The stretch run of the 2024 NFL regular season is here, and many teams are ready to jockey for playoff positioning.
Three teams have already sealed berths in the playoff field after the Detroit Lions’ win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, and a couple more can join them by the end of Week 14. While this week’s schedule is light on marquee matchups – the only game Sunday featuring two teams with winning records is the prime-time showdown between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas Chiefs – there surely will be some surprises that could shake up the outlook heading into the final four weeks of the season.
Here are the Week 14 bold predictions from USA TODAY Sports’ NFL reporters and writers:
Isaac Guerendo will rush for at least 100 yards in his first NFL start for the 49ers
With reigning NFL rushing champ Christian McCaffrey and top-shelf backup running back Jordan Mason done in by season-ending injuries, rookie Isaac Guerendo steps into the starting lineup as the 49ers (5-7) try pulling off a late-season rally that keeps their slim playoff hopes alive. Here’s to expecting that the fourth-round rookie will make the most of his featured role, beginning with a 100-yard game against the Bears on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
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No, of course he won’t make the Faithful forget CMC, placed on injured reserve with a torn posterior cruciate ligament suffered in the loss at Buffalo on Sunday night. And Mason, headed to IR with a high ankle sprain, will be sorely missed, too. Yet Guerendo will benefit from an ‘institutional strength’ of Kyle Shanahan’s offense – a potent rushing attack sprung by San Francisco’s zone-blocking schemes. And we know he will be prepared well because of the input from legendary running backs coach Bobby Turner, a 75-year-old walking NFL treasure who for the past 30 years has worked as an assistant with either Kyle or Mike Shanahan. Think of all the running backs over the years – many of them mid- or late-round picks, or undrafted free agents, dating to Mike Shanahan’s glory days with the Broncos when Kyle was in high school – who were plugged into a Shanahan offense and became instant hits. That track record is hardly coincidental, given Turner’s touch behind the scenes.
Now it’s Guerendo’s turn. His reps this season have been limited, but the Louisville product – with a burst of speed that reminds me of Kansas City’s dynamo, Isiah Pacheco – certainly showed more than a glimpse in rushing for 99 yards on 10 carries in a Week 6 victory at Seattle. With a full week of practice reps and the expectation to carry the full load on Sunday, Guerendo will have a smashing starting debut. And let’s not forget the last 49ers running back put in such a situation, way back in Week 1 when McCaffrey’s Achilles injury kept him on the sideline. Mason stung the Jets for 147 yards on 28 carries in the Monday night opener, and topped 100 yards in three of the first four games. Next man up: Guerendo.
— Jarrett Bell
Six-way tie at 3-10 in race for No. 1 overall pick by weekend’s end
Fire up the tank-a-thon! Another fun name for this: “The Travis Hunter Sweepstakes.” Cam Ward? Sheduer Sanders? Semantics. With a weaker draft class, having a higher pick is more important this year than most, regardless of a team’s needs at the top of the first round.
The Raiders, Giants and Jaguars enter as the league’s two-win teams. The Jets, Titans and Panthers are the active three-win squads. The trio of 2-10 teams are going to win. If the Jags and Raiders didn’t play each other Dec. 22, it might be the only game these teams win the rest of the way; luckily (or in this case, potentially unluckily) for one of them, that’s impossible. The Jets are facing Miami on the road, the Panthers travel to play the Eagles, and the Titans are playing the Jaguars. That’s a six-way tie at 3-10. Parity league. Tiebreakers galore. It’s chaos, and will set up for some putrid football down the stretch.
— Chris Bumbaca
Expect another Monday night shootout
You’re decidedly forgiven if you failed to make Browns at Broncos appointment viewing on ‘Monday Night Football’ earlier this week … but your bad if that was the case, and I’d advise not making the same mistake next Monday. While there are almost zero playoff implications for the Bengals-Cowboys matchup – both teams have about a 2% chance to qualify at this point amid highly disappointing seasons – don’t discount the allure of the prime-time stage, even for players who are basically running out the clock on their season. Cincy QB Joe Burrow is good for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs a week – a good chunk of that earmarked for WR Ja’Marr Chase – not that it’s done this team much good. Conversely, the Bengals have surrendered nearly 35 points per game over their past five, so every reason to expect the Cowboys offense – even with QB2 Cooper Rush in the lineup – has a big night as they try to run their winning streak to three. Perhaps not a so-called big game, but quite possibly the one you won’t want to miss in Week 14 – especially if you have a fantasy investment.
— Nate Davis
Myles Garrett will have another three-sack performance vs. Steelers
Garrett likes making a statement that he’s the best pass rusher in the game against T.J. Watt and the Steelers. Garrett proclaimed that he’s “No. 1” after his three-sack performance helped Cleveland upset the Steelers in Week 12. The Browns star defensive end will produce another three sacks against an overwhelmed Steelers offensive line on Sunday. Garrett’s three sacks will give him 101 ½ career sacks. He’ll become just the fifth player since 1982, when sacks became an official statistic, with at least 100 sacks in his first eight career seasons.
This time, however, Garrett’s standout performance won’t lead the Browns to a victory. The Steelers, who are eyeing an AFC North title, will overcome Garrett nearly wrecking the game by playing complementary football and they’ll avoid committing turnovers.
— Tyler Dragon
Leonard Williams terrorizes Cardinals again for two sacks
The Seattle Seahawks defensive end is on quite a heater, having earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording two sacks and a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 26-21 win against the New York Jets. But his run began a week prior, when he bagged Kyler Murray for 2 ½ sacks and helped limit the Cardinals’ high-powered run game to just 49 yards on 14 carries. With pass rusher Uchenna Nwosu being activated from injured reserve, Seattle’s surging defense looks to be an even more formidable matchup this time around for Arizona. Even if Williams – who ranks third in pass-rush win rate among interior defensive linemen, according to ESPN – can’t replicate his finishing touch as a playmaker from the previous two games, expect him to be in the backfield with regularity as he again takes on the Cardinals’ overmatched offensive guards.
— Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
