The heading says it all. Baltimore, Dallas, and the Los Angeles Chargers clinched their wild card positions. Green Bay, and Pittsburgh picked up wins. All other potential wild card teams: Miami, both New York teams, New England, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Washington, Seattle, and Detroit ended their holiday weekend empty handed. This means we are in for some serious scoreboard watching entering the final two weeks of the regular season.
The wild card races may have had more losses than wins, but Christmas Eve provided wins for football fans. Dallas and Philadelphia put together a game that will have football fans begging for a playoff rematch, Minnesota pulled another magic comeback, and New England blew a game for the second straight week. Football on the holidays delivered in a multitude of ways.
A Classic Texas Shootout in Dallas
We may need to wait to see Dallas and Philadelphia play a game against each other with both starting quarterbacks available, but their Christmas Even showdown did provide one of the most entertaining games of the year.
Dallas clinched a wild card berth with their 40-34 home win over the Philadelphia Eagles, who started Gardner Minshew with Jalen Hurts out with a shoulder injury. The high scoring affair provided over 400 yards of offense for both teams and a great fourth quarter comeback from the Cowboys.
Dak Prescott was feeling it in this game, connecting on 27 of 35 throws for 347 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Prescott’s favorite weapon was CeeDee Lamb, who has made it clear this season that he is a legitimate franchise receiver. Lamb caught ten of Prescott’s throws for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Lamb’s biggest catch came with 5:49 left in the game on a seven yard touchdown pass that tied the Cowboys with the Eagles at 34.
After Lamb’s game tying catch it was the defense’s turn to make a difference. Despite giving up plenty of yards earlier in the game, the Cowboys forced an interception, fumble recovery, and turnover on downs over the next three Philadelphia drives to put Brett Maher in position to kick two field goals that would ultimately be the difference in the game.
The win all but locks Dallas into the top wild card spot, where they will travel to either Carolina or Tampa Bay for their first playoff game. Regardless of the opponent, the Cowboys should be favored. This sets up the real potential that a divisional round match in Philadelphia with the Eagles could happen, hopefully with both Hurts and Prescott playing this time.
Philadelphia may have lost the game, but all things considered, they should still feel pretty good about where they stand. They are one win away from clinching a playoff bye and nearly won a road game against a divisional rival and playoff contender without their MVP candidate quarterback and while losing the turnover battle 4-1. The Eagles only focus at this point should be getting that one win and staying healthy. With a 1-1 season split with Dallas, the Eagles may welcome a rubber match with the Cowboys. As would all of us football fans.
Minnesota Adds 61 Yard Field Goal as Newest Way to Win
It wasn’t a 33 point comeback, but you can add a franchise record 61 yard field goal as the newest way for the Minnesota Vikings to win a game. Greg Joseph’s Chris Kyle-esque snipe capped an NFL record eighth fourth quarter comeback this season for Minnesota, defeating the New York Giants, 27-24.
Thanks in large part to another game that had late game heroics by Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson, the Vikings now sit with a record of 12-3 and still hold the second seed in the NFC as they attempt to hold off San Francisco for the final weeks of the season.
Cousins threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, while Jefferson finished with 12 receptions, 133 yards, and a touchdown. Jefferson, who broke the single season franchise record for receiving yards previously held by Randy Moss, has a realistic chance to break Calvin Johnson’s NFL single season receiving yard record (with one more game) and reach 2,000 yards. There may not be one player that is as valuable to his own team than Jefferson. Whether he reaches those totals or not, Jefferson deserves to be in the MVP discussion. Of course, we know that won’t happen as it might as well be officially changed to the Most Valuable Quarterback Award.
Packers Dealt Great Hand at Wild Card Table
Entering Week 16, the Green Bay Packers knew their route to a playoff berth would require a lot of help for them to leap the other wild card hopeful teams in front of them. Well after one weekend, the Packers received about as much of that help as they could ask for. With two realistic wild card places available, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, and New York all lost games.
