Mike Tomlin deserves Coach of the Year, and what else we’re learning in Week 14

Ben Arthur and 5 more

FOX Sports’ NFL experts provide the biggest takeaways from every Sunday game in Week 14 and what they mean for each team going forward.

Falcons: This is a full-fledged collapse, seeing the Falcons go from ostensibly a three-game lead atop the NFC South standings to now falling back into second place behind the Bucs. It’s taken four straight losses from Atlanta and three straight wins from Tampa Bay, but now it’s the Bucs who control their destiny for a division title. Atlanta’s defense struggled Sunday, allowing Sam Darnold to pick them apart for five touchdowns and pull away from a close game. The Falcons’ schedule gets much easier — Raiders, Giants and Panthers in the final four weeks — but can they end the skid and salvage at least a wild card at 9-8? Atlanta was the team to beat in the division by the oddsmakers, and the Falcons have beaten themselves in the past month.

Vikings: With the old quarterback back in town with his new team, Sam Darnold had a near-perfect game Sunday: 22-for-28 for 347 yards and five touchdowns. Minnesota made a big investment in J.J. McCarthy, so Darnold is likely a one-year wonder for the Vikings, but it’s hard to imagine him doing more to help his stock and re-establish himself as an NFL starter. He’s up to 28 touchdown passes on the season — a number you’d expect more from Kirk Cousins — and quickly moving up the ranks of 2025’s biggest free agents. And with another win against tough competition, the Vikings keep pressure on the Lions leading up to their rematch in Detroit in Week 18. — Greg Auman

Saints: If Alvin Kamara stays healthy, he’s going to have the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career, but he was still shockingly ineffective against the Giants. He carried 17 times for just 44 yards — an average of just 2.6 yards per carry. And that came against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. The Giants had been giving up 145.8 rushing yards per game. Even teammate Kendre Miller out-rushed Kamara, gaining 3.2 yards per rush on 10 carries. Kamara had 112 yards against the Rams a week ago. The Saints just don’t have nearly enough offensive talent to overcome a performance like that from their most explosive offensive player. It’s a big reason why this game was so close.

Giants: It’s hard to put into words how bad things have gotten for this team, but some fans at least tried. Someone hired a plane to fly over MetLife Stadium before the game pulling a banner that read “MR. MARA ENOUGH – PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.” It didn’t help. The few fans who bothered to show up saw a mostly lifeless effort by an offense that managed just 325 yards and 11 points. The Giants actually showed some life in the fourth quarter and got within range of a 35-yard, game-tying field goal with 11 seconds left. But, of course, that kick by Graham Gano was blocked. That’s the way this season has gone for this team that has now lost eight straight and is 0-7 at home. All the Giants have left to look forward to is the race for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. — Ralph Vacchiano

Panthers: This young team has really been showing signs of hope for the franchise over the past month. The Panthers followed their only two wins of the season with three-point losses to the Chiefs and Bucs, and now a 22-16 loss in Philadelphia. And Bryce Young continues to show improvement, too. His performance wasn’t pretty — 19-of-34 for 191 yards with one touchdown and one interception — but it wasn’t bad considering how well the Eagles defense has been playing this season. Over the past four weeks, Young has settled in and has thrown four touchdown passes with just the one interception. It’s more game management than anything else, but considering how much he was struggling before, the Panthers will take it as something to build on.

Eagles: The identity of the Eagles is that of a power-rushing team, and they are so good at grinding opposing defenses down on the ground. But they might be taking it a little bit too far. Despite 211 rushing yards on Sunday — and Saquon Barkley setting a single-season franchise record — the Eagles kept the Panthers in the game in large part because their passing game was non-existent. Jalen Hurts completed 14 of 21 passes and threw for two touchdowns, but he passed for only 108 yards — a ridiculous total for someone with explosive receivers like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. It was Hurts’ third straight game passing for fewer than 200 yards, and he hasn’t topped 250 since way back on Oct. 13. The run game is what got the Eagles this far and what could carry them through the playoffs. But they’re going to need a little more help from Hurts and the passing attack to beat better teams. — Ralph Vacchiano

Jets: That’s all she wrote for quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets. They lasted until overtime in Miami, a place they haven’t won since 2014, but ultimately succumbed to the Dolphins looking to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Jets are now officially eliminated from postseason contention, with just three wins this season. They’ve won just one game since firing Robert Saleh, and with Joe Douglas also out as general manager, New York is going to look drastically different next season. If Rodgers does indeed jump ship, his time as a Jet will have amounted to minimal results. This is despite how much New York gave up to get him — a first-round pick (No. 13), a 2023 second-round pick (No. 42), a 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 207) and a 2024 second-round pick — on top of how much they paid him (three years, $112.5 million with $75 million guaranteed).

Offloading Rodgers won’t be easy, but it should happen this season if the Jets want to avoid escalations that would see Rodgers hit the cap in 2026 for a reported $63 million. The dead cap in releasing him this offseason would be $49 million, but they can spread that out over two years, per ESPN. That’s likely the only play if they don’t want to keep Rodgers and all the baggage that comes with him. For now, Rodgers and the Jets can fade off into obscurity as the rest of the AFC playoff field is assembled.

