Week 18 of the NFL season started on Saturday, January 3rd, with two games. The Carolina Panthers played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a huge game that would help decide the winner of the NFC South. The Buccaneers won 16-14 and improved to a record of 8-9, but, the Panthers ended up making the playoffs because the Falcons beat the Saints later this week, and the Panthers won the tiebreaker against the Buccaneers to make the playoffs. Also on Saturday night, the Seahawks played the 49ers in San Francisco for the number 1 seed in the NFC. The Seahawks won 13-3 and locked up the first seed for the NFC. Due to the loss, the 49ers dropped all the way to the sixth seed.
On Sunday, the rest of the games were played. The Colts played the Texans in Houston and the Texans won 38-30. The Texans secured the 5th seed and are going to play the Steelers in the 1st round of the playoffs. The Browns beat the Bengals 20-18 in Cincinnati, with Browns’ defensive end Myles Garrett additionally breaking the NFL season sack record. The Falcons beat the Saints 19-17, which resulted in the Panthers making the playoffs and getting the 4th seed. The Vikings beat the Packers 16-3 in Minneapolis. The Jaguars beat the Titans 41-7, giving the Jaguars the 3rd seed in the AFC. The Giants beat the Cowboys 34-17 in New York. The Rams beat the Cardinals and secured the 5th seed in the NFC, and will play the Panthers in the first round. The Raiders beat the Chiefs 14-12 in potentially Travis Kelce’s last game. The Commanders beat the Eagles 24-17, and the Eagles’ loss made Philadelphia get the 3rd seed in the NFC. They will play the 49ers in the first round.
The Patriots beat the Dolphins 38-10 in Foxborough. The Patriots locked up the second seed and are going to play the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round of the playoffs. With the loss and an early end to their season, Dolphins later fired Head Coach Mike McDaniels. He coached the team for four seasons, and brought them to the playoffs twice. McDaniel, however, didn’t win one playoff game, further extending Miami’s already 20+ year long playoff win drought.
The Lions beat the Bears 19-16. Even with the loss, the Bears secured the number two seed because the Eagles lost to the Commanders. The next game was the Chargers against the Broncos. The Broncos won 19-3. With the win, the Broncos earned the number one seed and will receive a bye from the wild card round in the playoffs. The Bills beat the Jets 35-8. The Bills earned the number six seed and will play the Jaguars in the first round of the playoffs. On Sunday night, the Ravens and Steelers played for the number four seed in the playoffs. The Steelers won this game 26-24. Tyler Loop, the Ravens kicker, missed the game winning field goal which was heartbreaking for Ravens fans. Sophomore Blake Calixtee, a Ravens fan said “it was so heartbreaking to see [my] favorite team lose like that.” In conclusion, heartbreak and playoff-clinching made Week 18 one to remember.
