🏈 The Football Five
- Packers-Vikings didn’t disappoint. Minnesota held off a furious Green Bay rally for a 27-25 win that guarantees next week’s Vikings-Lions matchup determines the NFC North and the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Sam Darnold threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns. Green Bay trailed 27-10 with under seven minutes left before two quick touchdown drives, but Minnesota ran out the clock thanks to a clutch catch by Cam Akers. The Vikings were one of Cody Benjamin’s Week 17 winners.
- The Eagles walloped the Cowboys, 41-7, to clinch the NFC East, with Saquon Barkley surpassing 2,000 yards rushing for the season and A.J. Brown making a trade with a fan to ensure Tanner McKee got the ball from his first career touchdown. Kenny Pickett played through broken ribs, filling in admirably for Jalen Hurts.
- With Tyler Huntley starting in place of Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins cruised past the Browns, 20-3. Miami (8-8) is still alive for a playoff berth. It needs a win over the Jets next week and a Broncos loss to the Chiefs after …
- On Saturday, the Bengals kept their own playoff hopes alive with a wild 30-24 overtime win over the Broncos. Denver is 9-7, and Cincinnati is 8-8, so the Bengals need (1) to beat the Steelers, (2) the Jets to beat the Dolphins and (3) the Chiefs to beat the Broncos. One issue for both Miami and Cincinnati: The Chiefs will rest many starters, considering they’ve clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
- Earlier Saturday, the Chargers punched their playoff ticket with a 40-7 blowout of the Patriots. It’s yet another masterful turnaround spearheaded by Jim Harbaugh. As for the other coach, Jeff Kerr says the Patriots should move on from Jerod Mayo.
🏈 Good morning to all, but especially to …
THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS …
For the first time since 2020, Washington is going to the playoffs. For the first team since 1991, Washington has 11 wins in a season.
For the first time ever, Washington has Jayden Daniels. The supernova rookie threw for 227 yards, ran for 127 yards and threw three touchdowns — including the game-winner to Zach Ertz — and the Commanders clinched a playoff berth with a 30-24 overtime triumph over the Falcons.
- Daniels is the first rookie to throw at three touchdowns and run for at least 125 yards in a game. He also passed Robert Griffin III for most rushing yards by a rookie quarterback in a season in NFL history.
- Daniels threw or ran for 74 of Washington’s 75 yards gained on the game-winning drive.
- We’d be remiss to not mention the other rookie quarterback: Michael Penix Jr. threw a game-tying touchdown to Kyle Pitts on fourth-and-goal with 1:19 left, and he might’ve had a chance to win it in regulation one drive later had Raheem Morris managed the clock better. Instead, Atlanta had to try a 56-yard field goal, which Riley Patterson missed short. Atlanta never got the ball back.
Let’s run some numbers:
- It’s the second straight game Daniels threw for three touchdowns and ran for at least 75 yards. The only other player in NFL history to do so is Lamar Jackson.
- It’s the second straight game Daniels rallied his team back from a double-digit second-half deficit. The only other rookie quarterback to do that is Andrew Luck.
Numbers somehow still don’t tell the whole story. On a night when Washington struggled with penalties and couldn’t get its running backs going, Daniels put the team on his back. There are so many supporting actors who have stepped up for Washington during this magical season, but you need leading actors, too, and Daniels has been an absolute dynamo leading the football resurgence in the nation’s capital.
… AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING FOR THE LOS ANGELES RAMS AND THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
As with many late-season games, this one had ramifications well beyond the Commanders’ playoff scenarios.
- The Rams are NFC West champions thanks to the strength of victory tiebreaker. Yes, it’s complicated, but basically the Commanders’ win was the cherry on top of a very good weekend for the Rams, which included a 13-9 win over the Cardinals on Saturday.
- The Buccaneers lead the NFC South thanks to Washington beating Atlanta and the Buccaneers crushing the Panthers 48-14 earlier in the day.
- Washington jumped Green Bay for the No. 6 seed in the NFC. Here’s the playoff picture.
Looking ahead, here’s the Week 18 schedule.
