Author: rb809rb

Cure Bowl (Dec. 17, Orlando, Fla.): USF vs. Old Dominion

68 Ventures Bowl (Dec. 17, Mobile, Ala.): Louisiana vs. Delaware

Xbox Bowl (Dec. 18, Frisco, Texas): Arkansas State vs. Missouri State

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 22, Boise, Idaho): Washington State vs. Utah State

Frisco Bowl (Dec. 23, Frisco, Texas): UNLV vs. Ohio

Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24, Honolulu): Hawaii vs. Cal

Rate Bowl (Dec. 26, Phoenix): New Mexico vs. Minnesota

Arizona Bowl (Dec. 27, Tucson, Ariz.): Fresno State vs. Miami (Ohio)

New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 27, Albuquerque, N.M.): San Diego State vs. North Texas

Texas Bowl (Dec. 27, Houston): Houston vs. LSU

Music City Bowl (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tenn.): Tennessee vs. Illinois

ReliaQuest Bowl (Dec. 31, Tampa, Fla.): Vanderbilt vs. Iowa

The saddest sight of the NFL season might be Daniel Jones, sitting on the ground, slamming his helmet repeatedly on the turf in anger.

This isn’t the way one of the NFL’s best stories this season was supposed to end. Jones, who went from being cut during the 2024 season by the lowly New York Giants to a fantastic reclamation story with the Indianapolis Colts, took a seat after suffering an Achilles injury. His reaction was telling. He knew all of the implications immediately. The Colts probably did too.

Advertisement

Indianapolis wasn’t very competitive in Sunday’s 36-19 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars after Jones’ injury, and that’s not surprising. The Colts, now 8-5, fell behind the 9-4 Jaguars for the AFC South lead. Losing ground in the division is just the start of their problems. Colts head coach Steve Steichen wouldn’t confirm Jones’ injury is season-ending but said “it doesn’t look good,” via Stephen Holder of ESPN. On Sunday evening, ESPN reported that Jones’ injury was season-ending, and he will undergo surgery.

The injury is devastating on many levels. The Colts started the season 7-1, then lost three of four but were still in decent shape to at least make the playoffs. That isn’t the case anymore. The Colts already lost Anthony Richardson to a weird orbital bone fracture in a pregame mishap, and they’re down to sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard, who didn’t have an NFL completion before Sunday.

Advertisement

It’s a massive injury for Jones’ career, the 2026 free-agency market and the short-term plans of the Colts. Jones is on a one-year deal. He had positioned himself to sign another big extension, or at least get the franchise tag for a huge payday. He played through a fracture in his fibula with the Colts leading the division, which was commendable due to the risk involved. An Achilles injury can take up to a full year to return from; Jones injuring it late in the season doesn’t help the uncertainty with his free agency.

[Get more Colts news: Indianapolis team feed]

There was little doubt that Jones was going to be back with Indianapolis, whether on a long-term deal or the franchise tag. That’s a reason the Colts traded two first-round draft picks to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. They felt they had an answer at quarterback and didn’t need to worry about potentially drafting one. That all changed on one play Sunday.

The Jets also are affected by Jones’ injury, considering that next year’s first-round pick from Indianapolis is likely to become much more valuable.

Advertisement

Other teams are affected, too. The AFC South race changes dramatically and looks like a two-team race between the Jaguars and Texans the rest of the way. Unless Leonard is a rare rookie success story, the Colts are unlikely to even make the playoffs. That would open up a wild-card spot, perhaps for someone on the bubble like the Chiefs. It would be a story for the ages if Jones’ injury set off a chain reaction that allowed the Chiefs to get in the playoffs when they normally wouldn’t have.

Jones’ status for the the 2026 season will be a big question heading into the offseason, and will affect his future for next season and beyond. There are other questions, like whether head coach Shane Steichen might be in trouble if the Colts go from 7-1 to out of the playoffs, though it would seem like he’d get the benefit of the doubt after losing his quarterback.

Jones had been writing a tremendous story through the first half of the season. He had been ridiculed as a bust and given up on by the Giants. Then he took advantage of a chance to win the Colts’ starting quarterback job and through the first half of the season was on a remarkable run. One of the NFL’s best stories turned into one of the more awful ones with one misstep.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 14 of the NFL season:

Advertisement

WINNERS

Green Bay Packers: The Packers still have Super Bowl dreams, but the path becomes a lot harder if they don’t win the NFC North.

The Packers took a big step toward that division championship on Sunday with a 28-21 win over the Chicago Bears. The Bears got aggressive on a fourth-and-1 play call inside the Packers’ 20-yard line in the final minute, faking a handoff and rolling quarterback Caleb Williams to his left. Packers corner Keisean Nixon had played it perfectly and picked off Williams’ pass to the end zone to seal the win.

The Packers played well against a game Bears team. Jordan Love threw for three touchdowns. Josh Jacobs ran for 86 yards and a touchdown. The Packers kept Williams to less than 200 yards passing. There’s a rematch in Chicago in a couple of weeks, and the Packers’ win Sunday gives them a chance to perhaps put away the Bears in the division race when the teams meet again.

Advertisement

Puka Nacua: It’s rare to see a receiver leave a cornerback in the dust off the line of scrimmage and then also Moss him for a touchdown on the same play. But Nacua is a unique player.

The highlight of a monster day from Nacua in the Los Angeles Rams’ 45-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals came in the third quarter. Nacua had a great move to burn the cornerback covering him, but Matthew Stafford underthrew him. No problem, as Nacua adjusted and caught it over the corner for a 31-yard touchdown.

Nacua finished with seven catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Nacua has had a fantastic season and the Rams bounced back quickly from a loss last week to the Panthers. The Seahawks won too, continuing to build momentum for a titanic Week 16 matchups between the two NFC West powers.

Advertisement

Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers: A week after Pittsburgh Steelers fans were chanting for Tomlin to be fired and Rodgers found himself dealing with blood trickling down his nose after he was blasted on a hit from behind, both of them found redemption.

Rodgers had a throwback game and Tomlin got a win closer to extending his streak of never have a record under .500 with a huge 27-22 win at the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore had its chances.

The Ravens had a touchdown to Isaiah Likely overturned because it was knocked out of his hands in the end zone before he completed the catch, and a last-minute drive ran out of time with the Ravens in Steelers territory. Lamar Jackson was sacked as he tried to get off a Hail Mary pass and time expired. The Ravens’ miserable season continues, and now they’re a game behind the Steelers in the AFC North standings.

