What we learned from NFL Week 17: Vikings alive for top seed, Colts ’embarrassed’

With one week left, there are still many decisions to be made.

Start here with the first regular season game in NFL history featuring two teams with at least 13 wins. The Lions and Vikings will decide not only the NFC North title but the lone first-round bye to the conference’s top seed next Sunday night at Ford Field.

Then we have Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. He is now just the ninth rusher to surpass 2,000 yards in a season. In Philly’s finale, he got a chance to break one of the league’s most proud records, a record that had stood for 40 years.

Each conference has one playoff spot remaining, including an AFC wild card spot and an NFC South champion.

And after the Giants upset the Colts, there is a new frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.

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NFL Week 17 Takeaways: Are the Vikings on par with the Lions and Eagles? Should the Cowboys keep McCarthy?

On Sunday and Week 17, Sam Darnold and the Vikings continued to script one of the most improbable stories of the 2024 season. thanks other After Darnold’s career day — 377 passing yards and three touchdowns — the Vikings held off a Packers rally for a 27-25 win to keep Minnesota’s hopes of the NFC’s No. 1 seed alive. Consider: At the start of the season, the Vikings’ win total over/under was just 6.5. Kevin O’Connell’s team is now 14-2 and one win away from the conference’s No. 1 seed.

Darnold’s revival continues to defy the odds. He joined his fourth team in five years. He was cut by the Jets and Panthers and backed up Brock Purdy with the 49ers last season. He now becomes the first quarterback in NFL history to win 14 games in his first season with a team. He threw 35 touchdowns. On Sunday alone, he had eight receivers, proving once again that this is more than just having one of the game’s elite weapons in Justin Jefferson. Darnold has been really good and one of the main reasons the Vikings have won nine straight games.

“Another big performance when his team needed him,” O’Connell said of his quarterback. “We’ve had so many moments like this since Sam became a Minnesota Viking. … Our football team loves him and I’ve had a great time coaching him.”

Meanwhile, four of the Packers’ five losses this season have come within the NFC North.

Jayden Daniels’ touchdown throw to Zach Ertz in overtime Sunday night not only sealed the Commanders’ return to the playoffs but also the Rams’ division title. (LA beat Seattle on the strength of a kick-and-run.) This means that only one sector has not been decided yet. The Bucs, who won 48-14 over the Panthers on Sunday, are now 9-7 and one in front of the Falcons, who fell to the Commanders in overtime. Atlanta is 8-8, but they sweep the season against Tampa Bay and would win the division if both teams finish with the same record.

The Dolphins stayed alive in the AFC playoff race by winning with Tyler Huntley at quarterback. The Colts capped off another January at home after an embarrassing loss to the Giants. And the Bills defeated the Jets 40-14, putting New York one game closer to a merciful end to a miserable season. And it probably pushed Aaron Rodgers toward retirement.

Here’s what we learned in week 17:

The Broncos won.

In the AFC, all but one spot has been decided. Three teams still have a chance: Denver, Miami, and Cincinnati. But the Broncos’ loss still remains.

The playoffs advance to Kansas City after the Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed and earned a first-round bye with a Christmas win over the Steelers. Buffalo is locked in second place, and a win over the lowly Browns next week would give the Ravens their second straight AFC North title. The Steelers and Chargers clinched playoff berths. The only way Pittsburgh can win the AFC North is if Baltimore loses and the Steelers beat the Bengals. The Bengals still have some left to play thanks to Saturday’s overtime win over the Broncos.

Here are the scenarios for the final AFC playoff spot:

• Denver is included if the Broncos beat the Chiefs.
• Miami is included if the Dolphins beat the Jets and the Broncos lose to the Chiefs.
• If the Bengals beat the Steelers and both the Broncos and Dolphins lose, Cincinnati is included.
• If all three teams lose, the Broncos will clinch the final playoff spot.

Perhaps Denver will take care of business for Kansas City’s backup. But it will be lively in Miami and Cincinnati for at least another week.

Assuming the Ravens claim the AFC North, that sets up wild card matchups between the Bills and Broncos, Ravens and Chargers, and Texans and Steelers.

The NFC South is yet to win

NFC is a bit more complicated.

First of all, you can secure a top seed by Week 18. The winner of Lions-Vikings will not only earn the NFC North title, but also a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye. Loser at Ford Field? They have slipped to fifth place and will open the away play-offs. (That’s regardless of what happens between the Lions and 49ers on Monday night. Even with a loss, Detroit will still face Minnesota next week for the division title and the No. 1 seed.)

The Eagles are locked in second place.

The Commanders’ overtime win over the Falcons on Sunday night put Washington in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Dan Quinn’s team could also move up to the No. 6 seed with a win over the Cowboys next week. In this case, Green Bay will fall to 7th place.

