Forty-eight things we learned in Week 17 Published: Jan 01, 2017 at 04:45 PM *Ah, this is familiar. * The superior team controlled this one from the opening whistle, as led a 13-play touchdown drive on the game's first po se sion. By halftime, the had churned out 261 yards to just 105 for the . With three more touchdown pa ses bringing his TD-to-INT ratio to 28:2, Brady strengthened his MVP case by breaking ' 2013 record. The 39-year-old now owns two of the top three single-season TD-to-INT ratios in NFL history. Brady closed out the season with the second-best pa ser rating (112.2) and completion rate (67.4) of his legendary career. If he does capture MVP honors, he will become the oldest player to win the award, bypa sing 38-year-old quarterback -- and former Marlboro Man -- Charley Conerly, who was the league's Most Outstanding Player in 1959. Miami was simply outcla sed by a more talented opponent, perhaps a preview of what's to come at Pittsburgh in the wild-card round of the playoffs. After shredding the half-hearted, undisciplined secondaries of the and the past two weeks, was limited to short slants, cro sing routes and check downs against the league's top-scoring defense. One game after highlighting Buffalo's carefree attitude toward tackling with a 206-yard effort, was held under the century mark for the seventh time in the past eight games. The defense surrendered 396 yards, ensuring that this year's inconsistent unit has allowed the most yards in franchise history. Unle s Ajayi can recapture dominant Week 6 form, it's hard to imagine this team pulling off an upset versus the next week. Wide receivers and played starring roles for New England's offense. Floyd powered through a crowd of defenders for a 14-yard touchdown, showed fancy footwork with a toe-dragging sideline catch and sprung Edelman for a 77-yard touchdown with a vicious block on . More of a complementary player while rounding into form following offseason foot surgery, Edelman was targeted on 26 percent of Brady's attempts through 's lung injury in Week 10. Since losing the All Pro tight end, Brady has run his aerial attack through Edelman, increasing his target rate to roughly 40 percent. Edelman is averaging 7.1 receptions and 93.5 yards over the past eight games compared to 5.1 and 44.8 in the first eight. looked great in his first regular-season action in more than a year. The veteran briefly replaced in the second quarter. Romo took two deep shots (one earned a DPI) and displayed his trademark darts over the middle, going 3-of-4 pa sing for 29 yards and a TD to s in one drive. There was no rust on the 36-year-old quarterback. Romo's trade stock couldn't be higher -- Yay! Look forward to months of Romo rumors. 's finale was a microcosm of his rookie season. The quarterback came out firing, completing his first five pa ses. Then he sputtered, mi sing receivers high and wide. Wentz was under siege all day by the ' pa s rush and got no help from his wide receivers. The rookie overcame his struggles by heavily targeting tight end (13 catches for 139 yards, two TDs) in the second half. The rookie's finish displayed all the promise that made the ' bra s drool before the season. Wentz will head into the offseason needing to tweak his elongated mechanics (dropping his elbow leads to sailed pa ses) and footwork. On balance, for a rookie that many said needed a year of seasoning before he was ready to play, Wentz's first season should be viewed as a succe s. Now he needs to grow in his first full offseason, and Howie Roseman needs to get Wentz some skill-position help. With nothing on the line, the rested their star players. dre sed but never left the bench (dashing Jerry Jones' claim Zeke could go after the rookie rushing record). Linebacker also dre sed but was tied to the bench. and both started but didn't make it to halftime before being yanked (Witten finishes the regular season 17-yards shy of the ' all-time receiving record). Dallas' offensive line started reserve left tackle and backup left guard . With a bye before hosting a playoff game, Dallas hopes to get healthy ahead of their run. directed one of the most extraordinary first-half eviscerations in recent memory, reaching the end zone on the opening drive for the sixth consecutive week -- the longest stretch of the era. Clicking on all cylinders, Ryan's juggernaut racked up 18 first downs on 28 plays en route to five touchdowns on the first five po se sions. How impre sive was Atlanta's onslaught? At one point in the second quarter, Ryan had faced just one third down on four touchdown drives while the had yet to po se s the ball for more than four minutes in the game. It was fitting that the home crowd erupted in "MVP" chants as Ryan's offense exploded for 35 first-half points -- the most allowed by the in the opening half during the Sean Payton era. Leading the highest-scoring attack in the league, Ryan will finish with an NFL-best 117.1 pa ser rating to go with the highest yards-per-attempt figure (9.26) ever by a quarterback with 400 or more pa ses in a season. Unle s throws at least three touchdowns Sunday night, Ryan will also stand atop the list with 38 pa sing scores. By any fair measure,
