If the season were to end today (and we know it doesn’t), the New York Giants would select second overall in the 2025 NFL draft.
Following the New York Giants’ blowout loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, they inched closer to the conclusion of one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
The loss also moved them that much closer to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
After Sunday’s NFL schedule and before the Monday Night Football two-game slate, the Giants had the best odds of landing the first overall pick by season’s end, which many suspect would be a quarterback.
The Giants have a 44.9% chance of earning the No. 1 overall pick in 2025 NFL draft, per ESPN Analytics. Heavy favorites at this point. #Giants#NFLDraft2025
However, after the Las Vegas Raiders’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Giants are currently slated to pick second overall in the 2025 NFL draft, per Tanktathon.
The Raiders are the only other NFL team with just two wins after Week 15.
While questions remain about what the Giants will do with head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, fans are keeping a close eye on the draft picks for the remainder of the season.
Just over a week ago, fans celebrated as Graham Gano’s attempt at a game-tying field goal against the New Orleans Saints was blocked.
The Giants are currently riding a nine-game losing streak and are in jeopardy of being the first team in NFL history to go 0-9 at home.
Both the Raiders and Giants have winnable games left on their schedules. The Raiders will play the three-win Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16.
The Giants have three games left with their next game being on the road against the Falcons, who just barely beat the Raiders on Monday Night Football. However, the Giants still opened up as double-digit road underdogs.
The Raiders threatened late but lost their 10th straight game. Which players and coaches stood out?
The Raiders looked dreadful for most of their Monday night matchup against the Falcons (7-7), but the Las Vegas offense caught fire late and had a chance for the go-ahead touchdown before a hail-mary attempt failed on the game’s final play.
The result was a 15-9 defeat for Las Vegas, their 10th straight. The Raiders were shorthanded, as quarterback Desmond Ridder started for an injured Aidan O’Connell. The defense, without star DE Maxx Crosby, played hard but only forced Atlanta’s turnover-prone quarterback, Kirk Cousins, into one interception.
Plus, the Las Vegas special teams allowed the Falcons to block two punts and one extra-point attempt. Here are the winners and losers after the Raiders record dropped to 2-12.
Winner: DT Jonah Laulu
Defensive tackle Jonah Laulu helped the Raiders defense get off to a solid start with a demonstrative QB sack early in the ball game. He also had a key play late as he dropped back into coverage on third down and batted the ball to the ground, forcing Atlanta to give Las Vegas the ball with enough time to drive down the field for their hail-mary attempt.
Laulu, a seventh-round pick by the Colts in the 2024 NFL Draft, has come on strong since earning playing time in Las Vegas. He finished with six total tackles and a QB hit in addition to his pass defensed and sack, the first QB takedown of his career.
The @Raiders get pressure on 3rd down for the sack!
Defensive tackle Adam Butler was part of a solid pass rush effort from Las Vegas, notching a QB sack late in the second quarter. He also tipped a pass from Cousins that turned into an interception for the Raiders. He finished with six total tackles, his QB sack, a QB hit, a tackle for loss, and his pass breakup at the line of scrimmage.
Linebacker Robert Spillane intercepted Cousins on the Falcons’ first drive of the second half, giving the offense an opportunity they ultimately couldn’t capitalize on. On the drive following Spillane’s INT, the offense punted only for it to be blocked. It was Atlanta’s second blocked punt of the evening.
Spillane could have had an even better game, except for a questionable call from the officials. He was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty on Altanta’s final possession as he pressured Cousins on third down and forced an incompletion. Instead, the Falcons kept the ball for another set of downs before the Raiders could start their final drive.
Starting running back Sincere McCormick suffered a game-ending injury and running back Ameer Abdullah stepped up when given the opportunity. He caught a touchdown pass from Ridder to narrow the score to 15-9 with minutes remaining.
Ridder was in a tough situation; he joined the Raiders midseason and found himself starting against this former team. He finished with 208 yards on 23-for-39 passing, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Ridder has solid ability, but the odds were stacked against him on this night, especially as the Raiders had just 65 rushing yards, and 28 of those yards came from Ridder. In the end, he couldn’t overcome the rough hand he was dealt, even with his last-second chance at redemption.