Washington’s win also means the Rams have clinched the NFC West via a power tiebreaker. The Seahawks, who had slim hopes of making the postseason in coach Mike Macdonald’s first year, were eliminated.

But the NFC South still remains a question mark. If the Bucs beat the Saints next week, they will clinch the division. If they lose and the Falcons beat the Panthers, Atlanta will win based on a head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Giants’ victory comes at a cost.

“We know where we’re going,” Shedeur Sanders said ahead of his final college game.

When Colorado’s quarterback took the field for the Alamo Bowl wearing custom cleats featuring the New York Giants logo, the message was clear. Sanders was fully expected to be the Giants’ top pick in the draft.

Then a funny thing happened. The Giants won at home for the first time all season and for the first time anywhere since early October. And with a 45-33 win over the Colts, New York lost its lead in the race for the No. 1 pick.

Could that change where Sanders ends up?

That may be so. Because after Sunday’s results, the Giants will sit in fourth place behind the Patriots, Titans and Browns.

If New England loses to Buffalo next week (the Bills have already clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed and will likely rest some starters ahead of the playoffs), the Patriots will lock up the franchise’s No. 1 pick for the first time since 1993. It will.

The four teams are 3-13, but the Patriots hold the top seed, so to speak, by strength of schedule. The Titans host the Texans in Week 18, the Giants play against the Eagles and the Browns play against the Ravens.

If the current order holds, an interesting dilemma arises. After Drake Maye’s promising rookie season, the Patriots won’t be in the market for a quarterback. Will they trade away from the top spot like the Bears did two years ago? For teams like the Titans, Browns, Giants, Jets, Raiders, or anyone else willing to trade for a chance to grab their quarterback of the future, the price tag is steep depending on the draft order. . Remember, Carolina had to send two second-round picks to Chicago to land Bryce Young and two first-round picks to move wideout DJ Moore from No. 9 to No. 1 in the 2023 draft.

Or New England could simply stay in first place and pick whichever player they want.

Sanders may end up with the Giants, but that was much less certain on Sunday.

Barkley joins the 2K Club.

Saquon Barkley joined one of the most exclusive groups in NFL history on Sunday, surpassing 2,000 rushing yards for the season in Philly’s 41-7 rout of the Cowboys. He is the ninth rusher in league history, joining OJ Simpson (1973), Eric Dickerson (1984), Barry Sanders (1997), Terrell Davis (1998), Jamal Lewis (2003), Chris Johnson (2009) and Adrian (2009). . Peterson (2012) and Derrick Henry (2020).

Barkley has 2,005 rushing yards, exactly 100 shy of Dickerson’s single-season record. This was set in 1984 (when Dickerson set the record with 16 starts). But with the Eagles already locked in the NFC’s No. 2 seed, it’s unlikely Barkley will see much action in next week’s finals against the Giants.

Saquon Barkley could set an NFL single-season rushing record next week, but will he see enough action? (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

“I’m not outright trying to get (the record),” he said after Sunday’s game. “I am not afraid. But there are bigger things we are focused on. It doesn’t matter whether I play or rest next week. I didn’t sign here just to break a record. “I want to do something special with the team,” he said.

The Colts’ hopes ended with a thud.

If you can’t beat the team with the worst record in football, you don’t deserve to be in the dance.

Sunday’s loss to the Giants was a complete embarrassment for the Colts. It was one of the worst losses in recent memory for a franchise that has underperformed for the better part of five seasons for the Colts. It was a particularly dark day for Gus Bradley’s defense, which allowed Drew Lock and the Giants to pile up 389 all-purpose yards. The Giants entered Sunday having scored 32 points (three games) all of December, and in one afternoon the Colts had scored 45 points. This is the most goals the club has scored in one game in nine years.

“I’m embarrassed. I’m disappointed. “We were completely victorious.” Linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “Our performance defensively was unacceptable. And if you’re planning on being a playoff team, you can’t play like that.”

As a result, the Colts missed the postseason for the fourth straight season. It’s been six seasons since their last playoff victory and 10 seasons without a division title.

Coach Shane Steichen, who led the Colts to just one win away from the AFC South crown with backup Gardner Minshew under center for most of last season, couldn’t back up his impressive debut. His offense looked stale, and it wasn’t until later in the year that he found his groove with second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. He was benched mid-season and struggled to find consistency even after returning. Richardson has started just 15 of 33 games over two seasons and has yet to prove he can be a long-term answer at the position.

The Colts have some decisions to make.

Is Steichen coming back?

“I control what I can control,” he said after the loss in New York.

What about Bradley?

“I love Gus,” Steichen said Sunday. “Obviously (today) we all want to get better.”

What about general manager Chris Ballard, who has been in office for eight seasons and has yet to produce a division winner? Owner Jim Irsay, who has been uncharacteristically quiet as of late, will have to decide what he wants the future of his franchise to look like.

(Joe Flacco and Shane Steichen Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)