Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season is underway after a thriller on “Thursday Night Football” in which the Detroit Lions hung on to defeat the Green Bay Packers 34-31 with a buzzer-beating field goal.
Could the rest of Week 14 be just as exciting? Here is how the remaining Week 14 slate could unfold with increased levels of stunning outcomes in our latest iteration of our CBS Sports bold predictions.
1. Chargers snap six-game losing streak vs. Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have been the bogeyman of the AFC West since they are on the precipice of clinching their ninth consecutive division title for the second-longest division title winning streak in NFL history. Only the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick New England Patriots dynasty teams (11 in a row from 2009-2019) have a longer such streak.
However, the Los Angeles Chargers will deny the Chiefs a party at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday night by snapping a six-game losing streak against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Patrick Mahomes and Co. have been begging to lose week in and week out despite starting 11-1 in 2024. They have the worst point differential (+54) by a team starting 11-1 or better in NFL history, per CBS Sports Research, and they have won 75% of their games (9 of 12) by seven or fewer points. That’s the most of any team in NFL history through 12 games.
Playing like that against the Chargers No. 1 scoring defense, which is allowing an NFL-low 15.7 points per game, and quarterback Justin Herbert, who leads the NFL in touchdown to interception ratio (13 to 1) is asking for trouble. Having a quarterback who has gone over 300 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, 305 to be exact, and the league’s top scoring defense is a winning formula. It’s also a formula that will knock off a Chiefs team daring another squad, outside of the Buffalo Bills, to beat them.
2. Rams stun Bills to snap Buffalo’s seven-game winning streak
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford found his groove. He threw nine touchdowns to seven interceptions in the Rams first nine games of the year, but the last three weeks, two of which have resulted in Los Angeles victories, Stafford has thrown for eight touchdowns and no picks.
On the other side of this Week 14 matchup in Los Angeles, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is playing the most efficient football of his career in 2024 with career-lows in turnover rate (1.8%) and sack rate (3.5%) to go along with his shortest average pass length (7.6) and quickest time to throw (2.83 seconds) of his career. However, he will get heated up by Rams rookie edge rusher Jared Verse, whose 55 quarterback pressures rank as the fourth-most in the NFL, and the rest of the youth along Los Angeles first or second-year pass rush in Byron Young (six sacks), Braden Fiske (six sacks) and Kobie Turner (five sacks).
Stafford and the Rams youthful pass rush combine to snap the Bills seven-game winning streak in Week 14.
3. Cardinals snap six-game losing streak vs. Seahawks
Seattle has won six in a row against the Cardinals, including three straight in Arizona, but that streak ends on Sunday when the Cardinals secure a crucial home win to reclaim first place in the NFC West.
Entering their Week 11 bye, the Cardinals were soaring and on a four-game winning streak. That had them out to a 6-4 record and sole ownership of first place out in the NFC West. They have since lost their last two games with a 16-6 defeat at the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12 and a deflating 23-22 road loss at the Minnesota Vikings, a game in which they led 19-6 late in the third quarter.
Quarterback Kyler Murray’s ball security has slipped during the slide with three interceptions in the past two games after only throwing three in the team’s first 10 games in 2024. Arizona needs the efficient version Murray to return in addition to his explosive dual threat ability: the Cardinals are 5-0 when he has at least two total touchdowns in a game, and they are 1-6 when he has one total touchdown or less.
Murray has started to find the team’s fourth overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. more and more of late: he’s caught three touchdowns in his last five games while averaging 61.2 receiving yards per game after catching four in the team’s first seven games while averaging 42.9 receiving yards per game. Arizona tight end Trey McBride is currently producing at a clip not previously seen by a tight end in the modern NFL: he is the only tight end since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with consecutive games with at least 12 catches. Oddly enough, he has yet to catch a touchdown this season despite having the third-most receptions by a tight end this season (73) and the second-most receiving yards by a tight end this season (781).
Yes, the Seahawks defense has started to cook the last three weeks, but Murray and Co. will overcome Mike Macdonald’s coalescing unit to win their first game against Seattle in Seven tries.
Seahawks defense, last three games
|
PPG Allowed |
14.7 |
2nd |
|
Plays of 25+ Yards Allowed |
1 |
1st |
|
Yards/Play Allowed |
4.8 |
4th |
4. Saints WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling catches receiving TD of 25 or more yards in fourth consecutive game at Giants
Since entering the New Orleans Saints starting lineup in Week 9 after being released by the Buffalo Bills, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling has been electrifying. He is the second player in Saints history with four receiving touchdowns in his first four games with the team, joining Donte’ Stallworth per CBS Sports Research. MVS is also one of only three players with a receiving touchdown of 25 or more yards in three consecutive games this season along with Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
Despite facing a Giants defense that has surrendered only two receiving touchdowns of 25 or more air yards this season, tied for the 10th-fewest in the NFL, Valdes-Scantling will run his streak to five games in a row on Sunday in MetLife Stadium.
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt is one of the best pass rushers in NFL history. He is first all-time in sacks per game, averaging just under one a game (0.91). However, he will go sackless in the rematch against Jameis Winston just like he did two weeks ago in Week 12, a bold prediction given Watt’s historic pass rush production.
Winston plays to the beat of his own drum: he is the only player in NFL history with multiple games of 400 or more passing yards, four or more passing touchdowns and three or more interceptions in his career with his latest one coming last week in a 41-32 loss at the Denver Broncos. His unorthodox movements will allow him to stunningly evade Watt’s clutches for the second time this season.
