NFL Game Recaps: Week 15, 2024

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Rams 12, 49ers 6

The weather forecasts called for a partly cloudy environment, but the skies opened up with a downpour in the opening half. Both teams struggled to move the chains in the early going. The 49ers kicked an early field goal after squandering an opportunity on the preceding third down with a stupid play call, and the score remained 3-0 for most of the first half. The Rams finally got on the board just prior to intermission with a field goal of their own.

The conditions were slightly better following halftime. The 49ers appeared as though they would take advantage of that with a successful drive early in the third quarter that culminated with a field goal, but it was all Rams after that. Los Angeles engineered two scoring drives following San Francisco’s third-quarter kick, both of which ended in field goals. The Rams had a great chance at a touchdown on their second possession, but a holding penalty moved them back into a field goal.

Still, the Rams went up 9-6, putting pressure on San Francisco. Brock Purdy connected with George Kittle and Ricky Pearsall for significant gains. The 49ers moved into field goal range with five minutes remaining, but that’s when disaster struck. Purdy took a horrible shot into double coverage and was intercepted, negating the potential tie. The Rams took over and didn’t relinquish possession until 18 seconds remained. Purdy heaved a helpless pass toward the sideline and then was sacked to end the game.

This was a crushing blow for the 49ers, who, as Al Michaels said, are on “life support.” They’re now 6-8, and they’re two back of two teams, one of whom (Rams) swept them. The Rams and Seahawks battle each other in Week 18, so one of those teams will have nine wins, making it extremely unlikely that the 49ers will make the playoffs.

The Rams, meanwhile, will move into first place if the Seahawks lose to the Packers on Sunday night. The division may come down to the Week 18 affair between the two teams.

Redskins 20, Saints 19

It’s astonishing that the Redskins nearly lost this game. They were up 17-0 in the third quarter, as they completely dominated New Orleans for most of the afternoon. Jayden Daniels misfired on just six occasions, all while running circles around New Orleans’ defense. He connected on a pair of touchdowns to Terry McLaurin, while his defense completely dismantled Jake Haener, who completed just four passes on the afternoon.

Spencer Rattler took over in the third quarter once Haener was benched. Rattler led a touchdown drive in which Cedrick Wilson threw a touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara, but the Saints lost Kamara to an injury. Washington also responded with a field goal to maintain control of this game. However, the Redskins repeatedly gave the Saints free first downs with sloppy defensive penalties. For example, New Orleans was granted a free set of downs on third-and-long because of an illegal hands to the face infraction.

The Saints hit a 51-yard field goal to trim the margin to seven. The Redskins then moved deep into New Orleans territory, but a deep pass to Dyami Brown was negated by yet another penalty. Washington had to settle for a field goal, but Greg Joseph missed badly, giving the Saints one more chance. Rattler slithered down the field and fired a touchdown to Foster Moreau as time expired. However, the two-point conversion failed on a Rattler pass to Juwan Johnson to allow Washington to walk away with a one-point victory.

The Redskins won, but their sloppiness nearly resulted in a defeat. Had they lost to Rattler, the Eagles would have clinched the division with a victory over Pittsburgh.

The Saints dropped to 5-9, but at least they entertained their fans and preserved their draft positioning after two senseless wins. Rattler will likely be the starting quarterback the rest of the way. If the Saints were smart, however, they’d go with Haener so they could lose on purpose.

Texans 20, Dolphins 12

The Dolphins had some major quarterbacking problems in late September and throughout most of October when Tua Tagovailoa was sidelined. Tagovailoa returned from a concussion to rally the team, but in this game, Miami once again had major quarterbacking problems.

This was a 3-3 game when the things began going south for the Dolphins. Tagovailoa lost a fumble on a strip-sack to set up the Texans in great field position. C.J. Stroud took advantage by throwing a touchdown pass to Nico Collins. Tagovailoa then was intercepted, with the defender nearly taking the turnover back for six to give Houston another score.

Things didn’t get easier for Tagovailoa in the second half. Down 20-12, he drove into the red zone, but heaved an interception. He later got another chance, but was picked right away on an underthrown deep shot to Tyreek Hill. This fourth turnover effectively ended the game.

The Dolphins are now 6-8, which makes it much more difficult for them to make the playoffs. They still have a chance, but they need a lot of help.

The Texans, improving to 9-5, were told that they would win the division if the Colts ended up losing to the Broncos later in the afternoon.

