Week 14 represents the start of the final quarter of what has already been a crazy season around the NFL. It’s also a time for legitimate Super Bowl contenders to start vying for seeding in the playoffs and playoff hopefuls to separate themselves from pretenders.
The good news here is that this week offers us plenty of tremendous games from multiple teams that are represented in these categories.
From the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings battling for playoff positioning in the NFC to the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders fighting for the AFC West crown, there are a lot of tremendous games on the slate.
Here are the top storylines for NFL Week 14.
Factory of futility
With one more loss, the Cleveland Browns will become the first team to lose their first 13 games in consecutive seasons. Move over Factory of Sadness, it’s now all about futility for this long downtrodden organization. And really, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight here.
This has now been taken to a whole new level after Cleveland fired executive VP Sashi Brown and replaced him with new general manager John Dorsey on the very same day. Talk about abandoning ship midstream.
Cleveland will now be tasked with getting its first win of the season at home against the Brett Hundley-led Green Bay Packers. It’s most definitely a game the Browns can win. But based on the team’s 1-27 mark under head coach Hue Jackson, no one should be willing to bet the house on this.
After Sunday’s action, a Week 16 contest against the Bears in Chicago is Cleveland’s only real opportunity to win a game this season. It takes on Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the other two games, two teams the Browns are 1-9 against since the start of the 2015 season. Ouch.
Can Raiders win in Kansas City?
Oakland heads into Week 14 tied with the Chiefs and Chargers for first place in the AFC West with identical 6-6 marks. Despite the Raiders’ massive struggles on both sides of the ball this season, the team is in prime position to win the division. Having already beat Kansas City at home this season, that’s magnified even further.
Outside of an inconsistent season-long performance, there’s one other major issue here. Oakland has not defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead since October of 2012, having lost four consecutive road dates against the division rival. With Kansas City in the midst of a seven-game stretch that has seen it lose six, the Raiders have a real opportunity here. And should they come out on top, the AFC West could be for the taking.
Russ takes on new Legion of Boom
In what will be Russell Wilson’s most difficult test of the season, he leads his Seahawks into Jacksonville to take on what has been a dominant Jaguars defense through 13 weeks. Jacksonville ranks No. 1 in the NFL against the pass, has yielded the fewest yards in the league and tops all 32 NFL teams by giving up less than 15 points per game.
The test is two-fold here. Can Seattle’s offensive line hold up in the face of a Jaguars pass rush that leads the league with 45 sacks on the season? If so, will Wilson be able to beat a secondary — led by corners A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey — that has yielded a league low 65.6 passer rating?
Fresh off an impressive win over the previously one-loss Eagles at home, Seattle needs to continue this momentum on the road in order to keep pace with the first-place Rams in the NFC West. Meanwhile, Jacksonville sits in a tie with Tennessee in the AFC South, having posted an 8-4 record to date.
No roaring from these Lions
Last week’s embarrassing 44-20 loss to Baltimore dropped Detroit to 6-6 on the season and out of playoff positioning in the NFC. The team currently sits two games behind both Carolina and Seattle for a wildcard spot in the conference. Needless to say, Matthew Stafford and Co. likely need to win out in order to make the postseason.
That starts Sunday against a Buccaneers squad that has lost seven of its past nine games and is coming off an overtime loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers last week. With a pretty favorable four-game set to conclude the season, Detroit still has playoff aspirations. Though, it will have to up its performance in a big way in order for this to come to fruition. A loss to the last-place Buccaneers this week would end such aspirations.
Jimmy’s big test
The Houston Texans’ defense may be plagued with injuries and suffering through a lackluster season, but Sunday’s game is still going to be a major test for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Fresh off a starting debut with the 49ers that saw him complete 70 percent of his passes for nearly 300 yards in a win over the Bears, Garoppolo looks to show others that he can be San Francisco’s franchise quarterback. The final quarter of this season will be his real first true sample size in that role.
It’s important for Garoppolo’s own value and the 49ers’ sense that they have finally settled the quarterback situation. Against a Texans defense that’s yielding a 96.9 passer rating on the season, Garoppolo should have success here. If so, it will build momentum for both him and the 49ers heading into the final three weeks of the season.
