NFL Week 17 Takeaways
Photo by Brad Mills from USA Today Sports
What was a good week of football turned into a devastating one with the heartbreaking scenes in Cincinnati Monday Night.
Obviously, all of our thoughts and prayers are with Damar Hamlin as we hope his status improves and we can eventually see him back on the football field.
I’ll dive more into my thoughts that night a little bit later.
Cowboys defeat Titans 27-13
It’s not exactly breaking news to discover that the Titans, without Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry, aren’t good.
Falcons defeat Cardinals 20-19
This was maybe the best game of the early window, and it’s the game the least amount of people cared about.
Lions defeat Bears 41-10
A dominating performance over the Bears is perfect for the Lions heading into Lambeau for a must win game against the Green Bay Packers.
Of course, due to boneheaded NFL scheduling, if the Seahawks win at 4 PM next week the Lions have nothing to play for.
Cause that makes sense!
Chiefs defeat Broncos 27-24
I said last week that firing Nathaniel Hackett wouldn’t fix the Broncos problems.
Well, after one week at least, I appear to be wrong!
That was the most competitive the Broncos and the best Russell Wilson has looked all season.
But am I changing my stance on that? Nope.
Still took costly sacks. Still ended up with less than 250 yards on 38 throws.
There are still issues in Denver.
Patriots defeat Dolphins 23-21
Hopefully the Dolphins front office doesn’t panic from this season.
An absurd amount of injuries, most crucially to Tua, have really affected their season.
Giants defeat Colts 38-10
Philip Rivers should get into the Hall Of Fame for somehow getting this team to an 11-5 record back in 2020.
That may be his greatest feat.
Saints defeat Eagles 20-10
The Eagles reaaaaaaaaally better hope Jalen Hurts is healthy come playoff time.
Buccaneers defeat Panthers 30-24
The Bucs needed to finally see the vintage Brady on Sunday to clinch the division.
They got it. He was outstanding.
Of course he’s heating up right around playoff time…
Browns defeat Commanders 24-10
The Commanders still had a very, very good chance at the postseason, and they were at home against a Browns team who has struggled heavily.
And the Browns even struggled Sunday! Deshaun Watson continues to be terrible (oh no what a shame) and so the Commanders probably won, right?
Well, they decided to start Carson Wentz instead of Taylor Heinicke.
Who could have ever imagined that that would be a bad idea?
Jaguars defeat Texans 31-3
The Jags are red hot.
They should easily make the playoffs.
And yet it won’t in the slightest surprise me if they lose Saturday night to Tennessee and miss out.
49ers defeat Raiders 37-34
The Raiders were fantastic offensively with Jarrett Stidham at QB against the best defense in football.
I don’t get it either.
Seahawks defeat Jets 23-6
Geno Smith sends his regards.
Packers defeat Vikings 41-16
The Packers are going to make the playoffs and it’s really, really annoying.
Chargers defeat Rams 31-10
The battle of LA that nobody paid attention to. Because LA doesn’t care about football.
Steelers defeat Ravens 16-13
Lamar Jackson.
Blank Check.
And the Steelers are, somehow, one win away from continuing Mike Tomlin’s winning season streak and are still alive for the playoffs.
What a world…
Bills vs Bengals
The other day, I was watching a documentary about what the NFL did after 9/11.
The NFL was still deciding whether or not to play the week after the tragic events of September 11th, before the Giants and Jets decided that they were not going to play at all.
Whether the NFL decided to play or not, the Giants and Jets would forfeit and not play.
From what we know from Monday Night, it appears that the coaches and players made the same decision to not play.
It not only shows the brotherhood around the league, but I also hope it shows players how much power they have in this sport.
Dominique Foxworth stated that after you leave the NFL, you only get 5 more years of health insurance and then you’re on your own.
Players want guaranteed contracts and changes to concussion protocol.
This isn’t the 1987 lockout where NFL teams used replacement players to keep playing the games.
We keep adding new professional football leagues. People don’t watch them.
The players are the ones who make this sport function as well as it does.
As I write this, Damar Hamlin’s health appears to be improving.
Let’s continue to hope that it does, hope it serves as a lesson for fans of the human nature of the game and hope that the NFL players use this to bond together to bring quality changes to the sport.
