There’s Always One

Let me take you back to Week 13. The Jacksonville Jaguars were 8-3 and atop the entire AFC with a legitimate shot at clinching the top seed. That week they suffered a home loss in overtime to the Cincinnati Bengals who were playing without QB Joe Burrow. Little did we know that it would lead to one of the biggest collapses in franchise history. They ended their four game losing streak with a shutout victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 17. All they had to do was defeat the Tennessee Titans and they would finally clinch the AFC South. Last season, the Jaguars defeated the Tennessee Titans to complete their improbable comeback to win the division. Tennessee remembers that and made sure it wouldn’t be easy for the Jaguars. This game summed up the Jaguars season perfectly. Wildly inconsistent play from QB Trevor Lawrence. The defense playing some of their worst football of the season and that’s saying something with that four game losing streak having happened recently. Jacksonville with all of their flaws, still had a chance to get a victory, but couldn’t even convert a critical 4th down late in the game with a wildly inaccurate pass by Lawrence. There’s always one team that blows it during the last week of the season and this time it was the Jaguars turn.

From Outsiders To Division Champs

Going into their bye week on the 13th week of the season, Buffalo was 6-6 and losing another winnable game in Philadelphia in overtime. This was a Super Bowl contending team, but inconsistent play, key injuries and many self-made mistakes were keeping this team out of playoff contention at that time. What came next was a renaissance as they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on the road and easily took care of the Dallas Cowboys at home in consecutive games. Games that should not have been as close were victories regardless against the Chargers and Patriots. Then came the Miami Dolphins. Buffalo had to travel to Miami for the last game that ended up being a winner take the division matchup. Buffalo had already clinched a playoff spot before the game with the Jaguars loss and needed to defeat Miami to host a playoff game. The Dolphins were outplaying Buffalo in the first half, but it was close and all the Bills needed was a little spark. A punt return by Deonte Harty was returned 96-yards for a game tying touchdown early in the 4th quarter. That reinvigorated the Bills to rally for a go-ahead touchdown later in the quarter. It also sucked the life out of Miami who forgot that they ran the ball with great success earlier in the game and completely abandoned it with too many three and outs. For the Bills they now realize how fortunate they are and will be hosting a playoff game for the Wild Card and Divisional Round if they win their Wild Card matchup. Now they need to prove that they deserve to still be considered contenders with a sustained playoff run.

Many Head Coaching Changes Taking Place

One of the first head coach firings occurred the night of Week 18 when the Atlanta Falcons fired Arthur Smith. They had three consecutive 7-win seasons under his tenure and a complete disaster of a quarterback situation during the 2023 season. Losing four out of their last five games was the final straw for Smith in Atlanta. Next came the obvious firing of Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. The writing was on the wall when it was official that Josh Harris was the new owner of the team. Unless some miracle happened, Rivera was gonna be out. The defense progressively got worse and cratered when Rivera took over with the firing of Jack Del Rio mid-season. QB Sam Howell isn’t the answer for this franchise and it cinched Rivera’s ouster. Also remember that he didn’t realize towards the end of the last season that their loss to Cleveland would cost them a playoff spot and he started QB Carson Wentz. To some folks surprise, but not mine was the firing of Mike Vrabel from the Tennessee Titans. There was a power struggle brewing with the GM Ran Carthon having been hired before last season. Ownership had grown tired of the status quo on the field. Vrabel isn’t the worst coach in the league, but he is a stubborn one. They had the top seed in the AFC in 2021 and crashed and burned with the best of them. What could have been had they not signed QB Ryan Tannehill to a long term contract? The next one was the firing/promotion of head coach Pete Carroll in Seattle. His press conference announcing his demotion/elevated position to the suites was strange. He was open about how much he fought to stay, but the writing was on the wall a long time ago. Nothing can be taken away from him for having a Super Bowl to his credit, but he should have had two. Super Bowl 49 and that boneheaded play call will live on with his legacy long after he’s gone. It also didn’t help that their last playoff win came in 2019 and missing the playoff entirely two out of the last four seasons didn’t bode well for him. It’s classy that Seattle isn’t completely throwing him out on the curb, but his time had come. And lastly the New England Patriots did what we all knew would happen after QB Tom Brady left them. They mutually parted ways with head coach Bill Belichick. The constant eulogizing of his time with the Patriots makes it seem like he passed away. It’s really comical. You think one of the most successful head coaches of all-time is gonna stop short of passing Don Shula for the most wins of any head coach? I don’t think so. He’s gonna get that record with a team that has an established quarterback and hopefully a competent offensive coordinator to take care of that side of the ball. Just see what the Patriots offense looked like the past two seasons. He still has the eye for talent on the defensive side of the ball and will do wonders for whomever he coaches next. Yes, one of the longest tenures of success in the NFL history is over, but make no mistake, you haven’t seen the last of the ‘hoodie’ yet. I’m sure Jerod Mayo is a good coach, but he ain’t gonna be the one to fix that mess in New England. Good luck chowdah.