Getty New York Giants QB Daniel Jones.
NFL Wild Card weekend doesn’t kick off until January 14, but make no mistake about it, the playoffs began in earnest Sunday afternoon.
Across the league, 10 contests were staged in Week 17 that carried postseason implications, as far as seeding or qualifying for the playoffs.
Tampa Bay, led by yet another Tom Brady 4th-quarter comeback, clinched the NFC South on Sunday afternoon. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ path to the No. 1 seed looks windier than ever, and the NFC more wide open than it has been all season, after a disastrous afternoon in South Philly.
Meanwhile, the New York Giants are returning to the postseason, guided by Daniel Jones’ standout performance and a stifling defense.
“There’s a rhythm to the Giants’ passing game with Daniel Jones now,” NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger told Heavy on Sunday. “They will be a tough matchup for whomever they see in the playoffs.”
Other than that, it was another ho-hum Sunday, in a league that saw five games decided by one-score margins.
Here are the takeaways from the game’s biggest games of Week 17.
New York Giants 38, Indianapolis Colts 10
There’s something fitting about Landon Collins’ full-circle moment Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford.
Collins, with 1:45 remaining in the first half, intercepted Colts quarterback Nick Foles on an out-route down the sideline and returned the pick 52 yards for a touchdown to extend the Giants’ lead to 21-3, essentially sealing New York’s first trip to the postseason since 2016.
LANDON COLLINS WITH THE PICK 6!!!!!!!
📺: CBS
The Giants brought Collins back, following his unceremonious departure when former general manager Dave Gettleman decided to let the former All-Pro walk in 2019.
Collins signed with Washington and unloaded on Gettleman shortly thereafter, telling NJ Advance Media, “He’s a liar. He lied to everybody. So that’s a man I do not trust. I would hope nobody else would, too.”
After New York elevated Collins to the active roster in Week 15, against his former team, the 28-year-old has become a steady contributor, logging 5 total tackles, 1 pass breakup, and Sunday’s interception return for a touchdown.
The Giants blew out the Colts and Jones had the performance of his life — more on that below — but this game was put on ice when Collins took his interception to the house at the end of the half.
Collins was a key contributor to that 2016 team, and now was instrumental in the victory that guided the Giants back to the postseason for the first time since.
New Orleans Saints 20, Philadelphia Eagles 10
Injuries are mounting in Philadelphia, weakening the Eagles’ stranglehold on the NFC.
Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat was carted off the field on a backboard, and taken by ambulance to a local hospital after getting injured with 9:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Prior to suffering a neck injury, Sweat had been one of Philadelphia’s most consistently dominant defenders over the past month, producing 7.5 sacks with 18 total tackles, an interception returned for a touchdown and 1 forced fumble since November 27.
At the worst possible time, injuries are beginning to mount for the Eagles, who entered Sunday’s game with quarterback Jalen Hurts (shoulder), All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson (abdominal), safety CJ Gardner-Johnson (lacerated kidney), and cornerback Avonte Maddox (toe), all sidelined.
“The biggest thing for the Eagles is going to be if they can get all of these players back and at full-strength for the playoffs,” former NFL Executive of the Year Jeff Diamond told Heavy. “If not, this is going to have a big effect on their chances of making a run. Especially Hurts’ injury.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has rightfully drawn plenty of praise as a possible Coach of The Year front-runner. But, Sunday afternoon Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen did backup quarterback Gardner Minshew no favors. With Philadelphia trailing 13-0, the Eagles called just two designed runs in the first half. By the end of Philly’s most disastrous loss of the season, the Eagles ran the ball only 15 times, with a backup quarterback behind center.
With adversity closing in on the Eagles at a clip previously unprecedented this season, Sirianni and the coaching staff need to be smarter as the postseason nears.
Green Bay Packers 41, Minnesota Vikings 17
The Packers’ secondary won the day and kept Green Bay‘s postseason hopes alive and well against a bitter division rival.
Jaire Alexander completely made Minnesota Vikings all-world receiver Justin Jefferson a non-factor, holding Jefferson to 1 catch on 5 targets for 15 yards. Meanwhile, safety Darnell Savage returned a kick Cousins interception for a touchdown, and Adrian Amos picked Cousins off, as well.
“I’m confident in myself. I said what I said and I meant what I said.”
