Race to Super Bowl 50 - NFL Week 15 American Football

60 minutes of football, take it to 'em right from the start.

Let's go get it!

Lobs it into the end zone...

Ridiculous!

Touchdown!

Somersault for the touchdown!

Unbelievable!

Yes! Yes!

Pass is intercepted at the goal line.

The New England Patriots are the NFL champions.

Hello, it's NFL week 15.

Christmas is coming and more playoff places are up for grabs.

Following week 14, the race to Super Bowl 50 looks like this -

in the NFC, Carolina are the South champions

and are guaranteed a playoff place.

Arizona claimed at least a wild-card spot

and will take the Western division crown with a win over Philadelphia.

Green Bay could clinch the North in Oakland,

whilst Washington lead the East - just.

Seattle and Minnesota are our wild cards,

with Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Giants looking on.

In the AFC, New England won the East and are playoff bound.

Cincinnati and Denver both lost, but still lead the North and West,

and both could clinch with wins and a little help.

Indianapolis are up against Houston in a battle for the South.

The New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs retain their wild card berths,

Pittsburgh and Buffalo awaiting any slip-ups.

Well, 32 teams started the Race To Super Bowl 50 -

seven have now been eliminated.

With only three games remaining in the regular season,

there's plenty to be decided,

overseen here in the studio by two-time Super Bowl winner

with the New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora,

and former cornerback with Dallas, Houston and the Giants, Jason Bell.

Let's get straight to the action.

The unbeaten Carolina Panthers were at the New York Giants.

So, how do you play it when you're unbeaten

and have your division all sewn up?

Do you rest players? Make plans for the playoffs?

Not the Carolina Panthers.

Faced with the challenge of the New York Giants,

involved in a more convoluted struggle in the NFC East,

the Panthers opted to think only of today.

No half-measures here.

Sets it up at the 48.

Manning.

Beckham, open!

Dropped it!

Working on Norman,

and he could have put the exclamation point

on the start of this day, and he raises his hand,

that's on number 13.

Just simply outruns Josh Norman to the middle,

and a perfectly thrown ball by Eli Manning

and that's just something you don't see.

Ninth play in the drive.

Pass is...caught! Back of the end zone, Ginn for the touchdown.

1st down now for Manning.

Left alone for...

the touchdown!

There's Rueben Randle.

They forgot about 82.

2nd and 3. Hand-off to Jennings.

WHISTLE BLOWS

They're ruling him down. Ball passed down.

It's punched out by Charles Tillman.

If this is a forced fumble,

it'll be the 44th career forced fumble for Charles Tillman.

His 11th career fumble recovery.

Here's the call.

The runner was not down before he lost control.

It'll be Carolina's ball, 1st and 10 at the 46-yard line.

It'll be 3rd and 1.

Cam Newton, 8 for 9.

I like the quarterback sneak, here.

He's...going to flip it.

Wide open, Olsen!

Olsen to the end zone for the touchdown!

And this Carolina team number one in the NFL

and points off take-aways.

The Giants went three-and-out in their ensuing possession and

Newton marched Carolina down the field on a ten-play drive

that ended with a 17-yard touchdown for Funchess.

It was Super Cam's third touchdown pass of the game.

2nd and 8.

Manning unloads, Beckham.

Incomplete, and Manning ends up on his belly.

3rd down and 8. Beckham, still no catches.

Here's one for Brown!

Touchdown!

Corey Brown and the fourth of the day for Cam Newton.

Here's Randle.

Survives a hit by Norman,

but he's stopped well short of the 1st down.

In fact, lost yardage and a flag is down.

Good Odell Beckham there,

there's contact before the ball's left the quarterback's hands

and he continues to block as the play progresses.

But somebody's gotta get a hold of Odell Beckham

and get him settled down.

I think he's probably a little frustrated with himself

-for dropping that ball.

-This is the best we've seen Newton.

3rd down and goal.

Wide receivers strain and it's Ginn for the touchdown!

And Ginn has the fifth touchdown catch of the day for Carolina.

What a day for number one.

I had talked to Tom Coughlin about Odell Beckham

coming out of the half and his frustrations

and Coach Coughlin had said to me,

"Whatever his problem is, he needs to figure it out."

Here is 2nd and 15, hand-off is to Vereen.

Able to stay upright.

And picks up the first down. There's Beckham again!

WHISTLES BLOW

What is going on?!

Have you seen a guy this thrown off his game before?

They oughta throw him out of the game and they just might.

I mean, he's out of control.

Well, he's hurting his football team, he hurt 'em dropping the ball,

and now, he's hurt 'em with, you know, multiple penalties already.

We'll see what this flag is for.

He came flying in at the end of that play.

And Tom Coughlin, he's not normally a coach that tolerates this either

-so I would expect him to take action, too.

