NFL 2024-25: Week 17

The Game Room
1

The Commanders beat the Eagles on Jayden Daniels’ 5th TD pass despite turning the ball over five times. The Eagles loss means that Detroit or Minnesota now has the inside track on the #1 seed, with those two 13-2 teams meeting in Week 18. The Chargers took a big step toward the postseason with a win over the Broncos, and the Ravens clinched a spot with a win over Pittsburgh. Atlanta improved to 8-7 behind rookie Michael Penix as the Falcons pulled into a tie with the Bucs, who lost at Dallas. The Steelers and Ravens are tied with two games to play, and the Rams now have a 1-game lead over the Seahawks.

On Christmas Day the Chiefs will try to wrap up the #1 seed at Pittsburgh, and the Ravens go to Houston in 2 matchups of playoff teams. Denver travels to Cincinnati for a Saturday game that suddenly has a lot of playoff implications, and on Sunday night, Washington can clinch a playoff spot with a home victory over the Falcons, who hold the tiebreaker over the Bucs. The Packers will visit Minnesota to battle a fellow NFC North playoff participant, and Detroit travels to San Francisco on Monday night.

Clinched playoff spot (9): Bills, Steelers, Ravens, Texans, Chiefs, Eagles, Lions, Vikings, Packers.
Still alive (10): Dolphins, Bengals, Colts, Chargers, Broncos, Commanders, Falcons, Buccaneers, Rams, Seahawks
Eliminated (13): Jets, Patriots, Browns, Jaguars, Titans, Raiders, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Saints, Panthers, Cardinals, 49ers.

This week’s games. All spreads taken from ESPNBet on Tuesday, December 24 at 9:10 am CT.

Wednesday:
Chiefs @ Steelers (+3)
Ravens @ Texans (+5.5)

Thursday night:
Seahawks @ Bears (+3.5)

Saturday:
Chargers @ Patriots (+4)
Broncos @ Bengals (-3.5)

Saturday night:
Cardinals @ Rams (-6)

Sunday early:
Jets @ Bills (-9.5)
Raiders @ Saints (-1)
Colts @ Giants (+8)
Cowboys @ Eagles (-9)
Panthers @ Buccaneers (-8)
Titans @ Jaguars (-1)

Sunday late:
Dolphins @ Browns (+6.5)
Packers @ Vikings (-1.5)

Sunday night:
Falcons @ Commanders (-4)

Monday night:
Lions @ 49ers (+3.5)

2

That’s all?

3

Yep. On DraftKings right now, it’s the Lions -3. Maybe all the injuries for Detroit?

4

I suddenly got a thought from watching some NFL players with massive afros: could it be that all that extra hair gives a bit of extra padding and shock absorption inside the helmet during collisions? (Not that that was the intent)

5

I’m not hating this Netflix interface, and the picture quality seems plenty good enough for my 1080p TV.

I would have rathered the game be a little closer, but I did enjoy seeing my fantasy guys Travis Kelce have a big game and Hollywood Brown make some nice catches. I thought Brown was still on IR, so that was a nice surprise.

Not much to say about the Steelers. Seems like they capitalized on a softer early schedule, which is good. That’s what you’re supposed to do. But this three-game stretch against the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs was just brutal.

6

Boy this second game is a dog. Houston looks like a clear tier below Baltimore.

7

Netflix working fine for me.

It’s now 31 - 2, the only drama is whether it will be a scorigami.

8

Somehow 31-2 is not a scorigami. But it’s been almost 60 years.

9

Followed by a game against the Bengals, who may still be fighting to get into the playoffs.

He played last Saturday for the first time this season. He definitely gives Mahomes and the Chiefs another downfield weapon.

KC has now gone six consecutive games without a turnover. That’s a key stat when they haven’t scored over 30 points in any game this season.

10

Did I correctly hear, three games in 11 days?

11

Yes. The Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens, and Texans all played 3 games in 11 days, which is unusual, but not without precedent in the NFL.

They all played on Sunday the 15th, Saturday the 21st, and Wednesday the 25th.

12

Lamar-MVP

13

How the hell is anyone okay with that? So much for “player safety”.

14

Teams routinely play 3 games in 12 days, Sunday, Sunday, Thursday. In this case they did have their middle game on a Saturday, so they got the same 3 days off between games that teams playing Thursday games get.

15

Minus 9? With Hurts in the concussion protocol? Thats crazy.

16

Good catch. Both DraftKings and ESPNBet are now listing the Eagles -6.5.

And I believe somebody on the Dope pointed out not long ago that occasionally a team will play Monday, Sunday, Thursday, which is also 3 games in 11 days.

The Chiefs will undoubtedly rest many of their key players on the final weekend against the Broncos, then have another week off before playing their first playoff game on the 18th or 19th of January. So this crazy late-season scheduling is certainly working out in their favor.

17

OK, this is interesting.

Teddy Bridgewater, who was a backup QB for the Lions last year, retired from the NFL and then coached his high school alma mater to a state championship a few weeks ago.

Today he signed with the Lions.

18

Looking forward to the Bears offense being contained until they’re down by 2 or 3 scores, and then Caleb coming alive.

19

I just tuned in. This is the most boring game I’ve never seen.

20

Bears defense (and a putrid Seattle offense), keep it a close game. Through 3 and a half quarters, Caleb Williams has … (checks stats), 92 passing yards.

And yes, it is incredibly boring.