🎆 From New Year’s fireworks to an explosive Week 18 coming up, it’s an exciting stretch. Happy New Year to you all!
🏈 The regular season finale setup…
The final week of the wild 2025 NFL regular season includes three potential division championship games with two possibly for postseason spots (Panthers vs. Buccaneers, Saturday 4:30 PM ET—though CAR is also in with an ATL win; Ravens vs. Steelers, SNF) and the NFC West being for the No. 1 seed (Seahawks vs. 49ers, Saturday 8:00 PM ET). Plus, the AFC West champion Broncos need to beat a Chargers team resting some players for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and the Jaguars take the AFC South by defeating the Titans.
It could have been an even better week if the Lions remained alive, but you can’t ask for much more than this for Week 18—headlined by Game 272 being the Ravens-Steelers matchup which could easily be Aaron Rodgers’ final game. How did we get here?
🎄 Week 17 recap
Week 17 headliners included the 49ers winning an insane SNF contest versus the Bears. It was the first regular season game in NFL history to be tied 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28, and 35-35—with Brock Purdy totaling five TDs and the San Francisco defense ultimately getting a stop on the final play for a 42-38 victory.
On Christmas Day, the Lions’ playoff hopes stunningly ended in a game where Detroit (which had eight turnovers on the season entering the game) turned it over six times against a Vikings defense that flew around. The Cowboys held on to defeat the Commanders to begin the day. And Bo Nix again made enough key plays to help Denver escape with a win in what might have been TE Travis Kelce’s last game at Arrowhead.
The Saturday holiday doubleheader was kicked off by the Texans beating the Chargers on the road, sparked by two very quick deep touchdown tosses by C.J. Stroud. The Ravens-Packers game at Lambeau Field was a joy to watch (unless you were facing RB Derrick Henry in fantasy), as both backup quarterbacks—particularly Malik Willis for Green Bay, which has been the case dating back to last season—played very well. The top performer was King Henry, who had another tremendous late-season, cold-weather showing with 216 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, as well as another epic stiff-arm.
Other Week 17 results:
Browns 13, Steelers 6: A limited passing game with no DK Metcalf at WR (suspension, which will also be the case for Week 18) held the Steelers back in a game the Browns clearly sort of treated like their Super Bowl.
Eagles 13, Bills 12: The Bills stormed back in the fourth quarter, but a missed XP and a missed two-point conversion throw by Josh Allen helped Philadelphia escape rainy Buffalo with a win.
Patriots 42, Jets 10: Philly’s win helped the Patriots clinch the AFC East, as earlier in the day Drake Maye threw five TDs as New England made it look way too easy at the Jets.
Falcons 27, Rams 24 (MNF): S Jessie Bates III (pick-six) and rookie Xavier Watts (two INTs) made it a very rough night for Matthew Stafford, and Bijan Robinson totaled 229 yards and two TDs.
Jaguars 23, Colts 17: Jacksonville overcame a couple of red zone turnovers to win at Indy in what was likely Philip Rivers’ final career start after his admirable return to the field.
Dolphins 20, Buccaneers 17: Dolphins rookie QB Quinn Ewers threw two TDs while Bucs QB Baker Mayfield again struggled late in the game.
Seahawks 27, Panthers 10: This was a gritty defensive battle, but the Seahawks ultimately turned things on and pulled away in the second half—with Carolina unable to clinch the NFC South.
Bengals 37, Cardinals 14: Joe Burrow and the Cincy offense were feeling it again (including OL Cody Ford catching a 21-yard pass to shock Burrow), and Ja’Marr Chase got his wish by finding the end zone not once but twice—his first scores since October.
Saints 34, Titans 26: DE Chase Young scored on defense as rookie QB Tyler Shough and the offense again played well for New Orleans.
Giants 34, Raiders 10: In what was essentially a battle for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Giants allowed Jaxson Dart to run around and make plays against a Vegas defense that again almost looked like a team helping the offense get work in practice.
😳 Maxx Crosby leaves the Raiders
The Raiders shut down star DE Maxx Crosby for the final two games of the season, and FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer—who talked with Crosby multiple times—says that Crosby “vehemently disagreed,” left the building/team, and has questions about his future in Vegas.
In the week leading up to the game, with all the talk about the No. 1 overall pick likely being at stake, Crosby made it clear that he does not care about that.
Crosby said, “I don’t give a s—- about the pick, to be honest,” adding that it’s his job to wreck games and continue to do that.
A couple of days later, the All-Pro was shut down, which understandably led to a blowup.
Crosby has previously shut down any opportunities to be traded away from Vegas, but there’s clearly a chance that’ll change.
Zoom out: Crosby played through the injury for most of the season. He said earlier in the week he doesn't care about draft positioning (nor should he). He plays about as hard as anyone in the league every week. And he’s exceptional at his job. To then have people that have steered the ship to a two-win season tell him he’s not going to play is crazy.
📰 More NFL news and notes
“I’d do it all again. It’s been absolutely awesome.” Philip Rivers said he didn’t regret his NFL comeback one bit despite the Colts going 0-3 and things not working out the way they’d like in that regard.
The latest injury news includes two players from playoff-bound teams heading to injured reserve (out at least three more games):
Bears LB Noah Sewell suffered an Achilles injury in Week 17.
Steelers TE Darnell Washington broke his forearm in the loss at Cleveland.
Panthers TE Ja’Tavion Sanders broke his ankle against the Seahawks.
Also, 49ers LB Fred Warner has a shot to return late this postseason from his bad ankle injury, according to GM John Lynch.
Other Sports Updates
〽️ Michigan has officially hired former Utah HC Kyle Whittingham to the same position.
☘️ Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman announced he is returning to the team in 2026 amidst NFL interest.
🤯 Northwestern is hiring Chip Kelly as their new OC.
🍿 BOOM: Prime Video released the first trailer for the Madden movie releasing on Thanksgiving in 2026.
⛳️ Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka announced he is stepping away from LIV Golf.
😯 Phillies 1B Bryce Harper posted a video working out in a “Not Elite” shirt after team president Dave Dombrowski wondered if his days of being elite are behind him.