Dolphins: There’s still a chance. The Dolphins don’t control their own destiny when it comes to their playoff hopes. The Buffalo Bills have locked up the AFC East, so the Dolphins have to hope for a wild card. They’d need to win out and then get some help from other teams in the AFC to do that. It didn’t look particularly good against New York at home, but quarterback Tua Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill and then Jaylen Waddle for the tying touchdown. The two teams traded field goals to officially force overtime, and after head-scratchingly not being targeted all game, tight end Jonnu Smith came up with back-to-back catches to help move Miami down the field. The Dolphins mercifully put us all out of our misery by scoring a touchdown on their first possession of extra time, but the stress is far from over for Miami fans. While the team’s playmakers came up big when needed, Tagovailoa doesn’t totally seem to be on the same page with his receivers. There were misses to Hill and others that won’t hold up down the stretch. — Carmen Vitali

Browns: Coach Kevin Stefanski deserves to stay. For the past two years, he has made something out of nothing. I know it’s a tough time to die on Stefanski’s hill after this blowout, but there have been moments where Jameis Winston almost looks like a QB worth keeping around. And that’s not because Winston is having some sort of renaissance. It’s because he’s playing for Stefanski, who made Joe Flacco look like a viable option last season. The only guy Stefanski can’t make viable? Deshaun Watson. Which should tell you just how bad Cleveland’s QB1 has been. Here’s hoping the Browns draft a quarterback for Stefanski to develop. Here’s hoping Cleveland can finally get its supremely talented coach into a position where he can actually fight for a playoff spot.

Steelers: Let’s stay on the topic of coaches: Mike Tomlin for Coach of the Year. Russell Wilson went into this game with the highest yards per game of his career, which is unfathomable considering how bad he looked in Denver. He looked like he was a few plays from retirement last season. Not only did Tomlin help Wilson make a comeback (with help from OC Arthur Smith), but Tomlin chose Wilson over Justin Fields, who was also playing better than he’d ever played. Tomlin has never had a losing season, and yet he’s never won the COY award. There’s a case to be made for a number of coaches, but this is the year to give it to Tomlin, who has expertly managed adversity, coached around his roster’s weaknesses and highlighted the best players. — Henry McKenna

Raiders: Even when they finally get takeaways, this Raiders team is worse than what they’re facing, all too consistently. After totaling five takeaways in their first 12 games, they got three in the first half Sunday, but still weren’t able to do enough to pull off a rare road win. Tampa Bay did well to keep rookie phenom Brock Bowers in check — three catches for 49 yards on just five targets is nothing by his recent standards. With another quarterback injury, losing Aidan O’Connell to a knee injury, Las Vegas isn’t competing for anything besides the No. 1 pick in the draft. Another loss gets them closer to pulling that off.

Bucs: After a super start — 14-0 within 11 minutes — Baker Mayfield had three turnovers in the first half, unable to avoid the mistakes that have limited his NFL success. Tampa Bay’s depleted defense, down 11 players due to injuries, did well to hold the Raiders to 13 points. Credit rookie Tykee Smith for getting a huge interception on the first drive of the second half after Las Vegas had gone 16 plays and taken 10 minutes off the clock. The Bucs hadn’t had an interception since Week 6, and they needed it to survive a rough offensive showing against a bad Raiders team. The end result? The Bucs are in first place in the NFC South with four weeks left to play. — Greg Auman

Jaguars: The Jaguars have a superstar in the making in rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. After a quiet first half against the Titans (zero catches on two targets), the former LSU standout erupted for eight catches for 86 yards, including three receptions for 57 yards to set up Jacksonville’s game-winning touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. On pace to shatter the franchise’s single-season record for receiving yards by a rookie, Thomas has the potential to be Trevor Lawrence‘s trusty No. 1 receiver for many years to come. He’s going to need to be a player the Jags can build their offensive skill group around as they barrel toward an offseason of massive changes. Lead pass-catchers like Christian Kirk (injured reserve) and Evan Engram have no guaranteed money left on their contracts after this season. Thomas has given us no reason to believe that he can’t step up to the challenge.

Titans: For a Titans team that has so many problems, situational football may be their Achilles’ heel. Tennessee went 0-for-2 in the red zone and 0-for-3 on fourth down, including at the 2-yard line. The team converted 50% of its third downs, but a key one the Titans didn’t convert was egregious. On Tennessee’s second-to-last drive, trailing 10-6, Calvin Ridley had a reception on third-and-5 with plenty of green in front of him but ran out of bounds after picking up just two yards, unaware of where the marker was. This is a game the Titans absolutely should’ve won. Their lack of execution in key spots is why they lost. That’s been the story of their season, once again pointing to a coaching problem. — Ben Arthur

Seahawks: Seattle offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has struggled to get the running game going all season. But the Seahawks finally found some consistent running lanes in their second victory over the Cardinals in three weeks. Seattle finished with a season-high 176 rushing yards, led by Zach Charbonnet‘s career-high 134 yards on the ground. The UCLA product finished with two rushing touchdowns for a score, including one a big burst for 51 yards. Geno Smith — now 6-0 as a starter against Arizona — has been among the league’s leading passers all season. But for at least a week, Grubb found some balance to his explosive passing game by discovering the running game when the games matter most. As a result, Seattle is 8-5, the NFC West leader and riding a four-game winning streak.

Cardinals: Kyler Murray must be at his best during this final stretch of the season. But over the past three games, Murray has five interceptions and just three touchdown passes. He threw two picks against Seattle, which led to 14 points for the Seahawks. The Cardinals have averaged just 15.3 points per game during the team’s three-game losing streak. They have the easiest schedule in their division to finish out the year, but if they want a legitimate shot to reach the postseason for the first time since 2021, Murray must play better. — Eric D. Williams

The following writers contributed to this story: Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano); Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV).