Week fourteen has come and gone in the NFL. We now hit the final full month of the season and we getting ready for the playoff push. Key injuries have started to come into play, like the Colts now down their quarterback. We saw some great games on the week, including a fun rivalry renewal between the Bears and Packers. We got teams stepping closer and closer to playoff spots, while others are losing their grip on said spots. With all that being said, here's some of the best, and worst, from week fourteen.
Best: Shedeur Sanders, Quarterback Cleveland Browns
A little weird to see this in the winners column with the way the game actually ended, but there is a reason that this is here on this side of this list. IT was the best performance of Sanders early career. Sure it came in a losing effort, but that was only because the Browns couldn't convert on a game tying two pointer late. Sanders was really good on the day. Three carries for 29 yards and a touchdown to complement his 24 of 42 performance for 364 yards and oh year three touchdowns through the air. Look sure the Browns are 3-10 on the year. But there are two things that are giving the Cleveland fans a little bit of hope. Myles Garrett going after the single season sack record, and performances like this from Sanders that give you hope you may (key word there) finally have something under center.
Worst: Chiefs Playoff Hopes
When this season started, there had been a large sense of hope in Kansas City. But that hope hasn't panned out this season as the Chiefs are now a game under .500 following a 20-10 loss at home to the Texans. And it's nothing really special that Houston's defense does. They just play a tight coverage defense, something that KC had no answer for. It also doesn't help that the Kansas City offensive line looks like a MASH unit, leaving Mahomes out to dry. With the way things have looked over the last month or so, the hopes of them making the post season are starting to slip and fast.
Best: Buffalo Bills Late Game Heroics
Buffalo was one of the heavy favorites to be a serious threat in the AFC this season. They've stumbled at times early this year and trail New England in the standings. but what happened on Sunday against Cincinnati reminded a lot of people that the Buffalo Bills are still, in fact, a threat. The Bills walked away with a 39-34 win over Cincy and that was mostly done thanks to that little 21 point 4th quarter. A lot of those 21 points coming in the final five minutes of the ballgame. A chunk of those points came thanks to the Bills picking off Joe Burrow not once but twice. Only time will tell if this is the real Bills or just a sort of flash in the pan. If this actually the Bills then watch out, they are going to be very dangerous.
Worst: Ravens Playoff Hopes
There was some level of hope in Baltimore going into this year that they would not only be a playoff team, but go on another solid run. Those hopes are starting to slip a little. Baltimore has now lost two in a row to fall to 6-7 on the year, following a 27-22 loss to the Steelers at home. The defense made Aaron Rogers feel a little more like he found his game again, while the Ravens offense for whatever reason can't get in sync with itself and get back on its game again. If Baltimore wants to have any hope at either a division title or even a playoff spot, then the offense needs to find itself again. Heck if Lamar can even start to show flashes of his old self and come close to playing at something resembling an MVP level, that would be massive for the Ravens and trying to get back to the promise land.
Best: Titans Running Game
A big day for the Titans to pick up their second win of the season. It was a solid effort in a 31-29 win over the Browns. We touched on it earlier with what Cleveland did with Sanders under center. But the big key in this game is and was going to be the running game for the Titans, which really carried things on the day. 35 carries for 185 total yards on the ground and a good job of the Titans controlling the clock. A lot of that had to do with the outstanding play of Tony Pollard. HE alone had 25 carries for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns. This was a great day in what has otherwise been a lowly season in the music city.
Worst: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There was a lot of hope going into this season for the Bucs coming out of the NFC South. They started the season off right, going 5-1 early on. Since then, they've only won two games since then, and now sit at 7-6. This is coming off au upset 24-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints. That loss now put them in a tie with the Carolina Panthers on the top of the South. Play on Sunday can't just be placed on the weather conditions in Tampa. Baker Mayfield just wasn't very good and their defense couldn't really stop the Saints. Now the schedule over the final five games, which looked at one point thought to be a cake walk, is very different. Those two games over the final three weeks of the season with the Panthers now looms even larger.
