NFL Week 17 Takeaways

NFL Week 17 Takeaways

Several Upsets In Week 17 Will Make Week 18 A Lot More Interesting Than Once Projected. The Steelers Fall To The Browns 13-7 As Pittsburgh's Offense Couldn’t Make The Plays and Couldn’t Get The Call. Pittsburgh Played Without Top Receiver DK Metcalf Due To Suspension and Lost Tight End Darnell Washington to a Broken arm, And Came Up Short In The End Zone. The Ravens Blast The Packers On Sunday, Derrick Henry Rushing For Over 200 Yards, Setting Up a Winner Take Week 18 Matchup For The AFC north Title In Week 18. Despite A Season of underperforming, the Ravens Stand On the doorstep of completing one of the season's Best turnarounds and Making The Playoffs. Despite a Rough Start To The Game, the Seahawks Skate By The Panthers 27-10 and Remain In Control Of The NFC West, With Their Next Greatest Test Of The Season Coming Against The Niners in Week 18. Seattle is already deemed One Divisional loss to the Rams Two Weeks ago. They’ll Get A Chance To Redeem A Week One loss to the Niners. After Week 17, I trust Brock Purdy At Quarterback More Than I Trust Sam Darnold, but I Trust The Seahawks Team More Than I Trust The Niners, Whose Defense Just Gave Up 38 Points To The Bears—that’s Cowboys bad. Trevor Lawrence Comes Down To Earth Following His Recent Meteoric Run Of Play, But The Jags Survive The Colts 23-17. Lawrence didn’t Register A Touchdown Pass But Added Another Rushing For Two Scores as the Jags Needed Every Point To Fend Off A Colts Team That wouldn't Go Down easily. The Colts Learned Their Playoff Fate on Saturday Night Thanks To The Chargers Losing To The Texans on Saturday. Instead, Indy Wanted To Play Spoiler To The Jags, In Control Of Their Fate In The AFC South Division, and Still In The Running For the Number One Seed In The Conference. The Colts Did Everything In Their Power To Play Spoiler, But The Jags prevailed.

49ers Vs Bears

The Niners Outlast The Bears 42-38 in High Octane Low Defensive Affair As Caleb Williams’ Final Pass Falls To The Ground In The End Zone. Brock Purdy Threw An Interception On The First Play Of The Game For The Niners As Bears Cornerback Jaylon Johnson Tipped A Tight Window Pass Into The Hands Of Teammate TJ Edwards, Who Returned The Ball For A Touchdown. Purdy Responded By Torching The Bears' Defense for 303 Passing Yards, 24/33 Three Touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, One Aforementioned Pick While Lighting The Bears Up All Over The Field 2/3 On Deep Passes For 55 Yards, 6/7 for 125 Passing Yards On Passes Between 10-19 Air Yards, 118.6 Passer Rating, 58.5% passing success Rate, +0.45 EPA Per play. An MVP-level Performance By Purdy Who Stays Hot Coming Down The Stretch Of This Season. Caleb Williams Put Forth One Of His Best Games as A Passer, 25/32 passing, 330 Yards Through The Air, Two Touchdowns, 99.4 Passer Rating, But The Bears just fell short Of Picking Up A Massive Victory. The Niners Rushed For 200 Yards Led By Christian McCaffrey, With 140 Yards On The Ground, 6.1 Yards Per Carry, and One Touchdown. The Bears' Offense Outproduced the Niners In Terms Of EPA Per Play, +0.408, to +0.292 EPA Per Play For The Niners(The Pick Six Cost The Niners -8.2 EPA). The ball control ultimately favored the Niners, as San Francisco registered a 70% third-down conversion rate compared to 50% for the Bears. Bears Rookie Wide Receiver Luther Burden II caught 8 Passes For 138 Receiving Yards, 17.3 Yards Per Reception, and One Touchdown. Caleb averaged 3.37 Seconds In Terms Of Time To Throw, And His Ability(Or Inability) To Play On Time, On Rhythm, and In Structure Limits The Bears' Offense Because Getting More Done Faster Improves Your odds Of Winning. He is still not skilled at hitting NFL-open level windows over the middle of the field. The Bears' final drive highlighted this issue, as Williams missed multiple opportunities in that area but managed to complete a few passes in the flats. While some of those passes were dropped, he generally placed the ball on target.

