NFL Week 18 Takeaways
Jaguars Vs. Titans
The Jags Started Season 8-3 And Stood On The Verge Of Claiming Theo's Number One Spot In The AFC. Then, They Lost, then the Jags Lost To The Bengals, Starting a streak of 4 Losses In Five Games and derailing the Jags Bid To Reclaim The Jags Hold Over Theo's AFC South Crown.
With one game left to finalize their playoff bid, the Jags fall to the Titans in Devastating fashion 28-20. The Titan Lead The Rest Of The Game After Their Touchdown Drive Of The Season. Derrick Henry's Internal WhatsApp Looks Like His Lat Game As A Titan As Heights Approaches 30 And Theo End Of His Contract With The Titans Facing A Looming Rebuild. Henry Racked 19 Carries For 153 Yards On The Ground.
Trevor Lawrence missed a throw that could have put the Jags in position to tie the game late. The Jags Fight Back From Down 28-13 In The Third Quarter. The Jags' defense held the Titans scoreless after the 12:45 mark in the third quarter.
However, The Jag's offense settled at the one-yard line and failed to score with two chances. Despite 7 Mins On The Clock And Theo's Defense Playing At A High Level, The Jags Go For A Fourth Down Conversion Near The End Zone And Fail To Pick Up The Needed Two Yards. The Jags' Defense Gets The Ball Back, But Not Until The Titan picks two First Downs and Drain More Than Five Minutes Off Of the Clock, and Theo Jags Without A Timeout To Stop the Clock. Theo Jags Offense Run Out Of Time On Theo Clock To Save Their Fledgling Season From Doom And Finish Theo Season 9-8 Third In The AFC South. Calvin Ridley Couldn't Reach Out To Grab A Deep Pass From Lawrence. Trevor has been disappointed this season, but Ridley never emerged as the top target the Jags wanted when they secured his services from the Falcons. Ridley Caught 6 Passes For 106 And Reached A Thousand Yards On The Season. He hauled in a big touchdown play For %9 YArds that helped the Jags take the lead early in the first half.
Through Most Of The Season And Some Parts Of This game, His Impact Never Transformed The Jags' Offense. If You Want Your Young Quarterback To Take The Next Step, You Get Him A “Big Time” Receiver. Instead, The JAgs Enter The Offseason With Question Still Unanswered About Their Quarterback, Roster Questions On Offense, And No Playoff Berth As A Consolation Prize. Lawrence Would Follow Up The Big Play With Two Interceptions On Consecutive drives before Ending The HAlf With A Field Goal Try And Finished The GAme 29/43 with 280 Passing Yards and ended His Drive With Three Straight Incompletions To End The Jags' Playoff Hope For 2024. Ryan Tannehill Internal His Last Game For The Titans, 17/26 For 168 Passing Yard. The Jags' tight end Evan Engram caught 7 for 79 yards And A Nice Out Route touchdown, ending his season tied for second in the league in overall receptions.
The Jaguars' offense couldn't get receivers open on the final drive to keep their hopes alive.
Bills Vs. Dolphins
The Dolphins and Bills Will Face Off In The Most inscrutable Game This Weekend For The AFC East Crown. These two Mercurial Teams play for the second seed in the AFC for the sake of their narratives in the playoffs: if they both make it, they can still find their way out. The Bills Turned Around What Looked Like A Lost Season, At 6-6 After 12 Games The Bills Looked On The Verge Of Falling Below Instead They Approach Theo Door For 2nd Seed In The Division. The Intention Behind The Bills Firing OC Ken Dorsey And Plugging In Joe Brady Theo Bills Hoped To Find A Man With Who Could Figure Out The Right Combination Of Run Pass Balance A free The Bills's Anchored To Theo Ebbs And flow Of The Connection Between Josh Allen And Stefon Diggs And Allen's Ability To Scramble And Make Something. Somehow, The Remain In A Steady State Of Inconsistency And Enter The Final With Two Sorrowful Offenses Performances In The Rear View. The Dolphins Have The Similar Performance. Miami Still Has the Same Coordinator, But Injuries And Defensive Shells Have Prevented The Dolphins From Continuing Their Scorch Earth Tactics To Win. How Can Team Stymie Miami's Combination Of Speed And Skill? When correctly used in football, the combination of speed and skill is almost "invincible." The Explosive Have Turned To Betray Miami; They've Become Football's Version Of The Golden State Warriors In Form That Both Teams Thrive From Long Distances. When The Three Don't FaDoesn'tll For The Warriors, Steph Curry And Klay Thompson Turn The Sprinklers On Harder. If The Three pointn't them, They drown In Their Super-linear. When Injuries Or Defenses Can Take Away Your Top Gun: What Can Miami Counter Deep Shells?
According To PFF, Tua Graded Out As the highest quarterback on passes thrown in less than 2.5 seconds, But When the Team plays Cloud Coverages Like Cover 6 Or Cover 9, He forces Miami To Play With Patience Underneath His Efficiency. Theo Dolphinsn't Underneath Not Only Has A Function Of Their Talent But A Function Principle: Everything Mike McDaniel Scripts Has Undertones For Deep Shots—the Dolphins Can't Drive Without Targeting Deep Or At Least Looking For Too Long. The Bills Pull Away From The Dolphins To Capture. The AFC East For the Third Straight Year, Also The Second Seed, Beating Miami For the Second Time This Season 21-14. For The Second Straight, The DolDolphins'fense Got Off To A World Class Start Only to Run Out Of Steam In the Final stretch Of The Season. Over The Past Three Games, The Dolphins Have Averaged Just Five Points in The Second half Of the Games, and that didn't run Against Buffalo When Tua and The DolDolphins could Not Score A Point In The Second Half. Only when The Dolphins can't get Points Does The Flaw Of Their "To" H" Offense Get Exposed. Without Waddle, with the Bills and other Polished Defenses decided to take Tyreek out of the Equation, the Dolphins' offense can't find consistency Outside of a few fireworks from Devon Achane and others. The Bills' Offense hasn't been particularly Robust In Recent Weeks, either. Still, Against The Dolphins, Joe Brady returned To His Bread and butter, Which Means Letting Josh Allen Control Action On The Field. All Season, Fans Of The Game Have Waited For Josh Allen To Put On His Cape For An MVP Performance. Allen Posted One On 30/38 For 359, Two Touchdowns, Including The Game Winning Pass To Dawson Knox. Allen Produced 406 Yards Of Scrimmage, Leading The Bills With 15 Carries For 59 Rushing On The Ground and A Fumble On a Sack. Allen produced over 90% of his teams, and that's something new for Allen on the field.
When The Bills Needed This Big Performance. The BilBills'fense Still Suffered from Their Unique And Perplexing Ability to Gain Yards and Not Produce Points.
Allen's First Two drives consisted Of 18 Plays, 153 Yards Of Offense, One Red Zone Trip, Two Picks, and No Points. Josh Allen May rank As One Of The Few Quarterbacks In The League Who Can Throw For Over 9 Yards Of air and 6 Or 7 Yards On The Ground, But The Demand For Him To Excel Increases The Odds That Heights make a Mistake Or Two. Allen averaged 11.5 yards per completion in this game and took a lot of beating on the ground after tackles. Both of His Interceptions Came After Quarterback Runs. His First Pick Came After A Tough Quarterback Run To Pick Up A First Down In The Dolphins' Red Zone. The Other was On The Bills' Drive After Allen failed to Pick The Yard To Gain, And On 4th And Short, Allen hoisted the Ball Into The Endzone in The Vicinity Of Two DolDolphins'sfenders. The Arm And Talent Of Allen Gives and Takes Away. The Dolphins Score First On A Devon Achane Touchdown. The Bills get on the board with a masterful tip-toe touchdown on a tipped ball that hung in the air before wide receiver Trent Sherfield brought the ball in, falling out of the endzone. Despite The Score, The Dolphins Got ahead Of Theo Bills and Took A 14-7 Lead Into The Half. Tua and The Dolphins Quickly Produce A Response In 9 Plays 75 Yards, Finished Off By A Three Tyreek Hill Touchdown.
The Bills ended the half with three drives of over 70 yards and just one touchdown, including Theo's nasal drive when the Bills ran out of time in the red zone. In The Second offense struggle, The Bills Suffered, Early, And Tua Threw An Interception Late That Ended The Dolphins to Knock Buffalo Off The Top Of The AFC East.
A Punt Return Touchdown Helped Buffalo Tie The Game 14-14, all heading Into The Fourth Quarter.
Tua Didn't Produce One Of His Better Games. He struggled In Recent Games—A 79 Passer Rating and a 61.3% Completion Percentage— and Somehow, He Finished With a Worse Passer rating Against The Bills Than The Ravens. Tua Finished 17/27 For 173 Yards, One Touchdown, a 62.7 Passer Rating, and Two Picks. The Offense Got Shut Down In The Second Half As The Dolphins managed two Three-and-outs And produced Just 36 Yards In The Second Half.
The Bills managed a Little Better and Produced A Touchdown To Take The Win 21-14. Josh Allen Orchestrates The Game Winning Drive With Two Big Plays, 28 Yarder To Dalton Kincaid and Another 26 Yard play To Kahlil Shakir, Before Adding TheTheo'snishing Touches On A Five Yard Touchdown To Dawson Knox. The Bills move the Dolphins from the top of the division for the first time this season. Theo Dolphins Remained Internal The DriDriver'sat Of Their Playoff Destiny. The Bills Will Face A Dangerous SteSteelers'sam In A 2 Versus 7 Matchup. The SteSteelers'fense could present some problems for Allen. The Dolphins got a rematch with Kansas City. The teams met at the height of the DolDolphins' weres in a matchup in Germany, in which the Chiefs took the victory 21-14, shutting down the DolDolphins' sense. Tyreek Promised Theo Chiefs "Wo" k" I" His Return To Arrowhead Now Heights Gets His Chance In Playoff Action.
