NFL

Week 15 of NFL: Packers Secure NFC North, Saints Shutout Bucs & Bengals Win Big

Although there is still a significant portion of the NFL season left, we already know who will represent the NFC North in the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers, who clinched the division on Sunday by defeating the Baltimore Ravens 31-30, are the team to beat. Aaron Rodgers and Tyler Huntley, who was standing in for Lamar Jackson, put on a show to remember, trading passes back and forth the whole game. Rodgers threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns on 23-31 passes, while Huntley threw for 215 yards and rushed for 73 yards and two scores on each route.

 

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Mark Andrews caught ten of Huntley’s passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. The Ravens mounted a serious comeback attempt late in the going as Huntley rushed into the endzone twice in the last five minutes only to see them go for two and come up short. The Packers are now 11-3, and with three games left in the season appear to be favorites to take the top seed in the NFC as a whole. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have joined the Pack as being clinched on Sunday, but they were instead held to a historic result for quarterback Tom Brady as they were shutout 9-0 by the New Orleans Saints. Brady barely completed half of his passes and was picked off twice as his teams suffered without the presence of multiple playmakers. But make no mistake about it, the Saints were brilliant as well, holding the legendary QB to no points and defeating the Bucs for the seventh straight time in the regular season. The win also brings them up to 7-7 following a second consecutive victory. They are back alive when they looked like their season was truly over. The Bucs, 10-4, fell behind in the NFC’s top seed race, but they still just need one result to go their way to be crowned NFC South champs once more. And finally, the Cincinnati Bengals made a statement on Sunday and took a step toward potentially winning the AFC North by beating the Denver Broncos 15-10 on the road. It was far from pretty as neither team moved the ball over 300 yards and the Bengals only managed 12 first downs total, but they found a way, in the end, to improve to 8-6 anyway. Tyler Boyd’s 56-yard touchdown reception proved to be the pivotal moment that concluded the scoring in the third quarter, giving Cincy a tie at the top of the division with the Ravens.

 

Featured Image by Pixabay via Pexels

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