Week 15 Winners and Losers: Eagles Silence Locker Room Questions, 49ers Face Crossroads

Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown reconnected on the field against a stout Steelers defense to establish a franchise-record winning streak, while San Francisco’s playoff hopes were extinguished.

Hurts threw for 290 yards against the Steelers, his highest total since Week 3. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The NFL regular season has plenty of ebbs and flows that can quickly change the Super Bowl landscape. 

For weeks, the Detroit Lions looked like they’d cruise into New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX based on how badly they were beating up on teams. But they’re now the ones who are beat up after a vicious wave of injuries to several key players. 

The San Francisco 49ers were also considered strong Super Bowl contenders at one point, but they were unable to overcome their many injuries, putting their playoff hopes on life support after losing to the Los Angeles Rams last Thursday to fall to 6–8.  

Fortunately for the banged-up Lions, they already secured a playoff spot and don’t have to worry about Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, who ended Detroit’s 11-game winning streak, when it comes to the NFC playoffs. But the Philadelphia Eagles might now be the conference’s new favorites thanks to their tight-knit locker room, which they made sure to remind the public about after the relationship between Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown came into focus last week. 

Even a team flying as high as the Eagles can’t get too comfortable, though. Many of the current NFC playoff contenders have found their stride. It’s definitely no longer just the Lions in the NFC’s top tier. And it’s not even just the Lions, Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, possibly the best three teams in the conference. The Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just as dangerous and leading their respective divisions. 

Here are our winners and losers from NFL Week 15.

Winners 

Eagles’ locker room

You can make a case for Brandon Graham being the biggest winner of Week 15 because his mistake of oversharing would have lingered another week if the Eagles would have lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But there was nothing to see in Philadelphia after Hurts and Brown showed the football public that they’re still close on and off the field. The QB-receiver duo had a touchdown celebration during the dominant win over Pittsburgh. Hurts even had a sassy opening statement to his postgame press conference in case anyone didn't get the message that everything is fine. 

Yes, Hurts, that’s what everyone wanted to see with the Eagles (12–2). They just blew out a tough Steelers team that rarely loses by more than one score and they’re now tied with the Lions (12–2) for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Oh, and Philadelphia has a franchise-best 10-game winning streak. 

The Eagles have been very good for a while now, but they were missing chemistry with the passing game, and Graham’s public assessment of Brown and Hurts’s friendship put that under the microscope last week. Brown also deserves some blame for the extra attention because he called out the passing game after a sluggish win against the Carolina Panthers. 

In a way, all the needless drama helped the Eagles’ passing attack break out of its funk. If Hurts continues to play as well as he did against Pittsburgh, the Eagles might not lose another game this season. Philadelphia travels to Washington this week and ends the regular season at home against the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. 

Rams’ NFC West title quest  

Everything broke the Rams’ way in Week 15. 

The Rams (8–6) picked up a crucial Thursday night victory against the 49ers to essentially end their rivals’ playoff hopes. Three days later, they found themselves in first place in the NFC West for the first time this season after the Seattle Seahawks delivered a dud in a Sunday night loss to the Green Bay Packers. 

Football pundits have been warning “Don’t let the Rams in the playoffs or else,” for weeks now, but it looks like NFC contenders will indeed have to deal with Sean McVay’s dangerous team in the postseason. The Rams, who currently control the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Seahawks (8–6), will go on the road to face the New York Jets before ending the regular season at home against the Arizona Cardinals and Seahawks. It won’t be easy for the Rams to win out, but they’re capable of doing it after winning seven of their past nine games to overcome a 1–4 start. 

Rams offensive stars Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford and Kyren Williams get the bulk of the attention, but L.A.’s defense has bailed out the offense many times this season, including in the field-goal fest against the 49ers. Second-year defensive tackle Kobie Turner went from having a surprise performance in The Masked Singer to putting on a show in Santa Clara. And let’s not forget that edge rusher Jared Verse is the frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year. First-year defensive coordinator Chris Shula deserves plenty of credit for getting production from a unit that needed to adjust to life without Aaron Donald after the soon-to-be Hall of Famer retired in the offseason. 