Williams finished the game without completing any passes targeting 10 or more air yards over the middle of the field. Ultimately, the Bears had a chance to win, but Williams struggled to stay in the pocket and throw with anticipation. Williams Gave His Player a Chance To Make A Play On The Ball, But The Pass Falls Short. The Narrative On The Bears’ defense's Inability To Create Stops On Defense outside Of Turnovers Prevails Once More As The Niners Have Their Way. The 49ers will face the Seahawks in a crucial matchup for the NFC West title and the top seed in the conference. Given the Seahawks' performance on Sunday and in recent weeks, they will have a tough challenge ahead against this 49ers team.

Furthermore, the Bears will face the Lions for a chance to secure a playoff seed, which would guarantee them home-field advantage if the number one seed falters before the conference final, similar to last year. The Niners Sought A Dual-Threat Quarterback When They Drafted Trey Lance Third Overall in 2021, But They Found Their Guy In the Less-Physically Imposing Quarterback Brock Purdy, Who Can Rush On RPOs And Make Defenders Miss In The Open Field.

Eagles vs Bills

The Bills Fall To The Eagles 13-12 In A Rainy Defensive Slugfest, where Jalen Hurts Started The Game, making Plays Before He and the Eagles Cooled Down Immensely, 17 Yards Of Offense In The Second Half For Philly. Hurts finished 13/27, 110 Passing Yards, One Touchdown with 0 Completions In The Second Half, 27.6% Passing Success Rate, -0.10 EPA Per Play, -3.8 Pass EPA. Josh Allen and The Bills, The Comeback Kings, Come Roaring Back With Two Fourth Quarter Touchdowns. The Eagles Blocked The Extra Point On Buffalo’s First Touchdown, Which Set Up Buffalo To Tie or Go For Two And The Win To End The Game. Josh Allen, Who Entered Week 17 With A lingering Foot Injury, failed to Connect With Kahlil Shakir In The Back Of The End Zone, and the Eagles escaped with The Win. The Eagles' Defense Laid Some Hits Out In This Game, Some Crushing Blows On the Bills' Pass Catchers, But Buffalo Kept Coming. The Bills Found Success Targeting Eagles’ All-Pro Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, Usually An Impenetrable Force On The Outside. He Picked Up A 26 Yard Penalty On A Defensive Pass Interference and Gave Up A 32 Yard Pass Play To Tyrell Shavers. The Eagles' Defense Stops the Bills Inside the Five. Josh Allen Took Five Sacks, 79 Yards Lost To Sacks,-7.7 EPA Lost To Sacks. In the first quarter, Allen committed an uncharacteristic sack fumble that cost the Bills -7.5 EPA, directly leading to a short-field touchdown for the Eagles. The Bills' Offense had a Drive In The Fourth That Started At Philly’s 39, Got To Philly’s 27 Before A 19 Yard Sack knocked the Bills Out Of Field Goal Range. All Faced Pressure 21 Times On 42 Drop-backs but finished 23/35 for 264 and an 88.3 Passer Rating. Both Offenses Struggled -0.137 EPA Per Play Eagles, And -0.124 EPA Per Play For The Bills, But The Eagles Have Consistently Looked Bad On Offense This Season. Despite Early Success, the run game For The Eagles appeared and vanished suddenly. Saquon had multiple explosive runs earlier in the game before the Bills' defense cracked down. Buffalo left a lot of Points On The Board, Whether The Turnover On downs Or The Sack That Knocked Allen Out Of Field Goal Range. The Lost For The Bills Ends Their Five-Year Run of AFC Championships As The Patriots Take The AFC East, and With That The Bills Will Earn A Wild Card Spot Still To Be Determined. The Bills Have Fallen Closer To Out Of Contention Even Without A Clear Number One Team In The AFC. You can’t Feel Too Confident In Buffalo Unless The Right seeding falls in their Trails.