-And Norman is...

Well, they've been trying to calm him down, each and every time.

Personal foul, unnecessary roughness, offense number 13.

Personal foul, unnecessary roughness, defense number 24.

The penalty's offset at the dead-ball spot. 1st down.

So, it's called against both and Norman is trying to get calmed down.

Watch the end of this play.

That's not it, it's here.

They go head-to-head,

then Norman gets in with a knee into the head of Odell Beckham.

This is embarrassing.

It's embarrassing for Beckham, it's embarrassing for the Giants.

There's a shot.

I mean, Josh Norman has owned him in this game

and when he hasn't been on him, someone else has.

They haven't gotten him the football.

How many personal fouls do you have to have

before somebody does something?

Despite the numerous penalties on Beckham, the Giants scored

a touchdown on an eight-yard pass

from Manning to Will Tye on that drive.

Then, at the start of the fourth, Giants' running back Rashad Jennings

earned redemption from his earlier fumble with a 38-yard touchdown run

to make it 35-21.

The Panthers, though, set up for a field goal to extend the lead

to three scores later in the fourth quarter.

34-yard try - and it's blocked!

Live ball!

Rodgers-Cromartie got to it.

Blocked it, picked up by the Giants.

Pass caught. Vereen!

Touchdown!

It is a seven-point game.

3rd and 7.

Newton. Has it batted down.

Jason Pierre-Paul.

He's able to knock it down

and not much time taken off the clock by Carolina,

forcing the three now. Plenty of time for this Giants offense.

The largest regular season deficit overcome -

28 points. This would tie it.

Giants trailed 35-7.

But they need to convert on 4th down and 5.

If Carolina gets a stop here, they take over.

Manning. End zone!

Touchdown, Beckham!

That's a great job on 4th down and the game on the line.

Against what I think is the best corner in football right now.

And this is game is tied, but Carolina has two time-outs left.

Plenty of time to get downfield and try to get their record to 14 and 0.

Newton protected.

Pass. Olsen is caught...

..in the Giants' territory!

Newton can't take a step.

He's able to slide down...

..at the 25. And they're going to give him a 1st down.

What a job by Cam Newton!

A dual threat to set up this game-winning field goal.

Five seconds left. It's up to Gano.

Jansen will snap it.

Norman will hold it.

Gano...to win it from 43.

The kick is...good!

The Carolina Panthers win it

on the 43-yarder by Graham Gano

to get to 14 and 0.

It shouldn't have been a thriller, I tell you that.

But we just had to find ways and it's great for us

to be in a game like this.

It was kind of like our first dose of mini games

of kind of what playoff football's going to be about.

We gotta create that killer instinct.

The Giants did an unbelievable job

but yet, you know, for us, we have to be better.

And we will be better.

Being down 35-7 and coming back and tying up,

that's an outstanding tribute to our team, to our players,

to our coaches.

But, unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Carolina Panthers improve to 14 and 0,

beating my New York Giants,

to once again prove they can finish games.

Forget about that.

We want to talk about what the whole world is talking about -

Odell Beckham Jr.

And in an ode to my favourite movie,

we're going to show you the good, the bad and the ugly.

Now, right here, Odell Beckham is known

for his tremendous one-handed catches

-that Mark Chapman loves so much.

-THEY LAUGH

But let's see what happens over here.

Beginning of the game, Eli Manning finds him with an accurate pass -

oh, my goodness, he drops the football with two hands?

Maybe if he would have tied one of his hands behind his back,

he would have made that such an easy catch!

Now, as we go on, we're going to show you the bad.

And here's Odell Beckham and Norman going at it,

Norman with a nice little take-down.

Odell's like, "OK, OK, that's how you want to play this game?"

Let's see what happens here.

Odell Beckham's now targeting Josh Norman,

and look at them going at it like two little pitbulls,

-attacking each other.

-HE GROWLS

I don't even know what that is, man!

This is what happens with receivers and DBs. And right here...

Nice little hand-off, and what does Odell...?

This is what should have got him thrown out the game right here.

What was that? That was ridiculous, man.

He targeted Josh Norman, went helmet-to-helmet.

Of all the things that he did, this was the thing I had a problem with.

This is what should have got him thrown out the game.

But it didn't get him thrown out the game.

And do you know why it didn't get him thrown out of the game?

Cos the Giants needed to win the game

and this is what Beckham brings to the table,

a young superstar receiver.

Check him out at the top of the screen.

Gives Josh Norman the little stutter-go,

gets to the end zone... Oh!

A great catch. Watch what he does after.

"I step over."

"Get off of me, man!"

This is a superstar football player

making it look easy, Odell Beckham,

but, of course, he was a little too late for the Giants

as even though they tied the game, they couldn't win it,

cos they don't finish games,

and Odell Beckham Jr's the man. What can you say about that?

