NFL Week 18 Takeaways.

NFL Week 18 Takeaways

Week 18 Delivered The Credit Rolls Of The 2025-26 NFL Season as The Granular Detail Like Playoff Seeding, Contract Incentives, Records, In Some Cases Final auditions and Draft Position All Get Ironed Off In A Lot Of Low Stakes Action. Which Starters Would Go? Which One Would Sit To End The Season? The Colts Versus The Texans actually features a lot More Points than anyone expected, 68, as Houston benched Its Starters at halftime against Rookie Colts Quarterback Riley Leonard. Leonard Took Over For Phillip Rivers, Suffered Three Turnovers, Including Two Fumbles, One On The Last Drive Of The Game, but He Put The Colts In Position To End Their Two Months Losing Streak Before Houston Back Up Davis Mills Led The A Winning Field Goal Drive and the Texans Win. Leonard’s Injury After He Took Over For Daniel Jones Opened The Door For The Colts To Bring In Phillip Rivers, Now Healthy. Leonard Averaged 0.20 EPA Per Play, 21/34 For 270 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, One Pick, And an 83.9 Passer Rating. Myles Garrett Registered The Sack record When He Took Down Joe Burrow In The Fourth Quarter, Securing His 23rd sack Of The Season As The Browns Upset The Bengals in Week 18. Cleveland’s Defense shut down another AFC North offense, Forcing Two Turnovers That They Turned Into Touchdowns, a total of -21.5 EPA Lost For The Bengals on Two Plays as Cleveland Takes Home The Record and the 20-18 Victory. The Win Pushes The Browns All The Way To The Sixth spot In The NFL Draft Order After Holding Ground as the Top Three Odds Most Of The Season. The Patriots Dominate the Dolphins 38-10 As New England Secures The Number Two Seed Thanks to A great Game By Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who rushed for 131 Yards On The ground. A Couple of Blockbuster Runs To Help Deliver The Highest Seeding Finish For New England since 2018. The Patriots didn’t Need Much From Quarterback And MVP candidate Drake Maye, Who Wrapped Up His Second Season With An Impactful 14/18(77% Completion Percentage) for 191 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, 129.4 Passer Rating, Making The Most Of a few Attempts, finishing 5/6 for 113 Yards on Passes of 10 Plus Air Yards. Quin Ewer Made His Final offering Of Tape and Stats 16/23 for 137, One Touchdown, one Interception In The Loss. The Dolphins Moved The Ball Effectively To Start The First Two drives of the Game, but they slowed as Turnovers Mounted For Miami. The Broncos Handle Business Against The Chargers to Secure The Number One Seed and set Up A matchup between the Chargers and Patriots, an old Playoff Rivalry In The First Round.

Dallas Cowboys Vs. New York Knicks

Dak Prescott Scuff At His History Of Season-Ending Injuries and Started For The Cowboys against The Giants As He Look To Bolster His MVP Level production with Another High Level performance in Week 18. Instead, Jaxson Dart Finishes Up and Bolsters His impressive rookie Campaign With An Impressive Performance against every quarterback's Favorite Defense In Football, the Cowboys. Dart Pulled Off One Of The Plays Of The Year In The Second Quarter Facing A 3rd And 15 Down 10-9 Dart Avoids A Cowboys Pass Rusher Who Tugs On His Face Mask But He Flicks The Ball To His Tight End Daniel Bellinger Who Weaves Through Traffic Like a Fast and Furious Chase Scene and Rushes 30 Yards For A 29 Yards Touchdown(Bellinger Caught The Ball Behind The Line Of Scrimmage). The Giants Pummel The Cowboys 34-17 As Dak Takes A Seat In The Second Half, As The Cowboys Give Up 30 Points Or More For The Ninth Time This Season. Jaxson Dart 22/32 For 230 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, 110. Passer Rating While Taking Four Sacks, Three To Jadeveon Clowney. The Cowboys Played Excellent Offensively For Much Of The Season, Top Five All Year, But Can They Improve The Defense While Maintaining The Same Level of Offensive Production Heading Into Next Season? The Giants' Win Secures The Raiders The Number One Pick in The Upcoming 2026 Draft, and the Giants Jump To The Fifth Overall selection. Dart Finishes The Season 24 Total Touchdowns, 15 Through The Air, Nine On The Ground, 2,272 Passing Yards. The Giants Have To Make A Decision On Their Head Coach Of The Future. We’ve Witness All Around The League What The Right Coach and The Right Offensive Mind Can Make Of A Young Quarterback and a Young Team, and The Giants Need To Find The Right Guy.

