It has been a long and winding road through Week 17, which featured five standalone games before we even got to Sunday with a chance to see the majority of the playoff picture wrapped up before the afternoon was up. There were opportunities for both of the last two postseason spots to get wrapped up in the 1:00 window, but Pittsburgh and Carolina let golden opportunities slip away.
While the Panthers had a tough draw with Seattle coming to town, they got the help they needed and couldn't take advantage of a window to secure the NFC South title. As far as the Steelers are concerned, whatever they put on the field against a Cleveland team playing for pride (and with a head coach on the hot seat) was not acceptable and could have dire consequences in Week 18. With Sunday Night Football still to be played, let's reset the winners and losers from all of Week 17, beginning with a disastrous Sunday for Pittsburgh with an AFC North crown on the line.
NFL Week 17 Winners And Losers
Loser: Pittsburgh Steelers
Even though the Ravens won on Saturday night, Baltimore's loss on Sunday night in Week 16 gave the Steelers a path to the AFC North crown by simply beating the 3-12 Browns. Falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter was a bad start for Pittsburgh, but they did force two turnovers and held Cleveland to 4-11 on third downs, which should have been a recipe for a victory, but a sloppy day from Aaron Rodgers doomed the Steelers.
Rodgers played like a man concerned with avoiding a place in the record books for Myles Garrett's pursuit of the single-season sack record, moving out of the pocket quickly and being very ineffective throwing the football. Pittsburgh averaged just 3.9 yards per pass and went 3-of-15 on third downs, short-circuiting a lot of drives and leaving them in a do-or-die situation against the Ravens next week by failing to seize their opportunity to win the division.
Winner: Kevin Stefanski
On a day when the Browns had absolutely nothing to play for outside of helping Garrett pursue NFL history, Stefanski's team was ready to play and cause chaos. Shedeur Sanders made enough good plays, going 17-of-23 for 186 yards with a key first quarter touchdown to Harold Fannin to leave the Steelers on their heels early.
It is unclear if this win will save Stefanski's job, but it certainly is a good result to put on his resume if Cleveland decides to move on after the season. With a slew of potential openings this hiring cycle and few standout candidates, Stefanski could have his choice of jobs, as this kind of victory served as a reminder of how good a coach he can be.
Loser: Carolina Panthers
The other unfortunate result for Week 17 was in Carolina, where the Panthers hung tough early but were outclassed by a superior Seahawks team in the second half. The result was unfortunate since Tampa Bay lost badly in Miami, opening the door for the Panthers to close out the NFC South, but Carolina was outscored 24-7 after the break to force them into a winner-take-all matchup in Week 18.
That contest will come in Tampa Bay, and it is worth noting that the Panthers have alternated wins and losses for their past 10 games, which would mean Carolina is due for a win in Week 18. All records get thrown out the window in a win-or-go-home game, however, so it is never a good thing to squander a chance to wrap up a playoff spot when it is presented to you.
Winner: The Week 18 Schedule
There was a point on Sunday where it looked like the NFL could be heading towards a doomsday scenario in Week 18 when all 14 playoff spots were accounted for and no games that could be guaranteed to have significant stakes by the time Sunday Night Football rolls around. The end of the 1:00 window was a godsend for the league, which now has two winner-take-all matchups in the NFC South and AFC North, ensuring that both NBC and ESPN have the potential for huge matchups in their stand-alone windows.
There is also some intrigue as the No. 1 seed in both conferences remains in play, while seeding throughout the playoff picture is unsettled. Considering the possibility that we could have a drama-free Week 18, the NFL got quite lucky with the results from Sunday afternoon.
Loser: The Christmas Tripleheader
The NFL has been trying to stake a claim to Christmas Day for a few years now and they didn't put their best foot forward in Week 17. While the NBA had a showcase of great games, including a big-time matchup between the Thunder and Spurs with Nikola Jokic capping the night with an insane triple-double against Minnesota, the NFL offered up three games featuring backup quarterbacks that had sloppy play throughout.
