However, we have seen a change in the AFC South, with the Jaguars timing their great run of form to perfection as they moved to 7-8 and above the collapsing Tennessee Titans who have fallen from 7-3 down to 7-8 and are now in second place in the division after their dismal loss to the Houston Texans.
Elsewhere the Los Angeles Rams racked up 51 points against the Denver Broncos, which saw them sack head coach Nathaniel Hackett on the back of that loss.
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With just two weeks of the regular season left, we still have a total of five places left up for grabs in the race for the playoffs, with two qualifiers for teams in the AFC and NFC South divisions, plus three other positions with a host of teams that could clinch one of the available berths.
As usual, you can enjoy a wide range of bets on the remaining regular season action, as well as throughout the playoffs with bet365 Sport.
Let us now take a look at how things transpired on Week 16 of the NFL.
NFL Matchday 16 โ Main Stories
Broncos Blown Out By Rampant Rams Sees Hackett Fired โ The Los Angeles Rams havenโt had much to cheer this season, but on Sunday night they produced a superb offensive display to blitz the Denver Broncos by a massive 51 points to 14. The Broncoโs head coach Nate Hackett was fired after the game after he admitted his team were not ready to play on Christmas Day and put in a sub-par performance against a team that had been on a six-game losing streak.
Titans Miserable Slide Continues As Jags Hit Top Of AFC South โ The AFC South has new leaders this week as the Jacksonville Jaguars playoff push continued with a fine win over the New York Jets on Thursday night while the Tennessee Titans slump continued with a dismal loss to the Houston Texans. That loss dropped the Titans into second place in the South, a division they led comfortably just five weeks ago. The Titans face the Cowboys on Thursday in disarray and must finish the season with an away trip to Jacksonville. No wonder Jags fans are smiling.
Ravens And Chargers Clinch Playoff Berths โ The Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers both clinched playoff berths this week with wins Falcons and Colts respectively. They join the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals as playoff-confirmed teams in the AFC leaving just two spots open in that division one of which will go to the AFC South winner and the other to the team with the best record, currently held by the Miami Dolphins on 8-7.
Cowboys Defeat Hurts-Less Eagles In NFC East Classic โ In the fourth quarter, trailing by two scores, it looked like the Philadelphia Eagles had Dallas where they wanted. Facing a 3rd and 30 from their own 29 yard line, somehow the Cowboys converted, shortly tied up the game and then clinched the win in what was a true NFL East classic. The Eagles missed Jalen Hurts but Gardner Minshew filled in nicely. If these two are to meet again in the playoffs, it could be a classic.
15 Teams In The Hunt For Just Five Playoff Berths โ Speaking of playoffs, there are just five berths left available. Three in the NFC, two in the AFC and yet there are still 15 teams in with a mathematical chance of clinching one of them. That number will of course be cut considerably this week depending on results, but whatever happens, next weekend will be pivotal one in the season for so many teams and that essentially means we are playing win and in football from now on.
NFL Star Performers of the Week โ Offense/ST
TE Evan Engram (Jaguars) โ 7 receptions for 113 yards.
RB DโOnta Foreman (Panthers) โ 21 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown
RB Chuba Hubbard (Panthers) โ 12 carries for 125 yards
QB Jared Goff (Lions) โ 25/42 for 335 yards and 3 touchdowns
WR Shane Zylstra (Lions) โ 5 receptions for 26 yards and 3 touchdowns
WR Tee Higgins (Bengals) โ 8 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown
QB Kirk Cousins (Vikings) โ 34/48 for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns
TE TJ Hockenson (Vikings) โ 13 receptions for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns
TE George Kittle (49ers) โ 6 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns
QB Dak Prescott (Cowboys) โ 27/35 for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns
WR CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys) โ 10 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns
WR DeVonta Smith (Eagles) โ 8 receptions for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns
WR Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins) โ 5 receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown
QB Baker Mayfield (Rams) โ 24/28 for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns
RB Cam Akers (Rams) โ 23 carries for 118 yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 receptions 29 yards
NFL Star Performers Of The Week โ Defense
Los Angeles Chargers โ The Chargers defense not only held the Colts to just three points, they intercepted Nick Foles three times and sacked the quarterback seven times in a fantastic defensive effort albeit against somewhat limited and out of sorts opposition.
Pittsburgh Steelers โ The Steelers defense held the Las Vegas Raiders to just ten points and intercepted Derek Carr three times, as well as holding their main offensive weapon, running back Josh Jacobs to just 44 yards rushing to lay the foundations for their comeback win over the Raiders.
Buffalo Bills โ The Bills defense did what many teams have failed to do this season, contain and nullify Bears quarterback Justin Fields holding him to just 119 yards passing and 11 yards rushing. That laid the foundation for their comfortable success over the Bears.
