With just two weeks remaining in the 2023 NFL regular season, every single game matters. Division titles, postseason berths, and playoff seedings are on the line, so margins are razor-thin.
Which teams and players looked the best on Sunday, and who’s already looking ahead to next week? Here are all the winners and losers from Week 16.
Winners and Losers From NFL Week 16
Winner | Amari Cooper and the Cleveland Browns
Congratulations in advance if you had Amari Cooper on your fantasy team. Joe Flacco continuously found Cooper, hitting the veteran wideout 11 times on 15 targets for 265 yards and two scores.
Cooper posted more receiving yards than any NFL player since the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase put up 266 against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 of the 2022 campaign. He became just the 17th player to manage 250+ receiving yards since 2000.
Cleveland has won three straight games to improve to 10-6. Kevin Stefanski should lead the Coach of the Year conversation after impeccably sorting through significant injury issues at critical positions, including quarterback. If the Browns beat the New York Jets next week while the Baltimore Ravens drop their next two (at SF, vs. MIA), Cleveland will emerge from Week 17 atop the AFC North standings.
Winner | Buffalo Bills
Few teams are hotter than the Bills, who earned their third straight victory with a Saturday night win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Buffalo only beat the Chargers by two points, which is a bit hard to reconcile given that the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Bolts by more than 40 points in Week 15. But the Bills pulled out the win and got plenty of playoff positioning help from around the league.
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The Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, and Bengals all lost on Sunday, allowing Buffalo to move into the No. 6 seed in the AFC standings. Depending on how Week 17 shakes out, the Bills could have a chance to win the AFC East with a win over the Miami Dolphins in the regular-season finale.
Loser | AFC South
No division had a worse Week 16 than the AFC South, where every team lost on Sunday. The Jacksonville Jaguars dropped their fourth straight and no longer look like the obvious division champion they appeared to be at the season’s outset. Trevor Lawrence, who’s already been banged up for most of the year, suffered a shoulder injury in the Jags’ defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Even so, the Texans and Colts failed to take advantage of Jacksonville’s loss, dropping their own Week 16 matchups against the Browns and Atlanta Falcons, respectively. Indy would still be in the playoffs if they started today, while Houston should get C.J. Stroud back in Week 17.
Still, given the Bills’ recent resurgence, there may only be one Wild Card slot left in the AFC. That means whichever two clubs don’t win the AFC South will have to fight with each other and the Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos for one playoff berth.
Winner | Detroit Lions
How often has an NFL team entered a season riding high on potential and hype yet failed to deliver?
The Lions didn’t fall into that trap in 2023, and on Sunday, Dan Campbell’s club clinched its first division title in 30 years. Jared Goff completed 75% of his passes, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery both posted at least 50 yards and a TD, and Detroit’s defense managed four interceptions and four sacks in a win over the Minnesota Vikings that showed everything Detroit is capable of.
Winner | Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins clinched a playoff spot with their win against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. But the fact that Miami defeated an elite team like Dallas is perhaps even more important than the postseason slot.
Until Week 16, Mike McDaniel’s club lacked a signature win. Sure, they put up 70 points against the Denver Broncos early in the year and beat up other mid- or low-tier teams. But the Dolphins hadn’t taken down another rival Super Bowl contender, having already lost to the Chiefs, Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles.
That changed on Sunday, when Miami did just enough to hold off the Cowboys in a 22-20 victory that ended with a Jason Sanders field goal. The Dolphins can clinch the AFC East and put themselves in the driver’s seat for a first-round playoff bye by defeating the Baltimore Ravens next week.
Loser | Minnesota Vikings
Hardly anything went right for the Vikings in Week 16. Their chances of winning the NFC North evaporated thanks to their defeat to the Lions, while their Wild Card hopes took a hit when other contenders around the NFC won.
Minnesota entered Week 16 as roughly a coin-flip favorite to make the playoffs in some capacity, but the club will exit the week with just a 1-in-4 chance. Justin Jefferson made several unbelievable catches and tried to keep the Vikings in the game. Still, Nick Mullens’ four-INT day ended any hope Minnesota had — and it could force head coach Kevin O’Connell to turn to rookie QB Jaren Hall in Week 17.
Winner | NFC West
The San Francisco 49ers won’t play until Monday night, but they’ve already clinched the NFC West and have an excellent shot of entering the playoffs as the conference’s No. 1 seed, regardless of how they perform against the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas evening.
But Week 16 was also one to remember for other teams in the division.
The Los Angeles Rams simultaneously improved to 8-7 and dropped the fellow NFC Wild Card contender New Orleans Saints to 7-8 with a win on Thursday night. No one expected the Rams to be fighting for a playoff entry in Week 16, but few teams want to face an offense led by Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, Cooper Kupp, and Puka Nacua in the first round.
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Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks — who stopped their bleeding with a win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 — held on for a victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Their 20-17 victory over the five-win Titans was probably closer than Pete Carroll had hoped for, but the 8-7 Seahawks are right back in the playoff picture as the NFC’s No. 7 seed.
Winner | Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Don’t look now, but the Baker Mayfield-led Buccaneers have won four straight games to take a commanding lead in the NFC South. And yes, a one-game lead with two weeks remaining can be labeled “commanding” when the competition is the Saints and Falcons.
One week after beating the Packers in Green Bay, the Bucs took down the Jaguars by 18 points — and the game wasn’t even that close. Mayfield hit Evans for two more touchdowns, giving the veteran wideout 13 on the year, just one shy of his career high.
Tampa Bay has to face New Orleans in Week 17, but it’s not a must-win game. As long as the Bucs win one of their next two, they will clinch the NFC South for the second year in a row. And TB’s Week 18 opponent just happens to be the two-win Carolina Panthers.
Want to predict the rest of the 2023 season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? Looking for the most up-to-date NFL standings? What about a breakdown of team depth charts or the NFL schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with that and more!