Week 15 of the NFL season was pretty much the 2016 of NFL weeks. It was chaotic. It was frustrating. Good people got hurt. And at the end of it we all learned how shit was going to be for the next year whether we liked it not.
AFC Playoff Field Set
A couple of teams are still playing for something, but the actual participants have punched their tickets. The New England Patriots are currently the No. 1 seed, but they need to win their final game or the Oakland Raiders need to lose to secure it for the playoffs. The Raiders are the No. 2, but they need to win just to guarantee they get a home game in the playoffs. If they lose and the Kansas City Chiefs win, then the Chiefs win the AFC West and the Raiders are a road team in the wild card. That’s quite swing, from potential No. 2 to No. 5 seed in a weekend, but that’s what Oakland is dealing with playing their back up quarterback the rest of the way.
The 5 AFC teams in the playoffs NOT named New England have combined for 0 playoffs wins in Foxboro in the Brady/Belichick era.
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 26, 2016
The Miami Dolphins are the No. 6 seed and stuck there, just happy to make the playoffs at all with their own back up QB playing. Adam Gase, after a rough start for the season, should legitimately be NFL Coach of the Year. Not only for winning 10 games and making the playoffs, but for making the final push with a back up quarterback. Miami hiring Gase was a no-brainer kind of move last offseason, but now it looks like the kind of move that could bring a couple of championships back to the Dolphins. As it is, they can make a statement going into the playoffs with a victory over New England Sunday.
As for the AFC South, somebody had to win it and it just so happened to be the Houston Texans. For their troubles, the Texans will immediately get bounced from the playoffs like last season. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC North and eliminated the Baltimore Ravens all in one swift move Sunday afternoon. The Steelers will be the No. 3 seed no matter what happens Sunday.
FYI: #Steelers clinched the #3 seed in the AFC playoffs regardless of what happens in Week 17. They have the SOS tiebreaker over #Texans.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 26, 2016
2016 hits the Raiders hard
Most teams looking to possibly relocate do their local fans the service of sucking beforehand. Not the Oakland Raiders. With a push to move to Las Vegas in full swing, the Raiders became one of the best teams in the NFL this season, only to see their actual postseason plans come crashing down when quarterback Derek Carr broke his leg against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday.
Prayers for @derekcarrqb ,heal quickly & be at peace knowing our team will recover, prepare and compete with everything we have!
Go#Raiders— Jack Del Rio (@coachdelrio) December 25, 2016
Enter back up quarterback Matt McGloin, one of the biggest starter to reserve drop-offs in the league. McGloin will be going up against the Denver Broncos, who just got eliminated from the playoffs Sunday. All they can do now is send the Raiders to the wild card round and if McGloin looks as shitty as the last time he played, that’s going to happen. Regardless of where the Raiders end up in the NFL playoffs, with Carr out their stay will be short which is a shame for a team that looked like it could contend for a Super Bowl. It just shows how ephemeral these Super Bowl windows are.
Two spots still alive in the NFC
The biggest game of Week 16 is the Green Bay Packers at the Detroit Lions. Even though the Lions play the Cowboys tonight, the winner of the finale will be the NFC North champion and host a home game in the wild card round of the playoffs. The Lions have the opportunity to clinch at least a wild card spot with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys tonight. If they lose tonight and to the Packers in the final weekend of the season, then the door is opened for the Washington Redskins to make the playoffs as the No. 6 seed as long as they win. If the Redskins lose, then the Lions make it no matter what.
And before you feel too good about the Redskins’ chances, they play the Giants next Sunday.
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