It seemed that Raiders offensive coordinator Scott Turner was only working with half his playbook due to Ridder’s inexperience in the Raiders offense. He was also hampered when McCormick went down. His offense only tallied 249 yards.
But he’s on the loser list for handing the ball not once but twice to running back Alexander Mattison as the Raiders were on their 3-yard line in the second quarter. Both runs went for a loss, the second resulting in a safety. It was on a run out of the shotgun formation; the Raiders offense operated exclusively out of this formation, a sign of the limited playbook used by Turner. Mattison has been one of the worst running backs in the NFL this season, running for an absurdly low average, and had already fumbled earlier in the game. Turner was foolish to give him the ball twice there.
Loser: RB Alexander Mattison
Mattison trucked a defender on a second-half run, but he had a dreadful evening overall. He fumbled on the Raiders’ first drive of the game on a 3rd-and-23 run designed to set up a punt and then was eaten alive in the end zone by the Falcons. Offensive linemen Kolton Miller and Jordan Meredith are honorable mention losers for their part in the safety as well.
Cornerback Jack Jones gambled and lost on the Falcons’ only touchdown of the game, a pass from Cousins to wide receiver Drake London. Jones was burned badly on a double move.
Cousins to London! The @AtlantaFalcons get on the board first.
The Raiders special teams were a mess on Monday night, allowing Falcons WR KhaDarel Hodge to block two punts. The Falcons also blocked the Raiders extra point try after Abdullah’s score.
Loser: HC Antonio Pierce
Will the Raiders win another game this season? At this point, it looks unlikely, even with the Jaguars coming to Las Vegas next week. Pierce is running the show, and this losing streak is a terrible look for him as he attempts to remain coach in 2025.
He too was dealt a bad hand with injuries to Crosby, who is out for the season, and O’Connell. But Pierce may have to produce some of the magic he manifested late last season that led to his ascension to head coach. Time is running out, and his squad will have another shot on Sunday against Jacksonville.
The Falcons really, really, really need to win on Monday night.
The Atlanta Falcons have cratered after a promising 6-3 start, but their 2024 season hasn’t totally been lost. That could change on Monday night.
Atlanta faces a 2-11 Las Vegas Raiders team on the road this week that won’t have its best player in defensive end Maxx Crosby and will be starting third-year quarterback Desmond Ridder to lead its offense.
Ridder, of course, is the 2023 Falcons quarterback who was benched twice for Taylor Heinicke and eventually traded to the Arizona Cardinals in March after Atlanta signed quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The Cousins experience built real momentum for the Falcons until the wheels came off. The Falcons have dropped four straight games since beating the Dallas Cowboys in early November to get to that 6-3 record, and Cousins’ substandard play has been a leading contributor to the decline.
Turnovers and red-zone woes have submarined a once-humming offense with Cousins at the helm. Particularly without Crosby to chase him around, the Falcons quarterback should have a rebound game against Las Vegas.
What if he doesn’t? The Falcons losing to a guy they traded away in March with a guy they just gave a monster contract would be one of the most Falcon-y embarrassments the team has faced in ages.
Cousins not playing well and the Falcons losing a game to a team with two wins in December would heighten the calls for rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. It would also show a Falcons team in free fall that can’t even get past the Raiders’ third-string quarterback who got jettisoned in the offseason to a Cardinals team that eventually sent him to the practice squad.
The Falcons can’t lose this game. They simply can’t. Their playoff hopes would basically vanish into thin air barring an epic Tampa Bay Buccaneers collapse and some real brazen luck elsewhere in the NFC that the franchise isn’t know to encounter.
The high-priced Cousins losing a quarterback duel to the exiled Ridder would feel like the death knell in a Falcons season that’s already going down the drain. While Penix offers a path to the future, this would be a pretty awful present situation for Atlanta to find itself in, and it’d raise some questions about the immediate status of the franchise. It’s up to the Falcons to avoid that grim reality and show why they’re still worthy of a playoff spot.
Will the Las Vegas Raiders be on the field today in Week 15 of the NFL schedule?
