NFL Week 15 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It was another week in the NFL that left my jaw firmly planted on the floor when it came to dysfunction pouring out of one of the major franchises.  It was another week in the NFL that I was allowed to celebrate the awesomeness of my Denver Broncos.  As always, it was simply another amazing week in the NFL, one loaded with incredible storylines as the season's end draws near and here are some the top things we learned from around the league in Week 15.

1. Johnny Football apparently forgot how to football.  I get that the Cleveland Browns needed a spark. I get that the decision the Browns made to start QB Johnny Manziel was a lose/lose situation either way.  If Johnny did well, everyone would wonder why they didn't start him sooner and if Johnny did bad, everyone would wonder why the hell they started him.  Can you guess which one happened on Sunday?  For those who missed out, the latter of those outcomes came to life as Manziel took the field in embarrassing fashion. He was simply awful, unable to get any kind of read on the defense, he found himself holding onto the ball too long and when he did get rid of it, his throws were errant at best.  It was simply an ugly debut for Johnny Football, who looked like he was playing the game for the first time this week.  While he is currently the anointed starter, don't be surprised to see Cleveland give him the hook and put Hoyer back at the helm if a legitimate shot at the playoffs presents itself.

2. Turns out the Chicago Bears are as dysfunctional as the Washington Redskins.  Recently we learned that the Bears are suffering from a little buyer's remorse over QB Jay Cutler's epic contract and well, there's solid reasons to have such remorse. What we didn't expect was to find out that one of the people who leaked the fact that the franchise is facepalming over Cutler's play...happened to be one of the coaches.  Yes, Offensive Coordinator Aaron Kromer was one of the sources of the original report and how did this come to light? Kromer apparently had a guilty conscience and during a team meeting, confessed his football sins to the team before apologizing to everyone. How crazy is that? I mean, you have to be kidding me. This is the National Football League, and this kind of petty high school crap is going on at Halas Hall.  I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that he told the team what he did, shattering their confidence in him, or the fact that Kromer didn't have the stones to flat out tell Cutler to his face, behind closed doors that his play was garbage.  This is just...stunning and sad.  I'll leave it at that.

3. The Playoff Picture begins to take shape.  Sunday saw three AFC teams win their divisions, Denver, Indianapolis and New England and saw one NFC team, Arizona clinch a playoff berth.  But what makes these achievements interesting is that...neither conference has a solid idea of who else will be in the playoffs and what the seeding will look like. If the Pats lose one game and Denver wins out, Denver has a shot at the number one seed.  If Arizona loses out, Detroit, Green Bay, Seattle or Dallas could snag the number one seed depending on how wins and losses go over the next couple of weeks. It's an exciting time to say the least and although we really have no clue who will earn Homefield Advantage in either conference yet, it's nice to see that some teams have accomplished step one...they're in the playoffs. 

4. Speaking of the playoffs, will Drew Stanton's injury effect Arizona's chances in the postseason? Sadly it's hard to say, but it's something everyone out in Arizona needs to be concerned with. After all, Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton have been fantastic game managers for this franchise and now the untested Ryan Lindley will helm this team until Stanton returns. Thankfully the Cardinals have a fantastic defense that has helped shape the course of quite a few games this year, but big mistakes on offense can unravel a team.  This should be an interesting story to watch over the next few weeks. 

5. Buffalo still likes to surprise.  They headed into a game with Green Bay that let's be honest, everyone expected them to lose. The Packers have been on fire as of late and QB Aaron Rodgers has been torching defenses, so a win for Green Bay made sense.  Buffalo thought otherwise.  Their defense had the Packers off of their rhythm all day and the end result was an incredible upset win for the Bills. It's worth mentioning because whether or not Buffalo makes the playoffs, they may end up shaping the playoff picture regardless if they manage to pull off what they did on Sunday once again.  No team should take them for granted over the next couple of weeks, and if they're thinking about writing them off, give the folks in Green Bay a call, they'll have plenty to say.  

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