We had a record-breaking week in the NFL on Week 15 with the Minnesota Vikings setting a new mark for the biggest comeback in the regular season, coming back from 33-0 down to beat the Indianapolis Colts.
We also saw the Patriots lose on an incredibly strange and weird, final play of the game against the Raiders, while three games went into overtime and a number of lesser teams, Colts, Texans and Bears pushed some of the top ranking teams in the NFL very hard.
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As usual, you can enjoy a fantastic selection of bets on this weekโs NFL action for week 16 of the regular season with bet365 Sport.
Letโs now take a look at what made this week so interesting across the NFL.
NFL Matchday 15 โ Main Stories
Vikings Comeback Sets New NFL Record โ At one point, the Minnesota Vikings were 33-0 down against the Colts and being booed by certain sections of a very quiet home crowd. The Colts it seemed were set for a rare and surprising win. That was until the Vikings woke up and on the back of a massive offensive effort over the latter half of the game tied things up at 36-36 before winning the game in overtime. A sensational and record breaking comeback win in the NFL.
Patriots Snatch Defeat From Jaws Of Victory Against Raiders โ Late in the fourth quarter, New England led the Raiders by seven and just needed to stop the Raiders scoring. They couldnโt do that and allowed the Raiders to tie up the game. Overtime loomed as New England tried to move the ball downfield to get into field goal range before on the final play of the game, the Patriots started lateraling the ball and Jakobi Meyers attempted pass was caught by Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones who returned the ball 48 yards for another touchdown sealing an unlikely win for the Raiders.
Bills Ease Out Dolphins In Crucial AFC East Matchup โ The Miami Dolphins were the first team to beat the Bills this season and this game always looked likely to be a very important one in the final shake up of the AFC East. In the end Josh Allen led the Bills to an important victory and one that keeps the Bills as the top seed in the AFC.
Jaguars Set Sights On AFC South Title After Cowboys Win โ A superb Jaguars comeback against the Dallas Cowboys puts the Jags just one game behind the Tennessee Titans in the AFC South after the Titans fourth straight loss to the Chargers. Trevor Lawrence and Zay Jones were the key men as the Jags inflicted a fourth defeat of the season on the Cowboys and ignited their hopes of the AFC South title.
Burrowโs Bengals Batter Bradyโs Bucs โ Early on in this game, Tom Brady looked like he was set to lead his Tampa Bay team to a much needed win over the in-form Cincinnati Bengals, but then the Bengalโs defence closed down the Bucs offence and Burrow and company picked apart the Bucs defence to score 31 points in the second half and in doing so, took themselves top of the AFC North after Baltimoreโs loss in Cleveland.
NFL Star Performers of the Week โ Offense/ST
TE George Kittle (49ers) โ 4 receptions for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns
RB Christian McCaffrey (49ers) โ 26 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown, 6 receptions for 30 yards.
QB Kirk Cousins (Vikings) โ 34/54 for 460 yards and 4 touchdowns
RB Dalvin Cook (Vikings) โ 17 carries for 95 yards, 4 receptions, 95 yards & a touchdown
WR KJ Osborn (Vikings) โ 10 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown
WR Justin Jefferson (Vikings) โ 12 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown
QB Josh Allen (Bills) โ 25/40 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns, 77 yards rushing.
WR Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins) โ 3 receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown.
WR AJ Brown (Eagles) โ 9 receptions for 181 yards
QB Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs) โ 36/41 for 336 yards, 2 touchdowns, 33 rushing yards, 1 TD
RB Tyler Allgeier (Falcons) โ 17 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown
QB Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) โ 27/42 for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns.
WR Zay Jones (Jaguars) โ 6 receptions for 109 yards and 3 touchdowns.
RB Latavius Murray (Broncos) โ 24 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown.
