The playoff picture is set and Black Monday is looming
The good, bad and ugly of NFL week 17
Dec 31, 2018, 2:45 am
Mahomes for MVP? Jim Berry, Chiefs website
Just when you thought the NFL couldn't get any more exciting, week 17 said "hold my beer" and proceeded to wow us. Here's how I saw it play out:
The Good
- Chiefs' quarterback Pat Mahomes secured only the third 50 passing touchdown season in NFL history in their 35-3 dismantling of the Raiders. He's only in his first full season as the starting quarterback and is widely considered the frontrunner for league MVP.
-Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield broke the rookie passing touchdown record in a losing effort. He threw his 27th touchdown pass of the season as they tried to keep the Ravens out of the playoffs. Mind you, he didn't start the season. He had to "Wally Pip" Tyrod Taylor to get the starting job.
-In the "Loser Leaves Town" match, the Colts beat the Titans 33-17 to get the final playoff spot in the AFC. Props to the NFL for adjusting the schedule to allow for games this important to take place between division rivals and allowing it to be flexed into the Sunday night time slot.
The Bad
- Jags executive vice president Tom Coughlin called running backs Leonard Fournette and T.J. Yeldon's behavior on the sideline "disrespectful, selfish, and was unbecoming of a professional football player." Fournette and Yeldon sat on the bench the entire game and generally seemed uninterested in the game as one was inactive and the other didn't play. Is this Coughlin being an old, or the players being millenials, or both?
-The Steelers barely edged out the Bengals 16-13 and missed the playoffs. One can point to their horrible loss to the Raiders a couple weeks ago, or the come from ahead loss to the Saints, or even their tying of the Browns on opening week. No matter how you slice it, this is completely on them.
-Rumor has it that the Dolphins may get rid of head coach Adam Gase. It would be a terrible decision considering what Gase has done for all the quarterbacks he worked with. If Ryan Tannehill had been healthy, their season may have turned out differently. I know of a certain quarterback and head coach combo that could use a guy like Gase.
The Ugly
-Without a shot at a playoff spot and only a little more than pride on the line, the Packers' Aaron Rodgers started the final game of the season against the Lions. He did not finish however because he was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a concussion. What a terrible way to start your offseason when you're also looking for a new head coach.
-The Skins were blanked by the Eagles 24-0. If that wasn't bad enough, they only put up 89 yards of offense! Their 68 yards passing was only nine more than Eagles leading receiver Alshon Jeffrey had. Their 21 yards rushing was three less than Eagles third leading rusher Darren Sproles totaled.
-Black Monday is already upon us. The Jets fired Todd Bowles and the Bucs fired Dirk Koetter. Several other coaches are expected to be let go. Among them are Cardinals coach Steve Wilks, who was only given one year to work with an inferior roster, Broncos' Vance Joseph and previously mentioned Gase in Miami.
The playoffs are set and will be exciting to see. The road to the Super Bowl goes through New Orleans in the NFC and Kansas City in the AFC. Number one seeds have been nine of the last ten Super Bowl participants, but this season feels different. Guess that's why Herm Edwards gave us his famous line.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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