Dan GrazianoDec 28, 2025, 07:32 PM ETCloseDan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.Follow on X
play0:23’King Henry’ dominates Green Bay with 4th TDDerrick Henry barrels in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, tying a career high as Baltimore beats Green Bay.
play1:41Drake Maye shines in Patriots blowout of the JetsDrake Maye throws five touchdowns in the Patriots’ 42-10 win over the Jets.
play1:08RC: Goff’s performance unacceptable vs. VikingsRyan Clark explains why Jared Goff’s play in a must-win game vs. the Vikings was unacceptable and why he wouldn’t compare the QB to Sam Darnold.
Baker Mayfield throws 2nd INT of the game (0:20)Baker Mayfield is picked off by Ashtyn Davis to end the Buccaneers drive. (0:20)
‘King Henry’ dominates Green Bay with 4th TDDerrick Henry barrels in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, tying a career high as Baltimore beats Green Bay.
Derrick Henry barrels in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, tying a career high as Baltimore beats Green Bay.
Drake Maye shines in Patriots blowout of the JetsDrake Maye throws five touchdowns in the Patriots’ 42-10 win over the Jets.
RC: Goff’s performance unacceptable vs. VikingsRyan Clark explains why Jared Goff’s play in a must-win game vs. the Vikings was unacceptable and why he wouldn’t compare the QB to Sam Darnold.
Ryan Clark explains why Jared Goff’s play in a must-win game vs. the Vikings was unacceptable and why he wouldn’t compare the QB to Sam Darnold.
The Ravens are going to run all over the Steelers and into the playoffs
There will be an NFL draft lottery within five years
The Steelers have already blown it! Derrick Henry is going to play five more seasons and break every record! The Texans’ defense is going to be unbeatable in the playoffs! Tyler Shough is a franchise QB! The Commanders need to fire everybody!
A lot happened before Sunday in Week 17. There was a lot resolved, too, and a spicy Week 18 is set up with two division titles and two 1-seeds on the line. We’re at that point in the season when we know whether our early-season reactions were overreactions. But the stuff we’re reacting to this week, as we try to figure out which overreactions might hold up and which ones are mirages, seems highly consequential. So, let’s get to it.
Jump to: Henry, Ravens destined to run over Steelers? NFC South winner guaranteed an early exit? Patriots Dynasty 2.0 set for launch? Lions’ Super Bowl window has already closed? Is an NFL draft lottery on the horizon?
Baltimore and Henry put on a show Saturday night in a 41-24 victory at Lambeau Field. Henry ran for 216 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries. In addition to rescuing the championship dreams of thousands of fantasy football managers, he also kept the Ravens’ season alive, as they prevailed in a must-win game in which they played without injured starting quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Baltimore still needed help Sunday, though, and it got it. The Browns beat the Steelers 13-6, which prevented Pittsburgh from clinching the AFC North and set up a Week 18 winner-take-all showdown between the Ravens and Steelers in Pittsburgh. The winner will be division champs. The loser will be out of the playoffs.
Rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon didn’t play for Pittsburgh in the Week 14 game but has played the past two weeks, which is likely a big reason for the turnaround. But just because the Steelers have recently toughened up against the run doesn’t mean they’ll have answers for Henry.
Could Pittsburgh win? Of course. It just beat the Ravens three weeks ago, and Baltimore has been far from reliable this season. But if Saturday unlocked something with Henry, it could be a rough day for the Steelers’ defense, while the offense could struggle again with DK Metcalf still suspended. The Steelers had a shot to beat Cleveland on Sunday and make the Week 18 game against Baltimore irrelevant. They missed, and Henry could make them regret it.
The NFC South champion is going to host a first-round game against some NFC West team, either the Seahawks (who already have 13 wins), 49ers or Rams (each of whom had 11 wins before playing their Week 17 games). Tough matchup, obviously, as Sunday’s Seahawks-Panthers result showed. But the Panthers did recently beat the Rams in Charlotte and have a Week 9 victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field on their résumé, so they can beat the other playoff teams.
The Bucs have only won one game since Halloween, but prior to this slide they beat Houston in September, along with Seattle and San Francisco in October. There are still a lot of good players on the Bucs. Would it be shocking if they figured some things out, beat Carolina next week and knocked off one of those NFC West teams in the first round of the playoffs? Strange things happen all the time in this league.
New England absolutely destroyed the Jets 42-10 on Sunday. Maye was 19-for-21 for 256 yards and five touchdown passes and barely had to play in the second half. If they beat the Dolphins next week and the Chargers beat the Broncos, the Patriots not only would have halted the Bills’ streak of five straight division titles, they’d be the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and earn a first-round bye.
Vrabel’s first season as New England’s head coach and Maye’s second as the Patriots’ starting quarterback has been a brilliant success. Those guys are up for Coach of the Year and MVP awards, respectively, and New England has a chance to return its franchise to glory with a Super Bowl run.
Drake Maye throws five touchdowns in the Patriots’ 42-10 win over the Jets.
Full respect to the Patriots for what they’ve been able to do this season. And it wouldn’t be any surprise to see them make noise in the playoffs, especially if they get that No. 1 seed. Maye looks like the real deal and Vrabel obviously is. They’re likely here to stay as a real AFC East contender. But we know from the past half-decade that the Bills’ Josh Allen and Sean McDermott can win division titles, too.
The Steelers have been tough against the run the past three weeks. They allowed 63 yards on 16 carries to the Dolphins in Week 15. They gave up 15 yards on 12 carries against the Lions in Week 16. And they allowed 78 yards on 25 carries to a Browns team that was playing without its best back in Quinshon Judkins. For the season, though, the Steelers rank 25th in the league in opponents’ rush EPA, 20th in opponents’ rushing success rate and 14th in yards allowed per rush. Moreover, while the Steelers won in Baltimore in Week 14, Henry had 94 yards on 25 carries and the Ravens had 217 on 40 as a team.
I know New England fans don’t want to hear this, but the Patriots have benefited from one of the league’s easier schedules. Next season, they’ll face a first- or second-place schedule that will test them more. Of course, by next year, they also should have augmented their roster after another offseason of aggressively acquiring players, so maybe they’ll be set up. Regardless, Buffalo is not going away as long as it has Allen, and this space doesn’t throw around words like “dynasty” off after one good season. Even if it’s a great one.
Las Vegas placed three starters — edge rusher Maxx Crosby, tight end Brock Bowers and safety Jeremy Chinn — on injured reserve last week, although all three of them played and finished their Week 16 game without restrictions. Crosby was said to be infuriated by the decision and left the team’s facility after getting the news. There were some in the Giants’ building, according to sources, who thought what the Raiders were doing smelled funny. New York added several players to its injury report Friday and Saturday and didn’t show up in Vegas at full strength, either.
Baker Mayfield throws 2nd INT of the game (0:20)Baker Mayfield is picked off by Ashtyn Davis to end the Buccaneers drive. (0:20)
CloseDan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels.Follow on X
Week 17 is absolutely begging us to overreact to it.
Baker Mayfield is picked off by Ashtyn Davis to end the Buccaneers drive. (0:20)