Timothe Luwawu Jersey he's the . It was fair to question Atlanta's apparent defensive improvement after limiting the lifele s offenses of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Carolina to an average of 14.3 points over the past three weeks. Although the deserve credit for keeping the ' high-powered offense in check until garbage time, the red-zone defense is among the worst in the league and remains a concern entering the postseason. Three members of the offense reached noteworthy milestones in a losing effort. cleared 5,000 pa sing yards for the fifth time in his illustrious career. All other quarterbacks in NFL history have combined to reach the mark just four times. A 38-yard run in the fourth quarter propelled past the 1,000-yard milestone for the first time in his six-year career. Wideout became the 17th rookie to reach 1,000 receiving yards since the 1970 merger, breaking Marques Colston's franchise rookie records with 1,137 yards and nine touchdown catches. He also broke 's rookie record with 92 receptions. Oakland's lo s coupled with a win sinks the to the No. 5 seed. Jack Del Rio's team will head to Houston next week. Losing a first-round bye is a big blow for the who could have used the extra week to prep their backup quarterbacks. On the other hand, Houston is the division winner everyone in the AFC playoffs wanted to face. The have as many quarterback question marks as the . A week after losing to a broken leg, the ' quarterback situation got murkier. Backup exited in the first half with a shoulder injury after getting battered. He did not return. Prior to exiting, McGloin did not look good. The fourth-year quarterback was scatter-shot, completing just six of 11 pa ses for 21 yards (1.9 average). McGloin airmailed on what should have been a 60-plus yard TD pa s. The secondary isn't a good matchup for most starting quarterbacks, and it made McGloin look every bit a backup. looked like a rookie thrust into a bad situation early. His fumble to open the second half came as he scrambled up the pocket and didn't protect the football. Once he settled in, Cook displayed some tools, and an ability to get through his progre sions. He led the ' only scoring drive with some solid darts. Cook finished 14-of-21 pa sing for 150 yards, a touchdown and an interception. We're not going to take too much away from Cook's relief appearance. The were down big when he took over against one of the best secondaries in the NFL. It won't get any easier for the rookie if he gets the nod next week in Houston. Cook looked like the better quarterback in this game, so it will be interesting to see if Del Rio sticks with the rookie even if McGloin is cleared. The ' formula is so similar every week. They win the turnover battle, finishing up 2-1 Sunday. They get big plays in the secondary, with beautiful interceptions from and . They get a dose of magic from , who scored a touchdown over 60 yards for the fourth straight game, the first player to do so since Kansas City's Dante Hall in 2003. (This time it came on a 95-yard punt return.) His pure speed and ability to make pros look silly is unlike anything I've ever seen. Kansas City has ridden
Philadelphia 76ers Jersey this formula all the way to 12-4 and the AFC West title, thanks to Oakland's lo s in Denver on Sunday. The are the No. 2 in the AFC. The ' formula has been upgraded lately because of their increasingly explosive offense. They scored on six of their first seven po se sions, with the one stop coming on an interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Andy Reid is on a playcalling roll, with finding receivers wide open on play after play. They were third among all NFL teams over the last four games in yards-per-play, and that should only go up after this game. This dominance came despite mi sing starting running back . star tight end was on the sideline for the first drive of the game. He returned for the second drive, which started in the second quarter. We'll see if Reid has an update on Kelce after the game. Wideout 's 26-yard touchdown grab from quarterback handed Pittsburgh the win with 2:57 left in this overtime "showdown" -- guaranteeing Cleveland the No. 1 pick in the 2017 . The had a chance to win the game outright in regulation before running back fumbled the ball away at Pittsburgh's 3-yard line with 1:04 left on the clock. Along the way, the also saw cornerback fumble a would-be pick six at the pylon, leading to a Pittsburgh touchback. It was that kind of day for the ultra-snake-bitten , whose 1-15 record marks the worst season in franchise history. The only way from here is up. Locked into the AFC's third seed -- they'll host the next week in the wild-card -- Pittsburgh sat quarterback in favor of Jones, who came out of the gate insanely rusty with running back and wideout also out of the lineup. In their absence, Pittsburgh managed just 52 first-half yards before Jones engineered four touchdown drives down the stretch. He doesn't see the field particularly well and deserves some of the blame for his four sacks, but Jones' 277 yards and three pa sing scores look just fine with half the roster in street clothes. It's fair to wonder, though, if this could be it for Jones in Pittsburgh with the 27-year-old set to hit free agency. The used Sunday to take one last look at quarterback . The veteran pa ser threw his only two touchdowns of the year in the first half, but also to sed a red-zone pick and fumbled away an ill-fated shotgun snap on back-to-back offensive plays. His 29-of-40 performance for 232 yards looks better on paper. Amid chit-chat of this being some sort of "audition" for Griffin, the simply cannot rely on him as their Week 1 starter in 2017. Whether they trade for a trustworthy/durable veteran or find a