4 months ago
There are losses, and past location are those defeats that show america precisely who a squad are. The Steelers’ 26-24 triumph complete nan Ravens connected Sunday nighttime was nan latter. It wasn’t conscionable a loss; it was a referendum. The crippled was vintage, grubby, beautiful AFC North football. A rivalry crippled pinch a playoff spot connected nan line. Big plays. Dumb decisions. Cris Collinsworth making unintelligible noises connected commentary. In nan last 3 minutes, 4 plays swung nan triumph probability by much than 40 percent points.
The Steelers, missing DK Metcalf and Darnell Washington, scored connected 4 of their 5 second-half drives, 3 of them touchdowns, pinch Aaron Rodgers uncovering Calvin Austin for a 26-yard people pinch 55 seconds left. Baltimore, by contrast, couldn’t get retired of their ain measurement until Lamar Jackson strapped connected his cape, completing 7 of his last 9 passes, throwing 2 touchdowns and converting a ridiculously clutch fourth-down strike to Isaiah Likely pinch 21 seconds near and nan play connected nan line.
It should person been nan defining infinitesimal of Baltimore’s year. Instead, they botched it. With 12 seconds remaining and a timeout successful hand, nan Ravens took a knee. They had plentifulness of clip to churn retired an other 5 aliases 10 yards, to move nan 44-yard section extremity effort into a spot changeable and termination nan clock. But John Harbaugh chose safety. Rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed nan footwear wide right. The Steelers celebrated a section title and nan AFC’s No 4 seed. Baltimore went home.
It was classical Harbaugh. He has spent years skirting nan separator of thing awesome without ever rather stepping into it. The Ravens person been waiting to make The Leap for 4 seasons. They person mislaid successful nan wildcard round, nan divisional information and nan convention championship. Now, successful a wide-open AFC, they haven’t moreover made nan dance. Their grounds pinch Jackson successful nan playoffs stands astatine 3-5. They haven’t cashed successful connected his prime, and nan failures are starting to blur together.
For years, Harbaugh’s strategical imagination – which is captious successful win-or-go-home games – has dimmed. The champion coaches shop up sneak attacks for circumstantial opponents, prime connected anemic spots until they gush humor and spell to imaginative lengths to hide nan deficiencies connected their ain rosters. Being precocious uncovering nan correct countermove tin costs you a game, a playoff berth aliases a championship. The separator for correction is that small, and Harbaugh doesn’t look to person nan goods. And successful nan biggest moments, his teams play tight.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported connected Sunday that Harbaugh’s early is “up successful nan air.” That’s fair. He has overseen 18 seasons of mostly sustained occurrence successful Baltimore and won a Super Bowl successful nan 2012 campaign. But that was a agelong clip ago. And nan disappointments since past acold outstrip nan highs.
This play was particularly cruel. An early wounded situation crushed nan squad connected some sides of nan ball. Jackson spent nan play playing done various injuries. Nnamdi Madubuike, nan linchpin of nan team’s pass-rush, missed nan bulk of nan twelvemonth pinch a cervix injury. Harbaugh hardly sewage to coach nan type of nan squad he envisioned. But it’s besides nan 2nd wasted twelvemonth pinch nan Jackson-Henry backfield combination, pinch mediocre plans on nan violative statement and connected defense.
The Ravens besides looked unprepared connected defense. Harbaugh promised changes successful nan mediate of nan play and nan squad traded edge-rusher Odafe Oweh to nan Chargers for information Alohi Gilman. The defense, capable to push Kyle Hamilton person to nan statement of scrimmage, sewage backmost connected track. Getting healthier surely helped, too. From Week 9 onwards, Baltimore’s defense classed seventh successful occurrence complaint and ninth successful protect EPA per play. But it was excessively late. And successful crunch time, nan Ravens defense fell isolated again, giving up a precocious touchdown thrust to a Steelers squad pinch nary timeouts and a dysfunctional group of wide receivers successful 60 seconds.
Harbaugh deserves in installments for breathing caller life into his tenure. It’s easy to opportunity Jackson has carried his coach, but it was Harbaugh who believed successful nan backmost earlier nan remainder of nan convention woke up to his talent. The business peaked for 2 years, pinch Jackson falling a azygous ballot short of back-to-back MVPs past season. Anyone suggesting Harbaugh is simply a dolt must reckon pinch his 180 wins, his pre-Jackson Super Bowl ringing and Jackson’s 2023 and 2024 seasons.