Jets 32, Jaguars 25

The Jets appeared as though they were going to lose this game for much of the afternoon. Their offense couldn’t generate anything in the opening half. Aaron Rodgers completed just three passes prior to intermission, while their defense had no answer for what Mac Jones was doing. Jones completed 8-yard passes on seemingly every play. The only points the Jets generated prior to the break came following a successful fake punt. Jacksonville led 13-7 at halftime.

Rodgers came alive in the third quarter. He hit Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams consistently, though he didn’t do the same with Allen Lazard, who dropped a deep pass to potentially put the Jets ahead for the first time. However, with the Jaguars hitting mostly field goals in the second half, Rodgers had another chance to take the lead. Tied at 25, Rodgers found an open Adams, who blazed down the field for a long gain, getting taken down at the 1-yard line. Breece Hall scored on the next play to put the Jets up 32-25.

The Jaguars had all three timeouts remaining, so they still had a chance. Jones completed some passes to move toward midfield, but he was intercepted on a deep shot by Sauce Gardner to end the game.

The Jets have been eliminated from the playoffs, but they’ve played well the past two weeks to perhaps build some momentum for next year, provided that they continue this experiment.

The Jaguars ruined their chances of a No. 1 overall pick last week. They at least stopped the bleeding with a loss to the Jets.

Bengals 37, Titans 27

If 100 NFL fans were polled with the question, “Which quarterback in the Bengals-Titans game would begin the game with multiple turnovers?” 101 of them would say Will Levis. And yet, all 101 of them would be wrong because it was Joe Burrow who was responsible for the give-aways. Burrow was intercepted on the initial drive to set up a Tony Pollard touchdown. Following an exchange of touchdowns, Burrow was strip-sacked in the red zone. The Titans took over at midfield following a great runback by T’Vondre Sweat.

This time, however, Cincinnati’s defense came up big to force a turnover of its own. The Bengals strip-sacked Levis to set up a Burrow touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki to tie the game at 14. This was the first of three Levis turnovers in the opening half. The second was an interception off his back foot, allowing the Bengals to score seven once again when Burrow found Tee Higgins on a deep throw. Levis was then picked once again on a high throw, setting up a Cincinnati field goal to make the score 24-14 heading into intermission.

The turnovers continued in the second half. Levis threw a pick-six to really open up a huge lead for the Bengals. This resulted in his benching for Mason Rudolph, who nearly generated a back-door cover, but Cincinnati hung on to a double-digit victory.

The Bengals overcame their early deficit to win, all while converting 10-of-13 third downs. At 6-8, they have a chance to catch the Broncos, whom they battle in a couple of weeks.

The Titans have probably won themselves out of the No. 1 pick, but this loss was crucial to perhaps get back into the mix for the top two quarterbacks in the draft.

Ravens 35, Giants 14

The 16.5-point favorite Ravens looked like they were going to be off to a hot start when they had a long kickoff return, but Lamar Jackson lost a fumble in the red zone. This, however, only delayed the inevitable. Jackson’s second drive was much more fruitful, as he drove down the field with ease and found Mark Andrews for a touchdown. The play made Andrews the all-time leading scorer in Ravens history.

Baltimore went up 14-0 soon after on a deep shot to Rashod Bateman. The team looked to be in complete control, but the Giants answered with a touchdown where the Ravens gave them a couple free set of downs with penalties. The Ravens, however, responded on the ensuing drive with a long Jackson run and then another deep touchdown pass to Bateman. Baltimore went into the locker room with a 21-7 lead.

The Ravens took their foot off the gas pedal in the second half once Jackson threw his fourth and fifth touchdown passes on the afternoon. The Giants, meanwhile, had no chance with Tim Boyle replacing a concussed Tommy DeVito.

Baltimore played a very efficient game, aside from Jackson’s early lost fumble. The Ravens were 9-of-11 on third down and doubled up the Giants in yardage.

The Giants at least had a great performance from Malik Nabers. They maintain a top-two pick, which is important with only two first-round quarterbacks in this draft class.

Cowboys 30, Panthers 14

The Panthers came into this game noted as a team playing well after wins against the Saints and Giants, and then close calls against the Chiefs, Buccaneers, and Eagles. However, they did not perform like a team playing well, as they were guilty of some sloppy turnovers to begin the game. Bryce Young lost a fumble in field goal range after making a nasty spin move. Young then was intercepted on a tight throw to Adam Thielen.

The Cowboys were able to take advantage of these turnovers with some big plays from CeeDee Lamb. They established a 10-0 lead, but then it was their turn to make a mistake. They fumbled on a botched handoff, and the Panthers answered with a deep touchdown pass to Jalen Coker to trim the margin to three.