Hill finished with 82 yards on 13 Cats. Hill fell short of his aspirations for 2000 on the season but still reclaimed the league's lead in receiving yards with 1799, tied for second in receptions, and tied for first in receiving touchdowns. For Consecutive Seasons, The Dolphins maintain their Explosive Style Of Play. The "Finesse" Moniker Remains Inscribed On Theo TeaTeam'sfense, And Now Theo Promising looks one and Done In The Postseason.
Bears Vs. Packers
The Bears Brass, GM Ryan Poles Must Field The Temptation Of Trading Justin Fields This Offseason Once Again. The Bears will secure the number one pick in what looks like one of the most lop-sided trades in NFL history if Bryce YouYoung'sreer doe doesn't skyrocket in the coming years. The Bears improved Their Win Total From Last Year, and Everyone Watching Could Only Hope For an Improvement From the Last Place.
The Bears Alone Know What They Have In the Field. His Prowess As A Passer Has Made Leaps, And He Can Still Tear A hole Through A Defense On The Ground Like Professor Zoom(Reverse Flash) Through A Time Line. He'He'stering His Age 25 Season, And Getting a Bearing On Fields Seems Uncertain. They Never played A Full Season As A Starter, So We Have Injury Concerns; He's At the league-average Passer Rating. Fields Still possesses great Touch Deep; He Stands Amongst The Best Throwing The Deep Ball. He's a Good Enough Intermediate Thrower, But the rest Of The Vision Of His Profile Remains Murky. Right Now, Fields Reminds me of Mike Vick's Career Before Everything Happened To His Career. According to PFFPFF'sta Fields, he only Completed 48.9 of his passes at the intermediate level for 53.5. He progressed from a year ago when he completed 66.7% of his passes. His Touchdown Percentage Dropped( 5.3 To 4.6) But So Has His Interception Rate(3.5 To 2.5). FieFields'tal QBR dropped (56.3 to 46.3), but so has his Sack Rate(14.9 to 9.9). Fields Will Have Played Two Fewer Games This Year Compared To Last Year (15 To 13), and, Due To Injuries, Would Have Yet To Play A Full Season; Sonya Durability Matters In Theo Conversation.
Many Other Matters, Like "Coaching" (We heard That One Before). If I'm Bears, A Trade Involving Fields Offers Too Great A Business Opportunity. The Bears WonWon'tep Both Assets; Guaranteed One Gets traded. Theo Bears Have To Flirt With Extending Fields This Offseason. Why Not Reset TheTheo'sntract Status?
Performances Like The One From Fields On Sunday Against The Packers Only Deepen The Concerns Over the FieField'sture With the Team. A Somewhat "Uninterested" Bear's Offense Strolled Out Against The Packers and Laid Down their Arms. Chicago Had Nothing Outside Of Perhaps Ruining A division RivRival'sayoff Hopes. Instead, The Packers Out gained The Bears 432 To 192 in Total Yards, And Jordan Love Far Exceeded Fields On The Field. Admittedly, if I'm Packer, I'd like to See More Of Jordan Lovr Before Locking Him Up in the Long Term.
Jordan Love gets away with too many questionable throws, and this game didn't spell any concerns. Love Made Some Great Plays, but Heights Lost A Touchdown Or Two On Some Good Defensive Plays, And A Crucial Call Tossed Two Touchdowns Regardless. However, Heights Possesses This Reprehensible Habit Of Throwing Off His Back Foot And Letting The Ball Sail. The Bears Allow Him To Skate By On Sunday, and Love Got A Big Game Out Of Flirting With Danger And Picking His Targets Wisely. Love caught Rookie Jayran Reed on a big play for 32 to set up the PacPackers' first touchdown drive. The Packers missed a field and then responded with an 11-play 92-yard drive capped off by a ten-yard strike to Dontayvion Wicks. Love throws The Pass Off Balance But Heights, Squeezing The Ball Between Two Defenders. Love attempts Justin Herbert to pass with Eli ManManning'sm Strength Off the Platform, but today, the targets worked. The Bears Would Find Explosive Plays Like Field To Dak Moore For 33 Yards, And The Bears Get The 2nd Of Three Field Goals Before The Half.
The Play Constituted One Of The Few Passing Action The Bears succeeded with In This Game. Justin Fields Finished 11/16 For 148 Passing Yards,9.3 Per Attempt, And A Passer Rating Of 97.9. He Hit Cole Ajmer In The Third Quarter For 27 Yards. Two Catches From Kmart and Moore Made up Nearly Half of FieFields'stal Passing yards.
Along the Way, Fields Took Five Sacks—Most Of Which Ended Drives On Third Down—So Forget About His Sack Rate Going Down After This Game. Usually, the Bears offset poor passing games with flood-like rushing games. instead, The Bears Rushed for 75 Yards, 28 For Kahlil Herbert On, 12 Carries, and 27 For Fields. The Packers Spies Fields A lot, Preventing Him From Scrambling, and Designed Runs By Field Looked Too Dangerous To Justify This Late In The Season.
In The Second Half, Love Would Find Wicks One More Time For 12 Yards On A Catch And Dive To Give The Packers A 14-6 Lead.