starter in the draft, the search for a franchise signal-caller rages on. With the win, Seattle nabs the NFC's third seed and will host a wild-card game next weekend. In Sunday's postseason tune-up, the 'Hawks "piled up" a whopping 10 yards in the first quarter before a pair of Niners fumbles helped Seattle build a 19-14 lead at the half. Quarterback lifted the attack with long gains to pa s-catchers , and , but we remain concerned about this offense. The piled up just 20 yards rushing in the first half and 90 on the day, the 10th time this season they've plowed for fewer than 100 yards. Seattle has earned our trust in January, but this isn't the same run-heavy team we used to know. To the leaky O-line's credit, Wilson took just one sack on the afternoon. At 2-14, the lowly Niners have tied franchise-worst finishes from 1978, 1979 and 2004. With general manager Trent Baalke already fired and Chip Kelly to be next, the coach came out of the gate loose and daring, going for it twice on fourth down during an opening quarter that saw the Niners mount a 14-3 lead while controlling the ball for 13-plus minutes. The defense took over from there, holding San Francisco to six punts, a fumble, a drive that ended on downs and six marches that generated five-or-fewer yards before -- playing one of his better games -- dialed up a touchdown to with 5:42 remaining. It's more than fair to wonder if Kelly is done at the NFL level. The Niners Kelly and Baalke on Sunday night. With the losing to Pittsburgh, the have "earned" the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. Will that be enough to lure a top-flight coach and general manager? This is a proud organization, but what can CEO Jed York promise to potential suitors? The Niners harbor a bottom-of-the-barrel roster and nothing but questions at quarterback. The biggest selling point might be the reality that York can't afford to pay three fired coaches at the same time. Whoever takes this job will be given a legitimate shot to stick around. While the ' offense sputtered for most of the afternoon, there was a palpable excitement every time Sr. touched the ball. In his last NFL game (Smith confirmed as much as he left the field Sunday), the legendary wideout found himself in the throes of a scuffle with a safety 12 years younger than him. knocked Smith out of bounds from the back while Smith was tracking an uncatchable ball. The action prompted the outgoing vet to seek Williams out the next time he touched the ball, lunging at his adversary like an underwater mi sile. I understand that this kind of behavior gets praised in some players and admonished in others, but there was just something perpetually likeable and enjoyable about Smith. This was evidenced by the greeting line waiting for him as he exited the field in Cincinnati, which appeared to be a mile long. Should this be it, Smith's last game ended with three catches for 34 yards and, of course, Smith handing some memorabilia to a young fan as he walked off. There is no take that will energize fans this time of year, but I do think he deserves the chance to coach out his contract. Lewis has a heavy hand in Cincinnati's personnel and has created some incredible three-deep situations at certain spots. , of all people, exploded against the on Sunday, carrying the ball 27 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns. With Gio Bernard and on the roster for next season, it wouldn't be surprising to see Burkhead get some looks in free agency and fly the coop. Lewis has an eye for talent, which is undeniable. He's built a more-than-respectable coaching tree. This is not a Jeff Fisher running-on-fumes situation and while the playoff win drought is glaring, I don't think there's anything more enticing for ownership than a good, motivated football coach. Lewis doesn't want that to be his legacy in Cincinnati and he's good enough to prevent that from happening. The , like the , have a good football coach but do need to iron some things out in house. Marty Mornhinweg was fine this year considering the circumstances, but as NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport mentioned this weekend, there will be some excellent offensive minds hitting the market this offseason. Greg Roman was the name Rapoport mentioned specifically. Like the , this team has the vehicle to make the personnel work. just capped his first 1,000-yard season since 2011, which was not an accident. should be better than he was this year with more distance from his torn ACL. What was on display Sunday, though, was not imaginative enough to make it work. The AFC North is only getting better. Relax, cheeseheads: Your are NFC North champions. Green Bay's season-saving six-game winning streak has taken them all the way back to the playoffs and the top of the division. The will host the next Sunday afternoon (4:40 p.m. ET) at Lambeau Field. Meanwhile, the failed to clinch their first division title since 1993 and will have to settle for the sixth seed. Trading a playoff game at Ford Field for a short-week, prime time matchup
