NFL Game Recaps: Week 14, 2025

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

Lions 44, Cowboys 30

Dallas entered this game as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Nearly 80 percent of the public was on the Cowboys, but perhaps expectations were high even though they were 3.5-point underdogs. The Cowboys were dreadful on both sides of the ball in a must-win game against the Lions.

The incompetence of the Cowboys’ defense can be seen on the scoreboard. The Lions did whatever they pleased offensively. It helped that Amon-Ra St. Brown was a surprise active, but Jared Goff torched Dallas’ secondary mercilessly. This was more apparent than ever when the Cowboys trimmed the margin to 37-30 at the very end. The Cowboys needed a stop without three minutes remaining, but on second-and-long, Goff ripped a long connection to St. Brown to effectively ice the game.

No one would have been shocked by the Cowboys struggling defensively, but the offense was a mess as well, despite the 30-point output. Dak Prescott was pressued heavily throughout the game. He took four sacks and constantly had defenders flood his backfield. He nearly took a safety on one play early in the game. Meanwhile, his teammates made mistakes. Jake Ferguson lost a fumble and was flagged for offensive pass interference. George Pickens had the ball deflect out of his hands for an interception. Ryan Flournoy, who enjoyed a great game, had the ball ripped out of his hands on the final real play from scrimmage, which turned into an interception.

This was a painful loss for the Cowboys, who weren’t even guaranteed a playoff spot if they ran the table. They’ll need lots of help in the final four weeks of the season.

Vikings 31, Redskins 0

All the buzz was regarding Jayden Daniels’ return, but J.J. McCarthy had something to say about that. McCarthy had been awful heading into this game, but hadn’t battled a defense ranked worse than 14th yet this season. Washington’s defense is 32nd, so McCarthy displayed some hope for the fans for the first time, as he opened the contest 4-of-4 for 46 yards on a touchdown drive.

Daniels tried to answer and appeared as though he would do so when Daniels converted a third-and-13 to Deebo Samuel for 15 yards, but the drive stalled at the Minnesota 1-yard line. The Vikings responded with a touchdown drive of their own, capped off by a Jordan Mason 8-yard run into the end zone to go up 14-0.

The Redskins couldn’t get anything going after that, and everything started to break down when Daniels was intercepted by Andrew Van Ginkel on a tipped pass. Daniels hurt his elbow on the play, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Zach Ertz suffered a devastating leg injury and was carted off the field. As this was happening, Washington’s defense couldn’t do anything to stop Minnesota’s offense.

Dolphins 34, Jets 10

Both of these teams have played better football lately compared to what we saw from them in the first half of the season, but one team suffered major regression. That was not the Dolphins, who zipped up and down the field in the first quarter. Miami scored two quick offensive touchdowns with the help of some long De’Von Achane runs. The Jets then gift-wrapped a third touchdown to the Dolphins when Mason Taylor bobbled the ball, which popped into the arms of a Dolphins defender for a Tyrod Taylor interception. Jaylen Wright rushed into the end zone to go up 21-0.

The Jets were able to get on the board with a punt return touchdown, but they had no hope because Taylor was lost with a groin injury. Undrafted free agent Brady Cook stepped in and wasn’t able to accomplish anything. Cook had a chance to score right before halftime as a result of a long kickoff, but he threw an interception into the end zone.

Miami didn’t do anything for a while either, allowing the Jets to hang around. However, with Tyrod Taylor downgraded to doubtful, there was no hope for the Jets. The Dolphins, meanwhile, finally got on the board in the second half via an Ollie Gordon touchdown run, as Gordon was in the game for Achane, who injured his ribs.