Vikings look to declaw the Panthers
By virtue of its win over Atlanta and Philadelphia loss to Seattle, Minnesota currently finds itself in the top spot in the NFC with a 10-2 record. Relying on veteran journeyman Case Keenum, the team has won eight consecutive games.
Though, unlike the Eagles prior to their loss to Seattle last week, it has not necessarily been in dominating fashion. Four of Minnesota’s wins during this span has come by one score. It tells us a story of opportunistic play on offense and a still-elite defense.
Set to take on a Carolina team that currently holds one of the two wildcard spots in the NFC, this is the fifth consecutive game these Vikings has faced a playoff contender within the conference.
It’s vital the team continues at its recent level in order to fend off Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Rams for home-field advantage in the NFC. On the other hand, Carolina finds itself at 8-4 and just one half game back in the NFC South. This, too, is a big game for Cam Newton and Co.
Eli’s revenge
The story has already been written. Though, there’s no ending. It’s as if we’ve read the first nine chapters of a book and are now going to have to wait months before understanding how it concludes.
Ben McAdoo is no longer the Giants’ head coach. Long-time general manager Jerry Reese has also been thrown to the sharks. Remaining in New York for this two-win team is a quarterback in Eli Manning who was benched last week in favor of Geno Smith. We’re pretty darn sure Manning will want to exact revenge on multiple levels Sunday against Dallas.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback would like nothing more than to pretty much end the Cowboys’ playoff aspirations in front of his home crowd. Now starting in favor of Smith, Manning surely would also love to show McAdoo that his benching was the primary reason for the head coach’s downfall in the Big Apple. Yeah, this is a revenge game on many fronts for Manning himself.
Chargers AFC West’s best?
As the Chiefs and Raiders do battle in Kansas City, these Los Angeles Chargers also enter Week 14 with a 6-6 record. The team has won six out of eight since an 0-4 start to the season and seems to be playing the best football in the division.
Sunday’s game against Washington could very well be a continuation of this recent success. Having lost five of their past seven games, the Redskins are out of the playoff conversation in the NFC. How that travels to California remains to be seen.
As for the Chargers, it’s been all about mistake-free play from Philip Rivers on offense and a ball-hawking defense. Rivers has thrown six touchdowns compared to zero picks during the team’s three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Chargers’ defense has forced 10 turnovers during that span. More of the same here will keep Los Angeles in first place in the AFC West heading into Week 15.
Bragging rights in Los Angeles
The top two picks in the 2016 NFL Draft going up against one another with an opportunity to earn a division title and a first-round playoff bye. Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Rams in Los Angeles is huge for the two teams. It’s also pretty big for both Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz and his counterpart on the other side, Jared Goff.
After having won nine consecutive games, the Eagles laid a complete egg on the road against Seattle last week. The team put up its fewest points (10) since all the way back in Week 2 of the 2015 season. This yielded the No. 1 seed in the NFC to Minnesota heading into Week 14. Though, with a win Sunday they can wrap up the NFC East.
On the other hand, Los Angeles has now won six of its past seven games after handling the Cardinals last week. They remain one game ahead of Seattle in the NFC West. A win here wouldn’t only maintain an advantage in the division, it would enable Los Angeles to remain alive for a first-round playoff bye and potential home-field advantage in the playoffs.
It starts with these two young quarterbacks who have combined to put up 49 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions as sophomores after throwing as many scores as picks last season.
Winning the north?
Not only are the Pittsburgh Steelers attempting to win the AFC North with a victory over Baltimore this week, they’re looking to remain atop the conference wth the defending champion Patriots heading into what would be a huge Week 15 game between the two teams.
Pittsburgh currently sits at 10-2 after having won seven consecutive games. A win against Baltimore would wrap the division up and enable this team to focus on seeding. On the other hand, the Ravens sit at 7-5 and in playoff positioning. While the division title seems to be out of reach, a win here would be huge for Baltimore’s playoff aspirations.
What is usually a hotly-contested rivalry game should be amped up a bit more this week in Pittsburgh. It should also be extremely fun for those of us who love good football.