32 things we learned in NFL Week 15: One team strikes fear down stretch
The 32 things we learned from Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season:
1. Stampede coming? The Buffalo Bills have now won three of four since firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and are averaging 29.3 points in that stretch following Sunday’s 31-10 rollover of the Dallas Cowboys, a beatdown that knocked ‘America’s Team’ out of first place in the NFC East.
2. The Bills remain stuck in ninth place overall in the AFC, a spot to which they ascended Saturday, but their 8-6 mark matches the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans … and those clubs aren’t playing the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots the next two weeks.
3. After some early season missteps, Buffalo QB Josh Allen would need a Hail Mary to win the league MVP award − the Bills probably have to win out, including a Week 18 win at Miami, to simply recapture the AFC East − but he is burnishing a more realistic case for Offensive Player of the Year honors. He’s now accounted for a league-best 37 touchdowns (26 passing, 11 rushing) despite a light passing game (94 yards in the rain) Sunday.
4. Allen became the first player to have 10 games with at least one TD pass and run in a single season, a mark he previously shared with Kyler Murray.
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5. Buffalo RB James Cook had 221 yards and two TDs from scrimmage in the win. His 179 rushing yards against Dallas were the most by a Bills player in 13 years.
5a. His brother, New York Jets RB Dalvin Cook, has 292 yards and no TDs … all season.
6. As for the Cowboys? Their fourth road loss – and third embarrassing one following earlier setbacks at Arizona and San Francisco – raises serious questions about their viability as a Super Bowl contender while also damaging QB Dak Prescott’s MVP credentials.
7. Chicago Bears WR Darnell Mooney has given new meaning to the term ‘Fail Mary.’
8. The Chargers may be in the market for a new coach, but good news for interim boss Giff Smith given fellow substitute teachers Antonio Pierce of the Las Vegas Raiders and Chris Tabor of the Carolina Panthers got wins in Week 15 – Pierce’s obviously very much coming at the Bolts’ expense in Thursday’s 63-21 assault.
9. Prior to this weekend, the Minnesota Vikings (15 points per game) and Denver Broncos (16 ppg) had had the league’s stingiest defenses over the previous nine weeks. They then combined to surrender 69 points in Saturday’s crippling losses to their playoff hopes.
10. And over the preceding five weeks, no D had been more airtight than the Patriots’ (11 ppg, 247.3 yards allowed). It got torched for 27 points and 326 yards by the Kansas City Chiefs’ supposedly struggling offense.
11. Still, Taylor Swift didn’t enjoy the show as much on a day when K.C. TE Travis Kelce was limited to five receptions for 28 yards … and by his own insufficient acting skills.
12. With the Chiefs’ Andy Reid and Patriots counterpart Bill Belichick matching wits Sunday, their personal matchup became the first in league history pairing head coaches each with at least 250 regular-season wins.
13. The 557 combined regular-season wins from Reid (256) and Belichick (301) are 61 more than the next-most prolific HC couplet – which was Hall of Famers Don Shula and Tom Landry and their then-total of 496 during the 1987 season.
14. Green Bay Packers HC Matt LaFleur lost two games in a six-day period, his team falling to the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They were LaFleur’s first career losses in the month of December after winning his first 16.
15. With the old NFC Central ‘Battle of the Bays’ going to the Bucs, it’s Tampa that looks like a much more viable playoff outfit than the Pack, the Super Bowl 55 champs suddenly closing in on their third straight division crown.
16. Speaking of the Giants, the New Orleans Saints turned the tables on rookie QB Tommy DeVito’s Italian celebrations in Sunday’s 24-6 runaway. Incidentally, the Saints are right there with the Bucs in the NFC South.
17. Huge game this Thursday night as the Saints head to Los Angeles to play the Rams, who moved into the NFC’s final wild-card position Sunday. Both teams are 7-7, but LA is playing decidedly better football after winning for the fourth time in five games since the Week 10 bye.
18. League MVP candidate and leading receiver Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins missed his first game of the season with an ankle injury. Still at 1,542 receiving yards, Cheetah would have to average nearly 153 yards over the final three weeks to reach his record-breaking 2,000-yard goal.
18a. Hill does have five 150+ yard efforts in 2023 and another of 146.
19. Despite his absence, the Dolphins whitewashed the New York Jets 30-0, sweeping the NYJ by a 64-13 aggregate this year.
20. Miami RB Raheem Mostert rushed for two TDs, meaning he’s reached the end zone 20 times this season – a Dolphins single-season record. If Mostert is on your fantasy team, seems likely you’re winning your league.
21. Mostert had 19 career TDs over his previous eight seasons.
22.The Jets were also eliminated from the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season, the NFL’s longest active drought. See ya next year, Aaron Rodgers.
23. The Tennessee Titans are no longer eligible for postseason, either, after Sunday’s overtime loss to the C.J. Stroud-less Houston Texans.
24. Houston took extra glee in eliminating the team that left H-Town and took the Columbia Blue Oilers uniforms with them (and wearing them again Sunday did seem a bit excessive). Note the Titans logo in this social media post – just savage.
25. Speaking of would-be MVPs, you can’t discount San Francisco 49ers … RB Christian McCaffrey? Like Mostert, CMC has 20 TDs after scoring three against the Arizona Cardinals, an effort that helped the Niners officially lock down the NFC West.
26. McCaffrey’s seven touchdowns this season against the Cards are the most by any player against one team during a season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
27. The league’s rushing leader with 1,292 yards, McCaffrey is trying to become the first in-season, wire-to-wire rushing champ this century.
28. He’s already the fourth player ever with at least four seasons with 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards.
29. New Orleans Saints TE Jimmy Graham has four TD catches this season. He has two other receptions on the year that did not produce six points.
30. Detroit Lions TE Sam LaPorta won’t win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and probably can’t hope to finish much better than third behind Stroud and Rams WR Puka Nacua. Still, LaPorta became the first rookie at his position during the Super Bowl era with at least 700 receiving yards and seven TDs after hauling in three scores in Saturday night’s win over Denver.
31. Already looking forward to Week 16, which begins with that potentially pivotal Saints-Rams game Thursday. Colts-Falcons, Browns-Texans, Lions-Vikings and Jags-Bucs will all have major postseason implications on Christmas Eve, too … with Bengals-Steelers offering another weighty fixture on Christmas Eve Eve, or Saturday if you like.
32. But if you’re looking for huge presents under the tree? Dolphins-Cowboys and Ravens-49ers will deservedly be among the game’s most-hyped matchups of the season … even if only one of them is a legitimate Super Bowl preview. (Feel free to make a guess, partygoers. And Happy Holidays.)
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.