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The regular season in the NFL is winding down, with just one week to go until the playoffs get underway. There are still two playoff spots up for grabs, with both the NFC South and the AFC North playing de facto championship games in Week 18.
Those games were set up by some truly disastrous performances in Week 17 (and one good one), but there was plenty else to talk about coming out of the final Sunday of 2025. Drake Maye retook the lead in the MVP race, Tyler Shough and Cam Ward put on a rookie firework show, and the Texans got a big win over the Chargers in the AFC Wild Card picture.
Did those things make the list of winners and losers from Week 17? Let’s get into the list.
The Baltimore Ravens have been one of the biggest underachievers of this 2025 season, but their playoff hopes were just barely alive heading into Week 17. Their half of the deal came on Saturday night, when Baltimore had to go into Lambeau Field and get a win over the Packers without Lamar Jackson, who was out with a back injury.
With their star quarterback sidelined, the Ravens looked to Derrick Henry to carry them through Week 17. One week after being unintentionally benched in a loss to the Patriots, Henry put on a vintage performance for the ages: 36 carries, 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-24 win.
Henry has had a somewhat frustrating year, struggling to generate the same explosive plays that he did in 2024 behind a Baltimore offensive line that deteriorated somewhat from what it was a year ago. But he still has nearly 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns with a game to go and is heating up at the right time.
Even better? Henry and the Ravens will get a chance to steal the AFC North title and a playoff spot, because…
The morning after the Ravens took care of business in Green Bay, the Steelers had a chance to make it a moot point with a victory over the lowly Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The Browns came into the game 3-12, and a win would have secured the division crown and a playoff spot for Mike Tomlin and company.
Instead, the Steelers put forth one of the most pathetic offensive performances of the entire season… by anyone. Pittsburgh mustered just 4.5 yards per play in a 13-6 loss to the Browns on Sunday in which it went just 3-for-15 on third down.
The absence of DK Metcalf, who was serving the first game of his two-game suspension for a fan altercation, is clearly killing this Steelers offense. Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have any receivers he trusts, especially after Darnell Washington went down with a broken arm on Sunday. At one point, Rodgers threw a go-ball to Scotty Miller on a fourth-and-1 before ending the game with three consecutive [Marquez...
