The Jaguars are on the clock, the champs take the top seed and other highlights from the NFL's Week 16
The NFL regular season is nearing its end. Including Monday, just 17 games remain, and there's still plenty of things to sort out.
What we do know:
- The Jacksonville Jaguars will be picking first in the NFL draft.
- The Kansas City Chiefs will be the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
- Seven teams have already clinched playoff spots: The Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills in the AFC; the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC.
The astute reader will note that in an expanded field that sees seven teams going to postseason in each conference, half the field is yet to be determined with 11 teams still in various stages of being alive.
But those scenarios are a lot more complicated to lay out here. That's why we had our Nate Davis do it in our playoff picture breakdown.
Let's dive in to how Week 16 unfolded then, shall we?
Week 16 storylines
- 32 things we learned: The 2020 NFL season has been unlike any other, and that includes it being the first to see a game played on every day of the week. That's one thing we learned, but Nate Davis teaches us a lot of other stuff about Week 16, too.
- Winners and losers: Aaron Rodgers is making a convincing case for MVP, Lorenzo Reyes writes.
- End of the line? Dwayne Haskins appears out of chances in Washington after he was benched again amid a dreadful performance.
- J.J. Watt unleashes on Texans' effort: Frustration boiled over for star J.J. Watt after the Houston Texans dropped their fourth straight game.
- Cowboys find recipe to stay alive in NFC East: Saturday night, it was Amari Cooper’s turn to smash the watermelon.
- NO REGRETS: Jon Gruden does not regret the Raiders' late-game strategy against the Dolphins, even though it blew up in their face spectacularly.
- Jags No. 1 ... in something: Jacksonville locked in the first pick in the NFL draft with their loss to the Bears and the Jets' win over the Browns.
- Draft order: Behind the Jags after 16 weeks, sit the Jets then ... a Dolphins team making a playoff push. They have the Texans to thank for that one.
- Transformation: The Seahawks' defense was hurtling toward infamy, but a recent resurgence has Seattle looking like a well-rounded team entering the playoffs.
- Playoff picture: The road to the Super Bowl in the AFC goes through Kansas City. The NFC is still to be determined.
Week 16 rundown
- Saints 52, Vikings 33: Alvin Kamara rushed for a career-high 155 yards and tied a 91-year-old NFL record with six rushing touchdowns as the Saints clinched the NFC South title again.
- Buccaneers 47, Lions 7: Tom Brady and Mike Evans etched their names into the Bucs' record book while helping the team clinch its first playoff berth since 2007.
- 49ers 20, Cardinals 12: Kyler Murray got banged up and so did Arizona's playoff hopes as the Cardinals lost control of their own destiny with home setback.
- Dolphins 26, Raiders 25: Miami benched Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter and turned to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who produced some FitzMagic in what turned into one of the wildest finishes of the season.
- Jets 23, Browns 16: The shorthanded Browns stumbled with a chance to clinch a playoff spot against the suddenly red-hot (OK, they've won two straight) Jets.
- Ravens 27, Giants 13: Baltimore has won four straight and has regained control of its playoff destiny (thanks to some help elsewhere).
- Steelers 28, Colts 24: Pittsburgh hurt Indy's postseason hopes by storming back from a 24-7 deficit to snap its three-game losing streak and secure the AFC North title.
- Bengals 37, Texans 31: Behind QB Brandon Allen, Cincinnati won for the second straight week and for the first time on the road since 2018.
- Bears 41, Jaguars 17: Chicago took care of business to give itself a win-and-in scenario. The Jaguars, meanwhile, secured the No. 1 pick.
- Chiefs 17, Falcons 14: The defending champs squeaked by again, but did enough to secure the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
- Chargers 19, Broncos 16: Justin Herbert set a new rookie touchdown record as the Bolts won their third consecutive game.
- Panthers 20, Washington 13: Dwayne Haskins was benched as the WFT failed to clinch the NFC East in the "Ron Rivera Revenge" game.
- Cowboys 37, Eagles 17: Dallas eliminated division rival Philadelphia while keeping its own hopes in the NFC East alive with its third win in a row.
- Seahawks 20, Rams 9: Jared Goff was battered and the Rams were held in check by Seattle's new-look D as the Seahawks clinched the NFC West title for the first time since 2016.
- Packers 40, Titans 14: In a snow-covered Lambeau Field, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers threw, and ran and ... well, pretty much did whatever they wanted to keep hold of the top seed in the NFC.
Quick hits
- The Ravens were fined $250,000 for violating COVID-19 protocols in the lead-up to the team's coronavirus outbreak.
- How the Lions cobbled together a staff after several coaches were forced out of their game against the Buccaneers due to COVID-19 protocols.
- Urban Meyer to the NFL?
- The NFL announced its TV schedule for Week 17.
Coming this week
Monday: The final Monday Night Football game of the year features the New England Patriots hosting the AFC East champion Buffalo Bills (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).
Tuesday: Visit nfl.usatoday.com for our latest power rankings.
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