There were both some stunning developments and not so stunning developments yesterday for the NFL's final weekend of regular season play this season. The Jets had a virtual lock on a playoff spot. All they needed to do was not lose to Buffalo, but they lost. And the Steelers won, which propelled them to the final playoff spot in place of the Jets.
How boring is that?
The Broncos struggled mightily against the San Diego Chargers (this might be the last time that we can say those words all together and mean it currently, since that team looks headed for Los Angeles), and it looked like they might drop all the way to the fifth seed. However, by virtue of the return of Peyton Manning and his strong start, followed by a solid finish, Denver hung on and not only avoided the fifth seed, and having to play on the road next week, they now not only have a bye for next week, but home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That was the result of a surprising New England loss at Miami, where Tom Brady suffered a scare after getting hit low. The Dolphins closed a bad season out with a very nice victory over the Patriots, who lost the top spot in the AFC playoffs with the loss and the Denver win.
In the NFC, the Cardinals, who had looked very strong to the point of looking almost invincible, were absolutely clobbered at home by their division rivals and two-time NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks, who as you recall, were narrowly denied a second straight Super Bowl championship last season. Seattle looked in extraordinary form once again, and they look like very few other sixth seeds that I have seen. I would not be surprised at all if they should win at Minnesota next weekend, and make another long run in these playoffs, possibly all the way back to what would be a third straight Super Bowl. That would be a record for an NFC team. But they have to get through Minnesota first.
Speaking of the Minnesota Vikings, I was taken by surprise by their victory at Green Bay last night. The victory gives them the NFC North division title, ending Green Bay's long dominance there (they had won four straight division titles, and looked at points like a lock for a fifth straight this season). Both teams had looked shaky in recent weeks, but the Vikings, to their credit, overcame all of that and won a solid road game at Lambeau Field to earn that division title and the third seed in the NFC playoffs.
Houston managed to dominate at home once again, but this time, that victory earned them the AFC South division title, meaning that they earned a home game for the playoff game next week against Kansas City. It also meant that the Colts, who were among the favorite teams heading into this season, are out of the playoff picture altogether now. Their season is done, despite also winning yesterday.
And how about Carolina? They finished with a very solid, convincing win against Tampa Bay, which completed a very solid 15-1 regular season for them. They are only the seventh team in NFL history to compete a 16 game regular season with a record so strong. The other teams to do it? The 1984 San Francisco 49ers (won Super Bowl XIX, en route to winning "Team of the Decade" honors), the 1985 Chicago Bears (won Super Bowl XX, and are widely considered the most dominant single season team ever), the 1998 Minnesota Vikings (who had one of the most explosive offenses ever seen, but who were knocked out at home in the NFC Championship Game when they seemed to sit on a 20-7 lead and completely changed their style, suddenly going conservative and allowing Atlanta to come back and eventually beat them in overtime), the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers (who advanced to the AFC Championship Game, but got clobbered by the dynasty New England Patriots), the 2007 New England Patriots, who actually were better than 15-1, historically finishing with a perfect 16-0 regular season (they advanced to Super Bowl XLII before being handed a stunning loss in the final minute by the New York Giants, denying them a chance at immortality with a perfect season), and the 2011 Green Bay Packers (who lost to those same New York Giants in the divisional round, in the process becoming the only team on this list thus far to not have won a playoff contest).
What was a bit surprising with the Panthers yesterday was how deep into the game they kept their star quarterback, Cam Newton, in the game for. Carolina had a 21-point lead, and surely knew that the Cardinals, who would have shot up to the top seed in the NFC playoffs with a win coupled with a Carolina loss, were getting blasted by the Seahawks. That is the time to not take chances, and sit your stud quarterback out, except the Panthers did not. They kept him in and risked injury. The worst did not happen, but it certainly raised a few eyebrows.
