Week 14 of the NFL didn’t have the most exciting slate of games, but the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills made up for it with a 44-42 slugfest that was arguably the game of the year. Josh Allen may have put himself as the front-runner for MVP (even in the loss) while the Rams remained alive in the wild NFC West race.
The Philadelphia Eagles clinched a playoff berth, but are they in trouble going forward. How good are the Minnesota Vikings? The top teams in the NFC did more than enough to separate themselves from the pack this week.
With the Sunday games at a conclusion, we have some overreactions that warrant attention. Which ones are truly overreactions with the final stretch of the season approaching?
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
How does a player with 23 total touchdowns to just two giveaways over the last nine games in this conversation? Especially when the Eagles have won nine straight games? There’s no denying how inconsistent the Eagles’ passing game has been over the last two weeks, as Hurts is 25 of 40 (62.5%) for 226 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
That’s 226 passing yards — over two games! Hurts was inconsistent throughout the day in Sunday’s win over the Panthers, yet did finish with two passing touchdowns and a 110.8 rating — on just 108 yards. The Eagles’ passing game is a concern and Hurts does need to be more precise in his throws and better at his decision-making, but he is not turning the ball over.
Hurts has just two giveaways over the last nine games, which is why the Eagles are winning. As long as Hurts prevents the turnovers from happening, the Eagles can beat anyone. The passing game is sill something to monitor, and it all starts with Hurts.
Josh Allen is the league MVP — right now
Overreaction or reality: Reality
What Josh Allen accomplished on Sunday were statistics only Otto Graham has reached in a game. Allen is the first player in a regular-season game to have three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns (Graham accomplished the feat in the 1954 NFL Championship). He finished 22 of 37 for 342 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions (117.2 rating), along with 82 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Bills had 445 yards of offense and Allen was responsible for 424 of them — including all six touchdowns.
Sure the Bills lost to the Rams, but they aren’t in that game if it wasn’t for Allen. The Bills don’t have a true No. 1 wide receiver and Allen has been without tight end Dalton Kincaid and wide receiver Keon Coleman for several weeks. Allen also has 33 total touchdowns (23 passing, nine rushing, one receiving) and 3,449 combined pass/rush yards of offense — while leading the Bills to a 10-3 record.
Allen has five passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns, and a receiving touchdown in the last two games. He has put the Bills on his back as they are one of the Super Bowl contenders in the NFL.
If Saquon Barkley breaks the NFL rushing record, this conversation may change. For now, Allen is the MVP.
Sam Darnold is a top-10 quarterback this year
Overreaction or reality: Reality
Darnold had arguably the best game of his career in Sunday’s win for the Vikings, finishing with 347 yards and five touchdowns against the Falcons. His 157.9 passer rating was a Vikings single-game record. Darnold has four straight games with 2+ passing touchdowns and zero interceptions, the longest single-season streak in franchise history — and has led his team to an 11-2 record.
Darnold isn’t going to be the MVP of the league, but statistics show he’s a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. He’s fourth in the league in passing yards (3,299), third in yards per attempt (8.5), third in touchdown passes (28), and third in passer rating (108.1). There isn’t a debate on whether Darnold is a top-10 quarterback based on how he’s playing — and the Vikings’ record.
Minnesota is 11-2 because of Darnold.
Vikings are bigger threat to Lions getting No. 1 seed than Eagles
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
The Vikings and Eagles have the same record at 11-2, but Minnesota is in the same division as Detroit in the NFC North while Philadelphia resides in the NFC East. Minnesota does have the privilege of playing Detroit again in Week 18, even though the Vikings are a game behind the Lions and have lost to them already this season.
For the Vikings to take home-field advantage from Detroit, they not only need to beat the Lions in Week 18 (assuming they win out and finish with a 5-1 division record), they need the Lions to lose one of their next three games (Lions play Bills, Bears and 49ers). That combination has the Vikings finishing at 15-2 and the Lions at 14-3. If both finish at 15-2, the Lions would have the common opponents tiebreaker since they beat the Rams and the Vikings lost to them.
The Vikings can rely on the Bills to beat the Lions. The Eagles and Vikings still need the Lions to lose two of their next four if both teams win out. If the Lions beat the Bills, the Vikings and Eagles need Detroit to lose two of its last three.
The Eagles have to bank on the Vikings to beat the Lions in Week 18 if Detroit loses a game prior to that. If Minnesota wins out and wins the division, Philadelphia holds the strength of victory tiebreaker to give the Eagles the edge in playoff seeding.
Neither Philadelphia nor Minnesota are a bigger threat to Detroit as the Lions control their own destiny.
Chiefs locked up home-field advantage with Bills loss
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction
The Chiefs beat the Chargers on Sunday night, as the Bills’ chances of getting home-field advantage took a significant hit with their loss to the Rams. Buffalo was sitting one game behind Kansas City with the tiebreaker heading into Week 14 and the Bills are two back with four to play with the Chiefs’ win.
Even with the Kansas City advantage in the race for home field (and ability to win one-score games), all is not lost for Buffalo. The Bills still have to play the Lions, followed by the Patriots, Jets and Patriots again to close the year. Buffalo may finish with 13 wins — at worst. The Chiefs have the Browns, Steelers, Texans and Broncos after Sunday — their final three opponents have winning records.
A Bills win would have been massive to keep pace with the Chiefs, but the race isn’t over yet. Buffalo did put a dent in its chances at getting home field in the AFC playoffs. If the Bills beat the Lions, 15 may be the number for the Chiefs to get home-field advantage (with the Bills holding the tiebreaker). The Chiefs would have to go 3-1 in their last four to wrap this up, but that’s not a sure thing with their schedule.
