We’ve reached the point in the regular season where teams can officially turn an eye toward January.
The Rams, Patriots, and Broncos are the three clubs that can clinch a postseason berth this week.
For Los Angeles, it’s simple: Win and you’re in. The Rams can only secure the NFC’s first playoff spot, with the NFC West still up for grabs between L.A., Seattle, and San Francisco.
Things are a little more complicated for two AFC teams.
New England will win the AFC East and secure a home playoff game with a victory over Buffalo. The Patriots can also clinch a postseason berth with a tie and a Chargers loss; a tie with a Texans loss or tie; a tie with a Colts loss or tie; or a tie with a Jaguars loss. New England would also clinch a berth if Houston loses or ties and Indianapolis loses or ties as long as both games don’t end in a tie.
Denver cannot clinch the AFC West on Sunday, but can clinch a postseason berth with a win. If Denver ties, a Chargers loss, or Jaguars loss, or Texans loss or tie, or Colts loss or tie would also secure a playoff spot. Additionally, the same New England clinching scenario with a Houston loss or tie plus an Indianapolis loss or tie, as long as both games don’t end in a tie, applies to Denver.
The Patriots will play the Bills at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, while Broncos-Packers and Rams-Lions both have a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff time.
Rams Clips
The Lions lost Brian Branch for the season when he tore his Achilles in last Thursday’s win over the Cowboys, but head coach Dan Campbell said on Monday that the team feels like they are still well stocked at safety.
Branch’s injury comes at a time when Kerby Joseph is recovering from a knee injury and Thomas Harper is in the concussion protocol, but Campbell said at his press conference that they plan to get Joseph “some reps in practice” this week as he tries to play for the first time since Week 6. Campbell also praised Avonte Maddox’s play at the position and named Daniel Thomas, Erick Hallett, and Damontae Kazee as others who make him feel comfortable about who is available.
“We’re good, man. . . . We got options here, but it’s like anything — you lose a good player, it hurts,” Campbell said. “But it’s not like we’re in dire straits.”
Wednesday’s practice report will bring updates about Joseph and Harper that will give a better idea of what the safety group will look like against the Rams this week.
Though Sean McVay traveled to Arizona separately from the Rams because he’d been feeling under the weather late in the week, Los Angeles still thumped the division-rival Cardinals 45-17 on Sunday.
It was an effective bounce-back performance after the Week 13 loss to the Panthers, which McVay noted that he could sense coming during the week.
“I thought the guys did a great job,” McVay said postgame. “This is a mentally tough group. This is a resilient group. You have to earn it. I thought they had a great week of preparation. I thought even just the maturity of — even some of the stuff where I wasn’t around a little bit, just because of what I was dealing with — just the way they handle it. These are grown men and they do such a great job.
“This is a player-led team. I can’t say enough about what a great job our coaches do [and] I don’t mean that to be minimizing them at all, but we have a lot of really great leaders in that locker room. I think they take the ownership, initiative of what we want to be about and how you ultimately want to be able to respond, not react, when we do have some of those setbacks. This is exactly in alignment with what we wanted and now we have to continue to build on it.”
As for his absence, McVay said that his illness hit him Friday night after it went around his family at home.
“Just wanted to be smart [and] not give ourselves a chance of giving it to anybody else because of how contagious this can be,” McVay said. “Hopefully I didn’t by passing out game balls, trying to do the fist bump as much as you can. You realize how out of the norm it is for me — I’m a big hugger so hopefully I’ll feel better and can get back to being normal with these guys because I don’t like this. I felt good. I don’t want to get too descriptive with you but we fought through it and ultimately, the guys did a great job. I’m really proud of them.
“I think this is a cool reflection of the coaching staff in general too. It was a good step in the right direction and now we have to continue to build on this.”
The NFL MVP race still has two clear finalists. A third candidate is making a move.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has reclaimed the favorite status from Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Last week, Maye had -135 betting odds, and Stafford was at +135. This week, with Stafford having another strong game against the Cardinals and the Patriots on a bye, Stafford has moved to -180. Maye has fallen to +200.
Coming in at third is Packers quarterback Jordan Love. At +1000, he’s down from +1900 from last week. And if the 9-3-1 Packers keep winning and eventually secure one of the top seeds in the NFC, Love could get plenty of votes in the balloting, which happens within days after the completion of the regular season.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is also lurking, at +1500. And he’s arguably the top overall quarterback, if not player, currently in the league. It will be hard for him to win the MVP award, however, if the Bills don’t win the AFC East.
There’s a big drop after Allen to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, at +7500. One week ago, Prescott had the third position, at +1500.
Bottom line? Don’t sleep on Love. The Packers continue to surge, with four straight wins since losing back-to-back home games. He has 22 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. And he’s getting it done without a high-end receiving corps.
The Cardinals started 2-0. It didn’t stay that way.
Arizona has now lost 10 of 11 games. The most recent defeat came in the form of a 45-17 blowout at home to the Rams. It was Arizona’s worst loss of the season.
With four games to play, it’s time to keep an eye on whether owner Michael Bidwill will make a move as to coach Jonathan Gannon. It would give the Cardinals a head start on their search, at a time when two teams (the Titans and Giants) are already searching.
Gannon gets it. He was asked about his job security three weeks ago, after back-to-back blowout losses to the Seahawks and 49ers.
“Yeah, not a controllable for me,” Gannon said at the time. “I didn’t hire myself. I’m not gonna fire myself, so, seriously, no, I know it comes up. That’s the business we’re in. If you don’t want to be in that business, we laugh, we joke, go work somewhere else. I’m going to control the controllables for myself. You know, come to work and do the best job that I can and try to get our team in position and win a game.”
The Cardinals haven’t won a game since November 3, on a Monday night against the Cowboys. That’s their only win since Week 3.