I'll tell you what I'll say, step your way back over here, if you can,

to join myself and...

THEY LAUGH

That just looked like you had cramp!

Outstanding. That is outstanding!

If you'd been on the sidelines when that was going on,

would you have had a word with Beckham?

-Yes.

-As a team-mate?

-Yes. And you can see that's what they're lacking.

When I was playing, guys like Osi,

Michael Strahan, Antonio Pierce,

they would have came over and said,

"Hey, this has gotta stop right now."

And as you said, Osi, a lot of it was pantomime

and made great viewing, but that incident was serious

and could have seriously injured Norman.

That was where he went over the line, over there.

The stuff that you see going on all the while,

that's what happens in football. People do that all the time.

But when he targeted him and went for the helmet-to-helmet hit here,

he could have not only injured himself,

he could have injured Norman and that was the bad part.

And that's why he's got the one-match ban which he is appealing against.

In the interviews there, we heard them say they'd spoken to Coughlin

and Coughlin said he's got to figure it out himself.

-Is that the Coughlin you both know?

-No, that was surprising.

-Are you surprised he didn't go and try and sort it out himself?

-Yeah.

The reason Coughlin is there is cos he's a disciplinarian kind of coach

and he's the kind of guy who's always in control of his team,

so that was shocking to me.

I'd never seen him out of control of his players.

I've heard some people say he ought to have taken him off himself

to protect the integrity of football or the NFL.

Is that being naive?

That's being very naive cos this guy's coaching for his job now,

he wants to keep winning and as my man Jason said earlier,

he was like, "Odell Beckham is the best player on this team.

"If you want him to win the game, you can't have him off the field.

"You've gotta have him on the field."

And so he had to keep him on there.

There's a real contrast in the fact

that the Giants didn't really talk to Beckham,

and yet, Newton was one of the main people

talking to Josh Norman, to calm him down.

Is this the game where both of you have seen a different Cam Newton?

For all the joking we've done about "Hit them folk" and all of that.

He showed he was a leader. It's hard as an offensive player

to go check a guy on defense like that, to go say,

"Hey, you better calm down for the betterment of the team."

-And he did.

-There's no question about that.

He's really developed into a truly elite quarterback on the field,

and the way he moves on the field with his presence.

Cos he just gave the look, didn't he?

Having got that 28-point deficit down,

going back to 35 or Newton sort of gave that, look,

"Right, you've given me enough time, I can go down the field."

"I can make this happen." He's that kind of player right now.

So, you've changed your opinion.

-Never!

-Come on!

-THEY LAUGH

If you want to get involved, just use #RaceToSB50

or if you're new to sport, just use #NFLRookie

Jason and Osi will be looking to provide some answers,

maybe point out that they've changed their minds.

Now, to our first round-up.

The NFC East has been the most keenly contested division in the NFC

with Washington, Philadelphia

and the New York Giants all matching each other.

With the Giants losing to Carolina,

the opportunity for one of the others to stand up and make a move.

Washington wasted no time racing to a 21-0 half-time lead

over the Buffalo Bills.

Jordan Reed caught two scores

and quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a career-high

four touchdown passes,

including this epic score to DeSean Jackson in the third quarter.

DeSean Jackson! And he will take it all the way.

77 yards for a Redskins touchdown.

Washington eased to a victory,

effectively ending Buffalo's wild-card hopes.

Philadelphia had the chance to join Washington atop the NFC East

when they entertained Arizona,

but David Johnson ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns,

including this 47-yarder just before the half

to put the Cardinals in charge.

They wrapped up the NFC West title, their first since 2009,

when Deone Bucannon returned this interception

39 yards to record an emphatic victory.

Tampa Bay all but surrendered their outside chance of a playoff berth

despite quarterback Jameis Winston's fourth quarter rally,

which proved too little, too late and had far-reaching effects

as St Louis ran out easy wins.

With Tampa Bay and the New York Giants both losing

Seattle claimed a wild card berth

when they disposed of Cleveland in style at CenturyLink Field.

Doug Baldwin scored two touchdowns

and Tyler Lockett grabbed a 27-yard effort

as Seattle eased past the team

vying for next year's number-one draft pick.

Atlanta snapped a six-game losing streak

when they defeated a Jacksonville Jaguars team that still

harboured hopes of an AFC South division crown.

Devonta Freeman opened up the scoring

and Julio Jones grabbed his first touchdown in seven weeks,

as Atlanta held on to keep their faint wild card hopes alive.

By the time John Kuhn opened the scoring

for Green Bay against Oakland, the losses by Tampa Bay

and the Giants meant that Green Bay's wild card place

was already assured.

Damarious Randall added a 43-yard interception return

as Green Bay raced to a lead they'd never relinquish.

