1. I can’t believe I watched Lamar Jackson nearly resurrect the Ravens from the dead in the fourth quarter only to watch Baltimore get Cundiffed again at the buzzer, thanks to a missed Tyler Loop field goal. Unbelievable. Well…except for that time when Mark Andrews dropped the game-tying two-point conversion last year. Or when Zay Flowers fumbled the ball into the end zone against Kansas City in the AFC title game. Or when Tyler Huntley fumbled the ball on an attempted quarterback sneak, only for Bengals
defensive end Sam Hubbard to recover it and take it all the way back for a touchdown. Apparently, this is just what the Ravens do.
2. On that note, it’s pretty wild to think that people have been chattering about Mike Tomlin’s job security, especially if the Steelers had failed to beat the Ravens on Sunday night or if they still lose in their wildcard game against the Texans, when John Harbaugh isn’t getting the same league-wide energy. But make no mistake: he deserves it. Wasting Lamar Jackson’s prime years like this should get him thrown in football prison. Save some smoke for him.
3. In a way, the Eagles’ postseason experience saved the Chicago Bears this weekend. Because after making two of the last three Super Bowls, they decided it made more sense to rest their players than risk injury in Week 18 just to get the No. 2 seed. And if they have to play on the road for a game or two, so be it; they don’t mind it. Then again, maybe they also don’t believe either one of the teams above them will actually keep their top seeds and took a gamble on them losing early. Either way, the Bears need home-field advantage in the playoffs more than Philly does, and it’s good for them that they got it.
4. Like I said earlier this season, Kevin Stefanski’s going to make a great offensive coordinator or quarterback’s coach somewhere after getting let go by Cleveland. Of course, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he ends up being someone’s head coach if he’s able to convince them the crap sandwich he was dealt in Cleveland wasn’t all his fault. (To be honest, he has a couple of points.)
5. On the other hand, the Dallas Cowboys did what the Chicago Bears didn’t have the heart to do: fire Matt Eberflus when they knew he wasn’t good enough. The former Bears head coach got the boot in Dallas after one season in which the Cowboys ranked 30th overall in yards per game allowed and dead last in points allowed.
6. If you gave me an MVP vote, I’d burn a third-round ballot on Myles Garrett. Why the hell not? The best defensive player in football—one of the game’s best players ever—finally became the first person in NFL history to reach the 23-sack milestone in a single season, and he did it despite teams doing their best to duck him at every turn, double-and-triple-teaming him and literally dirting the ball rather than let him get home. That’s why I don’t want to hear Michael Strahan trying to cling to his record because Brett Favre took a dive for him in Week 17. Strahan couldn’t fetch Garrett’s Gatorade. I said what I said.
7. One topic I haven’t seen discussed enough regarding the “Drake Maye or Matthew Stafford for MVP?” question: why in the world should one lean toward giving an MVP to Stafford just because he hasn’t won one yet? It’s not like him not having an MVP at this point, given all he’s done, including winning a Super Bowl, is going to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Also, the argument that Maye doesn’t need an MVP right now because he’ll “have more chances to win later” is equally bogus. Maye could have his career derailed by an injury tomorrow. Nothing is guaranteed. And taking a well-deserved MVP from him takes away from his chance to start building his own Hall-of-Fame-level resume. It seems like a number of former players are hell-bent on getting Stafford a lifetime achievement MVP he doesn’t need, so I’d expect that to be the case. The problem is not that Stafford doesn’t deserve it, by the way; it’s that Maye deserves it more.
8. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning their game against the Carolina Panthers, only to lose out on the division because the already eliminated Atlanta Falcons beat the already eliminated New Orleans Saints, is peak divisional chaos. But the issue isn’t the system; it’s that the Bucs blew seven of their last nine games after cruising to a 6-2 start. At least the Colts had the excuse of losing their quarterback. Tampa just choked.
9. This could finally be a year in which having the best quarterback on the field doesn’t mean that much in the playoffs. Three of the 14 defenses in the postseason—Denver, Seattle, and Houston—all have defenses so good they can beat down even a great quarterback, even if theirs is mid (though CJ Stroud at his best is markedly better than Bo Nix and Sam Darnold, in my opinion). The Jaguars are another team with a good unit, as well. Bottom line: defense and running the football are back, baby. This year’s Lombardi winner could be completely weird.
10. You can never accuse the New York Giants of tanking, that’s for sure. Last year, they blew their shot at the No. 1 overall pick with a late-season win over the Colts. This year, they choked away the No. 1 pick by winning their last two games and will now select fifth overall in this year’s draft. They’re one of the worst types of franchises in sports right now: the kind that only wins when you don’t want them to. Here’s to next season, when they do it again.