Entering Christmas Day knowing that everything had fallen perfectly on Saturday, the Packers also did their own part by earning an impressive win in Miami over the Dolphins, 26-20. With two weeks left to play, Green Bay may have just won the toughest remaining game on their schedule. In order to stay in the hunt, the Packers will still need to win their final two games, both at home, against Minnesota and Detroit.
It’s hard to say Green Bay is actually playing good football despite being on a three game winning streak. Two of those games were against the Rams and Bears, a couple of of the worst five or six teams in the NFL. The Packers offense still continues to struggle at times, only producing 301 yards of offense on Sunday against a pretty mediocre Dolphins defense.
To give Green Bay credit, with wins over Miami and Dallas now, the Packers have two marquee wins in the second half of the season. Defensively, Green Bay has been better with seven takeaways in their last three games, including three interceptions of Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday.
Green Bay’s playoff bath becomes even more clear now. The Packers must win their next two games while hoping for either the New York Giants to lose their final two games against Indianapolis and Philadelphia, or for Washington to lose one of their final two games against either Cleveland or Dallas.
Another Late Game Turnover Costs New England a Win
There are several teams who are playing themselves right out of the playoffs, but no team is doing it with style like the New England Patriots. One week after the Patriots lost a game to Las Vegas when Jakobi Meyers lateral passed a ball into the hands of a Chandler Jones who ran back a touchdown for a walk off win, New England had an opportunity to complete a great second half comeback, but found a similar fate.
Facing the Cincinnati Bengals, maybe the hottest team in the NFL right now, the Patriots went into the half down 22-0 and looked like they were going to get blown out of their own stadium. Bill Belichick’s team made some halftime adjustments and shutout the high octane Bengals’ offense in the second half. Thanks in part to a Marcus Jones pick six, New England pulled the game to 22-18 and put together a late game drive that had the Pats sitting 1st and Goal from the Cincy five yard line with less than a minute to play. On first down, Rhamondre Stevenson received a handoff and received immediate pressure as the Bengals defense forced a fumble that was recovered by the defending AFC champions and would be the Patriots final great scoring opportunity in the game. This, a game after Stevenson initiated the unnecessary lateral pass to Meyers who would eventually throw the game deciding turnover.
Thanks in part to Miami, New York and Tennessee all losing games, the Patriots are still just outside of the final wild card spot. Next week, New England will welcome Miami for a game that will at least temporarily decide which one sits in the playoff picture. The reality is that New England will likely need to win that game and the finale in Buffalo. Unfortunately for the Patriots, the Bills will likely need to play to win since they are in their own race for the top AFC seed. If New England plans to win out, they better start cleaning up their late game mistakes.
Post Week 16 Question
Was this the right time for Denver to fire Nathaniel Hackett?
At a certain point, did it really matter? Truthfully, I’m guessing that Denver fully intended to let Hackett finish out the season before planning to let him go, but losing on national television as badly as the Broncos did to a Los Angeles team that has also been one of the most disappointing teams probably forced their hand. Let’s face it, this Denver team is bad beyond just the head coach.
The Russell Wilson trade has been a complete disaster. This is a team that knew it had a good defense and thought the acquisition of Wilson would get their offense to a level in which the team could be Super Bowl level. Wilson has been nothing short of terrible, leading an offense that has scored less points than any other team in the NFL. General manager George Paton is still early on in his tenure, but he will need to work some serious magic over the next year or two to save his job after the Wilson debacle.
With players getting in each other’s face on the sideline this past weekend, things internally with the Broncos look like they are about to spiral out of control. Hackett makes sense to fire from a PR point, but who will want this job? Denver looks like the new Houston at this point. If I’m a top coaching candidate, I would much rather look at options that don’t have a ridiculous amount of money locked into a quarterback that might not have “it” anymore or have forfeited several draft picks spanning the next couple seasons. The Hackett move puts a bow on this season for Denver, but things don’t look any less grim moving forward.
