Wow! What a weekend in the NFL! A lot of teams had golden opportunities to clinch things - either playoff berths or division titles - and the results were a mixed bag and, in some cases, shocking.
Let's take a closer look at some of what happened yesterday:
The top seeds in both conferences had chances to wrap things up, and clinch the number one spot. Neither has clinched that elusive top spot yet, although the Broncos, at least, won their game.
Peyton Manning made history yesterday by throwing 4 touchdown passes. His final touchdown pass was the record breaker, as he once again holds the record that he once before held, when he threw for a then record 49 touchdown passes as quarterback of the Colts. That eclipsed Dan Marino's old 1984 record of 48 touchdown passes throw, but Manning's record was itself eclipsed not too much later, when Tom Brady managed to toss 50 touchdown passes in his historical 2007 season. Now, Manning himself eclipsed Brady's mark, and once again owns the record, and with still yet one more weekend to play, and with a chance of adding to it even more!
Also, Manning completed 32 of 51 passes for 400 yards overall, which brings his season total to 5,211 yards, easily tops in the league for this season, but it also stands very high in the record books, as well.
On Thursday, I wrote:
Manning has also passed for 4,811 yards, for an average of 343.6 yards per game. Only six times before have quarterbacks ever reached the 5,000 passing yards in a season mark. But Manning is easily on pace to reach this landmark, and perhaps even make a run at second or third place in terms of passing yards (although he is most likely too far back to catch Drew Brees's record of 5,476 yards passing in the 2011 season). Manning's overall quarterback rating is 112.9, which is his second highest QB rating ever (he had a QB rating of 121.1 in 2004).
Well, Manning's 5,211 yards now places him third all-time in single season pass yards, and he is only 24 yards behind Brady's 2011 mark to take over second place. If he has a really strong passing day next weekend at Oakland, he may even be able to overtake Drew Brees's record season of 5,476 yards, also set in 2011.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_yds_single_season.htm
Overall, now, his passer rating stands at 113.0, still well behind his 2004 overall QB rating of 121.1, but which still nonetheless ranks as the second best QB rating that he has enjoyed in his storied career.
And as a team, the Denver Broncos notched an impressive 37-13 victory at Houston, handing the Texans their 12th straight defeat. In the beginning of the season, I will admit to expecting that this game was going to be just huge, with two titanic teams, battling it out for the top seed in the AFC. But it sure did not work out like that, did it?
Denver clinched the AFC West division title, as well as a playoff bye, and still hold the lead for the top spot in the AFC. They control their own destiny in regards to clinching the number one seed. If they win next weekend, they get the top spot outright, for a second year in a row. And Manning should have plenty of opportunity to establish and/or break more records, as he enjoys a truly historic season.
The Broncos had some help in managing to win the division title, as Kansas City lost at home, rather convincingly, to the Indianapolis Colts, who kept pace with the Cincinnati Bengals for the third seed. The Bengals won easily as well yesterday, completely dismantling Minnesota, 42-14, in a dominating performance, clinching a playoff spot initially and then, later, when the Baltimore Ravens getting destroyed by the Patriots, outright winning the division title in the AFC North.
That's right. New England avenged their loss in the AFC Championship to Baltimore by absolutely humiliating the Ravens at home yesterday, 41-7. That, coupled with the Dolphins rather shocking shutout loss up at Buffalo, gave New England the AFC East division title, and they can clinch either the second seed, and with it, a playoff bye outright with a win next weekend or, if they win and Denver loses, they still might even have a shot at the number one seed in the AFC!
So, all four division titles in the AFC have been decided, and the Chiefs also clinched a playoff berth. That stands in marked contrast to the still very much undecided NFC.
Seattle, the other top seed, was surprised by the Cardinals at home. Arizona won, 17-10, to stay very much alive in the playoff race and, in the process, snapped Seattle's 14 game home winning streak. The Seahawks, as a result, failed to clinch the NFC West title outright, although they could still clinch if the 49ers lose tonight, or next weekend. Or, of course, the Seahawks could simply win their next game, in which case they would clinch the number one seed in the NFC outright, since they control their own destiny.
Amazingly, only two teams, Seattle and Carolina, have actually clinched playoff spots in the NFC! I don't remember any season beforehand where so few teams in one conference had clinched so little this late in the season. Neither the Seahawks or the Panthers have clinched their division titles, although they would outright with wins next Sunday.
The Panthers managed a huge win at homer yesterday by beating the New Orleans Saints, who only a few weeks ago, were still very much in the hunt for the top spot in the NFC, and looked like one of the true elites and title contenders in the league. Now, it is entirely possible that they could miss the playoffs.
But they were hardly the only ones to have screwed up. The Detroit Lions, who less than a week ago looked like they held all the cards in the NFC North race, have been eliminated. They lost in heartbreaking fashion at home to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, and then followed that up with an overtime loss to the Giants yesterday, which officially ended their bid for the playoffs.
When the Packers were shocked by Pittsburgh yesterday in a very excited, back and forth shootout, the door was wide open for the Chicago Bears to take the division title, if they could muster a win at Philly. Well, not only did Chicago not win, they were humiliated, 54-11.
So much for that.
The Eagles could have won the NFC East with that, if Washington had held off Dallas at home. But, the Cowboys managed to stay alive in the playoff race by edging Washington, 24-23. That sets up a huge showdown in Dallas next week with Philadelphia. Let's go Eagles!
San Diego stayed alive in their quest to make the playoffs, with a victory over the Oakland Raiders, 26-13.
Otherwise, the Rams defeated Tampa Bay, while the Jets knocked off Cleveland, and finally, the Titans beat the Jaguars on the road.
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