Chris Simms' Team-by-Team Grades for NFL Week 15

My ring finger popped out of its socket three times in college. 

The first time was a complete accident—a fluke throwing-hand-on-helmet deal at the 2002 Texas Longhorns spring game. Later on that same season, it popped back out during two Big 12 road games. The Texas trainers popped it back in during the game against Nebraska; I threw the game-winning touchdown two plays later.

But the finger issues never went away. The first snap I ever took in Buccaneers practice—from a fellow rookie center—jarred it loose. Football players will put on a tough face, but like most humans, we like all of our digits in their original locations.

So I know exactly what Derek Carr is going through. On film, it looks like Carr is adjusting to his banged-up pinkie finger on the fly; some passes are spot-on, others sail wide. Just remember: It’s much easier to re-dislocate a finger than it is to dislocate. That has to be in the back of No. 4’s mind every time he drops back these days.

Dallas Cowboys

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Offense: Horizontal passing attacks rarely work outside of New England. Dallas is the NFC’s exception; Dak Prescott can pick defenses apart with underneath and intermediate stuff, knowing he has a unique vertical threat beside him to keep defenses honest. And those defenses will always allow the underneath stuff, knowing that all eyes need to be on Ezekiel Elliott.

Defense: The Cowboys won’t need to worry about seeing the NFL’s toughest rushing defense this postseason. Through 15 weeks, they are the NFL’s toughest rushing defense. That’s what allowed David Irving to pin his ears back and have an All-22-type pass-rushing game.

Grade: A+

Philadelphia Eagles

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Offense: Philadelphia’s rushing resurgence can be explained in two words: size and smarts. Big fellas like Jason Peters weren’t bullied by the Ravens' giant front. Plus, Doug Pederson correctly called outside runs and sweeps to avoid those aforementioned big guys.

Defense: Fletcher Cox has returned with a vengeance. The early-season All-Pro candidate went two months without a quarterback takedown. Now, he's had 2.5 sacks since Week 14. More importantly, Cox opens up rushing lanes for Brandon Graham and Beau Allen, who each had a half-sack in Week 15. The Eagles' run defense loses contain too often, however.

Grade: C+

New York Giants

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Offense: Remember New York’s "Earth, Wind and Fire" running back trio of 2008? This current team should stop trying to recreate it. Rookie Paul Perkins was easily the most explosive ball-carrier on film. Yet Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen were always on hand to supplant him and interrupt his momentum.

Defense: New York was safe from any fourth-quarter Matthew Stafford wizardry. Why? Because defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo reached deep into his bag of blitzes and aggressively protected his lead. The only way to avoid all his exotic looks is to never fall so behind in the first place. Otherwise, Olivier Vernon and others are coming.

Grade: A-

Washington Redskins

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Offense: Was Kirk Cousins perfect? Absolutely not. But look beyond the stat sheet; everyone from Pierre Garcon to DeSean Jackson dropped passes. And Cousins lost his top target and a scoring drive in one fell swoop when Jordan Reed was tossed for throwing a punch. Combine that with an inability to run the ball, and the 'Skins are in trouble.

Defense: Fourth quarter. Carolina up one score and looking to guard its lead. Everyone at FedEx Field knew a run was coming. Then Jonathan Stewart broke free for 34 yards (and stayed in bounds). I’m not sure a better metaphor for this Washington defense exists.

Grade: D-

Buffalo Bills

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Offense: Believe it or not, LeSean McCoy (153 rushing yards and two touchdowns) has a shelf life. Not to worry—the next great Bills ball-carrier is already in place. Mike Gillislee (37 rushing yards, touchdown) is more than capable of handling lead duties in Buffalo as Shady approaches the radioactive running back age of 30.

Defense: Marcell Dareus guaranteed his team wouldn’t fall to Cleveland, per Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, but the tackle right next to him backed it up. Big Kyle Williams anchored a rushing defense that, save for a few Robert Griffin III scrambles, played lights-out. He also keyed a five-sack afternoon; Buffalo hadn’t tallied a sack in two weeks without him.