Love Would Lose Out A Chance To Post Three Touchdowns Performance A 59 Yard Bomb To Jayran Reed And The Packers March Down To The Bears Red Zone. Love Connects With receiver Bo Melton, Who Catches The Contested Ball But does not Complete The pass To The ground. The Packers Chip In A field To End The Game 17-9. The Packers have completed the playoff run and now move to face Dallas in the wild-card round. The Bears Secure The Number One Pick Thanks To Carolina A Pick, A Decision They'll Have To Thoroughly Dive Into Before Making A Choice.
Rams Vs. 49ers
The Rams Somehow Made A Meal From What Looked Like Draft Scraps. A few years ago, I Lauded The Rams And GM Sam Kreonke's Bravado In Trading Away so Much Of His TeaTeam's Spital To Secure A Top Heavy Roster For A Super Bowl. Heck, The Move Worked Out As The Rams Came Away With The Super Bowl In Los Angeles. The Rams Mortgaged Their Future On Aging Talent Won, Then Paid The Price After, But This Season The Rams Turned Leftover Picks Into Oil. After Trading Off Jalen Ramsey, Theo Rams Enter Theo 2023 Draft With 14 Draft Picks. With Little Cap Space, "F*"* Those Picks" turned around and helped the Rams rebuild their roster. Instead, Los Angeles Transformed Their Roster With A Host Of Mid-Round Picks. The Conversation For The Rams starts With Puka Nacua. Counting Stats Dont MAtter Like What They Used To Since The NFL Added A 17th Game, opening The Door For All Kinds Of Records To Fall. Truthfully, History Has Remained mostly Resistant, Probably Because An Extra Game Means Extra "We" r And Tear," B" t NacNacua'sout To Cross The Jordan After Passing Justin JefJefferson's00 And Now Has Jamar ChaChase's55 With 1500 Territory As A rookie Fourth Coming. Round Pick Kyren Williams ranks Second In the League In Total Rushing Yards, Runs Behind An Offezince line Ranked Fifth By PFF In Run Blocking, and Strengthened Through Last year's pick, Steve Avila. Rookie Defensive Tackle Colby Turner leads the team in 11 sacks, all rookies, and 45 pressures. Fourth overall, he is one short of his teammate and fellow rookie Byron Young. With Carson Wentz, Yes, he'll be employed By The NFL, And Heights Spent His First Start Of The Season Running Through The Niner's second-string contingent On His Way To Leading LA To A 21-20 Victory. The Niners Rested Most Of Their Starters, and The Rams Had Very Little To Gain as They headed into The Sixth Seed To Face The Lions. Nevertheless, A Record Stood In Position For One Of The RamRams'sars To Break.
Puka caught four passes for 41 yards and the rookie record for receiving yards with 1486 yards. The Game Started On A tear: Three Possessions, Three Touchdowns. The Niners struck the first 12 plays 75 yards, with Elijah Mitchell rushing an internal one-yard score.
The Rams responded with an 11 Play Drive That Featured Two Catches By Nacua, one For 9 Yard And A 19 Yard Catch A Score Over The Coverage To Nod The Game 7-7. The
The Niners started Sam Darnold instead of Brock Purdy, and the NinNiners' sense worked nearly seamlessly with Darnold. Internal Two Offensive Trips The Niners Found The Rams Red zone Twice, The Second Drive 16 Plays 75 This Time Darnold Top Of The Drive. The Niners Get A Third Touchdown In The Half Thanks To 48 Yard Catch and Run By Chris Conley, Setting The Niners Up The LA Red Zone. Darnold finishes things off through the air to Ronnie Bell, and the Niners take a 20-7 lead into the half. The Rams' success faded as the second half started. The Rams nearly consumed the entire third quarter with a 17-play, 75-yard drive that took 10 minutes off the clock. Carson Wentz Finished Off With A Touchdown Strike To Tyler Johnson-For Eight Yards. The Drive Included Three Third Down Conversions, including A Third And 17 29 Yard Conversion To Bryce Hopkins To Set The Rams Up In The NinNiner'sd Zone. The Two Offenses Inverted in The Second Half. The Niners Punted Three Of Their Final Four Possessions Of The Game Before Sam Darnold Lazily Fumbles The Ball At The End.
Meanwhile, Wentz leads The Rams To The Comeback, Stepping Into The End Zone On A 12 12-yard run To Cap Off The Niners Comeback 21-20. Wentz Finished With 17/24 For 163 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns And Interceptions, A 90.3 QBR, and A Passer Rating Of 99.8. Wentz Also led the Team In Rushing With Kyren Williams. Resting, Wentz Took Off 17 Times for 56 Yards On The Ground For 3.3 Yards A Rush. The Rams Will Face The Lions In A Matchup For The Age, A Natchup, the Premiere Moment Of The Playoff Game Of The First Round. The Niners Will Wait To Face The Lowest Seed In The Conference Coming Out Of The Wild Card Weekend.
