As a sports fan who loves suspense, weeks 14-17 of the NFL season are the best to watch. This is because the most meaningful football is played during that time of year.
Playoff berths, division titles, rivalry matchups, playoff-seeding and byes, draft positioning and records are all on the line, especially towards the very end of the season. Week 17 of the 2019 season was nothing short of interesting.
The matchups I’m about to cover involve a team losing a very winnable game and losing a divisional-bye, a team that clinched a playoff berth with a fourth-straight 9-7 season, an NFC East title that nobody deserved and a down-to-the-wire matchup between two NFC West powerhouses.
New England drops matchup to 4-11 Dolphins
This year marks the second year in a row that the Miami Dolphins have prevented the New England Patriots from going a perfect 6-0 in their division.
Last year, the Dolphins stunned the eventual Super Bowl-winning Patriots in Miami with a miraculous series of lateral passes at the end of the game dubbed the “Miami Miracle.” However, that victory for the Dolphins didn’t do much to slow down their AFC East opponent, as the Patriots went on to squash the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 52.
Unlike last year, the Dolphins win over the Patriots wasn’t completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things. For the first time since 2009, the Patriots will have to play on Wild Card Weekend. New England has never made the big game while having to play as a Wild Card team, according to ESPN.
Though the Dolphins didn’t win on an exciting miracle play, journeyman quarterback (QB) Ryan Fitzpatrick pulled off some magic of his own. Most pundits thought that the Patriots would walk all over the Dolphins like they did earlier in the season, but this win comes even more a shock because this is the second time New England has lost at home this year.
Miami forced the Patriots to play catch-up most of the game, but the Dolphins’ lead was surpassed late in the game and the Patriots went up 24-20. But the Dolphins wouldn’t give up so easy, as a Fitzpatrick to wide receiver (WR) DeVante Parker connection gave Miami the go-ahead score.
The Patriots’ top-ranked defense allowed a staggering 389 yards of offense against the 4-11 Dolphins, another surprising fact of the game. Patriots’ QB Tom Brady himself finished with 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
For the Dolphins, their forgettable 5-11 season has come to an end, and they will have a high draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Head coach Brian Flores, despite the record, made the most of the lack of talent on the team. The Dolphins in recent years have ditched most of their talented players in an effort to rebuild and reshape the culture of the team.
I expect better things from the Dolphins next year. I don’t see a playoff team, but I expect that Miami under Flores will be competitive again in 2-3 more years.
As for the Patriots, they will face the 9-7 Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card game. What really carried New England this year was their phenomenal defense. Their offense has been inconsistent this year, though Brady has played well. The receiving corps outside of WR Julian Edelman isn’t very impressive, and they’ll have to work on that when they go up against a stingy Titans squad that has, in all honesty, a Super Bowl-caliber defense.
Titans rout AFC South champs to clinch playoff berth
Speaking of the Titans, they have completed their fourth straight 9-7 season, which is good enough for a playoff spot this year, as it was in 2017. However, the 2019 version of the Titans, in my mind, actually deserves to be in the postseason, as the 2017 team limped in due to a pitiful conference.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who has three Super Bowl rings thanks to his time in New England as a player, will make his playoff debut in just his second season as a head coach. The coaching staff made the right decision in benching 2015 second-overall pick and fifth-year QB Marcus Mariota, who lost his starting job during halftime of a shutout loss to Denver earlier in the season.
Since then, former Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill took over the starting job and made the most of it, leading a seemingly dead 2-4 Titans team on a 7-3 run that resulted in Tennessee’s first playoff appearance since 2017.
This wasn’t all thanks to Tannehill, though, as running back (RB) Derrick Henry took control of the run game in a Week 10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Henry eventually went on to win the league rushing title at the end of the Titan’s Week 17 game.
The Titans, who faced a win-and-in situation, seized their opportunity and now have a date with the Patriots. The funny thing is that the Titans didn’t even have to win, since the other two teams in the hunt for the last AFC playoff berth, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders, lost their games.
Now, this win over the Texans isn’t representative of what the Titans will face in the postseason. Houston fielded a squad that was resting its usual starters, including the AFC South’s best QB Deshaun Watson, WR Deandre Hopkins, WR Kenny Stills, left tackle (LT) Laremy Tunsil and tackle D.J. Reader.
The Patriots should never be underestimated. In fact, Tom Brady is one of those athletes you should never really count out. The Patriots almost always find a way to win. What they do in the regular season is much different than what they do in the playoffs.
The Titans, similar to their 2017 matchup against the Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round, face an underdog situation. But honestly, I think the Titans play better as underdogs. New England hasn’t made the Super Bowl ever as a Wild Card team, and they look especially vulnerable this year.
In 2017, when the Titan barely squeaked into the playoffs due to a soft conference, they didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs. They sputtered all season and epitomized mediocrity. After a surprising win over the Chiefs, they were rightfully pummeled by New England.