In any case, let us take a look at the individual games from yesterday, on the final day of this NFL regular season that was:
Buffalo 22, NY Jets 17 - The New York Jets had an absolutely incredible opportunity to clinch a playoff spot, which would have been their first appearance since 2010. Instead, their former coach, Rex Ryan, and his Bills managed to spoil their hopes and dreams by knocking them out in Buffalo, completing a season sweep over the Jets. That, coupled with the Steelers win over Cleveland, means that the Jets are eliminated from qualifying for the playoffs. It was a bittersweet season for the Jets this season, although they did manage to achieve some great things, including an absolute highlight victory over the Patriots in the second to last game of this season.
Pittsburgh 28, Cleveland 12 - The Steelers took advantage of their opportunities and avoided a potentially dangerous situation in playing at Cleveland against a team that almost shocked the Chiefs in Kansas City the week before. Pittsburgh was able to overcome the disappointment of losing at Baltimore and losing control of their own destiny with a victory that, coupled with the loss by the New York Jets, gives the Steelers that final playoff spot. The Steelers will now travel to Cincinnati to face their division rivals, the Bengals.
Houston 30, Jacksonville 6 - The Texans finally completed their surprisingly strong season with a very convincing blowout win over Jacksonville to capture the AFC South division title. It was the first time since the 2012 season that the Texans won the division, and they will head to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons now, hosting the red hot Kansas City Chiefs. For the Jaguars, their were glimpses of brilliance at times, although this season has to be regarded as disappointing, overall.
Miami 20, New England 10 - Tom Brady received a scare when he was hit early and went down, although he did return in the game. But the Patriots seemed surprisingly lifeless, and lost their second straight game to close out the season. After an impressive 10-0 start to the season that had some people wondering if they were going to enjoy another undefeated regular season, they wind up losing four of their last six games, and losing the top seed in the AFC playoffs that seemed to belong to them for most of this season. Still, they have a couple of weeks to rest up and prepare for their next playoff contest.
Cincinnati 24, Baltimore 16 - The Bengals completed a solid season, earning the division title by tying a franchise best 12-4 regular season mark. They achieved that twice before, in the 1981 and 1988 seasons, and managed to reach the Super Bowl after both of those seasons. Whether they manage to do that or not this season, we shall see. Right now, they should just aim to win a single playoff game, as they have the longest active drought of playoff victories of any team, having not won a playoff game since the 1990-91 season. The Soviet Union still existed, apartheid was still active in South Africa, and the first George Bush was still in office at the time, and nobody had heard of the internet. As for the Ravens, they should be happy that this hugely disappointing season is over, as they went from one of the preseason favorites in the AFC to one of the biggest disappointments in the league this season.
Indianapolis 30, Tennessee 24 - The Colts suffered through a disappointing season, although they entered yesterday's game still with an outside chance at the playoffs. They took care of business on the football field in this game, beating the Titans, although the cards did not fall in the right place for them otherwise, and they will be watching the playoffs from home. As for the Titans, they have a young and exciting quarterback who has shown glimpses of brilliance at times this season, and they should feel some measure of confidence about their future.
Washington 34, Dallas 23 - Washington finished off a surprisingly successful season in which they won the NFC East title with a fourth straight win, beating the Cowboys in Dallas. It was a bit of revenge for a Dallas upset win at Washington on Monday Night Football just a few weeks ago. The Cowboys ended their surprisingly miserable season with another disappointing home loss, as they reversed their remarkably successful season last year at 12-4 with a miserable 4-12 mark this season. Washington, by virtue of being NFC East champions, will now host the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Game next week.
Philadelphia 35, NY Giants 30 - It was a disappointing season for both teams, although that is particularly true for the Giants, who got swept by the Eagles, and finished the season with three straight losses, in what may have been coach Tom Coughlin's final game as head coach of the Giants. He won two Super Bowls with the team, although the Giants also have only made the playoffs now once in the last seven seasons. As for the Eagles, they already fired coach Chip Kelly, and will nope have a long offseason to try and sort everything out for next season.
