Just like that, the season's over. No more monster games out of Odell Beckham Jr. or J.J. Watt. No more quarterback controversy in Cleveland or Washington. No more offensive showcases or meltdowns (offense or defense) in Atlanta or New Orleans. Good night Bills, good night Jills.
We've still got the playoffs, but I'm not quite as jazzed for most of these matchups. Especially in the AFC, since we've seen almost every possible matchup already, including at least once this season. Two regular-season rematches in the first round, maybe in the second round. In the NFC, I think Dallas has a shot, but it feels like most of what we'll get is preliminary to the Packers traveling to Green Bay. As Ian notes, we rarely get what's expected. So I'll keep an open mind.
On to yesterday's games, and forgive me if I don't spend too much time on the junk games. Of which there were plenty.
Browns at Ravens: Remember when people were wondering if Torrey Smith was any good anymore? Huge day for him yesterday, saving the Ravens' bacon by catching a long ball that was basically a prayer, followed by a touchdown. Good game ultimately for Justin Forsett and Steve Smith, too. Browns hung around and led for a while, but they simply weren't going to score enough to win. Enjoyed Terrell Suggs after the game, asked if he was scoreboard watching the KC-SD game. "Hell, yes."
Jaguars at Texans: I really kind of liked what I saw out of Blake Bortles this season. I mean, not all the sacks and turnovers. But I think he's got dynasty value and an NFL future. Nearly led an upset here, with a pretty throw to Cecil Shorts III nearly the end of the game, while rolling left under heavy pressure, that nearly won it. Jags have a good coach and a good young quarterback and a strong pass rush. Lots of teams have none of that. Props to the Texans, too, who were much better than expected. Give them another offensive playmaker and someone in the secondary and a veteran quarterback who can stay healthy (or a young one better than Case Keenum) and who knows.
Chargers at Kansas City: Was rooting for the Chargers and disappointed with how this one turned out. Key moment was when San Diego seemed to have a touchdown pass to Eddie Royal to make it 19-14 late. But review showed the ball to be moving/hit the ground, Royal then dropped a perfect throw on the next play (perhaps still miffed about having his TD reversed?), and that was it. Chargers had no defense and their offensive line was in shambles so this team wasn't going anywhere in the playoffs anyway, so I guess you can't feel too bad.
Jets at Dolphins: This was a perfect example of how stupid and meaningless many Week 17 games are. Geno Smith throwing for 358 yards and 3 TDs? Lamar Miller rushing for 178 against a very good Jets run defense? Whatever. Miller is a good player who should have been used more for most of the season. Smith won't be an opening day starter next year.
Bears at Vikings: While Jets-Dolphins was ridiculously high-scoring, this was the other kind of game. Minnesota has some issues on offense, while the Bears just mailed it in. Only touchdown by Adam Thielen, who I don't imagine is owned in any fantasy league anywhere. Maybe the Thielen Family Invitational, I don't know. Alshon Jeffery nearly caught a touchdown in this game but didn't get both feet in, sorry if you lost because of it.
Bills at Patriots: Friend went up to Foxborough (a 4-hour drive from here) to see the Patriots not score any touchdowns and Gronk not play. Disappointing I imagine. So much for Bill Belichick putting the pedal to the medal in Week 17, but they have gotten guys hurt in meaningless games before, so I can't blame them. At all. Sammy Watkins will be an interesting pick in drafts next year. Talented guy, just needs more consistency and better quarterback play. But they've been saying that in Buffalo for a while.
Eagles at Giants: Speaking of interesting picks, where does Odell Beckham Jr. go? First round? How many wideouts will be drafted before him? I think maybe the top 3 wideouts next year, in some order, might be Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and Beckham. Ahead of Megatron, Green. Jordy Nelson is up there too. How many wideouts in the first 15 picks next year? Six or seven? Anyway, a shootout, as expected. Fun game as meaningless games go. Beckham is unreal.
