Good, bad, and ugly from NFL Week 15

Following the game, Petty quipped on social media about the incident, making light of it in the process.

Unfortunately, this is the same Jets team that saw defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson make a mockery of the game he's tasked with giving an optimal effort in.

Really. If the team isn't showing much of an effort on the field, why should fans show up to support it?

And so begins the bad from NFL Week 15.

"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success."

* Speaking of effort, it sure looks like the San Francisco 49ers have thrown in the towel for the season . Here's a squad that fell down 21-0 in the first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons en route to another embarrassing loss. This time, by the score of 41-13. More than anything, it seems that the 49ers' effort just isn't there under first-year head coach Chip Kelly.

We want to give Kelly the benefit of the doubt. There's not a lot talent on this roster. He took over a sinking ship. And it's shown on the football field. But San Francisco has lost 13 consecutive games and just hasn't been competitive this season.

In fact, San Francisco's average margin of defeat this season currently stands at 15.2 points. To put this into perspective, the Detroit Lions squad that went winless back in 2008 lost by an average of 15.5 points per game.

Short of a complete revamp of the 49ers' organization, something that's been bandied about, the team might very well decide to fire Kelly. If that's the case, the fledgling franchise would then be forced go with a fourth head coach in as many seasons. Yuck.

* The Arizona Cardinals had previously relied on an elite-level defense. Heck, this team entered Week 15 ranked fourth in the NFL against the pass. It was also taking on a quarterback in Drew Brees who had thrown six interceptions and zero touchdowns in the past two games.

So it stood to reason that the Cardinals, despite their team-wide struggles this season, would contain the New Orleans Saints.

In absolutely no way did that happen.

New Orleans dropped an astonishing 488 total yards and 33 first downs en route to putting up 48 points on the road against Arizona. This represents the most points the Cardinals have allowed in a regular season game since losing to Seattle 58-0 back in December of 2012. It really makes us wonder if the Cardinals have simply quit on Bruce Arians.

* Speaking of quitting, what happened to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday? With faint playoff hopes still alive, Cincinnati opened up a 20-9 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into the half on Sunday. They were then outscored 15-0 in the second half.

More than the score itself, the Bengals simply forgot to show up when they took the field in the third quarter. In fact, they were out-gained 258-38 in the second half. At home. Against a bitter division rival. With playoff livelihood on the line.

Now, 2-14 at home in his career against the Steelers, one has to wonder if this is FINALLY the last nail in the already created coffin for Marvin Lewis.

"There are no hopeless situations; there are only men who have grown hopeless about them."

*The last time the Cleveland Browns won a regular season football game Johnny Manziel was the team's starting quarterback, and that was well over a year ago against the San Francisco 49ers. They've since lost 17 consecutive games and are two more losses way from becoming just the second team in NFL history to go winless in a 16-game season.

Cleveland's latest loss came on the road against a Buffalo Bills team that's seemingly playing out the stretch under soon-to-be-fired head coach Rex Ryan.

It came in the form of a 33-13 loss that saw Cleveland's defense yield 280 rushing yards and 451 total yards to a previously downtrodden Bills offense. Talk about hopeless.

Without further ado, here's the ugliest from NFL Week 15.

* The San Diego Chargers now have one more home game remaining in California's southernmost city before they likely relocate to Los Angeles next season. Unfortunately for the Chargers, their second-to-last game in San Diego ended up being more of a home game for the division-rival Oakland Raiders.

How bad was it? The Chargers had to pump noise into practice in order to prepare for the onslaught of Raiders fans they expected at Qualcomm on Sunday.

And when Philip Rivers threw the game-clinching interception to give Oakland the win, San Diego's home stadium seemed to be the Black Hole south. That's just all sorts of ugly.

* Speaking of ugly, did the Minnesota Vikings simply forget to show up in a game that they needed to remain in the NFC Playoff picture? It's either that, or the team completely quit on head coach Mike Zimmer (highly unlikely).

Either way, Minnesota's latest loss was about as embarrassing as it gets. It came at home against a mediocre Indianapolis Colts squad. It saw the Vikings previously elite defense yield nearly 300 total yards and 27 points to Andrew Luck and company in the first half alone. By the time the clock struck zero in the game (and likely the Vikings' playoff hopes), they were on the losing end of a 34-6 decision.

This all came the same day that future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson saw the field for the first time since tearing his meniscus back in Week 2. For his part, Peterson put up 22 yards and lost a fumble in the embarrassing four-touchdown loss. Now at 7-7 on the season, Minnesota is pretty much done.

* Staying in the NFC North for a second, the last-place Chicago Bears mounted one heck of a comeback against the Green Bay Packers in the record-setting Windy City weather on Sunday. Down 27-10 heading into the fourth quarter, Matt Barkley led the Bears on three consecutive scoring drives, each one going for 70-plus yards, to tie the game. All said, Barkley completed 16-of-21 passes for 165 yards in those three drives.

