Week 17 is a reminder that what is expected doesn't always happen. How many of us assumed the Vikings were in and the Eagles were out? How close were the Browns to beating the Ravens? Midway through the Colts-Titans game last night I actually started thinking about the possibility of a tie, which would knock both teams out and put the Steelers in. Crazy stuff. When the dust finally settled, we had a playoff field with no heavy favorites.
Dolphins at Bills: Josh Allen was the story here, with 5 total TDs and another big rushing day. LeSean McCoy also scored, and Robert Foster caught one. Bills have a lot of holes, many of which were self-inflicted, but they have more building blocks than, say, the Dolphins, who are blowing things up this offseason, again. Their front office hirings were, shall we say, uninspired last go-around. I think Ryan Tannehill can maybe still be an NFL starter, but apparently it will be somewhere else. Adam Gase fired today.
Lions at Packers: Unexpected. Aaron Rodgers left early with a concussion and the Packers offense went with him. Detroit put up surprising -- as in, best in two months -- numbers against a barely-there Green Bay defense. Jamaal Williams killed one of my lineups; basically any Packer you started did. A bunch of Lions who may well not be on the team a few months from now caught passes and touchdowns. I guess Brandon Powell maybe has a future as slot receiver after going over 100 yards, but best not to overrate Week 17.
Jaguars at Texans: Houston took care of business with the expected players putting up good numbers -- Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Lamar Miller to a lesser extent. Jacksonville's offense did absolutely. Nothing. Carlos Hyde carried 10 times for 13 yards, but T.J. Yeldon didn't play; apparently the way he and Leonard Fournette sat on the bench annoyed Tom Coughlin, who issued a statement to that effect. None of the receivers reached 50 or scored (obviously). The team's incredible run through the postseason just last year seems an eternity ago. Moving on.
Jets at Patriots: Just like the Patriots to pass the lights out of a bad opponent when they could have probably run all over them. So naturally Sony Michel was a disappointment and Tom Brady threw 4 TDs, Phillip Dorsett and Chris Hogan picked up the Josh Gordon slack by catching 5-6 passes. Jets best receiver was Deontay Burnett (5 for 73); he came into the game at 5 for 70 on the season. Todd Bowles fired.
Panthers at Saints: Predictions went fairly well for this one. Saints played like they didn't care, Panthers backups (and the starters who played) were better. Dwayne Washington rushed for 100 yards, but no catches or touchdowns, so less than ideal. Cameron Artis-Payne scored for Carolina, while the right receivers (Moore, Samuel, Ian Thomas) had good games. Moore lost a touchdown on an iffy replay review; the kind of replays most people hate I think.
Cowboys at Giants: Wild game, which prior to kickoff figured to be a Giants win, but the Cowboys despite holding out Ezekiel Elliott left Dak Prescott in for the whole game. Hmm. Took some shots along the way, too. But he also played well, throwing 4 TDs (3 to Blake Jarwin, man, where was that all year) and leading the game-winning drive in the final minutes. Giants also put up big numbers, winning a Giants-fan friend of mine some money in his Giants-heavy lineup. (I had Barkley and Engram, but, yeah, Jamaal Williams killed that one.) Anyway, I'm not sure the Giants have any more answers now about the team's future at quarterback than they did at the beginning of the year. Cowboys enter the playoffs with some momentum.
Falcons at Bucs: Hope you invested in this one, which was indeed high-scoring with big numbers for both sides. Mostly passing rather than running, and disappointing from Adam Humphries, but great if you started any of the other key wideouts or quarterbacks. I'm not sure what the future holds for the Bucs but it seems like if they moved on from Jameis Winston they'd probably be worse, not better. Maybe the Dolphins and Bucs can switch quarterbacks -- heck, get the Jaguars into the merry go round too -- and see what happens. Dirk Koetter fired.
Browns at Ravens: Exciting game. This Baker Mayfield kid can play. I mean to go looking for the postgame write-ups that tell us why the Browns felt going for it on fourth-and-10 was a better option than trying a 56-yard field goal. If they'd had Justin Tucker, we'd be talking about the Steelers as AFC North champs. Quite vexed that I drafted Hayden Hurst in dynasty only to have Mark Andrews be the better tight end. I have a friend who drove four hours to see this game with his kids; can't imagine what the drive home would have been like had they lost on a last-second field goal. Ravens could lose their first playoff game or go all the way. I'm even imagining a scenario where Joe Flacco needs to come off the bench and lead a comeback victory.
Raiders at Kansas City: If Patrick Mahomes doesn't win the MVP award, there's something wrong with voting system. I think that's all that needs to be said about this one. Granted Kansas City will probably lose its first playoff game, as usual, but it will be the coaching staff's fault. Raiders have hired Mike Mayock as their GM. I suppose they could have reasonably hired me, I have a comparable amount of NFL front office experience and I can sign the orders Jon Gruden puts in front of me as well as Mayock can.
Bears at Vikings: Clearly, I underestimated the appeal it may have had to the Bears to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. They dominated this one, in Minnesota, from the word go, a game that meant everything to Minnesota and nothing, seemingly, to the Bears. Except they did get to dictate who they face in their playoff opener, which will be an Eagles team that maybe needs to start Nate Sudfeld at quarterback. Score one for NFL integrity. Rough offseason coming up for Kirk Cousins and company, who badly underachieved with what was a pretty talented roster.
Bengals at Steelers: Steelers didn't exactly light the world on fire here, perhaps aware of the long odds against them. And yet they almost got in, pulling out a low-scoring win without Antonio Brown (a negative) and Chris Boswell (a positive). I'm not sure which of their tough losses down the stretch hurt most, probably either Oakland or Denver, but having watched all of them, the Saints game was the one where they played the best and came up short anyway. Steelers or Vikings, best team not to make the playoffs? Both have some soul-searching in their futures. Bengals fire Marvin Lewis.
Eagles at Washington: Eagles win easily, not surprising with Washington's offense falling totally into ruin the second half of the season. Nick Foles maybe got hurt, and few expect the Eagles to go into Chicago and win anyway, certainly not me. But I guess you're somewhat satisfied if you're an Eagles fan, at least they're one of the 12 with a slim, slim chance to defend their title.
Chargers at Broncos: Chargers played their starters throughout, shows what I know. No big numbers, so I don't think you missed much if you benched them. And Melvin Gordon limped off late with an ankle injury, a point for those of us who thought they would/should give starters an early seat, Gordon specifically. Broncos fire Vance Joseph. Chargers just a game away from being the No. 1 seed in the AFC and instead have a tough road matchup in Baltimore. Rooting for them anyway, who wouldn't like to finally see Philip Rivers in the Super Bowl? Or at least another great Chargers-Kansas City matchup.
49ers at Rams, Cardinals at Seahawks: Grouping these NFC West games since I spent all last week being not sure which road victim was going to which location. Cardinals made a game of it and maybe Steve Wilks didn't get enough of a shot in Arizona. But the offense was so bad they had to at least think about trying to latch onto the next offensive genius, I wonder if they'll be the ones fooled into hiring Josh McDaniels. (Reportedly already spurned by Mike McCarthy, depending how much you trust Jason LaCanfora, I don't.) Rams seem fully capable of winning a Super Bowl or losing their first playoff game, likely to the Bears, who can play defense anywhere. Seahawks look very likely to go break some hearts in Dallas.
Colts at Titans: No surprise here. Andrew Luck could throw some scares into other playoff teams, and that defense is better than many think. They can certainly win in Houston, and would anybody be stunned if they went and won a shootout in Kansas City? Not me, that one might break the scoreboard. Derrick Henry had a great finish to the year, begging the question of why Tennessee couldn't get that going earlier than after it was too late. Titans need to figure out what they have in Marcus Mariota (franchise QB, or Ryan Tannehill?) and then line up a better backup than Blaine Gabbert.
And that's a season. We'll talk about the playoffs all week; should be a great postseason. I personally would love to see a Rams/Saints versus Chargers/Kansas City Super Bowl. Which means we'll likely end up with Bears-Ravens or maybe another go around of Seahawks-Patriots.