NFL scores, Week 15: Catch up on Sunday’s highlights, news, and results

How far have the Broncos fallen? In Week 10, they were 7-3, a half game behind the Chiefs and the Raiders in the AFC West. It looked like a three-way race in that division, with the other two teams getting a wild card spot.

Now, the Broncos have slipped out of the playoff standings all together, one game behind the Dolphins for the sixth seed, and two games behind the Chiefs.

The turning point came in Week 12, during that overtime loss to the Chiefs: the Denver Doink. Kansas City kicked the game-winner, bouncing it in off the crossbar. Denver’s fate was sealed earlier with two key mistakes. First, Bennie Fowler should’ve gone down instead of scoring a 76-yard touchdown with three minutes left in regulation, and Gary Kubiak’s decision to try a 62-yard field goal on fourth-and-10 late in overtime was also costly.

He could have punted it and played for the tie, a near certainty the way the defense was playing that night. He didn’t.

The Broncos have a bigger problem that’s keeping them from contention: their offense isn’t very good. The offensive line has now allowed 40 sacks on the season, four this week. The running game is non-existent, and Trevor Siemian has been passable as a signal caller, but you’d never know that given the state of the team.

The Broncos’ defense played one of its best games ever against the Patriots this week, and they still lost. After the game, the defense got into a heated argument with the offense in the locker room. Denver’s offense is not good enough to take them very far into playoffs, if they even get there.

Gus Bradley got fired. I’m not sure how much there is to really analyze here. He was a terrible head coach. The Jaguars were 14-48 in Bradley’s four seasons with the team. Only one NFL coach in history has a worse record with at least 50 games under their belt.

No, it wasn’t Jeff Fisher either. Fisher’s hallmark was mediocrity wrapped in excuses and teams that always managed to show just enough potential to make you think they could be competitive over the course of a full season. Hell, just look at Fisher’s record against the Seahawks — he did at least win some big games.

Bradley didn’t. The Jags were 2-12 with him this season, and they managed to reach the gutter with one of the more talented rosters in the NFL, excluding quarterback Blake Bortles.

The final straw was surrendering a comeback to the Texans, who replaced Brock Osweiler with Tom Savage to put the screws to the Jags in the second half. Bradley was going to get fired at the end of the season no matter what, but you can’t overlook what happened to them on the field in Houston.

They even made him ride the team’s charter flight home after firing him. Maybe that’s better than getting left at the airport, but I’m not so sure.

Here’s a more thorough analysis of what happened to the Jaguars under Bradley.

Wait, come back! Seriously, the title race in the NFL’s most laughable division is pretty exciting, probably more so than the playoff game the division’s eventual winner will be forced to play in January.

Houston FINALLY benched Brock Osweiler, and Tom Savage led a comeback win over the Jaguars to keep the Texans a perfect 5-0 in the division. They’re 8-6 now, and so are the Titans, who won in dramatic fashion on Sunday too.

Tennessee looked like it was buried. But Marcus Mariota led a 12-play, 88-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter.

A terrible two-point conversion attempt (seriously, what is with the Titans and dumb two-point attempts?) left Tennessee trailing by one and the Chiefs had the ball. Kansas City needed a first down at the two-minute mark to ice it, but on third-and-2, the Chiefs called a terrible option play. Alex Smith kept the ball and went out to the right side, stopped for no gain.

The Titans got it back and moved the ball into field goal range — barely — setting up a 53-yarder. Ryan Succop kicked it short, but Andy Reid called a timeout, negating the play. Succop didn’t miss his next attempt.

The Texans still have the division lead, but they’re cruising to a Week 17 showdown with the Titans that could be for all the marbles.

I guess the thought of losing to the Jaguars was just too much for Bill O’Brien. He had enough and benched Brock Osweiler after two interceptions halfway through the second quarter.

After the game, O’Brien wouldn’t commit to Savage as his starter next week. But he may not have a choice. The owner has Savage’s back.

Much has been made about Osweiler’s $72 million contract in the offseason, and justifiably so. It’s a lot of money for nothing. Here’s another little nugget: That’s three times now that O’Brien has benched his Week 1 starter. He did it with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, and now Osweiler.

I wasn’t sure the Packers were going to pull it out when the Bears came back and tied things at 27 with just over a minute to go in the game. It’s just been that kind of soul-crushing season for the Packers.

I should have never counted out Aaron Rodgers though. That 60-yard throw to Jordy Nelson with 30 seconds left is why Rodgers has a better case than any other player in the NFL for the MVP award. That set up the game-winning field goal and keeps them in contention for the NFC North crown.