New Orleans 20, Atlanta 17 - The Saints managed to pull off a surprising road win to finish this season on a positive note, in what may have been their final game with Drew Brees at quarterback and Sean Peyton as head coach. Those two guys won Super Bowl XLIV together, but have suffered through some disappointing seasons in recent years. As for the Falcons, they had raced out to a 5-0 undefeated start, and were 6-1 as they approached the midseason point, but could not overcome an unbelievable six game losing streak that effectively ended their playoff hopes. A long offseason full of question marks now faces both teams here.
Detroit 24, Chicago 20 - The Lions fought hard, and showed a lot of pride, in recovering from a horrific winless start early in the season. They did not contend for the playoffs, but they played well towards the end, and finished with a road win at Chicago's Soldier Field. As for the Chicago Bears, another disappointing season will lead inevitably to an offseason filled with questions, and speculation of sweeping changes in the Windy City.
San Francisco 19, St. Louis 16 (OT) - In another meeting of two teams that suffered through disappointing seasons, the 49ers topped the Rams in a game that stretched into overtime. After shocking the Seahawks in a stunning upset last week, the Rams were unable to follow that up with a victory this week to finish the season off strong, as San Francisco ended a losing streak to finish the season off right and complete the season at 5-11.The Rams had a chance to finish the season at .500, but this loss means that they finish with a losing record instead.
Carolina 38, Tampa Bay - Carolina was the best regular season team this season, and they completed this amazingly successful season with a solid home victory against their division rival Tamp Bay Buccaneers, who were unable to overcome a large deficit late, and were effectively blown out by the Panthers, who completed a perfect record at home this season, as well as becoming only the seventh team in league history to finish 15-1 or better. Carolina can now relax for a little while at least, as they sit back and watch playoff games next week, before having to prepare for action a couple of weeks from now, having earned home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Denver 27, San Diego 20 - It was a bit of a surprise when Peyton Manning took the reigns in this one, but he was solid, shaking off the rust of too many weeks off to lead his team to scores in four of the first five drives of this game. Still, San Diego hung in there and tied the game up late. But Manning looked composed, leading the Broncos to a late touchdown score. When the Broncos defense did it's job and hung on, the Broncos finally secured that elusive AFC West title and, in the process, earned home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And it appears that Peyton Manning has his team back, and gets to rest for two weeks before taking the field again.
Kansas City 23, Oakland 17 - The Chiefs really struggled to hang on in this one. They had a solid lead as the game turned late, but the Raiders rallied and made a game of it. The Chiefs ultimately did hang on, completing a stunning turnaround with their tenth straight victory following a dismal 1-5 start. They seemed to have a chance to win the division late, with the Broncos struggling to beat San Diego in Denver, but the Broncos managed to win in the end. That means that the Chiefs will now head to Houston to take on the AFC South champion Texans.
Seattle 36, Arizona 6 - There have been times when the Arizona Cardinals looked like they had taken over as the dominant NFC West team this season, in place of the Seattle Seahawks. But the Seahawks returned to form in a big way yesterday, crushing the Cardinals in Arizona, and heading into the playoffs with an entirely unsurprising wave of momentum, as they head to Minnesota. As for the Cardinals, their dreams of sneaking into the top seed were swept away not only with Carolina's win, but with this crushing loss, and they will need that extra week off to recover from this one. They had looked like possibly the strongest team in the NFC after blowing out the Packers last week, but only question marks for them after this performance against Seattle.
Minnesota 20, Green Bay 13 - Remember when the Packers started off the season 6-0, and had a comfortable lead of two games over the Minnesota Vikings? Then they squandered it, and fell behind by a game, as they headed up to Minnesota. It looked like they might go from two games up to two games down as quickly as possible, but instead, they dominated the Vikings in Minnesota. From that point until yesterday, it looked like the Packers were destined for another NFC North title, which would make it five years running. But the Vikings returned the favor by beating the Packers at Lambeau Field, and clinching their first NFC North division title since 2009. In the process, they, and not Green Bay, earned the third seed, although that might not be such a great prize after all, as it means they now have a date with Seattle. As for the Packers, this was an enormously disappointing end to the regular season, with two losses in a row. They now head to Washington for the Wild Card game next weekend.
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