NFL Week 18 Recap: What a Finish!

I do love the final week of the NFL season, especially in this 18-week format. Week 18 kicks off with a pair of games on Saturday, with the remaining 14 games taking place on Sunday. The reason for this is because that Week 18 used to be Wild Card Weekend, which had two Saturday games (one in the late afternoon and the other on primetime). With the permanent addition of the 18th week in 2021, the final week inherited the Saturday spots from what used to be Wild Card Weekend.

So I will go in order here and mainly focus on the playoff-relevant games. 11 of the 16 games were vital to the playoffs, and two of them took place on Saturday. First off, the Pittsburgh Steelers went to Baltimore to face off against a Ravens team who was resting a lot of their players. Despite this, the game was ugly and back-and-forth, but the Steelers did survive by a score of 17-10. So their playoff hopes remained alive.

The Steelers could have clinched a playoff spot as soon as later that Saturday, as they needed a tie between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts. This game was a defacto playoff game, and the scenarios were simple. The winner was in, the losing team was out, and a tie gets the Steelers and the Buffalo Bills in, while the Texans would be done. This was also back and forth, but not as sloppy as the first game. Houston had a 14-6 lead at halftime, but a Colts touchdown and two-pointer evened things out. The teams traded field goals before Houston found the end zone again, but a missed extra point gave Indy a chance to actually win it. However, that drive would end on a bad Gardner Minshew pass when Jonathan Taylor should have been used.

The Texans won, 23-19, to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019, while the Colts' season came to an end. That was the story: one dream season continued, while another ended. Also as a result, Houston earned the opportunity to watch the Jags/Titans game and hope the Titans pull off an upset, as a Jaguars loss would give Houston the AFC South crown.

Not only was Houston watching this game, so were Buffalo and Pittsburgh, because a Jaguars loss would fill up the AFC playoff field. The central story was, "Would Trevor Lawrence play?" T-Law had been plagued with a shoulder injury since the game against the Bengals, but at the last moment, the announcement was made: Lawrence was in. So the Jags should win, right? Here's the problem. The final week is where "Any given Sunday" works overtime. I've seen it for years, and the Jags have been on the winning end of that magic before. Unfortunately for the Jags, they would be bitten by that bug. The Jags had absolutely no answer for the Titans at the start. They were down by 15 late, but it looked like Lawrence would save them. He had one TD pass late, but couldn't lead them back for a game-tying attempt.

The Titans won, 28-20, over the Jaguars. As a result, the Texans won the AFC South for the first time in four seasons, the Steelers and Bills both made the playoffs, and the Jags--a year after a dream run that ended with a division title, became the ninth and last AFC team to be eliminated from playoff contention. This team was 8-3 and had an 98% to reach the playoffs, but ended their season losing five of six, with their one win coming against a very dead Panthers team.

Regarding the other South division, it was still up for grabs between three teams. The game I got out here was the New Orleans Saints hosting the Atlanta Falcons, and that was one of the games that was part of the Packers' backdoor plan. It did look good for the Falcons. They scored first, led 14-7, and at halftime, it was tied at 17. That's where the positives end for the Falcons. 31 unanswered points by the Saints, including a touchdown scored when the Saints were supposed to be kneeling. During this game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played an ugly game against the Carolina Panthers, but the Bucs won it by a score of 9-0. There are NHL games this season that were higher scoring.

The man shown screaming for another shot of "Rageahol" is Arthur Smith. So get this. Mr. Smith wasn't so happy about that fake kneel down touchdown, and he was swearing up a storm and screaming bloody murder about the Saints "running up the score." Here's the thing, Mr. Smith. There's "running up the score," and there's not having a defense to save your life. The Falcons could have won this, I'm dead serious. When it was 17-all at halftime, I expected more of that back-and-forth football. Instead, I saw the Falcons flat out die. While the Falcons were getting creamed, the Bucs locked up the NFC South with their quick win, so the Falcons were eliminated before the Saints began overkilling them. There is a consolation. Falcons fans can enjoy the latest hit movie: Mr. Smith Goes to the Unemployment Line. Yeah, Arthur Smith got fired. Three years as Falcons HC, 7-10 seasons every time. Yeah, that won't get you job security, Mr. Smith.

The game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions was also part of the NFC Wild Card storyline, but barely. Minnesota's loss to the Packers in their home finale forced them to need a win and a lot of help. They also needed the Packers, Seahawks, and either the Saints or Bucs to all lose. A loss would eliminate them, but not only were the Vikings getting dominated, Tampa Bay and New Orleans both won. So the Vikings season was over, and it would see them finish at 7-10 after a 30-20 loss to the Lions, who were still alive for the #2 seed in the conference.

