Week 17 saw 13 of 16 matchups enter the day with playoff implications. The final regular-season Sunday ended with the NFC North and NFC East title bouts going down to the wire.
NFL schedule-makers, I tip my cap to you. A bang-up job.
Some teams locked in a first-round bye while others gave us plenty more to study before previewing the NFL wild-card round. Here are some lessons learned from Week 17 pertinent to this weekend’s games.
Rust on Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers owns Super Bowl MVP hardware so you know the big moment won’t shake him, and he certainly came through down the stretch. Green Bay Packers Coach Mike McCarthy is ruthlessly aggressive and Rodgers is a lethally mobile quarterback, and it was those things that set up the game-winning bomb to Randall Cobb — not your typical Rodgers accuracy.
The rust clearly bothered Rodgers all afternoon as he often missed high and behind receivers, including on the interception that glided off Jordy Nelson’s fingers; Rodgers botched a throw he normally makes with his eyes closed. Rodgers also threw perhaps his worst interception in years, gifting one to Chris Conte in the end zone during the first quarter.
Fortunately for Rodgers, the revelation for Green Bay’s running game that is Eddie Lacy can allow Rodgers to shake off the rust a little bit when the San Francisco 49ers come to town. When Green Bay won the 2011 Super Bowl, Rodgers was nearly perfect in the divisional round and Super Bowl.
The 2013 Packers aren’t as solely dependent on him as the last couple squads so Rodgers can lean on Lacy a bit this Sunday as Rodgers continues to find his footing.
Cincy Secondary Banged Up But No Liability
It’s tough to believe that Andy Dalton surpassed Joe Flacco as the longest-tenured starting quarterback to lead his team to postseason every year in the league.
Dalton fittingly accomplished this thanks to his defense in Week 17. Marvin Lewis and Mike Zimmer’s unit crippled the Baltimore Ravens offense by holding Joe Flacco to 0-for-5 with an interception on passes over 20 yards in air.
Dre Kirkpatrick capped off the fine day with a pick-six to put Baltimore away, while fellow first-round DBs Adam “Pacman” Jones and Reggie Nelson continue to have a career revivals in the Cincinnati Bengals secondary. And not to forget second-year fifth-rounder George Illoka stepping up big at safety.
It’s incredible that injuries haven’t torn down this secondary after watching some pitiful tackling against the Indianapolis Colts, or seeing key corners Leon Hall and Terence Newman go down along with the interior pass-rush of Geno Atkins.
Yet this unit has rounded into form over the past three weeks — each opposing QB under 200 yards passing — thanks to defensive backs that were easy to give up on. Sunday opponent Philip Rivers knows all too well, as Cincy limited the Pro Bowler to 252 yards and the San Diego Chargers to just 10 points in their Dec. 1 meeting.
Nick Foles Not a Tier I Quarterback, Not Yet at Least
Foles’ passing numbers might show a level of efficiency rivaled by none in 2013 save for Peyton Manning, but it’s still hard to value the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback spot anywhere close to your Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers or even Russell Wilson. Foles’ QB rating is inflated by what you could call the Alex Smith effect. Smith took a very high amount of unnecessary sacks and was often to eager to just throw the ball away or into the ground. This hurt the offense, but avoided the kind of chancy throws that will hurt the passer rating of more aggressive quarterbacks.
I believe Foles is a much better quarterback and takes more deep shots than Smith did with the Niners (not to be confused with the much-improved Smith with the Chiefs) but Foles’ inability to move from initial read to see open outlets LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, etc. left yards on the table at times last night. Foles took five sacks and an intentional grounding that each put Philly in tough down and distance, along with a critical strip-sack in Eagles territory that helped keep Dallas in striking distance. He finished with QB rating of 124.4 for the game.
NBC color commentator Chris Collinsworth mentioned a few times last night that Foles would often drop his eyes when pressured. Both Eagles Coach Chip Kelly and New Orleans Saints DC Rob Ryan will factor this into their gameplans for Saturday.
The AFC Wild-Card Spot Should Be Given to the NFC, or Pittsburgh
Maybe this isn’t a new lesson, but it was certainly confirmed Sunday. As the Ravens, Dolphins and Chargers threw out stinkers it seemed that Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop would put San Diego out of their misery Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for black and gold, Steelers fans received the diaphragm punch of a lifetime as Succop’s missed chip-shot kept the Chargers alive along enough to prevail against KC’s backups, and into major Vegas underdogs at Cincy in the wild-card round.
Allowing the Steelers in by virtue of the Chargers’ loss would’ve been acceptable given their level of play the past few weeks. Giving the Chargers a slot while the 10-win NFC West warriors go home just seems brutal. Arizona Cardinals fans are like the bizarro St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans. There, there.
What We Learned About Opening Lines
Via RJ Bell of Pregame.com:
Colts -2.5 hosting Chiefs
Eagles -2.5 hosting Saints
Bengals -7 hosting Chargers
49ers -2.5 at Packers
Not going to lie, the Bengals appear made for a tease.
