Chiefs flirt with danger; Ravens continue resurgence
The Kansas City Chiefs barely beat the Atlanta Falcons, the Pittsburgh Steelers overcame a huge deficit to shock the Indianapolis Colts. and the Baltimore Ravens continued their surge with a win over the New York Giants.
The top spot in the AFC playoffs has been decided — as has the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft — but even a few irrelevant teams showed some pluck Sunday. And the Green Bay Packers closed the night in style with a blowout win over the Tennessee Titans.
Here’s what we learned:
— The Chiefs love to play with fire.
A win was hardly necessary for Kansas City, as the Chiefs were virtually assured of the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs even if they lost their final two games. But watching Kansas City barely hang on for a 17-14 win at home over the Falcons reinforced the idea that Patrick Mahomes’ team tends to play down to its competition.
A sloppy effort against Atlanta had the Chiefs losing 14-10 with just more than two minutes remaining. The game would have headed to overtime if not for an unlikely miss from Atlanta’s Younghoe Koo, as the Pro Bowl kicker’s attempt at a game-tying 39-yard field goal sailed wide right.
Regardless of how close they cut it, the Chiefs (14-1) own the AFC’s only first-round bye. Perhaps by the divisional round of the playoffs, the Chiefs will decide that it’s important to try for the entire game.
— There is some fight left in the Steelers.
Pittsburgh came into the day on a three-game losing streak and appeared to be headed toward a fourth consecutive loss when it fell behind the Colts 24-7 in the third quarter. From that point, the game belonged entirely to the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger started the comeback in the third quarter by throwing a deep 39-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson.
Roethlisberger then added
a 5-yard touchdown to Eric Ebron and a 25-yarder to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the fourth, as Pittsburgh’s defense shut down Indianapolis. The Colts’ final four drives resulted in two punts, an interception and a turnover on downs.
Pittsburgh, which clinched the AFC North title with Sunday’s win, moved a half-game ahead of Buffalo for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, with the Bills trying to get back even in Monday’s late game at New England. Indianapolis (10-5) is currently not in line for a playoff spot because Baltimore and Cleveland own tiebreakers over the Colts, but a Week 17 victory over Jacksonville would give Indianapolis a decent shot of
advancing.
— The Ravens control their playoff destiny.
Baltimore dropped to 6-5 with a loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 2 — the Ravens’ fourth defeat in five games — and seemed like a long shot to make the playoffs. A soft schedule, and a return to form by quarterback Lamar Jackson, have righted the ship.
Thanks to a 27-13 victory over the Giants, the Ravens can now secure their third straight trip to the playoffs simply by beating Cincinnati next week. Baltimore’s four-game win streak has included only one victory over a team with a winning record, but an average of 37 points per game is impressive no matter the opponent.
The Ravens, who thrive when chewing up huge chunks of yardage on the ground, have averaged 233.3 yards rushing in the fourgame win streak after having been held to fewer than 200 in nine of their first 11 games.
— There will be a division winner with a losing record.
Washington came into the day with dreams of finishing the season at 8-8, but a 20-13 loss at home to the Carolina Panthers dropped Washington to 6-9, meaning the NFC East will be won by a team that is, at best, 7-9.
The division’s teams have often been hard to watch, but they will provide the most exciting subplot of Week 17, as the Footballers, the Dallas Cowboys and the Giants
will all go into the final day with a chance at earning a playoff game at home. Washington can make it nice and simple by winning a road game against the eliminated Philadelphia Eagles — a result that would be far more attainable should quarterback Alex Smith return from a calf injury.
— Frank Gore is going out in style. After a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in November dropped the Jets to 0-10, Gore, 37, addressed his team’s struggles (and his own future), saying, “You don’t want to go 0-16, especially if this is my last year. I can’t go out like that.”
In Week 15, Gore helped the Jets end their 13-game losing streak by scoring the 100th touchdown of his career. Sunday, he ran for a teamhigh 48 yards as the Jets beat the Browns 23-16. In doing so, Gore joined Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton as the only players in NFL history with at least 16,000 yards rushing.
Gore will miss the last game because of a bruised lung, so it seems like he’ll finish with exactly 16,000 yards.
— Trevor Lawrence is moving about six hours south. The downside of Gore getting his wish to go out well with the Jets is the team having officially handed the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft to Jacksonville, which almost assuredly will lead to Lawrence, Clemson’s star quarterback, taking a long drive down I-95 to replace Gardner Minshew rather than heading north to replace Sam Darnold.
The Jaguars were emphatic in their failure Sunday, losing 41-17 to the suddenly surging Chicago Bears. But at least on offense, Jacksonville should be a terrific landing spot for Lawrence, as he will immediately be handed a good young running back (James Robinson) and two talented young wide receivers (D.J. Chark and Laviska Shenault Jr.).