Following a Week 14 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Raiders are hosting the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football on Monday, December 16.
The 2-11 Raiders are attempting to snap a nine-game losing streak. Meanwhile the Falcons have been dealing with struggles of their own, having dropped four consecutive contests. Atlanta’s veteran starting quarterback Kirk Cousins is beginning to feel the pressure, with fans calling for the team to insert rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. into the lineup. Cousins is expected to start versus the Raiders, however.
As Belichick now works to finalize his Tar Heel coaching staff, Turner is one of the top targets to become Belichick’s offensive coordinator at North Carolina per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Turner took over midseason as the Raiders’ interim offensive coordinator when Luke Getsy was fired following Las Vegas’ 41-24 Week 9 loss at Cincinnati.
With Turner pulling the strings, the Raiders haven’t scored more than 19 points in a game. Obviously, the Raiders’ quarterback situation and a rushing attack that ranks dead last in the NFL have made things challenging.
One note: #Raiders OC Scott Turner has emerged as a top target to become Bill Belichick’s OC at UNC. https://t.co/fjlgUTZMnF
Prior to arriving in Las Vegas at the start of the 2023 season as the Raiders’ passing game coordinator, Turner served as the Washington Commanders‘ offensive coordinator from 2020-22.
Turner also operated as the Carolina Panthers‘ interim offensive coordinator for the final four games of the 2019 season. Turner joined Carolina as Ron Rivera and the Panthers’ quarterbacks coach from 2018-19.
Turner got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Oregon State in 2005. Turner then spent time with the Pittsburgh Panthers as one of their offensive assistants and as a wide receivers coach before jumping into the NFL.
Turner’s NFL start was in Carolina as an offensive quality control coach from 2011-12. Turner then had stints as the Minnesota Vikings‘ quarterbacks coach (2014-16) and as the Michigan Wolverines‘ offensive analyst in 2017 before rejoining Carolina in the NFL.
The Raiders (2-11) are currently mired in a nine-game losing streak and return to action with a Monday night date against the Atlanta Falcons (6-7).
ESPN shared the Raiders’ most surprising performance from Las Vegas’ battle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
One of the bright spots from Las Vegas‘ 28-13 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the performance of running back Sincere McCormick.
An undrafted free agent running back out of UTSA in 2022, injuries derailed McCormick’s hopes for the 2022 season. McCormick has been primarily a practice squad player ever since.
But, as the Raiders have navigated injuries to their top two running backs, Alexander Mattison and Zamir White, McCormick has gotten his chance in the silver and black of late.
Running back Sincere McCormick, who has mostly been a practice squad player, is looking more like RB1 for a rebuilding Raiders offense. McCormick, taking advantage of injuries to Alexander Mattison and Zamir White, rushed for a career-best 78 yards on 15 carries. – Paul Gutierrez, ESPN.
McCormick has actually tallied career-best performances in each of the Raiders’ past three contests.
McCormick carried five times for 33 yards in the Raiders’ 29-19 loss against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 24. Then, against Kansas City on Nov. 29, McCormick rushed 12 times for 64 yards.
Finally, McCormick delivered his latest standout performance against the Bucs from Raymond James Stadium.
Mattison was listed as questionable with an ankle injury against Tampa Bay, but the fifth-year running back didn’t end up going against the Bucs. Mattison’s last appearance for the Raiders came in Week 11 at Miami.
With Mattison and White out against Tampa Bay, Ameer Abdullah operated as the Raiders’ backup running back. Abdullah saw 26 offensive snaps per Pro Football Focus, but he carried just once for one yard.
The Raiders (2-11) return to action on Monday, Dec. 16 with a home date against the Atlanta Falcons (6-7). Las Vegas then closes with games versus Jacksonville, at New Orleans and versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
But in the latest ESPN mock draft from Field Yates, it was just two, with the top two picks: Sanders to the New York Giants with the first pick and Ward to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 2. That means two-way star Travis Hunter would go third.