“Everybody Loves to Hate-read Power Rankings so Go Ahead and Hate-read” Power Rankings
- Philadelphia Eagles (13-2)
- Buffalo Bills (12-3)
- Kansas City Chiefs (12-3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (11-4)
- San Francisco 49ers (11-4)
- Dallas Cowboys (11–4)
- Minnesota Vikings (12-3)
- Los Angeles Chargers (9-6)
- Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
- Miami Dolphins (8-7)
- New York Giants (8-6-1)
- Washington Commanders (7-7-1)
- Green Bay Packers (7-8)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8)
- Tennessee Titans (7-8)
- New York Jets (7-8)
- Carolina Panthers (6-9)
- Detroit Lions (7-8)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (7-8)
- Seattle Seahawks (7-8)
- Las Vegas Raiders (6-9)
- New England Patriots (7-8)
- New Orleans Saints (6-9)
- Cleveland Browns (6-9)
- Los Angeles Rams (5-10)
- Atlanta Falcons (5-10)
- Arizona Cardinals (4-11)
- Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1)
- Denver Broncos (4-11)
- Chicago Bears (3-12)
- Houston Texans (2-12-1)
Week 17 Game Watchability Rankings
16. Cardinals vs Falcons: The only game that features two teams that are officially eliminated from playoff contention. FOX should do the people of Arizona and Atlanta a favor and broadcast a game that actually matters.
15. Broncos vs Chiefs: In a season of lows, is Denver getting blown out by a bad Rams team on Christmas Day the lowest moment for Nathaniel Hackett’s team? At this point, I wouldn’t blame Hackett for wanting to be fired on Black Monday (if so, he got his wish as Hackett was fired on Monday). This season has been a train wreck and with the value given up for Russell Wilson, things aren’t going to likely improve for quite some time. Things are bleak in Denver. Kansas City just needs to take care of business with this game to ensure they keep pace with Buffalo and Cincinnati with those two teams playing each other this week.
14. Saints vs Eagles: Philadelphia may have been given their second loss this season to the Cowboys, but considering their MVP candidate quarterback didn’t play and the team lost a one possession game after turning over the ball four times, the Eagles have to feel pretty good about their team. With Minnesota and San Francisco needing to win out to even have a chance to take the NFC’s top seed, Philadelphia’s goal is still just win one of the final two games to earn a first round bye. If Jalen Hurts is still dinged up in the slightest, the Eagles should rest him as this New Orleans team is one that they can probably beat without him.
13. Jaguars vs Texans: A game that holds no actual importance. Jacksonville’s biggest game will come in the final weekend where they will play Tennessee in a “winner wins the AFC South and gets in the playoff” game for all of the marbles. The reality is that if the Jaguars lose that game, they aren’t going to have a chance at a wild card spot either. Houston just helped Jacksonville by defeating Tennessee. The Texans are so close to clinching the top pick in the NFL Draft. No team in the NFL will intentionally tank, but plenty of Houston fans must be hoping for their team to lose and not give up their position for a potential franchise changing quarterback.
12. Colts vs Giants: With all of the NFC wild card competition almost losing this past weekend, New York is one win away from clinching a spot in the postseason. The easiest way to do that would be to get a home win over the lowly Indianapolis Colts. New York does not want to be in a must win game in Week 18 which would take place in Philadelphia, especially if the Eagles have reason to play their starters. Come next Sunday, we should have a third NFC East team clinching their playoff spot.
11. Rams vs Chargers: It may not be the Super Bowl defending season Los Angeles was hoping for, but they can now claim to have delivered the deciding blow to a coach firing after Denver moved on from Nathaniel Hackett a day after the Rams 51-14 Christmas Day Massacre win over the Broncos. The Chargers have clinched their playoff berth and are now battling for positioning with Baltimore and whatever AFC team wants to clinch the final spot.
10. Bears vs Lions: Detroit will close the season with division rivals Chicago and Green Bay. The Lions loss to Carolina killed the great momentum they had built and forces them to need to win out the rest of the way. The Justin Fields Show in Chicago is about the only thing Bears fans have to look forward to. If Detroit can’t win this home game, they don’t deserve to earn a wild card.