Jaguars Vs Titans

The Jaguars Stay Hot As The Pummel The AFC South Push Over The Tennessee Titans to A Score OF 41-10. After The Loss To The Rams In Europe, the Jags Appeared Headed For A Collapse After Their 5-1 Start To The Season, But Head Coach Liam Coen Got The Team Through That Rough Season Run, and the Jags Secure The AFC South with Their Eight Straight Victory. Trevor Lawrence stays Hot 22/30, 255 Passing Yards, Three Touchdowns, +10.7% Completion Percentage Over Expected, 131.9 Passer Rating. Jags Wide Receiver Parker Washington Also Stays Hot, Five Catches For 87 Yards Receiving. Despite their success, the Jaguars have only beaten two teams in the playoffs this season. They went on an eight-game win streak, but have only defeated four playoff teams throughout the entire season, which includes the Panthers. Beating the number one seed, the Broncos, is significant, as it adds credibility to the Jaguars' season. However, they remain successful yet unconvincing as they head into the postseason. The Titans lost their Starter Quarterback, Rookie, and Number One Overall Pick, Cam Ward, To A Shoulder Injury Early In The Game, And Their Season was Salted Away. The Titans Also Have A Coaching Search To Start as They Await Black Monday and Sift Through Other Candidates.

Vikings Vs Packers

JJ McCarthy Made The Start For The Vikings Despite Managing A Hand Injury He Aggravated In The Second Half Of the Week 18 Matchup with the Packers. The Vikings didn’t need McCaffrey After The Half To Finish Off the Packers 16-3. McCarthy Showed Flashes Of Improvement, But He Clearly Needed Time To Develop. O’Connell Rushed Him Out Too Early Into The Development Process, and That's Not Something The Vikings Hit The Ctrl+Z For To Undo. McCarthy finished 14/23 182 Passing Yards, 85.8 Passer Rating, as He looked comfortable Navigating The Pocket. McCarthy’s Connection With Star Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson Finally Materialized With Jefferson Getting 1000 Yards For The Season, 9 Catches For 101 Receiving Yards. The Packers' Offense Came Out With More Unrecognizable Names On Offense Than Usual and Filled In The Time while getting Pummeled By The Vikings’ defense.

Saints Vs Falcons

With Neither Team Viable To Win The Division, The Saints And Falcons Battle to Determine The Winner Of The NFC South. In Classic NFC South Fashion This Season, Both Teams Played Some Unwatchable Football Even For Week 18 Standards, But The Falcons Prevail, Stretching Their Win Streak To Four Games To End The Season and Lifting The Carolina Panthers Into The Playoffs 19-17. The Game Started With a Falcons’ Three-and-Out, A Saints’ Fumble, and an Interception By Atlanta On The First Three Drives Of The Game. Ultimately, Field Position Favored Atlanta, Who Got a Blocked Punt In The first half, Which They used for An Endzone Touchdown In The First Quarter. A Missed Field Goal by the Saints In The Second quarter set Atlanta up with Another Short Field and A Field Goal And A Point Lead.

Atlanta controlled the Game All The Way, Even Though The Saints Never Appeared Too Far Off. New Orleans got A second-quarter touchdown and needed one Big Play To Pull Out The Upset, but turnovers proved costly in the Fourth as Atlanta picked off Tyler Shough. Dee Alford Falcons' Corners picked off Shough In The Falcons' End Zone and returned the Interception 59 Yards. The Falcons Get Another Field Goal To Stretch The Score 19-10 With Over 2 Minutes Left in The Game. The Big Plays Came For The Saints At The End Of The Fourth Quarter On 16 16-yard Touchdown Pass From Tyler Shough To Ronnie Bell. Atlanta Had Already Put The Game away. The Saints generated 340 offensive yards, averaging 5.2 yards per play. They finished 5 for 16 on third down and ended up with two turnovers that ultimately doomed them and the Bucs. The Saints Had Little To Play, and Their Interest In Tampa’s Playoff Odds Didn’t Matter Much To Them as they left A lot of Plays “Incomplete” On The Field and finished 6-11. Saints Quarterback Tyler Shough 23/35 For 259, Four Straight Game Over 250, One Touchdown, One Pick, and A Passer Rating Of Just 85.3. Kirk Cousins reportedly woke Up Sick But Came out and Registered A Touchdown To Drake London On A 15 Yard Pass On His Way To Finishing 18/32 for 180 Passing Yards As He Shows What Else In Terms Of Power His Arm Has Left. The Falcons' season ends as they lift the Panthers into the playoffs. Drake London finished with four catches for 78 receiving yards.