Advertisement

Sunday might be remembered as Rodgers’ best game in Pittsburgh. He had his first rushing touchdown since 2021 — complete with dusting off the old championship belt celebration — becoming the third 42-year-old player in NFL history to score a rushing touchdown (Tom Brady and Doug Flutie are the others). Rodgers also had some fantastic throws, and finished with 284 passing yards and a passing touchdown.

The win, coupled with the Bengals’ loss, gets the Steelers much closer to a division championship. That might quiet the critics, at least temporarily.

Seahawks’ claim as NFL’s best team: Not that the Atlanta Falcons are much of an obstacle these days, but Seattle made sure it was never in danger of losing Sunday.

The Seahawks got an easy 37-9 win over the Falcons, who have to be questioning if head coach Raheem Morris will return for another season. Jaxon Smith-Njigba bounced back from a rare quiet day with two touchdowns. Seattle’s defense was fantastic. The special teams got involved too, with Rashid Shaheed returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.

Advertisement

In this season without a dominant team, the Seahawks are as good of a pick as any as the best in the NFL. At very least, they kept the pressure on the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC West crown and likely top seed in the conference.

Christian Benford and Bills’ defense: Buffalo was in trouble in the fourth quarter. The Bills fell behind early to the Cincinnati Bengals and it looked for most of the game like they’d take a bad loss at home.

Cornerback Christian Benford made a play that might have saved their season. On a cornerback blitz, Benford made a spectacular interception of a Joe Burrow pass. Benford returned it 63 yards for a touchdown, part of a flurry of 21 points in 4:30 for the Bills that helped them save a 39-34 win over the Bengals.

After Benford’s big play, the Bills got another interception and turned that into a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Jackson Hawes on a fourth down. It was part of Allen’s big day with three passing touchdowns and another rushing.

Advertisement

The Bills are still unlikely to win the AFC East, but a wild-card spot might have been in jeopardy with a loss to the Bengals. The Bills’ defense — and Allen — made sure they didn’t take that damaging loss Sunday.

LOSERS

Geno Smith: Finally, Smith broke.

Playing behind the worst offensive line in the NFL has to take a toll on Smith. He had been sacked 46 times in 12 games before Sunday and hit way more often than that. It’s impressive he has stayed in the lineup with the amount of punishment he has taken.

Smith was sacked another three times Sunday against the Denver Broncos before he left the game at the end of the third quarter. Earlier in the game he had hurt his right hand but stayed in the contest. It didn’t matter that he missed the fourth quarter; the Broncos cruised to a 24-17 win in a game that was never that close (and a horrible beat for those who had Broncos as 7.5-point favorites). Denver improved to 11-2, tied for the top record in the AFC.

Advertisement

The Raiders are having a miserable season and Smith hasn’t been able to do much to save it. Las Vegas made the questionable decision to trade for the 35-year-old Smith in the offseason, even though they were not close to contending. They don’t have a good enough infrastructure around Smith to help him. Raiders fans are turning on Smith as the terrible season drags on. Smith has taken a beating, literally and metaphorically.

Shedeur Sanders haters: It’s not a good week to be in the anti-Sanders crowd.

The Tennessee Titans are a bad football team, but that doesn’t take away from what Sanders did Sunday. Sanders had 364 yards, three touchdowns passing and another one rushing. His final passing touchdown came with 1:03 to go, but an ill-conceived 2-point conversion failed and the Titans held on for their second win of the season, 31-29.

It’s hard to blame Sanders for the loss. He was very good, including the final drive when the Browns needed a touchdown to have a shot at the tie.

Advertisement

Sanders had a big fall in the NFL Draft, and he has been the most talked-about fifth-round rookie pick ever. He draws extreme opinions, pro and con, and each of his starts is dissected unlike any other quarterback who started the preseason fourth on the team’s depth chart. Sanders has looked good through his three starts and was fantastic Sunday. It’s hard to argue with the results.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Buccaneers had a clear path to perhaps win out, and easily win the NFC South. It’s not so clear anymore.

The Buccaneers made things harder on themselves by falling 24-20 to the New Orleans Saints at home. They’re now tied with the Carolina Panthers at 7-6 for first place in the NFC South. The Saints were 2-10 coming into Sunday’s game. It was a miserable loss for Tampa Bay.

The problem Sunday was Tampa’s offense. Baker Mayfield had his second straight quiet day since suffering a left shoulder injury, throwing for only 122 yards. The Saints did a good job limiting the Bucs’ big plays, and when the Bucs needed a touchdown late in the game to take the lead, they went four-and-out. On fourth down Cade Otton was shopped just short of the first down on a catch and that was it for Tampa Bay’s chances.

Advertisement

The Buccaneers still have two games left against the Panthers, and those should determine the division champion. If Tampa Bay comes up a game short of the playoffs, the Bucs will know which game cost them.

Jayden Daniels: Daniels had one of the greatest rookie seasons in NFL history. It was arguably the best for a rookie quarterback ever.

His second season has been a nightmare. He has sustained multiple injuries, including a dislocated left elbow that seemed like it might knock him out for the rest of the season. Daniels was able to return, but maybe the Washington Commanders should have let him sit.

Nothing good is happening for Daniels this season, and he hurt his elbow again in a 31-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, who had a nice bounceback from J.J. McCarthy with three touchdown passes. Daniels was replaced by Marcus Mariota. Daniels wasn’t that effective before the injury, completing just 9 of 20 passes for 78 yards and an interception. Washington didn’t have a point on the board when he was knocked out of the game. Injuries have been a big part of Daniels’ season, but he hasn’t been nearly as effective when he has been on the field.

Advertisement

It’s a lost season for Daniels. The best hope for Washington is that he gets to the offseason without anything else bad happening to him.

The Jets’ QB room: It has been a bad year to be a Jets quarterback.

Justin Fields was ineffective and benched, and he was inactive Sunday due to a knee injury. He wasn’t available when Tyrod Taylor suffered a groin injury and left the game. Taylor’s final line was 1-of-4 passing for 6 yards and an interception, which was a passer rating of 8.7.

With Fields out, Brady Cook came in for his first NFL action. He had 163 yards, two interceptions and no touchdown passes. Any Jets fan who sat through an ugly 34-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins should ask for a refund.

Advertisement

It has been an ugly season overall for the Jets. They have to be hoping for it all to end soon, and then figure out the quarterback position in the offseason.

Is this a “Justin Herbert” line or a “Trey Lance” line?