Everything seemed to be going right for the Bears. Heck, the team had Green Bay backed up on a 3rd-and-11 with just over 30 seconds left in a tie game. That's when the team's secondary seemed to forget that Jordy Nelson existed. Green Bay's top receiver broke through an indefensible Bears secondary for a 60-yard gain to set up a game-winning field goal.

It was bad. Really bad.

Bad teams find a way to lose. And while Barkley should be given credit for his comeback attempt, Chicago's latest loss paints a vivid picture of a team that simply doesn't know how to win. That's been the case for John Fox and the Bears for the better part of the past two seasons.

* Most figured that the Houston Texans displayed a ton of desperation by handing Brock Osweiler a $72 million contract this past offseason. After all, here's a guy that had started a total of seven games in four NFL seasons before being given that massive payday. And when Osweiler started the season out slowly for Houston, it seemed that these skeptics were right on track with their analysis.

Now, three months later, and it's becoming readily apparent that even the most boisterous naysayers didn't even comprehend just how bad Osweiler's contract was. See. Osweiler was benched Sunday against the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars in a game Houston needed in order to remain in first place in the NFC South.

It came with fans in Houston either cheering Osweiler's benching or cheering the presence of Tom Savage (yes, that Tom Savage) as his replacement under center. Savage went on to lead the Texans to a 21-20 win while completing 21-of-36 passes for 260 yards.

* Speaking of Jacksonville, they finally pulled the plug on the drawn-out Gus Bradley experiment. The head coach was fired following the team's latest meltdown, its ninth consecutive loss on the season. Bradley now ends his Jaguars career as the least successful head coach in the history of the NFL.

In no way was this a surprise, and the Jags should be commended for pulling the plug on Bradley before the season came to a conclusion. That's the only positive here for Jacksonville.

Shortly after Bradley's firing was announced by the organization on Twitter, Jaguars players took to the media to openly ask whether the news was true. Yes, the team decided it made more sense to let its players find out about the firing of their head coach through the media. This, instead of actually showing said players some respect by letting them know what was happening behind the scenes.

Talk about a disgrace. Adding even more fuel to this fire, Bradley was apparently on the team flight back to Jacksonville, even after being forced from his job. That's not necessarily how it's done in the NFL. Teams tends to either charter another flight for disposed personnel or wait until they return home to fire said individuals. Again, where's the class here? And we wonder why the Jaguars have won a grand total of 16 games since the start of the 2016 season.

Following last week's disastrous offensive showing in a 10-7 loss to the New York Giants, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys were back on Sunday Night Football. This time, it came against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad that was riding a five-game winning streak and had dominated the likes of Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees over the past three weeks.

How did the young Cowboys respond at home?

Prescott finished Sunday's outing with the second-highest completion percentage in the history of the NFL for a quarterback with 30-plus passes. All said, the rookie completed 32-of-36 passes for 279 yards without a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Elliott was back in top form against a dynamic Buccaneers defensive line. The MVP candidate toted the ball 23 times for 159 yards and a touchdown in the 26-20 Cowboys win.

Now at 12-2 on the season, Dallas is one win (or a Giants loss) from clinching the NFC East and home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. It's absolutely amazing just how well this young squad was able to respond in front of a nationally televised audience and against one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

And so begins the good from NFL Week 15.

"No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place."  

* Ryan Succop was officially known as Mr. Irrelevant when the Kansas City Chiefs made him the 256th (and final pick) in the 2009 NFL Draft. Now, we're pretty sure that the former Chiefs kicker is no longer irrelevant in the history of his old franchise.

With his Tennessee Titans attempting to remain in first place in the AFC South and the home-standing Chiefs looking to hold their edge over the Oakland Raiders out west, Succop took to the field for a potential game-winning 53-yard field goal down by one late in the fourth quarter.

Succop's initial kick missed, seemingly giving his old team the much-needed win. But wait, Andy Reid did his former kicker a solid by attempting to freeze him in the blistering Missouri cold. Then, given a redo, Succop nailed the long field goal to win the game. He did so against his former squad in a game with wide-ranging playoff ramifications.

By virtue of the Titans' win, they remain tied with Houston atop the AFC South. On the other hand, Kansas City went from a likely AFC West title to the fifth seed in the conference. Talk about one play, one game making a dramatic difference in the landscape of the playoff race.

* For the first time since 2003, the Oakland Raiders will be playing meaningful January football. By virtue of their hard-fought 19-16 win over San Diego on Sunday, the Raiders have earned their first playoff appearance since the 2002 campaign.

It wasn't a sexy performance. Derek Carr struggled to get much going throughout the game. But the Raiders, much like we've seen throughout the entire season, came through in the end.

More than simply clinching a playoff appearance, Oakland can now clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs with a win in its final two games. Heck, if the Patriots were to lose one game during that span, the Raiders would end up with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

It's an amazing realization to come to. The Raiders, potentially set to move to Las Vegas, giving their long-suffering Northern California fan base something to root about. And in reality, conference championship contention isn't necessarily out of the equation here. Good for you, Raiders. Good for you, Raiders fans.