Here’s Yates’ take on why Sanders goes first:
The Giants’ multiyear quest to find a quarterback — recall they tried to trade up in last April’s draft — should come to an end in 2025. They benched and subsequently cut Daniel Jones last month, ending his six-season era in New York. Sanders has put together an incredible final college season, leading the FBS in completion percentage (74.2%) and ranking top-three in touchdown passes (35) and passing yards (3,926). He is at his best delivering from the pocket, as he throws with natural touch and is extremely poised. Sanders has met big moment after big moment at Colorado, and that unflappability bodes well for his NFL future.
The New York Giants are currently slated to select second in the 2025 NFL draft but still have the best odds to end up at No. 1 overall.
The New York Giants (2-11) are in the throes of one of their worst seasons ever. They lose games in many ways, do not have a franchise quarterback and many experts believe their roster — after a complete overhaul by general manager Joe Schoen since 2022 — is still one of the league’s worst.
Per Tankathon, they are currently projected to select second overall in the 2025 NFL draft behind the Las Vegas Raiders (2-11). But a lot can change over the next month.
The Giants have four games remaining, all against teams vying for the postseason. Their chances of winning a game are slim, so they are looking at a 2-15 or 3-14 finish at best.
But that may not be enough for them to stay at No. 2 or even reach No. 1.
Eight teams, one-quarter of the league, have three or fewer wins after 14 weeks. That’s a high number of underperforming teams.
The Giants are not alone. The New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns are all sitting at 3-10 this season.
If the Giants stumble into a win over the next four weeks, they’re likely to get into a glut of three-win teams and be pushed down the order vis tiebreakers.
No other team has higher than 10 percent odds to land the first overall pick. But that could change with each passing week. The Raiders play the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-10) this week and will also face the Saints (5-8), who struggled to beat the Giants on Sunday with quarterback Derek Carr in the lineup. He’s hurt now.
The Raiders are also dealing with the possibility of quarterback Aidan O’Connell missing the remainder of the season with a knee injury. That means Desmond Ridder is their new starter.
The Raiders lost again, their ninth straight defeat. But who actually performed well against the Buccaneers on Sunday?
The Raiders battled in Tampa Bay on Sunday after falling behind the Buccaneers early, and for a while, it seemed like they’d actually win a game.
But the Las Vegas offense couldn’t score enough points and the defense ran out of steam, allowing the Bucs to register a couple of fourth-quarter touchdowns. It was the Raiders’ ninth straight defeat.
Some players put good performances on tape, however. Safety Tre’von Moehrig is the highest-graded Raider this week according to Pro Football Focus, earning an impressive 90.6 score. He’s followed on the list by another defender, defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson.
The highest-graded Raiders in Week 14 vs the Buccaneers:
Moehrig led his team in tackles and recovered a fumble, and Chaisson had an incredible interception after tipping the football at the line of scrimmage. Each player registered half of a QB sack and Moehrig had three pass breakups.
They’re followed on the list by three young players on offense: running back Sincere McCormick, tight end Brock Bowers, and center Jackson Powers-Johnson. McCormick started in the backfield and responded with 78 yards on 15 carries. He’ll get more opportunities to adjust to the NFL as the season winds down.
Bowers had a quiet day as a receiver with just three catches, though he had a long reception of 25 yards. He’s still in the running for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Powers-Johnson has displayed a lot of skill at center since he took over for offensive lineman Andre James, but the rookie needs to reduce his penalties and miscues as part of the maturity process.
After nine straight weeks of PFF grades following a Raiders loss, when will we see how the team grades after a win? That’s uncertain, but Las Vegas will try for victory again on Monday night against the Falcons in Las Vegas.
Murray’s late season struggles are back. Or maybe he just hates Seattle?
On Sunday, Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford combined for eight touchdowns in a 44-42 thriller. They were responsible for more than 60 expected points of added value between them. It was one of the most remarkable shootouts of the 2024 NFL season.
This article is not about them. It’s about the overmatched quarterbacks that weaved their way through a slate of underwhelming games in Week 14. On a day where Mac Jones and Will Levis flailed their way to a 10-6 mud fight, a handful of poor performances stood out.
Who was the most disappointing quarterback of Week 14? Fortunately, we’ve got a metric that can help figure that out.
