NFL Week 15: Lions, Eagles and Panthers on the rise

Ben Johnson, Lions offensive coordinator

The Lions have scored 25 or more points in five straight games, matching the franchise record set in 1954, when they were the two-time defending NFL champions and on their way to playing in a third straight title game. The 36-year-old Johnson, who replaced Anthony Lynn as Detroit's offensive coordinator this year, was the team's tight ends coach the past two years and a quality control coach in 2019.

Haason Reddick, Eagles edge rusher

With a 10^th sack in the Eagles' NFL-leading 12^th win on Sunday, Reddick became the first NFL player with double-digit sacks in three straight years with three different teams since sacks became an official stat in 1982. He had 11 with Carolina last year and 12½ with Arizona in 2020.

Steve Wilks, Panthers interim head coach

Carolina fired its head coach, Matt Rhule, when it was 1-4 and traded away its best player, Christian McCaffrey, when it was 1-5. Yet Wilks, who was the secondary coach, has gone an NFC South-best 4-4 the past eight games and, at 5-8, sits one game behind Tom Brady and the Bucs — who Carolina routed in October — after Sunday's upset win at Seattle. The Panthers finish with the Steelers, Lions, Bucs and Saints.

Tom Brady's invincibility

In his 22 seasons as an NFL starter, Tom Brady's teams have never lost more than seven games. The Patriots went 9-7 in 2002, Brady's second season as a starter and the only time he's missed the playoffs when healthy and starting. The Bucs are 6-7 and play host to Joe Burrow and the 9-4 Bengals this week.

Tua Tagovailoa's consistency

What a ride 2022 has been for the Dolphins quarterback. He's been way up and discussed as a potential MVP candidate, injured, and way down after a pair of horrendous trips to the West Coast the past two weeks. Miami mustered only 17 points in each of the losses to San Francisco and the Chargers. Sunday night, Tua completed 35.7% of his passes (10 of 28), the worst the league has seen since Sam Darnold posted 34.4% with the Jets in 2019.

7 (Last week: 5). And this is being kind to a team that just surrendered 400-plus yards for a franchise-record fourth straight game. Top six: Eagles, Chiefs, Bengals, Cowboys, 49ers, Ravens.

17: Seasons with at least 10 wins for Andy Reid. He surpasses Tom Landry and stands behind only Bill Belichick and Don Shula, who are tied at 20 apiece.

20: Career touchdowns for Ja'Marr Chase. He also has 2,276 receiving yards, joining Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history with 2,000-plus receiving yards and 20-plus receiving touchdowns before age 23. Chase has played 20 fewer games than the Vikings' Justin Jefferson but has only three fewer touchdowns.

Giants vs. Commanders, Take II: Both teams are 7-5-1 and played to a 20-20 tie against each other two weeks ago at New York. Washington is 3-0-1 in its past four games, is coming off a bye and holds the NFC's sixth seed. The Giants are 0-3-1 in their past four games and hold the seventh seed.