Grade: A

Miami Dolphins

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Offense: You can tell Miami’s line isn’t fully healthy on film. Guys like Branden Albert and Laremy Tunsil didn’t have the pop they had in their last bout with the Jets. Matt Moore is going to need them to open up running lanes if he’s going to keep Miami on its playoff track.

Defense: Tony Lippett has had games that have confused the daylights out of me. But I’ll hand it to the receiver-turned-cornerback: Miami’s pass defense didn’t trail off when it lost top cover man Byron Maxwell. I credit Lippett for sticking on Brandon Marshall.

Grade: A-

New York Jets

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Offense: Yes, he tossed the awful interception to Cameron Wake. Yes, a few throws were woefully off-target. I’m still not ready to abandon the Bryce Petty experiment. The kid out of Baylor can make some excellent throws, especially if Bilal Powell (162 total yards) can be his safety net underneath next season.

Defense: Todd Bowles turned a bad grade into a failing grade for me. How? Gang Green’s supposed mastermind brought the house at Matt Moore, essentially freeing him up to launch bombs throughout his weakened secondary. If Bowles doesn’t know his team’s Achilles’ heel by now, the guy who’ll get his job will.

Grade: F

New England Patriots

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Offense: Julian Edelman better focus up. He just posted his third game of 2016 with multiple drops; only Michael Crabtree has more this year. Tom Brady won’t stand for that if he has targets like Malcolm Mitchell and Chris Hogan to connect with instead.

Defense: For my money, Malcolm Butler has been the NFL’s scariest man cover cornerback for over a season. Denver acted like it in Week 15. By my own tape study, it only targeted No. 21 four times. Butler surrendered only one catch. He’s the man.

Grade: A-

Chicago Bears

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Offense: I’ve singled out Chicago’s up-and-coming offensive coordinator as a bright spot in an otherwise-gloomy losing season. Dowell Loggains made me look smart in Week 15. His screen-heavy strategy was easy operating for Matt Barkley and got Jordan Howard out in space. If only the turnovers could be curbed.

Defense: Eddie Goldman was back to wearing street clothes, and Chicago was back to playing mediocre defense. Without its nose tackle swallowing up blocks, Green Bay was able to stir up a non-Aaron Rodgers rushing attack for the first time since…since…a long time. Ty Montgomery ran all over this unit.

Grade: B-

Detroit Lions

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Offense: Matthew Stafford played fine with his unique throwing glove. But Taylor Decker’s rookie colors finally started to show when Olivier Vernon turned around the normally reliable left tackle. If Detroit wants to make some playoff noise, it better hope Decker’s struggles were a one-time deal.

Defense: Eli Manning was sacked twice. Odell Beckham Jr. was held to 64 yards and one touchdown. So why does this feel like a loss for coordinator Teryl Austin’s group? Maybe because the Lions failed to force the big turnover the offense sorely needed. Or because a quiet Giants running game found room in Week 15.

Grade: B-

Green Bay Packers

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Offense: Ty Montgomery can’t play receiver and running back at the same time, so someone needs to help Green Bay’s new rushing hero (162 yards and two TDs on 16 carries). That someone wasn’t Davante Adams, whose strong December came to a screeching halt with two touchdown drops.

Defense: Put Ha Ha Clinton-Dix’s amazing season (five interceptions in the last seven games) aside for now. The rest of this Packers secondary didn’t excite. Alshon Jeffery, Cameron Meredith and Deonte Thompson teamed up for 303 yards and 23 catches from Matt Barkley. Against a playoff-caliber quarterback, it could've been even worse.

Grade: B

Minnesota Vikings

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Offense: Way too little, too late from Adrian Peterson. The best running back of his generation carried only six times for 22 yards in his return, showing zero elusiveness and little burst. Worse still, he coughed up a costly fumble. Minnesota now averages a league-worst three yards per rushing attempt.

