B/R NFL Staff's Biggest Winners and Losers of Week 15

The holidays hit a little differently for everyone, especially in the NFL when all that matters is wins and losses. 

This week won't be one of celebration for many, as playoff hopes were dashed.

For example, the New England Patriots were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday and won't be in a position to compete for a Lombardi Trophy for the first time since the 2008 campaign. 

Others remain in the thick of things during the postseason blitz.

The AFC race will remain hotly contested through the final two weeks of regular-season play. The Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens each emerged victorious to stay huddled together in the battle for the conference's last four playoff spots. 

Bleacher Report's team of NFL writers—Brad Gagnon, Brent Sobleski, Gary Davenport and Kalyn Kahler—combed through Sunday's outcomes to find who the real winners and losers of Week 15 were. 

It's OK, Patriots fans. This year has been tough on everyone. 

Brad Gagnon

Ashley Landis/Associated Press

Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars

By taking care of business with a smart and efficient no-doubt loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Jaguars greatly increased their chances of landing projected No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence in April.

They've already been eliminated from the playoffs and they've already fired their general manager. There's not a lot of value associated with winning two games rather than one, so every loss is crucial now as a rebuilding team thinks about who will lead it at the sport's most important position come 2021 and beyond.

Loser: New York Jets

Meanwhile, the Jets completely blew it by winning their first game of the season Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Sure, 0-16 is painful and embarrassing, but the value associated with avoiding a winless season is minuscule in relation to the value associated with landing Lawrence instead of a much less promising quarterback prospect like Justin Fields or Zach Wilson.

Old-schoolers like my pal Brent Sobleski will tell you that you play to win the game regardless of circumstances, and that one player can't change a franchise as dramatically as they can in the NBA or NHL, for example. And Sobleski is both a smart man and a brilliant analyst. But on this topic, he's wrong. A quarterback with Lawrence's ability can completely change the direction of a team, and the 0-16 2017 Cleveland Browns are actually proof that a franchise can benefit and recover from a winless campaign.

I don't expect any players to give less than 100 percent, and I get why Jets head coach Adam Gase might have preferred a win to the top pick because he's likely toast anyway. But that's why general manager Joe Douglas should have fired Gase weeks ago and installed a coach who would agree to rest starters down the stretch in situations like the one we saw Sunday in L.A. That would essentially have been a tank job disguised as deep roster analysis, and it's something the Jets might regret not doing while they watch Lawrence dominate for the Jaguars in the years to come.

Brent Sobleski

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Winner: Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts

The Eagles appear to have a franchise quarterback, but it's not the guy everyone expected it to be. 

Drama started early Sunday when ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Carson Wentz "is not interested in being a backup quarterback and would want to move on from the Eagles if the current situation ... continues in Philadelphia." 

Oh, the "current situation" is going to continue because Hurts is playing well. Besides, Wentz's stance is laughable at best. He's done nothing to earn the starting job this season. 

While the Eagles came up one play short of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Hurts threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns. He had 63 yards and another score on the ground.

The rookie is playing with the same cast of characters, yet he's not struggling as Wentz did. Simply put, the Eagles are a better team with Hurts behind center. 

Loser: Los Angeles Rams

C'mon, Sean McVay. Really? 

To be fair, the Rams head coach didn't rule out the possibility of the winless New York Jets being a difficult opponent during the week. 

"When you flip the film on, you look at it no further than a Raiders team that's going wire to wire with them and it takes a 46-yard touchdown pass at the end of regulation," McVay told reporters. "That's a team that's beat the Chiefs, that's beat the Saints—two teams that are in the one or the two seed for the AFC and the NFC."

Usually, comments like McVay's are nothing more than coachspeak. They're not supposed to be prophetic. but they were when the Jets secured their first victory in Los Angeles against a shocked Rams squad. 

It's not just about losing to a previously winless team, either. The loss moved the Rams out of the division lead. Now the Seattle Seahawks hold a one-game advantage in the NFC West, all because Los Angeles couldn't take care of business against the NFL's worst team. The Rams still control their destiny in the NFC West, but they'll almost assuredly have to win out now to claim the division. 

Gary Davenport

Wade Payne/Associated Press

Winner: Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill

Even after Tannehill led the Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship Game and won Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2019, there were more than a few eyebrows that went up when the Titans gave him $62 million in guarantees as part of a four-year, $118 million extension.

No one is questioning the wisdom of that contract now.

Sunday against the Detroit Lions, Tannehill became the first player in Titans history to throw for three touchdowns and run for two touchdowns in the same game. It marked the fifth time this season that Tannehill has thrown three or more scoring passes in a game, and the 32-year-old has eclipsed 30 touchdown throws for the first time in his career.

It gets lost in the hullabaloo around Derrick Henry, but Tannehill isn't a "game manager" by any stretch.

And he's every bit as important to the Titans prospects in the postseason as the league's leading rusher—maybe more so.

Loser: Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings are not a good football team. They occasionally try to convince us otherwise, but they really aren't.

We knew that after the Vikings started the season 1-5. But then Minnesota peeled off five wins in six games, and 12 games in the Vikings had somehow wriggled their way into the No. 7 seed in the NFC.

Since then, though, the Vikes have lost two straight—including a crushing home loss to the rival Bears in Week 15 that just about wrecks their postseason hopes. The problem against the Bears was the same one that has plagued Minnesota all season.

The defense stinks.

The Vikings allowed almost 400 yards of offense and 33 points to a Bears team that entered the week 28th in total offense and 25th in scoring offense. Chicago ran for almost 200 yards, averaged 4.7 yards per carry and converted half its third downs.

With a Christmas Day trip to New Orleans up next, the Vikings are likely looking at their first sub-.500 season since 2014.

Minnesota has some hard decisions coming up in the offseason.

Kalyn Kahler

Danny Karnik/Associated Press

Winner: Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady

On the day when his former head coach was eliminated from the playoffs, Brady led a 17-point comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons, essentially guaranteeing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

Brady threw for 390 yards and a pair of touchdowns for good measure. 

Loser: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick

Bad weekend if you're Bill Belichick.

First, the rival Buffalo Bills win the AFC East, which became the first time Belichick's team hasn't won it since 2008. Then, the coach's squad loses to the Miami Dolphins—a team led by one of his own disciples, Brian Flores. Miami bolstered its playoff chances, whereas New England was officially eliminated. 

Meanwhile, your former quarterback completes a come-from-behind win to keep the Buccaneers in good shape for the playoffs.

The debate over who was more important to the Patriots dynasty's success—Belichick or Brady—just leaned a little more in Brady's direction.