You can’t really talk about this Packers game without mentioning Ty Montgomery, the running back who’s wearing a wide receiver’s jersey, No. 88. That’s because he was a wide receiver when the season started.

He did his best work as a running back this week, rushing for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Teams keep looking for hybrid offensive weapons, spending a lot of money on mediocre players (hello, Tavon Austin!), but Montgomery is the real deal.

If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

The Steelers were in the process of turning in another one of their questionable effort road games, trailing the Bengals 17-3 after Jeremy Hill’s touchdown six minutes into the second quarter.

That’s when Hill did something that Steelers fans had a field day with — he pretended to shred a Terrible Towel.

Cincinnati got outscored 21-3 after that, and the Steelers came back for a 24-20 win to avert another head-scratching road loss.

Superstition aside, the Bengals deserve a lot of credit here for rolling over. They had a grand total of 38 offensive yards in the second half. Their competency really showed through when they had four penalties on four consecutive plays, all for first downs, on the Steelers’ go-ahead drive.

It still wasn’t a great effort from the Steelers. Antonio Brown only had three catches for 58 yards and no touchdowns. Le’Veon Bell ONLY had 131 yards from scrimmage, which is well under his average of 161 yards per game this year.

Eli Rogers had the Steelers’ only touchdown. They got the rest of their points from six field goals.

Because I feel like not enough is being said about it. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit might be the best group in the NFL; statistically, they’re pretty close. And they don’t even need any extra help from walkie-talkies.

Losing Janoris Jenkins could’ve been enough for the Lions to mount a comeback, something they’re very good at, having done so eight times this season. But the rest of the secondary stood tall.

Just look at Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie run down Golden Tate to save a touchdown.

Sure, he probably shouldn’t have got behind him in the first place, but his hustle on the backend helped keep the Lions out of the game.

Jenkins could be dealing with a serious injury. If he does miss time, you can bet the Giants will feel that. But if they can get contributions like this from the rest of that unit, they’re a team to watch come January, especially now that the offense seems to have figured things out.

The five terrible calls and bad coaching decisions that we STILL can’t understand.

5. The Tennessee Titans made a huge mistake with this 2-point attempt.

4. Andy Reid still doesn’t know how to use his timeouts.

3. Down seven with more than a minute left in the first half, and with all three timeouts, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak let the clock run out, much to the chagrin of Denver fans.

2. The Lions used the same kickoff trick that the Packers did against them earlier this season.

1. The NFL made it clear on this Odell Beckham “catch” that there are no rules.

Ezekiel Elliott scored and jumped into the Salvation Army kettle. He got flagged for it, but said he’d match any fine he got with a donation to the organization.

Jameis Winston headbutted a Dallas defender and then the Cowboys tipped one of his passes into the waiting hands of Adam Humphries.

Mark Ingram got MAD when Sean Payton pulled him from the game at the goal line.

Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey wasn’t happy with the loss, and called for a referee to be fired.

T.J. Ward’s stupid unnecessary roughness penalty ruined the Broncos’ slim comeback chances against the Patriots.

Michael Crabtree made a great catch in the end zone and showed impressive footwork on the sideline for a Raiders touchdown.

Peyton Manning is retired, but the Broncos are still calling plays with “Omaha.”

Giant human Calais Campbell ran a fumble back 53 yards for a touchdown for the Cardinals.

Raiders fans took over Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and booed the home team Chargers.

OBJ followed up a one-handed touchdown with full routine to “Beat It.”

Alex Smith doesn’t just score touchdowns, he lays blocks, too.

Erik Swoope, former basketball player, scored the first touchdown of his career.

RGIII just remembered how to play like RGIII. But be safe, man!

It was so cold in Chicago that decals were flying off helmets after hits, and helmets were straight-up cracking.

Robert Turbin rolled through multiple Vikings and scored a touchdown.

Who knew this Marcus Mariota guy could throw so well?

Spinning is a good move. Unless you time it horribly like Carson Wentz.

Justin Tucker continues to be amazing this year, even tying an NFL record.

And that’s NOT how you hurdle a long snapper.

Tyreek Hill shows everyone how you catch and run in the NFL.

Falcons safety Keanu Neal suffered a gnarly dislocated finger against the 49ers.

Steelers tight end Ladarius Green left the Bengals game early and is now in concussion protocol.

Vikings WR Adam Thielen took a hard hit against the Colts and left with a neck injury.

Lions cornerback Darius Slay injured his hamstring injury against the Giants and will undergo an MRI Monday.

Janoris Jenkins left the game against the Lions with a back injury and did not return. He will have an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, but the team is hopeful that he’s fine.