The Falcoholic
Over the past three seasons, the Atlanta Falcons have won three straight games heading into Christmas, after being officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Naturally.
With nothing left on the line, Atlanta is suddenly playing some of its best football of the season, turning December into a showcase of what might’ve been. It’s fun, it’s frustrating, and it probably goes a long way toward buying more time for Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot.
Merry Christmas, Falcons fans.
The rest of the league’s Christmas slate was mostly noise, outside of Denver strengthening its bid for the #1 seed. Last week, however, delivered the real chaos, with multiple teams taking losses that effectively ended their playoff chances.
Let’s get into this week’s power rankings:
I just know keeping Sam Darnold and company at the top is going to look horrible once they lay an egg in the divisional round of the playoffs, but I’m believing in this defense and this offense’s ability to do just enough to continue their winning ways.
Drake “Drake Maye” Maye is playing lights-out football right now. It’s incredible how New England has bounced back so quickly under Vrabel, and how impressive Josh McDaniels has looked as an offensive play-caller again.
This Rams team is still the odds-on favorite for the Super Bowl in what has been the most wide-open season in a while, and for good reason. Matthew Stafford is the odds-on favorite for MVP and the defense is still rolling on all cylinders.
They keep finding ways to win, and Christmas Day was no different. Now, Sunday, against the Jaguars, that was a red flag. But, there’s no doubt that Bo Nix and company are playing Super Bowl-contending ball.
Still the best QB in the AFC, Josh Allen and the Bills are racking up wins at the right time. Let’s see if they can carry that momentum through January.
Herbert and company looked like a machine on Sunday against the Cowboys. Now, they get the potential game of the week as they head off to Houston to fight for playoff positioning.
Chicago is the feel-good story of the NFL, and Ben Johnson is the people’s champ as he helped Chicago pull the most out of Caleb Williams and this Bears offense. Will it be enough to win a playoff game? Probably not, but seeing it be enough to likely win the division has been fun to see.
They’re back. The 49ers offense is looking like the well-oiled machine that Kyle Shanahan enjoys running year in and year out. And just in time for the postseason.
Did an overtime loss against the Bears necessitate such a large drop-off? No....
