The Saturday NFL tripleheader did not disappointment in Week 17, thanks to the thrilling overtime victory the Cincinnati Bengals had over the Denver Broncos. In what essentially was a playoff game, the Bengals needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive while the Broncos needed a win to clinch a playoff berth.
The final playoff spot in the AFC is still up for grabs as a result, yet one was clinched in the first game. The Los Angeles Chargers wrapped up a playoff berth with a blowout victory over the New England Patriots, capping Jim Harbaugh’s tremendous first season coaching the team.
With the excitement of the first two games completed, here are some winners and losers from the Saturday tripleheader:
If the Bengals make the playoffs, Burrow is going to have a significant case for the league MVP award. Saturday’s performance in the overtime win over the Broncos will be the first point of emphasis, as Burrow finished 39 of 49 for 412 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 122.1 passer rating.
Burrow put the Bengals on his back in the fourth quarter and overtime, going 18 of 20 for 217 yards with two touchdowns (145.2 rating), while also rushing for the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter and throwing the winning touchdown in overtime. This was Burrow’s eighth consecutive game with 250+ passing yards and 3+ passing touchdowns, the most for any player in NFL history.
During the Bengals’ four-game winning streak that got them to 8-8, Burrow has completed 75.6% of his passes for 1,304 yards with 12 touchdowns to three interceptions for a 116.3 passer rating. For the season, Burrow has completed 69.8% of his passes for 4,641 yards with 42 touchdowns to eight interceptions and a 109.8 rating.
Saturday’s overtime win was just further proof Burrow is a serious player in the MVP conversation.
Loser: Zac Taylor’s decision-making
Taylor had quite a few head-scratching decisions in the Bengals’ victory, which certainly won’t help him retain his job after the season (if the Bengals do fail to make the playoffs). Taylor’s clock management in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter was abysmal, as he took away his team’s chance of victory and extended a game that didn’t need to be extended.
The Bengals had a first-and-goal at the Broncos’ 6-yard line in a 17-17 game, with Denver having just one timeout and 1:39 left on the clock. Denver tried to let Cincinnati score, and Bengals running back Chase Brown injured his ankle sliding and trying not to score. Instead of kneeling down and running down the clock after Brown’s injury, the Bengals used the “tush push” and Burrow scored a touchdown with 1:31 left.
Because it was second down, the Bengals could have kneeled twice and burned Denver’s final timeout. Then they could have kicked the go-ahead field goal with just over 30 seconds to play, forcing the Broncos to go at least 40 yards with 30 seconds left — and converting a long field goal to force overtime.
In overtime, Cade York missed a 33-yard field goal with 2:48 left. Taylor was blamed for kicking on third down, but that one is on the kicker for missing an easy kick. Taylor kicked on third down in case there was a bad snap and the Bengals could get another shot, but his decision-making in the fourth quarter didn’t help his case in overtime.
How Taylor handled the late-game situation in the fourth quarter was brutal. Once again, the talent on his offense saved his job for another week.
Winner: Broncos’ playoff chances
Even though the Broncos lost to the Bengals and kept the final playoff spot available, all hope is not lost in Denver. The Broncos still need to win in Week 18 to make the playoffs in the AFC, and still control their own destiny in that sense.
The problem? The Broncos face the Chiefs. This won’t be the Chiefs quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes, as Kansas City will be resting its starters since the Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference this week. Denver will be seeing Carson Wentz and plenty of Kansas City backups.
Of course, this isn’t a guarantee Denver wins. The Broncos still have a significant advantage thanks to the Chiefs having home-field advantage clinched.
Loser: Sean Payton’s decision-making
Payton is going to the Hall of Fame as a head coach because of his aggressive decision-making. This wasn’t the same Payton who coached in Saturday’s loss to the Bengals.