Justin Anderson Jersey (8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday) with the and their 12th man doesn't seem like a square deal, but that's what happens when you lose three straight to end the season. Has ever been hotter? The quarterback made good on his promise to "run the table" and did so with flying colors. In Green Bay's final seven games, Rodgers produced an insane 18:0 TD-to-INT ratio; that closing salvo was the first seven-week period during which he didn't throw an interception. His four TD strikes on Sunday night made him the season leader in TD pa ses (40). Rodgers' performance late in the year may have been too late to swing him the MVP, given his company ( , , Ezekiel Elliott), but it shouldn't be ignored as just another flash run. Sunday night's lo s will likely go down as one of the more disappointing moments in Ford Field history, but the weren't wholly to blame for the defeat. They simply ran into a buzzsaw in Rodgers' clock-killing offense. Detroit's shortcomings were recurring ones. Without (injured reserve) and , the failed to truly develop a running game behind , who saw a career-high 20 carries for 69 yards. Detroit's league-worst running game will have an impo sible matchup ahead in Seattle. Cousins was in line to play hero, but he couldn't finish the script. The quarterback bounced back from a scattershot first half to make some big throws during Washington's second-half 10-point comeback. Down three with 2:12 to go, Cousins started off hot too, completing four consecutive pa ses for 32 yards to get the 'Skins into opposing territory. But on the next play, Cousins, hurried by pre sure, pump-faked and then threw a late pa s over the middle intended for but intercepted by Rodgers-Cromartie. The pick was Cromartie's second of the game and killed Washington's playoff hopes. The were locked into the fifth seed regardle s of Sunday's result, so few could blame them for wanting to sit their important starters. But instead of resting and Co., coach Ben McAdoo let every player west of play out the second half, a decision that proved crucial in the victory. Steve Spagnuolo's first-team defense crushed Washington's offensive line, tallying four sacks of Cousins -- three of which came from the secondary. Cromartie, and stayed in form on the back end, the former recording a sack and two picks. The best news for fans? No one was seriously injured. New York will have to wait out the remainder of Sunday's slate to learn their next opponent. New York also saw its running game finally hit its stride, just in time for postseason play. Paced by (102 yards), the recorded 162 yards on the ground, their highest rushing total of the season. The consistency in the run game opens a wrinkle that New York didn't have before and keeps the ball out of 's hands, which, depending on who you ask, is a plus. Perkins' yardage has increased progre sively since Week 11 (16, 29, 38, 45, 56, 68). Are we in store for a 150-yard romping on Wild Card Weekend? If the really were intent on evaluating as a potential replacement, the fourth-year quarterback made things very easy for Buffalo's bra s. Manuel was completely ineffective against the , completing 9 of 20 pa ses for 86 yards in the lo s. He was eventually replaced by rookie in the fourth quarter. Though Tyrod was relegated to a mournful look while wearing a hoodie on the sideline, his future in Buffalo appears safe for now. The absence of from the ' backfield didn't prove to be an i sue thanks to . The sixth-year running back put in another strong performance, rushing for 122 yards on 22 carries to complement a decent effort by . In what very well could have been his final game with the after being the big apple of Gang Green's offseason eye, Fitz completed 20 of 30 pa ses for 210 yards and two TDs. The biggest surprise, however, might have been coach Todd Bowles' decision not to give some snaps in garbage time of a game with no postseason implications. In his season debut, Jones didn't fare much better than Manuel. He finished completing six of 11 pa ses for 96 yards and an interception. He was part of a ' offensive effort that failed to gain any real traction against the , especially after running back left the game in the first half with an ankle injury. What an unexpected turn of events for the quarterback conundrum in Houston. started again for the and was predictably average at best, completing 5 of 8 pa ses for 25 yards before leaving to be evaluated for a concu sion. A mix-up -- Savage being cleared, then re-examined at halftime and determined to have a concu sion -- resulted in taking over and, against a secondary that isn't much to write home about, going to work. Osweiler completed 21 of 40 pa ses for 253 yards and one touchdown, but often showed the same i sues that plagued him. It leaves us with the multi-layered question of who plays quarterback next week for the ? Will Savage clear the concu sion protocol? Would Bill O'Brien go with healthy Savage or Osweiler? Stay tuned. caught a deep pa s for the first time in what's felt like forever, but even then, was stopped short of the end zone. Hopkins finished with seven receptions for 123 yards as Osweiler spread it among eight receivers. It's somewhat encouraging, but frankly, Houston still has a me s under center. The victorious conclusion to what was a promising season for the will feel great today, but ultimately be bittersweet. Knowing where Tenne see stood and how it played for much of the