Defense: Every scouting report on Mike Zimmer’s defense should feature the hard count. Guys like Linval Joseph and Everson Griffen are aggressive to a fault. Both jumped in the neutral zone and extended Colts drives. Zimmer’s secondary paid the price with long touchdowns.

Grade: F

Cincinnati Bengals

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Offense: What’s the football equivalent of the fetal position? Whatever it is, Andy Dalton did it over the last 30 minutes of Week 15. His game-changing pick thrown right at Lawrence Timmons was the cherry on top of a bad second half. After running out to an impressive early lead, Cincinnati went scoreless in the third and fourth quarters.

Defense: Each week, I watch the Bengals defensive line on tape and notice two things: Geno Atkins (sack, six quarterback hurries) and three to five JAGs—a scouting term for "just another guy." Atkins is the pass rush. When Pittsburgh finally slowed him, it won the game.

Grade: C

Cleveland Browns

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Offense: Robert Griffin III used to move the ball two ways: downfield throws and improvisational scrambles. Well, scratch the throwing part off his menu. RG3 was not good at throwing more than 10 yards, to put it lightly. His legs provided the only means to create big Browns plays.

Defense: Two terrible things happened to Cleveland’s defense. First, Danny Shelton disappeared, leaving it open season for LeSean McCoy and crew (280 rushing yards surrendered). Second, Tyrod Taylor released the football earlier and neutralized any small threat Cleveland’s pass rush posed. That was enough to seal up loss No. 14.

Grade: D-

Baltimore Ravens

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Offense: There’s a reason why coach John Harbaugh doesn’t trust Kenneth Dixon yet. The rookie was whupped badly by Nigel Bradham in pass protection; Bradham stripped Joe Flacco and sparked a near-Eagles comeback. Dixon has to clean that up if he’s starting tailback material.

Defense: In a game where the D-line was stalemated (or worse), it fell on the second and third levels of defense to wrap up Ryan Mathews. C.J. Mosley and Eric Weddle were Baltimore’s expert janitors. Without their 22 combined tackles, the Ravens might’ve dropped in the AFC North.

Grade: B

Pittsburgh Steelers

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Offense: Cincinnati came into a huge rivalry-spoiler game with one clear intention: to slow Le’Veon Bell. So credit coordinator Todd Haley for riding his bell cow when the game devolved into a field-goal fest (Chris Boswell made six of them). The results paid off in the third and fourth quarters when the Bengals finally wore down.

Defense: Stephon Tuitt left the game. Pittsburgh’s offense could only manage field goals for a stretch. So this unit gets high marks for weathering the early storm. It pitched a second-half shutout and allowed only 38 second-half yards.

Grade: B+

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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Offense: Dirk Koetter might've been the only person at Jerry World who couldn't see how poorly Gosder Cherilus was playing. If he had, maybe the Bucs coach might've swung a running back or tight end to help the two-man game of David Irving and Maliek Collins. Jameis Winston took abuse from the pocket, and it cost him in an otherwise-decent performance.

Defense: It's easy to see what defensive coordinator Mike Smith was trying to do. By keeping his back seven in primarily zone coverage, all eyes would be on Dallas' backfield. In turn, the Bucs could react to Ezekiel Elliott. But in doing so, Smith offered up too many easy Dak Prescott completions.

Grade: B-

Atlanta Falcons

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Offense: Atlanta’s offense had 11 plays of 20 yards or more. Three of its running backs eclipsed the 50-yard mark. Yeah, this was a butt-kicking of the highest order. And it all went down without Julio Jones.

Defense: You can see Atlanta’s rookies growing up on the interior of Dan Quinn’s defense. San Francisco tried to operate its horizontal running attack; linebacker Deion Jones and safety Keanu Neal were too speedy to get the edge on. Teams that can’t beat the Falcons with power will find it tough to beat them at all.

Grade: A

Carolina Panthers

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Offense: I’ve said it once. I’ll say it a thousand times. Carolina is a run-first team that doesn’t thrive when Cam Newton drops back a thousand times. Stick to that recipe—like it did against the Redskins on Monday Night Football—and you have a base to build off for 2017.

