this season.
In a game the nine-win Jaguars should win handily against a Texans squad that’s lost six of seven, this one matchup could ultimately make the game closer than we expect.
Nick Foles vs Giants pass defense
At 11-2 on the season, Philadelphia is stil in great position to earn a first-round playoff bye. But this team is going to have to pick up the pieces after losing MVP candidate Carson Wentz to a torn ACL during last week’s division-clinching win against the Los Angeles Rams.
It could go one of two ways. A veteran-laden Eagles team might rally around Foles as he makes his first start as member of the squad since since 2014. The team could also go the route of feeling bad for itself, which wouldn’t necessarily end well.
This week’s game against the Giants is a good first test in that it lines Foles up opposite a defense that just yielded 30 points to the Dallas Cowboys and ranks 31st in the NFL stopping the pass. At the very least, it’s an easier initial matchup for the veteran signal caller.
Jason Spriggs vs Julius Peppers
Now that Aaron Rodgers will make his first appearance under center for Green Bay since Week 6, the Packers have a real shot at the playoffs. Here’s a team that’s won each of the past two games in overtime to preserve those postseason hopes.
But if Rodgers is going to find a way to lead this squad to meaningful January football, he’ll have to win the final three games and get some help from other NFC teams.
That starts this week against a Panthers squad that’s currently tied with New Orleans atop the NFC South. The biggest matchup here pits former Packers Pro Bowler Julius Peppers against a third-year offensive lineman in Jason Spriggs who has played primarily guard since entering the NFL and missed the first eight games of the season to injury. If the Packers can’t contain Peppers, it will be a long first game back for Rodgers, and could very well end Green Bay’s playoff aspirations in the process.
Seahawks offensive line vs Rams defensive line
Russell Wilson might have only been sacked twice in last week’s loss to Jacksonville, but he was hit on 20 percent of his drop backs and pressured well over one-third of the time. This has been a continual issue for Seattle. And since acquiring left tackle Duane Brown, the biggest pass protecting problem for the Hawks has been up the middle.
This week’s game against the Rams is interesting in that Los Angeles can provide that punch from the interior of its defensive line with an All-Pro performer in Donald and an underrated defensive tackle in the form of Michael Brockers. It also has the athleticism to spy the elusive Wilson with safety-turned-linebacker Mark Barron. This could limit Seattle’s leading rusher, especially when he’s faced with pressure up the middle.
One game ahead of Seattle in the NFC West with three weeks left, Los Angeles can all but clinch the division with a win here. It won’t be easy sledding on the road. But if the team’s defensive line does its job, the Rams could very well come out on top.
A.J. Green vs Xavier Rhodes
Two stars that are struggling a lot more recently than any of us could have imagined. Green has failed to hit the 80-yard plateau for Cincinnati in each of the past four games and has racked up 50 yards or less in half of the Bengals’ last eight outings. More than anything, the issue here is a quarterback in Andy Dalton who continues to show himself as nothing more than of backup quality. It might be harsh, but that’s one of the primary reasons Cincinnati enters Week 15 with a ghastly 5-8 record.
On the other hand, Rhodes has been on the downswing after performing like an All-Pro corner over the first half of the season. The numbers will say that Rhodes has been excellent, but the tape tells us an entirely different story.
Given how many plays Andy Dalton and Co. have left on the table, this shouldn’t be a major issue for Rhodes and the first-place Vikings. But if Green is able to have that breakout performance, it could keep an otherwise lopsided matchup closer than anticipated.
DeAndre Hopkins vs Jalen Ramsey
Despite Houston’s double-digit loss to the 49ers last week, Hopkins treated San Francisco corner Dontae Johnson as his own personal rag doll. Hopkins caught 11-of-16 targets for 149 yards and two touchdowns, ultimately leading to Johnson being benched.
That’s all great. It was a tremendous performance. But Johnson is nowhere near the same league as Ramsey. That should show itself in a big way this week with the Jaguars looking to win their 10th game and remain in first place in the AFC South. Thus far on the season, Ramsey is yielding a sub 50 passer rating when targeted. His Jags are also coming off a Week 14 win over Seattle in which the league’s best defense picked off three Russell Wilson passes.
Jared Goff vs Russell Wilson
Clearly coming off one of the worst performance of the season, Wilson needs to bounce back in a big way this week if he has any aspirations of leading Seattle to the NFC West title. The Seahawks find themselves one game behind Los Angeles in the division. A loss here would make a division title almost impossible. And as of right now, the Hawks themselves are not even in playoff positioning.
On the other hand, Goff continues to shine as a sophomore for the surprising Rams. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns compared to two interceptions over the past six games and is coming off a mistake-free performance in a narrow loss to the Eagles last week. Should Goff remain at this level in Week 15, the Rams will all but wrap up the division.
Antonio Brown vs Stephon Gilmore
In Monday’s surprising loss to Miami, the Patriots allowed Jay Cutler to complete 16-of-22 passes to his wide receivers. It seemed that this defense reverted back to an early-season performance that saw it rank among the worst teams in the NFL against the pass.
Obviously, that can’t repeat itself this week if New England wants to avoid Pittsburgh clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC. And it’s not going to be an easy task. Steelers receiver Antonio Brown has even absolutely dominating this season, taking that to an entirely new level recently.
He caught 11 passes for 213 yards last week against Baltimore and has tallied 627 yards over the past four games. If Brown gets the best of his lesser counterpart here, it would not be a shock to see Pittsburgh come out on top for a ninth consecutive win.