In the race for the NFC North,

Minnesota remained a game behind Green Bay

as they entertained division rivals, the Chicago Bears.

Teddy Bridgewater threw a career-high four touchdowns,

two to Stefon Diggs,

while also running in a 12-yard score of his own.

The NFC North is fascinating because, as you said,

Green Bay have the wild card,

-it could still go down to the wire for winning the division.

-Right.

I'm not sure Green Bay can win this game.

At Arizona, this coming week?

I don't think it can happen.

I think Arizona's too good of a team right now

and I don't like the match-up with their receivers...

I would agree with you, but Arizona lost Tyrann Mathieu

who was an outstanding football player for them.

I believe Aaron Rodgers is going to be able to exploit their secondary.

Even if they both win,

if both Green Bay and Minnesota then go down to the final game,

as you can see, Minnesota at Green Bay in that final one.

So, it's all going down to the wire in that division.

It is. And if that happens,

that'll be a barn-burner, they call those.

If that does happen, Minnesota is not going to Green Bay

and coming away with a victory.

-Not happening.

-So, Green Bay fans shouldn't be too nervous?

-Absolutely.

Let's just take a look at the NFC East and you're not allowed to talk

about Dallas here cos we're going to show their game with the Jets.

-So, whatever you do don't mention Dallas here.

-OK.

But Washington beat Philly next weekend at Philly,

they win a poor division.

-Can they win at Philly?

-They're not good on the road. Washington...

But the Eagles have just been smashed at home by the Cardinals.

I agree!

But I gotta go with the quarterback

that doesn't play well on the road. He's the key.

If Kirk Cousins plays well, and he doesn't play well on the road.

He's been playing well lately but I'm with you on this one, man.

I don't like Washington in this game. I don't like them on the road.

I think they're a little finicky.

I'm picking Philadelphia in this game.

I know they're 7 and 7 but...

-Should they be getting a little more credit, the Redskins?

-No.

-No!

-No? Fine.

-They're not that good of a football team.

Not for Gruden going, "Right, I'm going to put my faith in Cousins?"

-You know what, I think...

-I'll give you that.

He found something. He found something with Cousins.

He can run his offense. And that's what's important.

Got there in the end.

Our second game is a matchup between two AFC powerhouses.

The Denver Broncos from out west playing in a Pennsylvania city

built on steel.

The Broncos at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Both can still make the play-offs.

The Broncos going for the AFC West division title.

The Steelers chasing a wild card spot.

Team against team, quarterback against quarterback.

Ben Roethlisberger against Brock Osweiler,

big, bad boy Ben, against baby-face Brock.

Peyton Manning's going to be on the sideline today,

after coming back from practice this week, Phil.

Well, he's got the coach look down,

cover your mouth at everything you say

-so nobody can read your lips.

-Ball was out, a fumble by Hillman.

And it's recovered by Mike Mitchell!

He gets off the block from Sanders.

Takes the football away.

And on just the second play for the Broncos, they cough it up.

1st and goal to go for the Steelers.

It's Williams.

He finds a little opening, and he's got the touchdown.

That's his ninth touchdown carry of the season.

The Broncos face 3rd and 9,

Owen Daniels at the top.

Split wide.

Osweiler throws, at the goal-line!

It's caught for the touchdown.

Demaryius Thomas.

It's one of the best throws of the year by Osweiler so far.

-Oh, Sanders uncovered.

-And Sanders takes off to the end zone.

Returns to Pittsburgh and takes it 61 yards.

Well, that puts all the corners,

puts Roby back on the slot receiver.

Chris Harris.

Middle of the field, and diving attempt at a pick.

They say it is.

Here's Bush, Josh Bush, wrestled down by Wheaton at the 50.

Was it a clean catch?

A first look tells me that is a catch. Look at the coverage by Roby.

Yep, that's going to stand.

A 2nd and goal at the 1

turns into a 3rd and goal back at the 7.

Osweiler.

And he's going to have a touchdown!

Everybody's worried about coverage. Nobody looking at the quarterback,

and Osweiler's moved a couple of times today at the right time.

Big one for the touchdown.

On Pittsburgh's ensuing possession, they put together a 14-play drive,

ending in a Chris Boswell field goal to make it 20-10.

2nd and goal, the Broncos coming out of the two-minute warning.

Over to Thomas. That works.

Touchdown, Denver.

In spite of the daunting 17-point deficit,

Pittsburgh continued to fight, Boswell kicking a 41-yard field goal

eight seconds before half-time to make it 27-13.

1st and goal at the 9.

Roethlisberger to the endzone.

That is caught for a touchdown. Over Harris.

And that's the first one on Harris in two years.

Watching.

He's looking for the back shoulder throw

to the corner by the pie line.

In the front pie line, it's there, Antonio Brown reached it right,

so did Ben Roethlisberger, and they throw it to the back of the endzone.

