Six Things We Learned from Week 15

Week 15 provided fans with upsets (San Diego beat Denver, Miami beat New England, Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati, etc.) and blowouts (a league record 763 points scored on Sunday, via the Elias Sports Bureau). Here are six things we learned from the action in Week 15.

1. The Broncos won't reach the Super Bowl. I've been clamoring about this all season, you see, unlike most people I never thought that Denver was Super Bowl bound. Their defense isn't good enough and when the weather gets cold and windy and the moment is big, Peyton shrinks.
2. Jerry Jones needs to resign as General Manager. I'm really glad I'm not a Cowboys fan. To have an owner like Jerry Jones-- a businessman who thinks he understands the game enough to also be the acting GM -- must be difficult. The man is driving his team into the ground and they will never win another Super Bowl with him running the football operations. He needs to hire a real General Manager and allow that person to do their job, and he can stick to the business side of things (as owners are supposed to do!).
3. There are a handful of deserving candidates for Coach of the Year; Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, Sean Payton, Ron Rivera, and Marc Trestman are the top candidates in my opinion. And there's not much separating them, either. Andy Reid turned a 2-14 team into a playoff team with a chance of winning their division with some help from Denver. Bill Belichick has kept the Patriots atop their division despite losing several key players to injuries. Sean Payton has proven how important he is to the Saints' success after being suspended all of last season. Ron Rivera has turned the Panthers into playoff contenders with a chance to clinch their division. And Marc Trestman is a rookie head coach who has the Bears currently as the fourth seed.
4. Feature running backs aren't a thing of the past. While running backs aren't a high priority in the draft these days due to teams using multiple backs, some people have said that the days of the feature running back is dead. I would have to disagree. Take a look around the league and you'll find players like Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore, Alfred Morris, Matt Forte, Reggie Bush, and the list goes on. There are a lot of feature backs in today's NFL and even though we're in a pass-happy league where running backs aren't as highly coveted as they once were, the feature running back will never die.
5. The Cowboys should fine Dez Bryant for leaving the field early. With 1:21 left in the game, Green Bay's offense was in the victory formation (set to take a knee) and Cowboys' wide receiver Dez Bryant was seen headed to the locker room. That is just plain unacceptable. If the Packers were to fumble the snap and Dallas recovered, the offense would take the field and Bryant would be nowhere to be found. His excuse was that he didn't want to be seen crying. If that's the case he can put a damn towel over his head. He has a history of letting his emotions get the best of him and Sunday was just another example of that.
6. RGIII is not a franchise quarterback. That's right, he is not a franchise quarterback. He possesses all the talent in the world but what he lacks is leadership and selflessness. He is a selfish player, making everything about him. He's more focused on his brand and doing what's best for him, rather than what's best for his team. Mike Shanahan was right to bench him and while he says the decision was made so that RGIII can go into the offseason healthy, I think there's more to it than that. In the long run, Washington would be better off with Kirk Cousins as their quarterback.