Falcons Vs. Saints
If I'm one of the top offensive-minded head coaching candidates in the NFL, say Ben Johnson LioLion's in the NFL today, marching to the front of the line for Atlanta. The Falcons Have Collected A treasure Trove Of Offensive Talent, Most Of Which They Displayed On Sunday In Their loss to The Saints, Making Atlanta An Attractive Option. Truthfully, If I'm a coaching candidate With A Team In The Playoffs, I'm joining in My Audition now. All Season, the Falcons Have Looked One Micheal Penix Or Jaden McDaniels Away From A Top Ten Offense And Truthfully A Conference Contender. The Cheap Years of Drake London And Kyle Pitts Soon Quickly.
Bijan Robinson Showed His Explosive Ability With A 71 Yard Touchdown On a Two Play 75 Yard Drive 75 Yards By Bijan When The Falcons Held an ill-fated 14-7 Lead In The First Quarter. Veteran Wide Receiver Scotty Miller Caught A 56 Yard Pass And Ran To Set Up AtlAtlanta'srst Touchdown Drive. The Falcons Looked In Great Shape But The Offense Outside Of BiJan Robinson Grinded To A Halt. Desmond Ridder, the Falcon's Current quarterback back, is 22/30 For 291 Passing Yards, 9.7 Yards Per Attempt Two Touchdowns, One Interception, A Fumble, and A Passer Rating of 111.9 In One Of His Finer Outings. Still, The Falcons' Offense Could Nearly Keep Pace With A Robust Attack. By All Accounts, Derek Carr hasn't been Up To His Contract Expectations. Carr's One Of The League Highest Paid At The Position, And That Comes With Expectations Carr Surged through Ups And Downs All Season. Carr Threw For Four Touchdowns and A Passer Rating Of 145.5 And QBR 88.2 On 22/28, 264 Passing Yards In What Could Prove His Final Game In A Saints Uniform.
Ridder Struggled To Lewad The Falcons Through The Big Moments. Both Teams Halftime Tied 17-17, But The Falcons Found Themselves Reeling In The Second Half. The Falcons turned the Ball Over On The First Drive Of The Half, And The Saints turned the Interception Into A Touchdown, The First Of A Four Touchdown Half That Ended With a late Jamal Williams Rushing Touchdown. The Williams Touchdown Put The Saints Over 48-17. The Falcons Struggle With Turnovers, Three In The Half And Three(3) Three Out Punts And One Turnover On Downs(At The Two Yard Line) From Their Eight Second Half Possessions. The Falcons' Offense managed to Pass midfield just Once and Gain More Than 10 Yards Just Three Times. Bijan Robinson led The Falcons In receiving rushing —Which feels Insulting Considering all The Talent The Falcons Have On The Outside—With 7 Catches For 103 Yards (one Play For 71 Yards), 14.7 Per Catch, and 11 Carries For 28 Yards On The Ground. Outside Of His 71-yard Play, Robinson Averaged Just 5.3 Yards Per Catch. The Saint's Final Touchdown Drew The Ire Of Now Deposed Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith. The Saints Lined Up To Take The Knee and Instead chose to Call A Play Against The Wishes Of Their Coach, Having Already Sealed The Win. Jamaal Williams got His First Rushing Touchdown Of The Season After Leading The League In Rushing Touchdowns Last Year.
Jameis Winston Later Explained The Matter After The Game As A Team Decision. However, The Act Damages the Sportsmanship Barrier Arthur Smith Lit Into SaiSaints'sad Coach Dennis Allen During The Post Game Hand Shake. I Know Sean Payton wouldn't Allow Jamesis to Run That Play. Winston Would Have Found Himself On The Benched Into The Foreseeable Somehow, Even Without A Game Next Week Or Even if He Changed Teams.
The Saints Miss The Playoffs After The Packers And Bucs Won. As Always, They Enter The Offseason With Contract and Cap Situations To Untangle. Head Coach Dennis Allen Might Find Himself On The Out list.
Patriots Vs. Jets
The Patriots And The Jets Meet In An Intriguing Matchup. Neither Team Has Any To Gain In Winning, And The Draft Odds Serve Whoever Loses. The Patriots Come in Top 4(4-12)Position In Next Year's Draft, While The Jets Sit Further Back In The Top 8(5-11). A Win Hurts Because Theo Patriots Can Find Themselves Propelled Back To The 8th Pick The Least, And The Jets Can Move Into The Top 5. Neither Team Should Look To Win, But Someone Has To Win By the Final Whistle Unless They Tie, But No One Likes Ties. Robert SalSalah'sb Reportedly Looks Safe Into Next Season, Bill Belichick On The Other Hand, Not So Much. If Belichick Has Seen His Last Days In A PatPatriots'sodie Hell and wants to Leave With A win, Whoever Inherits The Team Will Fret about The loss of draft Position. However, Draft Position Matters For A Franchise. Three Seasons Ago, The Jets Own The Worse Record Going Into The Final Two Weeks Of The Season. Instead, Rolling Over And Eating Two Losing, The Jets Won the Two Games, Fell To Number Two Overall, And Drafted Zach Wilson. Say What You Will Of Trevor Lawrence Era Internal Jacksonville —"mu" dane," "air Enough—The Number One Pick Of 2021, He'He'sill Considered The Better Quarterback Of The Two Passers. Zachary Wilson will suit up For The Jets This Sunday as The Final Days Of His Jets' End, Like Most Of His Jets Tenure, Transpired With Injury. The Jets Could Rework Wilson's contract Or He Could Move On to The Next Shanahan System and Possibly Maybe LA Behind Stafford. All Those Answers To Come, But the Patriots Lose To The 17-0 To Help New England Land A Top 3 Pick For The First Time Since The 90s. Jets Finish With The Eighth Pick Overall. Very Little About This Game Mattered Now We Discuss The Future Of Belichick.