2nd and goal.

Touchdown!

Pay dirt for Pittsburgh.

And again it was Roby who tried to defend, but Wheaton stayed with it.

Nine-yard touchdown. All Steelers in the second half.

They've come back from 17 down to tie it.

3rd and 16.

This is where Denver struggles, obvious passing situations.

Dropped.

Vernon Davis had a huge drop last week.

That would have been a 1st down, and he dropped this one.

-The pass was perfect.

-Vernon Davis goes through.

He sees the safety coming up.

And I think that's why he drops the football. Yes. He's looking ahead.

He sees Mike Mitchell. It would have been a 1st down.

So it's a 3rd and 2 now off the five yards.

Changes everything. Bunch formation,

try to get somebody

a shield as they get down to go down the field.

Roethlisberger.

Players all over him. Incomplete.

So, the Denver defense is able to make some plays.

2nd and 7.

Play action coming after him.

Breaks the tackle. Fires it.

And it is picked off by Shazier!

Dupree's all over him as they make the throw.

And, of course, when you're under pressure, Jim,

harder to make the right decision down the field.

Mike Tomlin playing to the cameras.

1st down with three and a half to go.

Fires it, touchdown!

Again, it's Brown!

Antonio Brown having another monster performance.

23-yard touchdown.

And Chris Harris, one of the absolute best in the league,

he's been turned around like he hasn't seen,

I don't know if he ever has in his career.

That's what I've been watching and seeing for many weeks

for Ben Roethlisberger, just one good throw after another.

Here we go, 4th down.

Thomas,

and Sanders to the near side.

Pass.

Incomplete.

That was going to be tough to pick up the 1st down,

had he even caught it. A linebacker was waiting for Anderson.

Remember, Denver still has three time-outs,

plus the two-minute warning.

Now the Steelers know one 1st down

-would be enough to probably win the game.

-2nd and 9.

They're going to throw it here.

They're coming in on him.

And it is intercepted!

The Broncos defense has the football!

And Ben can't believe he did it.

Brandon Marshall with the pick.

Roethlisberger, when I saw him move, I said, he'll just fall down.

Were you surprised they decided to throw in the first place?

Well, they were trying to win the game, I was surprised

just because the way the Broncos offense has had

so much trouble moving the ball, and everything.

It had been a long field view, just run the football, putt it.

But that was...as big as it gets.

The Steelers have challenged them, and they've won in the second half.

A much maligned secondary has come up big in this second half,

and they need to make one more play.

4th and 10.

Osweiler.

Down the field and...

incomplete.

And just after the Broncos are given a gift on the interception,

they squander it in four downs.

Well, you know, it's not about how we start,

it's all about how we finish. And we wasn't getting it down or anything.

We knew we had to stay together, rally together.

And fight to the finish. And we had to get an opportunity like today.

This is the third straight game you haven't scored in the second half.

What do you guys do at half-time?

Obviously not the right things right now.

And that's something that we are very aware of, as an offense.

As you can see, we've got a job lot of baubles,

and we're going to make sure we use them over the course of the show.

The Steelers are on a roll, aren't they?

Three wins on the trot,

-all against divisional leaders at the time of play.

-Yes, that offense

is playing lights out right now. You see that passing game?

They're throwing the ball anywhere and everywhere.

If Big Ben is fully fit, that's the best offense

-in the whole of the NFL, not just in the AFC?

-Hands down.

They've got the whole thing going.

Good offensive line, a great quarterback,

good running back, and three of the best receivers in football.

Nobody can stop them.

We talked about Green Bay fans and whether they should be worried.

If you're a Broncos fan, they're still top of their division,

but they could, depending on how the final two weeks go,

miss out on the play-offs altogether.

Yes, and they're not playing good football in the second half

of these games. I don't know what's going on.

The offense isn't moving the ball, which is making the defense

be on the field longer, which is wearing them down.

It's just not looking good for them.

There's only so long fake teams can pretend, Mark.

-Only so long fake teams can pretend.

-They are not a fake team!

-I'm just saying.

-Is it... But they're not a fake team!

-I'm just saying...

-Well, we could be going round in circles.

I could just keep going, "They're not a fake team,"

and you'd be, like, "I'm just saying."

But would it be unfair to put it all down to the fact that Osweiler

was in instead of Peyton Manning? Because let's not forget

when Peyton Manning went out, he wasn't playing great either.

No, you can't put it all down to that,

but you can a little because, you know, he doesn't have a

lot of film, so they're figuring out what he can and cannot do.

And by the second half of each game,

it seems like defenses are adjusting.

They are stopping him cold, man. He's a good young quarterback

but at this particular junction, he is not what the Denver Broncos need.

They need Peyton Manning in there.

-Yeah, but they're not a fake team.

-No.

