play1:47Foxworth: Parsons injury eliminates any margin of error for PackersThe “Get Up” crew breaks down what Micah Parsons’ season-ending injury means for the Packers.
play1:10Is this Josh Allen’s best shot to win the Super Bowl?The “Get Up” crew discusses if this is the year Josh Allen finally leads the Bills to a Super Bowl.
play1:28Rex Ryan: Joe Burrow is the only one trying to bring it for BengalsRex Ryan believes Joe Burrow is disgusted with the performance of his teammates after their loss to the Ravens.
play1:03Schrager: This Bucs defeat is the single worst loss this entire NFL seasonPeter Schrager explains how the Buccaneers have put their season in jeopardy after Thursday night’s loss to the Falcons.
Jeremy FowlerCloseJeremy Fowlersenior NFL national reporterJeremy Fowler is a senior national NFL writer for ESPN, covering the entire league including breaking news. Jeremy also contributes to SportsCenter both as a studio analyst and a sideline reporter covering for NFL games. He is an Orlando, Florida native who joined ESPN in 2014 after covering college football for CBSSports.com.Follow on XDan GrazianoCloseDan Grazianosenior NFL national reporterDan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.Follow on XDec 17, 2025, 11:00 AM ET
Foxworth: Parsons injury eliminates any margin of error for PackersThe “Get Up” crew breaks down what Micah Parsons’ season-ending injury means for the Packers.
Is this Josh Allen’s best shot to win the Super Bowl?The “Get Up” crew discusses if this is the year Josh Allen finally leads the Bills to a Super Bowl.
Rex Ryan: Joe Burrow is the only one trying to bring it for BengalsRex Ryan believes Joe Burrow is disgusted with the performance of his teammates after their loss to the Ravens.
Rex Ryan believes Joe Burrow is disgusted with the performance of his teammates after their loss to the Ravens.
Schrager: This Bucs defeat is the single worst loss this entire NFL seasonPeter Schrager explains how the Buccaneers have put their season in jeopardy after Thursday night’s loss to the Falcons.
Peter Schrager explains how the Buccaneers have put their season in jeopardy after Thursday night’s loss to the Falcons.
What is the leaguewide buzz on Philip Rivers’ first start in five years?
Who is the most interesting offseason trade candidate?
Insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been calling sources around the NFL for the latest news and buzz on key situations heading into Week 16 of the 2025 season.
Speaking of the playoffs, Jeremy and Dan also leaned on their reporting to make big postseason-centric predictions. And lastly, they looked ahead to the offseason and named a few players who could be trade candidates in March. It’s all here, as our national reporters answer big questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 16.
“The fear factor with him is still thick,” said one NFL coordinator who recently prepared for him. “He’s still the best at winning differently each week. I still fear that player more than most. It just didn’t go their way this year.”
Foxworth: Parsons injury eliminates any margin of error for Packers
The “Get Up” crew breaks down what Micah Parsons’ season-ending injury means for the Packers.
Fowler: This injury isn’t a referendum on the Cowboys-Packers trade. Parsons was worth every dollar to Green Bay, playing brilliantly before what can be classified as a fluke injury. Parsons’ explosiveness could suffer in 2026, when Green Bay will undoubtedly start him on a pitch count, but he’s 26 years old, so there’s no reason he won’t resume his dominant play.
To your point, the Packers have one issue above all others: How will they close games? Luckily for Green Bay, it has quality pass rush depth with Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare and others. And the Packers managed a top-six defense last season without Parsons. But he has been deadly in the fourth quarter with game-sealing playmaking. The Packers must get creative with their personnel to offset his loss.
But it does not appear as if he will elevate them, and they’re going to need some help to get in — even if they can run the table. That won’t be easy, as they need to beat the 49ers this week and win their head-to-head matchups against the Jags and Texans to finish the regular season.
Graziano: I guess I wonder what happens if they finish the season under .500 and miss the playoffs again. Are people on the coaching staff and in the front office on the hot seat? Remember, Indianapolis is sort of under new ownership, as Jim Irsay’s daughters inherited the team following his passing before this season. I wonder at what point Carlie Irsay-Gordon will look to make changes.