The Rams are a complete team that could make noise in the postseason. That’s clear now after back-to-back wins against the Bills and 49ers. 

Josh Allen’s MVP campaign 

Yep, it’s time to call the MVP race. Allen wrapped up the award after throwing for more than 300 passing yards and scoring at least four total touchdowns in back-to-back games against the Rams and Lions. He put up monster numbers on the road against two playoff teams, and one was in the midst of an 11-game winning streak. 

Now imagine what Allen, who has 37 total touchdowns this season, will do to the New England Patriots (twice) and the Jets to close out the regular season. Allen also has the wins to back up his MVP campaign, guiding the Bills (11–3) to a fifth consecutive AFC East title. 

Let’s stop debating about who the MVP is. It’s done. Let’s move on to the next hot topic. Besides, it’s been a constant conversation since late September, one of my pet peeves in this business. MVP discussions shouldn’t start until after Halloween. Luckily, Allen’s otherworldly performances this season ended the MVP chatter before Christmas. 

It would have been nice to see a running back be named MVP for the first time since 2012, but I’m pretty sure even Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry would vote for Allen. He’s currently the best football player on the planet. 

Mike Evans’s 1,000 yard streak 

Evans is currently in his 11th NFL season, but judging from his dominant performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, he’s still in the midst of his prime. 

Evans torched a Chargers defense that entered Sunday as the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, helping the Buccaneers win, 40–17, in Los Angeles. Chargers hotshot defensive coordinator Jesse Minter isn’t used to that kind of production from an opposing offense, especially from one player. Evans, 31, recorded nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns that went for 57 yards and 35 yards. 

He’s now within striking distance of extending his receiving streak of 1,000-yard seasons to 11, which would tie the legendary Jerry Rice for the NFL record. Evans is the only player in league history to start a career with 10 consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards. 

Evans, who has 749 receiving yards with three games to go this season, appeared to be a longshot to extend his streak after missing three consecutive games due to a hamstring injury. The Buccaneers missed their No. 1 weapon, leading to a four-game losing streak. But Tampa Bay (8–6) is now 4–0 since Evans returned, and more importantly, regained first place in the NFC South. 

The Buccaneers could make plenty of noise in the NFC postseason if Evans continues to do what he’s done for more than a decade.    

Losers  

Lions’ Super Bowl hopes 

After the Lions lost Aidan Hutchinson for the season, some were quick to wonder whether coach Dan Campbell still had a Super Bowl contender.  I wasn’t among that group because the Lions were still loaded with depth and talent across the roster, which helped them win 11 consecutive games.

But now I’m concerned about the Lions’ Super Bowl hopes because the injuries to key players haven’t stopped. The lack of depth on the defensive side finally caught up to them against Josh Allen and his juggernaut Bills offense. The first loss in three months, however, is the least of the Lions’ concerns after losing more key players, including on the offensive side.

Stud defensive tackle Alim McNeill sustained a season-ending knee injury, extending the lengthy list of injuries on that side of the ball. Also, cornerback Carlton Davis III broke his jaw and will likely miss time. 

Detroit got by for weeks without its star edge rusher in Hutchinson partly because of McNeill’s presence in the interior of the defensive line. They still have edge rusher Za’Darius Smith and defensive tackle D.J. Reader, but they’re older players who will now be asked to provide vintage performances on a weekly basis. 

To make matters worse, the Lions lost running back David Montgomery, who sustained a torn MCL and will likely miss the rest of the season. He’s the heart of the offense as both its early-down igniter and red-zone closer. Jahmyr Gibbs is a star running back, but he no longer has the luxury of facing opposing defenses that have been worn down by the hard-running Montgomery. It will be on offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to alter the scheme to fit the skill set of Gibbs.  

The Lions should spend the rest of the regular season trying new methods on the field, especially on defense, because relying on man coverage with backup players won’t get it done, as we saw against the Bills. It’s not ideal to tweak coaching philosophies this late in the season and it could come at the expense of the No. 1 seed and NFC North title. But these changes could pay off in the playoffs next month. Jared Goff still has plenty of weapons to win shootouts and mask defensive weaknesses.   

