There was a good amount of shake up in the playoff pictures for each conference after a hectic Week 14 of regular season action in the NFL. Teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens saw their chances get slashed in half while others like the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers have new life. Week 15 is bound to have even more exciting action all around the league, there are already a few games that stand out from the rest of the slate.
Green Bay Packers @ Baltimore Ravens
It was a very ugly special teams’ day for the Green Bay Packers. They had multiple blunders when this unit was out on the field during their win over the Chicago Bears, one that they would have lost had it not been for Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams taking over the game. They don’t get any time to rest and soak it in though, as they take a trip to face the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore lost to the Cleveland Browns last week, and also saw their quarterback Lamar Jackson get carted off with an ankle sprain. Jackson’s health completely changes the outcome of this game, and right now it doesn’t appear that he will be getting the green light go. The Packers are my pick to win this game without Lamar in the line-up for obvious reasons. However, Baltimore is 8-5 for a reason and have weathered injury storms all year long.
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Admittedly, this one won’t be nearly as exciting as the first contest between these two teams was. The Saints still could make the playoffs, sitting at 6-7 after stomping the New York Jets. With numerous key players out on both sides of the ball, this team is turning to an injured Taysom Hill to take them to victory over their division rivals. Jameis Winston won’t be active as expected while he recovers from the ACL tear, he suffered against the Buccaneers earlier in the year. Tampa Bay on the other hand just got themselves a nice but controversial win against the Buffalo Bills. With many openly questioning the referee’s performance in the closing drives. Nevertheless, Tom Brady and the Bucs got a huge win and improved to 10-3. A win could lock down the division for themselves and could help them get revenge on their rivals. On paper, all signs point towards the Buccaneers just lighting them up and blowing them out in their home stadium. Although, the Saints have consistently knocked the Buccaneers down the last decade and have beaten Brady in all three matchups in the regular season the past two years. I’m picking the Buccaneers in this one, but the Saints could shock the world again.
Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Let’s be honest, this isn’t one of the most anticipated games of the week. I still think it provides a lot of entertainment value though. The Texans are 2-11 on the year and just lost to the Seattle Seahawks. Davis Mills had a nice day and will remain quarterback the rest of the year. The Jaguars got shut out by the Tennessee Titans and are all over the media after horrible reports over Urban Meyer came out about treating players like children and calling out assistants for being losers. Both teams are desperately looking to snag a top seed in the upcoming NFL draft, and what better way to determine that than allowing two horrible teams to battle it out. I am picking the Texans in this game, not because they are the more talented team, but they are much better coached. Plus, Meyer choosing not to hand James Robinson the football when he is clearly their best player on offense is just insanity to me.