NFL Week 14 Winners and Losers
Winners
Derrick Henry
What a game for Derrick Henry on Thursday Night Football! Henry helped lead the Titans to a much needed win by earning four touchdowns. Henry ran for 238 yards total, including a 99-yard rushing TD, helping shape the rest of the season for Tennessee. In the coming last few weeks, the Titans may need him to continue the success if they want to be in the wild card round.
Cleveland Browns
Having not wrote one of these articles for several weeks, I have to acknowledge how well the Cleveland Browns are currently. The Browns are two games back of the Steelers for the AFC North, so they somehow still have a chance to win the division. QB Baker Mayfield has continuously been improving, and the defense has been getting better throughout the season. I am not saying that they are one of the best teams in the league, but more how much of an improvement they are compared to previous seasons.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys deservedly won their contest on Sunday in OT over the Eagles. By doing so, they have won five games straight and are close to clinching the NFC East. QB Dak Prescott has looked like a different quarterback during the winning streak, and having the defense improve has really helped. Ezekiel Elliot has been a monster for them for most of the season, so in my eyes he is currently their MVP. I see them in the wild card round come a few weeks ahead.
Honorable mentions: Joe Philbin, George Kittle, the Oakland Raiders, and the Indianapolis Colts
Losers
LA Rams Offense
What happened? Seriously, I know the Bears defense is good, but it should not be that good against a team of their caliber. It appeared that LA had no answers for what Chicago was doing, so it was either them not being good enough or not watching enough film. RB Todd Gurley was useless, so the defense just rushed the box every time. They face the Eagles this weekend, which can help rebuild the confidence that they may need to finish the season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
How, just how? The Steelers lost last weekend to the now 3-10 Oakland Raiders. Granted, Oakland did look better than they have all season, but Pittsburgh still should have ran the floor with them. They just looked off, especially Big Ben. They are just lucky that the Ravens also lost, so they are still atop the AFC South. They have another tough test this weekend when they face the Patriots. Steelers fans should just hope that RB James Conner is back, but as of writing this he is doubtful.
New England Patriots
This is mostly due to the final play rather than the whole game, but they are still a huge loser. All they had to do was not let the Dolphins score from 60+ yards away. They let Miami continuously pass the ball backwards when near a tackle, and eventually Drake found a lane and scored. He wouldn't have scored if Gronkowski didn't slip when trying to tackle him near the goal line. New England will probably still win their division, but this does not help the team morale.
Honorable mentions: Joe Flacco, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Rasul Douglas
