Winners and Losers: Week 17
With the conclusion of Sunday’s games, another NFL season is in the books. Though the playoff scenarios seemed straightforward before the action kicked off, there was several surprises that changed the landscape of January’s playoffs. With 20 teams now essentially eliminated from the tournament, let’s take a look back at the key winners and losers from Week 17 of the 2015 NFL season.
Winner: Peyton Manning
There’s been little reason for Peyton Manning’s 2015 to be considered a success. His regression has not only been physical, in his ability to force a ball with velocity, but mentally, too. For the game’s most notoriously cerebral quarterback of all time, the errors have been worthy of a rookie.
After suffering through a foot injury for virtually the entire season, Manning’s glittering career looked set to end in bleak fashion; replaced abruptly by a backup with no prior NFL starts. The injury eventually sidelined him for seven weeks, with Brock Osweiler leading the team to a 5–2 record in that span.
On Sunday, with Denver struggling in their hunt the #1 seed in the AFC, Osweiler was pulled for Manning. He wasn’t playing that poorly — probably not poorly enough to be benched in an ordinary game — but there was a definite lack of offensive momentum and direction. Command over a huddle and directing successful drives is something Manning, with all his experience, managed to come in and achieve.
He only finished with 5/9 attempts for 69 yards, but the adjustments for the run game are what stood out most. Ultimately, that facet of the offense is what will be the deciding factor in their postseason success or failure. A clear example of a successful pre-snap check was before the C.J. Anderson touchdown run (eventually ruled on the 1-yard line) on the first of Manning’s drives. Whether that kind of mental ability before the play is something that Gary Kubiak believes gives Manning the edge over Osweiler remains to be seen.
Post-game, Manning acknowledged and played down his small contribution, saying: “I’m not sure that [success] had much to do with me being in there. I think just that the execution was better in the second half. Up front, they gave some bigger holes to run the ball. I can’t take credit for having a really good handoff, like I’m helping those guys hold onto the ball. I refuse to do that.”
Even if Manning didn’t contribute at all to the improved execution in the second half, he still gives this team a better chance to win it all in January. The issue is, the potential floor is much more high-profile and difficult to deal with.
If nothing else, Manning went out with relative success instead of the quiet fade we all resigned ourselves to believing. That makes him a big winner from this week.
Loser: New York Jets
In hindsight, the possibility of the Jets losing in Buffalo’s Orchard Park to their former coach — to keep them from a playoff berth — was something we all should have probably taken a bit more seriously. It had all the heartbreaking ingredients, and they all were realised. It’s essentially like Cleveland hiring a new coach, or Cleveland hiring a new general manager, or Cleveland taking a first round pick, or…well, you get the message. The fact is, you just can’t rely on teams with letdowns in their DNA to come through in big spots in any kind of regularity.
Their elimination from playoff contention is a shame for neutral viewers, because, in a wide-open AFC card, the Jets have the pieces in place to match up to anybody in January. This is a team with many veteran starters at key positions performing to an above average level.
The form of Ryan Fitzpatrick over the last six weeks often put the team in positions to win. Ultimately, it was their former head coach, Rex Ryan, that was the undoing of their season; twice beating them by a 22–17 scoreline. The Bills were also the undoing of Fitzpatrick, with arguably his two worst games this season coming against his former team. He completed just 43.6% of his passes (31/71) for 374 yards, and also committed five turnovers.
The squandered hopes will be devastating for a team which flashed promise, and a coaching staff which appears, at least from what we saw in year one, to be the real deal.
The road to recovery begins in April’s draft, where the Jets would be wise to draft a quarterback relatively early. Fitzpatrick’s recent play has earned him the right to return, but he’s not the future of this franchise, nor should he be given the keys to it.
Loser: Tom Brady
Despite playing much of this season with the weakest supporting cast of his career, Tom Brady guided the Patriots into a position to lock up the #1 seed on Sunday. Playing a reeling Miami outfit with just five previous wins all season, the Patriots flopped. They missed out on the #1 seed, despite holding onto their bye week.
Brady comes out of the Week 17 loss with a high ankle sprain, adding to the injury misery in New England. With the offensive line struggling, Brady has taken a beating recently.
His production has also understandably dropped without favourite wideouts Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola for some stretches of this season. Combined with the loss of left tackle Nate Solder in October, and his replacement Sebastian Vollmer on Sunday, the injuries are mounting up.
That’s just in the passing game, with the running game taking a hit since emerging star Dion Lewis tore his ACL in November and LeGarrette Blount joined him on injured reserve in December.
As we all know: under Bill Belichick, this team has consistently done the most with the least come January time. Whether they can ride through a weak AFC remains to be seen, but they’re certainly not to be counted out — not with Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the trio of young linebackers all active (Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins).
By the time their Divisional Round game rolls around, they should be healthier in a time of year they consistently thrive. At least on this week, though, there is cause for concern regarding their bevy of injured stars.
Winner: Sean Payton/Drew Brees
Although there was no playoff significance in Sunday’s close win over the division rival Atlanta Falcons, Drew Brees and Sean Payton may have both shared the field in New Orleans for the final time. If it proves to be, it is a fitting end to a partnership that were at the centre of bringing the city great sporting relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and consistent success thereafter.
That said, speculation is rightly rife about Payton’s future following back-to-back 7–9 seasons (three losing seasons in four years). He should be out as the Saints’ head coach; it has been a vast underachievement considering the quarterback under center.
No decision will be announced until Wednesday, with a suitor likely having to compensate the Saints for Payton’s services due to him being under contract for the next two seasons. That price is reportedly a second-round pick. With a number of attractive openings seemingly coming available this week, it is a perfect time for Payton and New Orleans to end this chapter. It aids both sides.
Brees, meanwhile, unlike Payton, has made it clear he wants to remain with the Saints until the end of his career. The challenge in making that a reality is his cap number, which hits $30m next season. With it also representing the last year of his contract, it’s likely a deal could be worked out to keep him in New Orleans.
With a disastrous roster/cap situation and a rebuild clearly needed, it’s also equally likely the front office could decide to move on completely. The one thing in their favour with regard to money, though, is that the salary cap is due to be increased greatly come the next league year.