NFL Week 15: Top Ten Performances

Falcons caused their fans an undue amount of stress in doing so.

Minnesota (13-2) beat the Chicago Bears, 30-12, and moved into a first-place tie with the Detroit Lions in the NFC South. The Lions and Vikes are on course for a winner-take-all head-to-head in Week 18 in Detroit. The Bears (4-10) suffered their eighth loss in a row. They host Detroit next week with another chance to play spoiler to a division rival.

In the other MNF game, the Falcons survived a Raiders’ Hail Mary attempt on the game’s final play to hold on for a 15-9 win. The victory stopped a four-game losing streak and kept Atlanta (7-7) a game back of NFC South-leading Tampa Bay with three games remaining.

As for the Raiders, they showed some fight in battling back from a 15-3 fourth-quarter deficit. Vegas had the ball with no timeouts, and backup QB Desmond Ridder — a one-time starter for the Falcons — almost engineered a revenge moment. However, his pass into the end zone with no time left was intercepted by Atlanta’s Jessie Bates.

Neither game produced an individual performance worthy of inclusion in our Top 10. As we noted in our Week 15 preview, the late window held a group of promising matchups. Most of this week’s best individual efforts come from the batch of games.

Here’s our Top 10 list for Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season. (Oh … in case you were expecting otherwise, De’Vondre Campbell is nowhere to be found on this week’s roll of elite performers.)

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1. QB Josh Allen, Bills vs. Detroit

   Allen is on such a roll right now that league MVP honors almost feels like his to lose. Accounting for six TDs against the Rams the week before, the veteran quarterback tallied four more — two passing, two running — in Buffalo’s 48-42 road win against the Lions. Allen passed for 362 yards, his second straight 300-yard passing game, completing 23 of 34, and running for 68 more yards. Allen made history in Detroit by becoming the first ever quarterback in to have 25 or more passing touchdowns and 10 or more rushing touchdowns in multiple seasons. The 90 points scored by the Bills in consecutive weeks is a franchise record, and Allen’s fingerprints seem to be on every single point.

2. WR Mike Evans, Bucs vs. Chargers

   As we’ll soon see, other receivers had bigger catch and yardage numbers, but Evans came up with huge plays in key moments against one of the league’s stingiest defenses. The veteran wideout hauled in nine passes for 159 yards and two TDs, as Tampa Bay thumped Los Angeles, 40-17. His two scoring receptions — a catch and run of 57 yards and a 35-yard strike on a post pattern — punctuated a 30-point Bucs run that turned a seven-point deficit into a runaway Tampa win.

3. QB Lamar Jackson, Ravens vs. New York Giants

   Jackson completed 21 of 25 passes for 290 yards and five TDs in Baltimore’s 35-10 blasting of the Giants. Sunday’s stats were the latest in a parade of gaudy numbers for the two-time league MVP this season: his second five-touchdowns-passing game, his third 80-percent-plus completion day and his third game with a passer rating of at least 154.6. If not for the fact his opponent was the woeful Giants, Jackson’s day would contend for the top spot.

4. WR Davonte Adams, Jets vs. Jacksonville

   Adams’ 198 receiving yards were a season high as the Jets held off the Jaguars 32-25. It was Adams’ second straight 100-yard receiving day. His biggest play of the day came late in the fourth, when he caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to put the Jets up by three points. It was Adams’ fifth touchdown catch of the season and the 81st of his career from Rodgers.

5. QB Baker Mayfield, Bucs vs. Los Angeles Chargers

   Mayfield completed 22 of 27 passes (81.5 percent) and threw for 288 yards in leading the Bucs to a crucial road win over the Chargers. Mayfield caught fire when his team needed him most: Tampa scored on six consecutive drives, including all five possessions in the second half, with Mayfield throwing three of his four touchdown passes after intermission. Two of his TD tosses went to Mike Evans, and the Bucs racked up 506 yards of total offense against the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL.

