With week fifteen of the NFL season basically in the books, these three teams had abysmal performances. The Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks both got blown out in games they had to win to take control of their respective divisions. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw their chance to take the top seed in the AFC go up in flames at the very end of the game.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers went on the road to face the Kansas City Chiefs in a game to decide control of the AFC West. Despite getting into a 10-0 hole early, the Chargers came back to take a 13-10 lead early in the third quarter, as they looked like the team that had won seven of their last nine.
However, the game took a turn for the worse as the Chargers turned it over four times in a row, with three interceptions by Philip Rivers and an Austin Ekeler fumble. Meanwhile, the Chiefs took full advantage of this and scored 20 unanswered points to win 30-13. Now, the Chargers go on the road to face the New York Jets needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks were routed by the Los Angeles Rams, with the game not being much of a contest from the start. A 13-0 first-quarter deficit grew to a 34-0 halftime rout and ultimately an embarrassing 42-7 defeat. Seattle's injury-riddled defense got run over by Todd Gurley, as they had no answers when it came to stopping him.
Their offense could never get anything going, as Russell Wilson was under pressure all day, being sacked seven times. They also fumbled three times, losing two of them, and their special teams struggled to contain returner Pharoh Cooper. Seattle will now likely need to win out, starting with a road game against the Dallas Cowboys, in order to make the playoffs.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers took on the New England Patriots as they tried to take the number one seed in the AFC backed by the support of their fans. Despite losing star receiver Antonio Brown early in the game, the Steelers kept pace, going into the fourth quarter with a 24-16 lead.
After the Patriots made a field goal to cut into the lead, Pittsburgh then went three-and-out, squandering a chance to put the game away as they came up a yard short of converting third-and-four. New England then scored in five plays, getting the two-point conversion, as the Steelers were now down 27-24 with under a minute left in the game.
On their first play, JuJu Smith-Schuster took the catch 69-yards to the Patriots 10-yard line and Pittsburgh seemingly scored to take the lead on the next play on a pass to Jesse James. However, the touchdown was overturned and Ben Roethlisberger would end up being picked off on a deflected pass in the end zone with five seconds left in the game.