Defense: Maybe David Gettleman was right after all. The general manager who assembled last season’s NFC champs jettisoned Josh Norman and went younger at cornerback. Carolina took its lumps for three-fourths of the season. But those young defensive backs (James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, etc.) looked solid shutting down Washington’s quick-strike passing attack.

Grade: A-

New Orleans Saints

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Offense: Drew Brees was overdue for one of these. The star quarterback snapped his two-week touchdown drought with four end-zone tosses fit for a shootout. But lost in all the big plays is this fact: New Orleans was 9-of-14 on third down. It dominated time of possession by almost a full quarter.

Defense: I can only name one positive in a game speckled with blown coverages and deep throws. That’s the job New Orleans did against David Johnson on the ground. The NFL’s most talented back was never able to establish himself in the run game. That could’ve evened out the time-of-possession disparity I mentioned earlier and swung the tide.

Grade: B

Indianapolis Colts

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Offense: Hats off to you, Rob Chudzinski. Indianapolis not only had the inherent advantage of Andrew Luck, but also the play-calling edge in Week 15. Coach Chud exploited the matchups; tight end Erik Swoope on a linebacker and Phillip Dorsett on a safety stand out. I’m surprised the Vikings secondary gave in so easily and that Luck’s line (three rookie starters) held up.

Defense: This was the best defensive performance I’ve seen in Indianapolis in some time. Why? Let’s start with the five sacks. Indy averaged just under two per game; getting to Sam Bradford kept the Colts in the driver’s seat. Mike Adams (forced fumble, interception) had an All-22 day on the back end as well.

Grade: A+

Jacksonville Jaguars

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Offense: I dropped Jacksonville a full letter grade when I saw how its line handled Jadeveon Clowney. News flash, guys—he’s the hottest pass-rusher in football. Blake Bortles is not going to beat him to the edge on a read-option play in any universe.

Defense: Look for Jalen Ramsey on my All-22 team. He single-handedly kept DeAndre Hopkins out of the end zone on two separate occasions. Two Brock Osweiler interceptions led to 10 points, but Gus Bradley lost his job because he had no answer for Tom Savage.

Grade: D

Houston Texans

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Offense: Throw out your old Texans scouting reports. So many more receivers and backs are in play now that Tom Savage is behind center. His predecessor had a bad habit of locking on tight ends; Savage can actually fit throws through tight windows to receivers downfield. Hate to say I told you so, but…I did. Last summer.

Defense: Houston gave up a touchdown when Brock Osweiler set the opponent up in scoring range. After that? Safety. End of the half. Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. Turnover on downs. Interception. Romeo Crennel’s group gave up 150 total yards. It's not messing around.

Grade: A-

Tennessee Titans

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Offense: Don’t look at the volume of Marcus Mariota completions when evaluating his second season. Look at the quality. The former Heisman winner connected on one or two big throws, but they were timely. Big connections to DeMarco Murray and Delanie Walker led to 12 points in the last 12 minutes. And of course, Mariota rallied his team into game-winning field-goal range.

Defense: It fell for the Tyreek Hill handoff. Then it gave up a long Jeremy Maclin pass. And that’s where Kansas City’s big plays stopped and Tennessee’s began. Big ups to coordinator Dick LeBeau for scheming K.C.’s explosive plays out at the end of this contest.

Grade: A

San Francisco 49ers

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Offense: Let’s follow the logic here. DeMarco Murray joined Chip Kelly’s Eagles roster as the rushing champ. He went on to have a dud of a season. Now, he’s tearing it up in Tennessee. The common denominator is clear. Kelly needs to throw his horizontal draw plays and tosses into the trash.

Defense: Five hundred fifty total yards. Two hundred forty-eight rushing yards. It was 21-0 before the offense could even pick up a first down. At no point before or after did I believe San Francisco could slow down Atlanta.

