The postseason field is finally set.
We’ll have more on the runners and riders still in the hunt for Super Bowl 50 later this week, but for now let’s wrap up the regular season after a Week 17 slate that threw Peyton Manning right back into the thick of the action.
1. Has Denver hit upon the formula for success?
Whether by accident or design (Manning has been dealing with a legitimate foot injury), the Broncos might just have discovered the recipe for success in what is shaping up to be perhaps their final season with the Hall of Fame cert.
With the Broncos knowing the difference between victory and defeat was the first and the fifth seed in the AFC play-off field, Manning was summoned from the bench during the third quarter of yesterday’s crucial game against the San Diego Chargers with his side trailing 13-7.
Brock Osweiler, who replaced Manning earlier in the season, had already committed three turnovers so it was left to the veteran to rescue the situation, which he ably did in leading the Broncos to 20 points in the final quarter and a half of the game.
Make no mistake, Manning, who coach Gary Kubiak said is still not 100 per cent healthy, still looked far from the peak of his powers – he threw just nine passes as he took advantage of a dominant rushing attack – but his control at the line of scrimmage was instantly evident as his team-mates responded to his presence to surge to victory.
Having badly faded down the stretch and in the postseason in recent years, perhaps giving Manning that seven-week midseason break is just the ticket to postseason glory?
2. Who’s in and who’s out?
Ten teams had already booked their postseason tickets before Week 17, but most had plenty to play for in the form of home-field advantage and first-round byes.
The final slots in the AFC remained up for grabs, though, with Houston needing a win to be sure of claiming the South crown and the Jets and Steelers battling it out for the second wild card slot.
Pittsburgh needed to beat the sad sack Cleveland Browns and hope the Buffalo Bills could upset the Jets to slip into the play-offs, and with former New York head coach Rex Ryan patrolling the Buffalo sideline, the Bills, and their fans, were literally fired up for the challenge.
https://twitter.com/boxxa/status/683699507238965248/video/1
Ryan got his revenge on the team that sacked him a year ago as his defence picked off Ryan Fitzpatrick three times in the fourth to seal a 22-17 victory, leaving the dangerous Steelers to leapfrog them with a 28-12 win over the Browns.
Houston did their bit as JJ Watt and his defensive line-mates roughed up Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles to the tune of eight sacks as they beat the Jags 30-8.
In the NFC, Carolina and Arizona had already locked up bye weeks, while Minnesota claimed the third seed and the NFC North title by beating Green Bay in the late game. although their reward is to face the red-hot Seattle Seahawks, who trumpeted their form by shelling the Cardinals 36-6 in Arizona.
This week’s play-off match-ups are as follows:
NFC
(3) Minnesota Vikings vs (6) Seattle Seahawks
(4) Washington vs (5) Green Bay Packers
Byes: (1) Carolina Panthers, (2) Arizona Cardinals
AFC
(3) Cincinnati Bengals vs (6) Pittsburgh Steelers
(4) Houston Texans vs (5) Kansas City Chiefs
Byes: (1) Denver Broncos, (2) New England Patriots
3. Who gets the hardware?
Most Valuable Player: Cam Newton (Carolina)
Newton has to be the choice, leading the Panthers to a 15-1 record, a No.1 seed and doing it all without the sort of A-list weapons seen on other squads. He didn’t rank in the top 15 for passing yards, but only Tom Brady threw for more than his 35 touchdowns and Newton added ten rushing TDs and more than 600 yards on the ground.
Honourable mention: Brady (New England), Carson Palmer (Arizona), Russell Wilson (Seattle)
With 35 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs, Cam Newton is the only player in NFL history with at least 30 pass TDs/10 rush TDs in same season.
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) January 4, 2016
Offensive Non-QB of the Year: Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh)
The Offensive Player award often just goes to the MVP as well, but we’re not considering quarterbacks here, so this one is a toss-up between Julio Jones and Antonio Brown. The pair tied for the second most receptions ever in a single season with 136, and had the second and fourth most receiving yards ever respectively, but we’re giving the edge to the superb Steelers wideout, who hit his marks despite being without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a quarter of the season.
Honourable mention: Jones, DeAndre Hopkins (Houston), Adrian Peterson (Minnesota)
Defensive Player of the Year: JJ Watt (Houston)
Seems like the easy option, but after a disappointing start to the year, Watt, who again led the league in sacks with 17, played a huge part in turning around the Texans season, as they won seven of their last nine games and held opponents to an average of eight points a game in those wins.
Honourable mention: Aaron Donald (St Louis), Luke Kuechly (Carolina), Tyrann Mathieu (Arizona)
Rookie of the Year: Todd Gurley (St Louis)
Basically missed the first quarter of the season as he completed rehabbing a knee injury, yet still finished third in the league in rushing with more than 1,100 yards.
Honourable mention: Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay), Amari Cooper (Oakland), Thomas Rawls (Seattle)
4. Who gets the sack?
The house-cleaning traditionally associated with the NFL’s Black Monday is already well underway.
Philadelphia ditched head coach Chip Kelly last week, while San Francisco put their fans out their misery by getting rid of the overmatched Jim Tomsula after just a year at the helm. Cleveland is also rebuilding again after showing both coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer the door.
Miami GM Dennis Hickey joined early season coaching casualty Joe Philbin on the way out as the Dolphins look for a new direction, while other coaches likely to receive P45s inculde Indianapolis’s Chuck Pagano (pictured).
The Giants are also likely to join the coaching carousel with two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Coughlin set to retire, while San Diego’s Mike McCoy, Tennessee’s interim coach Mike Mularkey, Sean Payton of the Saints and Jim Caldwell of the Lions all have varying levels of doubt over their employment status.
One coach who is apparently safe is Jason Garrett, who has received assurances from owner Jerry Jones despite a 4-12 season.
5. Who gets the pick of the prospects?
The Titans are on the clock. Tennessee’s defeat by Indy locked up a 2-14 record and the No.1 choice in April’s draft, which as yet does not have anything close to a consensus top pick.
Here is the full order of the top 20 picks, with the remainder to be decided based on results in the play-offs.
Draft Order:
1 TEN
2 CLE
3 SD
4 DAL
5 JAX
6 BAL
7 SF
8 MIA
9 TB
10 NYG
11 CHI
12 NO
13 PHI
14 OAK
15 STL
16 DET
17 ATL
18 IND
19 BUF
20 NYJ— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 4, 2016
And finally…
Johnny Manziel’s NFLcareer appears to hanging by a thread after the latest reports of his exploits left the Cleveland Browns ready to dump the former college superstar.
Manziel has been dealing with a concussion and was due to report to the Browns’ facility before yesterday’s game, but failed to show after being spotted in Las Vegas the night before.
Veteran NFL reporter Peter King tweeted the following, indicating the team were ‘done’ with Johnny Football.
It’s hard to see Manziel, who hasn’t exactly set the league alight on his rare appearances for the Browns, having much of a market among other NFL teams, although Dallas owner Jerry Jones did want to draft him two years ago, so is this the end for Johnny Football?
