NFL Game Recaps: Week 15, 2025

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

Falcons 29, Buccaneers 28

Atlanta’s season has been marred by poor coaching and horrible mistakes, and there was plenty of that in this game. The Falcons entered this contest as six-point underdogs, but they battled the Buccaneers down to the wire. They outgained the Buccaneers and averaged more yards per play, but they once again shot themselves in the foot repeatedly, which has been the norm under Raheem Morris.

The Falcons were constantly flagged for penalties in this contest. They were responsible for 14 infractions in the first two-and-a-half quarters, finishing with 19 penalties in total. Some of those infractions negated touchdowns or put the offense in third-and-long. On one instance, two consecutive penalties took the Falcons from a third-and-2 to a third-and-12. Meanwhile, the Falcons were guilty of some drops and fumbles as well. David Sills dropped a wide-open touchdown while down 20-14, and then Bijan Robinson fumbled after a reception, setting up a Chris Godwin touchdown.

The biggest mistake of the game was made by the Buccaneers, however, with Baker Mayfield throwing a reckless interception while up 28-20. This gave the Falcons some life, and it didn’t take them very long to score a touchdown. They missed the two-point conversion, so they needed to get the ball back. They did just that, but seemed to be out of hope following a sack and a holding penalty. However, thanks to two receptions by Kyle Pitts for 14 yards and Sills for 20 yards, the Falcons moved into field goal range. Zane Gonzalez drilled a 43-yard field goal to win the game.

Texans 40, Cardinals 20

The Cardinals have kept many games close this year, but it was very apparent in the early stages of this contest that this would not be one of those instances. The Texans scored a touchdown on their opening possession when C.J. Stroud hit Nico Collins on an intermediate throw, with Collins doing the rest as two Arizona defenders collided. Arizona fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, setting up a Houston field goal almost immediately.

The Texans’ onslaught wasn’t finished. After forcing an Arizona three-and-out, the Texans took over in favorable field position. Dalton Schultz drew a 24-yard pass interference flag, giving way to a Woody Marks rushing touchdown to put Houston up 17-0.

The Cardinals showed some signs of life, as Jacoby Brissett was able to connect with Trey McBride for a pair of touchdowns. However, Houston’s offense was far too lethal, with someone named Jawhar Jordan exceeding 100 rushing yards in the wake of Woody Marks’ injury. Brissett continued to throw for yardage, but only in garbage time.

Jaguars 48, Jets 20

It looked like the Jaguars were going to run away with a blowout victory early in the afternoon. They scored a touchdown on their opening drive in the blink of an eye, as Trevor Lawrence was able to connect with Jakobi Meyers on a couple of occasions before finding Brian Thomas Jr. in the end zone. The Jets then bungled their next drive, going for it on fourth-and-1 in their own territory with a Breece Hall run to the outside that Travon Walker turned into a 6-yard loss. On the ensuing drive, Lawrence once again connected with Meyers before rushing into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.

The Jets managed to strike back with an inexplicable touchdown drive, but the Jaguars answered with a Bhayshul Tuten score. It appeared as though the Jets would answer again with a punt return touchdown, but a penalty on the return negated the score. Instead, the Jaguars kicked a field goal on the ensuing possession and then managed to intercept Cook on an errant pass in the 2-minute drill. Lawrence took advantage with another touchdown pass to Travis Etienne to go up 31-10 at halftime.

It was all Jacksonville in the second half. Lawrence continued his offensive assault of the Jets, who looked helpless to stop him. Lawrence finished with five touchdowns en route to a blowout victory.

Bears 31, Browns 3

The Bears didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard against the Bears. Despite losing Rome Odunze to an early injury, they were able to move the chains easily against Cleveland in every which way. Caleb Williams completed nine of his initial 11 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, as he connected mostly to Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, though his score was thrown to D.J. Moore. Meanwhile, D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai combined for 71 rushing yards in the opening half alone.

Down 14-0, the Browns managed to finally get something going offensively when Shedeur Sanders hit Isaiah Bond with a 42-yard completion. However, Sanders took a sack to move out of field goal range, fumbling in the process. Sanders managed to recover, but this was a mistake that prevented the Browns from getting on the scoreboard in the opening half.

It was more of the same in the second half. The Bears continued to pound the ball with Swift, who nearly hit the century mark. Meanwhile, Sanders made another big mistake when he threw an interception as a result of not seeing a defender in coverage. The Bears scored a touchdown on the next play when Williams once again found Moore in the end zone. Sanders later took another sack in field goal range to ruin another scoring chance.

