NFL Week 17 Takeaways: Vikings in prime position to top NFC

Football fans are in for one heck of a game in Week 18.

The Minnesota Vikings face the Detroit Lions where the winner will not only claim the NFC North title, but will hold the top seed in the NFC and get the coveted first-round bye.

Minnesota defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-25 Sunday, but the game wasn’t as close as the score suggests as Minnesota led 27-10 going into the fourth quarter.

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold continued his resurgent season, going 33 of 43 for a career-high 377 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The offence ranks fourth in passing yards-per-game, and ninth in points-per-game.

“We can be aggressive, but he’s still going to be a great decision-maker,” head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters. “He’s playing quarterback at a very, very high level.”

With Minnesota’s potent offence and the team sitting at 14-2, O’Connell should be the runaway favourite for coach-of-the-year.

But the defence isn’t far behind. The Brian Flores-led unit is the second best against the run and is tied for first in the league with 31 takeaways. Minnesota held Packers QB Jordan Love — who’s thrown for over 3,000 yards and 24 TDs in 13 games prior to Sunday— to under 100 passing yards until seven minutes left in the game.

Minnesota will have its hands full with Detroit’s top-ranked offence, but with the Lions defence ravaged by injuries, the Vikings are in prime position to claim the No.1 seed in the final game of the 2024 regular season.

Final AFC playoff spot down to three

The final AFC playoff spot will come down to the Denver Broncos (9-7), Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) or the Miami Dolphins (8-8).

After the Bengals outlasted the Broncos in an overtime thriller Saturday to keep the playoff race alive, the Tua Tagovailoa-less Dolphins took care of business Sunday against the Browns to remain in the hunt.

Out of the three teams, the Broncos have the easiest path to the post-season as they are the only team that controls their own destiny. A win at home against the Chiefs — who have clinched the top seed and will presumably rest a majority of starters — get Denver into the playoffs for the first time since its Super Bowl 50 victory nine years ago.

If all three teams lose, the Broncos are also in. Miami needs to win with a Denver loss to get in, while Cincinnati needs to win with a Denver and Miami loss to make it.

The Indianapolis Colts squandered their opportunity to stay alive after they lost to the lowly New York Giants.

A day after Bo Nix lost in OT, Jayden Daniels led his Commanders to an overtime win over Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons on Sunday night.

Daniels rifled the ball to tight end Zach Ertz to send Washington to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The 2024 second-overall pick also broke Robert Griffin III’s record for most rushing yards in a season by a rookie QB.

Atlanta’s Penix Jr. looked solid in his second career start, especially down the stretch. He found TE Kyle Pitts in the endzone with just over a minute left to tie the game, and even set the team up for the potential game-winning 56-yard field goal with two seconds left.

With the Commanders victory, the Los Angeles Rams are now champs of the NFC West, leaving one spot left for the NFC South champion. The Buccaneers (9-7) have a one-game lead over the Falcons (8-8).

Tampa faces New Orleans, while Atlanta takes on Carolina.

Can there be more than one MVP?

Someone needs to start a petition for a split MVP.

The three MVP hopefuls — Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley — all made their cases stronger this week with impressive performances.

Allen, the betting favourite, added three more total touchdowns in a blowout victory over the New York Jets, making him the first player in NFL history with five consecutive 40-plus TD seasons.

Jackson showed out on Christmas Day with a three TD performance of his own, and has the Ravens in the lead in the AFC North. He’s up to 43 total TDs and has thrown only four interceptions.

And then there is Barkley. The Eagles running back ran for 167 yards against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, making him the ninth player in league history to run for over 2,000 yards in a season. Barkley sits at 2,005 yards, 101 shy of breaking the single-season record of 2,105 held by Eric Dickerson.

“I’m not overtly trying to get it. I’m not scared of it. But we’ve got bigger things we’re focused on,” Barkley said. “I didn’t sign here just to break a record. I want to do something special with the team.”

Unfortunately for Barkley, the MVP is typically a quarterback award. Since 1990, QBs have won the awards in all but eight seasons, with the last being Adrian Peterson in 2012. If you are rooting for Barkley, you can bank on the fact that the eight non-QBs to win were all RBs.

Historic rookie receiving class

With 171 receiving yards against the Colts, Malik Nabers (1,140) joins Brian Thomas Jr. (1,179) and Ladd McConkey (1,054) as rookie WRs with more than 1,000 receiving yards.

It is the second time since the 1970 merger that three rookie wideouts eclipsed the mark (Kelvin Benjamin, Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014).

To help separate this generational class from 2014, tight end Brock Bowers broke two rookie records with his seven catch, 77 yards performance in the Raiders’ win over the Saints. The 13th overall pick now has the most catches in a season by a rookie (108), and broke Mike Ditka’s 63-year-old record for rookie receiving yards by a tight end (1,144).

Nabers (104) sits only four catches behind Bowers despite missing two games.

Anyone have Drew Lock to throw for 309 yards and four touchdowns and run for a score on their Bingo card?

In a shocking offensive display, the Giants’ tank took a major hit as they fall to the fourth overall pick after winning 45-33.

It’s the most points New York have scored in a game since Dec.,2019 and it marks their first win at home this season (1-8).

Lock must have been fuelled by revenge as he was Colts starter Joe Flacco’s backup in Denver. His +1.18 EPA/play today is the sixth best of any QB since 1999.

Flacco made headlines in 2019 after stating that it wasn’t his job to mentor the second-round pick, even though Lock was brought in with the hopes of becoming the franchise QB.

The New England Patriots now hold the first-overall pick, followed by the Titans and Browns with the next-best odds.

Move over parrots, the duck is a pirate’s new best friend.

During the third quarter of the Buccaneers-Carolina Panthers matchup, a duck was spotted waddling on the field, and it clearly inspired the Bucs.

On that play, Tampa blocked the punt and returned it for a TD, extending its lead to 41-14 in a must-win game.

Although the Bucs scored on the play, rookie WR Jalen McMillan, a University of Washington product, is still not a fan of ducks. “It was one of the bad moments on the field,” he said with a smirk. “Ducks aren’t good luck, they’re weird.”

We’ve seen cats, birds and unwanted fans on the field, but never a duck. Perhaps it was excited to watch former Oregon Duck and current Tampa RB Bucky Irving, but one has to think it might have enjoyed the Week 16 Thursday night game between Nix and Justin Herbert a bit more.

Lost in one of the many blowouts in Week 17 was a hilarious moment by Eagles superstar WR A.J. Brown.

After catching a 20-yard TD late in the third quarter, Brown proceeded to launch the football into the stands in celebration, only to realize that ball he threw away was the first TD pass of QB Tanner McKee’s career.

“I felt so bad because I threw it so far,” Brown said after the game.

Luckily for McKee, Brown traded his jersey to the fan for the ball back.

The 2023 sixth-round pick came into the game after starting QB Kenny Pickett left with a rib injury and helped the Eagles clinch the NFC East.

“My first hat-and-T-shirt game. I didn’t even know that was a thing,” Barkley said, throwing some shade at his former squad and division rival Giants.