NFL NationDec 27, 2025, 11:02 PM ETCloseNFL Nation is made up of 32 team-specific reporters who cover the NFL year-round across ESPN.com, ESPN television shows, ESPN Radio, ESPN+ and social media platforms. It was established ahead of the 2013 season.
Stroud launches a 75-yard TD to Jayden Higgins (0:30)C.J. Stroud puts the Texans on top with a deep 75-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Higgins. (0:30)
Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season began on Christmas Day with an NFC East showdown between the Cowboys and the Commanders. Dallas jumped all over Washington early but had to hold on after giving up several big plays.
The action continued Saturday with the Texans beating the Chargers to clinch a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history. Later, the Baltimore Ravens rode Derrick Henry to victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Our NFL Nation reporters reacted to all the action, answering lingering questions coming out of each game and detailing everything you need to know for every team. Let’s get to it.
How did Ravens prevail without QB Lamar Jackson? Two words: Derrick Henry. The 31-year-old running back carried Baltimore in an elimination game, rushing for 216 yards and four touchdowns. After the Ravens endured a week of criticism for not giving Henry the ball enough — he didn’t get a carry in the last 12 minutes of Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots — they handed it off to Henry 36 times, which is a career high and the most carries by an NFL player this season.
Henry’s dominating performance helped him move into 10th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list and fourth in rushing TDs. This was also Henry’s seventh career game with 200-plus yards rushing, breaking a tie with Adrian Peterson and O.J. Simpson.
This was a clutch performance by Henry and the Ravens, who would have been knocked out of playoff contention with a loss. With Jackson sidelined by a back injury, backup quarterback Tyler Huntley kept drives alive with his legs by totaling 55 yards, the most rushing yards by a Baltimore quarterback since Jackson in the season opener.
This team is not just limping to the finish line with three straight losses — it is banged up after losing five more players to game-ending injuries. This after entering the game without five key players because of season-ending injuries: Elgton Jenkins, Tucker Kraft, Micah Parsons, Devonte Wyatt and John FitzPatrick.
With a playoff berth clinched, what is the Texans’ biggest priority now? Winning the AFC South. The Texans still have a shot to claim the division title, but it depends on whether the Jacksonville Jaguars lose either of their next two games. It’s as simple as this: If the Jags fall to the Indianapolis Colts or the Tennessee Titans and Houston beats the Colts in Week 18, the Texans will win the AFC South for a third consecutive season.
Best quote from the locker room: On a night in which the Texans sacked Justin Herbert five times and picked him off once, safety Jalen Pitre said: “God is the greatest. The Texans defense is maybe second.”
Key stat to know: Cameron Dicker missed a field goal attempt from under 40 yards for the first time in his career. Dicker, the most accurate place-kicker in NFL history and a first-time Pro Bowl selection this season, pushed a 32-yard kick wide right to end the first half and later was unsuccessful on an extra point attempt. Dicker has been responsible for a large portion of the Chargers’ wins this season, but his misses loomed large for L.A. on Saturday. — Kris Rhim
Best quote from the locker room: The Chargers pride themselves in not allowing explosive plays, but allowed two 40-plus yard touchdowns to begin the game due to busted coverages. “The secondary was just all out of whack, not on the same page,” cornerback Donte Jackson said. “We can’t give s— away. We’ve got to be cleaner, more detailed, and execute way better.”
Was this enough to get safety Harrison Smith to play another season? It has been a while since the 36-year-old has made so many high-impact plays in a game. But Smith produced a sack, an interception, two batted passes and two tackles for loss as the Vikings’ defense forced six turnovers. Smith hasn’t said that he plans to retire, but there are many people in and around the franchise who suspect he will. But if he can still play like this, perhaps he could once against delay that decision.
