The Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons each secured key wins in Week 15 as the playoffs inch closer.
Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season is in the books.
It concluded with a Monday Night Football doubleheader. The first game saw the Minnesota Vikings easily dispatch the Chicago Bears at home 30-12.
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In the second, Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons barely beat the lowly Las Vegas Raiders 15-9, with Desmond Ridder being under center against his former team.
Let's analyze the two games further with winners and losers:
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WINNER: Vikings' skill players
Minnesota was expected to get the job done against Chicago, and its skill players on offense stepped up. While Sam Darnold didn't have the best showing, Aaron Jones led the way with 18 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown to lead all rushers. Cam Akers also put in a rushing score, but struggled with 24 yards on 10 carries.
Justin Jefferson led Minnesota with seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown while Jordan Addison also caught seven passes, but for 63 yards. Tight end T.J. Hockenson added five receptions for 52 yards. Minnesota is now 12-2.
LOSER: Losing streaks
Chicago has not won a game since mid-October, dropping to 4-10. The Bears' losing streak is now at eight games, but the schedule does not lighten up. The next three games for Caleb Williams and Co. are the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks at home before a road trip to the Green Bay Packers to end the year.
Williams in the loss to Minnesota completed 18 of 31 passes for 191 yards, one touchdown and no picks while taking just two sacks. D'Andre Swift rushed for 79 yards on 19 carries as Keenan Allen caught six passes for 82 yards and the touchdown thrown by Williams.
WINNER: Bijan Robinson, Falcons
It was far from a pretty performance by Atlanta, which improved to 7-7 in the race for the NFC South title. Atlanta scored a touchdown in the first quarter from a Cousins to Drake London connection, but the rest of the game was extremely poor.
If it wasn't for standout running back Robinson, things could've been much different. Robinson recorded 125 rushing yards on 22 carries, an average of 5.7 and a long of 29 despite not getting into the end zone. Tyler Allgeier got 12 carries to help Robinson, but logged just 43 yards.
LOSER: Desmond Ridder, Raiders
The Raiders don't have much to play for besides draft positioning, but Ridder had the chance for personal vengeance against the team that drafted him. Ridder didn't do well at all while in Atlanta and the team rightfully moved on, but the Cincinnati product failed to put up a revenge game.
Ridder, starting for the injured Aidan O'Connell, completed 23 of 38 passes for 208 yards, one touchdown and a pick while taking three sacks. Ridder also led the Raiders in rushing with 28 yards on five attempts, with a long of 11. Alexander Mattison had 21 yards on seven carries.
The loss dropped Las Vegas to 2-12, but Ridder would've been happy if he led the team to their third win of the season.
LOSER: Kirk Cousins, Falcons
Ending with a loser from the games, Cousins just has not been playing like the $180 million man Atlanta made him. Of course, that mistake was on Atlanta. Still, Cousins' form has been in the trenches lately and that continued in a game where he should've easily succeeded.
Instead, Cousins completed 11 of 17 passes for just 112 yards, one touchdown and a pick while being sacked three times. Atlanta's schedule is pretty light to end the year, facing the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers at home while travelling to the Washington Commanders.
But no game will be straightforward if Cousins keeps offering these types of production, so head coach Raheem Morris needs to sort things out swiftly.