Tampa Bay Vs Charlotte

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost 7 of their last 8 games. It feels surreal, but they are now facing an unlikely matchup against the Panthers, with the odds stacked against Tampa. Thanks To A Tie Breaker, “Quirk,” The Bucs Can Win And still Miss the Playoffs If Atlanta Wins Because Of Tie Breakers. I thought the Bucs Made A Mistake “Staying Pat” At The Trade Deadline, not aggressively Pursuing Another Weapon In The Pass Game, Though They Clearly Needed One and Pass Rush Help. Another Glaring Flaw On The Team. The Pass Rush Never Transformed Into A Difference unit despite the Highest Blitz Rate The Bucs generated, The Lowest Pressure Rate, and A Meager Sack Rate. Teams Like The Chargers And Eagles Made Moves For Odafe Owen and Jaelen Phillips, While The Bucs Hung In With Yaya Diaby, Logan Hall, and Haason Riddick, Talented Guys Who Couldn’t Produce Consistently. The Dolphins floated Bradley Chubb, Not Sure If Tampa Had The Cap, But His Sack Fumble of Baker Mayfield In The Fourth Quarter Cost The Bucs The Game late. On Offense names Like Tight Ends David Njoku from Cleveland and Mark Andrews in Baltimore Floated Around, But The Bucs Decided They liked what They Had And Wanted To Wait To Get Healthy. The Defense Has SurrenderED 5.7 Yards Per Play, and 40% On Third Down, Both Top Ten Numbers Against. Over The Last Few Weeks Of The Season Tampa Has Gotten Healthy with The Return Of Mike Evans, Bucky Irving And Jalen McMillian But maybe Too Late. of The Two Tampa Bay Serves As The Best Option For A Potential Upset and Deep Playoff Run But For Now Neither NFC south Champion Option Projections To Survive The First Half Of The Wild Card Round against The Rams.

The Bucs Draw First Blood Against A Carolina Secondary That Played Well In The Past Few Weeks, but Baker Mayfield Had Little Trouble Carving Through The Panthers' Defensive Backs Before and Hitting His Tight End Cade Otten for an 18-yard score, capping the game's First drive. Tampa Moved The Ball Efficiently, Unlike So Many Of Their Long And Laborious Drives That Take Up 10-15 Plays, The Scoring Drive Took Nine Plays For 74 Yards and Included Passing Plays Of 18 Yards, 10 Yards, and 13 Yards. However, The Offense Wouldn’t Remain Promising The Rest Of The First Half. The Bucs' Next Drive Would End In A Red Zone Field, and a 10-0 Lead, but Turnovers Have Encapsulated This Late Season Collapse For The Bucs and Baker Mayfield. In The Second Quarter, Mayfield drops Back And hits Carolina Linebacker Christian Rozeboom Right In The Hands For The Panthers’ takeaway. Know More For His Build and Run Stopping Ability. Rozeboom dropped into A Robber Zone And Picked Off Mayfield’s Pass downfield. The Panthers and Bryce Young Quickly Turn The Mistake In Seven Points, Three And Two Bryce Young Completions In The Red Zone. Later, The Panthers Cut The Lead to 10-7.

Bryce Young, the Starter, is heating up, Completing Four straight Passes Between Two Drives. The Bucs Strike Back, Picking Young Off On Third And Six at Mid-Field. The Bucs Offense Out gained The Panthers 216-80 But Only Came Away With 13-7 Lead Characterizing The Bucs Season A Team That Has The Vibes Of A Top Ten Team But The Results Of A Team In The Middle Of The Field. In The Second Half, both offenses Struggled To sustain Drives, but Tampa Bay Managed To stretch The Lead With A Third field Goal, 16-7. In The Fourth Quarter, Rico Dowdle Slips While Attempting A Flicker Exchange, and Bryce Young Fails To Fall On The Ball. The Panthers Block The Bucs' Field Goal Attempt On The Ensuing Drive. Young Would Make Up For His Failure To Fall On The Fumble By Converting A 4th and 8th with a 40 Yard Blast To Wide Receiver Tet McMillian before he Hit Receiver Jalen Coker For An 8 Yard Touchdown, Cutting The Bucs' Lead To 16-14. Young played exquisite This Game, Especially Down The Field With his Future In Carolina, 24/35 264 passing, 10/13 On Passes Beyond Ten Air Yards 157 Yards, Two touchdowns, One Interception. The Panthers fell short as the Bucs redeemed their Week 16 loss 16-14, negatively impacting the final result for the Panthers.