Every week there’s a variation of this question that I get asked on weekly podcast appearances, as inevitably some star quarterback finds his way onto the injury report and is questionable to play. Sometimes that’s Lamar Jackson, and the downgrade is obvious (and regularly measured given how frequently he misses a game). Sometimes that’s Aaron Rodgers to Mason Rudolph, and the betting market sort of shrugs its collective shoulders, as it did when the Steelers went to Chicago a couple weeks ago.

Advertisement

Justin Herbert broke his left hand last Sunday, played the rest of the game against the Raiders (proving you can actually beat Las Vegas with one hand virtually tied behind your back), and then had surgery on Monday. His intent all week has been to play, and by the time you’re reading this we may have an answer to whether he will or not.

If Herbert was not able to go in this game, or in any game, and Trey Lance was required to play, naturally, the Chargers’ power rating in the betting market would go down. So, as Herbert’s lingered in the in-between universe of “questionable,” we’re needing to assess whether Eagles -2.5 was a “Herbert line,” a “Lance line,” or somewhere in between.

Odds courtesy of BetMGM.

Philadelphia Eagles (-2, 42) at Los Angeles Chargers

The current Chargers’ rating that makes them +2 at home against the Eagles on Monday night would have made L.A. -9 against the Raiders last week. Since the Chargers were -9.5, you can see that only a minor downgrade has been put in place, thereby assuming that Herbert will play.

Advertisement

If you assign a team their power rating out of 100, the Chargers would be around 55 — a team rated slightly above average. Should Lance play, a fair expectation would be that L.A. would perform at a level below league-average. Assigning a Lance-led Bolts a conservative rating of 40/100 would send this line up to Eagles -6.

Perhaps ironically, the Eagles have seen a bigger downgrade than the Chargers this past week due to Philadelphia’s upset loss at home to the Bears on Black Friday. Including the absence of Jalen Carter (shoulders) in this game, the Eagles have gone from the low-70s, to the mid-60s (and would have reset their line against Chicago at Eagles -5, versus the -7 it closed).

Maybe the Eagles have been re-rated to where they should be, as a good-but-not-great team, but it’s also possible that their strength — a dominant defensive front and quality cornerback play — was mitigated by the matchup with Chicago’s offensive line (ranked fourth this week by PFF) able to dominate. Now the Eagles’ defense faces a Chargers’ O-line that’s ranked 31st by PFF.

Advertisement

Does that mismatch make it more likely the Chargers decide to sit Herbert, or that he doesn’t make it through the game if he starts? Any percentage chance of that happening has to be factored into the handicap, especially knowing the Chargers (sitting in the top spot for the AFC wild card) have a far more important game against the Eagles next week.

In the end, while much of that is hypothetical, what we know is that Philadelphia’s offense gets to face a Chargers run defense that’s in the bottom-third of the NFL in EPA/play against opponent run plays, and success rate allowed. If that results in more room for Saquon Barkley, a smoother operation for a much-maligned offense may be on the horizon as well.

Pick: Eagles -2

Player props

Jalen Hurts under 193.5 passing yards (-115)

This is about necessity. The Eagles are 2-4 when Hurts is pushed to throw for 200-plus yards, and their two wins were a comeback against the Rams, and when Hurts was able to find two long pass completions over the top in Minnesota. The Chargers aren’t likely to give up that kind of coverage bust, and we don’t expect the Eagles to need to go into throw mode.

Advertisement

Saquon Barkley over 72.5 rush yards (-115)

The Chargers’ pass defense has moved up the rankings in crucial metrics, with the help of some weaker opponents, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Eagles’ route to victory is to get Barkley going. The market has taken notice of this too, moving the yardage line up from 68.5 to 72.5 throughout the day on Sunday, but with the added possibility of closing out a win late on the ground, we’ll still expect the star tailback to make a run at 80 or more yards.

Omarion Hampton under 11.5 rushing attempts (-125)

In his five games played this season, Omarion Hampton’s average yards per carry are 3.2, 3.0, 3.7, 10.7, and 3.7. That one game stands out, and it came against arguably the worst run defense in the NFL — the New York Giants.

Advertisement

Hampton’s expected to be activated off injured reserve after missing extended time with an ankle injury, but how much should we expect him to play? The answer might come in the production of Kimani Vidal during Hampton’s absence.

Vidal has four games of 95 or more rushing yards in seven of those games while Hampton was out. So, while the Chargers rookie is the future No. 1 tailback, for this week there’s no guarantee he gets more carries.

Anytime touchdown

RB Saquon Barkley (+130)

After six touchdowns in the first eight weeks, Barkley’s been held out of the end zone in four straight. Only four teams have allowed more touchdowns to opposing running backs this season than the Chargers. If we like the Eagles because of Barkley’s potential for a breakout game and enough to back him over his yardage number, then we should probably like him to score at plus money.

Advertisement

TE Dallas Goedert (+332)

Philadelphia’s tight end apparently got lost in the crowds on Black Friday, but his lack of usage had to be addressed in the last week-plus. The Chargers don’t allow much to opposing tight ends in the general field of play, but only six teams have allowed more touchdowns to them, and it’s a different challenge when you have to honor the possibility of Barkley or Hurts to run one in.

[Upgrade to Fantasy Plus and gain your edge in player projections and much more]

Like Barkley, Goedert is on a four-game scoring drought, but he has seven touchdowns on the season, so look for the Eagles to look back to one of their traditionally most reliable options near the goal line.

Advertisement

TE Oronde Gadsden (+280)

Since coming into the fold in a big way Week 6 in Miami, the Chargers’ rookie tight end had seen at least five targets in every game played until last week, where he only saw two in a slow, easy win over the Raiders.

The Eagles’ cornerback trio of Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Adoree Jackson match up nicely with Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Keenan Allen, but no team has a physical option to deal with Gadsden at 6-foot-5, 240 pounds. Gadsden is also is capable of stretching the field, as he did with his lone catch for 27 yards last week.

You can find more valuable betting analysis from Yahoo Sports betting contributor, Matt Russell, at THE WINDOW.

Fantasy football analyst Ray Garvin shares his thoughts on Week 14’s most noteworthy action.

Fantasy trust and playoff hopes evaporate for Kansas City on SNF

Houston walked into Arrowhead and punched out a 20-10 win that shoved Kansas City’s playoff odds down to 16%. The box score was ugly and Chiefs players for fantasy were worse. Patrick Mahomes had his worst game of the season with 160 yards, 3 interceptions and 2 sacks. The offense looks disjointed and the lack of a real rushing attack keeps showing up.