At this point, it’s hard to envision Gannon returning for 2026. If Bidwill already knows that, there’s no reason to delay the implementation of the decision.
After falling to the Panthers on the road last week, the Rams got right in a big way against a divisional opponent with a 45-17 victory over the Cardinals.
Los Angeles held a 24-10 lead over Arizona at halftime and scored 21 straight points to go up 45-10 early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Receiver Puka Nacua went off, catching seven passes for 167 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Nacua had 136 yards in the first half alone, displaying his dominance with several contested catches to get the Rams out ahead.
The L.A. run game was just as dominant, with Blake Corum and Kyren Williams creating a two-headed monster. The running backs combined for 212 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Corum led the way with a career-high 128 yards on 12 carries with two TDs, including a 48-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Williams took 13 carries for 84 yards with a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
After three giveaways last week, quarterback Matthew Stafford got back to his MVP pace in Week 14. Stafford finished the contest 22-of-31 passing for 281 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Jimmy Garoppolo was inserted into the game early in the fourth quarter for mop-up duty.
Running back Ronnie Rivers also came in for mop-up duty in the fourth quarter, finishing the contest with 41 yards on eight carries.
In all, L.A. finished with 530 total yards, with 249 coming on the ground. It would have been over 250 if Garoppolo hadn’t taken three kneel downs to end the game. Los Angeles faced just one third down in the first half, with the Rams efficiently moving down the field to score on each of their four possessions in the first two quarters.
It was a historic offensive day for the Rams, who had three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. According to the FOX broadcast, it was the first time the Rams had done so in a road game since a 42-34 victory over the 49ers all the way back in 1954. ESPN noted it was generally the first time the Rams had done that since the heyday of the Greatest Show on Turf in 2001.
For the Cardinals, Jacoby Brissett finished the contest 25-of-44 for 271 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Receiver Michael Wilson had a big game, finishing with 11 catches for 142 yards with a pair of TDs.
Tight end Trey McBride also had five catches for 58 yards. According to the FOX broadcast, McBride tied the longest all-time streak for a tight end with his 15th consecutive game with at least five catches.
Now at 10-3, the Rams have regained the NFC’s No. 1 seed with Chicago’s loss to Green Bay. Los Angeles will be at home to face Detroit for a significant conference matchup next Sunday.
The Cardinals are now 3-10 and playing out the string. They’ll face the Texans on the road in Week 15.
The Cardinals’ defense finally managed to force the Rams’ offense into a third down for just the second time all game.
But unfortunately for Arizona, the club couldn’t get a stop.
It’s turned into a blowout in the desert, as Matthew Stafford connected with tight end Colby Parkinson to cap Los Angeles’ opening possession of the second half with a 6-yard touchdown.
L.A. now leads 31-10.
The Rams got down the field with a 10-play, 74-yard drive. Running back Blake Corum continued to run the ball effectively, gaining 17 yards to put the Rams deeper into Arizona territory.
While Stafford had incompletions on first- and second-and-goal, he was able to find Parkinson over the middle for a 6-yard score to give the Rams a 21-point lead.
Stafford is now 19-of-25 for 233 yards with two touchdowns on the day, getting back to his MVP pace after multiple turnovers in last week’s loss to Carolina.
On the injury front, Arizona defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (knee) has been downgraded to out
Puka Nacua is putting on a show in the desert and the Rams, powering Los Angeles to a 24-10 halftime lead over Arizona.
Nacua caught six passes on seven targets for 136 yards — including a 28-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left in the half.
It seemed like each one of Nacua’s receptions was particularly impressive, with the third-year wideout making contested catches over the middle and on the sideline to help L.A. continue to move the chains.
With an efficient attack, the Rams faced just one first down in the first half, which the club did not convert on its first possession. L.A. got a field goal to cap its first drive, but otherwise has gone right down the field to score touchdowns. The club is averaging 9.6 yards per play, racking up 17 first downs and 306 total yards.
Matthew Stafford has completed 14-of-19 for 197 yards with one TD. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have combined for 109 rushing yards, with Williams taking eight carries for 61 yards with a TD. Corum has six carries for 48 yards with a score.
On the other side, Jacoby Brissett led the Cardinals to a quick touchdown on Arizona’s first drive, connecting with Marco Wilson for a 19-yard TD. But the Cardinals have not been as effective for the rest of the half, with Brissett finishing the first 30 minutes 13-of-18 for 154 yards with a TD. He’s also the team’s leading rusher with 20 yards on three carries.
On the injury front, Cardinals defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (knee) is questionable to return.
The Rams will receive the second-half kickoff.
Blake Corum has scored a touchdown for the second game in a row and the Rams are on top of the Cardinals.
Corum’s 2-yard touchdown has Los Angeles up 10-7 late in the first quarter against Arizona.
After the Cardinals quickly scored a touchdown with a five-play drive to open the game, the Rams ran it effectively to get down to the red zone in response. But three consecutive incompletions on first-, second-, and third-and-goal led the club to settle for a 26-yard field goal.
But it didn’t take too long for L.A. to get back in the lead. Matthew Stafford connected with Puka Nacua on passes of 18 and 32 yards to put the Rams in Arizona territory.
Then Corum ran it three consecutive times, with his final attempt there being a 2-yard touchdown.
Through two drivers, Corum has six carries for 48 yards with Kyren Williams has three carries for 30 yards.
Rams coach Sean McVay is not traveling with the team to Arizona today.
McVay has an illness and is traveling separately, the team announced. McVay still plans to coach the Rams against the Cardinals tomorrow.
Although the nature of the illness has not been reported, indications are that he is traveling separately primarily as a precaution against getting players sick on the team flight. McVay worked his usual schedule on Friday.
The Rams are 10-point favorites at Arizona on Sunday.
