The NFL playoff picture is nearly complete. Two spots remain in the AFC while only one is available in the NFC. Green Bay has officially clinched home field throughout the playoffs for the second straight season. Tennessee has put themselves in an opportunity to clinch their own bye next weekend.
Several teams saw any meaning in the rest of their season removed this weekend. The Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, and Miami Dolphins were some of the most notable teams to be eliminated from postseason hopefulness.
There were several instances of dramatic finishes this weekend, a final exit for a Pittsburgh legend, and a third quarter walk off from another former Steeler. This weekend had a little bit of everything, including things never before seen on a football field.
Big Ben Takes Final Knee At Heinz Field
The Pittsburgh Steelers playoff hopes stay alive by the slimmest margin with their 26-14 win over the Cleveland Browns, but forget about the score and its implications. Ben Roethlisberger played his final game at Heinz Field after an 18 year career wearing the black and yellow. It was a perfect ending as Baker Mayfield’s inability to not throw the ball to the opposing team paid off with Big Ben getting to take the final knee of the game. The Pittsburgh crowd stayed in their seats and cheered for their longtime quarterback who has led Pittsburgh to two Super Bowl victories. Roethlisberger will finish fifth in passing yards and completions on the NFL all time list. He will enter his final regular season game in eighth place for all time passing touchdowns with 416 behind Dan Marino (420) and Phillip Rivers (421). As someone who has watched Roethlisberger his entire career, he is often the great quarterback of this generation that doesn’t get the acknowledgement that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees received. Sure, people know he is a Hall of Famer, but for owning the same amount of Super Bowls as Manning and one more than Brees and Rodgers he doesn’t get the appreciation he necessarily deserves. For years, Roethlisberger’s larger size, inability to be taken down, and toughness fit the mold of the Pittsburgh Steelers teams he played with. You always saw teams get bullied at Heinz. The Steelers will need to defeat the Baltimore Ravens on the road next week and get plenty of other unlikely help to have any chance at the playoffs. A playoff berth may not happen and this version of Roethlisberger is a shadow of his former self, but I’ll be taking in and appreciating the opportunity to watch an all time great take the field one last time.
Chiefs Secondary on the Chase All Day
This game would be a fun one to run back again in the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals combined for just under 900 total yards in the Bengals 34-31 win. The largest contribution to that yardage was rookie Ja’Marr Chase who caught 11 receptions for a whopping 266 yards (a rookie single game receiving yard record) and three touchdowns. Quarterback Joe Burrow who had one of the best performances of the year last week, followed up with 446 yards passing and four touchdowns. Patrick Mahomes was also very good, but the Chiefs provided more of a balanced offense in Sunday’s game since the run game was working well with Darrel Williams. The Chiefs had the largest lead of the game at 28-14 with two minutes left before halftime, but the Bengals scored 17 consecutive points to take a three point lead. With six minutes, left the Chiefs tied the game off a Harrison Butker field goal. Cincinnati got the ball back and never relinquished it as they made their way down the field and kicked a 20 yard field goal to win the game as time expired. The game didn’t end without any drama though. In one of the inexplicable decisions I’ve ever seen, Zac Taylor elected for the Bengals to go for a touchdown on fourth down in a tie game with 58 seconds left as opposed to kicking the field goal. The play was unsuccessful, but Kansas City bailed Cincy out with a defensive holding call. To make the play even more questionable, Joe Burrow appeared to be banged up on the play. Just an unnecessary risk for a team that hadn’t clinched a playoff spot until Sunday. Fortunately for the Bengals, they did win and have won the AFC North title for the first time since 2015. The Chiefs loss bumped them from the AFC number one seed. Barring a win over Denver next week combined with a Tennessee loss, Kansas City will be playing on the opening playoff weekend for the first time since 2018.
Brady Provides Comeback Despite Brown’s Striptease Exit
For as bad as the New York Jets have been this season, they have had some surprising victories against good teams. It looked like Robert Saleh’s team was on their way to another good win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former arch nemesis Tom Brady. As you can probably guess if you didn’t watch that game, Brady didn’t let that happen. In fact, The GOAT led a 93 yard drive in less than two minutes that ended with a 33 yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson. That became the game winning score as it gave the Bucs their first lead of the game and the one that would be enough to win the game, 28-24. Brady was brilliant in the victory as he threw for 410 yards, three touchdowns, and one pick. Even more impressive was the fact that Brady’s top three receivers were Rob Gronkowski, Grayson, and Tyler Johnson.
