FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Week 17 was a fascinating one with a couple of the best games of the season.
The Chicago Bears took the Green Bay Packers to overtime. The Jacksonville Jaguars turned heads against the Denver Broncos. And the Seattle Seahawks usurped last week's No. 1 team, the Los Angeles Rams. There was elite quarterback play this week and a Tennessee Titans upset. What more could you want?
Let's take a look at how this week's slate of games changed the standings as 2025 nears its end.
I said last week that Week 16's Thursday night game was not going to disappoint and oh buddy… it did NOT! This game had everything!
The Rams lost despite having 581 total yards, zero sacks and three takeaways. No team has lost whilst accumulating these stats since 1975. Teams were 41-0 in such games prior to this loss. I just have one word: HOW?!
It wasn't a perfect game for the Patriots, but a win is a win. Drake Maye recorded his first 300-yard passing game of his young career, with 138 of those yards going to Stefon Diggs. I don't think this is going to be the last time these numbers are put up by this duo.
It was only a matter of time before the Broncos came down from on high. But are people underestimating the Jaguars? Because I know I have.
Justin Herbert with a peak performance despite the Cowboys blitzing on over half of Herbert's dropbacks. He was unfazed, completing 23 of his 29 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns. But, remember, this was the Cowboys defense he did this against. Soooo… grain of salt.
The 49ers haven't been known to be an offense that scores a ton of points this season, but Monday night was different. Very different.
Like Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence is making a late-season push for recognition. Despite being pressured at the fourth-highest rate of his career by a seriously good Broncos defense, he still accumulated 279 passing yards and three touchdowns in the win.
The Bears shouldn't have won that game. Seriously. That's what the stats show. They had a 0.5% win probability prior to recovering the onside kick coming out of the two-minute warning. It's the fifth-most improbable win in the Next Gen Stats era (2016). Bonkers.
The Bills squeaked out a win against one of the league's bottom quartile teams. But hey, they have reached 11 wins for the sixth consecutive season, which is the longest active streak in the NFL. You'd think they would have a Super Bowl berth to show for that run, but alas.
The Eagles officially clinched the top spot in the NFC East with this win, marking the first back-to-back division championship for Philly since their dominant run from 2001-04.
The Lions had absolutely no answer for Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell and the Steelers offensive line. In fact, the Steelers running backs had their most explosive runs (six) in a game this season and averaged a season-high three yards before contact per carry.
The Packers are at a bit of a crossroads with two games left in the season and second in the NFC North at the moment. Jordan Love left the loss to Chicago with a concussion — if and when the Packers get him back is going to be a main topic of conversation up north.
The Texans are currently second in the AFC South. They face the Chargers and Colts in their final two games in 2025. They will be playing for all the marbles in those games.
The Lions' defense struggled in the loss. They missed 11 tackles and allowed a season-high 96 yards after missed tackles. This is exceptionally uncommon for this group, seeing as they had the second-fewest yards after missed tackles in the league going into Week 16 and were one of only two defenses to have a missed tackle rate under 10%.
I don't think this is going to be a recurring theme moving forward — more an anomaly — but it absolutely contributed to the loss.
Fun fact: This game was the first time the Panthers and Bucs have met beyond Week 5, where each team sat at .500 or better since 2008. That year, the Panthers beat the Bucs, 28-23. They went on the win the NFC South and the Bucs missed the playoffs. Is history about to repeat itself?
We're getting to the point where I am worried the Colts — despite the start they had to the season — may not win another game.
Despite Derrick Henry's ridiculous performance (in which he carried the ball 18 times to the tune of 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns and finished the game with a rushing success rate of 66.7%) the Ravens still lost. And that's kind of upsetting for Henry.
Absolute chaos in the NFC South (what's new, right?). The Bucs have lost six of their last seven games since starting the season 6-2. This run includes losses to all three division opponents. They've lost the division lead, and frustrations in Tampa are mounting.
Another week, another game where the Cowboys defense gives up 25-plus points while Dak Prescott puts up consistent numbers that should lead to more wins than this team has.
After averaging a career-low 4.7 receptions and 59.4 receiving yards per game leading into Week 16, Justin Jefferson got a nice pick-me-up against the Giants, leading the team with six receptions for 85 yards. Still nothing major, but a step up from where it's been since Week 5, when he went for over 100.
Kyle Pitts continues his resurgence. Bijan Robinson supasses 2,000 scrimmage yards. The Falcons have won their last two. It's unfortunate this is happening two weeks after they were eliminated from playoff contention.
With Tua benched, I didn't know how much to expect out of Quinn Ewers. In some ways, he surprised me with a clean first half and ending the game 20 of 30. But in other ways, it was kind of on par for a first NFL start with those two interceptions.
My goodness how the wheels have fallen off for the Chiefs. Everyone always knew Patrick Mahomes was the linchpin but lord have mercy.
Electric quarterback play continued with a whopping 309-yard, four-touchdown performance from Joe Burrow. He became just the fifth player in NFL history to record 20,000 passing yards in their first 75 games. Just think how quickly he would have hit that mark without all the injuries he's sustained since entering the league.
Tyler Shough continues to lead this Saints offense well. Chris Olave is heating up. And Taysom Hill became the first player in the Super Bowl era to reach the 1,000-yard mark in passing, rushing and receiving. Despite their record, the back half of the Saints' 2025 season has been fruitful.
The Commanders should probably count their blessings the Eagles defense wasn't the unit on the field when that scuffle broke out. Just sayin'.
The Cardinals have been decimated by injuries this season. That continued against the Falcons with multiple players carted to the locker room with significant injuries that will likely linger into 2026.
Even with Patrick Mahomes out and with nothing really left for the Chiefs to play for, no one really gave the Titans much of a shot. And yet, they pummeled the Chiefs. One of the most head-turning performances of the year.
This was a valiant effort by the Browns against a top quartile team. And hey, Myles Garrett is one sack away from breaking the single-season sack record. So, not all bad!
There's really not much to say about this performance from the perspective of the Jets. They scored six points and allowed nearly 30. I mean, what else is there to say? They're 3-12 now? That's just adding insult to injury.
Saw a tweet on Sunday that said something to the effect of, "The Raiders have a bunch of really talented players, but a very untalented team." And that was the best description I have heard about that group all season.
It was an abysmal day through the air for the Vikings. They recorded just 13 net passing yards, which is the fourth-fewest by the franchise in a game in the Super Bowl era.