Titans 31, Browns 29

For a game featuring two anemic offenses, there were so many explosive plays in this contest. The Browns had the best unit on the field, but their defense seemingly forgot how to play because they allowed the Titans to do whatever they pleased for most of the afternoon. This includes the opening drive where Cam Ward was 4-of-4 for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Ward gave points back to the Browns where he threw a telegraphed interception, as Devin Bush was able to have a long return to set up a field goal. However, Tony Pollard then broke free for a 65-yard touchdown to put Tennessee up 14-3. The Browns, however, were able to strike back when Quinshon Judkins caught a screen pass and ran for 58 yards to set up a David Njoku touchdown. Shedeur Sanders then fired a 60-yard touchdown strike to Jerry Jeudy to go up 17-14 entering halftime.

The Titans were able to re-take the lead following the break with yet another long Pollard touchdown run. Tennessee then went up two touchdowns on a blocked punt. It looked like the Titans were going to prevail easily, but Sanders engineered two touchdown drives. He scored once on the ground, but failed on a two-point conversion for the margin to remain eight. On the next drive, Sanders located Harold Fannin in the end zone, but once again botched a two-point conversion. The Browns called an end-around, but Sanders forgot to pitch the ball, resulting in a loss, which ended the game.

Steelers 27, Ravens 22

Aaron Rodgers didn’t complete a single pass over the line of scrimmage last week until the third quarter, but it was evident that things would be completely different in this game right away. Rodgers launched a deep pass to DK Metcalf, which was complete down the sideline for 55 yards. This set up a Rodgers touchdown run to go up 7-3.

Rodgers wasn’t done after that. He completed a 13-yard pass to Metcalf, who made an over-the-shoulder reception on third down to set up another score. The Steelers, now up 10-3, had another chance to post points when Lamar Jackson heaved an underthrown pass while moving right. This appeared to lead to another Pittsburgh field goal, but a personal foul penalty on Baltimore allowed the Steelers to continue their drive, and Kenneth Gainwell ran into the end zone to put the Steelers up 17-3.

The Ravens, down 17-9 heading into intermission, were able to outscore the Steelers in the second half. However, it wasn’t by enough, as Jackson made numerous sketchy throws and displayed poor pocket awareness throughout the afternoon. And when Jackson should’ve had success, he was screwed by poor officiating. There were some horrible calls, including a negated touchdown by Isaiah Likely in which the tight end caught the ball and took three steps before losing it. The Ravens weren’t able to get redemption, as the drive ended in no points when Jackson misfired in Mark Andrews’ direction.

Baltimore had one final chance, down 27-22, but the drive couldn’t be successful because Jackson was far too slow in advancing the chains. He also took a horrible sack on the final play in the game.

Seahawks 37, Falcons 9

The Seahawks entered this game in an obvious flat spot. They were able to obtain revenge for Sam Darnold the prior week, and they had the Colts and Rams coming up after this “easy” game. There appeared to be a good chance that the Seahawks would be flat, and that’s exactly what we saw out of them in the opening half. Sam Darnold was nearly sacked in his own end zone, and following a good punt return, the Falcons were able to kick a field goal to go up 3-0. Darnold made another mistake later in the first half when he was intercepted while rolling left and throwing late across his body.

This was a 6-6 score entering halftime, but the Falcons became the team to make mistakes in the third quarter. They surrendered a kickoff return touchdown to Rashid Shaheed right away, and then Bijan Robinson lost a fumble in the red zone on the ensuing drive. The Seahawks capitalized on the ensuing drive with a touchdown, extending the lead to 20-6.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the next possession saw Kirk Cousins throw an interception around midfield. This set up a Seattle field goal, and the onslaught continued throughout the second half.

Jaguars 36, Colts 19

Daniel Jones was entering his second game with a fractured fibula, but he didn’t last very long. Because of the injury, Jones was putting more stress on his other leg, and that was apparent early in this game. Jones, who opened with an interception thrown right to a Jacksonville defender, grabbed his leg on a non-contact injury during the final minute of the opening quarter. He was quickly ruled out with what appeared to be a torn Achilles.

Adding insult to injury, the Colts put themelves behind the eight ball with a lost Jonathan Taylor fumble. The Jaguars, up 14-7 at the time, were able to get a 28-yard touchdown run by Travis Etienne to go up 14. On other drives, Trevor Lawrence was able to complete some deep throws to Brian Thomas Jr. and other receivers.