Bills 35, Patriots 31

Buffalo’s run defense has been a huge liability this season, and that was a major factor in this game. The Bills entered this contest as near-field goal favorites, and yet the Patriots were able to exploit the Bills’ weakness en route to a huge lead in the first half.

The Patriots opened this game with a touchdown drive when Drake Maye completed a deep pass to Kayshon Boutte. Replay showed that the ball hit the ground, but the Bills didn’t challenge. Drake Maye capitalized on this mistake by rushing into the end zone for the initial touchdown of the afternoon. On the ensuing possession, Maye once again ran into the end zone to put the Patriots up 14-0.

Following a couple of failed drives by both teams, the Patriots struck again to really blow open the game. It wasn’t Maye this time, but rather TreVeyon Henderson, who burst for a 52-yard touchdown run. Down 21-0, the Bills were buried.

Or, so we thought. The Bills didn’t quit. They finally put together a touchdown drive prior to halftime, and that sparked them in the third quarter when they put together another scoring possession that was all runs until Josh Allen threw a touchdown pass to Dawson Knox. The Bills then finally took the lead when Allen completed a fourth-and-2 deep shot to Khalil Shakir, setting up another Knox touchdown.

The Patriots, now down 31-28, struck back with a TreVeyon Henderson 65-yard touchdown run. Buffalo had to answer, and Allen did just that when he drew a pass interference on a third-and-4. Following a 12-yard pass to Shakir, James Cook ran into the end zone to go up 35-31.

New England had one more chance to answer, but it couldn’t move the chains at all. Maye seemingly forgot that he was capable of running, as some ineffective passes of his fell incomplete. Maye’s final misfire was batted by Joey Bosa, giving Buffalo the victory.

Ravens 24, Bengals 0

The Bengals slaughtered the Ravens on Thanksgiving night, and they had their chances to establish a lead in the early going despite what this score indicates. Burrow drove into field goal range, but moved out of it on a third-and-4 when he took a horrible sack from Tavius Robinson. Soon after that, Burrow once again moved into the red zone area, but was intercepted on a tipped pass. Burrow had another chance for a big play, but missed Ja’Marr Chase for what could have been a long touchdown.

The Ravens didn’t take advantage of these blunders for a while because of their own mistakes. Lamar Jackson, for instance, was charged with an interception on a ball that bounced off Zay Flowers’ hands. The Ravens couldn’t get anything going offensively for a while, but Baltimore’s running backs finally made some big plays. Derrick Henry rumbled for some substantial gains, while Rasheen Ali scored on a screen pass. Jackson also got going with a touchdown pass to Flowers, which was his first score since Week 1.

Baltimore went up 17-0 on these plays. The Bengals had one more chance to draw to within two scores to have a chance to win. Burrow had a nice drive deep into Baltimore territory, but the possession ended when Burrow threw an interception right to Kyle Van Noy. The Baltimore linebacker handed the ball off to Alohi Gilman, who ran the other way for the pick-six. This ended both the game and the season for the Bengals.

Chargers 16, Chiefs 13

Both teams entered this game with battered offensive lines, but they were each able to engineer multiple scoring drives in the opening half. The Chiefs began by orchestrating a touchdown on their opening possession, with Patrick Mahomes running into the end zone on a 12-yard scamper. The Chargers answered, but Justin Herbert could only manage a field goal.

The Chiefs appeared as though they would take control of the game after that. They intercepted Herbert, who was hit upon release. They turned the short field into three points and then kicked another field goal to go up 13-3. However, the Chargers scored an important touchdown just prior to halftime when Herbert finally got going and connected with KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the end zone.

The Chargers, down 13-10, began the third quarter with an impressive drive. They got out of a first-and-20 with a long pass, and then Herbert found Oronde Gadsen for a 27-yard pass to move to the Kansas City 4-yard line. The Chargers managed just a field goal on the drive, but they were able to tack on another field goal shortly later to go up 16-13.

The Chiefs had one more chance at the end to either force the game to overtime or take the lead, but they had to do so without their left tackle Jaylon Moore, who suffered an injury earlier in the game. It turned out that Moore wasn’t the only Kansas City player who got hurt, as Mahomes grabbed his knee upon hitting the ground on one play. Mahomes was forced out of the game and helped into the locker room. Gardner Minshew replaced him, but after completing some passes, he threw an interception to end the game.

