NFL Takeaways: Week 17

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This week sure seemed more enjoyable than past weeks.

It still feels weird we have another week coming, though.

Despite that, here’s what we learned from week 17.

Bills defeat Falcons 29-15

Ok maybe not all the games were enjoyable.

This one was a bit of a snoozer.

But it did have Matt Ryan taunt someone. So that’s fun.

Bears defeat Giants 29-3

Hey. You. Yes, you reading this.

You had more passing yards than the Giants did on Sunday.

Congratulations.

Bengals defeat Chiefs 34-31

I remember before the season the debate for who would win the AFC North was the Browns or the Ravens, with an outside chance for the Steelers because Mike Tomlin doesn’t have losing seasons.

Nobody thought it’d be the Bengals.

And yet here we are.The Bengals are AFC North champs.

Crazy.

Titans defeat Dolphins 34-3

The Titans are one win against the Texans away from being the top seed in the AFC, getting a first round bye and the best running back in the NFL back with fresh legs.

Watch out.

Raiders defeat Colts 23-20

Carson Wentz is bad!

Yet people will still think he’s good because the Colts are going to make the playoffs.

But don’t be fooled, people. He’s not good.

Patriots defeat Jaguars 50-10

The Pats were winning 50-3, which would have been Scorigami.

But then the Jags went and scored to ruin it.

They can’t even lose correctly…

Buccaneers defeat Jets 28-24

Jets fans spend lots of their time laughing about how the Seahawks gave them their first round pick and are bad now, only to blow an easy win against the Bucs and suffer another embarrassing loss.

Maybe, as Jets fans, they should stop laughing about any team.

Because they’re Jets fans.

Eagles defeat Washington 20-16

The Eagles are sneaky going into the playoffs.

If a team doesn’t give their full focus, they might get caught out.

Rams defeat Ravens 20-19

Am I supposed to be impressed the Rams came back late to beat a Ravens team with a practice squad secondary and Tyler Huntley at QB?

Because I’m not!

Chargers defeat Broncos 34-13

Patrick Surtain is fantastic, but maybe the Broncos should have drafted a quarterback.

49ers defeat Texans 23-7

The Niners struggled against the Texans before simplifying the game for Lance and getting the win.

Now all they need to do is beat the Rams or have the Saints lose to the Panthers and they will be in the playoffs.

They would have already clinched if they didn’t go 0-2 against the 6-10 Seahawks, though.

Seahawks defeat Lions 51-29

If that was the end of the Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson era at home, then it was a great send off.

Cardinals defeat Cowboys 25-22

Lots of people (Colin Cowherd) say that the Cowboys struggle because Dak isn’t the guy.

Maybe I watched a different game, but Dak seemed fine.

Sure, he got outplayed by Kyler and had a costly 4th quarter fumble, but other than that I thought he played really well.

In fact, based off of EPA, he had a good game and 88% of drives that started with a pass were successful. Only 50% of drives starting with runs were.

Maybe it’s not a Dak issue…

Saints beat Panthers 18-10

Give me a Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold QB room in Carolina next year. I need it.

Packers defeat Vikings 37-10

The Packers are red hot, have the likely MVP winner and have clinched home field advantage.

I’m sure there’s no way this ends poorly for them…

Steelers defeat Browns 26-14

Baker Mayfield was really good as a rookie.

Then he was really bad in his second year.

But his third year and first with Kevin Stefanski was once again very good. He even almost got the Browns to the AFC title game.

The Browns!

But now we’re in year 4, and he’s just terrible again.

Is it because he’s injured? Is this just simply who he is?

I’m not sure, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Browns choose to draft a quarterback just as a precaution considering Baker is entering his 5th year option.

Remember, Andrew Berry was not the GM who drafted Baker. His job isn’t tied to his success.

If he wants to cut ties, he will.

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NFL Takeaways: Week 18

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NFL Takeaways: Week 16