The Los Angeles Chargers reached the playoffs early in Week 17 of the NFL with a commanding away win at the New England Patriots on Saturday. The Cincinnati Bengals, in turn, kept their playoff chances alive thanks to a dramatic overtime win against the Broncos. Meanwhile, the Rams’ home win over the Cardinals also ended in a crazy way.
NFL Week 17: Saturday’s games in the roundup
Los Angeles Chargers (10-6) @ New England Patriots (3-13)
Result: 40:7 (7:0, 13:7, 10:0, 10:0) BOXSCORE
- The Los Angeles Chargers secured their ticket to the playoffs with their confident away win over the Patriots. The Patriots, in turn, have secured a draft pick in the top 5 thanks to this defeat.
- Justin Herbert dominated this game and had little trouble with a weak Patriots pass rush that managed four QB hits. Herbert threw for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns. Meanwhile, wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who the Patriots waived in the last draft, led his team with 94 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- With this performance, McConkey set two rookie records for the Chargers: His 77 receptions are a new record, as are his 1,054 receiving yards.
- The Patriots had to worry early about Drake Maye, who was checked for a concussion after a hit to the head. However, he returned a little later and led his team to a remarkable 36-yard touchdown from Pop Douglas. However, he was otherwise constantly under pressure and recorded four sacks and was repeatedly faced with free rushers.
- Meanwhile, head coach Jerod Mayo’s statement to a radio station before the game caused a stir, according to which running back Rhamondre Stevenson was relegated to the bench and Antonio Gibson was supposed to start. In the end Stevenson started.
- The Patriots only had the ball for 19:26 minutes. This was the second time this season that they held the ball for less than 20 minutes. This had not happened to them twice in a season since at least 1984, when data collection began.
Denver Broncos (9-7) @ Cincinnati Bengals (8-8)
Result: 24:30 OT (3:0, 0:7, 7:3, 14:14, 0:6) BOXSCORE
- After an almost unbelievable sequence in the final period and overtime, the Cincinnati Bengals kept their season alive and the playoff race in the AFC open. In the end it was Tee Higgins who decided the game after a touchdown pass from Joe Burrow 1:07 minutes before the end of overtime.
- The Bengals had taken the lead on a Burrow tush-push touchdown with 1:29 left, but left too much time on the clock, so the Broncos responded: On 4th down, Bo Nix, under pressure, threw a 25-yard touchdown -Pass to Marvin Mims to tie the score with eight seconds to play.
- The Bengals then came close to winning in overtime, but kicker Cade York made a 33-yard field goal attempt on Cincy’s second possession against the upright. Doink! And the game continued. A tie would have been enough for the Broncos, but they failed to take much time off the clock before punting again. Then Burrow got serious and finally found Higgins for a 31-yard pass at the 3rd and shortly afterwards he threw the TD pass for the victory.
- With this result, not only do the Bengals stay alive in the AFC playoff picture, but so do the Colts and Dolphins. Higgins excelled with 131 yards (11 REC) and 3 touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase caught nine passes for 103 yards and now has 117 receptions this season, surpassing TJ Houshmandzadeh’s team record (112) with one game left to play.
Arizona Cardinals (7-9) @ Los Angeles Rams (10-6)
Result: 9:13 (0:0, 0:10, 6:0, 3:3) BOXSCORE
- With a crazy interception in the end zone, the Rams maintained their narrow lead in the game and thus also in the NFC West (1 game) over the Seahawks and thus still have their playoff fate in their own hands.
- The Cardinals were about to get into the end zone again on their final drive and complete their comeback, but then a pass from Kyler Murray from the 5-yard line bounced off tight end Trey McBride’s face net and flew into the net Luft and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon grabbed the interception to win with a dive into the end zone.
- Until then, things were tough at SoFi Stadium. The first eight drives of the game almost all ended in punts – the exception was a turnover on downs by the Cardinals at the Rams’ 14-yard line to start the second quarter. Kyren Williams scored the Rams’ only touchdown before halftime and kicker Joshua Karty scored a 53-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 at halftime.
- Midway through the third quarter, the Cardinals scored their only touchdown – Murray to McBride from a yard out. It was McBride’s first touchdown catch of the season (12 REC, 123 YDS, TD). However, Michael Hoecht blocked the subsequent extra point attempt, which ended up being expensive as the Cardinals only managed a field goal until the end.
- The Cardinals’ last two drives each ended in interceptions – the first was thrown by Murray from the 40-yard line in double coverage towards Marvin Harrison Jr. in front of the end zone. The second sealed the defeat in the final phase.
- The Rams’ best man was once again Puka Nacua with 10 receptions for 129 yards. Except for running back Williams (3 REC, 16 YDS), no other Rams player had more than 2 receptions. Accordingly, Stafford remained under 200 yards (189) for the third time in a row, but still won all three games, a total of five in a row.
Source: www.sport.de