Using the advanced stat expected points added (EPA) can gauge how much a quarterback brings to the table compared to a typical player. By comparing each passer’s Week 14 EPA against their 2024 average to date we get a better picture of just how frustrating their performances were. And we can find both of those thanks to The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin and his incredibly useful stats sites RBSDM.com and HabitatRing.com.
This is a metric that gauges disappointment based on what we’d typically expect. Drew Lock started his day 0-for-eight, but he was filling in for Tommy DeVito and, let’s be honest, who really expected much from a guy who couldn’t beat Tommy Cutlets for a starting job?
So who was actually the worst? There were several candidates but only one man can truly call himself the grossest quarterback of Week 14.
Please bear with me for any Twitter embed issues. Our editing software has become a whole problem on that front the past few weeks. Rest assured, if there’s a play alluded to in the text it’s worth clicking through to see if it didn’t make it into the article itself.
5. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -7.1
Week 14 EPA: -8.4
Difference: 1.3 points worse
Levis was bad. Not significantly worse than usual, but in a week filled with mid-to-great quarterback performances this was enough to land him among ignominious company.
He deserves it. Here he is, taking six points off the board in what became a 10-6 loss to Mac by-god Jones.
Levis’s average pass went only five yards downfield and he still couldn’t complete 60 percent of his attempts. His 4.3 yards per dropback made him less efficient than a typical Tony Pollard handoff (4.9 yards per attempt). This was grim, and not in the fun “Will Levis imploded and turned himself into an internet meme” way.
4. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -4.1
Week 14 EPA: -6
Difference: 1.9 points worse
Williams’s uneven 2024 left him on the wrong side of the EPA threshold, but the transition from Matt Eberflus to Thomas Brown at head coach held promise. After all, Williams was responsible for 19.1 points added in three games with Brown as his interim offensive coordinator — all close Bears losses.
Week 14’s defeat in San Francisco was not close. It was a disaster. Chicago gained four yards of total offense in the first half. 0.24 yards per play. At the center of this complete lack of storm was Williams, running backward into sacks like it was early November all over again.
Williams was sacked seven times, leaving him at 88 net passing yards on 30 dropbacks. He only attempted six passes that traveled more than eight yards downfield. He had a nice corner end zone throw to Rome Odunze, but that’s about all the silver lining Chicago can glean from Sunday.
3. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns
Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -1.3
Week 14 EPA: -6.2
Difference: 4.9 points worse
Winston is Schrodinger’s quarterback. Whether he’s good or not hinges on if you’re observing him. Tune in for a single play of a Browns game and you could see magic like this:
Sunday’s performance featured everything you’d want from Winston, assuming you weren’t rooting for his team. He put his offense in position to thrive, then ripped it away by trying to do too much. He threw as many touchdowns (two) as interceptions and officially shut the door on Cleveland’ postseason hopes.
2. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
USA Today Sports
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 1.6
Week 14 EPA: -5
Difference: 6.6 points worse
Murray started the season hot and pushed the Cardinals into first place in the NFC West, seemingly countering the “Kyler Murray stinks once the new Call of Duty” theory that’s haunted him through past Novembers. As it turns out, 2024 may have merely delayed this trend.
Arizona has lost three straight games since its Week 11 bye. Murray’s total EPA in that stretch is a -4.1 — a pair of clunkers against the Seattle Seahawks and a Week 13 come-from-ahead loss to the Minnesota Vikings sealed by a late interception. Sunday saw two more interceptions; an underthrow on a deep shot after escaping pressure:
Those interceptions gave the Seahawks the short fields they needed to build a 10-point lead they didn’t give up. There were more flaws in Arizona’s game besides Murray’s mistakes, but his continued struggles against Seattle certainly didn’t help.
1. Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas Raiders
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 0.1
Week 14 EPA: -11.8
Difference: 11.9 points worse
A reckoning was due; O’Connell was brought back to the land of positive EPA thanks to last week’s near-upset over the Chiefs. Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn that performance into anything more than an outlier.
He threw for just 104 yards on 19 passes with an interception before leaving with what’s feared to be a season-ending knee injury. He was replaced by Desmond Ridder, who readers will recognize from the 2023 editions of this column and, likely, a few to end 2024.