Redskins 29, Giants 21

The Redskins were underdogs to the Giants, but they didn’t look like it in the early going. They rammed the ball down New York’s throat, as it was apparent that the Giants couldn’t figure out how to stop the run during the bye week. Jacory Croskey-Merritt rumbled for some big gains, while Marcus Mariota was able to scramble for some key first downs.

Washington was up 13-0 when disaster struck. Laremy Tunsil went into the locker room with a shoulder injury, which suddenly limited the offense. The Giants took advantage of this opportunity to get on the scoreboard, as Jaxson Dart scrambled for the first time to set up a touchdown.

Just when there was some hope, the Giants punted to Jaylin Lane, who was able to score on a return to put the Redskins up 19-7. Washington then tacked on a field goal on another long return. This one came via an interception, which Dart forced in field goal range.

The Redskins continued to lead in the second half, but the Giants were given some life as a result of Washington turnovers. Dart was able to convert one touchdown, but couldn’t complete the comeback when he misfired on three of four passes on a series on the final possession of the game.

Eagles 31, Raiders 0
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: When I was changing in the locker room at the gym on Friday, I heard an old man declare that he wasn’t going to be watching the Eagles game this week because the “Raiders are gonna trounce ’em.” So much for that!

This game was pure domination for Philadelphia. The Eagles had lost three straight, and drawing the Raiders was a perfect slump buster. The Las Vegas offensive line was pathetic and completely dominated by a depleted Philadelphia defensive front. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley got back on track while the Raiders looked pathetic, starting Kenny Pickett in place of Geno Smith. Las Vegas had only 72 yards on offense. Their offensive line was atrocious. Taking Ashton Jeanty over Armand Membou continues to plague Las Vegas. John Syptek and Pete Carroll did a poor job of team building with that decision, and the Raiders are paying the price. The good news for Las Vegas is that they protect their draft pick status for the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Eagles took the opening drive down the field and finished it with a short touchdown toss to Dallas Goedert. Las Vegas responded with a drive into Philadelphia territory, but a fourth-down pass was batted to kill the scoring opportunity. The next play, Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for 33 yards. However, Goedert dropped an easy touchdown, and a Maxx Crosby sack forced a field goal to make it 10-0 Philadelphia. Late in the first half, the Eagles put a drive together that ended with Saquon Barkley plunging into the end zone. That gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead at the half.

Early in the third quarter, the Raiders moved into Philadelphia territory, but Pickett threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Zack Baun. Shortly later, a shovel pass to Goedert resulted in a short touchdown. Midway through the second half, Hurts hit A.J. Brown down the seam for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 31-0. After that, the Eagles’ backups continued to move the ball and hold the Raiders from doing anything on offense.

Rams 41, Lions 34
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hopefully the two Rams receivers are OK. I’m a big Rams fan for those of you who didn’t know. This is because I have lots of future bets attached to them. My favorite team is the one I’m betting on, after all.

The Rams grabbed a firmer hold on the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a huge home win over Detroit. The Lions eliminated the Rams in the playoffs two years ago and beat Los Angeles in the 2024 opener, so Los Angeles and former Lion Matthew Stafford were out for revenge. Detroit was without Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Terrion Arnold, and their backup secondary stood no chance of stopping the Rams’ passing attack. The Lions’ chances of making the playoffs suffered a serious blow as they are now in a situation where they must win out and catch some breaks with other teams losing.

The Lions had a good opening drive into Rams territory, but a questionable call by the officials killed the drive, and Jake Bates missed a 43-yard field goal. Los Angeles got moving quickly with some chunk completions to Davante Adams, but Aidan Hutchinson made an incredible play, intercepting a tight end screen, and raced 58 yards to the Rams’ 17 before getting tackled. The next play, Goff threw a frozen rope to Amon-Ra St. Brown for a touchdown. Los Angeles responded by using Puka Nacua for some conversions to move into Detroit territory. A completion of around 20 yards to Terrance Ferguson set up a first-and-goal, and Kyren Williams darted into the end zone to tie the game. Jared Goff and David Montgomery led a drive that ended with Bates making a field goal to put the Lions up 10-7 midway through the first half.

Los Angeles quickly took the lead with a chunk run to Williams, a long completion to Nacua, and then a short touchdown run from Williams. The Lions quickly responded with a 52-yard completion to St. Brown. On third-and-5, Dan Campbell made a great play call, anticipating a blitz, and a slip screen to St. Brown went for a touchdown to put the Lions up 17-14.