Bucs Vs Dolphins

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Make The Short Trip To South Florida to Face The Dolphins, but Baker Mayfield And The Bucs Don’t Pack Much Of An Offense as The Bucs Fall To Quinn Ewers And The Dolphins. The Rookie Seventh Rounder Picked Up The First Win Of His Career and The Best Statistical Output With An Efficient 14/22 172 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, 118 Passer Rating. Ewers Showed A Willingness To Get Hit and Use His Mobility, Not Just Running The Ball But Moving In The Pocket, Something The Dolphins' Offensive Architects Could No Longer Coax Out Of Tua (Into Taking Hits). The Bucs No Longer Have “Health” As An Excuse, Not Only For This Losing Streak, A Losing Streak to Multiple Mediocre Teams, But Barely Clawing Their Way To 17 points. Ewers Performed Well With Not Hunting The Big Play But Instead Taking What The Bucs defense Gave Him And Allowing his Makers To Create Opportunities, A lot Of Yards After The Catch On Ewers' Books. If Not For A Final Drive Touchdown That Included A 59 Yard Catch And Run By Chris Godwin, The Bucs Would’ve Ended The Game With Three Touchdown-less Quarters. Baker Mayfield 33/44, 346 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, But Three Turnovers(Two Picks, One Sack Fumble) In A Losing Effort. With A Shot At The Division On The Line, the Bucs couldn’t run the Ball Just 53 Yards On The Ground, 37 if you take the Mayfield Scrambles Out Of The Box Score. Had The Panthers Not Fallen To The NFC’s Best Record, the Seattle Seahawks, The Bucs Would Go From A 5-1 Start To Out Of The Playoffs In Week 17. Mayfield Has Thrown A Pick In Each Game Of This four-game losing Streak, So Much Has Fallen On His Arm In Recent Weeks, and Mayfield is playing “Hero Ball, " trying to make a big Shifting Play Happen, But Ultimately Finishing 1/7 on deep tries. The Short Passing Game Couldn’t Accommodate The Lack Of A Running Game For Tampa, No Run Meant No Play Action Game, A Crucial Component To Mayfield’s Success. The Bucs Defense Blew Too Many Coverage Assignments, the Run Defense Got Blown Away 5.1 YARDS per Carry, 76 Yards On Explosive Plays. The Bucs have lost 7-8 Games Since Starting The Season 6-2.

Patriots Vs Jets

How Do You Answer critics Who Question Your Success BASED on the schedule You Played This Season? You Dominate Like The Patriots Who Crush The Jets 42-10. A Week After Posting A Career Game Against The Ravens, Drake Maye Followed Up His 300 Plus 300-plus-yard performance By Registering Five Touchdowns, Four In The First Half, finishing 19/21 for 256 Passing Yards, 157.0 Passer Rating, 24.9 CPOe, and All But One Of His Five Touchdowns Came On Passes Of Ten Air Yards Or Better. Five Different Patriots Pass Catchers Register A Touchdown and The Offense scored Touchdowns On Their First Six Drives Of The Game As New England Simply Ran Away With The Matchup. The Patriots Entered The Game Shorthanded Without Wide Receivers Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte But Big Contributions From Stefon Diggs 6/6 For 101 Receiving Yards One Touchdown. On Defense, The Patriots Remained With Defensive Tackle Milton Williams, Edge Rusher Harold Landry II, and Linebacker Robert Spillane But Had No Trouble Handling Brady Cook and The Jets Offense. Jets running back Breece Hall generated 111 Yards on The Ground and A Score The Only touchdown For The Jets In The Fourth Quarter. Outside Of A second-half collapse Against The Bills in Week 15, the Patriots have established themselves As A True Force In The AFC. New England Remains Alive For The Number One Seed In Week 18.