Fans online were also critical of Netflix's coverage, which saw the broadcast booth do in-game interviews while the action was happening, and Al Michael's enthusiasm level at the end of a Chiefs-Broncos game that helped Denver wrap up the AFC West. There was certainly bad injury luck involved in the games, but football fans were left with a big lump of coal in their stockings if they opted to watch any football on Christmas Day.
Winner: Drake Maye
Drawing the hapless Jets in the midst of a tight MVP race was a true gift for Patriots' quarterback Drake Maye and he took full advantage of his good fortune. New York offered no resistance as Maye ran New England up and down the field in a half-empty MetLife Stadium, completing 19-of-21 passes for 256 yards and five touchdowns before taking a seat halfway through the third quarter in a 42-10 blowout.
Maye eclipsed 4,000 yards for the season in the win and now has an outstanding 30:8 touchdown to interception ratio to pull him into a dead heat with Los Angeles' Matthew Stafford for the honors. Stafford has yet to play as of post time, but if he slips up against either Atlanta or Arizona it could open the door for Maye to take home the MVP in his second season.
Loser: Aaron Glenn
Tanking is an appropriate word to describe what the Jets have been up to for a month, but Aaron Glenn's team didn't bother to show up against the Patriots on Sunday in their final home game. On a day where a 3-win Cleveland team upset Pittsburgh and 3-win Tennessee led for most of the day against New Orleans, New York was outclassed from the jump and trailed 42-3 at one point as Mike Vrabel ran up the score against a group that looks to have quit on its head coach.
Glenn admitted disappointment with his team's effort level after the game but the bigger concern may be his defense, which has given up 38.3 points per game and 367.3 yards per game in December without recording a single takeaway. No quarterback can make that big a difference for a team so Glenn, a defensive-minded coach, will have to overhaul that entire unit in the offseason in order to have the kind of turnaround he was promising upon his arrival last winter.
Winner: Malik Willis
In an offseason where a lot of teams need quarterbacks and there aren't a ton of draft options exciting NFL front offices, Malik Willis could be in line for a big pay day. Willis drew a start on Saturday night for Green Bay with Jordan Love in concussion protocol and played his heart out, completing 18-of-21 passes for 288 yards with a touchdown while rushing nine times for 60 yards and two more scores before departing after aggravating a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter.
With the Packers locked into the seventh seed, there's a good chance they will rest Love in Week 18 and give Willis another start against the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores' complex defense. That contest is a huge opportunity for Willis to play well and cement himself as the top free agent option under center for teams hoping to find the next reclamation project success story.
Loser: New York Giants
The top pick in the draft was essentially up for grabs in Las Vegas in the lone 4:05 p.m. game, so the winner of the game was a loser on the day. Both teams made shameless efforts to tank, with New York and Las Vegas sitting multiple star players to minimize their chances of winning, but the Giants played harder and emerged with a blowout win to all but end their chances of securing the top pick in April.
Even though Jaxson Dart is theoretically the answer to the Giants' quarterback question for the long haul, having the top pick and auctioning it off to a quarterback-needy team like the Raiders, Jets or Browns could do wonders for a team in need of a massive talent infusion. While the New York coaching staff will spin the victory as a powerful culture-building moment, anyone invested in the Giants' future will rue this day as a missed opportunity.
Winner: Baltimore Ravens
No team had a bigger win in Week 18 than Baltimore, which entered Saturday night with the potential to be eliminated from postseason contention and exit Sunday with a simple path to the playoffs by winning in Pittsburgh. Lamar Jackson was sidelined with a back injury but Derrick Henry put the Ravens on his back, rushing 36 times for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a performance that helped many fantasy teams win their championships.
The physicality that Baltimore displayed in the contest was very encouraging as the Ravens ran the ball right down the Packers' throats even with Green Bay well aware of what they wanted to do. Tyler Huntley was also efficient in place of Jackson, giving the Ravens confidence they can find a way to get the division crown even if Jackson isn't able to play in Pittsburgh next week.