A bit of initial magic befitting the holiday season couldn't sustain itself in NFL Week 16.
The slate of games got off to a scintillating start Thursday with the Seattle Seahawks prevailing over the Los Angeles Rams to shift the landscape of the NFC West and the race for the conference's top seed. The excitement didn't let up on Saturday, when the Chicago Bears surged past the Green Bay Packers to seize control of the NFC North in thrilling fashion.
But the drama let up considerably on Sunday, reinforcing just how frontloaded the week's schedule was. Yet there was still plenty of fallout to sort through as the Bears and San Francisco 49ers punched their postseason tickets.
Here are the biggest winners and losers of Week 16 in the NFL:
The Los Angeles Chargers quarterback has shouldered a disproportionate burden for an offense that lost its bookend offensive tackles, with his workload tipping into untenable territory in recent weeks after he suffered a broken bone in his left hand. Herbert returned to top form, however, with a dazzling performance in a 34-17 win against the Dallas Cowboys. In completing 23 of 29 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns, Herbert balanced efficiency with aggression, keeping the offense moving with his work underneath while still connecting on two long scores and a host of other downfield shots. And despite being blitzed on a season-high 54.7% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats, Herbert did not take a single sack in the game, marking a first for him in 2025. Perhaps this is more telling of the Chargers' opponent than it is of Herbert and the offense – more on that later – but it marked important progress ahead of next week's tilt against the Houston Texans and their imposing pass rush.
