With only three weeks remaining in the NFL regular season, bubble teams are running out of time to make a final push to the playoffs. Which Week 15 losers should be worried, and which ones should hold off on smashing the panic button?
Panic meter rating: 8.5/10
It’s officially full-on panic mode in Detroit. The Lions gave up 24 second-half points to the Los Angeles Rams in their 41-34 loss on Sunday, dropping them to 8-6 on the year. Dan Campbell’s squad now has a 41 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to NFL.com, but it’ll need some help.
If the Lions finish the season 3-0 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, they’ll need either the Bears or Green Bay Packers to go 1-2 or worse, or the San Francisco 49ers to go 0-3. If they go 2-1 to close the year, they’ll need the Bears or Packers to go 0-3. Detroit’s best chance is to win its next two games and hope the Bears lose to the Packers or 49ers, which would set up a win-and-in showdown against Chicago in Week 18.
Panic meter rating: 7.5/10
The Packers had an opportunity to stay within striking distance of the No. 1 seed in the NFC in Week 15, but they blew a 23-14 second-half lead to the Denver Broncos and fell to the No. 7 seed. To make matters worse, star pass-rusher Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL in the game and will miss the rest of the season.
