The more the weeks progress, the clearer the picture emerges. Some teams, like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, are now out of the playoff picture and we are already looking ahead to the 2026 season.
Others like the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos continue to gain momentum and begin to dream of the possibility of playing a football game in February.
The Philadelphia Eagles have silenced doubts, while the Green Bay Packers, with the loss of Micah Parsons, and the Indianapolis Colts, with their 44-year-old quarterback, have big clouds hanging over their heads.
For others, like the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, everything remains to play for in the final two weeks of activities.
The picture is becoming clearer, but nothing is cast in stone! Here are the over-the-top reactions after Week 15 of NFL action.
Chiefs’ window of opportunity is closed
For the first time this season, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the Chiefs will miss the playoffs… but is it an exaggeration to suggest that they will never return to the level they have reached in recent years?
Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, compounded by quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ torn ACL in the final minutes, combined with early wins by the Buffalo Bills, Jaguars and Houston Texans, means the Chiefs will be out of the AFC playoffs for the first time in 11 years. It also means the AFC Championship Game will be played without the Chiefs for the first time in eight years. It also means the Super Bowl will be played without Kansas City for the first time in four years. This means the end, at least for now, of one of the greatest hot streaks in sports history, as Andy Reid, Mahomes & Co. will now look to regroup and get things back on track in 2026.
It also means opportunity for…practically everyone. The Chiefs have been so present in our collective NFL consciousness for so long that the playoffs are going to feel strange without them. But there is nothing particularly surprising about this. There are a lot of teams this season that are better than the Chiefs, and this week was make-or-break for a lot of them.
Even before Mahomes’ injury, the Chiefs knew they would have to overhaul several aspects of their roster: their lack of depth at wide receiver, the poor performance of their running backs and the possible need to find a tight end if Travis Kelce retired. But now the Chiefs’ list of priorities will also have to include a quarterback, with Mahomes potentially missing the start of next season and the team having no one else under contract at the key position for next year.
Chiefs management will also need to prioritize improving their defensive line. Too often this season, the only lineman capable of generating consistent pressure has been Chris Jones, who at 31 is the second-oldest lineman on the team. One AFC executive said the Chiefs’ inability to apply consistent pressure and sacks with four linemen (the collective defensive line generated just 16.5 sacks) has been the defense’s biggest weakness.
In the adversity, a few fingers also pointed at head coach Andy Reid, who hasn’t looked as great as in years past through all of his team’s troubles.
The last few months have hurt, very badly, the Chiefs. The organization seemed to be floating on an eternal cloud, but in the span of a season, everything is now called into question to the point of wondering if this is the end of the dynasty for Mahomes and co.
The Bills and Pats will face each other again
Sunday was a memorable day in Foxborough. Drake Maye and the Patriots jumped out to a 21-0 lead, but Josh Allen led the Bills on a comeback to earn a 35-31 victory and remain in contention for their sixth straight AFC East title. New England maintains a one-game lead with three games remaining and is in a good position in tiebreaker scenarios, but the race isn’t over.
Buffalo overcame a deficit to win in the last two weeks, and Allen’s excellence and the team’s collective experience in big late-season games make the Bills one of the most dangerous teams in the league, even if they have to go through the 1st round to advance to the playoffs.
The game that revealed the Patriots as true title contenders was their 23-20 victory at Buffalo in Week 5. The Bills returned the favor Sunday by ending New England’s 10-game winning streak. As it stands, the Bills have a chance to be by far the most seasoned team – absent the Chiefs and potentially the Ravens – in the AFC playoffs, giving them the confidence to go on the road in January and win a playoff game.
Depending on the outcome of Sunday’s Packers-Broncos game, the Patriots certainly remain in position to secure the top spot in the AFC playoffs. They’ve been criticized for their easy schedule, but they’ve won every important game they needed to win through Sunday, and the way they played in the two games against the Bills proves they’re truly up to the task. The question is whether Buffalo can dethrone New England for the division title, as it did with Miami two years ago. Either way, this rematch is entirely possible and it would be great if it happened in the playoffs. Never two without three, they say!