When the Broncos scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left to make it 24-23, quarterback Bo Nix was signaling the Broncos to go for two and the win in a 24-23 game. The win would have clinched a playoff spot for the Broncos if Denver converted. However, Payton pulled the offense during the review of Marvin Mims Jr.’s catch (which stood) and kicked the extra point to force overtime.
This decision did make sense, considering the Broncos also clinched a playoff spot with a tie — and overtime is 10 minutes instead of 15. The decision was still interesting given Payton’s history.
In overtime, Payton had baffling clock management as well. Since the Broncos could still tie and the Bengals had the ball on their second possession in overtime, Payton called two timeouts at the 4:15 mark and 3:32 mark, saving over a minute of clock by calling those timeouts. This did bite Denver when Cincinnati got the ball back on its third possession, as the Bengals did score the winning touchdown with 1:07 left.
Payton couldn’t have predicted Cade York was going to miss a 33-yard field goal, but he could have used those timeouts if Denver did get the ball back. Even if Payton didn’t want to use them, he was playing for the tie by forcing overtime earlier. Wouldn’t Payton want to consume as much time as he could with his team having the ball?
This wasn’t Payton’s finest game, and it ended up hurting Denver’s chances of locking up a playoff spot.
Winner: Jim Harbaugh
This one is self explanatory. Harbaugh has won anywhere he’s coached, including in his first season with the Chargers. Fresh off a national championship with the University of Michigan, Harbaugh bolted back to the NFL and took the Chargers to the playoffs in his first season with the franchise.
The Chargers were 5-12 last season, while ranking 22nd in points per possession (1.78) and 23rd in points allowed per possession (2.01). Harbaugh turned this team around in a year, doubling the amount of wins (five to 10), while improving the points per possession to 16th (1.96) and points allowed per possession to third (1.70) — entering Saturday’s game.
In five seasons in the NFL, Harbaugh has four 10-win campaigns and four playoff trips. He’s the eighth coach in NFL history to make the playoffs in his first season with two different teams (49ers, Chargers) and he’s 54-25-1 in the NFL (.684 win percentage).
Harbaugh doesn’t have a Super Bowl title yet, but there’s no denying he wins. The league should have been put on notice the Chargers were going to the playoffs when Harbaugh took the job.
Loser: Patriots franchise
How far have the Patriots fallen since the glory years of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick? The Patriots will finish with an under-.300 win percentage for the second consecutive season, the first time the franchise has hit those marks since the 1968 and 1969 seasons — when they were still in the AFL and named the Boston Patriots.
Saturday’s 40-7 loss was embarrassing for a franchise that just doesn’t look prepared to play. There isn’t much talent on the Patriots’ roster to work with and head coach Jerod Mayo looks out of his element. The offense is 30th in offensive points per game (16.1) and 31st in yards per game (290.9), and this is with rookie quarterback Drake Maye playing like a capable starting quarterback.
Mayo will likely get another year to see if he can improve this team, but it’s clear the Patriots have a lot of work to do. This franchise is one of the worst in the league, and has been trending that way for a while.
Herbert has gotten his fair share of criticism over the years, as he’s thrown for a lot of yards but didn’t have many wins to show for it. Even in Herbert’s lone playoff appearance, the Chargers blew a 27-point lead in the wild-card round and lost to the Jaguars.
Thanks to head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Herbert is one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL. Herbert is averaging a career-low 220.3 pass yards per game, but has career highs in yards per attempt (7.5), yards per completion (11.6), and passer rating (99.9). He also has 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions in 16 games, joining Tom Brady (2016) and Aaron Rodgers (2018) as the only quarterbacks to have 400+ pass attempts and three or fewer interceptions in a season.
Herbert has the most passing yards in a player’s first five seasons (20,747) and is the fourth player with 20+ passing touchdowns in each of his first five seasons. The 2024 season is a product of Herbert actually having good offensive coaches to work with him and not putting the entire offense on his shoulders.
This may be the year Herbert gets a playoff win on his resume as well.