It’s certainly possible the Daniel Jones and Richardson injuries buy people some grace — everyone knows this Rivers experiment is a Hail Mary and miles removed from their best-case scenario. But the Colts have gone longer without winning the AFC South than any other team in the division, and it doesn’t look like that will change this season.
Is this Josh Allen’s best shot to win the Super Bowl?
The “Get Up” crew discusses if this is the year Josh Allen finally leads the Bills to a Super Bowl.
Fowler: Solid argument, Dan. Buffalo’s time might be now, even if Allen must will a Super Bowl berth into existence with heroic weekly outputs. Buffalo’s supporting cast is good but not great.
Chicago’s run game is outstanding with the two-headed attack of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. It could give the Bears an edge if they end up in close, low-scoring playoff games in the cold. And while quarterback Caleb Williams is still young and a bit of a wild card, he has come up big in some late-game spots already this season.
Fowler: As far as quick exits, Denver is on my radar despite its impressive push for the No. 1 seed. The AFC feels more open than in years past, and though the Broncos’ offense has improved in recent weeks, I still can’t shake that midseason lull it had in eking out wins against the Jets and Raiders.
Denver has a dominant defense that can overcome its inconsistent offense. And to his credit, Nix knows how to move an offense downfield. He finds a way, especially late in games. I’m just not sure Denver has enough firepower at the skill positions to keep getting by in January. I might look foolish for this take considering Denver seems to be peaking at the right time.
He would undoubtedly have a market. He’s due $50 million in cash over the next two years, which is manageable for a WR1. The Eagles would absorb a $20 million cap hit if he’s traded before June 1, or they could save $7 million on the cap by waiting until after June 1 to deal him. Either way, the Eagles have shown cap challenges won’t deter them (see: the Carson Wentz trade). And it seems that Brown would welcome a new passing game at this point.
Does a safe landing spot exist for Murray? Working with, say, Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota would be ideal, but J.J. McCarthy has shown improvement over the past two weeks. The Raiders and Jets are among teams that appear to be in transition at quarterback. Whether a team takes a chance on Murray’s maligned career — and gives up draft capital and financial resources to do it — remains to be seen.
Another name on my radar is Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie. The last Kansas City corner eyeing a big extension, L’Jarius Sneed, was shipped to Tennessee for a draft pick. McDuffie would have value, and Tampa Bay would be a perfect spot for him.
Graziano: The Chiefs always seem to let cornerbacks go when it’s time to pay big money, but a big reason they’ve been able to get away with that is that they always have a replacement ready to go — as McDuffie was when they traded Sneed, and like Sneed was when they moved on from Charvarius Ward. I’m not sure they have that heir apparent on the roster, unless they think it’s Joshua Williams or Jaylen Watson.
• There are a number of theories bouncing around the league regarding Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who followed up last week’s gloomy news conference with a shockingly poor performance by himself and the entire team in Sunday’s 24-0 loss to the Ravens. That game eliminated the Bengals from the playoffs, and Burrow continued to seem uncharacteristically despondent afterward. Receiver Ja’Marr Chase even said, “You never know what he might be going through.”
Rex Ryan: Joe Burrow is the only one trying to bring it for Bengals
Rookie Quinn Ewers could theoretically be a 2026 starting option if he shows enough in these remaining three weeks. But moving on from Tagovailoa would probably require the Dolphins to be players in that Mac Jones/Kyler Murray/etc. second-chance QB market if they want to compete next year. Not a great spot for whoever their next general manager turns out to be.
Payton is trying to become the first head coach in history to win the Super Bowl with two different teams. The Broncos can clinch the 1-seed this weekend with a victory over the Jaguars and losses by the Patriots, Bills and Chargers.
• Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ profanity-laced tirade Thursday night had been building. In fact, just minutes earlier, Bowles had addressed the team with even more scathe, unleashing in a way that he hadn’t all season. He made it known he was going to do the same on the podium. One team source described the postgame scene as Bowles’ effort to wake up a team in a slumber.
Schrager: This Bucs defeat is the single worst loss this entire NFL season
“There’s no panic in the building,” a source said. “That’s how weeks like [Week 14] pay off. The people there [including team president Art Rooney II] aren’t on social media. It’s business-like there. Mike identifies what the problem is and he digs into the film with his staff to fix it. It’s really that simple.”