NFL Nation reporters react to all the action, answering lingering questions coming out of each game. Here’s what we learned from Week 15.
Week 15 of the NFL season started Thursday night when the Las Vegas Raiders crushed the Los Angeles Chargers 63-21 in what became Chargers‘ coach Brandon Staley’s final game with the team (he, along with general manager Tom Telesco, was fired the following day).
On Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals kept their playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 27-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in overtime.
Our NFL Nation reporters reacted to all the action, answering lingering questions coming out of each game and picking out who — or what — is rising and falling for every team. Let’s get to it.
Jump to a matchup:
LAC-LV | MIN-CIN
Are the Bengals too banged up to keep the magic rolling? Cincinnati suffered two massive injuries in Sunday’s win. Defensive tackle DJ Reader left the game with a lower-body injury, and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was also knocked out with a right shoulder injury. The Bengals have been able to withstand the loss of quarterback Joe Burrow, but also being down a top defender and one of the league’s best wide receivers will complicate things further.
Stock up after the win: Defensive tackle BJ Hill. Hill now owns one of the more improbable stats of the NFL season: He has recorded an interception in back-to-back games.
Stock down after the win: Cornerback DJ Turner. The promising rookie cornerback allowed five catches on his first six targets as the nearest defender, plays that yielded 100 yards and a touchdown. — Ben Baby
Next game: at Steelers (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Why does an otherwise great defense keep giving up late leads? Saturday marked the third time in four games the Vikings have lost after giving up the winning score with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.