The biggest story of the game had more to do with someone who wouldn’t be celebrating the Bucs’ comeback victory. Troubled receiver Antonio Brown left the game in the third quarter after being visibly frustrated on the sideline, ripping off his jersey and pads, then waving to the crowd as he walked down the tunnel and never returned. After the game, Bruce Arians noted that Brown would no longer be on the Tampa Bay team. As of Monday the Bucs haven’t officially cut Brown, likely due to reports that Brown said he wasn’t healthy enough to go in to the game and Arians telling him then “to get out of here”. Brown has had no shortage of controversy over the past several years so this is just the latest incident. At this point, his time in the NFL seems to be at an inevitable end. Hopefully Antonio Brown finds the help he needs.
Titans End Dolphins Streak, Reclaim AFC Top Seed
It has been a roller coaster season for the Tennessee Titans. They started the season 8-2, including winning their first two games without Derrick Henry after he was injured. They seemed like a team that when healthy could pose a threat to any other opponent, but would be tested without their star running back and also the health struggles of wide receivers AJ Brown and Julio Jones. That war of attrition seemed to be a losing battle as they went on to lose three out of their next four games. The early season success nearly guaranteed the Titans a playoff spot, but it seemed like they would limp in to the post season. Now the Titans have won two games in a row, including Sunday’s dominant 34-3 victory over a hot Miami team. Thanks to a crazy AFC conference where any team can win or lose every week and a head to head tie breaker over Kansas City, the Titans are now a win over Houston next week to clinch a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs. The Miami victory was a rushing and defensive clinic. D’onta Foreman who been an impressive replacement for Henry rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. The Titans defense gave up only 256 yards and created two turnovers which gave them an easy victory in the field position battle all game. If the Titans are able to defeat Houston, who they lost to early in their season, it would give the Titans that extra rest week and potentially enter a Divisional Round playoff game with Henry back in the fold. If that’s the case, anything may be possible for Tennessee.
Rams Complete Late Comeback Over Ravens
The Los Angeles Rams last minute victory over the Baltimore Ravens was one of the several games that turned crazy in the first sleight of Sunday games. Redzone was straight fire at the end of those noon games. The Rams spent the entire game chasing Baltimore thanks to three turnovers created by the Ravens defense. After a 34 yard field goal by Justin Tucker to extend the Ravens’ lead to five with 4:30 left in the game, Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense put together a nine play, 75 yard drive that ended with a Odell Beckham Jr. touchdown with just under a minute to play. The Rams failed a two point conversion, but the 20-19 lead was enough to hold on for Los Angeles’ fifth straight win. Thanks to a Dallas Cowboys’ loss, the Rams now find themselves in position to hold the NFC’s second seed if they can defeat San Francisco in next week’s regular season finale. The Rams haven’t been pretty lately, but this recent win streak is putting them in a position to make a potential playoff run. If Matthew Stafford can cut back on his recent turnover frenzy (six picks in three games), the Rams have the talent to defeat anyone in the NFC.
Raiders Earn Opportunity for Do or Die Next Sunday
From a dysfunction level, no NFL team this season compares to the Las Vegas Raiders. The issues off of the field have been well documented (even continuing after Sunday’s game with a Nate Hobbs DUI) and the season looked like it was withering away after losing five of six games. Thanks to three straight victories, including a 23-20 win this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, the Raiders now find themselves with a “win and in” opportunity against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. In a game that the Raiders had to win, they defeated one of the hottest teams in the league in Indianapolis. The Las Vegas defense gave the Colts fits all day, especially in the passing game, as they held Indy to only 262 yards of total offense. In another one of Sunday’s crazy endings, Derek Carr led a game winning drive to put Daniel Carlson in range to kick a game winning 33 yard field goal as time expired. The Raiders now control their own destiny at home against a Chargers team that defeated them 28-14 in Week 4. Regardless of what happens, the Raiders have been impressively perseverant in a season that once seemed like it swirling down the drain.
Looking Ahead to Week 18
By far the biggest game of the weekend is the Sunday Night Football game previously mentioned between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. Barring an Indianapolis Colts loss and a tie between these two teams, it’s a winner goes home game. The playoffs officially start on NBC next weekend.
Big Ben will very likely be playing his final game on Sunday when the Steelers travel to Baltimore. The winner will need a multitude of things to happen in order to have a chance at the post season. No matter, it should be one last great rivalry match between the Ravens and Steelers with Roethlisberger on the field.
The final NFC playoff spot will be either given to the San Francisco 49ers or New Orleans Saints so I’ll be interested in how 49ers/Rams and Saints/Falcons goes. It’s pretty simple. If the Niners win, they are in. If they lose and the Saints win, New Orleans will have clinched.
The matchups for the rest of the final weekend of the regular season are not spectacular, but I’m intrigued to see how the playoff seeding breaks and what matchups we get for the wild card weekend. By late Sunday night we should have the map set for what I expect to be one of the wildest playoffs in recent memory.