NFL Grades after Week 14: Vikings, Rams, and 49ers earn top grades

December is make-or-break time in the NFL, if you're not winning and playing well now, you're either not going to make the playoffs, or you're going to be bumped out pretty quickly. With that being said, let's take a look at how every team performed in week 14!

The Cowboys played the Bengals on Monday night, with the offense and defense putting in good performances, only to be let down by a bizarre special teams play. 2024 has been a disappointing year for Dallas, but they are still playing hard, so there's something to hold onto at least.

Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase shouldn't be asked to try and win almost every game by themselves, yet the 2024 Bengals haven't had many other solutions. Chase Brown has emerged a weapon in the run and pass game which has eased some of the pressure recently, but as MNF proved, without their MVP-caliber QB and all-world wideout, this team would be in trouble.

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The NFL mostly rewards aggression from its coaches, and there are few more aggressive than Dan Campbell. His decision to go for it on 4th down late to effectively end the game was bold and it paid off. This is a team struck by a brutal injury crisis, but they will continue to feed off their head coach's energy and confidence.

It's tough to knock the Packers for playing the Lions this close, even with a loss. If they play that game 100 times, it probably works out close to 50-50 for either side. The defense didn't play great and there were some issues on third down that proved costly. Still, when you're not perfect and nearly beat this Lions team, there are still positives.

In what could have been a tricky divisional game against a Browns team that has been a player spoiler in recent weeks, the Steelers did what they needed to do. It was a professional performance, getting on top early and never letting Cleveland back in. The battle for the Keystone State next Sunday looks like a fun one!

Jameis Winston played badly just a week after playing great, which is all part of the Jameis Winston experience. The Browns were at a huge talent disadvantage on Sunday, and it showed over the course of the game. A loss does them no real harm moving forward, however.

This was a brutal game of football to watch, with both sides looking mostly incompetent. The Giants scored 11 points against the 20th ranked defense by EPA/Play, per SumerSports. Maybe things weren’t so bad with Daniel Jones under center after all (they were, but it wasn’t all his fault as we can see).

Probably the lowest grade we will give out to a winning team all year. The Saints didn’t so much win this game, as they didn’t lose it. Honestly, we watch a lot of football, but we struggled to get through this one, we don’t have much to say other than well done on the win.

The Dolphins are hunting a playoff spot, and a loss yesterday would have all but killed any hopes of getting there. It remains unlikely, but their win kept them in the hunt. Tua looked sharp, and Tyreek Hill had one of his best games of 2024, when those two get going, Miami is a difficult team to stop.

As John Breech writes for CBS Sports, “For the first time in three years, Aaron Rodgers threw for more than 300 yards in a game, but the effort went to waste because of a Jets defense that disappeared late in the game.” We don’t have much to add, other than we thought Rodgers still missed some throws and made plays a younger version of himself wouldn’t have.

Per CBS Sports, teams in the NFL this year were 45-1 when they held their opponents to 10 points or fewer. Thanks to the Titans on Sunday, they’re now 45-2. It’s never good when you lose to Mac Jones, especially when he throws two picks…

The Jags outlasted the Titans on Sunday, which suggests the team is still playing for their coach. Who knows what the off season will bring in Duval, but a few wins to end the year could change the mood around the Jags heading into 2025.

For a while it looked like Kirk Cousins and the Falcons were going to go toe-to-toe with the Vikings until Minnesota proved their mettle and pulled away. Sam Darnold played a near perfect game, going 22/28 for 347 yards and five TDs. The Vikings are not going to be an easy matchup in the playoffs.

Kirk Cousins has now thrown eight interceptions and zero touchdowns in Atlanta’s four-game losing streak, per CBS Sports. That’s simply not good enough. Just a month ago, Atlanta looked like a guaranteed playoff team and a tough matchup, now they’re second in their division and probably won’t be playing football after the first week of January.

Eagles players and coaches will be the first to tell you their performance on Sunday wasn’t good enough. Jalen Hurts played maybe his worst game of the season and the defense gave up some uncharacteristic plays. Still, they got the win, held the Panthers to 16 points and Saquon Barkley still went for 124 yards on 20 carries. This Eagles team has the luxury to not need to be perfect.

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This is probably the only time we have given the losing team a high grade than the winning team all year. Carolina were feisty on Sunday, with Bryce Young showing his growing confidence as he made play after play. Adam Theilen caused the Eagles’ secondary issues all day and for the most part, the defense held up well. There are good signs for 2025 here.

It was a typical Baker Mayfield performance, throwing three TDs but also a couple of awful interceptions. The Bucs have felt like a good team who just couldn’t get things going for most of this year, but now they are hitting form at just the right time and look destined for the playoffs.

The Raiders will surely turn to Desmond Ridder for the last few games of the year just to see what they have there. Aidan O’Connell has tried his best, but he isn’t up to the standards of a starting NFL QB, as his performance on Sunday showed. Brock Bowers should be the Offensive Rookie of the Year as he continues to impress.

Due to a couple of awful Kyler Murray picks, the Cardinals were behind early and never had a chance to get back into the game. This was a huge game in the race for the NFC West, and Arizona blew their chance.

A huge win for Seattle, who are finally showing what we thought we would see from them all year, solid defense and an offense that can beat you in multiple ways. 2024 may be a year too early for this roster, but we believe this is a Super Bowl contender next season.

The season is probably over for the Niners who look too far back to make it to the playoffs, but it didn’t show on Sunday as they demolished the Bears in a manner akin to their 2023 vintage. In a season where almost everything has gone wrong for San Fran, to get a win like this late in the year is impressive, and who knows, maybe they can sneak into that final wild card spot.

This was one of the worst games of Chicago’s season, and John Breech sums up the issues well for CBS Sports, “They couldn't throw the ball, they couldn't run the ball, they couldn't protect their quarterback, they couldn't stop the run and they couldn't stop the pass.” Just a couple of things to work out, nothing to worry about…

This was probably the best game of the season so far, or at least one of them, and the Rams emerged victorious… just. It seemed like they were cruising when they were 38-21 up before letting Josh Allen and the Bills back into the game. The Rams are fighting for their playoff lives, and a win here keeps them very much in the hunt.

This was a game the Bills couldn't afford to lose, but they did. Sean McDermott's defense was torched by Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp all game long. They're both great players, but as a defensive head coach, you would have hoped McDermott could've come up with a better plan to stop them. The AFC probably won't be going through Buffalo this season.

The Chiefs continue to win, with each game looking less and less convincing. We hold our hands up and admit we still aren't sure if this is all part of some grand plan, or they are riding their luck, and it will catch up with them in the playoffs.

Jim Harbaugh will be apoplectic with how his team played for most of Sunday night's game, with drops, a Justin Herbert overthrow and an illegal kickoff killing any momentum early in the game. This was a performance that left you feeling there is much more to come from LA this year if they can just tidy a few things up.

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