NFL Week 14 Recap: We Have to Talk About Patrick

OK, let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Coming off their primetime loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs returned home to host the Buffalo Bills, and we know the history there. The Chiefs have been Buffalo's playoff bogeyman for a few years now, and in this meeting, KC was looking to bounce back against a Bills team who is unpredictable. Buffalo's known for losing to teams they should beat, yet in KC, they were on fire. Bills led the whole game, and that included a late 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. However, in typical fashion, the Chiefs came back in unorthodox fashion: Patrick Mahomes tosses it to Travis Kelce, who then throws a lateral to Kadarius Toney, who scores a go-ahead touchdown. Chiefs take the lead, and were set to beat the Bills again.

Except for just one little problem:

Toney was offsides. As the pic shows, he's lined up well in the neutral zone. The touchdown was negated, the Bills went on to hold on and win, and Mahomes was livid! I'm serious, I had never seen Mahomes that angry. He even went on to vent about the call in the postgame presser, saying--in so many words--that the refs took the game from the Chiefs. Here's the thing: they didn't. That call was 100% right. All sorts of angles showed that Toney was offsides on that play. Now, Toney has been claiming that he usually gets warned about such things, but this time, there was no warning. Even so, Toney should have known better, and so should Mahomes. He really came across as a bit of a whiner, when this is actually the first time he's really blown up about anything.

This game and the game against the Packers have reinforced fans' beliefs that the Chiefs have the refs in their back pocket, which isn't true. Regardless, there's trouble in KC. Not only have they lost back-to-back games, their hold on the AFC West is dwindling. The Denver Broncos' big win over the Los Angeles Chargers have now moved them one game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West. Denver has a real chance of winning the AFC West. Let's let that sink in.

Week 14 was main-evented by the big NFC East clash between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, with the latter coming from a tough loss to the San Francisco 49ers at home. This was a very important battle, as first place was on the line for both teams. I expected it to be close, but what I saw was Dallas absolutely dominating the Eagles at every turn. Jalen Hurts had no answer for the Cowboys' defense, which was coming off a very bad performance in a win over the Seattle Seahawks. It wasn't even close. The Cowboys won, 33-13, over the Eagles, salvaging a season series split, and--via the division record tiebreaker--moving in to the NFC East lead.

The Eagles are no longer #1 in the NFC. So who is?

Before the NFC East clash, the NFC West saw the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks face each other for the second time in three weeks. The Niners blasted the Hawks on Thanksgiving Night in Seattle, and with the Seahawks looking to climb the conference ladder, the last thing they needed was a trip to Santa Clara, which is usually where road teams go to die. Though Seattle did have a lead in the second quarter, any and all dreams of a road upset were kiboshed instantly. The Niners ended up winning, 28-16, and with that result, coupled with the Dallas win over Philly, the Niners moved into the #1 seed in the NFC, with the head-to-head tiebreaker putting them ahead of Dallas.

Week 14 kicked off with the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the New England Patriots, and for the Steelers, this was an easy chance to bounce back from their loss to the Arizona Cardinals. I mean, there's no way they'd lose to a God-awful team twice in a row, right? Oh boy. The Patriots dominated Pittsburgh for the most part of the game. Need I remind you this is a Patriots team who can't even score two touchdowns in a single game, yet they scored three in the first half. The star of the game was none other than Ezekiel Elliott, who is in his first season with New England after all of those years in Dallas. His last few years in Dallas saw him upstaged by Tony Pollard, and it looked like his best days were behind him. That was, until he served as RB1 in place of the injured Rhiamondre Stevenson. So how did Zeke do on Thursday? Let's go to the Fantasy numbers.

Zeke ran for 68 yards (6.8 points), and also had seven receptions (7 points) for 72 yards (7.2 points) and a touchdown (6 points), for a grand total of 27 fantasy points! As for Pittsburgh, their loss is badly embarrassing. They lost to two of the worst teams in the league in less than a week, and they dropped behind the playoff line as a result.

That would not last long.

The Steelers would have the New York Jets and the Cincinnati Bengals to thank for their return back to above ground. The Texans were actually blasted by the New York Jets, 30-6, on Sunday. And to think, I was so close to actually picking up Houston's defense on Fantasy that week. Dodged a bullet there. The Indianapolis Colts were defeated by the aforementioned Bengals, 34-14, giving Cincy some playoff hopes. So while Pittsburgh returned to the playoff picture, they now have to look up at the Browns, who actually defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, which also keeps the AFC South very close.

I said this after it happened, and I'll say it here. Becky Hammon (the head coach of the reigning back-to-back WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces) and the Vegas Golden Knights need to throw the Raiders out of Sin City. This pathetic excuse for a franchise actually lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Vikings...at home! They couldn't outscore a field goal?! The Golden Knights scored six on the Dallas Stars on a Saturday game; a good Stars team! Hell, I've seen players like Filip Forsberg and Timo Meier score more than the Vikings did in that game. The crazy thing, we were just under three minutes of game time away from history: the first NFL game to go to overtime at 0-0. Yep. There's ugly games, and then there's this. The Vikings ended up gaining some ground in the NFC North, as the Detroit Lions were upset by the Chicago Bears.

The upset bug managed to hit both Monday games this week. The big one came in the form of the New York Giants defeating the Green Bay Packers in the final seconds, a heartbreaking loss for the Packers. Here's the thing, and here's how messed up the NFC is: the Packers, at 6-7, are still above the playoff line. How? The Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams both lost--the latter in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens. As for the other game, the Miami Dolphins suffered their first home loss of the season to the Tennessee Titans, mainly due to the fact that they had to play a good bit without Tyreek Hill. Miami's 28-27 loss kept them from regaining the AFC's #1 seed, which now belongs to the Ravens.

Also, as a result of the Packers' loss, the 49ers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season. One of the Niners' scenarios required a win and a Packers loss, and San Francisco has now earned the chance to make up for their back-to-back NFC Championship losses in 2021 and 2022. The Niners are now a win or a Rams loss away from clinching the NFC West.

Four weeks remain in the NFL season, and Week 15 is a crucial one for not only the NFL, but also Fantasy Football, as--in some leagues--the playoffs start that week. Week 15 will kick off with a pivotal Thursday Night matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders, which could see the losing team facing elimination in Week 16. We get our first taste of Saturday football this season; the Cincinnati Bengals will host the Minnesota Vikings, followed by the Indianapolis Colts hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers, and concluded by the Detroit Lions hosting the Denver Broncos. The Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars face off on Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football will feature the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks.

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For my recap of the NFC South games, click here: