NFL Week 17 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It's going to be a strange day for every team around the NFL. Some players are heading in to their respective team facility to clean out their locker, reflect on a season gone wrong and say goodbye to their teammates until next year. A few more coaches will meet with executives and ownership to find out they no longer have a job and other players will wake up sore and smiling because their team has made it into the playoffs. Yes, this is life in the NFL after the regular season has come to its end, and Week 17 just so happened to finish in spectacular fashion with some fascinating storylines and here are the ones that caught our attention from the field on Sunday.

1. I am still in awe of the Broncos/Chargers game for so many reasons. For one, it was amazing to see Peyton Manning take the field and save the day after being injured and inactive for so many weeks. He may not have thrown for four touchdowns, but he didn't need to. The Chargers expected the pass and Gary Kubiak surprised them with the run and the rest is history. But my wonder and surprise goes beyond Manning's return, a lot of it stems from Coach Kubiak having the fortitude to pull Osweiler, who hopefully learned that he was benched not for performance, but for lack of leadership, and to bench Michael Schofield in the process as well. It shows how much the coach wanted this win and knew full well what was at stake for a team with so much promise. Either way, Kudos to Kubiak and congrats to the five time AFC West Division Champion Denver Broncos...who now own the #1 seed in the playoffs with home field advantage, thanks to some strange circumstances...

2. I have said it before, and I will definitely say it again, something is wrong with the New England Patriots. I get the decision by Coach Belichick to pull the starters in the final two minutes of a lost game to keep folks healthy, but in many ways it feels like the Patriots quit on their chance to gain home field advantage and quite frankly...how the hell did they lose this game to begin with? This is the Miami Dolphins we're talking about here ladies and gents, a team that fired their head coach early in the season and really hasn't improved much since that move...and they managed to beat the mighty Patriots who didn't seem that energetic on the field, and may be leaving this game with Tom Brady's ankle injured as well. Regardless, this whole game had a strange vibe to it and everything that played out seemed so out of character for New England. Either way, hopefully this loss gives the Pats time to regroup and figure out what's going on because if this same squad takes the field for the Divisional Round...they'll be one and done in the playoffs.

3. Congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings on earning the title of NFC North Division Champions and doing it in such impressive fashion by going into Lambeau Field and beating the Green Bay Packers. This is a tough place to play and the Vikings handled it with ease, and it's amazing how far this team has come. A few years ago this team was another one of those squads you simply wrote off at the start of the season and only tuned in because to watch Adrian Peterson break off a couple of massive runs before changing the channel to watch a more interesting game. Now here we are, tuning in to see that stout defense shut down quarterbacks and running backs and to watch Terry Bridgewater and AP pick defenses to pieces by land and air, and a lot of the credit needs to go Head Coach Mike Zimmer. It's a lovely sight to see, and you know the fans up there are soaking up the joy of a team that may go far in the playoffs.

4. I don't think any fan of the San Francisco 49ers feels any better about the franchise firing Jim Tomsula, because everyone knows he's taking the blame for Jed York and Trent Baalke's incompetence with the franchise as a whole since it's now common knowledge after the Harbaugh debacle that things behind the scenes are an absolute mess and the next coach that comes in gets to inherit more of that mess. They will be in charge of a lackluster defense devoid of leadership and top tier talent and they will have to pray that Jed and Trent find them a franchise quarterback or serviceable journeyman as quickly as possible. Hopefully they do, but considering the reputation that now precedes the team, attracting the players they need in free agency is going to be difficult and I feel bad for the next man selected to coach this storied franchise. 

5. I think it is finally safe to say that Johnny Manziel has come to the end of the road in Cleveland and man...is he going out with one embarrassing bang. First came reports of another partying/drinking video right after Week 16, followed by the news that he was entering concussion protocol a few days after the game, now I won't accuse him of lying about an injury because concussions are nothing to make light of, but the concussion protocol is relevant because Johnny was expected to show up and meet the medical staff at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. It was a meeting he didn't show up for and the team was unable to contact him as well, and that little nugget was followed by the report that Johnny was spotted in Las Vegas Saturday night working the tables and well after all is said and done, I hope it is clear to Jimmy Haslam and the next incoming regime that Johnny Football, isn't too interested in playing football, at least not for the Cleveland Browns, so I'm hoping once the new league year arrives...the Browns either cut this kid or trade him as soon as humanly possible and put an end to his disastrous time in Ohio.

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