9. Browns vs Commanders: With two straight losses, add Washington to the NFC wild card hopefuls who will need to win out to ensure they have a chance at playing beyond Week 18. Cleveland is officially eliminated and the Deshaun Watson experiment has not looked good thus far. Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski is also on the borderline of entering the “What have your really accomplished?” territory. Stefanski may need to end the season on a high note to ensure he returns to Cleveland next season.
8. Cowboys vs Titans: When the Dallas offense is rolling, it is one of the best offenses in the league. CeeDee Lamb has taken another step this season and looks like a true number one receiver. The evolution of the Ezekiel Elliott-Tony Pollard tandem is also getting stronger as the weeks go by. Dallas just needs to prevent the lapses they seem to go through in some of their losses. Speaking of losses, Tennessee has had five of those in a row. With Tennessee’s only real path to the playoffs being a division title, would Mike Vrabel rest some players to prepare and put all efforts towards the win-and-in game against Jacksonville in Week 18?
7. 49ers vs Raiders: It’s a damn shame that Las Vegas has such trouble in close games. Another loss, this time to Pittsburgh by three points, all but eliminates the Raiders from playoff contention. As we look towards next season, the Raiders will likely be a favorite for a big turn around next season, similar to Minnesota this season after a year in which they lost a ton of one score games. San Francisco on the other hand is very much in the here and now. The Niners have the longest winning streak at eight games and Brock Purdy is still getting it done at quarterback. At this point San Francisco is chasing Minnesota for that two seed to have an opportunity of playing two playoff games at home. Can the Raiders end the season on a high note and deliver the Niners their first loss in over two months?
6. Steelers vs Ravens: Pittsburgh is in a clusterfuck of 7-8 AFC teams with New England, New York, and Tennessee. All they can do is win out and let the cards fall where they may. In order to do so they will need to start by winning a tough game against division rival Baltimore. The Ravens have now clinched a playoff spot, but with Cincinnati facing Buffalo next week they have division title aspirations. Big playoff implications in this one. Pittsburgh also needs to 2-0 to ensure Mike Tomlin extends his winning season streak to 16.
5. Panthers vs Buccaneers: A game that may very likely decide a division winner should be a top three game of the weekend, but this is the NFC South, a divisional wasteland of incredibly shitty football. If we’ve learned anything from these teams this season, this game will likely be ugly, but it doesn’t necessarily remove how important it is to both Carolina and Tampa Bay.
4. Jets vs Seahawks: Few teams know how long an NFL season is like New York and Seattle. Maybe the two biggest surprises of the first half of the season have found far less success in the second half of the season, playing themselves right out of playoff position. At this point, it’s looking unlikely that either will see the postseason, but this game will likely be the fatal blow for these two teams in a similar position.
3. Vikings vs Packers: Green Bay did themselves a big favor by earning an important win over Miami on Christmas Day. If the Packers can defeat both Minnesota and Detroit in the final two weeks, they will likely sneak into the postseason. Minnesota is trying to hold off San Francisco for the #2 seed in the NFC, but being able to deliver the knockout blow to their division rivals would make a win here feel twice as good.
2. Dolphins vs Patriots: Miami is in free fall after four straight losses. New England has had losses in back to back weeks in which they’ve served up a win to the other team on a silver platter. Besides making the bleeding stop for both teams, Miami currently holds the final wild card spot in the AFC with the Pats sitting right on the doorstep. The winner will be able to control their own destiny entering the final weekend of the regular season.
1. Bills vs Bengals: It’s not often we get to see two of the truly elite teams this late in the season. Cincinnati enters with a seven game winning streak, Buffalo with a six game one of their own. To make things even more interesting, both are still in the running for the AFC’s top seed. Both Cincinnati and Buffalo have wins over Kansas City which means in a hypothetical three way tie, the winner of this game would likely earn the top seed and first round bye.