🏈 The NFL Playoff Picture Comes into Focus, Bowl-a-rama and More

Good Morning, Blitzers!

For those of you who were in fantasy football championships, I hope you reigned supreme…just like me. 😀 For those of you, who lost in the championship or was already eliminated, there’s always next year! A lot of happenings in the NFL over the weekend, let’s get to it!

WTF Stat: This rookie wide receiver class is dominating…especially since three of the four are on, let’s just say, not so special teams.

🏈 Saquon Barkley joined the 2,000 yard club on Sunday rushing for 167 yards against the Cowboys. He is 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s single season record which has stood since 1984. Of course the Eagles final game is against the Giants. Couldn’t have written a better script.

🏈 We’ve already touched upon the special rookie receiver class, but Brock Bowers is now historically a stud. The Raider TE broke Mike Ditka’s 63-year-old record for receiving yards by a rookie tight end and then later in the game broke the rookie record for receptions, which was set by Puka Nacua last year. Bowers did this catching passes from Gardner Minshew, Aiden O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder.

🏀 The Los Angeles LeBrons are shaking things up by shipping D’Angelo Russell across the country to the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers also sent Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton.

🏒 Sidney Crosby surpassed Mario Lemieux’s franchise assist mark in the Penguins victory over the Islanders on Sunday. Crosby has 1,034 assists, which is 12th all-time in the NHL. The 37-year-old Sid the Kid still trails Lemieux in goals and points by a significant margin.

⚾️ In baseball news:

• The Diamondbacks seemingly came out of nowhere and signed star pitcher Corbin Burnes to a 6-year, $210M contract. Burnes is coming off a great year with the Baltimore Orioles finishing with a 2.92 ERA.

• Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez earned a new contract for the Los Angeles Dodgers to the tune of 3-years, $66 million. Hernandez a key bat for the World Series champs, he smacked 33 home runs and drove in 99 RBIs.

• The Detroit Tigers signed infielder Gleyber Torres to a one-year deal worth $15 million. Torres has played the last seven seasons with the New York Yankees and was named to the All-Star team twice.

NFL Week 17

What You Missed

→ Jayden Daniels continues to be super clutch - I didn’t even have to change the headline from last week. Jayden Daniels: DAWG. After beating the Eagles in dramatic fashion last week, the rookie out of LSU marched the Commanders down and the above toss to Zach Ertz downed the Falcons in OT. The win clinches a playoff spot for the Commanders…and weirdly, the Rams. Daniels did it through the air and on the ground, passing for 227 yards and 3 TDs as well as 127 yards rushing. Falcons rookie QB Michael Penix had some of his own heroics leading Atlanta down the field to force OT. Before last night, the Falcons held their playoff destiny in their hands. With the loss, Atlanta will need to win next week against the Panthers and the Bucs to lose against the Saints.

→ Baker Magic is truly a sight to behold - Baker Mayfield diced up the Carolina Panthers in the Bucs 48-14 drubbing. Mayfield went 27-32 for 359 yards and 5 TDs. Two of his TDs were to Mike Evans, two to Jalen McMillan and one to Payne Durham. Aside from Baker, the Bucs may have found an absolute stud in Bucky Irving who accounted for 200 yards from scrimmage. As I mentioned, the Bucs are back in the driver’s seat and just need a win over the Saints to get back into the playoffs.

→ The Giants hurt themselves by winning - Drew Lock threw for four touchdowns and ran for another in the shootout victory over the Colts. Yes, Drew Lock, that Drew Lock, scored five touchdowns. Rookie wideout Malik Nabors was electric catching seven passes for 171 yards and two TDs. That’s good news. The bad news is that because of the win, the Giants no longer hold the first overall pick that honor belongs to the New England Patriots. There was no good news for the Colts, with the loss they are now eliminated from playoff contention. Good news for fans, we won’t have to watch that team beyond next week.