But partnerships, for illustration teams, tin turn stale. Next play will beryllium twelvemonth 9 for Harbaugh and Jackson, and they look further distant now than they did erstwhile they past missed nan postseason, successful 2021. Jackson has conscionable 2 years near connected his statement – and location are rumors of tension betwixt nan caput coach and quarterback. A jolt of thing – anything – caller is what nan Ravens need.
If Harbaugh is fto go, nan hottest sanction will beryllium Chargers protect coordinator Jesse Minter, who spent his early coaching profession successful Baltimore. If nan Ravens measurement extracurricular nan familiar, they could brace up Jackson pinch an violative mind pinch caller ideas, whether that’s Mike McDaniel, Klint Kubiak aliases Kliff Kingsbury.
Harbaugh has been nan exemplary of consistency – earlier and aft his Super Bowl win. But erstwhile you’re moving pinch a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback, consistency is not enough. Failing to scope nan Super Bowl, fto unsocial triumph one, becomes a fireable offence. The Ravens are talented. They are close. But adjacent has go nan problem. When your play ends pinch a knee and a missed kick, it is difficult to debar nan conclusion that nan infinitesimal yet passed Harbaugh by.
MVP of nan week
Nick Emmanwori, S, Seahawks. It felt fitting that Seattle clinched nan NFC’s No 1 seed successful nan astir Seattle measurement possible: playing suffocating defense. The 49ers were successful scorching shape coming into nan winner-takes-the-top-spot title – they had put up astatine slightest 37 points successful 3 consecutive games. None of that mattered connected Saturday. Seattle’s defense restricted nan 49ers to a solitary section extremity in a 13-3 victory, holding Kyle Shanahan’s discourtesy to its third-worst occurrence complaint of nan season.
Emmanwori proved to beryllium nan difference-maker again. Seattle are loaded pinch stars crossed their defense, but Emmanwori ties nan 3 levels together. He posted nan highest unit complaint (40%) of immoderate Seattle pass-rusher, led nan squad successful tally stops (three) and gave up conscionable 28 yards connected 7 targets successful coverage. Without Emmanwori, nan Seahawks’ defense would beryllium great. With him, it is special. Because of his size, speed, versatility and intelligence, nan Seahawks tin get to protect looks that fewer others successful nan convention tin replicate. It’s difficult to deliberation of different rookie who has stepped into nan convention and shouldered Emmanwori’s workload connected a league-leading defense.
The reward is significant. Barring a Super Bowl return to Levi’s Stadium successful February, nan Seahawks won’t beryllium packing a suitcase for nan remainder of nan season. And they will participate nan postseason arsenic nan NFC’s astir complete team. Their defense is nan champion successful football, they apical nan charts connected typical teams and their tally crippled has yet travel alive. If Sam Darnold tin enactment wrong himself – a reasonably important “if”, moreover now – Seattle should make it backmost to San Francisco.
Video of nan week
He did it! Myles Garrett wrapped up his superb run by breaking nan league’s single-season sack record. His 23rd sack of nan year, against Cincinnati successful nan 4th quarter, pushed him past Michael Strahan and TJ Watt for nan apical spot. And he did truthful successful a measurement only he can: Garrett crossed nan statement of scrimmage 0.23 seconds aft nan snap, nan fastest get-off connected immoderate sack this season, according to Next Gen Stats.
It was a unusual crippled wide for Garrett. He abandoned different responsibilities and focused almost exclusively (and understandably) connected nan record. But Cincy were arsenic focused connected stopping him from chasing history. He faced a double squad aliases spot artifact connected 42% of his pass-rushes, nan highest complaint successful a crippled this season, pinch Joe Burrow besides shaving almost half a 2nd disconnected his mean clip to throw. Eventually, though, Garrett sewage home.
There will beryllium immoderate whining astir other games, circumstances, or, if you’re Zac Taylor, the post-sack celebrations. None of it sticks. Garrett picked up nan grounds successful 432 pass-rushing snaps, 100 less than Strahan and almost 200 less than Watt during their record-breaking years. He will decorativeness nan play pinch different Defensive Player of nan Year grant and a cool statement connected his Hall of Fame plaque.
Stat of nan week
Zero. The Jets person managed nan unthinkable: they completed a 17-game play without intercepting a pass. Yes, you publication that right. Zero. They’re nan first squad successful NFL history to spell a afloat play without an interception.
