NFL Week 15 Preview: Can Jared Goff save the Lions’ season in his previous house?

To say the Detroit Lions’ season has been a disappointment is an understatement.

Dan Campbell’s squad entered the season as one of many favourites to win the Super Bowl and hungry after falling quick final season within the NFC Divisional sport.

After witnessing the absurd quantity of accidents they encountered final 12 months, Detroit appeared primed to bounce again and make a run for the Lombardi Trophy.

Yet this season has been extra of the identical. The 8-5 Lions head to Los Angeles for a pivotal matchup towards the NFC-leading Rams with a plethora of accidents to key gamers and on the surface of the playoff image.

Detroit enters the matchup with a 39 per cent likelihood of creating the post-season, in line with The Athletic’s playoff simulator. A win bumps the Lions as much as 60 per cent, however a loss right down to 30 per cent.

If anybody desires to win this sport, it may be quarterback Jared Goff. He heads again to his previous house for the second time within the common season because the 2021 blockbuster commerce that despatched Matt Stafford the opposite method, however this one marks the primary actual, significant highway sport.

We noticed what occurred the final time Goff confronted his previous squad in such a high-magnitude sport — a Lions 24-23 wild-card victory at house in 2024 for his or her first playoff win in 32 years.

But no matter what followers suppose, Goff stated he would not view the Rams matchup in another way than some other sport.

“No, not so much anymore,” he instructed reporters on Friday when requested if there’s any further emotion. “And really, we played them in that playoff game, and it was such a big deal, and the next year we played them again, and that felt like even less, and so now it’s even further removed.”

So whereas Goff could not bear added emotion from the commerce, the truth of the state of affairs is {that a} loss to the Rams would have an enormous say on whether or not the Lions make or miss the post-season.

Here are another Week 15 storylines to key in on:

What a roller-coaster of a season it has been for Indianapolis Colts followers.

The Colts got here out of the gates flying with a 7-1 file, and Daniel Jones was thought to have had a professional MVP case (by no means thought I’d utter that sentence).

But now it is Week 15, the Colts are 8-5 and out of doors the playoff image, Jones suffered a season-ending damage, and 44-year-old Phillip Rivers is out of retirement to probably begin at QB on Sunday.

It’s Rivers’ second stint in Indianapolis after becoming a member of the group in 2020 following 16 seasons with the Chargers. Thus, the phrase Nunc Coepi — Latin for “Now I begin” — which helped the QB begin a brand new chapter with the Colts the primary go-round.

Does Rivers nonetheless have the products? We’ll see. It’s been 5 years since he final threw a go within the NFL, however the (seemingly) future Hall of Famer has been retaining in contact with head coach Shane Steichen and even modelled his high-school offence after Steichen’s.

Does Rivers even begin? Well… perhaps. Riley Leonard, who changed the injured Jones in Week 14 however has been coping with a knee damage, is sweet to go for Sunday’s sport towards the Seahawks.

So whether or not it is Rivers’ return or Leonard’s first profession begin stays to be seen. But the folks need to see Rivers.

Maye vs. Allen for AFC East crown

In what may be one of the best matchup in a loaded Week 15 slate, Drake Maye and the New England Patriots host Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills for AFC East supremacy.

Allen and the Bills have dominated the division within the 5 seasons since Tom Brady’s departure. But in comes Maye, the second-year QB who has his squad tied for the highest file in soccer at 11-2.

The Pats are firmly within the driver’s seat for the division, proudly owning an 89 per cent likelihood to take the title. It’s theirs to lose. Even if the Bills win out, they might have only a 40 per cent likelihood of overtaking New England.

What higher method for the Patriots to clinch the crown than to do it by beating the reigning kings? A win on Sunday ensures them prime spot and their first post-season look since 2021.

Standing of their method is the reigning MVP Allen and a Bills group trying to break up the season collection. Buffalo is coming off an emotional victory over Cincinnati and attempting to construct on that momentum.