Advertisement

Who can you trust for the fantasy playoffs? That list is short. Xavier Worthy led with 55 yards in Week 14. Rashee Rice needed late work to get to 4 catches for 34 and had a crushing drop. Travis Kelce posted 1 catch for 8. Over his last five games, Mahomes has 5 passing touchdowns total, with 4 in the Dallas game and 1 versus Denver. None versus Indianapolis, none versus Buffalo, none Sunday versus Houston. The Chiefs have dropped four of five and the margin for error is thin. Next up are the Chargers, then the Titans, then the Broncos on Christmas Day. Two of those three defenses are a problem for an offense that is searching for answers.

This is not doom and gloom forever, but it has not been Kansas City’s season. The run game is stuck, the deep ball is missing. The offense lacks dynamic playmakers. The most explosive pieces are Worthy and Tyquan Thornton, yet they can hardly get them the ball down the field. There is no speed at tight end, no juice at running back. Rice wins underneath and needs volume to matter because he does not threaten deep. Stack it all up, and you get an offense that is not explosive enough to carry fantasy lineups in December.

On the other side of this matchup, C.J. Stroud played point guard in his second game back from the concussion and fed Nico Collins, who went 4 for 121. The backfield turned when Nick Chubb exited early and did not return. Woody Marks handled 26 rushes for 68 yards and added a receiving score. It was not flashy — it was the right script — and it helped Houston get the dub.

Instant reaction: Fade Chiefs across the board for the fantasy playoffs outside of Rashee Rice and do not be afraid to stream QB over Mahomes.

Advertisement

Jordan Love’s trust in Christian Watson keeps paying, 2-score day cements WR1 role

I have been yelling this for a month on Data Dump and Tale of the Take: Christian Watson is Green Bay’s No. 1 option. The role says it, the tape confirms it and the touchdowns keep stacking. He has scored in three of his last four games, adding two more against Chicago. Watson finished with four targets, four catches, 89 yards and two touchdowns, while Jordan Love completed 17 passes for 234 yards and three scores.

That is the blueprint with Jordan Love. He is not going to pepper Watson with 15 looks in this version of the offense, where Matt LaFleur wants to control pace on the ground, but when Love hunts explosives, he looks for the big man — and those are the touches that swing weeks.

Advertisement

Watson’s profile is exactly what breaks games in December. Size to stack corners, speed to erase angles, red-zone leverage to win even when the ball is late. And with the ground game, led by Josh Jacobs as strong as it is, that keeps things open and viable for Watson downfield. The Packers have one of the league’s most dominant backs in Jacobs and they keep feeding him. That balance is why the downfield, one-on-one shots to Watson are so fruitful for fantasy managers.

The schedule tightens with Denver next, then another date with Chicago and a Week 17 date versus Baltimore. That is not a cakewalk but the usage we care about travels, and the scoring chances will be there as long as Love keeps testing defenses vertically.

Instant reaction: Treat Christian Watson as a must-start upside play down the stretch and ride the weekly touchdown equity of this connection.

Shedeur Sanders shows star power, hangs 4 total touchdowns in duel with Cam Ward

Third start. Same field as No. 1 pick Cam Ward. If you dropped in cold and had to guess who went first overall, you would have pointed at No. 12 in brown. Shedeur looked like that dude. He carved Tennessee for 364 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, took only two sacks, then led Cleveland on the ground with 29 yards and a goal-line score. The Browns fell 31-29 after a failed two-point try but this was big-boy quarterbacking from a rookie who kept answering the bell.

Advertisement

The tape and the sheet both pop. He layered throws between zones, ripped with timing outside the numbers, then kept the offense on schedule with pocket slides and quick decisions. Per Next Gen Stats, Sanders is the only Browns quarterback this season with multiple touchdown passes of 15-plus air yards, and he has done it on far fewer attempts — 74 to Dillon Gabriel’s 185 and Joe Flacco’s 160. That tracks with what we saw on Sunday. He pushed it downfield, trusted his guys and delivered in rhythm.

The ecosystem ate. Harold Fannin Jr. stayed a green light and sits as the TE1 heading into Sunday night. Jerry Jeudy posted three for 76 and a touchdown. Dylan Sampson chipped five for 64. Quinshon Judkins added 58 receiving with 26 rushing as the run game stayed stuck and Cleveland leaned on Shedeur’s arm. From a fantasy lens, he was one of two quarterbacks over 30 points going into Sunday night, sitting as the QB2 behind Josh Allen.

Instant reaction: Sanders is not an auto-start yet but the arrow is pointing up. With the Bears, Bills and Steelers on deck, expect volatility, but this was a statement nonetheless. Keep Shedeur rostered and keep firing up Fannin and Jeudy while the rookie’s confidence climbs.

Advertisement

DK Metcalf flips the switch, produces first 100-yard game since September

This is what the bag is for. In a game Pittsburgh had to have, DK Metcalf walked into Baltimore and played like a top-five-paid wideout should. Seven grabs. 148 yards. Twelve targets. He got loose deep more than once and the Ravens had zero answers when the Steelers dialed up isolation shots. That is alpha usage and it came when the moment demanded it.

Context matters here because the dip was real. Metcalf had not cleared 50 yards in six straight outings. He had only one 100-yard game all season and that came in Week 4 overseas. Week 14 was the first 100-yard day on U.S. soil in 2025 and it looked different from the opening series. Pittsburgh moved him around, stacked him, then let him bully press. He won at the line, stacked corners and finished through contact. The trust was obvious and the volume matched it.

Advertisement

Fantasy-wise, the payoff hit your lineup like a sledgehammer. Going into Sunday night, he sits as the WR5 in half-PPR. When a player with this profile gets 12 chances, downfield and in scoring range, we live with whatever inefficiency shows up because the ceiling is why he is on your roster. The peripherals scream stickiness, too; clear team lead in opportunities.

Instant reaction: Lock DK into lineups as Miami, Detroit and Cleveland loom because this is the December alpha usage you chase.

J.J. McCarthy answers the bell, throws three touchdowns in return as Minnesota cruises

Cleared from the concussion, back under center and Kevin O’Connell had the rookie humming from the jump. McCarthy sat last week while Seattle’s front teed off on a backup and you could see why the Vikings protected the asset. In Week 14, the plan was crisp and the ball came out on time. He finished with 163 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions, did not put it on the ground and took four sacks as Minnesota rolled, 31-0. Going into Sunday night, McCarthy sits as a top-10 quarterback on the week, which is exactly the kind of stabilization this offense needed.

Advertisement

Quick game to get him in rhythm, layered play action, controlled shots in the red area. This was not a YOLO day either. McCarthy played point guard, found the primary, then got to the outlet when Washington squeezed windows. It was simple and effective and it traveled all four quarters because the defense never forced him into panic throws.

