NFL Week 15 grades: Buffalo Bills ace test but Vikings still interested.
Our NFL Week 15 grades are now live. Things started in eye-opening fashion this week on Thursday night with the Las Vegas Raiders dropping an absurd 63 points in a win over the Los Anglees Chargers. It led to Los Angeles firing head coach Brandon Staley.
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Saturday’s action saw the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals put up statement wins while the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos struggled big time.
As for what we saw on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys were destroyed on the road by the Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, Brock Purdy strengthened his MVP case with a four-touchdown performance in the San Francisco 49ers’ blowout win over Arizona.
Below, we provide grades for every team that took to the field this week.
Where to start with this disaster of a team? Los Angeles fell to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football by the score of 63-21. It’s the most points the Chargers have ever given up. It’s also the most points the Raiders have ever scored. The end result was head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco being fired. Now at 5-9 on the season, the Los Angeles Chargers are playing for draft positioning more than anything else.
Mere days after being shutout in a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Raiders turned it around big time. It really is a testament to the job interim head coach Antonio Pierce is doing for Vegas right now. The 63 points they scored to open NFL Week 15 represented the most in franchise history. Rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell stood out big time, throwing four touchdown passes. The end result was a 42-point win. Sure the Raiders are not going to the playoffs. But this blowout win painted the organization in a great light.
Jake Browning just keeps on keeping on for the Bengals in replacing the injured Joe Burrow under center. He threw for 324 yards with two touchdowns in Saturday’s overtime win over the Vikings. Browning’s deep shot to Tyler Boyd in overtime set up the game-winning field goal. All Browning has done since replacing Burrow is go 3-1 in four starts. He has Cincinnati at 8-6 and currently in playoff positioning in the AFC. What a story the former undrafted free agent from Washington has been.
Nick Mullens was not terrible in replacing a benched Joshua Dobbs on Saturday. He missed on just seven of 33 pass attempts while throwing for north of 300 yards. Unfortunately, Mullens also threw two ugly interceptions in what was a narrow three-point loss. Though, Saturday’s loss is more on head coach Kevin O’Connell. That included calling two ill-advised quarterback sneaks in overtime when Ty Chandler had gone for 132 yards on the ground. Cincinnati would connect on the game-winning field goal after the Vikes’ turnover on downs. Minnesota now finds itself at 7-7 and battling for a playoff spot with six other teams.
Whether it was a lack of effort by wide receiver George Pickens or something else, the Steelers laid a complete egg in NFL Week 15. Mitchell Trubisky threw two more interceptions as he continued to show himself to be mistake prone. Pittsburgh’s previously stout defense allowed the Colts to go for nearly 400 total yards in a 30-13 blowout loss. Pittsburgh might be 7-7 on the season and in the playoff race. But this team does not look like a serious postseason contender. An ugly second consecutive loss added another layer to this.
