Week 14 winners and losers: Big day for running backs
Week 14 winners
Kerwynn Williams: The second-year back had never had an NFL carry prior to Sunday. By day's end, he had 19 (for 100 yards) while filling in for injured Andre Ellington, helping the NFC-leading Cardinals (10-3) to a key 17-14 victory against the Chiefs.
Ravens linebackers: Elvis Dumervil, Terrell Suggs and rookie C.J. Mosley combined for 18 tackles and all six of Baltimore's sacks as the Ravens turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season with a crucial 28-13 victory at Miami.
Panthers: Assuming the Falcons lose to the Packers in Green Bay Monday night — the Pack are undefeated at Lambeau Field this season — Carolina will only be a half-game out of first place in the NFC South despite a horrid 4-8-1 record which nonetheless improved with Sunday's beatdown of the Saints (5-8), the Panthers' first victory since Oct. 5.
Rams defense: It posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in 69 years after blanking the Redskins 24-0. Three of St. Louis' defenders — CB Janoris Jenkins, DT Michael Brockers and LB Alec Ogletree — were among the six Rams acquired as a result of the deal that ultimately sent now benched QB Robert Griffin III to Washington during the 2012 draft. St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher dispatched all six of those players for the pregame coin toss.
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Jarius Wright: The Vikings wideout scored his first TD of the season on an 87-yard catch-and-run in overtime to beat the Jets 30-24.
Jamie Collins: The second-year linebacker helmed a Patriots defense (9 tackles, 2 sacks) that held the Chargers to just 216 yards in a game New England scraped out 23-14 Sunday night.
Cowboys: While they were basking in the glow of their win at Chicago on Thursday — QB Tony Romo was probably just basking in some manner that rested his battered body — the Eagles were losing to the Seahawks to fall back into a first-place tie with Dallas atop the NFC East and setting the stage for a huge division showdown next Sunday night at Lincoln Financial field between the 9-4 clubs.
J.J. Watt: Ho hum, just another three-sack day in Sunday's win at Jacksonville. Watt has 12½ of his 14½ sacks this year in the past eight games and will have Andrew Luck in his sights in Week 15.
Matthew Stafford: The Lions quarterback turned in his first three-TD passing day of the year with a season-best 133.3 passer rating as Detroit kept pace in the NFC wild-card chase with the Seahawks and Cowboys.
Tom Coughlin: With speculation building that the curtain is about to fall on his 11-year run on Broadway, the Giants coach enjoyed his first win since Oct. 5 as the team decisively snapped its seven-game skid after thrashing the Titans 36-7.
Raiders rookies: The top picks of their 2014 draft class — QB Derek Carr (3 TD passes) and LB Khalil Mack (season-high 2 sacks) — had huge days as Oakland notched it second win of the season by winning the battle of the Bay over the Niners.
Le'Veon Bell: The AFC's best back in 2014 posted 235 yards from scrimmage — 43% of the Steelers' total of 543 — and scored three TDs in Pittsburgh's 42-21 win over Cincinnati.
C.J. Anderson's fantasy football owners: Fantasy playoffs have arrived in most leagues, and Anderson — a late-season savior in many of them after he emerged as the Broncos' bellcow — scored all three of Denver's TDs in their 24-17 win over the Bills.
Week 14 losers
Peyton Manning's fantasy football owners: Not only was he intercepted twice, not only were his 173 passing yards a season-low, but he failed to throw a TD for the first time as a Bronco and saw his 51-game streak of games with a scoring strike go by the wayside three games shy of tying Drew Brees' league record.
Philadelphia offense: After running into the now high-revving buzzsaw that is Seattle's defense, Philly managed just 139 yards, the first time the Eagles had failed to break at least 200 in coach Chip Kelly's two seasons. Philly's nine first downs were also a low point under Kelly.
Jim Harbaugh: His 49ers went across the Bay and suffered a potentially mortal blow by becoming only the second team to lose to the Raiders in 2014. With speculation swirling regarding Harbaugh's future, his team is crumbling after a second straight setback and potentially expediting his departure.
Dolphins O-line: It allowed six sacks and nine hits of QB Ryan Tannehill while the Miami run game produced all of 63 yards in a loss to Baltimore that may ultimately scuttle the Dolphins' season.
Browns defense: It deserved far better. It produced two TDs, hung three sacks and 13 hits on Colts QB Andrew Luck — his 45.3% completion rate and 59.8 passer rating were season-worsts — and limited the top-ranked Indianapolis offense to 25 points and 362 yards, both well below its 2014 averages.
Brian Hoyer: For those keeping track — and the fine folks of Cleveland surely are — that would be eight INTs and one TD for the quarterback who may not be starting much longer after his latest poor outing helped drop the Browns into the AFC North basement.
Bengals: After going undefeated at home during the 2013 regular season, they've won only two of their past five at Paul Brown Stadium after getting blown out by the Steelers. Cincinnati is now clinging to a half-game lead over Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the AFC North and finishes the season with a tough three-game stretch: at Browns, home against the Broncos and at Steelers.
Zach Mettenberger: Tennessee's rookie quarterback fell to 0-6 as a starter and re-injured his throwing shoulder in the loss to the Giants. Hard to believe the Titans will be dissuaded from drafting yet another passer in 2015.
Saints defense: It continues to get ugly for coordinator Rob Ryan's unit, which allowed 497 yards and 41 points to Carolina, both season highs for the Panthers, who began Sunday ranked 27th in scoring at just 19 points per game.
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