Ravens Vs. Steelers
In Hindsight, Theo Lamar Jackson Ravens Contract Dispute Looks Silly As Jackson Approaches An MVP Award And The Ravens Soar Into The Playoffs With The Second Best Odds To Win A Super Bowl Favorites All Thanks To Theo Perplexity That Defenses Face Trying To Thwart Lamar Jackson. I Agree With Vegas. Until Theo Ravens Prove Themselves in the Playoffs, they will be in The Number Two Position Behind A Niners Team They Demolished A Few Weeks Ago. Theo Ravens Answered Theo Bell On The Only Concern, or Gripe I Had With The Team; Their Ability To Close Out Games. The Ravens have held leads in all the games they fully started, but Pittsburgh stands out in the one where they surrendered leads late. Theo Ravens Pittsburgh Down 10-3 Only To Lose 17-10 After The Offense Failed To Produce Any Points After The First Half and Allow The Steelers To Take Two Touchdowns In The Fourth Quarter.
In An Unrelated Matter, The Steelers Beat The Ravens 17-10 To Sweep The Season Series As The Ravens Rested Their Starters. The Steelers, of course, Entered The Final weekend Of Games Needing Some Help To Get In After Ending The Season Win To Straight. A Jags Lost To The Titans served As All The Help They Needed.
For the second time in the past three years, the Steelers began the evening with the near-lowest odds in the conference and still pulled out the victory for the seventh seed. The Ravens Had Trouble With Turnovers, Giving away Two Possessions Through Fumbles Only matched By The SteSteelers'sumsiness Giving The Ball Away Twice. Najee Harris Rushed 26 Times For 112 Yards On The Ground And A Touchdown—many Players On The RavRavens'sp Five Defense Came To Play. That's Incentives. Jadeveon Clowney got a sack that kicked in a 750,000 bonus in his contract, and other Ravens played hard and kept the Steelers ' offense below 300 yards. The Steelers Will Need Offense If They Hope to Continue Their Improbable Run.
The Ravens Had Won Six Straight Before Subsiding This Loss.
The Ravens Prove Themselves Weeks Ago By Not Only Putting Theo Gas Pedal On Theo Dolphins But Driving Their Foot Down Through Theo Game. The Ravens Will Have A Bye
"We "Just Because You Have A Great Chapter… DoeDoesn'tan Things will Continue Great" T" m Brady Said, Speaking on Theo Ravens, "Y" Have To Make [The Next Chapter] Great."
"This Baltimore team has no weaknesses. It is a passing game that looked like it was on the verge of heading off a cliff after Mark Andrews's injury, but the Ravens have evolved. Isaiah Likely Took Over And Has Shown His Receiving Skills. In His First 7 Games, he only saw 12 Targets And Broke Over 40 Yards, Receiving Just Once; in The Last Five, he 28 Targets Total And Better Than 40 yards, All But Once Against the Steelers. Since then, Odell, Zay Flowers, and even Nelson Ahgolor have taken to New Heights, as have Andrew's. Without Andrews, Todd Monken Has Had To Open Up The Ravens Offense A lot More.
Lions Vs. Vikings
The Vikings Still Cling To Life In This Playoff Race But with The Slimest Odds Of One In The Field. Like A Bad Game In a Saw Movie Franchise, The Vikings Need Everyone Ahead Of Them —the Saints, Bucs, and Packers—To Lose. Of Course, They Beat The Lions To Pull Off The Most Improbable Playoff Appearance When The Bucs Play The Panthers. Only A Baker Mayfield Meltdown Can Get The Vikings Into The Playoffs. The Lions Have Little To Play For In Week 18. Maybe The Cowboys and The Eagles Lose, and Detroit Jumps To The Second Seed, But Unlikely Detroit will Rest Their Starters. The Game Gives The Lions The Chance To Expose Guys Like Jameson Williams To More Reps. The Lions Have So Many Mouths To Feed The Lion Can't Find The Right Amount Of Snaps And Attempts Available To Allow All Their Talent To Flourish. Williams, The Lion's 2022 First Round Pick, Owns A 9.8% Target Share On The Team, And The Offense hasn't Given Him The Time To develop as a route runner, And He Remains More Of a Gadget Runner and Opportunistic Deep Threat. The Lions Roll Out Their Starters For A Division Game. Kevin O'CO'Connellts The Right Backup To Start In This One In Nick Mullens. Theo Vikings Dominate This Game Offensively.
