The last few seconds of the regular season are ticking down, but not all of the NFL’s post season plans are wrapped tightly as a present. Week 16 saw some incredibly inspiring moments, unless your in the midst of the longest playoff drought in the league and saw your chances dashed by 2014’s worst team. And the Arizona Cardinals are still the only 11-4 team people feel sorry for. Here’s a look at the second-to-last week in the NFL season.
The Best
Cam Newton
One week after sitting out because of an auto accident, Newton went 18 of 31 for 201 yards with one TD and 63 rushing yards to lead the Panthers into first place of the NFC South. Newton got some offensive help from the surging Jonathan Stewart who had 24 carries for 122 yards as the Panthers are finally working with a non-Cam oriented offensive threat. And in a touch of class, blasted the Panthers fans who cheered Johnny Manziel’s injury. The Atlanta Falcons also won, knocking out the New Orleans Saints, making for an exciting finish to the worst division in all of sport. While neither team can enter the post season with a winning record, the win-it-and-your-in game between the Falcons and Panthers will be the highlight of Week 17.
The Washington Football Club
File under Better Late than Never, the Washington team has been subject to every version of criticism this side of Manziel, but managed to string together a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mark Sanchez was intercepted once and sacked three times by the Washington defense, as the loss now hampers the Eagles chances—who started the year 9-3—of even making the playoffs. Washington was a total wreck of a team all year, but knocking off a divisional opponent is always a good feeling.
Ndamukong Suh
Proving it just didn’t matter who was under center for the Chicago Bears, Donkey Kong Suh had three quarterback hits and two sacks to go with four tackles to help anchor the Detroit Lions defense en route to a playoff birth. Sure, the Bears weren’t going to put up much of a fight, but why not make an early entrance into the playoff sphere by knocking around a divisional foe? Unfortunately, it looks like his fellow teammate, Dominic Raiola, took a page out of his stomping playbook and is now suspended for at least one game.
The Worst
Andrew Luck
The Colts put up six offensive yards in the 1st quarter in a loss to the Cowboys. Even though Dallas is (gasp) the best December team this year, this was the Colt’s worst performance since 2011, when they were tanking to get Andrew Luck. His stats belie how bad of a day he had, ending with 15 completions on 22 attempts, but for only 109 yards and a QB rating of 11.2. Oh, and he was benched for Matt Hasselbeck.
Arizona Cardinals
Poor, poor Cardinals. They got walloped 35-6 by the Seattle Seahawks and even though they clinched a playoff spot, it’s not going to last long with Ryan Lindley as their quarterback. Lindley threw 44 attempts, but only connected on 18 of them and was sacked four times. He ended the day with a 14.8 quarterback rating. In a just and fair world, the Cardinals would be allowed to forfeit their playoff game. We’re still giving the nod to Bruce Arians for Coach of the Year.
Buffalo Bills
Not only were the Bills knocked off of the playoff bubble this week, continuing their league-leading 15th consecutive year missing out on the post season, but they did so in a loss to the awful Oakland Raiders. The Bills were in true cardiac form trying to stage a 4th quarter comeback, but to no avail. Kyle Orton went 32 for 49 attempts, 329 yards and three touchdowns, but the offensive line was unable to contain the Raiders’ Khalil Mack, who was the best player on the field and was then subsequently snubbed by the All Star selection committee. Sebastian Janikowski had four field goals and Derek Carr moved up the rookie record books to third in attempts (563) and third all-time in completions by a rookie (330). Carr has completed his passes at a 58.6 percent clip, seventh best all-time among rookies.
Playoff Race
The last spot in the AFC still hasn’t been locked up yet, but San Diego wins the tie-breaker over the Baltimore Ravens for that last Wild Card spot. The Pittsburgh Steelers also have a berth, but the AFC North still doesn’t have a division champ yet. The Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts both have won their division and New England Patriots have the first round bye and home-field advantage throughout.
The NFC is mostly all set except the shouting. The Dallas Cowboys are the only team to win their division, but almost all the other playoff spots are locked, just jockeying for position for divisional leads for a bye in that first week. The only one still undecided is the NFC South with Carolina marginally ahead because of a regular-season tie. Fitting that the worst division will come down to a tie.
What to Watch for in Week 17
This is it folks! The final week of the season and because of the holidays it’s all happening on a Sunday. Carolina at Atlanta is for the division, so you should probably tune in. Detroit at Green Bay doesn’t have any such excitement, because they’re both in the playoffs, it might be a game of chicken to see who sits people first, but if it doesn’t get gnarly, it could be fun. Cincinnati lands in Pittsburgh to fight for that AFC North division, and Baltimore gets to go against the Cleveland Browns who are calling up a new quarterback for the game. The race still isn’t over, but it’s crawling to the finish line.