This year, the Titans have an elite defense and run game that have both finally flourished. Mariota has finally been benched. The offense is finally looking dangerous.
Mediocre Cowboys lose out on NFC East title to equally mediocre Eagles
The NFC East is the worst division in the NFL right now. Even worse than the typically terrible AFC East. Every single team in the NFC East is either mediocre and/or terrible.
The New York Giants and Washington Redskins were expected to be in the running for top-five picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Redskins finished the season 3-13 while the Giants went 4-12. But they were essentially eliminated from the postseason a long time ago, so nobody really cared about them.
The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, however, were the two teams vying for the NFC East crown. Really, neither of them deserve to be anywhere near the playoffs. I group them in the same category as the 2017 Titans.
In all actuality, the NFC East title wasn’t locked up until the Eagles beat the Giants in Week 17, since the Cowboys defeated the Redskins. But the Eagles essentially won the division when they beat the Cowboys in a pivotal Week 16 game.
The Eagles have one excuse on their side – injuries. Philadelphia, along with Pittsburgh and San Diego, have been plagued by injuries this season, but a few key pieces of the Eagles remained, mainly QB Carson Wentz, who rallied his team to another winning-season.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, have been one of the league’s biggest disappointments this decade, and especially this year. I really don’t get it; the Cowboys have so much talent and yet squander it every single year.
They have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, a solid defense, a reliable receiving core, a capable QB in Dak Prescott and a top-five RB in Ezekiel Elliot. Head coach Jason Garrett will likely lose his job, but owner Jerry Jones may keep him around longer for some reason.
Dallas will never be contender again until they fire Garrett, period. The Eagles, though I think far more deserving of a playoff berth, don’t really deserve to be in the postseason either. But they will represent the NFC East when they go against the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card.
49ers win NFC West with last-minute stop against potent Seattle offense
The final game of the 2019 NFL regular season was an unforgettable one. It’s fitting that two teams from the best division in the NFL this year, the NFC West, duked it out for the division title in the very last game.
The San Fransisco 49ers have been absolutely dominant this season, ending the year with a 13-3 record, with two out of three losses coming to worthy opponents such as the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens.
The 49ers, despite their winning ways, weren’t respected as Super Bowl contenders because of their schedule. Up until their Week 10 game against Seattle, the 49ers didn’t play any playoff teams. But when they beat the Saints and Packers, they solidified themselves as a contender. Despite losing to Baltimore, San Fran took the Ravens to task and only lost by a field goal.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo had a decent season. He ranked 12th in yards with 3,978 and quarterback rating (58.8). His touchdown-interception ratio of 27-13 was serviceable. Garoppolo didn’t light up the league, but he played his role well and led the team to the playoffs. As a Seahawks fan, I have to respect that.
I have to show some love for tight end (TE) George Kittle, though. This guy is a beast, and I consider him to be one of the best TE’s in the league next to Travis Kelce (Chiefs) and Zach Ertz (Eagles). He’s not a huge stats guy (his best stat is his reception total of 85, which is 17th in the league among TE’s), but he’s nearly impossible to bring down. He definitely gave the Seahawks a hard time.
The Seahawks had a surprisingly strong season in 2019. Seattle was never really talked about as a contender this year, despite an 11-5 finish and strong play throughout the season.
QB Russell Wilson, one of the best in the league, had a season that likely won’t result in a league MVP (that’ll probably go to QB Lamar Jackson of the Ravens), but will have him among the frontrunners. Without Wilson, it’s hard to see Seattle in the playoffs in 2019.
Wilson had an astounding season, throwing 31 touchdowns (third most) against five interceptions (tied for fifth) to go along with 4,110 yards. WR’s Tyler Lockett and rookie DK Metcalf were among Wilson’s top receivers. The two receivers combined for 1,957 yards and nearly 20 touchdowns.
Seattle’s defense, however, hasn’t yet recovered from the dissolution of the Legion of Boom (LoB), and they once again had to go against former Seahawks’ cornerback (CB) Richard Sherman, who won a Super Bowl playing on the LoB in 2013.
The 49ers never took their foot off the gas while Seattle didn’t get on the board until the second half. Seattle’s defense didn’t have many answers for San Fransisco’s potent offense.
It took until the third quarter for Wilson to get his team into gear. RB Marshawn Lynch, who rejoined the team shortly before the start of the season, gave life to the team and the fans at CenturyLink Field, though Lynch didn’t put up many stats.
The Seahawks clawed their way back, but still trailed 26-21. With little time left in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks took a delay of game penalty and harmed their chances of pulling off the win. On Seattle’s last down, Wilson connected with TE Jacob Hollister, but he was stopped at the goal line and didn’t give the Seahawks the score they needed.
Ultimately, San Fransisco took home the division crown for the first time since 2012, and will get a first-round bye. The Seahawks will now have to take on the aforementioned Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round.
