Trending 📉 📈 after Sunday of NFL’s Week 14, with Packers, Broncos and Rams all trending up

Barriers are nothing new for Christian Watson, who made multiple Lambeau leaps on Sunday.

Last season, the Green Bay receiver seemingly conquered his hamstring issues, then tore his ACL in Week 18. Nine months later, he made an impressive return to the practice field. “I haven’t really taken a day off since my surgery. I mean, it’s just been a long road,” Watson said during this season’s bye.

Since returning, Watson’s been arguably the NFL’s best deep threat. His targets travel an average of 18.5 air yards, the league’s highest mark, and his 452 receiving yards and five touchdowns are top-15 marks at his position since Week 8.

Inside: Today, like every Monday, I’m covering the trends in the NFL, both good and bad. Let’s start in Lambeau.

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Packers leapfrog Bears

Watson saw just four targets in Green Bay’s 28-21 win against the Bears, but had 89 yards and two touchdowns. It was Chicago’s 12th loss to Packers coach Matt LaFleur in 13 tries, sealed with a final-play misfire by Caleb Williams.

The victory put the Packers (9-3-1) in control of the NFC North. Can they hang on? A tough schedule looms: Broncos (11-2), Bears (9-4), Ravens (6-7) and Vikings (5-8), with just one home game in a tight NFC race. For perspective on how close that conference is, yesterday’s loss dropped the Bears from the conference’s top seed to its seventh.

Week 14 Risers

📈 Broncos (11-2). Their 24-17 victory over the Raiders extended their winning streak to 10 and gave them the AFC’s No. 1 seed, as the likewise 11-2 Patriots lost to Vegas in Week 1. An imposing schedule — Packers, Jaguars, Chiefs and Chargers — awaits Denver. More takeaways here.

📈 Throwback quarterbacks. J.J. McCarthy reverted to Michigan form in the Vikings’ 31-0 win over Washington, completing 70 percent of his passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

Elsewhere, Aaron Rodgers looked like his old (albeit young) Packers self during the Steelers’ 27-22 victory in Baltimore, completing four passes of 25-plus yards with pinpoint accuracy. The Ravens nearly took a late lead, but Mark Andrews seemingly deflected Lamar Jackson’s pass away from an open DeAndre Hopkins. They continue to beat themselves.

📈 Rams (10-3). Matthew Stafford heard MVP chants in Arizona during the 45-17 victory, though L.A.’s run game proved similarly unstoppable. It was “Greatest Show on Turf” stuff, as beat reporter Nate Atkins wrote, and has the Rams back atop the NFC.

📈 Jaguars (9-4). Jacksonville’s convincing 36-19 win over the Colts was a proverbial passing of the AFC South torch. A winnable schedule (vs. Jets, at Broncos, at Colts and vs. Titans) means the Jaguars might be a playoff team just one season after 4-13:

💬 Brian Thomas Jr.: “It all comes from everything that (coach Liam Coen) is about, everything that he brings to us and just having that dog mentality, that edge.”

📈 Texans defense (8-5). Houston’s offense still has holes, as was obvious during last night’s 20-10 victory at Kansas City. But with the league’s top defense, which has now dominated Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, and a favorable schedule, the Texans could turn a five-game win streak into nine and cruise into the postseason.

Kansas City? Just a 16 percent chance to make the postseason, according to our Playoff Simulator, which would be the franchise’s first miss since 2014. Speaking of …

Week 14 Fallers

📉 Chiefs (6-7). In one of the worst performances of Mahomes’ career,  he completed just 42.4 percent of his passes for 160 yards, and was intercepted three times. He didn’t get much from his receivers, who dropped six passes. This late-fourth-quarter bobble by Travis Kelce summed up the night, and the season so far.

📉 Bengals (4-9). Joe Burrow has had a rough year. Injured in September after a 2-0 start, he watched as Cincinnati went 1-8. He returned for a win in Baltimore, then yesterday led the Bengals to touchdowns on four of his first six drives. But just as Cincinnati led by 10 in the fourth quarter, two snaps squashed any hope. Burrow’s passes were tipped and intercepted, and the Bills stormed back to win 39-34 in an instant classic. Full takeaways here.

📉 Falcons (4-9). Sunday’s 37-9 loss to the Seahawks suggests it’s time to clean house in Atlanta, which is mathematically eliminated from the postseason for the fifth time in general manager Terry Fontenot’s five seasons. Time to review his bona fides.

• 2021 record: 7-10. Drafted Kyle Pitts No. 4 overall, one spot ahead of Ja’Marr Chase and the highest a tight end has ever been picked.
• 2022: 7-10. After trading Matt Ryan, rebuilt the quarterback room around Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder. Drafted receiver Drake London at No. 8.
• 2023: 7-10. Drafted running back Bijan Robinson at No. 8, one spot ahead of defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
• 2024: 8-9. Outbid the Vikings to sign a rehabbing Kirk Cousins for $180 million, with two years guaranteed. Drafted a different QB at No. 8 a few weeks later.
• 2025: 4-9. Traded the following year’s first-round pick to draft an edge rusher, likely believing the team was an improved pass rush away from the playoffs.

Some hits, but mostly a manager acting like his team is one piece away. If Fontenot is shown the door, he could be accompanied by Raheem Morris, with whom the Falcons have won just 37 percent of games, the worst mark among active coaches.

📉 Buccaneers (7-6). NFC South leaders this entire season, they have gone 1-4 since Week 9, and yesterday’s 24-20 upset loss to the Saints (3-10) has the Panthers (7-6) tied atop the division. What to blame? Defense. Here’s every category in which the Buccaneers rank bottom-five during that span: defensive EPA, points allowed, yards allowed, passing yards allowed, yards after contact allowed per carry and defensive red-zone efficiency. Ouch.

Dianna covers our final two fallers.

What Dianna’s Hearing: Crucial losses for Colts, Commanders 

📉 Colts (8-5). For the 11th straight time, the Colts lost in Jacksonville — and they lost quarterback Daniel Jones for the season after he went down on a non-contact play. I’m told testing confirmed a torn Achilles, and he’ll undergo surgery. With Jones a pending free agent, Indy now turns to rookie Riley Leonard, while Anthony Richardson remains on the IR with his fractured orbital bone.

Remember, weeks ago, the Colts gave away two first-round picks in a trade for Sauce Gardner.

📉 Commanders (3-10). Jayden Daniels exited after a third-quarter hit and didn’t return, though Washington coach Dan Quinn said he could have gone back in. The bigger concern is 35-year-old tight end Zach Ertz, whom the team fears suffered a torn ACL. He was emotional as he was carted off, another tough blow in a season full of them for Washington.

Extra Points

👀 Race for No. 1. After the Titans (2-11) beat the Browns (3-10) on Sunday despite a career day from Shedeur Sanders, the Raiders (2-11) now hold pole position for the top pick of 2026. Full standings here.

📓 Prep for 2026. As for the top targets in that draft, our experts shared their prospect takeaways after a big-game weekend in college football. “I don’t think there are many unanswered questions (on the field) when it comes to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s evaluation,” wrote Dane Brugler, who had the Heisman favorite No. 1 in last week’s 2026 mock.

🚑 DK Metcalf hospitalized. The Steelers star receiver was evaluated at a Baltimore hospital Sunday evening after experiencing stomach pain on the team plane.

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