After a Rams punt, the Lions went for a fourth-and-1 on their own 29 and hit a pass to St. Brown. A few more completions to St. Brown moved into Los Angeles territory, and Goff ripped a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams. Stafford hit a long completion to Nacua, and on the final play of the half, Los Angeles hit a field goal to cut the Lions’ lead to 24-17 at the half.

On the opening possession of the third quarter, Los Angeles produced a field goal. After a Lions punt, Stafford threw some lasers to move into Detroit territory and lofted in a deep ball to Colby Parkinson. He was down at the one, but the officials blew the call and gave Parkinson a touchdown to put the Rams up 27-24 late in the third quarter. After a Lions three-and-out, Los Angeles hit another explosive play to Nacua, and Blake Corum ran it in from a few yards out to give the Rams a 34-24 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions produced a field goal drive to cut the Rams’ lead to 34-27. But the Rams put the game away with another touchdown pass to Parkinson. Detroit produced a touchdown drive with David Montgomery scoring. The Rams ran enough clock, and the Lions were unable to get another viable shot at overtime.

Seahawks 18, Colts 16

All eyes were on Philip Rivers to begin this game. Rivers, a future Hall of Fame quarterback, hadn’t played in five years, yet was called up because of all the injuries the Colts had at quarterback. Onlookers had to wait for some throws from Rivers because the Colts pounded the ball relentlessly with Jonathan Taylor. Rivers tried one deep throw on the opening possession, but the pass fell incomplete.

Rivers eventually completed some passes, but mostly dinked and dunked. Most of his throws did not travel farther than five yards past the line of scrimmage. Rivers eventually got on the board just prior to halftime, giving the Colts the lead entering the break.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, looked like they were going through the motions. With a game against the Rams coming up, it didn’t seem like the effort was there. The game plan was an abomination, however, as the Seahawks didn’t test an Indianapolis secondary missing its top two cornerbacks, opting instead to run the ball with Kenneth Walker, who could do nothing but muster 2-yard gains.

Seattle, down 13-9 in the third quarter, was lucky that Josh Downs didn’t see a Rivers pass heading his way. Perhaps it’s because Rivers wasn’t completing any downfield throws, but the Colts could have gone up 20-9. Nevertheless, the Colts had an opportunity at the end because Darnold threw behind his target in the red zone and had to settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown. Rivers was able to connect with Alec Pierce on a 16-yard back-shoulder throw to set up a 60-yard field goal attempt, which Blake Grupe hit to put the Colts up one.

In danger of losing the game, Darnold took over and hit Rashid Shaheed with completions of 17 and eight yards. This set up Jason Myers with a 56-yard field goal, which was also converted to win the game.

Broncos 34, Packers 26

The Packers and Broncos were expected to participate in a grueling defensive battle, but this contest was anything but that, with both offenses scoring all afternoon. However, the first major play of the game was a turnover, as R.J. Harvey lost a fumble near midfield. The Packers picked up a fourth down on the ensuing drive, but stalled and kicked a field goal.

It was all offense after that. The Packers were able to utilize Josh Jacobs well, both as a rusher and a receiver. He scored both ways, including on a 40-yard rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, the Broncos were able to throw on the Packers. Bo Nix completed 15 of his initial 18 passes, as Green Bay’s secondary had no answer for Courtland Sutton and Troy Franklin.

A major turning point in this game occurred when the Packers suffered a major offensive injury. Already down Zach Tom, the Packers saw Christian Watson when he hit the ground hard on a deep pass. With no Watson, the Green Bay offense couldn’t really muster anything. “No Cookie” Jordan Love even took his first sack of the game shortly later.

Still, the Packers were up 23-21. They were trying to stop the Broncos when tragedy struck again. Micah Parsons went down with a serious-looking knee injury, and his absence allowed Nix to have a clean pocket to find Troy Franklin for the go-ahead score.

Now down 27-23, the Packers were able to hit a deep pass to Matthew Golden, but stalled in the red zone and had to settle for a field goal. The Broncos, up one, could have run out the clock, but Nix instead threw a bomb to Sutton on fourth-and-3. This set up a Harvey touchdown to put the Broncos up eight.

Saints 20, Panthers 17

The Panthers, perhaps energized by seeing the Buccaneers lose on Thursday night, got off to a hot start in this game. They went down the field in a hurry, culminating with a Rico Dowdle touchdown. The Saints, meanwhile, couldn’t do much for a while, but they answered with a Devin Neal touchdown in the second quarter. Neal, however, would eventually be knocked out with an injury.

