Things I Noticed: Week 17

The final week of the regular season often lacks excitement, as most teams typically have playoff spots locked up by now.  That's not the case this year, where nearly every contending team still had something to play for entering the week.

If you're team isn't headed to the playoffs, this is your last chance to see them play this year!  Ok, so for some fan bases, that may be a good thing.  The suffering is over!  If you're team is heading to the postseason, this is their last chance to build momentum before the playoffs begin.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• New England locked up the #2 seed in the AFC with a win over Buffalo.  The game plan was clearly to pound the ball relentlessly.  Despite entering the week averaging a mediocre 119.8 rushing yards per game as a team, the Patriots racked up 267 yards on the ground against the Bills, launching them all the way up to 9th in the league for the season (129.1).  LeGarrette Blount led the way with 189 rushing yards and a pair of TDs.  
• Heavy rain in Foxboro led to a sloppy performance for the Patriots, who were lucky to survive four fumbles.  I'm not sure what is more surprising - that New England was fortunate enough to recover all four of them to prevent a turnover or that Stevan Ridley wasn't responsible for any of them.
• New England has won the AFC East 11 out of the past 13 years since Tom Brady became the
  
  starter (one of those seasons the Patriots missed the playoffs was 2008, when Brady missed nearly the entire year with a knee injury).  In that span, this will be the 8th time the Patriots have had a first-round bye in the postseason by finishing with one of the top two seeds in the conference.  All five times they have reached the Super Bowl in this era, they had a first-round bye.
• While there isn't a whole lot to like about a Bills team that finished 6-10, one thing they do really well is put pressure on the QB.  Buffalo recorded an AFC high 57 sacks this year, which may have been another factor in New England's game plan to run the ball.  Brady's quick release makes him difficult to bring down anyway, but the Bills only managed one sack against him this week.
• Carolina earned the #2 seed in the NFC by hanging on to win a nail biter in Atlanta.  The Panthers ferocious defense played a big role in the victory by sacking Matt Ryan 9 times to set a franchise record.  Greg Hardy chipped in four of those sacks, giving him 15 for the season, which was third most in the league.  Those 9 sacks also moved the Panthers into first in the league in team sacks (60).
• Ryan threw a TD pass to Jason Snelling on Atlanta's opening drive to give the Falcons an early lead.  It was the first time all season an opposing team scored a TD on the opening drive against this Panthers defense.
• The Bengals overcame four INTs from Andy Dalton to secure the AFC's third seed.  They took over the lead late in the first quarter when AJ Green scored on a deep pass from Dalton for 53 yards.  How do you let that guy get behind you?  Safety Matt Elam appeared to attempt to interfere with Green prior to the pass, but missed, allowing Green to burst past him.  He ended up so wide open that he actually had time to stop and wait for the under thrown ball to get to him, yet still managed to score.
• The loss deprived the Ravens of their shot to clinch the final playoff spot, making them the latest team to suffer a Super Bowl hangover.  Since 1998, only one defending Champion (2004 Patriots repeated as champions) has made it past the divisional round of the postseason.  
• Let this be a lesson to the Ravens.  Overpaying Joe Flacco forced them to let several key veterans walk away, which crushed the team's depth.  Flacco rewarded his team by not only missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, but by finishing outside the top 10 in just about every major category.  He also tied for the 2nd most INTs in the league (22).  His 73.1 QB Rating ranked 32nd in the league, behind less heralded QBs such as Case Keenum, Kellen Clemens and Christian Ponder. When the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000, they didn't assume that meant Trent Dilfer was the best QB in the league and pay him as such.  So why did they jump to that conclusion with Flacco?
• The Texans started the season 2-0 and worthy of consideration as potential title contenders.  Their season then spiraled out of control, as they finished 0-14 over their remaining games.  There will be no Super Bowl in their near future, but at least they clinched the #1 pick in next year's draft.
• Chris Johnson carried the Titans offense with 141 total yards and a TD.  It was only the 2nd time all season that Johnson rushed for over 100 yards in a game.
• The Colts entered the day with hopes of potentially moving up to the 2nd seed.  They took care of business on their end with a rout over the Jaguars, but since the teams ahead of them all won, they remained stuck in the 4th seed and face the Chiefs next week in Indianapolis.
• Jacksonville followed a three game win streak with a three game losing streak to end the season.  Dating back to their Week 9 bye, the Jaguars were 4-4 in the second half of the season, providing fans a glimmer of hope that they can make the jump to being mediocre by next year!
• The Dolphins were in the drivers seat for the 2nd Wild Card spot in the AFC, but they blew it in an upset loss to the Jets.  Remember when people predicted that all that money Miami spent last off-season was going to help them challenge New England for the division title?  Instead, they finished 8-8 and third in the division.  Their franchise QB chocked in a must win game that would have put them in the postseason.  Their prized free agent acquisition, Mike Wallace, was a mild disappointment.  Oh, and they endured locker room turmoil centered around a bullying scandal.  Other than that, it was a successful season for the Dolphins.
• The Jets announced that coach Rex Ryan would return next season.  Considering he led a team many believed would be one of the league's worst to an 8-8 record, the vote of confidence from ownership is well deserved.  Although, Ryan is the one that drafted Geno Smith.  The Jets may not have been one of the worst teams in the league, but Smith was very clearly one of the worst quarterbacks.
• The Viking waved farewell to the Metrodome with a victory over the struggling Lions.  Explosive
  
  rookie Cordarrelle Patterson scored twice, on a 50-yard run and on an 8-yard pass from Matt Cassel.
• Despite the close score, this wasn't a game to get overly excited about.  Neither team had a shot at the postseason, so Calvin Johnson and Adrian Peterson both sat out.  As you might expect, both offenses are terrible without their star players.
• Eli Manning exited with a high ankle sprain shortly after throwing his league leading 27th INT. That left him one short of tying his brother Peyton for the Manning family record of 28 picks in a season. With all the records Peyton has been breaking this season, it sure was nice of Eli to avoid stealing his thunder by taking one of his records.
• Mike Shanahan coached his last game in Washington, as his team fell to 3-13.  Good luck to the guy that replaces him, considering he has the task of rebuilding this miserable team without the benefit of a first-round pick (they owe their pick to St. Louis for the RGIII trade).
• For a few hours after their win over Cleveland, the Steelers had a glimmer of hope that they might actually make the postseason.  Losses by Miami and Baltimore kept that hope alive, but they still needed some help.  Those hopes were crushed by San Diego in the late afternoon games, so Pittsburgh will instead finish 8-8 and outside the playoffs for the second straight season.
• Josh Gordon finished the season with a 7 catch, 82 yard performance that kept him at the top of the leader board for reception yards this season.  He finished with a league high 1,646 yards.
• They broke his collarbone, so he crushed their dreams.  Aaron Rodgers returned after missing seven games to help the Packers beat a Bears team responsible for that injury in a game that decided the NFC North.  Green Bay went only 2-4-1 while Rodgers was out of action, but the collapse of the Bears (2-4 over their final 6 games) and Lions (lost 6 of their last 7 games) kept the Packers in the mix until Rodgers was able to return and save their season.
• Randall Cobb also returned for the Packers, catching 2 TD passes.  His second catch was a game winning 48-yard deep pass on 4th and 8 with 38 seconds remaining.  Chicago sent a blitz after Rodgers, but he was able to roll out of the pocket to avoid the pass rush, giving Cobb time to get open downfield.  Green Bay converted on 4th down three times on that final drive.  With their season on the line, the Bears weren't able to hold them when it mattered most.
• Peyton Manning only needed one half against the Raiders to cap off his historic season.  With
  
  266 yards through the first two quarters, Manning broke Drew Brees' passing record and added to his record setting TD total.  With a 31 point lead and the game in hand, Manning took a seat for the rest of the game.  He finishes the season with 5,477 yards and 55 TDs.  Just think of what kind of numbers he would have been capable of if he went full throttle for 60 minutes every week!
• Not so fast.  The league's record keepers are taking a second look at Manning's stat line this week.  Specifically a 7-yard completion to Eric Decker in the first quarter.  League officials claim that in one camera angle, the pass looks like a lateral, which would mean the yardage gained by Decker would count as rushing yards rather than passing yards credited to Manning.  If the league makes a stat correction, Manning would fall short of the record Brees set in 2011.  Stay tuned for the ruling later this week.
• The Broncos set a new record for points scored in a season (606), beating the mark set by the 2007 Patriots.  For all the records that Manning and the Broncos set this season, it won't be nearly as meaningful if it all ends the same way it did for New England back in '07 - without a ring.
• The Saints may have blown their division lead, but they still managed to clinch a playoff spot with a win over Tampa Bay.  Drew Brees passed for 381 yards, 4 TDs and even ran in another score for good measure.
• Phil Dawson's 40-yard kick as time expired put San Francisco in the postseason as a 5th seed and shut the Cardinals out of the playoffs. Arizona had tied the score twice in the fourth quarter and the teams exchanged a total of three field goals in the final 1:45 of the game.  Dawson's other late quarter field goal was a career long 56-yard kick.
• The Niners ground game never got going, but Colin Kaepernick (310 yards, 2 TDs) eclipsed the 300 yard passing mark for only the second time this season.  His favorite targets, Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis, each caught TD passes. Aside from one TD that Michael Crabtree caught a couple weeks ago, those two are the only Niners receivers to catch one of Kapernick's 21 TDs this season.
• Despite knowing a win would put them in the postseason, San Diego struggled to sneak past a Chiefs team that was resting most of it's starters.  The Kansas City B team put up a tougher than expected fight that nearly kept the Chargers out of the playoffs, but field goal on the opening possession of OT gave them a lead and the defense managed to hold off the retaliation drive by the Chiefs.
• The Seahawks clinched the NFC's top seed with a win against St. Louis.  The road to the Super Bowl will go through Seattle, which remains one of the harshest environments for opposing teams to play in.  It's hard to imagine any team coming in and beating them on their home turf behind the support of the 12th man, but if they travel to the East Coast for the Super Bowl, that may be a different story.
• Tony Romo wasn't on the field, but the result may have reminded a lot of Cowboys fans of him.  In a game that would decide the NFC East, Romo was forced to sit out with a back injury that will require surgery.  Dallas received the ball in a two point game with under two minutes to go, but with a chance to win the game and the division, backup QB Kyle Orton threw an INT on his first pass attempt of the drive to spoil the Cowboy's comeback.  Somehow, Cowboys fans will find a way to blame Romo for this.
• Orton led a drive that ended with a TD pass to Dez Bryant with under four minutes to go, but they failed on the two point conversion that would have tied the game.  The defense forced a three-and-out to give thew Cowboys one last shot, until Orton blew it.
• The Cowboys finished 8-8 for the third consecutive season.  They have become the definition of mediocrity, with a .500 record since their last Super Bowl title in 1995.
• Nick Foles finished the season with finished the season with 27 TDs and only 2 INTs in 12
  games. Although, he didn't start all of those games.  The Eagles won 7 of their last 8 games once Foles finally became the starter.
• LeSean McCoy added 131 yards to his league leading rushing total and finished with 1,607
  rushing yards for the season.
• Black Monday is known as the day after the final day of the regular season where coaches from disappointing teams are given the axe.  Not literally, I mean nobody's head is getting chopped off. They just get fired. Jim Schwartz, Greg Schiano, Mike Shanahan, Leslie Frazier, and Rob Chudzinski were this year's victims.  

With the regular season at an end, here's how the playoff spots lineup.

AFC: 1) Denver 2) New England 3) Cincinnati 4) Indianapolis 5) Kansas City 6) San Diego

NFC: 1) Seattle 2) Carolina 3) Philadelphia 4) Green Bay 5) San Francisco 6) New Orleans