The pass-catcher split though, is the sticky talking point here. Justin Jefferson drew four targets and managed two grabs for 11 yards. That is eight-plus weeks without a 100-yard game, only two receiving touchdowns on the season and six straight weeks without a score. Back-to-back games under three receptions and under 12 yards is a gut punch in the fantasy playoffs. Jordan Addison led with seven looks and the designs clearly funneled to matchups rather than force-feeding the alpha.

Instant reaction: McCarthy is a viable streamer with the Cowboys, Giants and Lions ahead, but confidence in Jefferson is shaky until the volume perks back up.

Advertisement

Buccaneers’ passing game sputters — and Baker’s slump caps Emeka Egbuka’s ceiling

This is a problem. Baker Mayfield has one 200-yard outing in his past five and has not thrown multiple touchdowns in over a month. The slide hit a new low Sunday. Mayfield completed 46% of his throws, going 14-of-30 in a nasty home loss to New Orleans. He does not look 100% and the accuracy is off. The ripple effect is killing lineups. Emeka Egbuka went another week with pedestrian output despite leading the team in targets. That is four straight games without more than five catches and he has not cleared 42 yards in any of those. He even dropped a would-be touchdown here. The volume is there in theory, yet the efficiency is cooked right now.

Chris Godwin Jr. led the team in receiving with five for 55 while Bucky Irving scored the lone receiving touchdown on a screen. Nobody else moved the needle. Tampa Bay’s remaining slate should be the lifeline — Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins with two on the road — but the form says caution. If Mike Evans is back soon, the target pie tightens and Egbuka’s margin for error shrinks. You can talk yourself into matchup wins all you want, but the tape says this passing operation is off rhythm and the quarterback is pressing.

Advertisement

Instant reaction: Downgrade Mayfield to desperation streamer and treat Emeka Egbuka as a boom-bust flex until the Buccaneers show real signs of life.

Saints rookies pop — Tyler Shough’s legs and Devin Neal’s volume change the script

New Orleans did not light it up through the air, but the rookies mattered where fantasy pays. Tyler Shough threw for 144 yards with one interception and took three sacks, then flipped the week with two rushing touchdowns in the red area. The arm is a work in progress yet the designed keepers and scrambles are live, which is why he sits as a top-six quarterback going into Sunday night. More importantly, the ground game finally looked functional with Devin Neal taking over. The Kansas product handled 19 touches for 70 yards and punched in his first NFL score. Those are career highs across the board and the role trend you stash before it becomes obvious to your league.

Zoom out and the runway is friendly. The Saints draw the Panthers, Jets and Titans during the fantasy playoffs. If Alvin Kamara misses more time, Neal projects as the early-down hammer with pass-game breadcrumbs while Shough’s legs keep the offense on schedule.

Advertisement

Instant reaction: Make Devin Neal a priority waiver add in shallow leagues and keep Tyler Shough on the streaming radar with that playoff schedule.

Michael Wilson turns the volume up; target avalanche makes his WR1 case loud

The Cardinals have to stop playing around with Marvin Harrison Jr., because every time Marv sits, Michael Wilson goes Calvin Johnson mode. Arizona got blasted 45-17 by the Rams, yet Wilson still owned the day with 16 targets, 11 grabs, 142 yards and two touchdowns. He now has his third 100-yard game of the season and the production gap is real. Wilson sits at 712 receiving yards to Harrison’s 594 after this one. That is not a blip. That is a month of alpha work.

This has become rinse-and-repeat with Jacoby Brissett. When Marv is out, the reads condense to two dudes — Michael Wilson and Trey McBride — and the ball finds them over and over. Wilson wins on size and body control, he works the boundary and he finishes at the catch point. Arizona did not have many positive notes in a beatdown, yet its best wideout kept showing up on money downs and in scoring range. The fantasy payoff matched the eye test. Heading into Sunday night, Wilson sat as the WR2 in half-PPR and the WR1 in full-PPR, which tracks when you see 16 chances funneled his way.

Advertisement

The only speed bump was last week’s Tampa dud when he barely saw work, and you can draw a straight line from that to the loss. Get Wilson involved and good things happen. Looking ahead, the Texans will be a test, then Atlanta and Cincinnati offer cleaner paths to production. If your league got impatient and dropped him because Marv returned, fix that.

Instant reaction: Prioritize Michael Wilson as Arizona’s de facto WR1 and start him with confidence while the target funnel stays pointed his way.

Blake Corum arrives, first 100-yard game powers a true 2-back Rams attack

That is how you kick down the door. Blake Corum’s coming-out party hit in Week 14 with 12 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns, his first 100-yard day as a pro. He averaged 10 a pop, showed the type of burst we expected, looked decisive through the second level then finished runs like the Michigan hammer we remember. The headline is the production but the context matters for lineups — this was damn near a 50-50 split with Kyren Williams — and both backs cashed.

Advertisement

Williams was no passenger. He stacked 84 rushing yards with a score and looked plenty fresh. This has typically been a Sean McVay one-back show yet the current version is a problem for defenses and a gift for fantasy because the pie is big enough. The Rams detonated Arizona, 45-17, and the sheet reflected it. Going into Sunday night, the team had the fantasy WR1 in Puka Nacua, the RB3 in Blake Corum, the RB9 in Kyren Williams and the QB4 in Matthew Stafford. That is a full ecosystem hitting at once, which raises the weekly floor for everyone involved.

Corum’s big-play ability is the needle-mover. When he threatens the edge, light boxes follow and red-zone chances stack for both backs. Kyren’s vision and contact balance still translate to steady chunk gains, so there is no need to force a hot-hand decision. It is simply two good players facing favorable setups. Detroit is up next followed by Seattle.

Instant reaction: Fire up Blake Corum and Kyren Williams as weekly starters — this split is real and the touchdown equity is rich enough for both.

Advertisement

Bears passing game stalls, Caleb Williams’ accuracy slide crushes fantasy confidence

Chicago let a winnable one slip, 28-21, and the final snap told the story. Caleb Williams forced an end-zone ball to Cole Kmet and it landed in a defender’s hands. The bigger problem is everything before that. The receivers never got rolling. Rookie Luther Burden III led with four catches for 67 yards. Kmet followed with two for 42. Colston Loveland chipped in with four for 29 and a score. The next wideout on the sheet was Devin Duvernay with one catch for 24 in the fourth quarter. DJ Moore managed one grab for -4. No Rome Odunze in uniform and still no plan to elevate the perimeter weapons when it matters.