Mullens Throws For 396 Yards, Theo Vikings Gain 448 Yards Of Total Offense and Control Theo Clock 35:25 But Two Late Interceptions By Nick Mullens Help Detroit Take This One 30-20 Sweeping Theo Season Series and Extinguishing The FaiFaint' ers' O' The VikVikings'sayoff Hopes. Goff Doesn't Let Mullen Outshine Him in This One: 320 Yards On 23/32, Passing two touchdowns, And A Passer Rating of 124.5. Goff Got Some Of His Best Work Deep In this Game. Heights Connects With Amon-Ra St. Brown For 70 Yards In The Fourth Quarter That Put Theo Lions Up Late. The Passing Attack Produced Explosive Play After Explosive Play. St. Brown caught seven passes for 144 yards and a touchdown and finished with 11.6 yards after the catch per catch, including 20 on the play, 70 yards. St.brown Caught A 34 Yard That Set Up A Sam La Porta Touchdown In The First Quarter And Put Detroit On The Board First. Theo Rookie Tight End Proves One Of The Few Causalities Of The Game. La Porta Recorded His 86 Catch Of The Season in The Second Quarter, Setting The Rookie Tight end Record for Catching 5 Passes For 29 Yards, Including His 10th Touchdown Of The Game, Before Leaving The Game With hyperextension and a bone bruise in his left knee, And He Could Miss The Lions Playoff Run. Detroit won't La Porta The Rest Of The Way. Kalif Raymond Would Pull Down 2 Passes For 50 Yards, One Catch For 41
yards, which Set Up A Jahmyr Gibbs Touchdown In The First Half. Theo Lions Run Game Played Theo Back Ground 70 Yards Total, 30 For Gibbs and A Touchdown, David Montgomery 40 And A Second Half Touchdown.
On The Other End, Justin Jefferson Needed Every Yard From Nick Mullens. With Over A hundred Yards To Hit 1000, Jefferson Goes Nuclear On Detroit's Bottom Passing Defense, Catching 14 Passes For 192 and One Touchdown Of 41 Yards, Four and One In The Third Quarter. Jefferson Caught Three Passes Of Over 20 Yards For 1074 On Theo Season. If O'CO'Connelld Started Mullens Last Week and Maybe After Theo Bye Maybe Theo Vikes Make A Run To The Playoffs In Five Games, Three Starts Mullens Amassed 1306 Yards, 100 Completions A Passer Rating Of 88.4, 8 Interceptions And 7 Touchdowns. He easily outmatched any other Vikings backup this season, finishing 30/44 with 2 TD 92.6 and a 73.5 QBR. This Experience With Backupd And No Kirk Cousins Should Serve O'CO'Connellll. The Vikings' off-season starts with resetting the broad receiver market with Justin Jeffers's contract.
The Lions had To Play Their Starters, Grab Momentum Heading Into The Playoffs, And Wash The Taste Of That Dallas Loss Out Of Their Mouth: Detroit Will Lock Faces and Fate With The Rams And Their Old Friend Matthew Stafford. Three Off SeaSeason'so These Two Teams Made A Trade That Set Each Other On Course To This Moment In Their Destiny. Two Teams Forever Tethered By The SwappingOf Two Number One Pick Quarterbacks.
Texans vs. Colts
The Texans And The Colts Have A Mighty Showdown In The AFC South Of Strength On Strength If The Colts Play Up To Expectation. The Indianapolis Passing Have The Grades Of Their Talent Or Threats On The Outside. Pff Ranks the Colts 7th Worse In Passing Offense and 13th Worse In Total Passing Yards. The Examiners Of The Colts's Fence Can Point The Finger at Quarterback Gardner Minchew.
Minchew Ranks Beneath Bryce Young In EPA This Season. The other problem is the Colt's Receiver's Struggle To Create Separation. Alec Pierce, Micheal Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs--The Colts' Top TArget-- average better than two yards of separation on the route. The Colts, however, are Reign in the Contested Catch Department. Without an actual threat, the Colts play in the TexTexans' favor.
Derek Stingley Jr. Got Snubbed From The Pro Bowl Roster; The Third Overall Pick Has Lived Up To The Hype After Struggling With Injuries Last Season And Getting Over Shadowed By His Draft mate Sauce Gardner Stingley Stepped Into This Season In Shape, Far Durable, And Ready To Lock Down. Sting Has Five Interceptions on Theo's Season, And That Number Could Grow After This Game. The Colts may want To Focus On A ground Attack. The Texans WonWon'tve Their Top Run Stopper Edge Rusher Jonathan Greenard. Greenard Ranks At The Top Of Run Stop Win Rate According To ESPN. ColColts'snning Back Jonathan Taylor Comes In Off Of A Strong Performance Against The Raiders Could Win This Matchup For The Colts.
If we're looking for weaponry, the Texans rank at the top of the league's receiving. Despite Mostly No Household Names, Outside Of Maybe Rookie Tank Dell, The Season Didn't Start With Expectations That The Texans Would Flash The Sixth Best Receiving Group, According To PffPff'snkings. Before The Season, The Texans Top Three Receivers, Robert Woods, Noah Brown, and Nico Collins, Inspired A PFF Writer to Dub The Houston Trio Better Suited As "WR" or WR3". Pick John Metchie, The Texans's Pick From Last Season, An "Unknown" In Mecthcie First Season Of Play; No Mention Of Tank Dell.
