We've now getting ready for the final two weeks of the regular season, which means its getting down to the nitty gritty for playoff spots. We already know that the Bills, Steelers, and Chiefs have clinched in the AFC, while the Packers, Saints and Seahawks have clinched spots in the NFC. We no longer have a winless team in the league, as the Jets FINALLY got off the slide and managed to actually win a game. we saw Pittsburgh seem to slowly start losing their once tight grip near the top of the AFC, and a rookie show off his skill set at the other end of the state of Pennsylvania. So lets get right into it. Here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.
Best: Miami Dolphins Run Game
This is something that has been a long time coming for the Dolphins. They walked away with a 22-12 win over the Patriots, which not only eliminated the Patriots from post season play, but it also snapped a long streak for New England. The Patriots had gone 31 straight games without allowing a 100+ yard rusher. To find the last one to do it, you got to go back to week fifteen of the 2018 season to find it. It was Jaylen Samuels of the Steelers, who ran for 142 yards. Sunday, Salvon Ahmed of the Dolphins had 23 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown. This was a Dolphin team that was 27th in the league in rushing heading into the week. It was just a straight up pounding of the rock at the Pats defensive line, and New England didn't have an answer to stop it.
Worst: Los Angeles Rams
Coming into this week, the Rams were a 9-4 team and had lost only once at home all year. They were playing the winless Jets and were a seventeen point favorite to beat the Jets. Somebody forgot to tell all this to the Jets, as they came in and picked up their first win of the season in a 23-20 shocker over the Rams. Sure the Rams made a game of it late, but through most of the three plus quarters, they didn't have any answers at all for what the Jets were throwing at them. Jared Geoff looked really uncomfortable and off his game in the pocket. He got little help from his defense early on. The Rams got off to a very slow start in a game that, had they won, gotten them into a playoff spot and helped them keep pace with Seattle. Now the hill is a little steeper for the Rams to climb to get into the playoffs.
Best: Jalen Hurts, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Hurts got his first start in this league and didn't do so bad for himself. I know that the Cards beat the Eagles 33-26 and yes Wentz was sacked six times. Hurts did manage to go 24 of 44 for 336 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for another 63 yards on eleven carries. Some of his passes weren't as accurate as Hurts would have liked, but he had his all around game coming together. With the Eagles falling out of a playoff race in the NFC East, this could be a really good proving ground for the kid. If he keeps playing the way he did in this game, the Eagles may have something. Which leads to the next point.
Worst: Carson Wentz Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
This does now lead one to believe, what does the future look like for Wentz in Philly? He doesn't want to be a backup for the Eagles, but he could be heading in that direction with the way Hurts has season. Wentz had looked great three seasons ago before injuries started to take hold. He hasn't really been able to get himself righted. Here's the Eagles problem. It looks like this could be Hurts time under center for good. Wentz might be hard to move, because of his massive cap hit next season and the Eagles aren't sure what they can get for him. It looks like Wentz, for now at least, is going to be riding the pine.
Best: Jacksonville Jaguars
Its really weird to see the Jags in this situation, but in reality it makes sense. Jacksonville got blown out to the tune of a 40-14 loss to the Ravens. Jacksonville now sits at 1-13 on the season, and with the win by the Jets, the Jaguars are potentially sitting in the catbird seat for the top pick in the April draft. The Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes has been heating up between the Jaguars and Jets as of late and now the Jaguars are looking good in the Tank for Trevor sweepstakes.
Worst: New York Giants
The wheels have started to fall off for the Giants, a team at one point that was really heating up and heading towards a playoff spot after a dreadful start. They had come off a week two weeks ago in beating Seattle. They followed that up by getting drubbed by the Cardinals at home. Now in come the Cleveland Browns, and it was the same story as the week before. Cleveland walked away with a 20-6 win over the Giants, pushing them a little further down the ranks in terms of getting a playoff spot. They are going to need a lot of help and have to win out in order to sniff the playoffs. They have to go to Baltimore and then host Dallas, both games are must win for the Giants if they want a shot at the playoffs. Now is not the time to start slipping back into old habits and playing poor football.
Best: DeAndre Hopkins Wide Receiver Arizona Cardinals
We talked a little about this above, with the Cards beating the Eagles to the tune of the 33-26 win. DeAndre Hopkins was a big part of that. Sure he did fumble once, but he still finished with nine catches, one of which was for a touchdown, and he collected 169 receiving yards on the day. Those yard totals were the most of any receiver in the league. Hopkins is still showing that he's one of the very best in the league, and with the way he has played over the last couple of weeks he has kept the Cardinals in the race. They are holding onto the final wild card spot in the NFC and they are only two games back of Seattle for the top spot in the NFC West. Its really starting to heat things up in the playoff races in that division with two games left to go.
Worst: Kirk Cousins Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings found themselves a stud wide receiver in this years draft, snagging Justin Jefferson with the 22nd overall pick in the draft. He's already got over 1,000 yards receiving on the year, included in that is the 104 he grabbed in the Vikings 33-27 loss to the Bears. Jefferson has the ability to be a true star in this game and do so for a long time. What does this have to do with Cousins? Well he could have had higher numbers if Cousins was on target a bit more often against the Bears. Case in point, he overthrew Jefferson at one point and Jefferson could be heard, clear as day on a mic, yelling “FUCK, Kirk! Comeon! Throw the ball!”. This was late in the 2nd quarter with the Bears up 20-7. Look Cousins did throw for 271 yards on the day but he was all over the place with his passes. If Minnesota hopes to go anywhere, Cousins had better get it together and perform like the man getting paid a ton of money by the Vikings.