As we said earlier, Tampa Bay have been eliminated from play-off contention,

which means that the 2015 number one draft choice, quarterback

Jameis Winston, has only two games left of his rookie season.

Good job, then, that he was wired for sound last week

against the New Orleans Saints.

It's a beautiful day in Tampa Bay so let's go out there

and get a win today!

It's a beautiful day in Tampa Bay so let's go out there

and get a win today! Let's go, baby!

-Let's go.

-"Family," on three.

-One, two, three...

-ALL:

-Family!

Jameis running to his left. He's going to run to the 40, to the 30.

He's going to get it to the 25-yard line.

Now maybe the Buccaneer offense will get started.

HE SHOUTS

Running right.

He's going to get through.

Touchdown, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, touchdown Doug Martin.

Good job. Go on and get in there.

Hey, go ahead and get in front of his face.

On the follow, go ahead and get in there

because he just sitting right there.

I need you across his face so he going to undercut you.

Good job.

Here he comes.

Gets the pass away.

It's made by Austin Seferian-Jenkins.

He's now the first up.

1st down and goal from the New Orleans six-yard line.

Running to the right side. Winston throws it ahead.

Touchdown, Tampa Bay. Adam Humphries has his first touchdown.

-Always a pleasure to play you.

-Hey, man, I admire you a lot.

-Lot of respect for you.

-Thank you.

Good stuff.

Our next action features the other New York team, the Jets,

who are desperately hanging on to the AFC's final wild card spot,

as they travel to the NFC's team of disappointment, the Dallas Cowboys.

LAUGHTER

The Dallas Cowboys, five-times Super Bowl champions,

a giant franchise playing out of the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Cowboys, America's team.

But 20 years have passed since their last Super Bowl triumph

and now their chances of making the play-offs hang on victory over the

New York Jets, who can still claim a wild-card spot for themselves.

Dez Bryant. He is as healthy as he's been.

Coming off perhaps his worst game ever, though, as a cowboy.

Only one catch after Green Bay and they're looking his way.

There he is.

What in the world happened that time?

That kind of sums it up for this Dallas Cowboys offense.

After failing to reach the end zone,

Dallas settled for a Dan Bailey field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The Jets went three and out on the ensuing possession,

the Cowboys getting the ball back with good field position.

Right at the 50, faces 2nd and 17.

Cassel lost his balance.

And then just throws it right to Revis.

Flags are out,

as Revis is slammed down by Collins.

I guess he's trying to throw it out of bounds. Darrelle Revis...

They don't come easier than that.

Handoff, power. Look at that burst! Touchdown, Jets.

Third straight game he's scored a touchdown. Bilal Powell.

That one was a pretty impressive little burst.

The handoff. Extra point by Bullock...

is no good.

It's his first miss as a Jet. He had struggled down in Houston.

Well, here's a development. The Cowboys have switched quarterbacks.

Kellen Moore, who had a decorated career at Boise State,

is about to take his first career NFL snap. In his fourth year.

He was a backup at Detroit for a few years.

He's never played in an NFL game until this very moment.

Linehan, the coordinator here,

had him for a couple of years in Detroit.

He's in trouble. Ducks, gets it away,

and he's intercepted.

His second NFL pass is a pick.

And shoved out of bounds.

Gilchrist has his third pick of the year.

Following the interception, the Jets converted a 36-yard

Randy Bullock field goal to make it 9-3,

but the Cowboys would get one more chance to score before half-time.

1st and goal it is.

Over to Dez. And into the end zone for a Dallas touchdown.

Well, he's comfortable now. He's got confidence, hit some passes.

2nd and goal.

Moore.

Stands in the pocket.

Throw's intercepted in the end zone by Pryor.

Tripped up near the ten-yard line.

Almost the same thing that happened to him

on the first throw down the middle.

The backside safety, he never sees him.

And there's an interception, right back by Terrance Mitchell.

Just brought back to Dallas.

And put on the roster.

The Cowboys converted the turnover into points,

as Dan Bailey hit a 38-yard field goal,

to extend their lead to four points heading into the fourth quarter.

3rd and 13.

Fitzpatrick up the middle on the go...

and he's got his target.

What a catching effort by Enunwa.

To fight off defenders and set them up 1st and goal

to go 25-yard pass play.

Marshall at the top, Decker shifting over to that left side as well.

And that's Decker. Really no-one near him. Touchdown, New York.

His 10th of the season.

So Darrelle Revis can see them.

If they want to, they can always help out,

because they know where he's going to be.

Good catch, reaching back for it.

And Bailey from 50. Has not missed from 50 and beyond this season.

This to tie the game.

And Bailey's kick...

..hits the upright and goes through.

The game is tied with 1:55 to play.

Plenty of time. I'd be getting field-goal range.

