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Bleeding Green Nation
Should the Eagles let Saquon Barkley chase NFL history in Week 18?
Philadelphia’s running back is 101 yards shy of breaking the single-season rushing record.
the big question heading into the final week is still: should star running back Saquon Barkley play, potentially risking injury, and chase the single-season rushing record? After gaining 167 yards on the ground against Dallas in Week 17, Barkley sits a mere 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set back in 1984.
Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles blow out Cowboys to officially clinch NFC East and no worse than the No. 2 seed, 41 to 7
With this win, the Eagles officially clinched the NFC East crown and no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture. The Birds will still be alive for a first-round bye in Week 18 if both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions lose in Week 17.
[Sunday’s starting QB Kenny] Pickett…got knocked out of the game and Tanner McKee came in to keep the rout going, tossing two touchdowns in his first-ever NFL action.
Pickett’s final stat line: 10/15, 143 yards (9.5 average), 1 TD, 0 INT, 119.6 passer rating … 3 runs, 3 yards, 1 rushing TD.
McKee’s final stat line: 3/4, 53 yards, (13.5 average), 2 TD, 0 INT, 156.2 passer rating.
With 167 yards on the ground, Saquon Barkley went over 2,000 rushing yards in the Eagles’ win to put him in position to potentially break Eric Dickerson’s all-time record in Week 18. Barkley is 101 yards shy from surpassing Dickerson. Though it’s quite possible the Eagles might opt to sit their starters if they have nothing to play for.
All told, pretty awesome win for the Eagles. Great way to follow up last week’s loss to the Washington Commanders.
Big Blue View
‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Lots of praise to be awarded after Giants’ only home victory of 2024
Tyrone Tracy — The rookie running back did his part on Sunday by joining Nabers with more than 1,000 total yards from scrimmage. Nabers and Tracy joined Abner Haynes and Johnny Robinson (Dallas Texans/1960) and Marques Colston and Reggie Bush (New Orleans Saints/2006) as the only rookie duos to surpass 1,000 total yards.
Tracy now has 1,057 total yards (780 rushing, 277 receiving) on the season despite having only gained 70 yards in the Giants’ first four games.
Drew Lock — Boy, what a difference quality quarterback play makes. Lock completed 17 of 23 passes for 309 yards, the fourth 300-yard passing game of his six-year career, and a phenomenal 155.3 passer rating. He also accounted for a career-high five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing).
The 45 points scored by the Giants was their highest point total since a 41-35 victory over the Washington Redskins in Week 16 of the 2019 season, more than five years ago.
The Giants, as we know, will likely be seeking a new franchise quarterback this offseason. Lock’s performance on Sunday, getting the ball out quickly and accurately and making plays with his feet when necessary, offered a glimpse of what the Giants could like look with a quarterback who can do those kinds of things regularly.
Big Blue View
2025 NFL Draft order: Victory over Colts moves Giants down to No. 4 pick
The Giants win cost them the first overall pick
The New York Giants exploded on Sunday for a 45-33 win over the Indianapolis Colts. They got their third win of the year, snapping a 10-game losing streak and avoiding an 0-9 record at home. But in the process they also improved to 3-13 on the season and have lost control of the first overall pick.
After their win, the Giants now hold the fourth overall pick, per Tankathon.
Current top 10
- New England Patriots (3-13 | .465)
- Tennessee Titans (3-13 | .509)
- Cleveland Browns (3-13 | 0.539)
- New York Giants (3-13 | .551)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12 | .472)
- New York Jets (4-12 | .496)
- Carolina Panthers (4-12 | .498)
- Las Vegas Raiders (4-12 | .546)
- Chicago Bears (4-12 | .553)
- New Orleans Saints (5-11 | .513)
The Giants upcoming rebuild has been complicated significantly by their win over the Colts. They had every option open to them with the first overall pick:
- Drafting quarterbacks Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders
- Drafting a position player like CB/WR Travis Hunter, CB Will Johnson, DT Mason Graham, or perhaps even OT Will Campbell or Kelvin Banks
- Trading back and accumulating picks and signing a veteran to start in 2025 while a rookie develops.
- They could even have perhaps banked on Sam Darnold or Justin Fields being a long-term answer themselves.
Now, however, the most likely outcome is that the Giants will finish 3-14 on the year and hold the fourth overall pick. In that scenario, the Patriots, Titans, and Browns would hold the top three picks in the draft.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys vs. Eagles: The good, the bad, and the ugly from Week 17
There was a ton of ugly from the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday
The good news is the Dallas Cowboys had absolutely nothing to play for in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles. The bad news is they were completely embarrassed, losing 41-7 at the hands of two of Philadelphia’s backup QB’s, Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee. Thankfully, there’s only one left game to play this year.
