Four weeks remain until the NFL playoffs begin, with the rams having already clinched. The Chiefs, Chargers, Patriots and Saints can secure spots this week. But those aren’t the only interesting Week 14 stories, as The Post’s High Five shows:
Interim coach to watch
The Joe Philbin Era begins Sunday in Green Bay against the Falcons, where he’ll coach his first game as the big boss since Mike McCarthy was fired last Sunday.
Though it’s believed one of the reasons the Packers fired McCarthy before the season ended was because they want to see how Philbin functions as a head coach, Philbin dismissed any looking ahead for himself.
“Right now I’m focused on doing as good a job right here and right now as I possibly can,” Philbin, who was elevated from his offensive coordinator job to interim head coach, told reporters during the week.
He said he’s emphasized to the players that Sunday’s game is the only one that matters for the 4-7-1 team.
It’s been an interesting career ride for the 57-year-old Philbin, who was in his second stint as McCarthy’s offensive coordinator when McCarthy was fired. In between, Philbin compiled a 24-28 record as the Dolphins’ coach.
“You come back here, and you want to be part of the solution,” Philbin said. “You want to help a guy [McCarthy] that’s been a great man, he’s been a great coach, been a friend, and you feel like you let him down. So it’s been busy, and I told the team: What he’s done here speaks up for itself. You know, I know how he feels. I’ve been through it. It’s not fun.”
Philbin coordinated the Packers offense in the first of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ two MVP seasons.
“Joe and I have been around each other for a long time,” Rodgers told reporters. “[There’s] a lot of mutual respect there. I’ve always appreciated his approach and his work ethic and his communication style. We’ll just try and do the best we can these next four weeks on communicating and finishing this thing up the right way.”
QB’s Miami slump to watch
Tom Brady owns a 15-1 record against the Dolphins in games played at home. The Patriots’ quarterback, however, is 7-9 against them on the road, throwing 15 interceptions in those games.
Brady and the 9-3 Patriots can clinch a 10th consecutive AFC East title with a win Sunday over the 6-6 Dolphins.
Will the weird trend continue? Is it the hot temperatures?
The forecast for Sunday’s game is calling for high of 83 degrees with scattered thunderstorms. The Patriots lost, 31-20, in a Sept. 16 game at Jacksonville, where the temperature reached 97 degrees.
“It’s been a challenging environment,” Brady said this week in an interview on Westwood Radio. “I think the climate plays some role, and they always seem to play well when they play us down there. We are not going to get beat by the weather, we’re going to get beat by the Dolphins. We’re going up against a good opponent that plays us very well at home.’’
Not surprisingly, Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn’t buy the weather theory.
“I think it’s more the Dolphins,” Belichick told reporters on a conference call.
“We’ve just sucked,’’ Patriots safety Devin McCourty said.
In contrast to Brady’s struggles at Miami, Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is 3-0 in his past three home games against the Patriots, with seven touchdowns and only one interception. Miami has won four of its past five home games against New England and is 4-1 at home this season.
Trash talk to watch
In advance of Sunday’s NFC East showdown for first place between the Eagles and Cowboys, a genuine bonfire was started by Philadelphia linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill.
“Look at Dallas’ history,” Grugier-Hill said, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. “They always choke, so we’ll go down there and make them choke.”
Predictably, Eagles coach Doug Pederson was rattled by his player’s trash talk and did his best to talk it back, calling the comments “unfortunate’’ and revealing to reporters he had a conversation Grugier-Hill.
“First of all, the Philadelphia Eagles, myself, we have a ton of respect for the Cowboys, a ton of respect for coach [Jason] Garrett,’’ Pederson told reporters. “I talk to the team a lot [about how] we don’t need to post anything that can be used on another team’s website or bulletin board. It’s unfortunate that it happened.
“As silly as the comment was, we’ve just got to forget it and move forward and not focus on it anymore.’’
The 6-6 Eagles enter the game needing it more than the 7-5 Cowboys, who have the upper hand at the moment. But Philadelphia has won six of its past eight games at Dallas. The Cowboys currently are the hot team, having won their past four games.
The Cowboys won last month at Philadelphia in a game that Grugier-Hill dropped an easy interception deep in Cowboys territory.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott responded to Grugier-Hill’s trash talk with this: “Winners worry about winning and losers worry about winners.”
Game of the Week to watch
The Rams’ win over Detroit last week clinched the NFC West and gave them a one-game lead over New Orleans for home-field advantage in the playoffs. They face perhaps their most difficult task of the season Sunday night when they play the Bears, who have forced an NFL-high 30 turnovers.
After Chicago, the Rams’ final three opponents are all below .500 and have a combined record of 10-25.
The key subplot to this matchup involves the two best (and highest-paid) defensive players in the league on opposite sides of the ball — Aaron Donald for the Rams and Khalil Mack for the Bears.
Donald, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, signed a six-year, $135 million contract extension with the Rams that included $87 million guaranteed. That made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history …until Mack signed a six-year, $141 million extension, with $90 million guaranteed.
Donald leads the NFL with 16.5 sacks and is in the conversation for league MVP. Mack has been one of the most disruptive forces in the game this season.
“He’s the richest man in the NFL, and you’d think maybe he’d coast and still play good,” Bears defensive end Aaron Lynch told ESPN earlier this season. “But he’s still playing like he’s trying to get another $140 million contract. So that’s what’s cool for me, personally. Seeing how he still takes it so seriously.”
Next-man-up RB to watch
As if the Le’Veon Bell saga had not dominated enough of the Steelers’ season, now with James Conner’s magical season halted for the moment because of a sprained right ankle, the Steelers must turn to other running backs.
Rookie Jaylen Samuels will get a good chunk of work Sunday at Oakland. Samuels was a projected tight end at the Combine before the Steelers drafted him in the fifth round. In his career at N.C. State, he finished with more receptions (201) than rushing attempts (182).
Still, Samuels, who’s played mostly on special teams this season, told Pittsburgh reporters during the week that he’s ready to show himself as a “true running back.”
“It’s a heck of an opportunity,” he said. “I just want to cherish the opportunity and make the best out of it. Just to play true running back in the National Football League, that’s tough and it’s hard, but if you come well-prepared like I’m going to come well-prepared for this Sunday, you should have a good outcome.”
Along with Samuels, veteran running back Stevan Ridley is also expected to see an increased workload.
The good news for Pittsburgh is the Oakland run defense is ranked last in the NFL, allowing an average of 153.3 yards per game.
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