It is difficult to overstate really intolerable that should be. Jalyx Hunt, nan Eagles edge-rusher, has 3 unsocial this season. Eventually, a tipped shot aliases a dumb backmost determination goes your way. Not for these stanktastic Jets. They vanished nan play 3-14 aft being pounded by nan backup Bills 35-8.
It’s nan benignant of humanities anomaly that should get immoderate coach fired. Making a coach one-and-done is brutal. But Aaron Glenn has done thing successful his azygous play successful complaint to beryllium he has nan makings of moreover a competent caput coach. His crippled guidance has been poor, nan team’s discourtesy devoid of ideas and nan defense, Glenn’s calling card, has been uncompetitive. Over nan past 5 weeks of nan season, nan Jets’ mean constituent differential was minus-26.8. There’s losing, and past there’s quitting. The Jets’ players look for illustration they chose nan second complete nan last months of nan season. When that happens, nan coach should beryllium toast. Although moreover without Glenn nan squad would still beryllium stuck pinch bumbling proprietor Woody Johnson, who has overseen a Jets playoff drought that stretches backmost to nan 2010 season.
Elsewhere astir nan league
The Panthers fell into nan NFC South title contempt trying to propulsion it away. They’d already mislaid to Tampa Bay connected Saturday, past waited arsenic Atlanta hit New Orleans 19-17 connected Sunday successful a crippled that existed mostly to determine personification else’s fate. If personification had to triumph nan NFC South, past it was only correct that it came successful a sloppy crippled filled pinch blocked punts, fumbles, interceptions and mistakes. Everyone was playing for personification other successful Atlanta, which beautiful overmuch summed up nan division. It ended dumb because it had been dumb each along. The Panthers took a three-way necktie astatine nan apical of nan standings, clinching nan No 4 seed successful nan NFC pinch an 8-9 record.
Jags kicker Cam Little deed a 67-yard section extremity against nan Titans connected Sunday for illustration it was thing – it was astir apt bully from 73 yards. It was nan second-longest section extremity successful NFL history, nan longest ever made outdoors and a timely reminder that Little will beryllium a unsocial limb for Jacksonville successful tight postseason games. This is not a one-off. Little has already deed from a grounds 68 yards this play and drilled an unofficial grounds 70-yarder successful nan preseason. Kickers are now truthful damn bully that it makes you wonderment if nan convention should alteration rules. Narrow nan goalposts? Create a “field extremity zone”? Or conscionable delight successful seeing personification do thing that feels superhuman?
For nan last 4th of nan season, nan Colts gave america a nosy storyline. Philip Rivers’ return was a joy, but it masked a sadistic end-of-year slide. They mislaid 38-30 to nan Texans connected Sunday, ending nan twelvemonth astatine 8-9. At 1 point, they were six games complete .500 yet still vanished pinch a losing record, nan first squad successful nan Super Bowl era to do so. Despite nan collapse, nan Colts person already announced that coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard will return adjacent season.
With a 34-17 triumph complete nan Cowboys connected Sunday, nan Giants are 8-30 successful their past 38 games. Four of those 8 wins person travel successful Week 17 aliases 18, erstwhile they’ve agelong been eliminated from playoff contention and are playing only for draught positioning. Dallas understood nan assignment, benching their starters to bolster their slot successful nan draught order. The Giants did what they do: triumph a meaningless January crippled to gaffe from nan No 2 slot to No 5 successful this year’s draft.
The apical of nan draught bid is now set. The apical 10: Raiders; Jets; Cardinals; Titans; Giants; Browns; Commanders; Saints; Chiefs; Bengals. The past clip nan Raiders held nan No 1 wide prime was successful 2007, erstwhile they drafted 1 of nan biggest busts successful NFL history, LSU backmost JaMarcus Russell. Good luck, Fernando Mendoza!
The playoff bracket is besides set. In nan AFC wildcard round, nan Texans (No 5 seed) look nan Steelers (4); nan Chargers (7) play nan Patriots (2); and nan Jaguars (3) return connected nan Bills (6) while nan No 1 seed Broncos get a bye. In nan NFC, nan Seahawks are nan No 1 seed and skip to nan divisional round. In nan wildcard round, nan Rams (5) play nan Panthers (4); nan Packers (7) look nan Bears (2); and nan 49ers (6) are up against nan reigning champion Eagles (3).