6. QB Jalen Hurts, Eagles vs. Pittsburgh

   With Saquon Barkley limited by the tough Pittsburgh run defense, Hurts took it upon himself to lead the Eagles to their 12th win of the season, a 27-13 triumph over the Steelers. Hurts threw for 290 yards on a very efficient 25-of-32 passing. He also tossed two TDs, one each to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, each of whom had 100-yard days receiving. Throw in another 45 rushing yards for the Eagles’ quarterback, and you have a top-10 day by a guy who is quietly having an MVP-caliber season.

7. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions vs. Buffalo

   Sure, St. Brown (and Jared Goff, for that matter) padded their stats in the second half as Buffalo went prevent with a big lead. Still, 14 catches is 14 catches, and when they produce 193 receiving yards and a score, you’re going to end up on this list. Perhaps St. Brown’s most noteworthy play came late in the third, when he caught a 3rd-and-17 pass over the middle and outran the Bills’ secondary for a 66-yard score. The play cut Detroit’s deficit to 14 points as the Lions would score 28 points over the final 17 minutes of the game to keep things interesting.

8. QB Jared Goff, Lions vs. Buffalo

   As with St. Brown, Goff’s numbers benefitted from playing from way behind. As with St. Brown, it’s impossible to ignore 494 passing yards and five touchdowns, even if they did come in a loss. Goff’s 59 attempts were a career high and the most by any NFL signal-caller this season. His 494 yards were his second highest ever, and it was the third time in his career that he threw for five touchdowns. And yet he was the second-best quarterback at Ford Field on Sunday.

9. LB Lavonte David, Bucs vs. Los Angeles Chargers

   David was in on 12 tackles and recorded 1.5 sacks of Chargers QB Justin Herbert in Tampa’s big road victory. David was the tip of the Tampa Bay defensive spear that shut out the Chargers in the second half, helping Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense establish and maintain a rhythm over the final 30 minutes.

10. WR DeVonta Smith, Eagles vs. Pittsburgh

    Smith snared 11 of Jalen Hurts’ passes for 109 yards in helping the Eagles topple visiting Pittsburgh. It was Smith’s first 100-yard game of the season, as he teamed with A.J. Brown, who also had a 100-yard day and a TD catch. Smith’s spectacular one-handed touchdown grab converted a 3-and-22 and gave the Eagles a two-touchdown cushion midway through the fourth. The acrobatic effort ranks among the top plays of the 2024 season.

     

Honorable mention

• Rico Dowdle’s day would be higher on the list had his game meant something other than trying to save Mike McCarthy’s job. The fifth-year back rushed for a career-best 149 yards on 25 carries in Dallas’ 30-14 win over the Panthers. Dowdle became the first Dallas back since Ezekiel Elliott in 2019 to run for 100-plus yards in three straight games.

• Bills RB James Cook rushed for 105 yards on 14 carries in Buffalo’s win over Detroit. Cook’s 41-yard burst to start the second half gave the Bills control of the game.

• Detroit TE Sam LaPorta had seven catches for 111 yards — his first 100-yard game of the year — in Detroit’s loss to Buffalo.

• In one of the more spectacular defensive plays of the season, Denver LB Nik Bonitto returned a lateral on an Indy trick play 50 yards for a TD in the Broncos’ win. The week prior, Bonitto had a 70 yard pick-six, becoming the first linebacker in NFL history to post defensive scores of at least 50 yards in back-to-back weeks.

• Jonathan Taylor rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries in the Colts’ 31-13 loss to Denver.

• WR Jerry Jeudy continued his hot play of late, catching 11 passes for 108 yards as his Browns lost 21-7 to Kansas City.

• DE T.J. Watt had two sacks in the Steelers 27-13 setback to the Eagles. It was Watt’s 25th career game with two or more sacks.

• Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb complemented Dowdle’s big day with nine catches for 109 yards and a TD in the Cowboys’ win over Carolina.

• Washington’s WR Terry McLaurin caught seven passes for 73 yards and two TDs in the Commanders’ 20-19 road win over New Orleans.

• Saints’ DE Cameron Jordan notched two sacks in that one-point loss to Washington.