🐺 Wolf Sports Weekly

🏈 Wild Card Weekend set after Week 18

The final week of the NFL regular season was headlined by the Lions pulling away from the Vikings to clinch the NFC North and the NFC’s top seed, the Buccaneers winning their fourth straight NFC South title, and the Broncos securing the final AFC playoff spot by dominating a resting KC squad.

• Lions 31, Vikings 9: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs scored four touchdowns as Detroit’s beat-up defense, which at least got LB Alex Anzalone (forearm) back, brought constant heat on Vikings QB Sam Darnold in Game 272.

• Broncos 38, Chiefs 0: Kansas City sat starters with the No. 1 seed locked up, but the Broncos took care of business behind 368 total yards and four touchdown passes by rookie QB Bo Nix, who broke Peyton Manning’s franchise record for completion percentage in a game and threw for the second most touchdowns in a rookie season in NFL history.

• Buccaneers 27, Saints 19: Not only did the Bucs come back to win their fourth straight NFC South title, but they got WR Mike Evans to 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th consecutive year at the end of the game, tying the great Jerry Rice’s record.

• Bengals 19, Steelers 17: Pittsburgh has lost four straight games as Cincy held on for a gritty road win to get to 9-8 and just missing the playoffs. Bengals star WR Ja’Marr Chase ends his outstanding campaign with a triple crown.

• Ravens 35, Browns 10: The duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry again went off to help the Ravens clinch the AFC North, but the highlight of Baltimore’s blowout win might have been 355-pounder Michael Pierce’s interception.

• Commanders 23, Cowboys 19: After Dallas shut down star rookie QB Jayden Daniels in the first half, veteran Marcus Mariota came in for the second half and led a comeback win to help the Commanders lock up the No. 6 seed in the NFC.

• Bears 24, Packers 22: Chicago stunned Green Bay—and a banged-up Jordan Love, who left the game due to a hand injury—on a last-second field goal by Cairo Santos at Lambeau Field, giving the Bears their first victory over the Packers since 2018.

• Patriots 23, Bills 16: Patriots rookie QB Joe Milton saw extended action and looked fantastic, leading New England to a win that saw their draft status drop from No. 1 overall to No. 4—in the last game for HC Jerod Mayo.

• Panthers 44, Falcons 38 (OT): Bryce Young went off for five touchdowns, leading Panthers owner David Tepper to declare that he thinks the franchise has its quarterback.

• Texans 23, Titans 14: It was a short afternoon for Texans QB C.J. Stroud, who left with a quick 7-0 lead while Tennessee secured the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

• Eagles 20, Giants 13: Philadelphia rested many starters, but they still took care of New York, with QB Tanner McKee throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

• Colts 26, Jaguars 23 (OT): Colts RB Jonathan Taylor continued his insane end-of-season stretch with 177 rushing yards and a touchdown.

• Seahawks 30, Rams 25: A four-touchdown day for Seahawks QB Geno Smith was capped by a game-winning touchdown to TE Noah Fant with just over three minutes remaining, with Seattle finishing their first season under HC Mike Macdonald at 10-7.

• Chargers 34, Raiders 20: Chargers WR Quentin Johnston went off for 186 yards on 13 receptions, building confidence and momentum heading into the postseason.

• Cardinals 47, 49ers 24: The Cardinals piled it on late in an eventual rout of the Niners, bringing a disappointing season for San Fran to an end.

• Jets 32, Dolphins 20: If this was the last career game for Aaron Rodgers, it was quite the way to go out with four touchdowns (including his 500th career touchdown pass) in a Jets win.

With that, Wild Card Weekend from Saturday-Monday is set with games across CBS, Prime Video, FOX, NBC, and ESPN/ABC:

🤔 Black Monday and coaching carousel

While the Jets, Saints, and Bears already had openings, just two more head coaches were fired following the end of the regular season—and in both cases, the front offices currently remain in tact.

• The Patriots fired HC Jerod Mayo after just one season in what team owner Robert Kraft called “one of the hardest decisions I have ever made.” However, the blame has seemingly been placed squarely on the head coach despite what looked like arguably a disastrous offseason in terms of player personnel moves.

• The Jaguars fired HC Doug Pederson after three seasons. GM Trent Baalke, who also survived three head coaches during his time with the 49ers, will remain in place and get to hire a third head coach in a decision that people around the league are reportedly calling “insane” and “unreal.”—and one that has Jags fans furious.

Names to watch: Former Patriots LB and former Titans HC Mike Vrabel is an undoubted leading candidate to take over in New England, while Lions OC Ben Johnson is interviewing with both the Patriots and Bears. Chicago is also requesting an interview with Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy, who is under contract with Dallas until January 14.

In a stunner, the Giants announced that they are keeping both HC Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen in 2025. But there’s an obvious ultimatum, with team owner John Mara saying “it better not take long” for the team to improve:

The Colts are also retaining GM Chris Ballard after questions over his job security.

While there might not be as many head coach openings as expected, assistant coaches have been hit very hard this year:

• The Bengals fired longtime DC Lou Anarumo, along with OL coach Frank Pollack, LB coach James Bettcher, and DL coach Marion Hobby.

• The Colts fired DC Gus Bradley in a shift on defense.

• After one season, the Seahawks fired OC Ryan Grubb.

• The Browns fired OC Ken Dorsey as well as OL coach Andy Dickerson.

✍️ More NFL news and notes

Injury news from the past week:

• Packers WR Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL and additional damage in the Week 18 loss to the Bears.

• Packers CB Jaire Alexander (knee) is likely out for the postseason after arthroscopic surgery.

• Ravens WR Zay Flowers (knee) has been called day-to-day by HC John Harbaugh, but he’s thought to be unlikely to play in the Wild Card Round versus the Steelers.

• Lions CB Terrion Arnold injured his foot on Sunday night but says he’s playing in the Divisional Round.

• Rams rookie RB Blake Corum broke his forearm and is out for the postseason.

• Buccaneers S Jordan Whitehead was in a car accident and was placed on the NFI list.

Also, Deshaun Watson had a setback in his recovery from a torn Achilles, putting his 2025 status in question.

“I’m out bro.” Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill says he doesn’t want to play for the team and wants to go elsewhere.

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (knee) says he’s close to fully recovered and expects to be ready for OTAs.

Recent veteran moves: The Cowboys moved on from RB Ezekiel Elliott for the second time, and he signed with the Chargers practice squad; the Lions released S Jamal Adams from the practice squad; and the Patriots waived DE Yannick Ngakoue.

The 2025 Pro Bowl rosters were announced, led by the Ravens with nine selections.

The 2025 NFL Draft order for the non-playoff teams is set, with the Titans, Browns, and Giants in the top three:

Other Sports Updates

🏈 The College Football Playoff Semifinals are set following a thrilling win by Texas over Arizona State in the Peach Bowl, Ohio State routing Oregon in the Rose Bowl, Penn State topping Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, and Georgia falling to Notre Dame in a tragically-delayed Sugar Bowl following a terrorist attack in New Orleans.

🏆 North Dakota State beat Montana State for their fifth FCS national championship in eight seasons.

👀 Dynamic Alabama QB Jalen Milroe has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft.

🏒 Inching closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin returned to the lineup from a broken leg and scored in four of his first five games back.

🐺 Found on wolfsports.com

• 2024 NFL fantasy awards

• Week 18 fantasy awards

• 2025 NFL Draft order after regular season