The final day of the regular season of any sport is usually far more leisurely than the ones that precede it. The majority of ultimate outcomes are usually pre-ordained, and as a result while there’s a gamut of games plenty of them are de facto exhibitions. And without a fantasy element in a preponderance of leagues, even I tend not to pay all that much attention for the most part. But boy were the exceptions to the rule entertaining–even if the football itself wasn’t top notch.
We got a taste of such impactful mediocrity in the early Sunday window where two NFC South also-rans played out the string. But because of the quirky nature of tie-breakers and the NFL’s insistence that a division winner must get a playoff home game, the game took on critical importance for a long-suffering yet admittedly undeserving squad a few hundred miles to the north. Yet by game’s end there were clearer losers than the team that gave up more points. The ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Charles Odum supplied perspective:
A fourth straight win by the Atlanta Falcons and a season sweep of their biggest rival were not enough to save the jobs of coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. Hours after Dee Alford’s red-zone interception stopped a potential go-ahead drive by New Orleans on Sunday and the Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 to give the NFC South title to Carolina, Atlanta fired Morris and Fontenot. The Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and won the division for the first time in a decade.
But for the real entertainment one had to wait until the 272nd and final game of the year–and for the final play–to determine who would join the Panthers as benefactors of the flawed NFL playoff system. Per CBS SPORTS’ Bryan DeArdo:
In a truly unbelievable finish, the Pittsburgh Steelers recorded a 26-24 win over Baltimore after Ravens rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired. With the win, Pittsburgh (10-7) has won the AFC North and will host the Houston Texans next Monday night in the AFC wild card round. Baltimore’s season comes to an end after nearly making the playoffs after a 1-5 start.
After taking a 13-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, the Steelers allowed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Lamar Jackson to Zay Flowers. Both scores, however, were answered with touchdown passes by Rodgers, whose 26-yard strike to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left proved to be the game-winning score.
Baltimore still had a chance to win the game after Chris Boswell missed the point-after attempt. The Ravens got into field goal range after Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain on a fourth down play, but Loop pushed the game-winning attempt wide right, giving the Steelers the win.
Fun, to be sure, and having old pros like Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin in the dance adds that much more spice and intrigue to these playoffs. But if you’re looking for real talent and potential to actually emerge triumphant 34 days from today, one needs to look due north and west. In the one late window game of true consequence, a group of tenacious warhorses served notice, as teamwebsite reporter Aric DiLalla detailed:
The Broncos have checked off their second goal of the season. Denver officially clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with Sunday’s 19-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton has now led teams to the No. 1 seed on three occasions in his career, and he is one of five coaches to lead two different organizations to a No. 1 seed. Bo Nix, meanwhile, became the fourth quarterback in franchise history to lead the organization to a No. 1 seed — joining Ring of Famers John Elway, Peyton Manning and Craig Morton.
All this said, a much more impressive claim to a top seed was laid in rainy Santa Clara the night before, as THE ATHLETIC’s Daniel Shirley shared:
Seattle knocked off San Francisco 13-3… to win the NFC West title and earn the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs. The Seahawks’ defense dominated the game, holding the 49ers to 173 total yards, while Seattle finished with 361 yards. Seattle finished the regular season with a seven-game winning streak, and it stopped San Francisco’s six-game winning streak.
The Seahawks have one of the league’s best defenses and proved it against a 49ers offense that was red hot coming into this game. Seattle’s two running backs had nearly as many rushing yards (171) as the 49ers had total yards (173). Seattle recorded eight quarterback hits, three sacks, an interception and five total passes defensed.
They and the horsies get to join us in their mancaves next weekend for a three-day smourgasbourd of football that features a most intriguing mash-up on the old and the new, as DeArdo’s colleague John Breech summised early this morning:
The Eagles are in the playoffs for the fifth straight season and they’ll be looking to become the first NFC team in 31 years to repeat as Super Bowl champion. Jalen Hurts is one of just two quarterbacks in the playoffs this year who has won a Super Bowl along with Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers quarterback actually has more career playoff wins than every other QB in the AFC playoff field combined.
There are also plenty of new faces in the postseason this year, including six teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year with the Seahawks, 49ers, Panthers, Bears, Patriots and Jaguars all getting in. The final five teams in that group all lost at least 11 games last year before rebounding to make the postseason this year.
Yes, you’ll need to navigate your way to five different destinations for these six games and you’ll at least need to have a working internet connection for what could be the main event–a Saturday night showdown in Chicago in January between two OG NFL members and division rivals who have only previously met twice in the post-season; the first of which being 85 years ago.
If the fine folks at Prime Video don’t shatter all pre-existing records for simultaneous streams (assuming that your respective carrier has enough infrastructure to not drive you insane with buffering issues), I’ll strip down to my skivvies and take a dip in the Chicago River for your next viral moment.
That, I assure you, is something you’ll want to avoid. Super Wild Card weekend–no way.
Courage…