NFL Star Performers Of The Week โ Defense
Detroit Lions โ Gone are the days when the Lions defensive unit were viewed as one of the leagueโs worst. Another fantastic display against the Jets, who know a thing or two about mean defense, brought the Lions to 0.500 on the season and ignited their playoff hopes. The Lions offence could only muster 20 points against the Jets but the Defense held the Jets to 17 in reply.
Chicago Bears โ Yes, the Bears may have lost to the Eagles, but they gave the Eagles one hell of a game on the back of a sterling defensive effort that held this explosive Eagles offense in check. If they can put up this much of a fight against the team with the best record in the NFL, then maybe there is some hope that perhaps next season, the Bears can awake from their lengthy hibernation.
Cleveland Browns โ Admittedly, the Baltimore Ravens were dinged up at quarterback with Lamar Jackson injured and Garrett Huntley not 100% but the Browns put in a fine defensive effort led by the excellent Myles Garrett who set the tone for the team with 1.5 sacks. The Browns coverage was excellent as the Ravens failed to get anything going against their divisional rivals.
Pittsburgh Steelers โ With TJ Watt back, the Steelers defense shut down the Panthers offense holding Carolina to just a total of 21 yards rushing in the entire game. That sterling defensive effort, which included four sacks of Sam Darnold, laid the foundation for a win which was achieved by the Steelers pounding running game of their own.
New York Giants โ Kayvon Thibodeaux announced himself on prime time this week with a superb individual performance against the Commanders, recording 9 tackles, 3 assists, a sack, plus a fumble, fumble recovery which he returned for a crucial touchdown. Backed up by the likes of Jaylon Smith and Fabian Moreau the Giants top draft pick this spring showed why he went in the top five of the NFL draft with this performance.
NFL Rookies Of The Week
QB Brock Purdy (49ers) โ 17/26 for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns.
WR Jahan Dotson (Commanders) โ 4 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown
EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux (Giants) โ 12 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, a sack,forced fumble, fumble return for a touchdown
WR Rashid Shaheed (Browns) โ 3 receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown
LB Christian Harris (Texans) โ 14 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss
NFL Key Injuries
QB Colt McCoy (Cardinals) โ Out with concussion and is day to day.
QB Marcus Mariota (Falcons) โ Knee injury sustained in training. On Injured Reserve
DT Jordan Phillips (Bills) โ Shoulder โ Is Day to Day.
LB Brandon Smith (Panthers) โ Foot injury and is out indefinitely.
WR Brandon Cooks (Texans) โ Calf injury and is day to day.
RB Jonathan Taylor (Colts) โ Ankle injury and will miss rest of the season.
EDGE Travon Walker (Jaguars) โ Ankle injury and is day to day.
WR Mecole Hardman (Chiefs) โ Abdominal injury and is day to day.
OL Liam Eichenberg (Dolphins) โ Knee injury but is rated day to day.
NFL Bonehead Performance of The Week
Once again, we have an entire team effort that comes top of our bonehead plays of the week and step forward the Indianapolis Colts who managed to surrender a 33-0 lead to end up losing 36-39 in overtime to the Minnesota Vikings.
What Jeff Saturday will make of this game is going to be interesting as for the first two quarters, the Colts absolutely dominated in all facets of the game. So much so at 30-0, I turned the game off to watch something else as I felt the game was over.
I missed the greatest ever NFL comeback as the Vikings got going in the second half and led by the incredible Justin Jefferson and Kirk Cousins, rallied to force the game into overtime, where a field goal won the game.
It was the biggest comeback in regular season NFL history and Matt Ryan now holds the unwanted double of being the quarterback of the losing team in the biggest comeback in the Super Bowl and also the NFL regular season.
And all I can say is the New England Patriots are very lucky this week after that nonsense of a final play that cost them the game against the Raiders.