A Pats win may additionally put an finish to the “easy schedule” allegations, however on the finish of the day, who cares? Winning is difficult, a W is a W, and also you’re on the prime of the standings (CC: Denver Broncos).

Panthers can take management of NFC South

Who would’ve thought that in Week 15, we might be right here saying the Carolina Panthers lead the NFC South? It’s not a slight towards Dave Canales’ group; it is extra so in awe of the Tampa Buccaneers’ current collapse.

After Tampa Bay’s disastrous Thursday evening sport that marked its fifth loss within the final six video games, the Panthers (7-6) now sit half a sport above the Bucs (7-7).

A Carolina win over New Orleans would put Bryce Young and Co. a full sport up on their rivals with a 66 per cent likelihood at profitable the division.

The Saints are not any cakewalk, particularly after taking the primary matchup 17-7. And the truth is that the Panthers are like a thriller field — you haven’t any clue what you are going to get.

Wins over the Rams, Packers and Cowboys show they will dangle with the massive boys (OK, Cowboys won’t match right here), however losses to the Saints and Cardinals stand in the way in which of them proudly owning a commanding lead within the South.

Young continues to show flashes of brilliance that made him the primary total decide just some years in the past, and the Panthers’ expertise on each side of the ball is lastly displaying with the likes of Tetairoa McMillan and Derrick Brown.

Carolina will even get star cornerback Jaycee Horn again on Sunday.

The solely drawback for Carolina is that the division cannot be locked up on Sunday. It has a tricky ending schedule, together with two video games towards Tampa that may seemingly decide the NFC South champion. So whereas a win would not get the Panthers within the clear, it does present a bit of cushion.

For the primary time this season, playoff spots are up for grabs.

We’ve already talked a bit concerning the Pats being in a win-and-in state of affairs, and we have touched on the Rams, whose solely clinching situation is with a win.

But there’s additionally the group in orange and blue from the Mile High City.

Head coach Sean Payton and QB Bo Nix have the Denver Broncos rocking and rolling to the tune of a 10-game win streak and atop the AFC as they get set to host the Green Bay Packers.

To preserve issues easy, a win over Green Bay will get Denver into the post-season for the second consecutive season. But a tie is the place issues get sophisticated, and the identical goes for the Patriots.

Here are the opposite situations the place each groups can get in:

Tie + Chargers loss OR
Tie + Jaguars loss OR
Tie + Texans loss or tie OR
Tie + Colts loss or tie OR
Texans loss or tie + Colts loss or tie (so long as each groups do not tie)

Regardless of how sophisticated it could look or appear, let’s simply be grateful that the playoffs are lastly across the nook.

Davidson’s favourites (All odds courtesy of BetMGM)

Panthers @ Saints — Pick: Panthers -2.5: The Panthers are effectively rested, contemporary off a bye week and trying to take management of the South. Young has been sizzling of late and has all his weapons to work with towards a mediocre Saints defence.

Chargers @ Chiefs — Pick: Over 41: A rematch of a Week 1 sport with 48 factors scored, count on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to tug out all of the stops with their season on the road.

Lions @ Rams — Pick: Lions +6: Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams. Doesn’t matter the opponent, the league’s prime scoring offence will at all times preserve them within the sport.

Full Week 15 schedule (All instances ET)

Thursday, Dec. 11
Atlanta Falcons 29, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28

Sunday, Dec. 14
Washington at NY Giants, 1 p.m.
Las Vegas at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Cleveland at Chicago, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Arizona at Houston, 1 p.m.
Buffalo at New England, 1 p.m.
NY Jets at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
LA Chargers at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Indianapolis at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Tennessee at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m.
Green Bay at Denver, 4:25 p.m.
Carolina at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m.
Detroit at LA Rams, 4:25 p.m.
Minnesota at Dallas, 8:20 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 15
Miami at Pittsburgh, 8:15 p.m.