Before we start thinking too much about what the Cowboys need to accomplish in the offseason, let’s take a look back at this week’s matchup against its Eagles. With that in mind, we’re going to identify the good, the bad, and the ugly from this final meeting between these two teams this year.
NFL.com
2024 NFL season, Week 17: What We Learned from Sunday’s games
Giants
Nabers torches Colts. Sunday’s game made me wonder if Drew Lock referenced some early season Daniel Jones tape while preparing for this one, because Lock leaned on rookie Malik Nabers plenty, much like Jones did before the Giants cut him. The results were worth it. Nabers finished with seven catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, tormenting Indianapolis’ defense all afternoon. Short passes worked well because Nabers is proving himself as an elite catch-and-run threat. He took two of them to the house Sunday, accounting for 90 of his yards on a pair of receptions that were either behind the line of scrimmage or within nine air yards. He made the downfield plays, too, proving himself as a threat who must be accounted for on every down. The Giants haven’t had a lot to smile about this season, but they have a legitimate star in Nabers.
Next Gen Stats Insight from Colts-Giants (via NFL Pro): Malik Nabers hauled in seven of his eight targets for 171 yards and two touchdowns, generating 105 yards after the catch and +63 yards after the catch over expected, the third-most in a single game by any player this season.
NFL Research: Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Malik Nabers became the third rookie duo in NFL history to have 1,000-plus scrimmage yards in the same season Sunday, joining the Saints’ Reggie Bush and Marques Colston (2006) and the Dallas Texans’ Abner Haynes and Johnny Robinson (1960).
Eagles and Cowboys
- Eagles D forced four turnovers, stifling Cowboys. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picked up two personal fouls last week, getting ejected from the loss to Washington. Sunday, he picked up two interceptions. The safety picked off a wayward Cooper Rush pass on the opening drive, sprinting for a tone-setting pick-six. Philly allowed Dallas to march early, giving up 105 yards and eight first downs on the opening two drives. From there, Vic Fangio’s defense obliterated Dallas. The Eagles forced three additional turnovers, allowed 163 total yards and just eight first downs on the next eight possessions. The ability to adjust mid-game has been a staple of the Eagles’ defense all season and speaks to the job Fangio has done. With Pickett starting and the offense going three-and-out twice to open the game, the defense gave the offense some leash to get its feet underneath. Fangio’s defense will be a problem for opponents heading into the postseason.
- Cowboys lay an egg against a division opponent. After weeks of optimism, Mike McCarthy’s club put up a stinker on the road against a rival. Dallas allowed 34 unanswered points over the final three quarters. The offense couldn’t get much going after the first quarter, with Rush playing as ineffective as he has since Dallas last played the Eagles in Week 10. Rush completed 15 of 28 passes for 147 yards with a TD and two INTs. Outside of a few Rico Dowdle runs (23 rushes, 104 yards), the Cowboys offense couldn’t sustain drives sans CeeDee Lamb. The Dallas defense couldn’t slow Saquon even when it was telegraphed that he would get the rock late. And Cowboys corner Andrew Booth, forced into action due to injures, got torched time and time again by DeVonta Smith. To make it a three-phase failure, kicker Brandon Aubrey doinked a 61-yard attempt off the upright. Jerry Jones has spoken optimistically about the job McCarthy has done as the Cowboys mustered four wins in five games. But getting trounced twice by a division rival (Dallas lost by a combined 75-13 score to Philadelphia) is never good for a Dallas coach. The loss ensured the Cowboys would earn their second losing season in five under McCarthy.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Cowboys-Eagles (via NFL Pro): DeVonta Smith benefited from Daron Bland shadowing AJ Brown, instead facing off against Andrew Booth on nearly half of his routes (8 of 18, 44.4%). Smith was targeted frequently in matchups against Booth, catching five of six targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Bland aligned across from Brown on 15 of his 19 routes (78.9%), allowing three receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown on five targets against Brown.
NFL Research: This is the 20th consecutive season the NFC East did not have a repeat winner, the longest streak by a single division in NFL history (Second: AFC West from 1988-2000). The last NFC East repeat winner was the Eagles from 2001-2004.
Commanders
Daniels carries Commanders into playoffs. This is a new era in Washington under a welcomed new regime. The fresh face of the franchise had every Commanders fan smiling wide after his latest histrionics [Note: I don’t think this word means what the author thinks it means], as Jayden Daniels dazzled with his arm and legs to lead Washington to a comeback win that included a 2-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Zach Ertz in OT. It was Daniels’ third touchdown pass of the evening.
He finished a historic night, one in which Washington clinched just its sixth playoff berth this century, completing 24-of-36 passing for 227 yards with the three TDs and an interception. However, it was his legs that often did the heavy lifting, as he carried the ball 16 times for a season-high 127 yards. Daniels now has 864 yards rushing on the season, surpassing Robert Griffin III’s previous rookie record of 815 yards set in D.C. in 2012.
Daniels now also has 31 total touchdowns, becoming just the fourth rookie QB with 30-plus total touchdowns, joining Justin Herbert (36; 2020), Cam Newton (2011; 35) and Russell Wilson (2012; 30). If there was any remaining question on who the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year should be, Daniels answered it.
If there were any questions left that Daniels has the franchise turned around, he answered those, too, as he and the Commanders are officially back in the postseason.
Bijan Robinson shut down in second half. Amid anticipation aplenty for 2024 first-round quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. squaring off, it was 2023 first-round running back Bijan Robinson who stole the show in the first half. He had a career-best 82 first-half rushing yards to go with a pair of 1-yard touchdowns.
However, Dan Quinn and the Commanders defense made it a priority to bottle up Robinson in the second half and they did so in emphatic fashion. While Daniels was leading the Commanders offense to a comeback, the defense was smothering Robinson, who had just 36 yards on six carries, 12 coming on one run, in the final 30 minutes for [Atlanta], which didn’t get the ball in OT.
Credit to Bobby Wagner and the bunch for their efforts and to Quinn and his staff for making the adjustments. Falcons coach Raheem Morris’ time management, particularly not calling timeouts with the clock winding down in the first and second halves will be heavily scrutinized. It should be, but the Commanders’ ability to stop Robinson from taking over the game following halftime was huge for Washington.
Zaccheaus steps up again, this time against former squad. There were no perfect performances in this one and Olamide Zaccheaus unfortunately had a great ball from Jayden Daniels go through his grasp on third-and-10 to end Washington’s last drive in regulation. Zaccheaus’ performance prior to that and over the past two weeks deserves recognition, though.
Since Noah Brown went on injured reserve after Week 13, Zaccheaus has stepped up. The veteran who played four seasons in Atlanta found the end zone for a second week in a row, posting eight catches for 85 yards (both team highs) to go with his 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
With A.J. Terrell blanketing Terry McLaurin and holding him to one catch, Zaccheaus wasn’t just a fill-in No. 2, but he emerged as Daniels’ No. 1 target. Much of the Commanders’ success this season has come thanks to vets on one-year deals contributing and Zaccheus is one of them.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Falcons-Commanders (via NFL Pro): Jayden Daniels rushed 16 times for 127 yards against the Falcons in Week 17, resulting in the most rushing yards and the third-most rushing yards over expected (+42) by any quarterback in a game this season.
NFL Research: Sunday’s matchup between Jayden Daniels (No. 2 overall pick in 2024) and Michael Penix (No. 8) was just the third game between rookie QBs on teams with a winning record entering the game since 1950. The first was in Week 9 of 2012 when Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts defeated Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans. Daniels has now played in and won the last two. He and the Commanders also won in Week 8 on a Hail Mary against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.
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NFL.com
What’s at stake in the NFL playoff race in Week 18? Three division titles, NFC’s top seed and more
The Vikings have won nine straight and just beat the Green Bay Packers in a 27-25 win that saw Minnesota dominate long stretches of that game. The Lions have become a case study in resilience, as they’ve won 12 of their last 13 games despite having many key starters on injured reserve. Most of those players are on the defensive side, and some will return in the postseason. The problem is the Lions could use most of them in this contest. Darnold lit up the Packers defense — which is a top-10 unit — so imagine what he could do to a team that’s been decimated on that side of the football. This will be another huge challenge for Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his team. However, it’s fair to believe he’ll find a way to claim that division crown for a second consecutive year.
No. 1 seed in the NFC
This is the other storyline involved in that Vikings-Lions game, and it’s even more significant. The winner of that game lands the coveted first-round bye now that Philadelphia has fallen out of the race for that prize. There’s also no doubt about which team needs it more. The Lions would benefit immensely from a week of rest given all their health problems. They also understand how much a potential home game for the NFC championship could mean to their Super Bowl dreams.
NFC South title
The Falcons and Buccaneers have been jostling over this division for the last month. The Buccaneers had control until a Week 16 loss to Dallas dropped them into second place. Atlanta came into Week 17 needing a win over Washington to remain on top, but the Falcons lost in overtime. So, Tampa Bay goes into its season-finale with New Orleans holding a one-game lead and control of its own destiny. If the Bucs beat the Saints, it’s game over. If the Bucs lose and the Falcons beat Carolina at home, then Atlanta takes the division on the strength of winning both games against Tampa Bay this year.