Week 15 Review: A silver lining for Patriots fans ― you can still make fun of the Jets and the Falcons

There are two ways to handle this disappointment: Sulk in the misery, or laugh at the misfortune of others and bring them down with you.

That is exactly where we’re going today. The Patriots may be down and out, but at least the Jets and the Falcons are a punchline. The Jets may have ruined a once-in-a-life opportunity, and the Falcons blew yet another big lead ― to Brady, of all people.

An unhealthy case of schadenfreude is where we begin the Week 15 Review:

▪ Everything was going smoothly with the Jets’ Tank for Trevor Lawrence plan with 13 straight losses to start the season. But they potentially blew it all by upsetting the Rams, 23-20, in Los Angeles. The Jets joined the 2011 Colts as the only teams in NFL history to start 0-13, then beat a team with a winning record.

“Hey, our job is to go out and try to win every week,” coach Adam Gase said. “It’s been too long for us to even remember what a win feels like.”

Gase is almost certainly going to be fired after the season, and his parting gift to the Jets was to mess up their draft plans.

The Jets are tied with the Jaguars at 1-13, but the Jaguars hold the tiebreaker for the No. 1 draft pick because they have a worse strength of schedule. The only way the Jets get the top pick back is if they lose out (vs. Browns, at Patriots) and the Jaguars win a game (vs. Bears, at Colts).

The Jets could still have decent options in the draft at No. 2, potentially Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. But there is nothing funnier than seeing the Jets go 1-15, win a meaningless game, and lose out on a potential franchise-altering QB.

▪ Actually, I take that back. There is one thing funnier — watching the Falcons blow yet another big second-half lead to Brady in a 31-27 loss to the Bucs. This wasn’t quite 28-3, the margin Atlanta led New England by in Super Bowl LI, but as soon as Falcons tight end Hayden Hurst caught a touchdown to make the score 24-7 Falcons with 7:34 left in the third quarter, many watching at home had the same thought: “Brady’s got ‘em just where he wants ‘em.”

Sure enough, Brady threw for 320 yards in the second half, the Bucs scored 31 points on five consecutive drives, and the Falcons completely fizzled out, failing to pick up a first down on four of their five final drives.

“He’s never out of the fight,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said, “as I’ve learned too many times.”

All that was missing were the shots of Falcons owner Arthur Blank watching in disbelief from the sideline.

▪ There was a potential Super Bowl LV preview Sunday, with the Chiefs escaping New Orleans with a 32-29 win. But both teams have some cause for concern.

The 13-1 Chiefs suffered a big loss with running back Clyde Helaire-Edwards going down with hip and ankle injuries. He could potentially return for the Chiefs’ first playoff game — and getting a bye surely will help — but Edwards-Helaire has been a big part of the offense, with 1,100 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns. Le’Veon Bell had 76 total yards and a touchdown on Sunday, but he’s been lacking explosion all season and is a downgrade at running back.

The 10-4 Saints were rusty in quarterback Drew Brees’s first game back with just 285 total yards, though the Saints woke up with three touchdowns in the second half. Most alarmingly, the Saints’ excellent defense has allowed 411 and 412 yards the last two weeks after not allowing 400 yards all season. The run defense has been especially porous, allowing more yards the last two weeks (425) than in the previous seven (412).

The Saints are still in the driver’s seat for the NFC South title, but Sunday’s loss essentially closed the door on the No. 1 seed.

▪ The Browns improved to 10-4 and all but secured a playoff spot with a 20-6 win over the Giants. They have now won five of their last six games, and quarterback Baker Mayfield has been outstanding.

In his last four games — three wins and a 47-42 loss to Baltimore — Mayfield is averaging 308 passing yards per game with 10 touchdowns, one interception, a 70.2 completion percentage, and 117.7 passer rating, third-highest in the league over that time span.

Compare that with Mayfield’s first 10 games, when he averaged 185 passing yards, with 15 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 60.8 completion percentage, and an 89.7 rating that ranked 23rd.

“He played really efficiently today, and if we didn’t have respect for him before, we definitely have it now,” Giants cornerback Logan Ryan said.

▪ The Eagles cracked 400 total yards in just one of 12 games with Carson Wentz at quarterback, but now have done it in back-to-back games with Jalen Hurts — a win over New Orleans and a 33-26 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. Hurts was a revelation in the passing game this time, throwing for 338 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Most impressively, he completed seven passes of at least 20 yards.

If Hurts continues to play well, it will really complicate matters for the Eagles as they decide what to do with Wentz and coach Doug Pederson.

▪ The NFL expanded the playoff field to seven teams in each conference, but it hasn’t resulted in more teams staying in contention. In the AFC, seven teams already have been eliminated, and the 7-7 Raiders barely have a pulse, leaving the Dolphins and Ravens to fight it out for the last playoff spot.

The Dolphins finish at Raiders and at Bills, while the Ravens finish vs. Giants and at Bengals. That’s an easier schedule for the Ravens, but the Dolphins may get lucky and face a Bills team with nothing to play for in Week 17.

▪ In the NFC, barring a collapse by the Rams or Bucs, and barring a miracle by the Vikings, the final playoff spot will come down to 8-6 Arizona or 7-7 Chicago. The NFC East is also up for grabs, with 6-8 Washington holding a one-game lead over 5-9 Dallas and 5-9 New York.

Tracking ex-Patriots players

▪ Bucs QB Tom Brady: Now has four career wins after trailing by 17 or more points at halftime, the most by any quarterback in the Super Bowl era.

▪ Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski: Has suited up for all 14 games this year, and has a respectable 41 catches for 536 yards and five touchdowns.

▪ Lions WR Mohamed Sanu: Had four catches for 38 yards against the Titans and has 12 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown in five games with the Lions. The Patriots couldn’t find a use for him?

▪ Titans K Stephen Gostkowski: Hit his only field goal attempt and all five PATs in a big win over the Lions, and has not missed a kick in five straight games.

▪ Seahawks TE Jacob Hollister: Had two catches for 17 yards, including his second touchdown of the season in 20-15 win over Washington.

Tracking ex-Patriots coaches

▪ Titans coach Mike Vrabel: That offense is incredible. That defense is going to doom them.

▪ Texans coach Romeo Crennel: His Texans fought hard in a meaningless game in which they quickly trailed, 14-0.

▪ Giants coach Joe Judge: Sputtering to the finish line with an anemic offense.

▪ Dolphins coach Brian Flores: One minor quibble: Just 1-5 on challenges this season.

Stats of the week

▪ The Chiefs are 22-1 in their last 23 games, and just completed their first 8-0 road season in the Super Bowl era.

▪ The Titans-Lions game was the first 46-25 score in NFL history.

▪ Four teams recorded a safety in Week 15 (Ravens, Cardinals, Lions, Chiefs), tied for the second-most in a week in NFL history (five, two times). There have been 10 safeties over the past three weeks, an NFL record. There have been 22 safeties this season, tied for fourth-most in a season and four off the record (26 in 1988).

▪ Ravens QB Lamar Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history with 800 rushing yards in consecutive seasons.

▪ Dolphins RB Salvon Ahmed became the Dolphins’ first 100-yard rusher in 32 games.