Fitzpatrick. Pressure on. The pass...

into the hands of Thompkins.

And Thompkins has them set up in field-goal range.

The Jets have won two games in overtime

and now this is to avoid overtime.

This is for Bullock with 41 seconds to go, to put the Jets up.

From 40 yards out, Bullock...

comes through.

Jets take the lead at 19-16.

I don't like three-man rushes in situations like this.

We saw it in Green Bay just a few weeks ago.

Quarterbacks can move too much.

That was actually in Detroit

when Green Bay pulled it out with a Hail Mary, and here's...

Kellen Moore, unwinding, looking for Dez,

and it's intercepted to close out the game.

Marcus Williams with his sixth pick of the year.

And the Cowboys' slim hopes

are down to no hopes for the play-offs.

Good game.

What happened over there on the top of your nose?

I still haven't seen it so I don't know how ugly it is,

but, I don't know, we were just out there playing,

my helmet came down on me...

Waaahhhhh!

Is this live?

LAUGHTER

The odd thing is that, before going on air,

we talked about how the fact that Ryan Fitzpatrick is steady

is a big plus point for the Jets, aside from that!

Yeah, he's great for that team because he's controlling the

ball on offense, and Todd Bowles is building that team around defense.

So because their defense is

so strong, it's going to need to rest at times and therefore even if

Fitzpatrick doesn't score on a drive, is that what you're saying, as long

as he keeps them out for a while, it lets the defense rest.

Yes, maintaining those drives is so important,

because those big guys up front, they need a rest.

You can't have them running down the field. He knows that.

No, I don't. I don't.

But do you think sometimes we, as in NFL fans,

don't necessarily get that?

You might not understand that, but, the type of quarterback that he is,

he's not like a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning type quarterback,

he's a game-manager quarterback, and if you're going to have

that guy at quarterback, you have to have a great defense,

which is what the Jets have, and he complements them very, very well.

So can you flip that back to the Broncos

and their second-half performances?

Their offense were on and off very quickly, and with the defense

being the Broncos' strength, maybe they get tired in the second half?

There is the Peyton Manning argument.

That's what Peyton does well.

He knows what's going on in the whole game,

he knows if that defense needs a rest,

you've had too many three-and-outs,

he knows, "Hey, I've got to do some things to sustain

"this drive, to make sure those guys are getting the appropriate rest."

This might be hard for you as a Giant but do you want to just give a

word of praise to Todd Bowles in his first year as the Jets' head coach?

Todd's my guy, I know him personally,

-he's a really good manager.

-So what kind of guy is he, then?

He's a really good guy, really quiet, doesn't say too much.

-Methodical?

-Very methodical,

and he has his finger on the pulse of this football team.

They respect him tremendously, he was great for that team,

coming off of what Rex Ryan was.

You know, the loud, blustery Rex Ryan,

he is the anti-Rex Ryan and he's doing a great job in his first year.

Right, time now for our second round-up.

The AFC South is another keenly contested division.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been trying to keep pace

with the Texans and the Colts as they vie for the division lead.

On Sunday, Houston travelled to Indianapolis,

a city where they have never won in 13 attempts.

Indianapolis scored the first touchdown against Houston,

but it was the Texans who ended a two-game losing streak.

Their replacement quarterback, Brandon Weeden,

threw a go-ahead 8-yard touchdown pass

to Jaelen Strong in the fourth quarter,

to put Houston at the top of the AFC South.

They'll be champions with one more win.

Indianapolis now need help to make the play-off.

New England continue to roll.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski reeling in another touchdown

to open the scoring against the lacklustre Tennessee team.

A keen Hicks added a 7-yard fumble return

and James White reeled in a 30-yard score,

as New England enjoyed a three-touchdown lead at the half.

This regulation victory assures New England

a first round play-off bye on wild card week.

Cincinnati grabbed a fifth straight post-season berth

by easing past San Francisco.

Jeremy Hill ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns

as quarterback AJ McCarron found Tyler Kroft

with this 20-yard touchdown pass

to celebrate his debut and seal the victory.

And Kansas City's win streak extended to eight games

as they travelled to Baltimore on Sunday.

Tyvon Branch scored on a 73-yard fumble recovery in the first quarter

and Marcus Peters rounded off the rout with a 90-yard interception.

It's a foot race!

You can kiss him goodbye!

Touchdown!

Peters has done it again!

Kansas City still leads the wild card race

and have an outside chance of wrestling

the AFC West title away from Denver.

It's an age-old argument,

but if you think that one of Jets, Steelers, Broncos, Chiefs

are likely to miss out on the play-offs

and, yet, somebody from the AFC South

will go through with an inferior record.

Is that fair?

It's fair. Because that's the way it's set up.

That's the easiest way in, win your conference.

Should that happen?

Well...