49ers’ Super Bowl window

The current core group for the 49ers might be remembered as the best team that never won the Super Bowl. 

The Rams shut the 49ers’ Super Bowl window for at least this year by pressuring Brock Purdy into one of the worst games of his young career, a performance that might linger in the back of the 49ers’ minds when it’s time to negotiate a new deal with the last pick of the 2022 draft. Purdy forced a throw in double coverage to wide receiver Jauan Jennings that was intercepted to essentially end the game against Los Angeles last week. 

It’s not a guarantee that San Francisco will strike a deal with Purdy in the offseason, and there’s a strong chance this core group around Purdy will be broken up in the coming months. Perhaps that’s not a bad idea, with this team needing to get younger and create more cap space. That’s the downside of going all in the past few years, which stings harder after not ending the franchise’s 30-year Super Bowl drought. 

But on the positive side, the 49ers are loaded with enough talent to undergo more of a retooling than a full rebuild. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel, one of the biggest losers of Week 15, didn’t do himself any favors after dropping a costly pass against the Rams. He might be the odd man out of the wide receiver room after the team paid Brandon Aiyuk and Jennings and used a first-round pick on Ricky Pearsall. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers put many players on the trading block this offseason. They might also consider letting go of top in-house free agents, such as linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga and cornerback Charvarius Ward. 

Samuel had a rough week, but he’s not even close to being the biggest loser of Week 15. He didn’t quit on his team. That was linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who was suspended the rest of the season for refusing to enter last Thursday’s game. That led to coach Kyle Shanahan fielding questions about whether he’s lost the locker room. 

It’s been a rough season, but the 49ers would be dumb to let go of one of the best coaches in the league. Changes are needed in San Francisco, but Shanahan shouldn’t be one of them. 

Panthers as favorites 

The Carolina Panthers (3–11) received lollipops and gold stickers for keeping games close the past month. They were treated as if they were The Little Engine That Could, leading to too much praise when they were finally a betting favorite for the first time in two years. 

That obfuscated the fact that the Cowboys are still a better all-around team despite their many injuries this season. Micah Parsons reminded Bryce Young and the Panthers that they still have a long way to go before becoming a winning organization. 

Young was sacked six times and threw two interceptions in the 30–14 rout at home against the shorthanded Cowboys. Carolina has talent at the skill positions, but it needs more help at offensive line to truly give Young a chance at becoming a franchise quarterback. And we probably don’t have enough space in this column to detail what needs to be fixed on the defensive side. 

But at least the Panthers know Young can be a productive quarterback when he gets time to operate in the pocket. They saw that against the Chiefs, Buccaneers and Eagles, but Parsons didn’t allow that on Sunday. 

Tua Tagovailoa as a franchise quarterback

Dolphins GM Chris Grier and team owner Stephen Ross need to seriously ask themselves again whether Tua Tagovailoa is capable of leading a Super Bowl contender. 

They said yes the first time despite collecting no playoff wins with the 2020 first-round pick when they re-signed Tagovailoa to a lucrative contract extension in the summer. But Tagovailoa continues to show he’s not worth the money because of his struggles against the best teams in the league. That trend repeated itself in ugly losses against the Packers and Houston Texans in the past three weeks. Against the Jets, Patriots and Raiders of the world, Tagovailoa is a fine quarterback, but he tends to crumble under pressure when it’s against a team with a winning record.  

Tagovailoa had four turnovers, including three killer interceptions, during the 20–12 loss against the Texans, a game that Dolphins (6–8) needed to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. And the Dolphins can’t even use their go-to excuse of cold weather because the Texans play indoors. 

But the Dolphins are stuck with Tagovailoa after the four-year, $212.4 million commitment they made to him months before the season. If he’s healthy for most of next season, the Dolphins will probably do enough to contend for a playoff spot. But not many will take them seriously without roster upgrades and improvements from the quarterback, who might not be a franchise signal-caller after all.