Are Le'Veon Bell, Aaron Rodgers Week 17 winners or losers?
Week 17 winners
Panthers: The first back-to-back champions in the 13-season history of the NFC South will host a winnable wild-card round contest against the Cardinals next weekend. Carolina (7-8-1), which went two months without a win in the middle of the season, suddenly seems set up to make a run in January.
DeMarco Murray and Tony Romo: The Cowboys' dynamic duo had a nice Sunday. Both emerged unscathed physically from a win in Washington that had few implications for Dallas, though the NFC East champs will take a hot streak into the playoffs after their 44-17 victory. And Murray has to feel good after claiming Emmitt Smith's franchise record for rushing yards in a season, while Romo completed the first undefeated December of his up-and-down career.
J.J. Watt: He left MVP voters with serious food for thought after putting an exclamation point on his case to be the first defender to win the hardware in 28 years. Watt's three sacks Sunday made him the first player in league history with two 20-sack seasons. One of Watt's takedowns of Jags QB Blake Bortles led to a safety, giving the Texans star 32 points this season (he'd previously scored five TDs).
Odell Beckham's offensive rookie of the year chances: After a 185-yard day, the first-round pick finished with 1,305 receiving yards in just 12 games, still good for the third-highest total in Giants history.
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Justin Houston: His four-sack flourish to end the season gave the Chiefs linebacker a league-high 22 and left him just a half-sack of matching Michael Strahan's single-season standard — quite the bargaining chip for Houston to take into an offseason when he's scheduled to be a free agent.
Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh: After laying an egg in Week 16, their Ravens rebounded to snatch a playoff spot for the sixth time since the quarterback-coach duo arrived in Baltimore in 2008.
C.J. Anderson: The Broncos' offensive engine down the stretch continued firing on all cylinders by scoring three TDs Sunday as Denver sewed up a first-round bye.
Bills: Vanquishing the Patriots for the first time ever at Gillette Stadium gave Buffalo (9-7) its first winning finish in 10 years. The Bills' postseason drought reached a league-worst 15 years, but a whole lot of AFC teams are glad they won't have to deal with this formidable defense in January.
Jim Harbaugh: He exited the NFL a winner after a (mostly) excellent hitch with the 49ers to purportedly become the best-compensated coach in the college ranks at Michigan, his alma mater.
Week 17 winners and losers
Le'Veon Bell: The Steelers MVP helped his team win the AFC North on Sunday night but hyperextended a knee in the process. What Bell will be able to provide on a six-day turnaround against the rival Ravens remains to be seen.
Aaron Rodgers: He pulled an in-game Willis Reed, leading the Packers to a fourth consecutive NFC North crown and a first-round bye despite re-injuring his calf injury and temporarily leaving the game before halftime. Rodgers clearly could use the extra week to recuperate, but it's now looking like a player who so deftly uses his mobility may not be operating close to peak efficiency when his team needs him most.
Rex Ryan: It was his final game on the Jets' sideline. But he exited a winner, complete with a smile on his face and NYPD hat perched on his head. Still, Ryan — whose four playoff wins are twice the amount of any other coach in Jets history — had to wonder why Geno Smith (358 yards, 3 TDs, perfect passer rating), Eric Decker (career-high 221 receiving yards) and even his beloved defense (seven sacks, one takeaway) — waited until Week 17 to maximize their potential.
Ryan Lindley: In his ninth NFL appearance, the Arizona quarterback finally threw his first pro TD pass. However he and the Cardinals, who owned a three-game lead in the NFC West on Nov. 16, couldn't recover the division lead from the Seahawks on Sunday and will take their playoff show on the wild-card road.
Buccaneers: They went oh-for-Tampa this season after coughing up a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to the Saints. But on the bright side, the 2-14 Bucs will get the first crack at Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, or whomever they want, with the top pick of the 2015 draft.
Chase Daniel: The Chiefs' backup quarterback won for the first time as an NFL starter while filling in for injured Alex Smith. Unfortunately, Kansas City didn't get enough outside help to parlay Daniel's reliable relief into a playoff trip.
Week 17 losers
NFC teams that don't reside in Seattle: The Seahawks rode their near-legendary defense — it's now allowed the fewest points in three consecutive seasons — to home-field advantage by extending the team's winning streak to six with Sunday's victory over the Rams. The reigning champs have won their last seven playoff contests at CenturyLink Field, a streak that dates back to 2004. The Seahawks are 24-2 at home over the past three seasons, which coincides with Russell Wilson's tenure, though one of those defeats came courtesy of the Cowboys this year.
Mike Smith: With the NFC South and a home playoff game on the line, his Falcons got laid out by the Panthers. Smith, the winningest coach in team history, will probably suffer a similar fate very soon.
Chiefs wideouts: Dwayne Bowe nearly scored the team's first TD by a wide receiver this season before fumbling at the goal line Sunday. TE Travis Kelce recovered ... meaning Kansas City was the first team to go through a 16-game season without a wideout scoring on a reception.
Adam Vinatieri: The Colts had little to play for Sunday, but that wasn't true of their veteran kicker. But after converting his first 29 field-goal attempts of the season, Vinatieri pushed his 30th one wide left.
Patriots: They already owned the AFC's top seed at the outset of Week 17, hence the decision to sit TE Rob Gronkowski and WR Julian Edelman against Buffalo. But with its loss to the Bills, New England sacrificed its 35-game home winning streak against AFC teams, saw LT Nate Solder leave the field with a knee injury and won't carry any semblance of momentum into the divisional round after ending the regular season with two listless performances.
Blake Bortles: The first quarterback drafted in 2014 probably can't wait to turn the calendar to 2015. He was sacked five times Sunday and passed for just 117 yards. Bortles averaged 165 passing yard in his final six starts and never exceeded 210 in that stretch. Jacksonville was 0-for-11 on third downs Sunday in Houston and managed just 233 yards. The takeaway: Bortles needs a lot more offensive support.
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