Chargers Vs Texans

CJ Stroud Got Hot After He returned from a Concussion. Stroud recorded three straight games with 200 or more yards, with his best performance occurring against the Cardinals in Week 15, before he struggled against the Raiders in Week 16. Stroud Finished With 187 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, and an 88.6 Passer Rating Against The Chargers' A Ten Defense. Stroud Got Out To One Of The Hottest Starts Of Any Quarterback this season, 4/4 for 142 passing yards, One Touchdown Of 75 yards, and another of 43 as the Texans Jumped On the Chargers 14-0 In The First Quarter. The Texans' Two Rookie Receivers And Former Teammates At Arizona State, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Neol, both scored Touchdowns. They sought Other Options At Wide receiver To Open Up The Offense Going Into The postseason. Higgins Registered 36 Yards After The Catch On His 75 Yard Score. The Chargers’ defense Blew Several assignments In Coverage downfield. The Chargers Secondary Responded In The Second Quarter, Picking Stroud Off Twice, Once By Chargers’ Star Safety Derwin James and Another Later In The Quarter By Cornerback Elijah Molden. Both Picks Resulted In Field Goal Attempts and One Conversion, but The Turnovers kept The Game Close. Herbert And The Chargers' Offense Struggled from Down To Down. The Pass Catchers suffered multiple Big Drops, A lot Of Errant Passes By Justin Herbert, and The Pressures Piled On As Expected. The Defense Kept The Score In Striking distance In The Second Half, and The Chargers Offense Continued To Attack, Registering Two Second Half Red Zone Touchdowns. In The Third Quarter, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert Connected on A one-yard pass to Tight end Oronde Gadsden to Cap Off an 11-play, 64 64-yard drive, Cutting The Texans' Lead To 17-10 after a Houston Field Goal. The Drive Before. Entered The Game Not respecting CJ Stroud as A Deep Threat Passer, and In The Second Half, the DEFENSIVE Game Plan forced Stroud to finish 16/28 for 244 Passing Yards, Minus-5.1% CPOE, Two Touchdowns, Two Picks, No Completions Over 15 or More Air Yards After Those Two long Touchdowns To Start The game. The Chargers' Defense Nearly Made The Play Of The Game. Pass Rusher Odafe Oweh and Daiyan Henley sacked Stroud With Just Over Two Minutes Left, with the Texans up 20-16. The Chargers' Offense Scored A Touchdown on The Drive Before a five-yard Omarion Hampton Red Zone Rush, But The Chargers missed the Extra Point, Meaning They Needed A touchdown to win. On Third and Nine, The Chargers Sack CJ Stroud with 2:32 On The Clock, But Corner Back Tarheeb Stills Gets a Call For Illegal Contact Downfield, Gifting The Texans New Downs and The Texans Ice The Game On The Ground With Woody Marks. The Texans had two sacks negated in this game due to penalties, including two on third down. Their defense created constant pressure on Justin Herbert with each play. The Chargers' offense appeared to struggle, as if making the play call required an extraordinary effort. Herbert finished the game, completing 21 of 32 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and an 84.9 passer rating. Herbert led the Chargers in rushing yards with 37. The Chargers' Offense Averaged -0.145 EPA Per Play, slightly Worse Than The Texans' -0.098 EPA Per Play. A Fully Healthy Chargers Offensive Line Or A Healthy One Probably Wins This Game. Justin Herbert faced 28 Pressures on his 43 drop-backs and Took Five Sacks in the Game. The Loss For The Chargers Knock The Colts Out Of Playoff Contention, Leaving Indianapolis Without Much To Play For In Week 17. Inadvertently, the Texans need the Colts To Beat The Jags for Houston To Have A Shot At A Third Division Crown.