This has been trending the wrong way for a while. Williams has one game over 200 passing yards in his last four and zero 300s all season. In his last 10 starts, he has topped 60% completions once. That is not nitpicking box scores, that is the difference between chain-moving drives and empty possessions. The Bears just coughed up the NFC’s top seed with this loss to Green Bay and the passing operation is the reason. You cannot live on just run game and prayer throws in December.

Moore’s five-game slide hammers the point. Zero catches versus the Giants. One for 18 versus Minnesota. Then a spike at 5-64-2 versus Pittsburgh, followed by two for 17 versus Philadelphia, then one for -4 today. If you are upset about Odunze’s fantasy output, you are not wrong, but the issue is global. The route winners are not getting chances in rhythm and the quarterback is not stacking accurate weeks. Until those two things change, this is a hands-off room outside of matchup darts.

Instant reaction: Fade Bears pass catchers in the fantasy playoffs.

BALTIMORE — The first read on Aaron Rodgers’ rushing touchdown was not a run.

Facing third-and-1 from the 1-yard line midway through the first quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers hoped instead to pass off of play action.

Advertisement

The vision: Tight end Jonnu Smith’s presence at the line of scrimmage would create a heavy personnel presence that foreshadowed a run. Then, Smith would sneak out to catch a pass.

But Rodgers saw the left side of the Steelers’ offensive line had “caved in,” he said, so he escaped from the pocket. He saw that the Baltimore Ravens defenders chasing him were, well, larger and perhaps not as nimble as he (read: 341 and 370-pound defensive linemen pursuing a 223-pound quarterback).

So while wide receiver DK Metcalf thought the play was busted, and others may have wondered how fast a newly 42-year-old quarterback protecting the ball with a broken non-throwing wrist would truly be, Rodgers ran in a touchdown.

The touchdown wasn’t just the first of a division rivalry game the Steelers would ultimately win, 27-22.

Advertisement

It was also Rodgers’ first rushing touchdown since 2022 — and his first since a Sept. 2023 torn Achilles. Rookie quarterback Will Howard was ready for the celebration that the milestone warranted.

“I’ve been waiting to see the ‘Discount Double Check’ [celebration],” Howard told Yahoo Sports from the postgame locker room. “And he kept saying: ‘Rushing touchdowns only. Rushing touchdowns only for the Double Check.’ So I’m glad that we got that today. … That was vintage Aaron Rodgers.

“He’s still playing like he’s well into his thirties.”

The Steelers didn’t play a complete game on either side of the ball as the Ravens came a third step and mild officiating controversy away from rallying back in a fourth quarter that featured no Pittsburgh points. But Rodgers’ deep ball and his legs initially powered the Steelers’ lead in a game in which they trailed for only 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Pittsburgh’s defense, particularly its red-zone defense, stepped up to finish the job.

Advertisement

The result: At 7-6, the Steelers now control the AFC North. Just one week after the home crowd in Pittsburgh broke out into audible “Fire Tomlin” chants, the win in Baltimore lifted Pittsburgh’s chance at making the playoffs to 68%, per Next Gen Stats.

[Get more Steelers news: Pittsburgh team feed]

The win should also, at least for now, quiet speculation about the 19-year Steelers head coach’s future.

“To get a win like this right now, it’s going to create momentum,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. “We all understand how everything went this week.”

Rodgers turned back the clock to set tone for Steelers vs. Ravens

The Steelers’ passing game seemed to drink from the fountain of youth on the day Rodgers became the eighth quarterback in NFL history to throw a touchdown pass at age 42. Potential reasons were aplenty.

Advertisement

Perhaps Rodgers’ progression healing his nonthrowing wrist fracture contributed to his improved mobility and deep ball as he threw for 284 yards and a touchdown a week after throwing for 117 and no scores. Rodgers was able to transition to a soft cast as his bones heal; and he was able to field snaps under center again, even if it didn’t much improve his team’s play-action game on a day when the Steelers managed just 34 rushing yards.

And perhaps the Ravens’ preference for man coverage without a consistent safety over the top favored the Steelers and Rodgers’ strengths, Metcalf knowing deep sideline passes were absolutely in play as he didn’t face his usual volume of double coverage. Rodgers registered five explosive passes, including 52- and 41-yard bombs to Metcalf down the right sideline that traveled 44 and 26 air yards, respectively.

The Steelers were intentional about firing deep early, eager to set the tone in a division game before momentum fired up the home crowd.

“We were in an aggressive posture all day,” Tomlin said. “I just think that’s how we got out of bed this morning. That’s what’s required when you’re playing these guys in their venue.”

Advertisement

Or was it the addition of veteran receivers Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the Steelers’ roster that help explain the improvement from Rodgers’ 47.6% completion percentage in last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills to this week’s 67.6%? Rodgers touted an increased level of professionalism from his weapons, Thielen admitting he jumped into a vocal role after initially crediting his new teammates with teaching him the plays.

“I might’ve talked a little too much early on,” Thielen told Yahoo Sports. “I texted DK and said, ‘Hey, man, if I’m overstepping at all, let me know.’ And he’s like, ‘No, man: Talk as much as you want.’”

Add in a festive week featuring Rodgers’ birthday on Tuesday, and the Steelers were more than ready to celebrate. Receiver Ben Skowronek purchased a vanilla birthday cake from Oakmont Bakery, he told Yahoo Sports, while he directed Howard and fellow rookie Max Hurleman to show up to the birthday edition of Rodgers’ home film sessions with balloons featuring the numbers 4 and 2. The rookies delivered: Howard confirmed he blew the balloons up himself.

So by Sunday, Metcalf was saying that “this week just felt different as a team, as a whole” after the Rodgers-Metcalf connection that had shined in Wednesday and Thursday practices translated to seven connections for a season-best 148 yards.

Advertisement

Add in key defensive stops when the offense stalled in the fourth quarter, including a game-sealing sack from Alex Highsmith, and the Steelers were able to escape with a win. It was a win they all knew they needed sorely — for their playoff hopes and for their head coach’s future.

Even as players sought to downplay the “outside noise,” the “Fire Tomlin” chants echoed in their ears.

“This game is huge,” Howard said. “Talk about a turning point this season. If it went the other way, it could be a lot different.”

With Steelers back in control, will Tomlin speculation quiet?

Tomlin’s coaching acumen has garnered him broad respect in the NFL world. Sunday’s win puts him on track for his 19th straight year without a losing season. The Steelers have advanced to the playoffs 12 times in Tomlin’s 18 full seasons.

Advertisement

But with no playoff wins since the 2016 season and the last Lombardi Trophy dating back to the 2008 season, it is not unreasonable to remember no coach stays with a team forever.

Tomlin will have his choice of 2026 jobs should he want it. The question instead is: When will the Steelers and/or Tomlin decide they’re ready for a new marriage? Signing Rodgers for what could be the last year of his NFL career only further emphasized the sense of urgency in Pittsburgh. The team’s roster is aging, a long-term solution at quarterback elusive. It’s not difficult to imagine a world where Tomlin takes over a talented team with a quarterback, and the Steelers find their next coach with the ability to offer remarkable patience in a league not known for it. Pittsburgh also has an offseason decision to make about Tomlin’s 2027 option, ESPN reported this weekend.

With Tomlin saying ‘in general, I agree’ with the “Fire Tomlin” chants last week, the noise about his future was more than just outside noise.

And yet, at least for the week, the clamor should reduce to nothing more than a din. Because the Steelers team that lost both head-to-heads with the Ravens last season managed to beat their toughest division foe in 2025.

Advertisement

Tomlin’s defense, albeit leaky in allowing 217 rushing yards, made stops in key moments including an interception and two sacks of Lamar Jackson. The Ravens’ offense flashed in moments, including on Jackson and Zay Flowers’ connection. But a catch that was initially ruled a touchdown to Isaiah Likely turned out to be incomplete, after a controversial replay review ruled Likely did not make a football move after getting two feet into the end zone.

The Ravens converted on just 2 of 6 trips to the red zone. They wrecked a forced punt with an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Steelers’ snapper. And Baltimore lost the turnover battle as the broken-wristed Rodgers won a battle for his batted pass, turning a near-interception into a pass to himself for a loss of 9 yards.

The gritty moments reflected Tomlin’s ethos.

Steelers players thoroughly endorsed their leader in a spirited postgame locker room — including players who have experienced other NFL coaches and cultures.

Metcalf, whom the Steelers acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in March, praised Tomlin as a “great leader” who’s “done nothing but take the bullets for us.” Thielen, who has spent parts of 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and two with the Carolina Panthers, raved about Tomlin’s intentionality.

Advertisement

And Skowronek, a member of the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl championship team in the 2021 season?

“Coach Tomlin, in my opinion, is the best leader of men I’ve ever been around,” Skowronek told Yahoo Sports. “Coach Tomlin’s real. He will have the hard conversation with you. He’ll call you out. There’s a standard that we have to live by every day. And if we’re not living by the standard, he’s going to let you know about it.

“But he is also a great motivator.”

So no, Steelers players in a spirited postgame locker room did not seem to desire a split from Tomlin, nor were they split amongst themselves on his excellence. And no, as Steelers team owner Art Rooney II walked into the postgame locker room with his family, he did not look like an owner in search of a change or upheaval.

Advertisement

And Tomlin himself? He didn’t directly touch on the calls for his job Sunday in the way he had five days prior. But he did blow a kiss at CBS cameras after the win and he had no hesitation celebrating a “big win for us, obviously, in a hostile environment.”

Rodgers, after a week of vanilla cake and balloons and a throwback rushing touchdown, took it from there.

“Maybe,” the quarterback said of conversation around his head coach, “you guys will shut the hell up for a week.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder had no issues on Sunday night, even with reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting on the bench.

The Delta Center in Salt Lake City, on the other hand, struggled.

Midway through the second quarter, a smoke machine sitting on top of one of the baskets in the arena started going off randomly while Thunder star Chet Holmgren was shooting a free throw. It kept going off for quite some time, too, and nobody on the court seemed to notice.

Advertisement

Holmgren even threw down a dunk on a fast break before officials stopped the game to fix the broken smoke machine — which made for quite the scene.

“He is literally setting this place on fire,” one of the announcers joked.

The Jazz opened the game with a free throw, though that was their only lead of the night. The Thunder responded with a 13-0 burst before rolling to the 131-101 win. It marked their 15th consecutive victory and brought them to 23-1 on the season — which is on pace to break the league’s single-season wins record set by the Golden State Warriors back during the 2015-16 campaign.

Holmgren led the way with 25 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder. Jalen Williams had 25 points, too, and Aaron Wiggins added 19 points off the bench. They shot 58% from the field as a group and 21-of-42 from behind the arc. Gilgeous-Alexander sat out due to left elbow bursitis, marking his first missed game of the season.

Advertisement

Kyle Filipowski led the Jazz with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Both Walter Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks added 20 points off the bench. The Jazz fell to 8-15 after the loss, which marked their second straight loss by 30 points or more.

While it’s unclear what sparked the smoke on Sunday night, the arena staff has some time to figure it out. The Jazz have one game this week, against the Grizzlies in Memphis, and won’t be back at home until they host the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 15.

Nate Tice & Charles McDonald give their instant reactions and takeaways from Week 14 of NFL action. The duo kick things off with their reactions to the Houston Texans putting the Kansas City Chiefs‘ season on the ropes on Sunday night.

Advertisement

Next, Nate & Charles break down their 3 Highs, 3 Lows of Week 14. The highs include the Green Bay Packers wrestling control of the NFC North from the Chicago Bears, the Jacksonville Jaguars taking the late AFC South lead from the Indianapolis Colts and the Josh Allen & the Buffalo Bills outscoring Joe Burrow & the Cincinnati Bengals.

The lows of Week 14 include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers falling apart against the New Orleans Saints, the Baltimore Ravens being unable to stop Aaron Rodgers & the Pittsburgh Steelers from taking the AFC North lead back and the Atlanta Falcons’ playoff contention coming to an end against the Seattle Seahawks. The duo also discuss Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders battling it out in the snow for Extra Credit.

(00:45) – Texans beat Chiefs on SNF

(21:05) – Packers beat Bears

Advertisement

(31:05) – Jaguars beat Colts

(41:30) – Bills beat Bengals

(49:15) – Buccaneers lose to Saints

(57:15) – Ravens lose to Steelers

(1:07:35) – Falcons eliminated from playoffs

(1:13:15) – Extra Credit: rookies battle it out

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

Subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy Forecast

Matt Harmon and Chris Allen provide their instant fantasy reactions to all the action in Week 14. The two place games in three fantasy buckets: Games we care about the most, games we sort of care about and games that could have been an email.

Advertisement

(1:00) – Matt’s solo SNF recap: Texans 20, Chiefs 10

(21:00) – Games we care about the most: CIN@BUF, CHI@GB, PIT@BAL, IND@JAX

(1:03:45) – Games we sort of care about: NO@TB, TEN@CLE, LAR@AZ, SEA@ATL

(1:25:15) – Games that could have been an email

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at yahoosports.tv

The non-theatric theatrics were just a distraction. The real drama — and a telling tactic for the Green Bay Packers — came later Sunday.

Yes, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur unquestionably did a flyby handshake with the Chicago Bears’ Ben Johnson. No, it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as some of the instantaneous reactions portrayed it. If anything, the nanosecond of interaction between the two was more dust-bunny than dust-up. Maybe you craved a Jim Harbaugh vs. Jim Schwartz (circa 2011) postgame confrontation, only to be disappointed with LaFleur simply giving Johnson a chilly little ¡olé! before everyone swiftly moved on with their postgame.

Advertisement

“Just a quick handshake,” LaFleur said following the Packers’ 28-21 win over the Bears. “We’ll see them again in two weeks.”

Any drama or pettiness between the Packers and Bears fell flat after a week of intensely re-racking comments Johnson made in his introductory news conference with the Bears last January, when he said he “enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” as offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions. Instead, LaFleur was forward-looking and respectful of the Bears, reciting his fairly typical mission-first-and-always diatribes about methodically moving forward. In the same vein, Johnson was complimentary of the Packers and seemingly appreciative about being part of a rivalry between the two teams being reinvigorated as each vies for the NFC North crown.

“I do think there’s some aura that comes with playing here and competing here,” Johnson said of Lambeau Field. “I love it for our guys. This is what the football gods made football to be. Cold weather in December like this. Green Bay, Chicago — it’s outstanding. I think it’s awesome to have this rivalry alive and well right now and we’ll get another chance at it here in two weeks.”

Advertisement

For the most part, that was the underlying Packers message: Green Bay held down its end of the bargain and it will see Chicago again in two weeks when the division could be decided at Soldier Field.

Oh — and stop committing the clearly egregious but also unflagged holding penalties on Micah Parsons.

That’s where the spice was Sunday. Less between LaFleur and Johnson than between the Packers’ coach and Sunday’s officiating crew. Not to mention the seemingly overwhelming majority of the Green Bay fan base, which flooded social media with clips of Parsons being held by Bears tight end Colston Loveland and offensive tackle Darnell Wright, among others.

A hold by Wright left Packers fans particularly seething after it was posted by the NFL’s X account as a Chicago highlight, showcasing a pivotal scramble and completion by Bears quarterback Caleb Williams during a late fourth-quarter drive. On the play, Parsons comes off the right edge and is met by Wright, who hooked his arm around Parsons’ neck and corralled him out of the way as Williams rolled out of trouble and completed a 24-yard pass to wideout Devin Duvernay deep into Green Bay territory. In the background of the play, you see Parsons on his knees and raising his arms to the sky, seemingly asking for a penalty or some kind of explanation for what it would take to get a flag.

Parsons would finish with eight quarterback pressures in the win, but zero sacks or tackles. Afterward, LaFleur took exception to the lack of flags when it came to the way the Bears were blocking Parsons. More than once during the game, the Packers head coach could be seen animatedly engaging officials and complaining about what appeared to be unflagged holding incidents. Asked about one of the incidents, LaFleur said he wasn’t sure what constituted holding after seeing how Parsons was handled by officials.

Advertisement

“I guess I don’t know,” LaFleur said. “I thought there was one that certainly was questionable, to say the least. But apparently the officials disagree, so it is what it is. We just gotta continue to strain and fight and try to get to the quarterback.”

Pressed on it further, he doubled down.

“Officials, I don’t think that their jobs are easy by any stretch,” LaFleur added. “I think it is a difficult job, but I guess I don’t know what holding is anymore. Because I thought [one] was pretty clear — clear and obvious hold. But I guess I don’t know what that means.”

LaFleur was careful to walk the line between an outright criticism of any officials. But engaging with the questions of reporters who are prepared to highlight what has been happening the past several weeks with Parsons is no accident. LaFleur knows what he’s doing. He’s running an early December gambit from a postgame podium that can also be paired at some point with the Packers submitting private officiating protests to the league office with accompanying video — not an uncommon practice for NFL teams — to send a message.

Advertisement

Something along the lines of: Micah is being held repeatedly over the course of our games … the evidence is being broadcasted in front of everyone’s eyes … and it needs to be officiated better than this.

This is what you do when you have a $46.5 million-per-season edge rusher who is being prevented from completing one of the primary missions that wreck games. Namely, hitting the quarterback. Repeatedly. It’s also what you do when the race for the NFC North — and even more importantly, the conference’s No. 1 playoff seed — are still hanging in the balance. You look for an edge. Especially one that is provable on game film and rightfully should be called if officials are seeing it.

Of course, this isn’t new territory for Parsons. Dallas Cowboys fans complained about it for years, dating back to his rookie season in 2021. And it wasn’t just the fan base, either. In December of 2023, when Dallas was in a fistfight with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions for the No. 1 playoff seed in that season’s playoffs, the Cowboys reached out to the NFL’s league office to argue that Parsons was being blocked (and allegedly held) by opposing teams repeatedly, without the plays resulting in penalties.

Parsons lamented it publicly that season — and at other times — over the course of his career in Dallas. Now, it has traveled with him north to Green Bay, and the Packers are in the midst of the same frustration. That might be why Parsons seemed to be the most pragmatic person of all Sunday when questioned about any frustration over a lack of offensive holding penalties.

Advertisement

“I just gotta keep fighting through,” Parsons told reporters. “That’s been the definition of my career. There’s always fighting through whatever. I’m a smaller guy and I think [officials] realize that and I’ve got an advantage on the defensive side — I play with great leverage and I’m able to get under people’s arms.”

“I think the rulebook is you got to be in the chest area and I’m just not getting grabbed in the chest area,” he added. “But like I said, there’s nothing I can do about it. I just got to keep fighting through.”

Asked by a reporter about being corralled by the neck, Parsons gave a verbal shrug.

“That’s not in the rulebook at all,” he said.

Advertisement

LaFleur surely isn’t going to accept that. It’s unlikely general manager Brian Gutekunst will, either. That much seemed clear when the head coach gladly added fuel to a debate that is likely going to draw only more attention as the Packers move toward the playoffs — not to mention another meeting with the Bears in Week 16 that could decide the division.

That’s two weeks from now, and the Packers have opened the next chapter in the drama between the two rivals. And it has everything to do with how the Bears — and the rest of Green Bay’s opponents into the playoffs — will be scrutinized when it comes to how Parsons is officiated.

Advertisement