Monday’s Quick Hitters (Week 16)
December 22, 2025
Bears vs. Packers
Luther Burden and Rome Odunze were ruled out prior to the game, meaning Caleb would be relying on mostly backup options aside from DJ Moore. The game was seemingly out of hand late in favor of the Packers. Until a score and an onside kick recovery changed the fortunes for Chicago enabling them to outscore the Pack 13-3 in the fourth quarter. A beautiful deep ball to DJ Moore secured the victory in one of the more thrilling games of the season. Green Bay lost Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs on the night. Malik Willis did his best to fill in, but the Bears were too much to handle.
Bucs vs. Panthers
It’s the first meetup between these two as they’ll match up again in week 18. Round 1 went to Bryce Young and the Panthers in a 23-20 victory over Tampa Bay. Baker Mayfield continued to struggle and couldn’t hit 150 passing yards while turning the ball over once. Bryce Young had a clean 191 yards and 2 scores while battling through a game where his rush attack was nonexistent. Standout rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan stepped up big bringing in 6 grabs and a touchdown, providing a consistent open target for Bryce. The Bucs have been spiraling for a little over a month and their playoff odds just got a bit more grim.
Rams vs. Seahawks
The game of the year. You knew it when you saw it. McVay and the Rams defense had Darnold seeing ghosts for about 90% of the game. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was held without a catch in the first half. It was looking like another night where the Rams were going to get the best of Seattle. Stafford had 450 yards, Puka had 225 yards .. and they LOST. Darnold came alive late and not only drove them downfield in OT for the touchdown, but also completed the two point conversion to win 38-37. The NFC West has been tightly contested all season but Seattle gets just a little bit of breathing room.
Chargers vs. Cowboys
Dallas had been eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday when Philly secured the division with their victory over Washington. Even had that not happened, their chances were down to 1%. Nonetheless, it’ll go down as another disappointing season for the Cowboys. They went out and played like a team that was eliminated. Pickens had a great bounce back but Lamb and the run game completely vanished. Justin Herbert put on a masterclass throwing for 300 yards and 2 scores while distributing the ball to 8 different teammates. This one was never in doubt as Los Angeles rolled the Cowboys 34-17. There’s a big date in Denver circled for Week 18.
Steelers vs. Lions
Both teams came into this one in desperate need of a win. Aaron Rodgers got one last trip to Ford Field where he’s 18-8 against the home town Lions with many memories made along the way. Things started off rather bumpy with the Detroit defense getting after the Steelers and shutting down their offense for much of the first half. DK Metcalf took a swing at a fan and will probably be lost for some sort of duration of time via suspension, it was ugly. Fortunately for Tomlin’s guys, his defense was playing just as hard as Detroit and completely shut down Jahmyr Gibbs on the ground (7 carries, 2 yards). The game was thought to be over but Detroit battled all the way back and were in position to take the lead as the clock expired. An ASRB reception and lateral to Jared Goff seemingly gave Detroit the last second victory. However, an OPI call on ASRB eliminated the score and Pittsburgh survived by the skin of their teeth. The Detroit loss gave Chicago the NFC North crown.. Tough to see Ben Johnson get a win when Detroit took the big L.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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