Week 16 Game Changing Plays: And to All a Good Night
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Bills QB Josh Allen
It’s Christmas Eve — technically, approaching Christmas morning — as I write this, so we’re going to be relatively brief on Week 16’s Game Changing Plays. We’ll be back with regular coverage later this week, as we get down to brass tacks in the playoff race. To all a good night.
Buffalo Bills Continue Their Run
To win the Super Bowl, the Bills basically needed to win nine games in a row after their bye week. Well, three down, six to go!
The Chargers gave them all they could handle, but they were eventually able to come out on top by driving Easton Stick into the turf. Repeatedly.
The Bills defense, which had dropped off tremendously after everyone got hurt on the London trip, has gotten back to prominence in recent weeks. The five sacks they got on the inexperienced Stick ended up being the difference in this one, turning potential touchdown drives into field goals and eventually ending the game entirely. That, plus some clutch third-down conversions from Stefon Diggs and a bomb to Greg Davis, have the Bills sitting in sixth place in the AFC rather than 10th, with a chance to still win the AFC East should they win out and Miami loses to Baltimore next week. As for the Chargers, they were mathematically eliminated by their loss.
Lions Win NFC Central
Sorry, sorry, NFC North. Force of habit. After all, the Detroit Lions had never won the NFC North before. The Buccaneers had won the Lions’ division more recently than Detroit had. It had been quite a while.
And it looked for a while like Nick Mullens and the Vikings would make Detroit wait just a little bit longer, with Minnesota having a late lead at home to try to extend their longshot run at the division title. But then Dan Campbell got a go-ahead touchdown for his men by calling not one, but two fourth-down plays…
…and Mullens’ last-minute desperation pass was picked off by Iffy Melifonwu to seal the game.
The Lions can, mathematically, still win the bye week in the NFC, but that’s highly unlikely; they’ll probably settle in as the third seed and be quite content with it. The Vikings, meanwhile, fall out of the playoff picture for the moment, down in eighth place — they’ll have some work to do over the last two weeks to get back in.
Dolphins Win “Fraud Bowl”
This one was kind of a weird game.
But in the battle of two teams that have struggled against top-quality opposition this season, Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins came out on top. Their defense stymied everything Dallas tried to do for most of the game, and while they weren’t as explosive as usual, they found their way to doing a few regular Miami things.
The last-second Miami field goal clinched a playoff berth for the Dolphins, setting up their huge game against Baltimore next week which might well decide the bye week in the AFC. Meanwhile, the Cowboys now have to hope the Eagles struggle against the likes of the Giants and Cardinals the rest of the way, but will more likely be stuck in the #5 seed.
Buccaneers Solidify NFC South; Jaguars Liquify AFC South
In a battle of the leaders of the two worst divisions in football, the Bucs absolutely destroyed the Jaguars; a 30-12 final that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. It was the biggest game of the day for playoff odds, and, well, at least we figured out the impact of this one very, very quickly.
The Buccaneers now have a one-game lead over the Falcons and Saints in the NFC South. A win in either of their two final games will give them the division and almost assuredly a matchup with Dallas or Philadelphia in the Wild Card round. But if they go 0-2, then the Week 18 showdown between the Saints and Falcons will be for the NFC South title — that game might get flexed to Saturday in Week 18, just to maximize the amount of drama available.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, remain in a three-way tie at 8-7 with the Colts and Texans. The saving grace for all three of those teams is that other two are in exactly the same boat — everyone lost. Jacksonville still controls their own fate here, as they win any and all tiebreakers at 10-7. The Panthers and Titans should be an easy final set of games, as well. But what a comedown from a team that was in the top seed picture just a couple of week ago.
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