The NFL Wrap: Eagles clinch unlikely playoff spot as Steelers and Vikings miss out and Mahomes gets 50 up

Eagles keep their hopes of another Super Bowl triumph alive.
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Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_31 December 2018

And that’s a wrap. Kind of. The NFL regular season reached its climax on Sunday night, and for 20 teams, the 2018 season ends, rather fittingly, in 2018. But for 12 more, it’s only just getting started…

Bears deal Vikings killer blow

With the Seattle Seahawks having already clinched the fifth seed wildcard, and all four divisional champions already decided, there was just one playoff spot up for grabs in the NFC, and going into week 17, the Minnesota Vikings were in pole position for it.

Their final day opponents, the Chicago Bears, still had slim hopes of clinching the conference’s second seed, and a first-round playoff bye, but with the L.A. Rams 28-3 up at half-time against the San Francisco 49ers, that scenario was never likely in-running.

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With that in mind, the Bears might’ve rested their starters at the mid-way point, gifting the Vikings an easy run at the win they needed to book their post-season ticket. Except the Bears and Vikings despise each other, and the opportunity to put the final nail in their divisional rivals’ coffin proved too good to pass up.

Tarik Cohen’s fourth quarter touchdown pretty much sealed the deal, and a 24-10 loss saw the Viking’s drop out of the playoff spots by half a game.

They couldn’t, could they?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always sunny in Philadelphia. At times this season, it’s been pretty dark, in fact. And yet, somehow, the defending Super Bowl champions are playoff bound.

On 18 November, the Philadelphia Eagles were 4-6, staring down the barrel, and would soon be without starting quarterback Carson Wentz (again), who was taken out of the firing line because of a back injury that there was no point aggravating, since Philly had no postseason hopes, right?

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Following the November defeat to the Saints, a run of four wins from five games, including shock triumphs over divisional champions the Rams and Texans, put the Birds back in the wildcard hunt going into the final day of the season.

Cue another standout stand-in performance from Nick Foles (although not quite standout enough to bag a $1million bonus) in the 24-0 shutout of the Washington Redskins and, thanks to that Bears win – ironically, it will be Bears vs Eagles in the wildcard round next week - the dream is still alive.

The AFC wildcard scramble

Things were a little more complicated in the AFC. The L.A. Chargers finish the year with the joint best record in the entire conference, but have to settle for the fifth seed wildcard spot, after missing out on the divisional title to the Kansas City Chiefs.

That disparity left only one wildcard spot up for grabs, and with the 9-6 Colts and the 9-6 Titans facing each other, one of them was guaranteed to reach 10-6 and take it. It was the Colts who did so, ensuring Andrew Luck’s comeback season has at least one more chapter.

Which put the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers in a slightly bizarre, all or nothing scenario, where they’d either end the day as AFC North divisional champions and playoff fourth seeds, or out of the post-season altogether.

The Steelers did their bit with a 16-13 win over the Bengals, but the brilliant Lamar Jackson scored two rushing touchdowns from quarterback to take the Ravens past the Browns 26-24 and set up a wildcard meeting with the Chargers.

Barkley and Baker give hope for the future

The Ravens and Colts’ progression means that more than half of the teams in this season’s playoffs did not make it past the regular season last year. On the final day of this year’s campaign, we were given two clear reasons, in the shape of the number one and number two picks at this year’s draft, to believe next year’s batch may not be all too familiar either.

In Cleveland, Baker Mayfield’s supreme swagger has revitalised the Browns and the city, and on Sunday he broke the all-time record for touchdown passes by a rookie, with 27, despite not starting a game until week four.

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The Browns won seven games this year (seven more than last year) and few would bet against them, under a new head coach, managing a winning season for the first time in more than a decade next year.

Mayfield’s main rival for the offensive rookie of the year award is New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley has looked at home in the NFL from day one, and his dual threat as a run and receive back was highlighted again on Sunday, when he broke the all-time record for receptions by a rookie running back, in the same game as he passed 2,000 yards from scrimmage, becoming only the third rookie to do so.

Mahomes dazzles again

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw his 50thtouchdown pass of the season in the 35-3 thumping of the Oakland Raiders, becoming just the 3rdplayer in NFL history to do so, after Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Whatever happens from here, this will surely be remembered as the season in which a future great first burst onto the scene.

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