Each week of the NFL season brings a host of new questions…and answers some old ones, too. Let’s review what we learned in Week 18…and what we’ll wonder about in the first round of the playoffs and beyond.
ASK: Is there a way to fix week 18?
When the most compelling element of the final week of your regular season is which team is going to work the hardest and end up with a chance to work a little less next season, something is definitely wrong.
Week 18, as always seems to be the case, was a real disappointment this season, mainly because the stakes were so small. Only three teams outside the playoff bubble had a mathematical chance of getting in, and only one of them — the Cincinnati Bengals — played with a sense of fire and urgency. The Atlanta Falcons have decided to give their defense an early vacation. The Miami Dolphins didn’t have Tua Tagovailoa. And the Kansas City Chiefs exhausted their scout team and allowed Denver to walk all over them, effectively escorting the Broncos to the playoffs.
When nothing is at stake, there is no emergency or fire. The Bills gave Josh Allen a big, asterisk-laden start against New England, then immediately pulled him. Saquon Barkley did not play in the Eagles’ final game, passing up the chance to break the single-season rushing record. And the less said about the Chiefs’ turnaround, the better.
The fact is that there isn’t much that can be done about it. The NFL is an inverted bell curve: there are a number of very good teams, a whole bunch of terrible teams, and only a few in a murky environment. There’s not much that can be done about it that isn’t already done, so we have to console ourselves with the thought that we’ll miss these games in June. Maybe.
ANSWER: Jerod Mayo got a job
There’s no other way to say this: Jerod Mayo was beaten by the New England Patriots. The team hired him with a subpar roster, then fired him when that subpar roster behaved substandardly. The team even had a fully prepared statement from owner Robert Kraft, just hours after the Patriots beat the Bills. This is an organization ready to move on, whether New England lost in Week 18 or beat Buffalo by 75 points.
Mayo didn’t have the support of many in the Patriots organization and didn’t help himself with some public gaffes and criticism of his own roster. But placing all the blame for the organization’s woes on his shoulder after just 17 games is flat-out wrong…and seems to indicate the Patriots have someone else in mind. It’s pure coincidence, we’re sure, that Mike Vrabel is now available and on the market.
Was Mayo the right man for the New England coaching job? Maybe not. But he deserved more opportunities to prove himself, or at least more respect on the way out.
ASK: Did the Vikings run out of gas?
It’s not fair that we spent the entire season wondering when the Vikings would regress to expected performance, but it is what it is. You can’t really say that a team that won 14 games in the regular season failed by any measure, and yet Vikings fans can’t be particularly excited about how Sunday night’s final regular season game went – Minnesota looked outmatched and unprepared, making poor decisions on the field and sideline throughout the game. Sam Darnold was just 18 of 41 for 166 yards with no touchdowns, and several of those failures came in crucial possessions from the deep red zone.
Minnesota is now the winningest team to ever be relegated to the wild card weekend and draws a feisty Los Angeles Rams team to close out the first weekend of the playoffs. Assuming Minnesota wins and assuming all the other seeds hold, the Vikings will be back in Detroit in two weeks. What, if anything, will they have learned by then?
ANSWER: Detroit is going to be a very difficult time
The Vikings got an up-close lesson in what the rest of the league is about to realize: Detroit has found another gear. (Car reference, because Detroit.) Jahmyr Gibbs scored four touchdowns against Minnesota on Sunday night, three on the ground and one through the air, proving that Sonic can thrive even without Knuckles. Jared Goff struggled a bit, throwing two interceptions in questionable situations, but Detroit’s oft-maligned defense stepped up and stopped Justin Jefferson. It’s a testament to Dan Campbell’s coaching staff, how everyone works in tandem toward a goal of disruption and dissolution. And now the Lions have two weeks to prepare for their next opponent.
Be afraid, fellow NFL playoff participants. Be very afraid.
ASK: Who would you take now, Caleb Williams or Bryce Young?
Just because this is the last time we’ll talk about it until August… how have the last two No. 1 picks fared this season? Carolina’s Bryce Young and Chicago’s Caleb Williams were criticized for their performances; Young even took the bench for a few games when he was struggling too much for the Panthers to take him. But as the season went on, they started to get a little closer.
Both had the exact same yards per pass attempt – 6.3 – and almost the same completion percentage (Young 60.9%, Williams 62.5%). Williams had over 37 more passing yards — 208.3 to 171.6 — and 20 touchdowns in 17 games compared to Young’s 15. Both had almost identical rushing yards per attempt of around six yards, but Young had six rushing touchdowns to Williams’ 0. It’s possible Williams could improve with another year in the league; Is Young?
So, with all that in mind… who would you take right now to start your team?
ANSWER: Baker Mayfield is that guy
Everything was set up for a classic Week 18 disappointment for Tampa Bay – an easy opponent, a wide-open path to the playoffs, a classic trap play opportunity. And early on, it certainly looked like the Bucs were going to claw their way out of a fourth straight NFC South championship. The Saints opened a 10-point lead over Tampa Bay behind, among others, Spencer Rattler. But Mayfield handled matters calmly, throwing for 221 yards, rushing for 68 and guiding the Bucs into the game after practice. At the end of the match, the outcome was in no doubt, only the final score was.
Mayfield doesn’t have the most talented roster around him, and his receiving corps is seriously depleted. But he’s got a bunch of junkyard guys in his corner, and he’s the biggest guy of them all. Tampa Bay probably won’t win the Super Bowl this year, but it won’t happen without a real fight, either.
