A potential Super Bowl preview and the battle for Pennsylvania: Five things to look out for in Week 15 of the NFL season
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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (left) and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (right) will face off in Week 15. Reuters
We are down to just four weeks left in the regular season.
There are no more bye weeks with everyone playing and many teams now find themselves in must-win situations in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Here are five things to know for Week 15:
NFC West showdown
We have another good one on Thursday Night Football between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
Both of these teams are coming off big wins on Sunday with the Rams beating the Buffalo Bills 44-42 in arguably the game of the year while the Niners finally put together a great game, downing the Chicago Bears 38-13.
Right now, the Washington Commanders are sitting at 8-5 and occupy the last playoff spot in the NFC. The team who will finish in that final slot is likely going to need 10 wins, which means the 6-9 Niners will have to run the table to have a shot at making the playoffs.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday that he was pleased with how the offense looked in the win over the Bears.
“I liked how we played last week. It’s a week-to-week thing. We played good in that game and I thought we hadn’t played that well the previous three weeks,” Shanahan said. “We did versus Tampa the week before that. We haven’t been as consistent as we’d like, and hopefully, we can string two games together in a row here.”
Unfortunately for them, they have a rough schedule the rest of the way. After facing the Rams, they play in Florida against the Miami Dolphins, home against the Detroit Lions and then away at the Arizona Cardinals.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, sits at 7-6 and has a better shot at making the postseason. After this week, they get the New York Jets and then two divisional home games versus the Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle is the favorite to win the division, but don’t be surprised if that Week 18 matchup is for the NFC West title.
A new Cowboys low
The Dallas Cowboys lost a tough one to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night after botching a punt they blocked.
It was just the latest misstep in a disastrous season for ‘America’s Team.’ They now go into North Carolina to take on the Panthers on Sunday as the underdog.
If you would have told someone in September that the Cowboys were going to be underdogs in this game, they would have thought you were delusional. But here we are.
At 5-8, all the Cowboys have left is to play spoiler. After the Panthers, they play the Tampa, Philadelphia Eagles and Commanders who all have playoff aspirations.
Talk of who will be the Cowboys next head coach has already started as Mike McCarthy appears to be a lame duck.
On his weekly radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made some interesting comments about Bill Belichick, saying: “I don’t know that I’ve seen a coach available, if you will, with his stature. He’s got a lot of gas left in his tank, a lot.” Very interesting.
Super Bowl preview?
The game of Week 15 is the Lions hosting the Bills, with Buffalo coming off that wild loss to the Rams.
They made history in Week 14 becoming the first team ever to score six touchdowns without a turnover and still lose.
The silver lining though was that Josh Allen became the front-runner for MVP after his incredible performance.
Allen was the first player in NFL history to have three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a single game, making the defeat ever more surprising.
Detroit head coach Dan Campbell spoke about the difficulties of facing the “challenging” Allen.
“He’s taking the plays that are there and once he progresses it’s not, then he uses his legs. So, I feel a more patient player out of him and because of that, he’s playing at a very high level and that makes him even more dangerous,” Campbell told reporters on Monday.
“So, it is, he’s got a big-time arm, he’s accurate, he can read defenses, and then he’s got the physical ability to take off and run, and he can run over people, he can run around you, he can get on the perimeter. So yeah, this is going to be a huge task for us, this is not going to be easy.”
Buffalo has already clinched the AFC East but catching the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC’s No. 1 seed seems like a tall order now that they are two games back in the standings, meaning this game is not a must-win for the Bills.
On the other hand, despite being 12-1 and favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Lions need to win this game.
The Eagles and Minnesota Vikings are just a game behind them for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. If the Lions falter, then their Week 18 matchup with the Vikings very well could be for the NFC North division title.
It is hard to imagine with the season they are having that the Lions fall all the way down to the No. 5 seed.
Battle for Pennsylvania
If you live in Pennsylvania, the game of the week is not Lions vs. Bills, it’s the Eagles hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This will be the first meeting between the two since 2022, with the Eagles owning the series all-time record 49-29-3.
Both come into this one in excellent form. The Eagles have won nine straight while the Steelers have won seven of their last eight.
In his long career, Russell Wilson has a perfect record against the Eagles, winning all five of the matchups he’s had with them, throwing eight touchdowns and just one interception against Philly.
Despite the offensive stars on show, this game looks like it will be a defensive battle, with both teams possessing top five defenses in the league.
We will also be on ‘Saquon Barkley watch’ again for this game.
Barkley needs 482 rushing yards to break the Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards. With four games left, that means Barkley needs about 121 yards a game to get it done.
That’s going to be tough to do against the Steelers as they haven’t allowed that number to a running back all season.
Monday Night doubleheader
Week 15 has our final Monday Night Football doubleheader of the season.
Unfortunately, both games involve teams that are struggling. The Vikings host the Chicago Bears at 8 p.m. ET with the Las Vegas Raiders and Atlanta Falcons kicking off 30 minutes later.
In Vegas, it may be time for Atlanta to fold their Kirk Cousins hand. The 36-year-old quarterback threw two more interceptions in the loss to the Vikings this past Sunday giving him a league-leading 15 for the season.
The Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall in this year’s draft, leading many Atlanta fans to call for him to play. An early interception against the Raiders and they may get their wish.
Full Week 15 schedule
Away @ home
Thursday
Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers – 8:15 p.m. ET
Sunday
Dallas Cowboys vs. Carolina Panthers – 1 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cleveland Browns – 1 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins vs. Houston Texans – 1 p.m. ET
New York Jets vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – 1 p.m. ET
Washington Commanders vs. New Orleans Saints – 1 p.m. ET
Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants – 1 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Tennessee Titans – 1 p.m. ET
New England Patriots vs. Arizona Cardinals – 4:25 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos – 4:25 p.m. ET
Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions – 4:25 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Chargers – 4:25 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – 4:25 p.m. ET
Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks – 8:20 p.m. ET
Monday
Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings – 8 p.m. ET
Atlanta Falcons vs. Las Vegas Raiders – 8:30 p.m. ET
By Andy Scholes and , CNN
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