NFL Matchday 15 โ Results
San Francisco 49ers 21-13 Seattle Seahawks
Indianapolis Colts 36-39 Minnesota Vikings (OT)
Baltimore Ravens 3-13 Cleveland Browns
Miami Dolphins 29-32 Buffalo Bills
Philadelphia Eagles 25-20 Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions 20-17 New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers 24-16 Carolina Panthers
Kansas City Chiefs 30-24 Houston Texans (OT)
Atlanta Falcons 18-21 New Orleans Saints
Dallas Cowboys 34-40 Jacksonville Jaguars (OT)
Arizona Cardinals 15-24 Denver Broncos
New England Patriots 24-30 Las Vegas Raiders
Tennessee Titans 14-17 Los Angeles Chargers
Cincinnati Bengals 34-23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New York Giants 20-12 Washington Commanders
Los Angeles Rams 12-24 Green Bay Packers
NFL Standings After Matchday 15
NFC North
NFC West
NFC East
NFC South
Vikings
11-3
49ers
10-4
Eagles
13-1
Buccaneers
6-8
Lions
7-7
Seahawks
7-7
Cowboys
10-4
Panthers
5-9
Packers
6-8
Cardinals
4-10
Giants
8-5-1
Saints
5-9
Bears
3-11
Rams
4-10
Commanders
7-6-1
Falcons
5-9
AFC North
AFC West
AFC East
AFC South
Bengals
10-4
Chiefs
11-3
Bills
11-3
Titans
7-7
Ravens
9-5
Chargers
8-6
Dolphins
8-6
Jaguars
6-8
Browns
6-8
Raiders
6-8
Patriots
7-7
Colts
4-9-1
Steelers
6-8
Broncos
4-10
Jets
7-7
Texans
1-12-1
NFL Matchday 16 โ Fixtures & Betting Tips
Thursday 23rd December
Jacksonville Jaguars (6-8) @ New York Jets (7-7)
Saturday 24th December
Atlanta Falcons (5-8) @ Baltimore Ravens (9-5)
Buffalo Bills (11-3) @ Chicago Bears (3-11)
Cincinnati Bengals (10-4) @ New England Patriots (7-7)
Detroit Lions (7-7) @ Carolina Panthers (5-9)
Houston Texans (1-12-1) @ Tennessee Titans (7-7)
New Orleans Saints (6-8) @ Cleveland Browns (6-8)
New York Giants (8-5-1) @ Minnesota Vikings (11-3)
Seattle Seahawks (7-7) @ Kansas City Chiefs (11-3)
Washington Commanders (7-6-1) @ San Francisco 49ers (10-4)
Philadelphia Eagles (13-1) @ Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
Las Vegas Raiders (6-8) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (6-8)
Sunday 25th December
Green Bay Packers (6-8) @ Miami Dolphins (8-6)
Denver Broncos (4-10) @ Los Angeles Rams (4-10)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8) @ Arizona Cardinals (4-10)
Monday 26th December
Los Angeles Chargers (8-6) @ Indianapolis Colts (4-9-1)
NFL Matchday 16 โ Top Betting Tips With Bet365
We turned a small profit last week with two of our five tips coming in but we were just a total of four, two and one point out on the other three bets from landing winners in those too.
Thatโs frustrating but at least it shows Iโm close to the mark with these tips, so letโs hope this five can land us another profit this week.
Jets to beat the Jaguars by 1-6 points โ 3/1
Bills to cover the spread (-9.0) to beat the Bears โ 10/11
Chargers to beat the Colts by 7-12 points โ 9/2
Eagles to beat the Cowboys (moneyline) โ 11/5
Vikings to beat the Giants by 13-18 points โ 13/2
NFL โ Power Rankings (After Week 15)
Philadelphia Eagles (13-1) (7,4,2,1,3,2,2,2,1,2,1,1,1,1,1)
Ian John is a seasoned Sports Writer and UK gambling expert with over a decade of experience at Bonus Code Poker. For the past 10 years, he has been providing readers with insightful analysis and expert opinions on sports betting and poker.
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