This glimmer of hope the Panthers had disappeared quickly. Micah Parsons absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage to harass Young all afternoon. Young was eventually intercepted again, while Carolina’s defense had no answer for Dallas’ offense wth Rico Dowdle constantly gashing them on the ground.

The Cowboys must not have gotten the memo that they were practically eliminated from the playoffs with last week’s loss to the Bengals because they played like they still had a chance in this game.

The Panthers had a disappointing result after playing so well in their previous five games. They were not competitive with Dallas at all despite being 2.5-point favorites.

Chiefs 21, Browns 7
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Patrick Mahomes hurt his ankle, but what was he doing throwing while up 14 in the fourth quarter? What happened to barely doing the bare minimum to win?

The Chiefs improved to 13-1 as their defense dominated the interception-happy Jameis Winston. A salty Browns defense limited Patrick Mahomes, and after taking some scary hits, the Chiefs removed Mahomes during the fourth quarter after tapping up his ankles. Kansas City’s quest to get their offense clicking before the playoffs did not get started in Cleveland, but the Chiefs defense was phenomenal, recording six takeaways to lead Kansas City to maintain their status as the No. 1 seed status in the AFC.

Early in the first quarter, the Browns fumbled a punt, with the Chiefs recovering in the Cleveland red zone. A few plays later, Mahomes hit a short bootleg pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 7-0 lead. Late in the first quarter, Winston and Jerry Jeudy had a few good completions to move into Kansas City territory, but Winston threw a terrible pass into deep double coverage, and Bryan Cook made a leaping interception. Late in the second quarter, the Chiefs moved down the field before Mahomes found Noah Gray wide-open in the end zone for a6-yard touchdown to go up 14-0 at the half.

To open the third quarter, a pass to Nick Chubb was snatched away by Nick Bolton, and a few plays later, a screen to Xavier Worthy went for a 21-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up by three scores. The Browns finally got on the board after that, as Jeudy made a great block to spring Jerome Ford down the sideline for a 62-yard touchdown. Cleveland’s defense did a great job of shutting down the Chiefs’ offense, and the Browns were driving to get back in the game, but another Winston blunder led to an interception by Trent McDuffie in the end zone. That pick essentially clinched the win for Kansas City.

Cardinals 30, Patriots 17
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Cardinals almost suffered a scare when Kyler Murray got hurt in the third quarter, but he was able to return after missing a portion of only one drive.

Halfway through the season, the Cardinals were in first place in the NFC West, but in recent weeks, quarterback Kyler Murray has had problems with turnovers, which has allowed Seattle to jump Arizona. With the Rams playing well, the Cardinals badly needed a win to remain in striking distance. Arizona’s defense shut down the struggling Patriot offense to improve to 7-7 and drop New England to 3-11 on the season.

Arizona got a field goal on their drive that was keyed by Marvin Harrison Jr, hauling in a 23-yard completion. Shortly later, James Conner exploded down the field for a 53-yard run. A few plays later, Anfernee Jennings stripped Greg Dortch in front of the end zone just before the ball rolled out of the end zone, offensive tackle Jonah Williams fell on it for the Arizona touchdown to go up 10-0. The Patriots answered with a field goal drive to make it 10-3. Just before halftime, Murray hit Dortch on a fake screen quick slant that freed up Dortch to bolt for a 39-yard gain. That set up a field goal for Arizona and a 13-3 halftime lead.

Early in the third quarter, the Cardinals added a field goal as Conner continued to run well. New England’s offense then finally got moving, with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson ripping off some good runs, but once again, the drive stalled. Murray threw a terrible interception near his own end zone, but a Patriots penalty canceled out the turnover. Drake Maye was not as lucky as he had a receiver drop a pass, and Sean Murphy-Bunting intercepted the ball on the deflection. On the ensuing possession, Arizona moved the ball well, and Conner charged into the end zone from a few yards out to go up 23-3 midway through the fourth quarter.

Maye responded by throwing a beautiful 37-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne, and Maye finished the drive with a short touchdown toss to DeMario Douglas. Arizona quickly negated the score with a drive down the field to set up Conner’s second touchdown run for a 30-10 lead. In garbage time, Maye ran in a touchdown to make it a 13-point loss for New England.

Eagles 27, Steelers 13

The Eagles won by two touchdowns as they dominated in the second half, but this was a close game for a while. This was only the result of Philadelphia making a couple of mistakes. The Eagles, up 3-0, had a scoring opportunity ruined when Jalen Hurts ruined while trying to run for a first down. Cooper DeJean then lost a fumble on a punt return. This helped the Steelers notch 13 points on the board prior to intermission.

