With almost all of the Week 14 games complete, let’s take a look at some of the biggest winners from around the NFL.
Jake Browning, QB, Cincinnati Bengals. After shockingly leading the Bengals to a Monday night win in Jacksonville, Browning came back with another sensational game on Sunday in a 34-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Those two wins have the Bengals right back in the thick of the AFC wild-card race after everybody had given up on them in the wake of Joe Burrow’s injury.
Joe Flacco, QB, Cleveland Browns. A couple of weeks ago Joe Flacco was out of the NFL and waiting for his opportunity. Now he is the starting quarterback for a playoff contender. Flacco helped lead the Browns to a 31-27 win over the Jaguars on Sunday by throwing for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He has been so good that head coach Kevin Stefanski announced after the game that the offense now belongs to him for the remainder of the season. Flacco joined the Browns following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury and got his first start when Dorian Thompson-Robinson was sidelined with a concussion.
Chicago Bears. The playoffs are almost certainly out of the question for the Bears at this point, but they are not going away without a fight. They are also getting the best of both worlds right now. With Sunday’s win over Detroit they have now won three out of their past four games, are playing competitive football and at the same time still have a huge lead for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
That is because they own the Carolina Panthers’ top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft class, and with another loss on Sunday the Panthers are 1-12 and two games behind every other team in the NFL with four games to play. The Bears get to keep winning and are still likely to get the top pick. That is the best of everything.
Zach Wilson, QB, New York Jets. Wilson has been the focal point of blame for the Jets offense, but if you are going to blame him when he plays poorly you need to give him credit when he plays well. On Sunday, he played well. He got his starting job back and helped lead the Jets to a stunning 30-6 win over the Houston Texans, throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns in what might have been one of the best games of his career. That performance helped the Jets snap their five-game losing streak.
