Playoff Spot Clinched

It must feel better in a since for the Baltimore Ravens that they clinched their playoff spot against their division rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens also put themselves in position to win the AFC North with that victory. The Steelers next opponent on Christmas Day is against the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore will play the Houston Texans that same day. The odds are in favor for the Ravens, but they need to leave no doubt as the season comes to an end. There have been many disappointing moments in recent seasons for the Ravens and if those doubts are to go away they have to win. QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry are a dynamic duo and they must play up to their MVP potential. The defense must be better than they’ve been at certain stretches. If the dominos fall their way they could make a lot of noise in the playoffs this time around.

Philadelphia Is In Trouble

It wasn’t that QB Jalen Hurts left the game early with a concussion. It wasn’t that the defense completely fell apart when they forced five turnovers in the entire game against Washington. It wasn’t even that WR DeVonta Smith dropped the likely game-ending catch on the Eagles final drive and had to settle for a field goal giving the Commanders one final possession to eventually win the game. For me it was the fact that RB Saquon Barkley had already rushed for over 100 yards in the 1st quarter and finished the game with 150 rushing yards. He should have ran for over 200 yards, but the Eagles panicked and were forcing themselves to pass far too much with backup QB Kenny Pickett. The biggest problem with the Eagles this season has been their game planning and it starts with their head coach Nick Sirianni. It will fall on him when this team disappoints once again. He won’t shoulder all the blame, but the reason they are in the playoffs is because of Saquon Barkley and no one else.

Arizona’s Epic Collapse

The Arizona Cardinals were 6-4 going into their bye week. They were in position to win the NFC West at the time, but there was still a ways to go. They ended up losing four of their next five games after that bye week, including this last week’s disaster in Carolina against the Panthers. If it wasn’t for playing a worse team in the New England Patriots, they would have lost five in a row. Carolina was in control the entire time and had a 20-3 lead at one point in the 2nd quarter. Arizona made it competitive, but never led in this game. Overtime was a golden opportunity to keep their playoff hopes alive, but QB Kyler Murray and the inconsistent offense screwed the pooch and had to give the ball back to Carolina. The Panthers ran away with it thanks to RB Chuba Hubbard who scored his second touchdown of the game. RB James Conner is a huge part of the Cardinals offensive attack, but he had to leave due to a knee injury. It’s become apparent that Murray has not had a repertoire with his wide receivers not named TE Trey McBride. This has to be resolved for next season or it’s going to be more of the same in the Arizona desert.