NFL quarterbacks who blew it Week 14 but won't face any consequences

Week 14 of the NFL season. The rubber has met the road for postseason hopefuls and the standings are in flux across all eight NFL divisions. There is much left to play for, and for fans of less successful teams, there is much to look forward to.

This was not the best week for quarterbacks, however, as some of the biggest names in the sport fell flat in high-stakes matchups. These four NFL quarterbacks won't get benched or anything, but their letdown performances in Week 14 could have profound ramifications.

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers laid an egg on Sunday, losing 24-20 to the tanking New Orleans Saints. That moves Tampa into a first-place tie with the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South. It's tough to trust the Panthers, but multiple clutch wins and an ascendent arc from Bryce Young means this division is a genuine toss-up. Tampa has lost four of its last five.

Baker Mayfield was front and center for the Bucs' letdown on Sunday, completing 14-of-30 passes for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception. There was a time, not so long ago, when Mayfield felt like the MVP frontrunner and arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. These last few weeks have been a relentless fall back to earth.

Mayfield is still immensely talented, but he's woefully inconsistent right now, reverting to some of the bad habits that kept him in NFL purgatory for so long. He has completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in three of the last five weeks. So good at extending plays and generating explosive outcomes early in the year, Mayfield missed far too many simple throws against New Orleans.

He didn't take a sack. He wasn't under inordinate pressure. Mayfield just didn't execute cleanly whatsoever. The Bucs face Carolina twice over the final four weeks of the season. It's do or die time.

Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Jayden Daniels, in all fairness, returned from a long injury layoff on Sunday, so it should come as no surprise that he looked rusty. Even so, the vibes were absolutely rancid in the Washington Commanders' 31-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Daniels completed 9-of-20 passes for 78 yards and an interception. He took a single sack, but was frequently knocked around on scrambles and drop backs alike. The Commanders' O-line takes a lot of blame for the Washington's abysmal offense on Sunday, but it's worth noting that Marcua Mariota at least kept the Commanders competitive (in most games) during Daniels' absence. For the reigning Rookie of the Year to come back and combust against a four-win Vikings squad qualifies as a significant disappointment.

It has been a rocky season overall for Daniels. The Commanders are now 2-5 in his seven starts. Much broader issues have plagued this Washington squad — a slow, aging defense and injuries up and down the depth chart — but Daniels entered the campaign with MVP expectations. You can't blame him for injuries, but at really no point this season has Daniels delivered on the hype he generated as a rookie.

The Commanders aren't going to bench Daniels, as he's still a cornerstone for their future, but it's hard not to feel uneasy about what exactly the future holds for the LSU product.

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons buried their postseason hopes six feet deep with a 37-9 dismantling at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. The outcome here isn't terribly shocking, but the Falcons should be putting up more of a fight.

This has been an incredibly strange (and ultimately, extremely frustrating) season for the Falcons. Even with a revamped defense, Atlanta has struggled to break through in football's most winnable division. The offense has first round talent galore, but Zac Robinson's play calling, combined with Michael Penix's chronic inefficiency, has left the Falcons unable of sustain runs or close games.

Atlanta beat Buffalo all the way back in October to advance to 3-2. Since then, it has been a long, downward spiral, with one three-week stretch that included a one-point loss to New England, a six-point loss to Indianapolis in OT, and a three-point loss to Carolina. The Falcons lost to the Jets last Sunday, and now the bottom has fallen out against Seattle.

So many close calls. So many 'what could have been' moments. But Kirk Cousins was the primary culprit on Sunday, completing 15-of-30 passes for 162 yards and two interceptions. Atlanta didn't score a single touchdown. Cousins looks stiff in the pocket and his throws lack the velocity and touch that made him so dynamic in Minnesota. He's not an upgrade over Michael Penix whatsoever, which is a grave indictment considering just how bad Penix was before the injury.

Cousins will finish out the season as Atlanta's QB1 as Penix nurses an ACL injury, but his days as an NFL starter are just about over.

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens fell 27-22 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon. There is still plenty of football left to be played, but given a chance to topple the Steelers' skeleton crew and take control of first place in the NFC North, Baltimore folded. The game ended, rather fittingly, on a Lamar Jackson sack.

Jackson completed 19-of-35 passes for 219 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He took a couple sacks, but spent far too much of the game struggling to establish a clear field of vision. Baltimore's O-line deserves its share of the blame, and it's not like Jackson didn't produce in other ways (43 rush yards and a rush TD). But this was the most important game of the season for Jackson. He sailed easy throws, made critical mistakes late, and couldn't come up large against an uninspiring Pittsburgh defense.

There's not much the Ravens can do to fix this, aside from going back to the drawing board. Baltimore's not going to bench Jackson. He's a two-time MVP, the MVP runner-up from a year ago, and one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the NFL. It's easy enough to chalk these struggles up to the lingering rust from Jackson's extended absence, but something feels off right now. He's not launching the football like he used to. His internal clock is out of whack; his throws aren't delivered with adequate touch or velocity.

Jackson has earned the benefit of the doubt, but the Ravens aren't going anywhere if the four-time Pro Bowl QB can't rediscover his magic dust.