3 QBs who deserve to be benched after Week 14, 1 who deserves more time

The Week 14 NFL slate was loaded with juicy matchups, from Kirk Cousins' return to Minnesota to the Eagles and their $3.1 million backer against the sneaky, scrappy Panthers.

The rubber has officially met the road. We're entering the stretch run of the NFL season and most games have some sort of postseason implications at this point. Those that don't have NFL Draft implications. There's plenty to chew on.

As for the quarterback position, well, most teams have achieved some sort of stability by Week 14. There isn't a single contender wondering which signal-caller should line up under center next Sunday. With the pretenders (and those not even pretending), however, there are still a few QBs at risk of losing their starting gigs down the stretch.

We all witnessed a few truly disappointing quarterback performances on Sunday. Here's who deserves to get benched — and who might deserve another chance.

Jaguars can't finish the season with Mac Jones taking snaps

The Jacksonville Jaguars are cooked. Doug Pederson is cooked. It's fair to chalk this up to 'who cares?' and let the Jags tank their way to Travis Hunter. That said, ideally, Jacksonville can build up some sort of positive momentum going into the offseason. The best rebuilds make a point to establish solid, winning habits, even in losing campaigns.

That is why the Jags just can't keep trotting Mac Jones out there. Trevor Lawrence's season-ending shoulder injury is a bummer and a half, but Jones is not the only option. C.J. Beathard is 31 years old with 13 career starts under his belt. In his lone start last season, Beathard completed 70 percent of his passes for 178 yards in a 26-0 win over the Panthers. A low bar in terms of competition, but hey — 10 points of offense against the 2024 Tennessee Titans doesn't exactly earn commendation.

Jacksonville won this game, so Jones can't even effectively tank. It's not often that quarterbacks win a game and so blatantly deserve to get benched, but we can't let Tennessee's broad incompetence prop up Jones, who threw two interceptions and averaged 7.1 yards per pass attempt. He now has two touchdowns and five interceptions on the season.

See what Beathard has up his sleeve. It can't be much worse than Jones, whose struggles are now well-documented across multiple teams and coaches.

Giants should maybe consider going back to Tommy Devito after Drew Lock stinker

The New York Giants finally took our advice and started Drew Lock over a healthy Tommy Devito. Lock drew his first start in Week 13 with Devito out of commission and made things happen. It was not a perfect performance, but Lock ran for 57 yards and a score in addition to 178 passing yards. He stressed the defense as a runner and looked generally in command of New York's scheme.

Well, flash forward to Week 14 and Lock was abysmal. He made some truly shocking and boneheaded mistakes, to the point where it felt like he was almost willing the Giants to a loss. The Saints' defense is not exactly a juggernaut, folks, and New York was given every chance to win this game. Lock just couldn't deliver.

He finished with 227 yards and an interception, completing 21-of-49 passes and running for 59 yards. Those are respectable numbers on the surface, but Lock's inefficiency bit New York countless times. He missed simple throws and couldn't sustain drives when the Giants needed it — much less finish them.

All this happened while Devito watched from the sideline with a clean bill of health. The Giants can't exactly expect greatness from Devito, but man, Lock did himself no favors in what qualifies as the saddest QB competition of the 2024 season.

Kirk Cousins is going to tank the Falcons' postseason chances if they let him

This sucks. We all wanted Kirk Cousins to succeed in the aftermath of his first major knee injury. His unceremonious departure from Minnesota felt wrong, but the Atlanta Falcons were the perfect landing spot on paper, equipped with talented young pass-catchers and an upstart play-caller from the Sean McVay tree.

Unfortunately, Cousins is cooked. It's just a fact. Cousins has now tossed eight interceptions and zero touchdowns in the last four weeks. He leads the entire NFL with 15 picks through 13 starts. The Falcons dropped to 6-7 with a 42-21 loss in Minnesota, against Cousins' former team. That loss moves the Buccaneers to first place in the NFC South, which was unthinkable a few weeks ago.

Cousins finished the game with 344 passing yards, averaging 9.3 per attempt. Those are solid numbers. He can still air it out, but Cousins' ability to engineer explosive plays has declined substantially. That has coincided with an uptick in interceptions. He's too stiff in the pocket and throws that once would've found purchase with a receiver 20 yards down field are now floating haphazardly into the outstretched arms of an opposing DB.

The Falcons can't win games with all the turnovers traced directly back to Cousins. That $100 million in guaranteed money is going to make it difficult to move on, but the Falcons are probably in a better spot with Michael Penix. If Atlanta is serious about winning and getting to the playoffs, it's time to consider a change.

We can't close the book on Will Levis despite Titans disaster

The Titans lost 10-6 to the Jaguars without Trevor Lawrence. That is a new low for Brian Callahan's team, which has struggled to build any sort of positive momentum this season. Mike Vrabel sure is missed around those parts.

Callahan was supposed to translate an explosive Cincinnati Bengals offense to Tennessee, but the Titans just don't have the playmakers to get it done. Will Levis has battled through injuries this season, but his constant stream of lowlights has led some to speculate about a future QB change in Nashville.

Here's the thing, though. For all his faults, Levis has flatly outperformed Mason Rudolph this season. Ironically enough, Malik Willis, who Tennessee dealt to Green Bay early in the campaign, has looked solid in pinch starts for the Packers. So maybe the Titans looked as their crowded QB room and accidentally traded the best one.

Be that as it may, Levis flashed real upside as a rookie. The offense was much better last season, and some of Levis' mistakes in 2024 are easily attributable to a decrepit offensive line and a less dependable run game. Derrick Henry's absence looms large. One has to think that, in better circumstances, the 25-year-old might look better.

The Titans don't have any viable alternatives right now, so the best course of action is patience. It's as simple as that.