Grade: F

Arizona Cardinals

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Offense: Carson Palmer connected on the big throws that have consistently eluded him this season. But in doing so, he let Drew Brees right back onto the field to match him. Arizona needed to establish David Johnson on the ground. His 53 rushing yards tell me it could not.

Defense: Speaking of could not…Arizona could not cover in Week 15. A secondary with Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and so many others should never allow four touchdown passes—especially the kind Brees heaved up to Brandin Cooks. Brees had success picking on the corner playing opposite Peterson all game long, helping New Orleans dominate on third down.

Grade: C

Los Angeles Rams

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Offense: Take a page from Robert Griffin III’s book, Jared Goff. The former Washington quarterback had a city in his hands but always fought for the extra yard or two. That landed him on the sidelines, injured reserve and in Cleveland. Lesson learned yet?

Defense: Aaron Donald is about as unblockable as it gets in NFL. Alec Ogletree is as talented a middle 'backer as there is in the game. They were everywhere last Thursday night; where were the nine other defenders? The rest of Los Angeles' defense was caught napping on one too many plays—like both deep balls to Tyler Lockett and an over-the-middle ball to Jimmy Graham.

Grade: D-

Seattle Seahawks

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Offense: We’ll remember last Thursday night’s neon-green jerseys—and not the escape job Russell Wilson did wearing them. No. 3 was running for his life for most of Week 15. He rifled off a few hurried underthrows; on the rare instance Seattle protected him, Wilson hit Tyler Lockett for big gains.

Defense: He’s taking on fullbacks. He’s blowing up draw plays and screen passes. Michael Bennett is back, and it’s like he never left. Seattle’s other pass-rushers (Cliff Avril, Frank Clark) don’t have anything on No. 72. He was everywhere.

Grade: B-

Denver Broncos

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Offense: To beat quality opponents, Denver needs to jump out to an early lead. It had its shot to do so in the first quarter and failed. Logan Ryan picked off a Trevor Siemian pass in Patriots territory and set the table for a terrible second half. On the first five possessions of that second half? Nine total Broncos yards.

Defense: You hold Tom Brady to 16 points? You don’t get the blame for a loss. Denver got excellent play out of its secondary. It just needed points-scoring, Hall of Fame-worthy play. T.J. Ward’s illegal wrestling move penalty didn’t help push the needle in the right direction, either.

Grade: B-

San Diego Chargers

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Offense: Los Angeles can’t come fast enough for the Chargers. That means this nightmare season—the one where Philip Rivers and Co. saw six fourth-quarter leads evaporate—will have come to a merciful close. Better luck next year with a healthy Melvin Gordon and a full season of…

Defense: Joey freaking Bosa. It’s not all storm clouds (the black and gray you’re seeing is just Raiders fans exiting Qualcomm Stadium in droves). San Diego’s top rookie jackknifed around an impressive blocking group for 60 minutes.

Grade: C

Kansas City Chiefs

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Offense: We know about the failed scoring tries in close. But Andy Reid’s team also failed to involve its top scoring threats past the first quarter. Tyreek Hill didn’t post a catch after his 68-yard run, and Travis Kelce was held to three catches for 41 yards. Not good enough, Andy.

Defense: Can’t dock this group too much for keeping an opponent under 20 points and forcing three turnovers. But K.C.’s poor offensive production trickled over to the other side of the ball. I saw plenty of hands on hips as Marcus Mariota drove down for the eventual game-winning field goal.

Grade: B-

Oakland Raiders

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Offense: Amari Cooper is fast becoming the West Coast’s Odell Beckham Jr. And not in a good way—Oakland goes far too long without targeting its skilled second-year wideout. Derek Carr needs Cooper more than ever with his pinkie finger in flux; No. 89 needs more than three targets and one catch in a game.

Defense: It’s not just the Khalil Mack show anymore. Oakland is getting pass-rushing production out of Bruce Irvin on the opposite end, making life hell for any quarterback caught in the crosshairs. That duo helped hold San Diego to season lows in points (16) and yards (263).

Grade: B+