Riley Leonard, playing for Jones, was able to make some nice completions, but was charged with an interception when Jacksonville cornerback Greg Newsome ripped the ball out of the arms of Michael Pittman Jr. This effectively ended any chance the Colts had of winning this game with their third-string quarterback.

Bills 39, Bengals 34

This game was played in snowy conditions, but neither offense got the memo because there were so many explosive plays for both teams. However, there were enough big defensive instances that turned the tide in this electric shootout.

The Bengals were unstoppable for much of this game. Joe Burrow, looking extremely comfortable in his second game back from injury, torched Buffalo relentlessly for much of the afternoon on passes primarily to Tee Higgins, who made his return from a concussion. Burrow led three touchdown drives in the opening half, taking a 21-11 lead into the break.

The Bills appeared to be storming back in the second half. They scored a touchdown and then were driving again, down 21-18. James Cook seemed to score a touchdown, but a penalty negated the score. Cook then lost a fumble at the goal line. The Bengals took over and scored another touchdown to go up 28-18. The Bills, however, answered very quickly. Josh Allen, repeatedly slicing though Cincinnati’s defense via passes to both of his tight ends, took matters into his own hands, or rather legs, with a long touchdown run.

Buffalo was still down 28-25 and saw Cincinnati drive into its territory with a tough reception by Ja’Marr Chase. However, the game completely turned when Christian Benford made a leaping interception, taking the turnover back for six. Burrow, now trailing, had another interception tipped at the line of scrimmage. This set up an Allen to Spencer Hawes touchdown. The Bengals, winning throughout the entire afternoon, were suddenly losing 39-28.

Burrow was able to bounce back from the two give-aways with a quick touchdown drive. He found Higgins in the end zone once again to draw to within five. The Bengals needed one stop to have a chance a win, and they seemed like they’d have it when they sacked Allen on second down of the ensuing drive. However, Allen ran for 18 yards on a third-and-15 to ice the victory.

Saints 24, Buccaneers 20
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Condolences to those who made it to Week 14 in survivor and ended up losing to Tyler Shough. This just shows how difficult it is to call a winner for 18 weeks.

The Saints pulled off a shocking upset behind rookie quarterback Tyler Shough. In rainy conditions, Shough outplayed Baker Mayfield and led New Orleans to their third win of the season. At 7-6, this was a painful loss for Tampa Bay in their tight NFC South race with Carolina. Losing this game puts the idle Panthers in a tie for first place with the Buccaneers.

The Saints returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to set up Shough across midfield, and Shough hit a few passes to set up a short touchdown run for Devin Neal. The lead didn’t last long as Baker Mayfield ripped the ball through the New Orleans defense and tied the game with a 24-yard scoring strike to Bucky Irving. Saints defensive end Carl Granderson made a superb tackle for a loss on a fourth down near midfield to give Shough good field position again, but New Orleans missed the field goal to keep the score tied.

Early in the second quarter, Shough and Chris Olave were not on the same page as Olave stopped his route when Shough thought he would run a go route. That led to an easy interception for Zyon McCollum that set up the Bucs at the Saints’ 40. The Buccaneers turned that into a field goal to take a 10-7 lead at the half.

At the start of the third quarter, Mayfield was intercepted by Alontae Taylor to set up the Saints across midfield. The Saints surprised Tampa Bay on a zone-read run, and Shough raced 34 yards down the field for a touchdown to put the Saints up 14-10. Tampa Bay responded with a quick drive down the field and retook the lead with a short touchdown plunge from Sean Tucker. Devin Neal started rolling over the Bucs defense and moved inside the 20. At the end of the third quarter, New Orleans settled for a field goal to tie it at 17 entering the fourth quarter.

