Five talking points from NFL Week 16

Week 17, there was football on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The NFL truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

In the NFC, the North and West are decided, with the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers claiming those divisions. The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are in as well, but who will be crowned divisional winner is yet to be decided. The NFC South is also undecided and will as likely as not sport a “champion” with a losing record.

Over in the AFC, the East belongs to the Buffalo Bills again. The West has been all Kansas City all the time for years, and 2022 is no different. The Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens are still battling for the AFC North title (and the home playoff game that goes with it), while just as in the NFC the South has become a quagmire.

After another wild week of action that saw the league’s losingest team win, the winningest team lose and a coach get fired, here are my five talking points from week seventeen:

J.J. Watt calls time on NFL career

“My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude,” read J.J. Watt’s tweet on Tuesday evening. Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers was his last ever NFL home game. “It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure.”

The Arizona Cardinals defensive end announced that his time in the NFL will come to an end once the 2022 season reaches its conclusion.

In his first five seasons, the Wisconsin product tallied 74.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, an INT, and 299 tackles while earning three Defensive Player of the Year awards. His 74.5 sacks over that span of time are the second-most since 1982, behind only Hall of Famer Reggie White.

Watt had 18.5 more sacks, 90 more QB hits and 51 more tackles for loss than any other player in the NFL in a four-season span from 2012-2015.

Watt will retire a three-time DPOY winner with five first-team All-Pro honors, five Pro Bowls. He also led the NFL in sacks twice. He’s a shoo-in for a gold jacket in five years (Watt is eligible for the Hall in 2028), as one of three players in NFL history to win DPOY three times – Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald.

Broncos belong on Nickelodeon

Denver lost 51-14 to the 4-10 Rams. Let’s just repeat that again: a 51-14 loss to the 4-10 Rams. A score that is tied for the most lopsided loss of the NFL season, the other coming at the hand of playoff bound Dallas Cowboys.

Wilson’s first year in Denver has been a monumental failure. His acquisition was supposed to make the Broncos a Super Bowl contender; instead they’re 4-11 and last in the NFL in scoring. For most of the season, the defense has held up, but on Sunday, Wilson threw two interceptions before he completed a pass, setting the Rams up for quick, easy scores.

Nickelodeon aired a broadcast of Sunday’s game, meaning we got to hear Spongebob’s dimwitted best friend Patrick Star commenting on yet another Wilson interception. It might prove to be the perfect encapsulation of Denver’s season thus far, especially now that they’ve not only hit rock bottom but Bikini Bottom too.

Vikings late late show rolls on

According to NFL Research, the Vikings are now 11-0 in games decided by one possession in 2022 – the most one-possession victories in a season all-time.

The Vikings and Giants have both been recipients of plenty of good fortune this season, both preferring to leave it late in the game to decide their fates and so it was no surprise that the two traded touchdowns in the final three minutes, including a game-tying 75-yard drive ending with a two-point conversion by the Giants.

But it was the Vikings who got to walk away with yet another win and this week they won the game on a 61-yard field goal by Greg Joseph, the longest kick in Vikings history.

Joseph was 18-for-18 on kicks of less than 50 yards this year, and 2-for-7 on 50-yarders; his career long was 56 yards. Of course, with the game on the line, he crushed it, right down the middle, with room to spare.

It’s entirely possible these teams are back at U.S. Bank Stadium in a few weeks for a wild-card round game if things stay the course in the NFC. If these teams indeed do square off again, a close game that comes down to a few plays feels almost inevitable.

Chargers bolt into playoffs

For the first time since 2018,the Chargers will return to the postseason having clinched a playoff berth after improving to 9-6, with two games remaining in the regular season.

The Chargers’ defense stood out for the third consecutive game, holding the Colts to just a field goal in the first half. It was the first time since Nov. 11, 2018, that the Chargers didn’t allow at least one touchdown.

Over the last four weeks, the Chargers have limited their opponents to nine third-down conversions on 42 attempts, the best mark in the NFL during that time. They’ve also shut out the opposition in four straight first quarters, the franchise’s longest such streak since 2011.

Offensively, the Chargers weren’t at their best. They scored only two touchdowns against a team that had surrendered 93 points in its previous two games. Herbert had two turnovers — an interception and a fumble — and was sacked four more times. The Chargers did top 100 yards rushing for just the third time this season but needed 32 attempts to get to 101.

Despite clinching his first career playoff berth, Herbert appeared adamant that there remains plenty of room for improvement going forward. “I don’t think we’ve played our best football yet,” Herbert said. “I think the defense has done an incredible job these past couple of weeks. I think offensively we can be better. We can limit turnovers, and that starts with me.”

Tampa’s Jekyll & Hyde routine

Dr Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his ‘second’ nature. He does this through transforming himself into Mr Hyde – his evil alter ego who lacks the ability to repent or accept responsibility for his evil crimes and ways.

This season the story has not been dissimilar for Tampa Bay. For the first three quarters of games they are Dr Jekyll, mild mannered, soft, easy to push around, but during the fourth quarter they unleash their inner demon and Brady leads an up tempo, no huddle offense and shows no mercy on his opponents in order to score points quickly. The question is, why don’t they do this sooner?

During their Christmas night game against Arizona, Brady failed to complete a single pass more than 5 yards downfield in the entire first half, and through three quarters, he was 15-for-25 for 112 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. And then, of course, the Bucs rallied back from a 16-6 deficit in the fourth and won in overtime to remain in first place in the NFC South.

This has happened time and time again. They were down 13-6 in the fourth quarter against the Rams, scoring their first touchdown with nine seconds to go and winning the game 16-13. They were down 16-6 against the Saints, scoring their first touchdown with three minutes to go and winning the game 17-16. Tampa Bay averages just 11.0 points in the first three quarters of games—31st in the league, ahead of only the Broncos.

Brady has only thrown just one first-quarter touchdown this year. But he has 11 touchdown passes in fourth quarters, accounting for more than half of his 21 total TDs.

Neither team played like a winner for most of Sunday’s game, but in the extra time Brady showed why he continues to be known as the G.O.A.T., engineering a clutch game-winning drive to preserve the Buccaneers’ NFC South lead and give them a chance to clinch the division next week.