Jacksonville Jaguars โ One of the most improved teams of the season continued their ascent to the top of the AFC South with a superb win over the Jets. They held the Jets to just 227 yards of offense, allowing the Jets to convert on just 2 of 13 third downs, forcing a fumble, intercepting a pass and sacking the quarterback three times. The net result, the Jets scored just three points and the Jags now top the AFC South.
NFL Rookies Of The Week
WR Jahan Dotson (Commanders) โ 6 receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown
DT Jordan Davis (Eagles) โ Head injury โ To be evaluated for this week.
DE Chandler Jones (Raiders) โ Elbow injury โ unlikely to play again this season.
OT Laโel Collins (Bengals) โ Knee injury โ Day to day but not as bad as first feared.
CB Jaycee Horn (Panthers) โ Wrist injury โ Day to day
DB Tre Norwood (Steelers) โ Hamstring โ Likely out for season.
G Andrus Peat (Saints) โ Ankle โ Day to day
NFL Bonehead of The Week
When you give up a 3rd and 30 to a heated rival in a close game, you probably expect to be listed here, but in fairness to the Eagles, I donโt think they did too much wrong on that play, the Cowboys just did a little better.
So instead, the Bonehead of the week goes to the entire Denver Broncos team, and especially their โSuper Bowl calibreโ defense, who somehow managed to ship 51 points to a Los Angeles Rams team that was devoid of both Matt Stafford and Cooper Kupp.
It was an embarrassing performance and one that saw head coach Nat Hackett pay the price with his job. The Broncos season has been a disaster from start to finish but this was a new low on a team whose gamble to sign Russell Wilson on a lengthy and expensive contract has backfired.
NFL Matchday 16 โ Results
Jacksonville Jaguars 19-3 New York Jets
Atlanta Falcons 9-17 Baltimore Ravens
Detroit Lions 23-37 Carolina Panthers
Seattle Seahawks 10-24 Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints 17-10 Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals 22-18 New England Patriots
New York Giants 24-27 Minnesota Vikings
Buffalo Bills 35-13 Chicago Bears
Houston Texans 19-14 Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders 20-37 San Francisco 49ers
Philadelphia Eagles 34-40 Dallas Cowboys
Las Vegas Raiders 10-13 Pittsburgh Steelers
Green Bay Packers 26-20 Miami Dolphins
Denver Broncos 14-51 Los Angeles Rams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-16 Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Chargers 20-3 Indianapolis Colts
NFL Standings After Matchday 16
NFC North
NFC West
NFC East
NFC South
Vikings
12-3
49ers
11-4
Eagles
13-2
Buccaneers
7-8
Lions
7-8
Seahawks
7-8
Cowboys
11-4
Panthers
6-9
Packers
7-8
Rams
5-10
Giants
8-6-1
Saints
6-9
Bears
3-12
Cardinals
4-11
Commanders
7-7-1
Falcons
5-10
AFC North
AFC West
AFC East
AFC South
Bengals
11-4
Chiefs
12-3
Bills
12-3
Jaguars
7-8
Ravens
10-5
Chargers
9-6
Dolphins
8-7
Titans
7-8
Steelers
7-8
Raiders
6-9
Patriots
7-8
Colts
4-10-1
Browns
6-9
Broncos
4-11
Jets
7-8
Texans
2-12-1
Teams qualified for the playoffs are shown in Italics.
Teams confirmed as Divisional Winners are shown in Bold.
NFL Matchday 17 โ Fixtures & Betting Tips
Thursday 29th December
Dallas Cowboys (11-4) @ Tennessee Titans (7-8)
Sunday 1st January
Arizona Cardinals (4-11) @ Atlanta Falcons (5-10)
Miami Dolphins (8-7) @ New England Patriots (7-8)
New Orleans Saints (6-9) @ Philadelphia Eagles (13-2)
Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1) @ New York Giants (8-6-1)
Carolina Panthers (6-9) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8)
Denver Broncos (4-11) @ Kansas City Chiefs (12-3)
Chicago Bears (3-12) @ Detroit Lions (7-8)
Cleveland Browns (6-9) @ Washington Commanders (7-7-1)
Not the greatest set of predictions last week, but we had one come in around the even money mark, but Iโd like to do better with this quintet of tips for the penultimate round of Regular Season games this week.
Dallas Cowboys to beat the Tennessee Titans by 7-12 points โ 4/1
New York Giants to beat the Indianapolis Colts by 7-12 points โ 9/2
Detroit Lions to beat the Chicago Bears by 13-18 points โ 6/1
49ers @ Raiders โ Special Team or Defensive Touchdown to be scored โ 43/20
Bengals to beat the Bills โ Moneyline – Evens
NFL โ Power Rankings (After Week 16)
Philadelphia Eagles (13-2) (7,4,2,1,3,2,2,2,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1)
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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