The NFC East was up for grabs in the late window, and it saw the Dallas Cowboys ease to a 38-10 victory over the lowly Washington Commanders, and with that, the East was theirs, as well as the #2 seed. For the Commanders, this was Ron Rivera's last game as their head coach, as the news broke prior to the game that Washington would fire Rivera as head coach (and on his 62nd birthday, at that). Rivera went 26-40-1 in four seasons as the head coach of the Washington Football Team/Commanders, with the first year seeing the team win the NFC East. As for the Cowboys, this is their second division title in three years, and the trend continues: no back-to-back NFC East Champions since the Eagles won four straight during the McNabb years.

Speaking of the Eagles...

What in the Sam Hill was that, Eagles?! I have no idea what is wrong with this team right now. The Eagles looked like they would be the ultimate unstoppable team in the NFC; after all, they were 10-1 and appeared to be on the verge of (at least) a 14-3 season. Yet they entered this week losing four out of five, but all they had to do was beat the lowly New York Giants to at least make the East interesting. They laid some massive eggs in this game. The Giants made mincemeat out of them. There's "Any given Sunday," and then there's this. This is a problem. And it's getting worse. Jalen Hurts left briefly to tend to his broken finger, but at least he returned from his injury. AJ Brown didn't. Again, this is getting comparisons to the 2020 Steelers, who started 11-0 and only won one game afterwards. That's absolutely troubling.

And now, on to the final piece of the NFC Wild Card puzzle. The final spot in the NFC went to...

We did it. We did it! It wasn't easy, it was low scoring and close, but we did it! All the Green Bay Packers needed to do to get in, was win, and we did just that. A 17-9 victory over the Chicago Bears, and as a result, the Packers, led by Jordan Alexander Love, are playoff bound! This season has been amazing. The Packers scratched and clawed after a shaky start. Jordan Love gained his groove and led us to some key wins down the stretch. Love finished with 4,159 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes this season, his first full season as a starter. That's my quarterback. That's our quarterback!

As a result of the Packers' win, both the Saints and the Seattle Seahawks were eliminated. The Saints stayed alive with their win, but needed the Packers and Seahawks to lose. The Seahawks played in that same late window and edged the Arizona Cardinals, 21-20, but the Packers won before that game was completed, so the Seahawks played the rest of that game knowing that it would be their last this season. Even so, in Year Two after trading Russell Wilson, the Seahawks came within a hair of their second straight playoff appearance. In addition, the Saints had an impressive outing in their first season with Derek Carr as QB.

The 272nd and final game of the 2023 regular season was a battle for the AFC East between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. The scenarios were simple: winner gets the division, while a tie will give the division to Miami. This was an interesting and crazy game that began with some sloppiness from Josh Allen; two INTs thrown in the end zone. The Dolphins led 7-0 and 14-7, with the latter being the score at halftime after a terrible play from the Bills to end the half. Nothing happened in the third, but the early moments of the fourth saw the Bills return a punt all the way for a touchdown to tie it up. The Bills didn't let up, as they actually took the lead, while the Dolphins offense continued to stall. It looked like Miami was done for, but a stop on 4th and 1 gave Miami one last chance. However, Tua's pass ended up intercepted with barely over a minute left, and that was it.

The Bills survived three turnovers and won, 21-14, to clinch the AFC East for the fourth straight season. Buffalo should not have won this game. The Dolphins had so many chances to win this game, but despite taking the ball from Josh Allen three times, they could not capitalize on them at all. Raheem Mostert and Jaylen Waddle were injured and out for that game, but even so, the chances were there. As for the Bills, they played like the team that nearly everyone thinks they are. Now if they only did that more often than not, the struggles wouldn't be there.

And that's that. The 2023 NFL regular season is over. Now it's playoff time! Super Wild Card Weekend will kick off on Saturday, January 13 with the Houston Texans hosting the Cleveland Browns, followed by the Miami Dolphins heading to Arrowhead to face the Kansas City Chiefs. The last AFC Wild Card Playoff matchup will take place on Sunday, January 14, as the Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Miami Dolphins. After that, it's NFC all the way: the Green Bay Packers facing the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams playing in Ford Field's first ever playoff game, and on Monday, January 15, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Philadelphia Eagles.

The postseason is here, folks! Buckle up!

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