Upsets scramble last playoff slots, seedings
What if?
The question hung in the air for several NFL teams that failed to live up to their potential and capitalize on precious opportunities this weekend. And the question will linger as they head toward the final week of the regular season and offseasons that begin too soon.
A missed catch or tackle here, a bad play call there … no doubt players and coaches are wishing for a do-over or two.
Losses on Saturday and Sunday killed fading hopes for some squads. For others, Week 17 now represents one last shot at redemption.
Here’s a look at some of the teams that will suffer the most because of their failure to take care of business.
Cowboys: Once again, Jason Garrett and his team failed to get the
job done, and now, following Sunday’s 17-9 loss to the Eagles, they lose control of the NFC East and just might miss out on the playoffs.
Expectations have weighed heavily on this team all year, but in virtually every truth-teller moment, Dallas has fallen short. So should it really come as a surprise that Cowboys couldn’t dispatch the Eagles and lock up the division? All hope isn’t lost, but now the Cowboys need help, and the questions of Garrett’s job security will only intensify.
Seahawks: All they had to do was win at home against the struggling Cardinals and they could’ve kept pace with division rival San Francisco. But Seattle ranked among the group of teams that couldn’t deliver.
This is an odd team. One week the Seahawks look like the best team in their conference, and then they don’t show up at all. It happened a couple of weeks ago against the Rams, and now Arizona.
Next Sunday night’s meeting with San Francisco could have been a showdown with huge implications. But now, there’s not nearly as much riding on this season finale, and Seattle could be looking at road playoff games.
Steelers: Entering Week 16 in the sixth spot of the AFC playoff race, Pittsburgh could have controlled its destiny with a victory over the hosting Jets. But the moment was too big for undrafted rookie quarterback Delvin Hodges, who threw two more interceptions and no TD passes to put his team in an early 10-0 hole. Despite the in-game switch to Mason Rudolph (until he left with an injury), Pittsburgh never managed to overtake the Jets and dropped to 8-7. What’s worse now, the Titans are penciled in at that sixth spot. For much of this season, the Steelers have managed to overcome the injury to Ben Roethlisberger and the on-again/off-again ailments of running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster thanks largely to their defense. But on Sunday, Pittsburgh needed more firepower and couldn’t find it anywhere and now must gear up for a must-win situation at Baltimore, where the Ravens have already locked up home-field advantage through the playoffs and could rest their starters.
Rams: The Rams have found themselves in the most desperate of survival modes for several weeks now. And as they hosted the NFC West-leading 49ers, they had no margin for error. But they blew a 28-24 late third-quarter lead and fell 34-31 on a last-second field goal. And so ended the Rams’ hopes of returning to the postseason. They join the long list of teams to fall prey to the Super Bowl hangover.
Back when they reported for training camp, coach Sean McVay and his players believed they had what it took both mentally and talent-wise to avoid the curse that historically plagues the loser of the Super Bowl. They had retooled their defense, adding stars like Clay Matthews and Eric Weddle. They had gotten younger along their offensive line, and they believed that a strong leadership group would continue to set the tone and ensure that the roster as a whole would avoid regression and complacency.
However, things were always just a bit off for this Rams team. Todd Gurley never regained his dynamic form despite coaches’ efforts to keep him fresh. And without their workhorse back at his best, the Rams lost the stabilizer of their offense. Jarred Goff struggled while asked to shoulder a heavier load, and defensive consistency and chemistry remained elusive throughout the season.
The Rams’ struggles this season just further illustrate how hard it is to win in this ever-changing league. Nothing is a given, even when core players remain.
Now Rams’ brass must gear up for an offseason of additional retooling as they try to rebound while opening a new stadium in 2020 and remain competitive in a much-improved NFC West.
Browns: Like the Rams, the Browns will view 2019 as a season marked by missed opportunities. Sunday represented another shortcoming with crippling implications.
Entering Sunday, Cleveland already was assured that it would not post a winning record because of its 6-8 record. However, a sliver of hope remained that the Browns could reach the postseason. They needed to beat the visiting Ravens, and they needed help from elsewhere. But they fell flat after a promising start to the season and wound up getting steamrolled 31-15 by Lamar Jackson (238 passing yards and three touchdowns, 103 rushing yards) and the Ravens.
The game basically summed up the Browns’ season: promise followed by ineptitude.
No team entered the season with more hype than did Cleveland, which underwent two aggressive offseasons highlighted by star-studded acquisitions. However, chemistry issues and a lack of discipline crippled this squad, and first-year coach Freddie Kitchens seemed to be in over his head. Now, the same Cleveland squad that had players and fans dreaming of the postseason instead finds itself in danger of suffering another double-digit-loss season.
Given the shortcomings of this campaign and the way that this team failed to come together, Kitchens seems like a dead man walking entering Week 17.
Bills: The Bills already have punched their postseason ticket. But they had a chance to make things rather interesting in the AFC East entering the final week of the season. All they had to do was defeat the rival Patriots, who had their number for the better part of two decades. Buffalo took a 17-13 lead into the fourth quarter and came within 9 yards of a tying touchdown with 1:55 left. But a sack and an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal killed their chances, and New England escaped 24-17 with the division title.
Fortunately for the Bills, they still have more football left. But as they head to the playoffs, concerns about their offense remain. Allen was going against the top-ranked defense in the league, but even so, Saturday represented the 15th game this season he has failed to pass for 300 yards, and he completed just 50% of his passes.
Giants: Yes, they beat Washington 41-35 in overtime. But as they improved to 4-11, the Giants did themselves no favors when it comes to this spring’s draft.
The win over Washington dropped them from the No. 2 spot, and now the Redskins move into position to potentially draft Ohio State’s Chase Young, billed as a generational pass rusher, or to command a bevy of picks from any team desperate for that second pick.