Niners Nation
Week 15 was impactful on the injury front in the NFL. We also found out a lot about each NFC playoff team. The high-flying offenses didn’t disappoint, while the teams that lean on their defenses took a step back.
The fourth and ninth-seeded teams swapped places, as did the second and seventh-seeded teams. Here’s a look at the NFC playoff picture after 15 weeks.
1) Los Angeles Rams 11-3 (6-3 in the NFC)
2) Chicago Bears 10-4 (6-3)
3) Philadelphia Eagles 9-5 (7-3)
4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-7 (5-5)
5) Seattle Seahawks 11-3 (6-3)
6) San Francisco 49ers 10-4 (8-2)
7) Green Bay Packers 9-4-1 (7-2-1)
The Rams scored over 40 points for the second game in a row. They did sustain a serious injury to wide receiver Davante Adams, but that just meant more targets for Puka Nacua. The Rams threw for 368 yards and ran for 159. Their offense operates at a level that resembles the 2023 Niners. Their defense has plenty of holes, but if you’re not scoring every time, it doesn’t matter.
Speaking of offenses that are clicking, Ben Johnson has the Bears in a groove. They didn’t have their top wideout, Rome Odunze, against the Browns, but it didn’t matter. Rookie Luther Burden is coming into his own, while DJ Moore and Colston Loveland give Caleb Williams weapons to score on anybody. Caleb Williams continues to progress, but it’s the running game and the offensive line that will be the reason Chicago is the team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.
The Eagles blanked Kenny Pickett and the Raiders. However, we didn’t learn anything new about them. If anything, the NFC East should be looked at negatively after the Cowboys lost to the Vikings. Philly still looks like a one-and-done team in the postseason.
The same is true for whoever wins the NFC South. It looks like nobody wants to win. The Bucs lost to the Atlanta Falcons, but are here because the Panthers lost to the Saints. What a sad sentence to type. If I’m one of the NFC West teams, I’m positioning myself to be in the fifth seed.
Seattle won a game without scoring a touchdown. They averaged 2.3 yards per carry and played a quarterback who hadn’t thrown a pass in the NFL since 2020. Football is fluid, and the more I see from Seattle, the more I see cracks in this team. As electric as they are defensively, the offense leaves a lot to be desired. Sam Darnold feels inevitable, and not in a positive way.
The Packers’ loss to the Broncos was only a footnote in Week 15. They lost Micah Parsons, who was their game changer and difference-maker on defense. Now, their pass rush reverts to ordinary, and their secondary is more likely to get exposed—as they did against a lowly Broncos offense. I went from thinking the Packers would make a deep playoff run with Parsons to pivoting to Green Bay...