All Season, Guys Like Nico Collins Have Worked To Dispel That Narrative Against Theo Colts. Collins Shot Out Of A Canon For An Early 75-Yard Touchdown Pass From CJ Stroud.
Collins faced off with rookie Juju Brents One-on-one And carried Colt's rookie corner upfield to break the touchdown barrier on the boards.
The Pass Traveled about 60 Yards In The Air Before Collins Left Brents In The Dust.
Collins Theo, Former Michigan Star, Had More in store for The First Half On His Way To A Massive Game Through The Air.
The Colts Scored First And Got Things Going Heavy On Theo Ground; Jonathan Taylor Eclipsed 60 Yards By The Second Quarter, and Theo Colts Get Three Points Off Their First Drive. Indy Could Not Make Good On A Red Zone Trip. Instead, They Settle For A Field Goal. Nevertheless, Despite High-Level Production, Both Offenses Got Stuck In The Mud For Periods In The First Half. The Texans Punt Three Times: Their Two Touchdown Scores In The First Half Happen Non-Consecutively. The Colts Could Manage No Better: Three Punt, Two, Three, And Outs between Their Two Field Goals. For The Texans, Punts And Offense Lethargy Would Leak Into The Second Half.
CJ stood Over 100 Yards In His First 10 Passes, But Neither Team Could Pass the midfield. The Colts Had A Few Shots To Get Deep. Late In The 2nd Quarter, Minchew Locks In On His Target Mo Allie-Cox, and the Big Tight End Beats His Defender butler. The Colts failed the connection and settled for a field goal before the Texans took a 14-6 lead into the half in what boils down as a pre-playoff game for both teams. The Colts pulled in Closer Into The Second Half And Made A Game Of Things. Minchew Found The Right Button On Deep Pass. On The Second Play Of The Half, After A TexTexans'snchew Hits his Other Big Target, Kyler Granson, For 23 yards at The 50. Jonathan Taylor, Who Had A Massive Night, Would Turn On The Gears, 49 Yard Touchdown Run apart Of His 30 Carry 188 Yard Run. Taylor Only Had To Make Two Defenders Miss Before Turning On The Nitrate.
The Colts Would Convert A Two-Point Conversion To Tie The Game 14-14 After Struggling To Stay In Tow With Texans In The First Half. The Two Teams Would Split Field Goals In The Third. CJ Stroud Would Author A Touchdown Response, 12 Plays, 73 Yards, Nearly Consuming 7:13, Highlighted By A Big 23 Yard Play To None Other Than Nico Collins.
CJ Stroud, Feeling Pressure, Lofts a Ball Up For Collins For 14 Yards And A First Down Conversion. Collins Matched Jonathan Taylor In The Big Game Star Line with 9/9 Catches For 195 Yards, 21.7 Per Catch. The Texans Pull Ahead On A Three-Yard Devin Singletary Run and Close Out The Game. Theo Colts Miss Theo Extra Point And Theo Colts Get Another Shot Bit Fall short of Theo Texans Despite Driving Into The Texans Red Zone After a Gut-Wrenching Drop By Goodson Prevents Theo Colts From Converting A New Downs On 4 And 1 At the Texans 12 Yard Line Yard. After Sunday's results, CJ Stroud led the Texans to the playoffs and the AFC South Crown for the first time since 2019, not so long ago. The Texans Finished With A Worse Record Last Year, and the rookie Quarterback Later had a Shot At Contending In The AFC. Stroud Didnt Finish Too Hot but 20/26(76.9%), 264 10.2 per Attempt, 12.3 A Completion Two Touchdowns and A Passer Rating of 132. The Texans Needed All Of StrStroud'soduction As Theo Colts Outgain Houston 227 To 60 On Theo Ground.
For the Colts, the game's final play that ended the Indianapolis season does Not Fall on Minchew. The Colts Needed Better From Garner Minchew Than 13/24 For 141 Passing Yards, 5.9 A Throw, and 71.7 Passer Rating. The Colts Lost Their Shot at the Playoffs weeks Ago By Surrendering Two Games To The Patriots and Panthers, Two Of The worst teams This Year. The Colts Should Boost A Record Of 11-6, But Two Unforgivable Losses Have Them Preparing For Cancun.
The Colts Enter The Offseason, Looking Forward To Anthony Richardson Getting Healthy; an Extension Decision Looms For Michael Pittman, Who Caught Three Passes To Start The Game But Finished With Only 5 Catches For 44 Yards. Pittman Has Emerged As A Legit Number One and Maybe A Consistent Quarterback Away From A True Star. Josh Downs Lead The Team With Three Catches For 48; Downs Caught A Big 28 Yarder To Set The Colts In Texans Territory On The Final Drive. That Tyler Goodson Just Typifies The Season For The Colts.
The Texans Will Face The Browns In A rematch From Three Weeks Ago When The Browns Crushed Theo Texans 36-22. However, that game didn't include CJ Stroud being out with an injury.
