What a crazy week of football!

The good, bad, and ugly from NFL Week 14

The good, bad, and ugly from NFL Week 14
Miami pulled off the improbable. Miami Dolphins Team Website

Wow! What a week of football! We had upsets, blowouts, and some of the most exciting plays to date! Here's how I saw it go down:

THE GOOD

-The Dolphins pulled off a dramatic 34-33 upset of the Patriots on the final play of the game. They completed a 69-yard hook and ladder play using two laterals to score a touchdown. If you haven't seen the play by now, I question whether or not you are connected to society. Belichek took responsibility for the play, as he should've.

-Chief's quarterback Pat Mahomes Jr. is the league MVP. Not only is he on pace for 50 touchdowns and 5,000 yards passing, but he has highlight reel plays damn near every game. Case in point: his no-look pass for a first down, and his unbelievable 4th down completion to Tyreek Hill that goes against all conventional wisdom.

-The Bears stifled the Rams in an old school, hard-nosed football game. Final score was 15-6. It was the first time the Rams had been held under 23 all season, much less under 10. Whoever said the league is more flag football should watch this Bears team, or the Ravens, the Cowboys play defense.

THE BAD

-The Steelers inexplicably lost, again. This time, it was to the lowly Raiders by a 24-21 margin. The Steelers came into the game 7-4-1 and in control of the two seed via the Pats loss. They left with their third straight one score loss. A play here or there and they could easily be the one seed in the AFC.

-Speaking of the Raiders, they decided to fire general manager Reggie McKenzie. This appears to have been the end of the McKenzie/Jon Gruden power struggle. Ever since the team rehired Gruden as its head coach, he's been in a constant pissing match with those in the front office. Game over. He's won. Here's to hoping the Raiders spent that $100 million dollars on Gruden wisely.

- The Lions won 17-3 over the Cardinals. Your fifth win in the thirteenth game of the season over a three-win team is bad enough, but to do so with only 96 yards passing? That's reason to make your fanbase wear bags over their heads, even in a win.

THE UGLY

-The Skins benched recently acquired quarterback Mark "Butt Fumbler" Sanchez in their 40-16 blowout loss to the Giants. Josh Johnson, also recently acquired, will now be the starter for a team that's down to its fourth option at quarterback. I wonder if they'll call…Tony Romo. Gotcha!

-The Panthers were once 6-2 and being talked about as an NFC contender. Then the Steelers blew them out 52-21 on Thursday Night Football and that started their five game slide. Now 6-7, they'll most likely miss the playoffs and head coach Ron Rivera should be on the hot seat. This team is more up and down in recent years than teenage girl's emotions during prom season.

-Cowboys running back Ezekial Elliott was flagged for lowering his helmet and initiating contact in their 29-23 wild win over the Eagles. He was running towards the sideline and did what comes natural to every running back: lowering himself to brace for contact. However, the refs decided to flag him on the play and negate a would-be first down. Excuse my language, but this s*%# is pissing me off!

Some teams have clinched their playoff spot and/or division already. Others are struggling to the finish line. Then there are the ones who once looked promising and now look like life came at them fast, similar to the former beauty queens/kings in high school that look like life whipped their ass with an ugly stick. Sure is going to be a great finish and playoff run!

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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