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Four touchdowns from Jahmyr Gibbs (3 rushing, 1 receiving) and a dominating defense that held Justin Jefferson to 3 catches for 54 yards led to a 31-9 home win by the Detroit Lions over the Minnesota Vikings. As a result, the Lions earn the NFC 1-seed for the first time in history and send the Vikings down to the 5-seed and a visit to the LA Rams next Monday at 8 p.m.
After this weekend's games, Detroit tops the Super Bowl odds (+300), passing Kansas City (+350) with Baltimore and Buffalo tied (+600).
The NFL Preseason predictions at FanDuel.com were pretty solid.
The NFC had San Francisco at the top, followed by Detroit, Dallas and Philadelphia. While it's easy now to knock the picks of the 49ers and Cowboys, it was universally expected by the noted pundits and prognosticators.
The AFC forecast had Kansas City as the top team, followed by Baltimore, Buffalo and Cincinnati.
SEE: Week 18 Scores, Odds, Picks, 1st round Picks
1. Kansas City
2. Buffalo
3. Baltimore
4, Houston
5. LA Chargers
6. Pittsburgh
7. Denver
FIRST-ROUND GAMES (day, time, TV to be announced):
Kansas City, bye
Denver at Buffalo,1 p.m. Sunday, CBS
Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Prime
LA Chargers at Houston, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS
Kansas City rested just about everybody and the Broncos took advantage of the opportunity with a 38-0 win and clinched the last a available wild card spot. Cincinnati had earlier done its job on Saturday to stay alive in the race with its 5th straight win while handing Pittsburgh it's 4th straight loss, but the Bengals needed help from Miami and Denver. While the Dolphins obliged, the Chiefs made it too easy for the Broncos to lock down the 7-seed.
1. Detroit
2. Philadelphia
3. Tampa Bay
4. LA Rams
5. Minnesota
6. Washington
7. Green Bay
FIRST-ROUND GAMES (day, time, TV to be announced):
Detroit, bye
Green Bay at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Fox
Washington at Tampa Bay, 8:00 p.m. Sunday, CBS
Minnesota at LA Rams, 8:00 p.m. Monday, ESPN/ABC + ManningCast ESPN2/ESPN+
The Eagles clinched the 2-seed with their 41-7 destruction of Dallas in week 17.
Tampa Bay captured the NFC South title with a comeback 27-19 win at home over the New Orleans Saints.
Chicago snapped a 10-game season losing streak and an 11-game skid against Green Bay when Cairo Santo kicked a 51-yard field goal for a walkoff 24-22 upset. It isn't the way the Packers wanted to head into the postseason, especially with Jordan Love leaving the game with an injured elbow, and Christian Watson getting carted off with a knee injury. The loss dropped the Packers to the No. 7 seed and they will visit Philadelphia on Sunday at 4 p.m.
These are just a few of the high water marks set in 2024 in the NFL, and one low water mark.
Tamps Bay wide receiver Mike Evans passed the 1,000-yard mark for the 11th straight season to tie the record of NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice who accomplished that feat from 1986-1996. Rice would go on to have 14 seasons over-all of 1,000+ yards. Evans tied it on a 9-yard reception on the last play of the game. Evans also passed the 1,000-yard mark in his final two seasons at Texas A&M, so he has now accomplished the feat for 13 seasons in-a-row. Rice topped the mark in 1983 and 1984 with Mississippi Valley State, setting a records for every NCAA division in '84 with 27 TD's while establishing new FCS marks of 1,845 yards and 112 receptions.
Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets had a horrible season, but finished with a 32-20 win at Miami as Rodgers threw career TD pass numbers 500, 501, 502 and 503 to become just the fifth quarterback to reach 500. It should come as no surprise that Tom Brady outdistances the rest with 649 while Drew Brees follows with 571. Then comes 539 from Peyton Manning and Brett Favre at 508.
Lamar Jackson on Saturday became the first in NFL history to top 4,000 yards and 800 yards rushing in a single season. He passed Michael Vick for career rushing yards by a QB while the team became the first in NFL history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards, and the first 40/20 TD team with 40 through the air and 20 on the ground. Meanwhile, Derrick Henry became the first back to top 1,900 yards in more than one season.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Carolina Panthers broke a 43-year old mark that had been held by the 1981 Baltimore Colts. With Sunday's 44-38 overtime win at Atlanta, Carolina allowed 534 points for the season to top the old mark by one.
Tennessee secured the number one over-all pick in the next NFL Draft which will begin on April 24 in Green Bay. Here is the order of the first 18 teams, all of which (of course) failed to make the playoffs.
1. Tennessee
2. Cleveland
3. Giants
4. New England
5. Jacksonville
6. Las Vegas
7. NY Jets
8. Carolina
9. New Orleans
10. Chicago
11. San Francisco
12. Dallas
13. Miami
14. Indianapolis
15. Atlanta
16. Arizona
17. Cincinnati
18. Seattle