![\"Bo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/a71c48acbbe8bc060f295df52f5313c07dcc3159.jpg\")
Camera IconBo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos celebrates after defeating the Green Bay Packers 34-26. Credit: Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images<\/p>\nGUARD CHANGE <\/p>\n
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL in the final two minutes of a loss to the Chargers (10-4) is brutal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first major injury of the 30-year-old\u2019s career and could mean he misses the start of next season, which is already going to be make-or-break for head coach Andy Reid.<\/p>\n
Losing to the Chargers officially eliminated Kansas City from playoff contention, a first for the Reid-Mahomes era.<\/p>\n
That this is where the Chiefs (6-8) have landed, after making five of the past six Super Bowls and winning three of them, is a great example of how nothing lasts forever in the NFL.<\/p>\n
CLINCH CINCH <\/p>\n
The Rams (11-3) and Broncos (12-2) became the first teams to secure a playoff berth with victories in Week 15.<\/p>\n
The Rams just had too much firepower for the Lions (8-6) in a 41-34 win, although will be sweating on the health of crucial receiver Davante Adams\u2019 hamstring.<\/p>\n
And the Broncos leaned on a championship-calibre defence to earn their 11th straight win, knocking off the Packers, 34-26, in a contest that had the feel of a playoff game.<\/p>\n
That last bit is notable, because critics questioned whether Denver\u2019s sophomore QB, Bo Nix, was up to snuff in such moments.<\/p>\n
Camera IconBo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos celebrates after defeating the Green Bay Packers 34-26. Credit: Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Well, Bo nixed those doubts with 302 yards and four touchdowns, which is more than good enough when your D can shut down just about anybody.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Vikings and Bengals joined the Chiefs as teams officially eliminated from contention in Week 15.<\/p>\n
TD JESUS ARISEN <\/p>\n
Say what you will about the kudos earned by beating the Jets (3-11), but the Jaguars (10-4) have our attention after the 48-20 drubbing.<\/p>\n
Particularly passer Trevor Lawrence, the much-maligned QB better known as Touchdown Jesus in college, who accounted for six total TDs in the win.<\/p>\n
Coming into the season, many questioned if new head coach Liam Cohen, an offensive mastermind, could resurrect Touchdown Jesus, whose patchy performances had thus far failed to justify his eye-watering pay packet.<\/p>\n
![\"Trevor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c3cf6ff22b5a83162686397d097058cb2f2b203b.jpg\")
Camera IconTrevor Lawrence #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars carries the ball for a touchdown. Credit: Rich Storry\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Lawrence now has four consecutive games with more than 220 yards and multiple TDs, and 14 passing TDs and four rushing TDs in the past seven games, a stretch in which the Jags have gone 6-1 and all but sewn up a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
BILL COMES DUE<\/p>\n
Not that long ago, the AFC East looked certain to be won by New England (11-3), who were on a huge winning streak and only had a slumping Bills team as competition for the division.<\/p>\n
Then Buffalo and QB Josh Allen came to town.<\/p>\n
After a touching tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack, the Pats marched to a 17-point halftime lead, and then the wheels fell off.<\/p>\n
At one point the Bills were down by 21, but rallied behind Allen to claw their way back into the game, while Buffalo\u2019s dismal defence turned in arguably their best performance of the season, holding the Patriots to just 100 yards of offence in the second half.<\/p>\n
If the D can maintain this standard (a Josh Allen-sized \u201cif\u201d), the Bills suddenly become a very serious Super Bowl contender.<\/p>\n
PANIC INDEX <\/p>\n
HIGH: The Giants (2-12) have lost eight in a row and have already fired their head coach. No way you\u2019d let general manager Joe Schoen loose with the No.1 overall pick in next year\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
HIGH: The Browns were embarrassed by the Bears. How Cleveland finishes the year will determine if head coach Kevin Stefanski keeps his job.<\/p>\n
MEDIUM: Green Bay losing arguably its best player, edge rusher Micah Parsons, to a suspected torn ACL is rough for a team that has legit Super Bowl hopes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GUARD CHANGE Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL in the final two minutes of a loss to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,588,85],"class_list":["post-348906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}