The Saints’ defense got a fourth-down stop, and New Orleans took advantage of good field position again. Shough made a great play on a checkdown to Devin Neal, and then Shough dodged a few sacks and took off on a 13-yard touchdown run to put New Orleans up 24-17 with over eight minutes remaining. Tampa Bay responded with a drive into New Orleans territory, but Emeka Egbuka dropped a touchdown, and they settled for a field goal to cut the Saints’ lead to 24-20. Shough ran some clock, but the Bucs had one more opportunity in the final two minutes. On a fourth-down catch, Cade Otton fell just a few feet short of the first down, and the Saints’ defense got off the field.

Packers 28, Bears 21
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Caleb Williams … yikes! What a terrible throw at the very end. He made some great passes, but his underthrow in the end zone is what everyone will remember.

At his introductory press conference, Bears head coach Ben Johnson said he enjoyed going 2-0 against Matt LaFleur. But as head coach of Chicago, Johnson is 0-1. Johnson’s offense was terrible in the first half, and the Bears’ defense allowed some coverage busts to lose at Green Bay. The loss moves the Bears (9-4) from the No. 1 seed into second place in the NFC North. The first-place Packers (9-3-1) are in control of the NFC North with four games remaining.

The Packers moved into Chicago territory before Jordan Love threw a terrible pass right to the chest of C.J. Gardner-Johnson for an interception. It wasn’t even close to a Packers receiver, and it looked like Gardner-Johnson was the intended receiver. After the return, the Bears were set up at the Packers’ 36-yard line but Chicago went backwards and had to punt. Early in the second quarter, Green Bay took the lead with Love lofting in a 23-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. Chicago responded with a field goal drive to make it 7-3. In the final minute before the half, Love lofted in a 45-yard touchdown pass to Bo Melton, and the Packers took a 14-3 lead into the locker room.

Partway through the third quarter, Caleb Williams made a few nice plays to lead Chicago down the field. Olamide Zaccheaus made a superb diving catch for a touchdown, and Kyle Monangai charged into the end zone with a two-point conversion to cut the Packers’ lead to 14-11. Green Bay quickly got points back as Christian Watson roasted Gardner-Johnson on a short slant, and he raced down the field for a 41-yard touchdown.

Midway through the second half, the Bears started to find some success running the ball as they wore down the Packers’ defense. Chicago tied it up at 21 with a short touchdown toss to Colston Loveland. Green Bay responded with a completion to Jayden Reed and a number of excellent runs by Josh Jacobs to set up a first-and-goal. On third-and-goal, Jacobs powered in to grab a 28-21 lead with 3:30 remaining. Williams hit completions to Luther Burden and Devin Duvernay to get inside the 25. On fourth-and-1 just inside the 15-yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining, Williams rolled out and threw a terrible pass that was easily intercepted by Keisean Nixon to clinch the win for Green Bay.

Broncos 24, Raiders 17

The Broncos prevailed by 10 points and were up 17 before a garbage-time touchdown by the Raiders. However, this was a misleading score because the Broncos scored a touchdown on a Marvin Mims punt return touchdown in the second quarter. This contest was tied at seven when that touchdown occurred, and Denver took a 14-7 lead into the break.

The Raiders were hanging around for a while, but the Broncos were able to put together a touchdown drive in the third quarter. R.J. Harvey, who had a big afternoon, put together a great game, both as a rusher and a receiver. Harvey entering the end zone put Denver up 14. This put the game out of reach for the Raiders, who could have possibly came back from down seven, which shows how big the punt return touchdown was.

Nevertheless, Geno Smith tried to engineer a touchdown drive, but he suffered an injury. Kenny Pickett entered the game and failed on fourth down, ending a drive that went deep into Denver territory. Pickett eventually threw a touchdown pass, but it was too little, too late for the Raiders as far as the straight-up result was concerned. The Raiders, however, kicked a field goal at the buzzer to cover the spread in a very shady move.