Saints at Buccaneers: Bucs say they didn't tank this game after leading 20-7 in the fourth quarter, then collapsing to get the top pick. If they didn't, they should have. Nice game for Doug Martin, maybe he is still the starter next year. That's the problem with Week 17, guys who struggled all year have good games and you start to think they're good. Don't overrate them. Mark Ingram finished 36 yards short of 1,000 on the season. Only got 14 carries. I realize the Saints were behind and had to pass more, but Khiry Robinson got 7 carries. Whatever, not cool. Ingram might remember that come free agency.
Colts at Titans: Colts played starters for a half, showing exactly how easy it is to beat the Titans this year. A half of Luck barely throwing to his top receiver and not having any running game is still enough to easily thrash Tennessee. Poor game for Bishop Sankey including a lost fumble. At least we won't have to see any more Charlie Whitehurst. Sadly, Trent Richardson will get a few more carries this season. Hopefully not many, the guy has lost whatever he used to have. Painful to watch.
Cowboys at Washington: Kudos to the Cowboys for leaving their starters in throughout, but you know the stories were being prepped for if either Romo or Murray limped off the field at some point. Murray getting 20 carries in this game just seemed, you know, unwise. Play to win, yes yes, but workhorse running back -- he's a guy you give a seat. Anyway, no harm done. Dez is great. Jordan Reed lost a touchdown in this game when he caught a ball at the 5, lost his helmet while shaking a tackle, and walked into the end zone. Play ruled dead where he lost his helmet. Brutal. That kind of year for Reed and Washington.
Panthers at Falcons: The less said about this one the better. Atlanta didn't exactly play like a team that wanted Mike Smith to keep his job. Carolina also simply got much better over the course of the season, playing good defense at the end there -- good enough to crush Atlanta's one-dimensional offense, anyway. The way Carolina slapped around the Falcons makes you think it's possible they'll give Seattle a game in a couple of weeks. Hey, you never know.
Raiders at Broncos: Rest up, Peyton Manning, the Broncos will need you to throw a few touchdowns to advance! Nice game for C.J. Anderson, though.
Lions at Packers: Aaron Rodgers got hurt and Green Bay lost a 14-0 lead, he came back and the Packers won. I guess that's the main story, but the big thing to me was that the Lions just aren't that good. Very good defense, but Matthew Stafford was missing throws all over the place. Eric Ebron dropped at least one easy catch. I can actually see them going into Dallas and winning since their run defense is so strong, and if Stafford gets hot he can put up some points. But this team won't go any further than that. Green Bay, I am not sure how real they are, either. They play pretty well at home, particularly on offense, but that shootout with a lowly Atlanta team doesn't bode well. I think they could lose to Dallas.
Rams at Seahawks: A sense of inevitability to this one. Yeah, the Rams led for a while and played good defense, but Seattle just wasn't going to lose this game. Their occasional offensive issues are a concern, and their defense hasn't faced an offense like Green Bay or Dallas in quite a while. But it will be tough for anyone to go in there and win the way that defense is playing now.
Cardinals at 49ers: Not much to say. Arizona got some serviceable play out of Ryan Lindley here and Michael Floyd looked great. But the defense isn't playing as well now as it was earlier in the season, and no way is the offense going to score enough points to win a playoff game.
Bengals at Steelers: That Antonio Brown is something else. Impressive punt return touchdown and an incredible move on the long touchdown reception that iced the game. Cincinnati's defense played as well as you could ask for, but Andy Dalton might just not be good enough to win one of these games. I'm assuming for now that LeVeon Bell is fine, but if he isn't, it's going to be tough for Pittsburgh to do anything in the playoffs.
Quickly on the first round: Colts should beat the Bengals, if quarterback matters in these games, and it usually does. Steelers are just better than the Ravens right now and I'd be surprised if they don't win that one comfortably -- again, assuming Bell is OK. Panthers should dispatch Arizona fairly quickly. I hope Dallas beats Detroit but am a little worried about that one, what with Detroit having that great run defense. Will take a closer look at all the games later in the week (and of course in our Playoff product, enjoy!).