Carolina entered the second half with a 10-7 advantage and once again was able to score early in a half with Young locating Jalen Coker for a beautiful touchdown pass. The Saints answered with a field goal and looked like they’d be able to potentially tie, but Shough slid shy of the line to gain on fourth down. On the next drive, a New Orleans illegal formation negated a nice play by Shough. Undaunted, Shough threw a touchdown pass to Chris Olave to knot up the game at 17.

Young looked like he would put the Panthers in position to win with an 11-yard scramble, but he took a big sack. The Panthers pinned the Saints at the New Orleans 9-yard line, but Audric Estime took a screen for 19 yards. Shough then hit Olave for a 15-yard gain. Shough, stationed around midfield, scrambled to get closer to field goal range and took a devastating hit by Lathan Ransom, moving the attempted kick closer. Irishman Charlie Smyth drilled a 47-yard field goal to win the game.

49ers 37, Titans 24

The 49ers entered the game with a questionable Christian McCaffrey, but they were not affected by this injury at all. McCaffrey saw 23 touches, as San Francisco had no issues moving the chains in the afternoon. The only blemish the 49ers had in the first half was a dropped touchdown, so a field goal made the game 17-10 instead of 21-10.

Tennessee was able to stay competitive for a while with some big run by Tony Pollard. Cam Ward was also able to hit Gunne Helm for a 34-yard touchdown, while Van Jefferson hauled in a 43-yard pass that put the ball down at the 1-yard line to set up a touchdown throw to Jeffery Simmons, of all people.

The Titans, however, couldn’t get off the field. They lost three safeties to injury in this game, which allowed the 49ers to do whatever they pleased. San Francisco had a hiccup late in the game when a bunch of procedural penalties forced them into a field goal. This was massive from a betting perspective because it allowed the Titans to score a back-door touchdown on a Pollard run with five minutes remaining.

Kyle Shanahan had other ideas, however. The 49ers took over with about five minutes remaining. Up 10, they hit some big passes, and then Shanahan opted to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1. He had the last laugh as far as the spread antics were concerned.

Vikings 34, Cowboys 26

It initially looked like we would see the same, old Vikings under J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota has disappointed with McCarthy this year, struggling to score in many of its games because of complete incompetence at quarterback. McCarthy’s very first pass against Dallas’ 28th-ranked defense was tipped and picked. The Cowboys went on to score a touchdown on a short field.

Undaunted, McCarthy led a touchdown drive where he hit Jalen Nailor for a touchdown, which was set up by a 16-yard Aaron Jones run and a horse collar penalty tacked on to the gain. It was clear then that the Vikings would be competitive, though they missed some opportunities when a Justin Jefferson touchdown was negated by a procedural penalty and another potential Jefferson score was dropped.

The Vikings, however, managed to score a touchdown via a C.J. Ham run following Jefferson’s drop. Thanks to some missed 59-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey, the Vikings took over on a short field, and McCarthy once again located Nailor in the end zone to go up 31-23. Dallas had one more chance, but turned the ball over on downs when a receiver was just shy of the line to gain. The Vikings then kicked a field goal to put the game out of reach for the Cowboys, who need a miracle to reach the playoffs at this point.

Steelers 28, Dolphins 15

Despite the blowout nature of this game, it looked like the Dolphins would be able to be competitive with the Steelers for most of the first half. They sacked Aaron Rodgers twice on third down and even opened a 3-0 lead. Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception on weak floater, but Miami bounced back and put together a scoring drive.

That score, however, was all the Dolphins could muster until garbage time. The Steelers realized that they could pound the ball down Miami’s throat, as the Dolphins showed no interest in tackling in the cold weather. This was especially apparent on Aaron Rodgers’ touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, who was able to brush off three potential tacklers to score.

Rodgers was excellent in this game, misfiring on just four occasions. Tagovailoa, conversely, was awful. The stats say otherwise, but only because he was able to generate a ton in garbage time. The Dolphins didn’t even clear 100 net yards until the fourth quarter. The Dolphins could have made things a bit interesting at the end, but they took so much time on their offensive drives that they didn’t give themselves a chance. One would think they would have shown more urgency because they were at risk of being eliminated from the playoffs, but they looked like they had no interest in being on the field in frigid weather.