Jaire Alexander backed up all his talk this week by holding Justin Jefferson to ONE reception in the @Packers rout of Vikings.
On an afternoon Aaron Rodgers was held to 159 yards with 1 passing touchdown and a 2-yard rushing score, the Packers played the definition of complementary football.
Green Bay scored on defense, they scored on special teams, and the Packers converted Minnesota’s 4 turnovers into 21 points, in addition to returning an interception for a touchdown.
The Packers’ systematic dismantling of the Vikings was as much a statement victory for Green Bay, as a terrifying reality check for Minnesota.
“There was no way that Minnesota could continue to get every break, every bounce, every call,” Heavy contributor and former NFL Executive of the Year Randy Mueller said Sunday. “What goes around, comes around, eventually.”
Green Bay’s blowout win simultaneously kept the Vikings from making up any ground on the Eagles for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, while keeping its own postseason hopes alive and well entering next Sunday’s finale against the surging Detroit Lions.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30, Carolina Panthers 24
Write off Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at your own peril.
Brady, who has been written off by many sources inside the league as being caught by Father Time this season, remains as clutch as ever.
Sunday, with the Buccaneers trailing the Panthers 21-10 just 4 seconds into the 4th quarter of a game Tampa had to have to keep postseason hopes alive, the greatest quarterback of all-time once again reiterated that the 4th quarter remains Brady Time.
Through the first three quarters Sunday afternoon, Brady was 15-of-20 passing for 196 yards with a touchdown, before shifting into a new gear. In the final frame, only one of Brady’s 13 passing attempts hit the ground as he passed for 166 yards and 2 scores in the final frame.
The deficit erased, 30-24 victory, and consecutive NFC South division championships clinched for the first time in franchise history.
Sunday marked the 46th 4th-quarter comeback of Brady’s career, his fourth this season, and 3rd in the Buccaneers’ past three victories. By game’s end, Brady passed for 432 yards, his most in a Buccaneers uniform, saving his best moments for the game’s biggest.
Brady might not be the catalyst for the Buccaneers’ success at this stage of his career, but he remains as clutch as ever, and that makes Tampa Bay dangerous as the postseason looms.
Week 17 MVP: Giants Quarterback Daniel Jones
Sunday was the day Jones became the Giants’ franchise quarterback.
In a game that carried the most significant stakes of any in his career, Jones authored a career-defining performance that ended the Giants’ five-year postseason drought.
Against the Colts, completing 79% of his passes for 177 yards with 2 touchdowns, while adding 91 rushing yards and 2 rushing scores, all but cementing his status as New York’s long-term solution at the most important position in sports.
“He has found four dependable targets,” Baldinger told Heavy has been the driving force behind Jones’ success. “Darius Slayton. Richie James. Isaiah Hodgins. Daniel Bellinger. They all practice. They all have defined roles. And he trusts them and he trusts his protection.”
Daniel Jones :)
That’s the tweet
Prior to the 2022 NFL draft, the Giants declined Jones’ fifth-year option. But, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft has silenced the critics, elevated his play, and led the Giants back to the NFL playoffs for the first time in half a decade by executing Brian Daboll’s offense nearly flawlessly.
Jones and the Giants are locked in as the NFC’s No. 6 seed in the NFL playoffs.
But, after Jones answered the bell and virtually every question facing him this season, his and the Giants’ futures now seem inextricably tied with better days ahead for Big Blue.
Week 17 Breakout Star: Patriots Safety Kyle Dugger
Every game is a playoff game for the New England Patriots from here on out, and against the division rival Miami Dolphins, one of New England’s most impactful defensive players made one of the most important defensive plays of the season.
With the Patriots trailing the Dolphins 13-10, in a game New England had to win in order to keep postseason hopes alive, Dugger jumped a route on a Teddy Bridgewater pass intended for Trent Sherfield with 3:03 remaining in the 3rd quarter, and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. Dugger’s return gave the Patriots the lead, and they never looked back, escaping 23-21.
“His instincts are off the charts,” an AFC scouting director told Heavy, of Dugger. “And, he plays in a system that allows players to play with instincts and gamble. His keep paying off.”
Dugger’s touchdown Sunday was the 26-year-old’s third score of the season and the Patriots’ seventh. If New England is going to make a run, the defense, and playmakers like Dugger, may need to be a driving force.