I'm conflicted on this, because it shouldn't happen

but, at the same time, you know the rules going in.

I mean, the NFL stipulates that this is what's going to happen.

So, I mean, if you know that, how can you argue with it?

But the interesting thing you were saying about winning your division

and that's the most important thing, obviously,

is that sometimes franchises will set up simply to win their division.

That's exactly how you build your team.

-So when you are at the Texans...?

-Yeah.

We were playing against Peyton Manning.

We were not going to get a better quarterback.

We knew we had to get defensive players

to stop him and slow him down.

That was our best way of getting in the play-offs.

Didn't work well, but we tried!

So you're not looking at the bigger picture?

You are looking at the bigger picture.

But you got to get in the picture first!

You got to at least get in the play-offs,

or know you have a chance to start to build your team from that.

Coach Coughlin would always say this...

"The easiest way into the play-offs is to win your division.

"You get into the play-offs, and anything can happen."

We showed that on numerous occasions.

Anything can happen once you get into the play-offs.

But the key was to get into the play-offs first.

We talked about the Broncos a lot.

Do you think the Chiefs can catch the Broncos in the NFC?

The Chiefs are playing really good football right now.

Alex Smith is playing his best football.

And they've got some defensive stars. I think they're good.

-I think they are dangerous.

-Oh, definitely. They can catch them.

If Denver's not careful, the Chiefs will catch them and win the division

with these last two games.

So they better play good football and win these next two.

As you can see, Cleveland and Oakland,

the last two go to the Chiefs. Both eminently winnable.

Yeah. They can run through that!

Right, Let's round up the sights and sounds

that you may have missed from week 15.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Wow!

-Nice job.

-Done, baby!

You got to bear down, lean on each other, tighten up down, bro.

Cos we don't give. You go to believe it. Focus on that vision we set

and take it from there, bro.

Now, there's nothing like winning!

Doesn't matter what win it is.

But it goes to show,

-you just keep on fighting your

-BLEEP

-off every day,

sticking together,

leaders stepping up and just keep on rolling

through all that adversity, men,

you come out here in an atmosphere like this.

We know it wasn't going to be easy.

It was going to be emotional for a lot of people,

for a number of different reasons, men,

but we just kept on sticking together

and just that first half was outstanding, men.

So as we round out week 15,

just 18 teams remain in contention for a play-off place in the NFC.

Unbeaten Carolina have been joined by Arizona

as winners of the South and West respectively

Green Bay still leads the North

and have claimed at least a wild card berth,

but they may still be caught by Minnesota.

Washington now enjoy a one-game lead in the East.

Philadelphia and the New York Giants can only make the play-offs

by beating Washington to the division title.

Seattle have secured one of the wild card spots.

And Atlanta's hopes are wafer thin.

In the AFC, New England are champions of the East

and will have a bye on wild card weekend.

Cincinnati lead the North and have secured at least a play-off place.

Denver still leads the West,

just one game ahead of Kansas City,

who occupy one of the wild card berths.

Houston now lead the South.

Indianapolis and Jacksonville can only make post-season play

by deposing them.

Pittsburgh have replaced the New York Jets as the final wild card,

but there is, of course, still two games to go.

Little bit of social media to finish.

Let's do the NFL rookie question first from Allen Omura.

Would you explain, please, the fair catch rules

in relation to kick returns? Jason...

The fair catch is you wave your arm above your waist, above your head

and it gives you a chance to catch the ball without being tackled.

OK. Very simple.

Although catches are proving even more difficult to explain.

Jordan Spieth...

I've just got to do this cos he's very clean-cut, is Jordan Spieth.

But he wasn't impressed with Beckham Junior

embarrassing himself right now.

And I think this picture is very poignant, which is on NFL UK,

which could have been the last game in San Diego for the Chargers.

It's difficult for us to understand.

-Is that a shame that they'll leave San Diego?

-Yes.

Going to be a sad day for San Diego fans. It is.

Right, thank you very much to both of you. That wraps up week 15.

Just a couple of games to the end of the regular season.

And Nat and Mike will have live coverage

of the Packers at the Cardinals

in their regular Sunday night slot on 5 Live Sports Extra from 7:30.

That's it from us.

On behalf of the three of us, have yourself a very happy Christmas.

Or, if you're watching the repeat, happy Boxing Day!

Goodbye!

Across the conferences...

..up and down the divisions,

play off places are claimed.

Joy for those who know they are through.

Others must wait for week 16.

Whose faces will light up next week?

The chances of the Jacksonville Jaguars

or the New York Giants may be slim.

The pathway for the Texans and the Broncos may be clearer.

I don't care what it might look like,

but we have to step up to the plate!

But while there is hope, there will be an adventure at Christmas time.

Oh, to smile into the New Year and stay in the race to Super Bowl 50.

All the way to Super Bowl, baby!