→ The Bills made the Jets look like a JV team - Usually beating up on the elderly is frowned upon, it was met with raucous applause in Buffalo when the Bills bullied Old Man Rodgers on Sunday. 4 sacks, 2 picks and a total QBR of…1.2. WOOF. Josh Allen scored 3 TDs (2 pass, 1 rush) and the 40-14 win locked up the 2-seed for the Bills. They pretty much could use next week against the Patriots as a bye.

What We Learned

→ There are a lot of bad teams in the NFL - Sunday only had 9 games with the funky Christmas week schedule and we as a fandom was subjected to Saints/Raiders, Titans/Jaguars, and Dolphins/Browns. Let me tell you, it was not a good product. 10 teams have five wins or less. That’s a little under a third of the league. I can’t remember a season where there were teams that are just this woeful.

→ The Playoff Hunt is On - The final spot of the AFC is still up for grabs for the Broncos, Bengals, and Dolphins. If the Broncos beat the Chiefs, who may be resting their players with the 1-seed locked up, they’re in. The Dolphins need to win and the Broncos to lose and the Bengals need to win and have the Broncos and Dolphins lose. Meanwhile in the NFC, the biggest game of the week will be between the Lions and Vikings for the 1-seed. Assuming the Lions win tonight against the Niners, the winner gets a rest, the loser will drop to the 5-seed.

→ As for the rest of the playoff picture here’s what we’re looking at right now:

AFC

1. Chiefs*

2. Bills*

3. Ravens*

4. Texans*

5. Steelers*

6. Chargers*

7. Broncos/Dolphins/Bengals

NFC

1. Vikings/Lions

2. Eagles*

3. Rams*

4. Bucs

5. Lions/Vikings

6. Commanders*

7. Packers*

*clinched

NFL Scoreboard and Standings

🏈 Tonight

The Lions @ Niners on ESPN/ABC at 8:30 PM

Bowl Games

Friday, December 27th

Syracuse 52, Washington State 35

Navy 21, Oklahoma 20

Arkansas 39, Texas Tech 26

USC 35, Texas A&M 31

Saturday, December 28th

Iowa State 42, Miami 41

BYU 36, Colorado 14

Army 27, Louisiana Tech 6

UCONN 27, UNC 14

Nebraska 20, BC 15

TCU 34, Louisiana 3

Miami (OH) 43, Colorado State 17

East Carolina 26, NC State 21

Monday, December 30

TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Missouri - 2:30 PM (ESPN)

Conference Records

American Athletic 6-1

Big 12 4-2

Big Ten 4-2

MAC 4-2

SEC 4-3

Sun Belt 3-3

Independents 2-0

Conference USA 1-3

Mountain West 1-3

ACC 1-9 (WOOOOOOFFFFFFF)

PAC-12 0-1

Top NBA Games

Heat 104, Rockets 100: The two teams got into a benches clearing scuffle, but it was the Heat that won the game in the end. Tyler Herro, who got tossed like a rag doll in the fight, scored a game-high 27 points.

Magic 102, Nets 101: Cole Anthony’s floater banked in with just 1.3 seconds remaining to lift the Magic over the Nets.

Pacers 123, Celtics 114: Tyrese Haliburton was a man on a mission and the Pacers avenged getting blown out on Friday with a win on the Celtics home floor. Haliburton scored 31 with 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

Thunder 130, Grizzlies 106: With no Ja Murant, the Grizzlies were mince meat for the rolling Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points in the blowout.

Full NBA scoreboard here, and standings here.

Top NHL Games

Ducks 5, Oilers 3: The Ducks scored four unanswered goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods to upset the Oilers in Anaheim.

Red Wings 4, Capitals 2: The Red Wings started out red hot, scoring four goals in the first period. Alex DeBrincat accounted for two of them and Detroit held on to win.

Canadiens 5, Lightning 2: A lot of top teams took the L on Sunday including the Lightning at the hands of the Canadiens. Montreal had five different goal scorers getting two in 3rd period to down Tampa.

Full NHL scoreboard here, and standings here.

On this day in 2020, San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is ejected in a 121-107 loss to the LA Lakers. She’s currently the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces.