NFL Week 16 Recap: Do You Believe in Christmas Miracles?!

When the Green Bay Packers lost their Sunday Night Football matchup to the Philadelphia Eagles, I felt my hope for this team decreasing. I was resigned to the realization that this team's season was over; a realization that remained after the Packers beat the Bears. Then I watched the Sunday Night game between the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants, and then something hit me:

"We're going to be 1.5 games behind whoever loses this game."

That statement could only come true if the Packers defeated that Rams, which happened. So our playoff pulse went up a bit. Even so, when it came to the Packers' path to the playoffs, it was a long one. Entering the team's Week 16 matchup against the Miami Dolphins, the Packers needed the following to happen:

1. Win out
2. Either Washington loses two of their final three or the Giants lose out
3. Seattle loses any of their final games
4. Detroit had to lose one of the two games prior to the final week game in Lambeau

Tall task, I know. However, a funny thing happened. Seattle lost in Kansas City. I knew that would happen anyway. The Giants lost in Minnesota. Saw that coming, too. Detroit lost in Charlotte to the Carolina Panthers. That was the game I was iffy on, because I didn't know which Panthers would show up. Finally, the Commanders were defeated in Santa Clara by the San Francisco 49ers. I also figured that would happen, but even so, all of the teams that the Packers needed to lose on Christmas Eve...actually lost!

So when it was the Packers' turn on Christmas Day, it was quite difficult. The Packers trailed 20-10 after a series of missteps, including wasting a 94 yard kick return by failing to get in the end zone and settling for three. However, the Packers managed to climb out of that hole, outscoring the Dolphins 16-0 thanks to a missed Jason Sanders field goal, and (especially) three Tua Tagovailoa interceptions thrown in the fourth quarter. The Packers won 26-20, and as a result, some might say, the Packers' playoff chances grew three sizes that day.

Speaking of Tua, after the game, he got buried on social media for his bad second half. I was afraid of this. Tua is a good QB, but the problem is, when he has one bad game, people tend to bury him for it. It's not like he has bad games every week. They happen every so often. Plus, it's unfair to blame that loss solely on Tua. Don't you think the Dolphins' defense could have done a better job following those turnovers? But there's more. It's now reported that Tua is in concussion protocol yet again, and video showed that Tua landed hard on his head in the second quarter, but they put him back out there like nothing happened. The bad second half followed.

Seriously, the Dolphins are such a dumb organization. It's bad enough that they unreasonably fired Brian Flores last year, and now, it seems like they are still mishandling Tua's health and physical well being in their quest to get into the playoffs. I seriously think they are desperate to prove that they were right to fire Flores, but it's coming at a high cost. Tua may be done for the rest of the season, and as a result, they could not only miss the playoffs, they could end up with a worse record than they had in Flores' last season. Hope it was worth it, Dolphins.

Another team in danger of missing the playoffs: the New England Patriots. We were on the verge of seeing yet another Christmas miracle, as the Patriots were down 22-0 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but they were coming back from that deficit. Would we see a 22-0 lead blown one week after a 33-0 lead was kiboshed. Almost. Cincy did hold on to win, 22-18, handing the Patriots a loss that they could ill afford to have. The bad lateral decision from the previous week is starting to become more cancerous with this loss, as they are not only down to 7-8, but they face elimination in Week 17. Even worse: their next loss will be their last.

Cincinnati clinched a playoff spot days before taking the field, as the New York Jets' loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars put them in. The Jags' win kept them close to the Tennessee Titans, but they were at home against Houston on Christmas Eve. So there was no way that the Titans would lose at home to a team with 1.5 total wins.

Yeah...about that.

It happened. The Houston Texans walked into Nashville, had to wait an extra hour due to the winter blast, and they left Nashville victorious! The Texans defeated the Tennessee Titans, 19-14; handing the Titans their fifth straight loss. Remember when everyone said the AFC South was over? That's definitely not the case now, or it may be over for the Titans. Three things happened as a result of this. For one, the Titans and Jaguars are now tied for first place, and the Jags have the tiebreaker. Second, the Titans moved down six spots in the AFC standings, going from #4 to #10; ahead of the victorious Pittsburgh Steelers via tiebreaker. And finally, as a result of the Jags' win and the Titans' loss, their head-to-head meeting on Week 18 will decide the AFC South, regardless of what happens next week. One more thing. The Texans are 2-12-1 this season, but they are 2-1-1 against divisional opponents. Let that sink in.

The Buffalo Bills locked up the AFC East, but the Philadelphia Eagles had to wait on their NFC East crown, as the Dallas Cowboys defeated Philly, 40-34, to keep their own division hopes alive. Philly was also looking to lock up the #1 seed, but without Jalen Hurts at QB, it was difficult. CeeDee Lamb definitely made it difficult for the Eagles, who had to start Gardner Minshew at QB. How was Lamb's performance on Christmas Eve? Let's go to the numbers.

Fantasy scoring for wide receivers is simple. PPR rules apply, 1 point per every 10 yards, and touchdowns are six points each. Lamb had ten receptions (10 points) for 120 yards (12 points) and two touchdowns (another 12 points) giving him 34 fantasy points. Lamb led all WRs in fantasy scoring in Week 16, while counterpart, Devonta Smith, was second with 31.3 points.

Two more teams joined the playoff party this week. The Baltimore Ravens' 17-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons locked up a playoff spot for the team; an improvement over how 2021 ended for them. They remain on pace with the Bengals in the AFC North, and their finale against Cincy could decide the division. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't join the party, but their 19-16 overtime win moved them one step closer; now all they need to do to lock up the dismal NFC South is defeat the Carolina Panthers next week. However, the Los Angeles Chargers did nab a playoff spot on Monday Night Football, defeating the immensely dilapidated Indianapolis Colts (who were officially eliminated four days before they took the field), 20-3. This was another team who had everything work out for them, as prior to their Monday game, the Jets lost on Thursday, and the Patriots and Raiders lost on Saturday, setting up the Chargers' win and in scenario.

I have to mention this. It's Christmas in Denver, a day late, but it's Christmas. The Denver Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett as their head coach after just under a season, and many say it should have happened weeks earlier. Hackett's last game was a meaningless affair against the Los Angeles Rams, but despite this, the Rams showed up, scoring 51 points on a team who had only given up 15 points per game. Hackett's response during the presser: "We weren't ready." Oh boy. The hiring of Hackett has become a punchline all season, and it's been heavily repeated that the only reason why they hired him was Aaron Rodgers: they were trying to get him. Instead, they ended up with the booby prize in the form Russell Wilson, paying an arm and a leg (among other parts) to get him. The Broncos are 4-11 this season and have been eliminated forever. Speaking of eliminations, the aforementioned Falcons and the Cleveland Browns saw their seasons come to an end this week.

We are down to the final two weeks of the season, and Week 17 kicks off with the Thursday Night Football season finale between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tennesee Titans. Sunday Night Football will ring in 2023 with an AFC North battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, and the final Monday Night Football game of the 2022 season will feature a pair of AFC contenders in the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Here's my story about the Pittsburgh Steelers: