The NFL Roundup Week 16 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​This weekend’s slate of football games came with a wide range of emotions. Some fans were able to feel pure joy and elation over a big win from their favorite team and others…well they simply shared in their team’s heartbreak because this was a holiday weekend filled to the brim with big time games with big time stakes and regardless of who won or who lost…there were fascinating stories to emerge from every game and here are the top stories from Week 16 in the NFL.
 
The Rex Ryan era has ended in Buffalo.
Earlier today, the Buffalo Bills relieved Head Coach Rex Ryan and his brother Rob of their respective duties and well…this is a move that is long overdue. Sure Rex was a great Defensive Coordinator and that’s what put him on the radar for head coaching gigs, but some coordinators are never meant to be in charge of an entire team, and Rex falls into that category and because of the fact that his legacy as a head coach will be forever tainted with mediocrity, wild sound bytes and boneheaded stunts filled with bravado, I don’t think any team will be handing him the captain’s chair ever again. But if a team is looking to improve quickly on the defensive side of the ball…Rex is the man to call. But in the meantime, expect the Bills to conduct a thorough search to find their new Head Coach and hopefully this time around they get the right man for the job rather than hiring a flash in the pan.
 
The Cleveland Browns pulled off a Christmas Miracle…and won a game.
I truly expected the 2016 Cleveland Browns to be the second team in the NFL to go 0-16, and well…it’s time for me to eat some crow because they surprised everyone this weekend by beating the San Diego Chargers. It wasn’t a pretty win by any means, but when you’re 0-14, you take what you can get and my hat goes off to the Browns for finding a way to contain the Chargers for four quarters and push them to the point where a critical mistake was made on special teams. Granted, they’re still the worst team in the league, but this win serves as a fine building block and hopefully they can use this spectacular victory to make their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers a competitive contest for a change.
 
It turns out that Gus Bradley WAS the problem in Jacksonville.
There was plenty of talk from the players in Jacksonville shortly after Gus Bradley was let go that they didn’t do enough for their coach and that his exit was their fault. While that is a lovely and respectful mea culpa…sometimes the coach is the problem and ol’ Gus was clearly the issue with the Jaguars because with Doug Marrone at the helm…Jacksonville looked like a completely different team. They were motivated, and hungry on both sides of the ball and that change in attitude resulted in a big win over the Titans, and while there are still plenty of fundamental football issues to fix on this squad, having a Head Coach that demands the most out of his players is a good first step and if Marrone can get this team to win again, expect him to be under serious consideration to remain as the Head Coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
 
Big Offensive changes are coming for the Denver Broncos in the offseason.
Any player that signs with Denver Broncos, has a few key expectations to follow when they put on the uniform. First and foremost, they have to give it their all every single game and second, they have to know their game and come prepared to do their job. If they choose to not follow either of those edicts, then consequences come into play and unfortunately for the players on this team, they chose to take the field on Sunday Night in uninspired and sloppy fashion and the end result of their lackadaisical attitude was a blow out loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on national television, that effectively ended any chance they had at making the playoffs this year. That means that General Manager John Elway will no doubt enact his ‘Kicking and Screaming’ edict and make some sweeping changes to the offensive side of the ball, which was awful on Sunday night and all season long. He will likely decline the option on OT Russell Okung and jettison OT Donald Stephenson and anyone else he deems necessary and I don’t think the changes end there. Expect a big time housecleaning when it comes to the offensive coaching staff as well as Elway works toward building a team that can contend for the title in 2017.
 
Only two spots remain available in the 2016 NFL Playoffs.
The playoff picture is becoming all the more clear as the weeks progress and it’s so incredibly close to coming together that only two open spots remain for the tournament and both of them are in the NFC. Yes, that’s right, the AFC slots are all filled with Kansas City and Miami locking up a spot with their respective wins, with the seeding to be decided after Week 17 and speaking of seeding, the NFC North and the #4 seed in the NFC will be decided by the Packers Lions game on Sunday night and the number six seed is still up for grabs depending on how the proverbial dominoes fall this weekend. Either way, we are all the more closer to finding out who will be competing for the Lombardi Trophy and since there are still seeds and spots on the line…we are still going to be in for some great games next Sunday.

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