Parsons injury ends Packers’ hopes
Green Bay’s 34-26 defeat against the Broncos will hurt a lot more than a classic defeat at the end of the season. During the second half, Micah Parsons seriously injured his knee. Pass receiver Christian Watson also left the field with a chest injury which required him to be taken to hospital by ambulance for further examination. These were the two most serious injuries in a series of serious injuries that occurred on Sunday, and the whole situation cast a shadow over the Green Bay locker room after the game.
When asked about Parsons’ injury, head coach Matt LaFleur only responded, “It doesn’t look good,” without providing information on the other injuries. But he also spoke at length about how to maintain team cohesion through adversity, and players in the locker room talked about the need to step up in Parsons’ absence during the remaining weeks. It definitely felt like a group preparing to play without its best player for the rest of the season.
No offense to any other players on this team, or to its extremely talented coaching staff, but these losses are too much to overcome when trying to accomplish what the Packers are trying to accomplish. This loss, combined with the Chicago Bears’ victory against the Cleveland Browns, caused the Packers to lose their first place in their division. They can regain first place by beating the Bears on Saturday night, but that highlights the magnitude of the challenge ahead. There are simply too many good teams in the NFC this season.
Trevor Lawrence is a member of the elite
Lawrence and the Jaguars crushed the New York Jets 48-20 on Sunday, winning their fifth straight game and maintaining first place in the AFC South. In what might be the best game of his NFL career, Lawrence completed 20 of 32 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns, along with five rushes for 51 yards and a touchdown. In Week 15 of his fifth professional season, Lawrence not only helped fantasy football players win their playoff duel, but more importantly, he finally looks like the player the Jaguars thought they were drafting when they selected him first overall in the 2021 draft.
The Jaguars, with a record of 10 wins and 4 losses, are having an exceptional season under the leadership of head coach Liam Coen. But their star quarterback has been somewhat spotty and inconsistent for most of the season. Early in the season, the Jaguars were winning primarily due to an opportunistic defense that caused many turnovers. The ground game came together around the middle of the season with Travis Etienne Jr. and Bhayshul Tuten.
Meanwhile, Lawrence threw three interceptions in a game in Week 12, when the Jaguars had to resort to overtime to hold off the Arizona Cardinals. But Lawrence recorded his second-highest efficiency rating of the season in Week 13’s win over the Tennessee Titans. He then did even better in Week 14 against the Colts. I guess his performance on Sunday surpassed him, but you get the idea: Lawrence is stepping up at the right time.
It’s entirely possible and understandable that it took him this long to master what Coen has been teaching him since the spring. It’s also possible that Lawrence was so brilliant because he was playing against the Jets. The fact is, he’s playing very well, and if the rest of the team continues to play like they did before Lawrence started to shine, this is a team to watch in January.
Steelers – Ravens: everything will be decided in week 18
Baltimore ended Cincinnati’s season on Sunday with a resounding 24-0 road victory, meaning the North Division now comes down to a two-team race. Baltimore is 7-7 and just a half-game behind Pittsburgh, who will face the Dolphins on Monday Night Football tonight on RDS2. The Ravens’ final three games of the season will be played at home against the Patriots, at Green Bay and at Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ final three games, after Monday night, will be played in Detroit, Cleveland and at home against Baltimore.
Given the remaining schedule and the way these teams have played this season, it’s still possible that the winner of this division will post a negative record. The Steelers remain in the lead, after beating the Ravens last week in their first meeting. And if Pittsburgh can beat Miami and Cleveland in Week 17, that should be enough to secure 1st place.
But Baltimore looked better Sunday than it has all season. If Lamar Jackson is healthy and the defense plays well, the Ravens become very dangerous regardless of the opponent. They are believed to have a good chance of staying within reach and entering the Week 18 matchup at least tied for the division lead, which would make it a division title game where the loser would find themselves on vacation.