Key stat to know: The Vikings finished with 3 net passing yards, the fewest by a winning team in an NFL game since 2006, as rookie quarterback Max Brosmer took six sacks and struggled to find open receivers. They were at minus-7 net passing yards until Brosmer’s final throw, a 10-yard pass to receiver Justin Jefferson to convert a third down and seal the game. — Kevin Seifert
Biggest hole in the game plan: Third- and fourth-down defense. Dallas converted 8 of 19 third downs, which wasn’t horrible. There was one 14-yard gain on third-and-18 that set up a fourth-and-short. That’s where the Commanders faltered, as Dallas converted all of its fourth-down attempts, leading to 17 points. Dallas was able to run 87 plays — 19 more than any other team has had against the Commanders this season. — John Keim
Biggest hole in the game plan: Defending the deep pass. The Ravens nearly failed to hold a double-digit lead for a second straight week because they couldn’t stop the long downfield throws by Malik Willis. In the first three quarters, Willis was 6-of-7 for 197 yards and a touchdown on throws of 20 or more air yards. That’s the second-most completions on such throws by a quarterback this season. This has been an issue for Baltimore, which entered this game having given up the sixth-most completions on passes of 20 or more yards (26). This might have been the worst game of the season for Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins. — Jamison Hensley
How far can Justin Herbert take the Chargers? The box score doesn’t quite reflect the performance (236 passing yards, one interception, 37 rushing yards), but Saturday’s game was one of Herbert’s most impressive. The quarterback evaded sacks, ran through opponents and delivered throws with defensive linemen draped on him — all while playing with a broken left hand. It was the kind of effort that reinforces why the Chargers believe Herbert can will them to a title. Still, expecting Herbert to replicate that level of play isn’t sustainable for a deep postseason run; and even with how well he played, he couldn’t overcome the mistakes around him.
Is the Broncos’ grind-it-out offense playoff ready? The Broncos took care of what they needed to Thursday to stay in the driver’s seat for the AFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But there were good news/bad news vibes from the Denver offense. The good news was that the Broncos had three scoring drives of eight or more minutes. The bad? Only one of those resulted in a touchdown. They will need to close the deal with more authority (and touchdowns) in the postseason because when they don’t, they leave themselves open to what happened against the Chiefs — where they’re in a down-to-the-wire scrap despite giving up only 95 yards of total offense prior to Kansas City’s final drive.
Most surprising performance: Without their top two cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs’ defense did more than hold its own against Denver’s offense. Kristian Fulton and rookie Nohl Williams performed well in fill-in roles despite the Broncos trying over and over to get receiver Courtland Sutton in one-on-one opportunities. Fulton finished with three pass breakups, one of which led to an interception by linebacker Nick Bolton. Williams had eight tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage.
Best quote from the locker room: “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone try to draw the defense to them by fumbling it,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said of Oladokun while laughing. “That was like a little yo-yo trick he put on. I’m proud of him, man, throughout the week, his attention to detail and his professionalism and his leadership. I couldn’t be happier for the guy. Obviously, I wish we could’ve gotten that win for him [in] a big game against a rival. I’m proud of the way he led us and kept fighting.” — Nate Taylor
How concerning was quarterback Jared Goff’s performance? Very concerning. Goff couldn’t get much going as the offensive line struggled to protect him without starting LT Taylor Decker, who was ruled inactive with an illness. The tough Vikings defense sacked Goff five times and forced five turnovers by him (two interceptions, three fumbles), which tied a career high. The Lions’ eight turnovers through Week 16 were the fewest in the NFL, but they ended with a season-high six turnovers in Minnesota as Goff went 18-for-29 for 197 passing yards and a touchdown while facing constant pressure. With the loss, the Lions were eliminated from playoff contention.
Key stat to know: This is the first time the Lions have lost multiple fumbles in a game this season with four. Goff fumbled his snap in the first quarter, then RB Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled while rushing at 14:22 in the second quarter. Goff fumbled twice in the fourth quarter. Prior to this game, Detroit’s last time losing at least two fumbles in any game was in Week 12 of 2023 against the Packers. The Lions’ 38-game streak without losing multiple fumbles was the fourth-longest active streak in the NFL entering Thursday behind the Falcons (42), Chiefs (41) and Texans (40). — Eric Woodyard
Does finishing with a non-losing record matter? It does to Brian Schottenheimer, who has frequently referred to this being the first year of the program. The Cowboys are 7-8-1 with their Week 18 finale against the New York Giants looming, and Schottenheimer has given no indication that the Cowboys plan to sit regulars such as Dak Prescott to avoid injury. The quarterback has said he wants to play and will fight to remain in the lineup. If the Cowboys lose to the Giants — whether they play their main guys or not — it will be the first time Dallas has had consecutive seasons with a losing record since three straight 5-11 finishes from 2000 to 2002.