Welcome to the Christmas edition of the Week 17 grades!
The first three games of Week 17 have all had some big playoff implications. That started with the opening game on Christmas Day when the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-10. In the second game of the day, the Baltimore Ravens took a big step toward clinching the AFC North title with a 31-2 win over the Houston Texans.
To clinch the division title, the Ravens now just need to beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 18.
Not only did we get two Wednesday games this week, but we also got the final Thursday night game of the season with the Seattle Seahawks beating the Chicago Bears, 6-3, in a defensive slugfest. The win by the Seahawks keeps them very much alive in the race for the NFC West title. If the Rams slip up on Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals, that will set up a showdown between the Seahawks and Rams in Week 18.
Here are our Week 17 grades for every game that has been played so far:
Seattle 6-3 over Chicago
| C |  |
| The Seahawks needed a win in the worst kind of way and they were able to get it, thanks to a defense that came through with its most impressive performance of the season. Leonard Williams led a pass rush that had Caleb Williams on the run all night. The Seahawks linebacker tallied two of Seattle's seven sacks in the game. The defense held the Bears to just 179 yards while only allowing one drive the entire game that got inside of the Seahawks' 40-yard line. The Seahawks offense didn't do much, but Geno Smith and Zach Charbonnet played well enough in the first half to set up two Jason Myers field goals, and in the end, that was all Seattle needed. This team will now sit and wait to see what happens with the Rams on Saturday night against the Cardinals, but the important part is that it's still alive for a possible playoff berth. | |
| C- |  |
| The Bears offense has been getting close to rock bottom for nine straight weeks and they finally hit it on Thursday night. On the Bears' first nine offensive possessions, they only had one drive that went for more than 16 yards. Caleb Williams didn't have much time to throw -- he was sacked seven times -- but even when he did, he struggled to connect with his receivers in a game where he completed just 16 of 28 passes for 122 yards. The Bears defense played a nearly perfect game, but the effort went to waste because the offense couldn't move the ball. The Bears have now lost 10 games in a row, and the only good news for this team is that the season will be over next week. | |
Kansas City 29-10 over Pittsburgh (Wednesday)
| A+ |  |
| The Chiefs always seem to get hot just in time for the playoffs, and that appears to be exactly what's happening this year. Patrick Mahomes, who has a 4-0 career record against Pittsburgh, once again dominated the Steelers. The Chiefs QB diced up Pittsburgh's secondary for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and he did that my spreading the ball around: The Chiefs had seven different players catch at least two passes, including Travis Kelce, who caught eight passes for 84 yards and a TD. As good as the offense was, the defense might have been better. The Chiefs didn't have star pass-rusher Chris Jones, but they were still able to terrorize Russell Wilson. The Kansas City pass-rush racked up five sacks with Mike Danna recording two of those. Santa always delivers on Dec. 25, and the Chiefs always deliver in big games. Both of them delivered in this rare Wednesday game. | |
| D- |  |
| The Steelers are probably going to get coal in their stocking after this Christmas Day performance. With George Pickens back in the lineup, the offense did show some brief signs of life, but overall it was an ugly day. The ugliness started up front with the offensive line getting dominated for five sacks. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Steelers also made two back-breaking mistakes with a red zone interception by Russell Wilson in the first half and a lost fumble by Pat Freiermuth in the second half. It also didn't help that the Steelers defense looked lost while trying to slow down Kansas City's offense. This team feels like it's fading fast, and with three straight losses, it will be a surprise if it gets out of the first round of the playoffs with the way it is currently playing. | |
Baltimore 31-2 over Houston (Wednesday)
| A+ |  |
| Santa wasn't the only one who delivered on Christmas; so did Lamar Jackson. The Ravens QB made an MVP statement with an impressive performance that saw him total 255 yards and three touchdowns. Of that total, Jackson rushed for 87 yards, which moved him past Michael Vick for the most career rushing yards by a QB in NFL history. Jackson did get some help on offense from Derrick Henry, who plowed his way through the Texans defense for 147 yards and a touchdown. The Ravens defense, which had been a weak spot for the first 11 weeks of the season, had another strong game. It beat up on C.J. Stroud, who was sacked five times. The Ravens are getting hot at the right time, and they're now just one win away from winning the AFC North. | |
| F |  |
| The only thing that could have been uglier on Christmas than the Texans' performance was if Santa's sleigh had crashed. This game was a total disaster for a Texans team that has now struggled on offense in three straight games. C.J. Stroud couldn't get the passing game going, and that's mostly because he was under constant pressure (he was sacked five times). Even if the offense had been able to move the ball, it might not have mattered because Houston's defense couldn't stop a Ravens rushing attack that piled up more than 250 yards. The Texans are looking like a team that could go one-and-done in the playoffs unless they can somehow get things turned around before the postseason starts. | |
