Week 14 Overview
First place in three divisions will be at stake, both the Sunday night and Monday night games promise to be very interesting and then there is The Disappointment Bowl. Week 14 of the NFL kicks off with a good Thursday night game as well as red-hot Dallas travels to not-so-hot Detroit. Here is a look at some of what to expect this week.
AFC North
Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Both teams come in at a somewhat disappointing 6-6, yet still tied for first place in the division. Baltimore currently holds the tie-breaker, but the two head-to-head games will decide the winner and the first one is Sunday.
Until the Ravens lost to the Bengals, Thanksgiving night, you were looking at two teams on totally different paths. Baltimore had won five straight after a 1-5 start, while the Steelers are 2-5 after a 4-1 start.
The game features quarterbacks in Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers who have six MVPs between them.
Jackson is 20-5 the week after a loss in his career. He is just 2-4 against Pittsburgh and his QB rating of 72.8 against the Steelers is his worst against any team. Rodgers is 3-0 against Baltimore, all with Green Bay, but has never gone against Jackson.
The winner will have a game lead in the division before they meet again the final week of the season in Pittsburgh.
In between the Ravens play at Cincinnati, New England, and at Green Bay.
Pittsburgh will play Miami, at Detroit, and at Cleveland.
AFC South
Indianapolis at Jacksonville: Not unlike the teams in the North, these two are on different trajectories to get to 8-4 and share first place.
The Colts, after a 7-1 start, have lost three of their last four. Indy has gone from averaging 33.8 points per game over those first eight games to 21.8 over its last four. Indy quarterback Daniel Jones had a QB rating of 109.5 when the team was 7-1. He’s dropped to 86.6 in the five games since.
Jacksonville has won four of its last five. The Jaguars were scoring at a 20.9 points per game clip, but have increased that to 29.2 over their last five. Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence is coming off his best game of the season with a 111.5 rating in a win over Tennessee.
Again Sunday’s winner will move into sole possession of first and play again in week 17.
The Colts also play at Seattle, San Francisco and at Houston.
The Jaguars play the Jets, at Denver and Tennessee.
NFC North
Chicago at Green Bay: The Bears (9-3) hold a half-game lead over the Packers (8-3-1), but that would change if the home team wins Sunday.
This will be the 211th meeting of these two in the game’s oldest rivalry. The Packers hold a 108-96-6 advantage in the series.
Chicago, which is currently the top seed in the NFC, has not held that designation since 2006 when it won the conference and lost to the Colts in the Super Bowl.
This game could come down to one key factor: Turnovers. Chicago’s defense has lived off the take-away and their 26 lead the league and has led to 80 points. The Packers have only turned it over a league-low seven times this season. So something will give.
Green Bay is looking to improve to 4-0 in the division, with their third win against a North rival in three weeks. The teams will meet again in Chicago in two weeks.
The Bears will also play Cleveland, at San Francisco and Detroit.
The Packers will play at Denver, Baltimore and at Minnesota.
Sunday Night
Houston at Kansas City: The Texans (7-5) are in the picture for both the AFC South title and a wild-card spot. The Chiefs (6-6) are in desperation mode and probably need to win out.
Monday Night
Philadelphia at Los Angeles Chargers: The Eagles (8-4) hold a one-and-a-half game lead on Dallas in the NFC East, but have lost two straight. The Chargers (8-4) are looking to hang on for a wild-card spot if they can’t catch Denver in the AFC West.
The Disappointment Bowl
Washington at Minnesota: Last year these two teams were a combined 26-8. This year as we enter week 14 they are 7-17.
Plead the Fifth
Washington tight Zach Ertz, who also played for Philadelphia and Arizona, is now fifth on the all-time list for receptions by a tight end with 824, as he passed Shannon Sharpe last week.
There is a way to go to crack the top four: Tony Gonzalez (1,325), Jason Witten (1,228), Travis Kelce (1,063) and Antonio Gates (955).
Parting Shot
It’s a good thing Raiders head coach Pete Carroll fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Last week without Kelly the Raiders rolled for 156 total yards. Yeah, it was Kelly’s fault.