Allen Iverson Jersey year, the falling short of the playoffs will be a tough pill to swallow when the postseason gets underway. But there's reason for hope, as the demonstrated they have the beginnings of a contending team, one that fought to finish the season on a high note. They did that on the back of a serviceable , proving they aren't far off from winning the AFC South in the future. In a game that meant little, found a way to lose any steam he'd built up as starting quarterback for the . The signal-caller to sed two interceptions (one was deflected) and was ineffective for a offense that made the ' defense look good, no, great again, capped by 's fumble recovery and return for a touchdown. Congrats to on capping the most accurate pa sing season in NFL history. The former Oklahoma Sooner finished 2016 with a 71.2 completion percentage, which validates Minnesota's trade for him, I gue s? Ultimately, the mi sed the playoffs and the gamble didn't exactly pan out, but it wasn't Bradford's fault. It was a nice way to enter the offseason, then, in to sing three touchdown pa ses in a blowout win over the . is a bright spot that the can point to heading into the offseason. The athletic tight end caught 11 pa ses for 117 yards and a touchdown, including a grab that required some extra work through defenders to cro s the goal line. No matter who lines up under center for Minnesota in 2017, Rudolph will be a reliable target. has a long history of exceptional play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and didn't disappoint Sunday, completing 20 of 38 pa ses for 255 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. It took him a bit to get going, but thanks to a swarming defense, the worked under little pre sure and coasted to an easy win. In a game between two teams that will be cleaning out lockers tomorrow morning, the main goal is to build momentum heading into the offseason and avoid catastrophic injury. It looked like the failed on the second part with , who was carted off the field with a serious leg injury. Turns out it's not that bad, according to coach Bruce Arians, and he's hoping there's no ligament i sue. At the end of a lost season, with players floundering at all positions and the end of Week 17 as the lone salvation in sight, the played like they were ready for vacation. was again abysmal, completing 13 of 20 pa ses for 120 yards and, thanks to a shoddy line, ending up on the receiving end of frequent crushing blows delivered by defenders. Los Angeles' offense was again lifele s and didn't put up so much as a whimper against an Arizona defense that forced turnovers and hara sed any Ram who touched the pigskin. The will need to take a long, hard look at their organization from top to bottom in the offseason, which begins Monday morning. For the first 57 minutes, 's performance was as bad as Mariah Carey's in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Several of Newton's throws didn't have any zip, and the easily could have picked off the quarterback more than three times. The defending MVP led the offense down the field, however, for a dramatic touchdown with 17 seconds left to cut Tampa's lead to 17-16. Riverboat Ron Rivera mercifully decided to attempt a two-point conversion to end this ugly affair in regulation, but just like Carolina's season, it failed. wasn't that much better to sing the pigskin on the other side. He turned the ball over twice (including his league-leading seventh first-quarter
Joel Embiid Jersey interception) and finished with a lowly 5.8 yards per attempt. The former No. 1 overall pick still needs to really work on his pocket awarene s. In his final three games this season, with the Bucs at one point in the playoff hunt, Winston completed 57.1 percent of his throws to go with a 5:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and two lost fumbles. This contest was a poor showing for former Florida State kickers. made one of his three field-goal attempts. one-upped him by mi sing three of his four field goals (to be fair, one of his tries came from 58 yards out). Both kickers were eager to move on from a nightmarish 2016, but neither started off 2017 on the right foot. It was a tale of two halves on Sunday in Indianapolis between two AFC South foes. The , who began the game with four-straight three-and-outs -- their most to start a game since 1993 -- outscored the 21-3 in the second half. The team's comeback was fueled by quarterback 's effective hurry-up offense, capped off with a touchdown pa s to tight end to take the game. Luck ended the day 24-of-40 with 321 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. With the win, the avoided the series sweep. Despite a banged-up offense and under the leadership of interim head coach Doug Marrone, the and quarterback appeared to be the most confident in the first half than I can recall all season. Bortles, whose job isn't nece sarily secure next year, had a decent audition. Bortles (25-of-39, 301 yards pa sing, one touchdown) hit six different targets, and rookie tight end recorded his first career touchdown reception. The ' total offense (460 yards) on Sunday surpa sed the team's season average (325.9). Perhaps, with additional pieces in place and the right head coach, the can get something going in 2017. I'm buying into the hype. Sunday's win proved to be even sweeter for two veterans. became one of the oldest running backs to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Gore is 33 and totaled 1,025 yards rushing in 2016. (Only three players have done so at the age of 33 or older.) linebacker and one of the league's all-time greats earlier this week. Mathis' final game ended in superb fashion as the NFL's all-time leader in strip sacks recorded one more during the final quarter of his 14-year career. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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