“Grit, Pure Grit,” Head Coach Dave Canales Said Of His Panthers This Season ahead of the matchup With The Bucs. “The Way We’ve Responded To Adversity.” The Panthers Await The Results Of the Saints Vs Falcons Game to Learn Of Their Playoff Fate. Baker Mayfield 16/22 203 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, One Interception 97.3 Passer Rating, +0.35 EPA per Pass play, and A 66% Success Rate on dropbacks. Mayfield Stated That He Will Root For The Bucs Tomorrow, But Tampa Failed By Letting Their Season Come Down To the Unlikeliest Of Situations After The Falcons Managed To Beat The Rams In Week 17. Bucs Tight Cade Otten Emerged From The Depths Of The Depth Chart With A Season High 7 Catches For 94 Receiving Yards.

Seahawks Vs 49ers

Sam Darnold Exercised His Big Game Demons On Saturday Night In Week 18 By Leading The Seahawks To A 13-3 Victory Over Division Rival Niners as The Seahawks Clinch The NFC West and The Number One Seed In The Conference. Darnold played effectively. His Best Quality Of Play 97.9 Passer Rating In Nearly A Month, But The Seahawks Leaned On The Run Game And Defense To Help Notch The Victory. In the Back Field For Seattle, Kenneth Walker led the Way With 16 Carries For 97 Yards On The Ground, Four Runs Of Ten Yards Or More. Zach Charbonnet, Seattle’s Other Back, Generated 74 Yards On The Ground On 17 Carries and One Touchdown On a 28 Yard Carry In the First Quarter, The Only Touchdown of The Game. Seattle Dominated Time Of Possession 38 To 22 minutes, Keeping Brock Purdy and the Niners Offense Off The Field. The Niners' Defense surrendered 361 Offensive Yards Despite Looking Overwhelmed By The More Superior and talented team in Seattle. San Francisco played a lot of Bend don’t bend-don't-break style Of Football, Holding The Seahawks nearly Scoreless In The Red Zone, 0-3 On Touchdowns, Including A Turnover On Downs Early On The First Drive Of The Game For Seattle, and a Missed Field Goal At The End Of The Game. Brock Purdy completed 70% Of His Passes For The Fourth Straight Game, But Those were Limited opportunities: 19/27 for 127 Passing Yards, 64.9 Passer Rating, One Interception, With No Touchdowns.

On Defense, Seattle’s Secondary Played With speed and Tenacity, Flying Around And Hitting Everything. 24 Solo Tackles, Four Tackles For Loss, three Sacks, and Holding The Niners To Just 22% On Third Down. The Niners Produced Nine Total First Down By The End Of The Game. In The Pass Game, Very Little Of Purdy’s Short Pass managed much Success Or Effectiveness like the Seahawks. The Crushing Blow For Brock Purdy And Niners Came In The Fourth With The Niners On the Move Into The Seattle Red Zone with Six Yards To Go. Purdy’s Pass Squirts Out Of The Hands Of All World Running Back Christian McCaffrey At The Two Yard Line And Into The Hands Of Niners linebacker Drake Thomas, Registering Purdy’s Second Straight Game With a Deflected Pick.

After A Long Seattle Drive, The Niners' Defense Forced A Missed Field Goal, and The Score Remained 13-3 With Four Minutes Left. The Niners' Offense Couldn’t Muster Another Scoring Drive, and the Game Ended on Downs For The Niners. Purdy’s Hot Streak Ends And So Does The Niners' At Six Games And Sets The Niners Up To Face The Winner Of The NFC South And Based On How The Niners' Defense Played Against The Niners They Probably Hope To Get The Panthers The Less Threatening Of The Two NFC South teams. Sam Darnold Finishes With 13 Wins In back-to-back seasons, This Time Securing The Number One Seed, finishing 20/26 for 198 Passing Yards, Zero Touchdowns, zero interceptions, and A 59.4 Success Rate.