Rams 45, Cardinals 17

The Rams suffered a loss to the Panthers in a low-effort game last week. We’d learn a lot about them based on how they bounced back this week, and so we can probably say that they are one of the teams to beat, based on how they dismantled the Cardinals to redeem themselves from what occurred the prior Sunday.

Things didn’t look too promising for the Rams when they surrendered an opening touchdown to the Cardinals, as Jacoby Brissett completed some impressive passes to Michael Wilson. This, however, was the only touchdown Arizona scored until garbage time, as Los Angeles’ defense clamped down on Brissett. The Rams placed tons of pressure on Brissett, who was intercepted when he failed to see Nate Landman in coverage.

Meanwhile, the Rams did whatever they pleased offensively. They moved the chains with ease an seldom had any third downs before the game was out of hand. Whether it was Matthew Stafford’s passes to Puka Nacua, or runs by Blake Corum or Kyren Williams, the Rams were tremendous no matter in every regard, ultimately holding a 45-10 lead before resting the starters.

Texans 20, Chiefs 10

The Chiefs entered this game without their two starting tackles and their best guard, and things got even worse for them on the offensive line. On the first play from scrimmage, the Chiefs lost their backup left tackle Wanya Morris, making it much more difficult for them to have any sort of offensive success in this game. As a result, the Chiefs didn’t score a single point in the opening half. Conversely, the Texans put together a touchdown drive with the help of a bogus pass interference on third down. Nico Collins hit a bg play, setting up a Woody Marks touchdown run to give Houston a 10-0 lead.

The Texans looked like they were in full control, but that changed in the third quarter. C.J. Stroud began the second half 0-of-8, while the Chiefs were finally able to get something going offensively. They tied the game, which is when Andy Reid made one of the most asinine decisions of his coaching career. Tied at 10 early in the fourth quarter, Reid went for it on fourth-and-1 on his own 31-yard line. The pass fell incomplete, allowing the Texans to score a touchdown on a short field. Houston hadn’t been doing anything offensively in the second half, so it was very odd that Reid gift-wrapped a score to the Texans.

The Chiefs had two more drives to potentially tie the score. The first possession concluded when Rashee Rice dropped a potential conversion on fourth-and-4, and on the ensuing drive, Travis Kelce also committed a drop, which turned into an interception.

Chargers 22, Eagles 19

The Chargers seemed like they would be off to the races in this game. They took the opening drive down the field for a touchdown, thanks to a 60-yard screen pass by Kimani Vidal. This, however, would be the final time the Chargers would reach the end zone in this entire game, as they lost their third tackle, Trey Pipkins, which severely limited them.

The Chargers were a mess offensively for much of the evening. Following the Pipkins injury, Justin Herbert lost a fumble when he was hit hard, and then threw an interception when a defender contacted his arm upon release. Herbert was sacked on seven occasions. The Chargers would’ve been blown out had the Eagles gotten anything from their offense, but that wasn’t the case. Jalen Hurts threw three picks in regulation, twice because he didn’t see the defenders in coverage.

The Eagles looked like they would lose, but things changed when Saquon Barkley broke free for a rare, long touchdown run, putting them up three. However, another Hurts interception – this one was off of A.J. Brown’s hands – gave the Chargers a free field goal. The teams exchanged two more kicks, and this contest went to overtime, tied at 19.

Prior to overtime, the Eagles surrendered a field goal drive to the Chargers, thanks to some clutch Herbert scrambles. Philadelphia won the coin toss, but foolishly put its exhausted defense out on the field again. The Chargers didn’t waste much time moving into field goal range. Cameron Dicker hit his fifth field goal of the night to put the Chargers up, 22-19.

Down three, the Eagles were in a third-and-16, but Hurts drilled a 28-yard dart to DeVonta Smith. The Chargers then committed a neutral zone infraction to give the Eagles a free first down on an ensuing fourth down. Hurts then hit Dallas Goedert to move inside the red zone, but his next throw was tipped and picked. Hurts’ fourth interception ended the game, giving the Chargers a win in overtime.