The debris of destroyed playoff hopes litters the NFL’s Week 14 landscape.
It’s bad enough to be part of the “In the Hunt” column this time of year when the playoff picture is shown on TV. It’s even worse to have several names above you on that list of teams that wouldn’t be in the playoffs if the season ended at that time.
These four teams all are still alive mathematically, but after their losses on Sunday that math is a lot more complicated.
Bills (6-7)
(Remaining games: at WAS; DAL; NYJ)
LeSean McCoy wasn’t able to get the last laugh against Chip Kelly, and the Bills fell two games out of the final playoff spot in the AFC with their 23-20 loss at Philadelphia.
The Bills committed 15 penalties and yielded Nelson Agholor’s first career touchdown to fall behind 14-7 in the second quarter. The Eagles rookie receiver has been a first-round disappointment so far, but his touchdown was set up when Marcus Thigpen fumbled a punt in Bills territory in the second quarter. The Eagles (6-7) sealed the win when Ed Reynolds intercepted Tyrod Taylor with 1:16 left. That snapped Taylor’s streak of 222 passes without a pick. Taylor completed only 19 of 36 passes.
Btw, the Bills went into the week as the second most penalized team in the League behind only Tampa Bay.
— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) December 14, 2015
There already is a logjam for the two AFC wild-card spots. The Chiefs, Jets and Steelers all are 8-5. One of those teams isn’t getting in. Unless the Bills can hurdle them all, they’re not getting in, either.
Buccaneers (6-7)
(Remaining games: at STL; CHI; at CAR)
The Buccaneers had won three of their last four and looked like a team that could sneak into the playoffs, but somehow they managed only 17 points at home against a team that’s allowing the most points in the NFL.
Marques Colston, who entered the game with just one touchdown this season, caught two touchdown passes from Drew Brees in a 24-17 Saints win.
The Buccaneers have a favorable schedule the rest of the way. There’s a chance the Panthers will rest their starters in Week 17. But the Bucs likely have to win the rest of their games and hope either the Seahawks or Vikings collapse. Both of those teams are 8-5.
Jameis Winston and the Bucs have provided hope for the future, but it doesn’t look like that future is now.
Falcons (6-7)
(Remaining games: at JAX; CAR; NO)
The Buccaneers’ playoff prospects are dim enough. The Falcons have lost twice to the Bucs, so they have to finish with a better record than Tampa Bay to make the playoffs.
Good luck with that.
The Falcons lost their sixth straight Sunday, a 38-0 stinker at Carolina. It was the first time the Falcons were shut out in 11 years. They were out of it after one quarter when the Panthers (13-0) pulled out to a 21-0 lead.
Panthers: 260 yards in 1st quarter (most yards in any quarter by any team this season)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 13, 2015
Julio Jones has gone five straight games without scoring a touchdown and the Panthers sacked Matt Ryan three times and Sean Renfree twice. They also intercepted both quarterbacks once.
The schedule doesn’t appear to provide a safety net for the Falcons’ free fall. They travel to Jacksonville next week. The Jaguars hung 51 points on the Colts Sunday. Then the Panthers come to Atlanta in Week 16.
Bears (5-8)
(Remaining games: at MIN; at TB; DET)
Since their stunning Thanksgiving win at Green Bay, the Bears have deflated like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade float.
The Bears have lost at home to two teams with losing records. The 49ers won at Chicago in Week 13 and the Redskins won their first road game since Week 8 of last season, beating the Bears 24-21 Sunday.
It’s possible the Bears could be 7-6 if it weren’t for missed field goals by Robbie Gould. The Bears could have beaten the 49ers in regulation last week, but a Gould miss sent the game into overtime. On Sunday, Gould missed a 50-yarder with 1:40 left that would have tied the game. Gould has missed six of his last 17 attempts.
If they had won Sunday, the Bears would have been two games behind the Vikings (currently the No. 6 seed) heading to Minnesota next week. They’d have been in position to make things interesting with an upset. Instead, the Bears’ chances of making the playoffs are less than one-tenth of 1 percent according to MakeNFLPlayoffs.com.