What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Week 14

By Rhys Knott

Obviously, the important news this week is that Donna Kelce will star in the U.S. version of The Traitors! But there’s a limit to how much excitement we can cope with in December, so we’ll move swiftly on from that bombshell. 

Scoring points is hot in Week 14; therefore, defending is very much Knott. Quarterback masterclasses were popping off left, right and centre. If avoiding sacks becomes an Olympic sport, we’ll need plenty of gold medals. 

The “Bonkers Interception Club” reconvened in Week 14, too, and there’s the weekly “What did he just say?” meeting of NFL officials. And lest we not forget Harrison Butker missing a field goal, it’s what god would have wanted after all. 

Brutal injuries are Knott, and we have to have the talk about the uniforms again.

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What’s Hot in Football – Week 14 

Let’s start with those quarterbacks. For about 27 minutes in the second half at Lambeau, Caleb Williams was scorching hot. He made too many highlight plays to mention, but his best two involved leaving defenders in his wake. Here’s a good example. 

Here’s an even better example!

The C.J. Stroud experience is more of a rollercoaster, but stiff-arming 310 pounds of Chris Jones is just wild! 

Then there’s fourth-quarter Josh Allen. The Bills’ signal caller has had some ropey performances in 2025, but he made some very snowy hay against the worst defense in the NFL. 

And if we’re bigging up fourth-quarter Josh, then we have to give Tyler Shough his flowers. Check this out!  

Shough isn’t the only rookie quarterback doing bits either. Get a load of Shedeur getting it done with his legs. 

Even J.J. McCarthy is hot in Week 14 (for the first half at least).

It’s not all about the quarterbacks, though. Week 14 saw the pass catchers shine, too, with eight guys racking up more than 100 receiving yards! Puka Nacua led the way with a whopping 167 yards and two touchdowns; he even reversed his way on one of his scores! 

Nacua isn’t the only hot part of the Rams’ offense. 13 personnel is hot for Sean McVay’s 2025 Rams, really hot! 

Catching two touchdowns is hot in Week 14, too. Six different pass catchers hauled in two scoring passes. Shout out to Christian Watson, who only caught four passes against the Bears, but took two of them to the endzone! 
 
Rashid Shaheed deserves an honourable mention too. The Seahawk caught four of his five targets for 67 yards, but he added 148 yards on kick returns. He only returned three kick-offs!  This 100-yard return TD is the Seahawks’ longest since 2015! 

But enough about the offenses, it’s on to the serious stuff, defenses. Lions’ defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad is hot in Week 14. Muhammad recorded a career high three sacks, breaking a record he set all the way back in Week 3. 

24 players made interceptions in Week 14! A few of those picks are hilarious. Andrew van Ginkel not only appeared out of nowhere, but he also batted the ball to himself before taking it to the house. 

Christian Benford doesn’t even know why you would have to bat the ball, just jump higher, Andrew! That’s hot. 

Or get someone else to bat the ball to you instead, like A.J. Epenesa! The Bills’ defense became white hot in a near white-out. 

Jalen Pitre sees all of this nonsense and gives you the circus catch of the year! Hotter than a thing’s hot bits and no mistake. 

Lambeau Field is always hot, metaphorically at least. The frozen tundra didn’t disappoint in Week 14, and Sky sent Phoebe Schecter and Bridget Condon to prove just how chilly it gets in Wisconsin. But their special guest analyst, Sheamus (he’s a wrestler, guys, get with the program), brought new meaning to the phrase “hot mic”! 

Finally, how hot are the Jaguars’ throwback uniforms? Saying they’re the best Jags unis vastly undersells them because the worst uniforms in the league originate from Jacksonville. White with black numbers, guys, really? 

What’s Knott in Football – Week 14

Zack Ertz, Daniel Jones, Wanya Morris, Ethan Pocic and Kyu Blue Kelly all suffered injuries that could end their season. That’s very Knott!  

Rayne Dakota Prescott is also Knott this week. Despite throwing for 376 yards, the Cowboys’ quarterback threw two crucial interceptions. The first one led to a Lions touchdown, and the second pick, with 1:13 left on the clock, allowed Detroit to run out the clock. 

His bad night didn’t stop there; the highest-paid quarterback in the league also took five sacks! Those five sacks resulted in a total loss of 50 yards! How the highest-paid quarterback in the league has only won two playoff games is a question for another day; we’re interested in his Week 14 struggles. 

The Cowboys struggled to run the ball, and while Dak was able to move the ball downfield through the air, touchdowns were hard to come by. That should be a concern going forward, given that the Lions rank 29th in the league for the number of passing touchdowns they have conceded! 

Dak isn’t the only high-paid Cowboy who is Knott in Week 14. Terrence Steele, the seventh-highest-paid player on Dallas’ roster, not only allowed a sack, but he also landed on top of the quarterback following a later sack. 

And, a Cowboy who is in the market for a new, expensive contract also covered himself in disgrace. George Pickens only caught five of his nine targets for 37 yards. Pickens ended the game behind both CeeDee Lamb and Ryan Flournoy, who didn’t even start the game! 

Dallas’ defense is absolutely Knott, too. Week 14 provided an alarming high for a defense trending downward since the Week 10 Bye!  They allowed just 236 total yards against the Raiders in Week 11, that has increased incrementally over the last three weeks to 408 yards in Week 14! 

Unless they can correct that issue, the Vikings are in line to rack up 451 total yards in Jerryworld next week. 

At least Dak didn’t catch one of his own passes in Week 14; that would be really Knott, right? Just as Aaron Rodgers! 

Or Patrick Mahomes!

Mahomes had a tough night against the Texans’ defense, but he had precisely no help from his compadres in Kansas City. Travis Kelce led the way with this assist for fellow Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee Azeez Al-Shaair! That’s the second time this season Kelce has coughed up the ball to give Mahomes an interception! You know that’s Knott!

It’s difficult to know what exactly is Knott about this; it’s either Isaiah Likely (who gets the collywobbles around the endzone) or the officials. You’ll have to make your own mind up. 

One thing we can all agree on is that these Jets uniforms are the strangest we’ve seen for quite some time! 

But at least they’re not the Browns’ “Alpha Dog” efforts that are sponsored by posh toilet paper. It certainly explains why Cleveland soiled themselves against the Titans. 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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