Pittsburgh, however, didn’t get the luxury of these take-aways in the second half. In fact, the Steelers gave the ball back themselves when Najee Harris lost a fumble while in field goal range while the score was only 20-13.

The Eagles, meanwhile, did their best to play keep-away from the Steelers. Jalen Hurts was incredibly efficient. Though he took some sacks, he managed to misfire on just seven occasions, all while accounting for three touchdowns. He did his best to deliver the ball to A.J. Brown, who was much happier following this result. Brown suffered an injury scare late, but looked OK walking off the field. Conversely, T.J. Watt suffered a non-contact foot injury to add injury to insult.

The Eagles have moved into a tie with the Lions for the best record in the conference, but they don’t have the tie-breaker because of a worse conference record.

The Steelers seem like they’re locked into the No. 3 seed with this loss. It’s clear that they need George Pickens to return soon.

Bills 48, Lions 42

The Bills entered this game as underdogs, but they put on a clinic in the opening half. Josh Allen was able to run for significant gains and throw passes to his running backs for even greater chunks. He also heaved a 64-yard bomb to Keon Coleman, with all of this setting up a 21-7 lead to start the game.

The Lions cut the margin in half after that, but the Bills had a chance to bounce back to a two-touchdown advantage with a goal-to-go situation at the Detroit 2-yard line. However, thanks to a penalty and a missed field goal, the Bills came away with no points on the drive, giving Detroit some hope going into intermission.

This hope vanished quickly with the Bills reestablishing control after halftime. Allen continued to hit Ty Johnson and Dalton Kincaid for significant gains, and he also found Khalil Shakir in the end zone. He also repeatedly accumulated rushing yards to help the team go up 35-14 and 45-28. The Lions, to their credit, roared back to trim the margin to 10 when they attempted an onside kick. Mack Hollins not only recovered, but ran down to the 5-yard line, where Allen found Ray Davis for a touchdown.

Despite this major setback, the Lions continued to fight. They eventually clawed back to a six-point margin. They had a much better onside kick attempt, but after about two minutes, the officials finally determined that the Bills recovered the ball in a large pile, securing the victory for Buffalo.

The Bills impressively bounced back from their loss to the Rams. With Patrick Mahomes injured, Buffalo is live to claim the No. 1 seed.

The Lions still have the No. 1 seed because of their conference record tie-breaker over the Eagles, but there the margin of error is gone.

Broncos 31, Colts 13

The Broncos won this game by three scores, but it appeared for a while that the Colts would win this one going away. Indianapolis’ defense clamped down on Bo Nix. The rookie quarterback was playing well heading into this game, but struggled mightily for a while. He was intercepted on an early telegraphed throw, then was picked again on a wild overthrown on a third-and-1. The Colts, up 13-7, had the ball over midfield and had a chance to establish complete control of this game.

This is when the game began to change completely. Jonathan Taylor burst through for a 41-yard touchdown to go up 20-7, but replay review showed that he idiotically dropped the ball at the 1-yard line to give the Broncos possession. Instead of being up 13, the Colts led by just six, but it appeared as though they’d have another chance to expand the lead when Nix was picked for the third time on another telegraphed pass. However, another Colts mistake, a Michael Pittman Jr. lost fumble, gave the Broncos a free field goal.

Indianapolis’ next mistake was allowing a great punt return to Marvin Mims rather than just kicking the ball out of bounds. This set up a touchdown pass by Nix, giving the Broncos their first lead of the game. That lead expanded when the Colts ran an incredibly stupid trick play. Adonai Mitchell caught a backward pass and tried to throw to Anthony Richardson to set up a flea flicker. However, Mitchell’s pass was incredibly poor, allowing the Broncos to snatch a pick-six to go up 24-13. The Broncos scored a late touchdown to slam the door on Indianapolis’ chances.

The Colts have to be fuming about this loss because they shot themselves in the foot so many times. They lost by 18, yet legitimately outgained the Broncos, 310-193, all while averaging 1.1 more yards per play.

The Broncos once again beat a mediocre or bad team, which accounts for all their victories this year. They did not deserve to win this game.

Buccaneers 40, Chargers 17

The Buccaneers got out to leads of 7-0 and 10-7, but the Chargers matched them on both occasions. The Buccaneers had a chance to establish their third lead of the game, but Baker Mayfield launched a telegraphed throw over the middle of the field. Justin Herbert responded with a touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston to go up 17-10.