👍 Honorable mentions
🏈 And not such a good morning for …
THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AND (KIND OF) THE NEW YORK GIANTS
Well, that’s one way to throw away a season. The Colts were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 45-33 loss to the Giants, who entered the day at 2-13, with what was the worst record in the NFL.
This was an absolute mess. Joe Flacco, starting for the injured Anthony Richardson, committed three turnovers, but as the score suggests, the blame falls pretty much everywhere:
- Drew Lock threw for 309 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, and Malik Nabers (171 yards, two touchdowns) and Tyrone Tracy made some history.
- Ihmir Smith-Marsette returned the second-half opening kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown.
- Keep in mind the Giants had lost 10 straight games and had scored over 22 points (half of what they scored Sunday) just once this season.
The Giants had four touchdowns of 30+ yards. That’s their most in a game since 1963, when Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle and Frank Gifford were dominating at old Yankee Stadium — yes, the Giants played there — the NFL had 14 teams and the Super Bowl didn’t exist.
Basically, it’s been a long time since this happened, and considering it was this iteration of the Giants producing this performance, Indianapolis received an “F” in John Breech’s weekly grades.
Now Indianapolis looks forward to next year, when Richardson will be the starter, even though he hasn’t shown he can stay healthy or be an NFL-caliber passer. There are some nice pieces on this roster, but there are many more pieces missing.
Then you have the Giants, who lost their grip on the No. 1 overall pick by winning. Here’s what the draft order looks like:
- Patriots (3-13)
- Titans (3-13)
- Browns (3-13)
- Giants (3-13)
- Jaguars (4-12)
So even when things go right for the Giants, they go wrong.
👍 Not so honorable mentions
🏈 College Football Playoff preview: Ranking 24 most impactful players
The College Football Playoff quarterfinals begin tomorrow with (3) Boise State facing (6) Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, and with eight teams left, Shehan Jeyarajah has the 24 most impactful players left. Tomorrow night, we’ll see No. 1 on his biggest stage yet.
- Jeyarajah: “1. Ashton Jeanty — The junior from Frisco, Texas, sits more than 800 yards ahead of any other running back in college football after posting one of the greatest running back seasons in history. With a strong performance against Penn State, Jeanty has a chance to break the all-time rushing record set by Barry Sanders in 1988. By the way, was an explosive pass-catcher for the Broncos in 2023, finishing with 569 yards and five touchdowns. Don’t be surprised to see that part of his game come out.”
Overall, six of Shehan’s top 24 are in action tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we’ll have previews, picks and much more for every game.
🏀 Lakers acquire Dorian Finney-Smith from Nets, send D’Angelo Russell to Brooklyn
Happy 40th birthday, LeBron James! The Lakers got you one of the NBA’s most underrated players. Dorian Finney-Smith is heading to Los Angeles, with D’Angelo Russell heading back to the Nets, one of his many former teams. Here are the full details:
- Lakers receive: Dorian Finney-Smith, Shake Milton
- Nets receive: D’Angelo Russell, Max Lewis, three second-round picks
Russell is probably the “biggest” name, but he has struggled this season. Finney-Smith, meanwhile, fits like a glove as a 3-and-D wing, which is why the Lakers got an “A” in Sam Quinn’s trade grades.
- Quinn: “The Lakers are walking a tightrope right now. If the past 18 months or so are any indication, they are not true championship contenders. … But James and Anthony Davis are too good to waste on a broken roster as well. … That made Finney-Smith the perfect middle ground for them. Perimeter defense has been this team’s biggest need ever since Jarred Vanderbilt‘s seemingly never-ending injury saga began last season. Unlike Vanderbilt, Finney-Smith can actually shoot. He’s not the 43.5% 3-point marksman that he’s been this season, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that he can shoot in the mid-to-high 30s reliably … This trade gives the Lakers a degree of balance that their roster previously lacked.”
📺 What we’re watching Monday
🏈 Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. No. 19 Missouri, 2:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 21 Cincinnati at Kansas State (M), 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Knicks at Wizards, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
🏈 Lions at 49ers, 8:15 p.m. on ABC/ESPN
🏀 No. 3 Iowa State at Colorado (M), 9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Mavericks at Kings, 10 p.m. on NBA TV
Go to Source
Author: Zachary Pereles
December 30, 2024 | 10:11 am
