NFL Week 18 Recap: The Final Pieces

Well, football fans, this was it. The final day of the 2024 NFL season, with the last 14 remaining games in the overall schedule. Week 18 kicked off with the two AFC North games on Saturday, which saw the Baltimore Ravens win easily over the Cleveland Browns to win the division, while the Cincinnati Bengals won on the road over the Pittsburgh Steelers to earn the right to at least do some scoreboard watching to see if they get in. For my recap of what I called, "AFC North Saturday," click here.

While that storyline was wrapped up, there were still a few things that needed to be solved in the final day of the season. Similar to last year's final week recap, I'll focus on the relevant games that were played.

The NFC South needed solving in the final week for the second straight year, and the Atlanta Falcons needed to win to stay alive. They were at home against the Carolina Panthers in what should be a given win for Atlanta, but remember, it's Week 18 and it's the Falcons. This game was somehow back and forth and close, and high scoring. Holy moley. It was quite the contest, and after four quarters and 60 minutes, we had overtime tied at 38.

While that was going on in Atlanta, what happened in Tampa?

The Saints were in Tampa, and they were actually winning big on the road. I figured it was partly due to the Saints having a knack for beating Tampa, but I also think it was the Saints trying to make their home town of New Orleans proud after the tragedy on New Year's Day. I truly think they did regardles of how the game ended up, and it ended with two things. One, Mike Evans completing his 11th straight 1000-yard season, which tied him with the great Jerry Rice, and added $3 million to his payday, and second, the Buccaneers came back and won it, 27-19, to win the NFC South. Which meant:

This team was 6-3 and looked like they would run away with the NFC South, but they went on a terrible skid, losing their next four games. They did do enough to regain control of their own destiny, which included benching Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie QB Michael Penix, Jr., but then there was the game in Washington, where coach Raheem Morris infamously didn't call timeout (he had two left) after a key first down. They lost that game and lost the right to control their own destiny in the final week. Oh, and TB's win was official right as OT was about to start in Atlanta, and even worse, Carolina won the toss and went all the way. So after a 6-3 start, the Falcons lost six of their final eight games, and ended up losing the division to a Bucs team they beat twice! Yikes.

So with that, the one spot remaining in the NFC was filled. The Bucs ended up as the #3 seed after the Los Angeles Rams lost at home to the Seattle Seahawks. Elsewhere in seeding, the Washington Commanders' win over the Dallas Cowboys cemented them at #6, leaving the Green Bay Packers (who lost to the Chicago Bears for the first time in five years) at #7.

Next up was the AFC's #7 seed in the late window. The Bengals won on Saturday, but two other teams were competing for that spot. And the winner of the last playoff spot in the AFC is...

The third week was the charm, as was the Chiefs benching everybody relevant. The Denver Broncos made mincemeat out of the B-Squad Chiefs, 38-0, and with that, their long playoff drought came to an end. The last time the Broncos played in a playoff game was Super Bowl 50. Nine years, and so many quarterbacks later, the Broncos are playoff bound once again. They also completed their first 10-win season since that Super Bowl Championship year, all behind rookie QB Bo Nix.

So with the Broncos' victory, the Bengals and the Miami Dolphins' seasons came to an end. The Dolphins were victims of circumstances; they missed Tua for a good bit of that season, yet in spite of this, they still made it to the final week of the season, which saw them lose to the Jets after their official elimination (Aaron Rodgers also surpassed 500 career touchdowns). As for the Bengals, two key things did them in. One, that defense--if you want to call it that. Imagine putting up 30 points in so many games but not winning them. That's just awful. A second thing that did them in: that Opening Week home loss to, of all teams, the Patriots. If they had won that first game, the Bengals wouldn't have had to need a five-game winning streak and help at the end to get in. They finished 9-8 for the second straight year, and have only made the playoffs once following that run to the Super Bowl. We'll see what next season brings for Cincy, but if it's more of the same, it may be time to get a new head coach.

Before I mention Game #272, I have to talk about this:

Congratulations to the Tennessee Titans for actually winning the #1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft! I didn't see this coming! It looked like it would either the New York Giants or the Las Vegas Raiders, but the latter winning games took them out of the race. The Giants had the best chance, but their win last week knocked them down to #4 and set up a Fatal Four Way of sorts for that top pick. When the Browns lost, that eliminated the Giants, but Cleveland needed the Patriots and Titans to win. All New England had to do was lose to get it, but they actually beat the Josh Allen-benched Bills. Once the Titans lost to the Texans, that sealed it. This will be the first time that the Titans will actually draft first overall since moving from Houston. They actually had the #1 pick in 2016, but traded it to the Rams, who selected Jared Goff. It wasn't a total loss for the Titans, they drafted some guy named Derrick Henry. No biggie.

So the Titans, now that the season is over, are now on the clock.

We now go from the #1 pick to the #1 seed in the NFC. The 272nd and final game of the regular season was a battle for the NFC North and the NFC's top seed between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, and this was over right when it started. The Lions were too much for the Vikings, and Jahmyr Gibbs really showed out, scoring three rushing touchdowns in this contest! The Lions won, 31-9, and as a result, the road through the NFC now goes through Motor City. As for the Vikings, they're off to Southern California.

And that's that for the 2024 NFL regular season, it's on to the playoffs!!! It all starts on Saturday, January 11 with Super Wild Card Weekend; first off, the Houston Texans will host the Los Angeles Chargers on CBS and Paramount+, followed by the third meeting of the season between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, with that game being Amazon Prime's first-ever playoff telecast. On Sunday, January 12, the Buffalo Bills will host the Denver Broncos on CBS and Paramount+, followed by the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles meeting on Fox. The day's action will close with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Washington Commanders, and on Monday, Super Wild Card Weekend will end with the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Minnesota Vikings.

It's playoff time, folks! Sit back and enjoy the ride!

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