Oddly enough, this was the last time the Chargers scored all afternoon. The Chargers were even able to benefit from a recovered fumble when Rachaad White coughed up the ball near midfield, but it didn’t matter. With no running game to lean on, Justin Herbert saw lots of pressure and couldn’t keep the chains moving at all. He was even intercepted, which is a rarity for him.

Mayfield, conversely, was able to rebound from his early blunder. He torched the Chargers mercilessly, primarily on throws to Mike Evans. Before long, Tampa Bay was blowing out the Chargers.

The Buccaneers ended up outgaining the Chargers by 300 net yards. This was a lopsided affair in which Jalen McMillan continued to show improvement.

The Chargers had Ladd McConkey back from injury, but couldn’t score at all in the second half. They were 0-of-6 on third down. They have a short turn-around with a battle against Denver coming up on Thursday.

Packers 30, Seahawks 13

Seattle had maintained a great run defense entering this game, but the Packers apparently didn’t get the memo. They began the contest by establishing Josh Jacobs, and it worked. Jacobs rushed for a touchdown and picked up significant yardage. The Packers got out to a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter and were up 20-3 by the half.

The Seahawks couldn’t generate any offense in the opening half, and things just got more difficult as the game progressed because Geno Smith suffered an ankle injury. Smith limped off the field and then went into the locker room, giving way for Sam Howell, who proceeded to take countless sacks.

Things got interesting for the first time all night when Josh Jacobs lost a fumble. The Seahawks were able to score a touchdown on a Zach Charbonnet run to cut the lead to 23-13. However, the Packers responded with a touchdown of their own when Romeo Doubs made an incredible diving catch in the end zone to close the door on Seattle’s chances.

The Packers dominated this game, outgaining Seattle, 369-208. The team did well to rebound off the loss to Detroit.

The good news for the Seahawks is that they still control their own destiny. The bad news is that Smith is hurt, so he may not be able to play next week against the Vikings.

Vikings 30, Bears 12

The Bears are a team with an interim head coach and no offensive coordinator, so they should be expected to make stupid blunders. We saw that in droves in this game.

Chicago’s errors began early when the team opted to go for it on fourth-and-1. D’Andre Swift was predictably stuffed by a stout run defense, allowing the Vikings to kick a quick field goal. Caleb Williams was then strip-sacked on the ensuing drive, allowing Minnesota to take over and score a touchdown when Sam Darnold found Justin Jefferson for the score.

This was a 13-0 game in the third quarter when Swift ran into the end zone to apparently cut the margin to six. However, the touchdown was nullified by a player not reporting as eligible. Chicago then got down to the 1-yard line, but a holding penalty moved them back. The Bears had to settle for a field goal, which was a disappointing result. The Vikings responded with a touchdown drive, putting this game out of reach with a 20-3 advantage.

The Vikings won easily, but Sam Darnold didn’t look like quite himself. His throws were off too often. The announcers noted that he was dealing with a finger injury after banging one of his digits on a helmet.

The Bears will continue to struggle with no offensive coordinator. ESPN color analyst Troy Aikman opined that the Bears should bench Caleb Williams because he’s losing confidence.

Falcons 15, Raiders 9

Kirk Cousins had eight interceptions and no touchdowns during the four-game losing streak he endured heading into this contest. That almost seemed like a distant memory when he hit Drake London for an early score in this game. The Falcons went up 7-0 in the opening quarter, and they were off to the races.

Except, they weren’t. The Falcons scored just eight points the rest of the way, and some of that came from the defense and special teams. The stop unit recorded a safety when tackling a Raider running back in his own end zone, and then the special teams blocked a punt, which set up a field goal. Removing those five points, Atlanta’s offense really mustered just three points in the final three quarters, as Cousins struggled behind an offensive line that couldn’t block for him.

Luckily for the Falcons, the Raiders couldn’t move the ball whatsoever for most of the evening. Desmond Ridder’s blocking was even worse, and it didn’t seem like he had a prayer of advancing the chains, especially after he injured his hip. Ridder remained in the game, but suddenly caught fire at the end of the fourth quarter. Atlanta’s prevent defense had something to do with it, but Ridder was able to hit Jakobi Meyers and Ameer Abdullah consistently to score a touchdown. A blocked extra point kept the margin to a significant six. The Raiders then retained possession after yet another failed Atlanta offensive drive, but ran out of time once they crossed midfield. They were close enough to try two Hail Marys, but the first went incomplete, while the second was intercepted.

The Falcons won, but they can’t feel good about this victory. They barely scraped by against one of the worst teams in the NFL playing its third-string quarterback.

Many Raiders fans showed up with “Tank for Shedeur” signs, so they were undoubtedly happy that Ridder couldn’t complete the comeback.